I joined 24 April 2016, so four months after launch. Rounding would put me at 7 years, but I'm too pedantic to claim to have been with the game since day 1.
I started about 2 months after launch. My wife had reconstructive knee surgery and I was home for a while helping take care of her. Lots of time hanging out on the couch, I saw a bunch of ads for the game and checked it out, been playing since.
Joined January 18, 2016. I was surfing the App Store that evening, saw the ad for the game and decided to give it a try. I didn’t expect to still be playing 7 years later.
Not quite day 1. I found the game in April of 2016, so just about 7 years.
“A committee is a cul-de-sac, down which good ideas are lured and quietly strangled.” —Mark TwainMEMBER: [BoB] Barrel of Bloodwine... We are recruiting and putting the “curv” in scurvy! Best Event Finish: #3 Honor Debt: Inconceivable...Honor Bank Account: Slowly building...
It's really striking how many long time players there are and how few new players. Even the comment of the 1 yr players saying that they are a veteran makes me think that the focus of the designers should be away from new players (unless they are going to make an effort to recruit them) and toward players with mature rosters. If they really committed to this they should really institute some catchup mechanics. The game is cheaper now than it has ever been, but someone starting now, really should be given a crap ton of stuff to help them mature faster.
Perhaps it would also be worth attempting to re-recruit older players. I know I'm having a blast since I came back and I wouldn't hold it against them if they put together a 'Welcome Back' crate for players who haven't logged in in a few years that gave them stuff to catch up. Make it juicy enough, and I'm sure it would get some Star Trek media attention and that might be what's needed to lure people back. I'd certainly poke all of my former fleetmates and see if they were interested if there was a substantial bribe to return.
It's really striking how many long time players there are and how few new players. Even the comment of the 1 yr players saying that they are a veteran makes me think that the focus of the designers should be away from new players (unless they are going to make an effort to recruit them) and toward players with mature rosters. If they really committed to this they should really institute some catchup mechanics. The game is cheaper now than it has ever been, but someone starting now, really should be given a crap ton of stuff to help them mature faster.
Perhaps it would also be worth attempting to re-recruit older players. I know I'm having a blast since I came back and I wouldn't hold it against them if they put together a 'Welcome Back' crate for players who haven't logged in in a few years that gave them stuff to catch up. Make it juicy enough, and I'm sure it would get some Star Trek media attention and that might be what's needed to lure people back. I'd certainly poke all of my former fleetmates and see if they were interested if there was a substantial bribe to return.
46 people as of this comment is an extremely small subset of people who are actively playing the game. I doubt most active players are aware of this forum.
It's really striking how many long time players there are and how few new players. Even the comment of the 1 yr players saying that they are a veteran makes me think that the focus of the designers should be away from new players (unless they are going to make an effort to recruit them) and toward players with mature rosters. If they really committed to this they should really institute some catchup mechanics. The game is cheaper now than it has ever been, but someone starting now, really should be given a crap ton of stuff to help them mature faster.
Perhaps it would also be worth attempting to re-recruit older players. I know I'm having a blast since I came back and I wouldn't hold it against them if they put together a 'Welcome Back' crate for players who haven't logged in in a few years that gave them stuff to catch up. Make it juicy enough, and I'm sure it would get some Star Trek media attention and that might be what's needed to lure people back. I'd certainly poke all of my former fleetmates and see if they were interested if there was a substantial bribe to return.
46 people as of this comment is an extremely small subset of people who are actively playing the game. I doubt most active players are aware of this forum.
It is small for sure, and importantly it may not be representative. However, you don't actually need a lot of people to vote for a sample to have enough predictive power. It's whether the makeup of players on the forum are similar to the entire population, that's what matters most.
There's plenty of anecdotal evidence that recruitment in most fleets is extremely difficult, which suggests a paucity of new players.
It's really striking how many long time players there are and how few new players. Even the comment of the 1 yr players saying that they are a veteran makes me think that the focus of the designers should be away from new players (unless they are going to make an effort to recruit them) and toward players with mature rosters. If they really committed to this they should really institute some catchup mechanics. The game is cheaper now than it has ever been, but someone starting now, really should be given a crap ton of stuff to help them mature faster.
Perhaps it would also be worth attempting to re-recruit older players. I know I'm having a blast since I came back and I wouldn't hold it against them if they put together a 'Welcome Back' crate for players who haven't logged in in a few years that gave them stuff to catch up. Make it juicy enough, and I'm sure it would get some Star Trek media attention and that might be what's needed to lure people back. I'd certainly poke all of my former fleetmates and see if they were interested if there was a substantial bribe to return.
46 people as of this comment is an extremely small subset of people who are actively playing the game. I doubt most active players are aware of this forum.
It is small for sure, and importantly it may not be representative. However, you don't actually need a lot of people to vote for a sample to have enough predictive power. It's whether the makeup of players on the forum are similar to the entire population, that's what matters most.
There's plenty of anecdotal evidence that recruitment in most fleets is extremely difficult, which suggests a paucity of new players.
I've been playing Timelines since late 2016, but only joined the forum in 2018. A lot of newer players probably aren't even aware of its existence.
It does look like the playerbase is shrinking judging from the arena leaderboards (at least when it comes to the number of dedicated/competitive players, since it's needed to complete dailies) but I don't think the forum or fleet recruitment can be used to verify that.
