Fix randoming.

[Jeroon]

Well see the same problem with KD size in my own kingdom. When I joined my KD it was with 21 players (so not even full) and now we are with 16 left. So 9 spaces left and they are building new KD's with 16 provinces too? Well then there must be another way to get new players fill up spaces in existing KD's first!

[Landro]

They problem is that there are many players jumping from kingdom to kingdom hoping to land in a good one by luck. This problem would be less severe if people tried to organize the kingdom they landed in. I realize this is hard but that's how many organized kingdoms started.

Another solution I've suggested before is to give kingdoms a refund for invitation codes if a player they invited leaves the kingdom (regardless of the reason) within 6 months (or any other reasonable period of time) after being invited. This would benefit kingdoms trying to grow out of the ghettos without allowing cheaters to create shell kingdoms.

[itchm]

Just want it to be said that here is another person that thinks this is a real problem. A solution would prove beneficial for 2 main reasons.

1 - Ghettos would have a larger number of players making it much easier for them to learn from each others mistakes, thus hopefully leading to less of a gap between ghetto and SKD in the long run. Due to the fact that they would be in full KDs having more fun and thus more likely to stick to the game.

2 - Players, such as myself and Syele would be less likely to give up on the game. I myself have been sitting pretty on 17-19 players pretty much since week two. It's hell. If our lives were made just that little bit easier we would be creating a KD that inspires more people to play. Creating communities such as alliances that encourage people to learn and be a part of the game. Fortunately for utopia there are people like me who have no intention of giving up on the game. Ever.

[Debauchery]

There is now 428 Kds this is ridiculous - there is currently 7086 players . meaning 284 full kds . I like the suggestion earlier of randoming new provinces or defections into existing kds , i think the problem is that you have the mark /parameter set to low for existing kds , i think this is set at 15 provinces ( before invites and randoms stop being placed in them and start new kds ), you need to up this to like 20-22 even the full 25 provinces per kd . This way new players joining have a better chance of landing in a kd that is already established . ( The majority of kds this age are between 15 and 20 provinces ( and alot of these are just newbie kds ) , where as if you set your parameter higher , we will have alot more good size kds out there . Alot more Fun and u will keep more people interested .

[KrakenDomes]

yea KD creation is getting out of control, something needs to be done asap about this situation!! Hell we need players atm to :P

[moya]

we should all swallow our pride and really get ppl we know irl to play utopia, bribe them with jelly snakes =D (no i will not supply the jelly snakes)

[Vit]

New KDs

Now in Utopia we have 2 leagues of KDs:
1st 20-25 provinces
2nd - 15-20 provinces
And for today we have a strange new 3rd league:
3rd - <10 provinces
They are ugly: most of them are green.

Please, don't create a new KD until all KD have less then 15 provinces.

[itchm]

One thing about this issue that still bothers me; is that regardless of what number of provs is set as the limit in KD's before new KDs start to develop; there is still the likelihood that a new KD will be made and be filled with only nubs and as such the KD will never develop because they are not aware of the community support that is available both here and on IRC. Then, due to that lack of development, the players will tire of being in the bottom of the playerbase continuously getting farmed upon.

What if, and I literally thought of this just now so please don't troll me if its completely stupid, because I am still running on hype of a new idea, New KDs were only created by defectors and people that created a new province would always land in an already established KD.
What I mean by this is currently each time you defect your province is reduced/damaged in most/all aspects by a certain %. Keep that for the first defection of the age, but add as a penality for the 2nd and third defections something along the lines of "As you have defected once before you have gained a certain notoriety. Because of this you have no choice but to stake out a position in this world on your own."
- edit Perhaps give it as a choice on the second defection but then make no other option for the third.

As i type this I am really growing to like this idea... simply because it vastly increases the likelihood that any new person creating a province will land in a KD that has experienced players in it. Also it gives existing players a legitimized way to start a new KD from scratch [rather than the current method of getting all your friends to create at the same time and land in the small KD, thus negating the need for invitations, ofcourse you would have to also, still, change the mechanic that each new province lands in the smallest KD or the same problem would still occur].

If there is a concern that too many people will do this and there will be defectors creating a large number of single prov KD's all at once [I am sure this can be predicted by simply looking at the number of 2nd and 3rd tier defections that occur per age, something I assume the admins can contrive] then rather than make each defector create a whole new KD simply make them join only KDs with less than 5 [or any number contrived by calculating a factor the from number of 2nd and 3rd tier defections per age/week/w/e] players and in the case that one doesn't exist then they create a new KD.

[Debauchery]

As per my post on the 18th Nov its a week later , we have now got 453 kds ( 428 last week ) and the number of provinces has gone from 7086 provinces to 7072 . I cant see how losing 14 provinces in a week can create 25 new kds . This is 1 of your main problems with keeping new players to the game , if when they join they end up starting in a kd with half a dozen other newbies .

You need to random the new provinces into existing kds and build there numbers up above 20 . I have friends kds who would love to have 5 - 10 newbies land in there kd , so they could maybe get a few players that stick around . ( i know they will have to kill inactives but im sure they would be willing to kill 10 inactives to get 2-3 stayers )

Ive recruited twice this age from freshly formed newbie kds , and found 1/2 the people i talk to are returning players from 5+ years ago , nearly all have said that being put in a kd full of nothing isnt worth them even returning to the game .

[itchm]

I am just gonna say bump. And pray that there are actually people who have power reading this thread, because.. omg it just seems so obvious to me and yet all I hear are poor little utopians trying to make a difference and getting no where....

Please don't turn me into a troll