There are waaay too many fleets with a complete starbase. Starbases haven't been expanded in ages, and given that there was little else to rely on before FBB was introduced, for a new player there was no way to tell the difference between a fleet that's been at starbase 134 for years and one that just got there.
Even now, someone who isn't on the forums and Discord has nothing to compare their bridge level to and will just join whichever random fleet is close to 50/50 and has a full starbase, if they like the name.
WRG must know the actual player demographics, but I don't expect them to share this info, so we'll probably never know for sure
Off but on topic regarding the game getting “cheaper” -
I spent the same amount of money in the first 18 months of the game as I have in the next 66 months. The first 18 months i hadn’t even won an event yet and didn’t have all the crew.
The economy in the beginning was brutal. Much much much more friendly now.
It's really striking how many long time players there are and how few new players. Even the comment of the 1 yr players saying that they are a veteran makes me think that the focus of the designers should be away from new players (unless they are going to make an effort to recruit them) and toward players with mature rosters. If they really committed to this they should really institute some catchup mechanics. The game is cheaper now than it has ever been, but someone starting now, really should be given a crap ton of stuff to help them mature faster.
Perhaps it would also be worth attempting to re-recruit older players. I know I'm having a blast since I came back and I wouldn't hold it against them if they put together a 'Welcome Back' crate for players who haven't logged in in a few years that gave them stuff to catch up. Make it juicy enough, and I'm sure it would get some Star Trek media attention and that might be what's needed to lure people back. I'd certainly poke all of my former fleetmates and see if they were interested if there was a substantial bribe to return.
46 people as of this comment is an extremely small subset of people who are actively playing the game. I doubt most active players are aware of this forum.
It is small for sure, and importantly it may not be representative. However, you don't actually need a lot of people to vote for a sample to have enough predictive power. It's whether the makeup of players on the forum are similar to the entire population, that's what matters most.
There's plenty of anecdotal evidence that recruitment in most fleets is extremely difficult, which suggests a paucity of new players.
My purely anecdotal sense is that the forums are a bunch of us elderly players while Facebook has more newer players.
It's not definitive at all. Keeping in mind that most players probably are not talking anywhere, my gut is still that the forums are not a representative sample.
7 months ago,… don’t know how I missed this game when it first came out as a Trekkie. I quickly figured out how to make the most of my progress (4 shuttles, event bonuses etc.) and joined a good fleet about 2 months ago. Really enjoying the game.
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Proud member of Patterns of Force
Captain Level 99
Played since January 2017
TP: Do better!!!
That’s an interesting question as I wonder how many players ever visit this forum or have even signed up to post a comment. I'd say a fraction.
14 March 2016 was when I first downloaded STT.
(I was so scared, y'all).
Perhaps it would also be worth attempting to re-recruit older players. I know I'm having a blast since I came back and I wouldn't hold it against them if they put together a 'Welcome Back' crate for players who haven't logged in in a few years that gave them stuff to catch up. Make it juicy enough, and I'm sure it would get some Star Trek media attention and that might be what's needed to lure people back. I'd certainly poke all of my former fleetmates and see if they were interested if there was a substantial bribe to return.
46 people as of this comment is an extremely small subset of people who are actively playing the game. I doubt most active players are aware of this forum.
It is small for sure, and importantly it may not be representative. However, you don't actually need a lot of people to vote for a sample to have enough predictive power. It's whether the makeup of players on the forum are similar to the entire population, that's what matters most.
There's plenty of anecdotal evidence that recruitment in most fleets is extremely difficult, which suggests a paucity of new players.
I've been playing Timelines since late 2016, but only joined the forum in 2018. A lot of newer players probably aren't even aware of its existence.
It does look like the playerbase is shrinking judging from the arena leaderboards (at least when it comes to the number of dedicated/competitive players, since it's needed to complete dailies) but I don't think the forum or fleet recruitment can be used to verify that.
There are waaay too many fleets with a complete starbase. Starbases haven't been expanded in ages, and given that there was little else to rely on before FBB was introduced, for a new player there was no way to tell the difference between a fleet that's been at starbase 134 for years and one that just got there.
Even now, someone who isn't on the forums and Discord has nothing to compare their bridge level to and will just join whichever random fleet is close to 50/50 and has a full starbase, if they like the name.
WRG must know the actual player demographics, but I don't expect them to share this info, so we'll probably never know for sure
I think long term players are more likely to be on the forum, than newer players. So I guess this poll will be skewed against new people.
I've thought that for a while, but we do get a 4/5 every 1-2 months.
I've said before, new players should get a 5* ship within the first week or so of playing.
I spent the same amount of money in the first 18 months of the game as I have in the next 66 months. The first 18 months i hadn’t even won an event yet and didn’t have all the crew.
The economy in the beginning was brutal. Much much much more friendly now.
My purely anecdotal sense is that the forums are a bunch of us elderly players while Facebook has more newer players.
It's not definitive at all. Keeping in mind that most players probably are not talking anywhere, my gut is still that the forums are not a representative sample.
On 06 January 2017, I was suicidally depressed. I re-downloaded STT and made a commitment to myself that I would play for at least one year.
When I say that this game saved my life, I am not joking.
988
LLAP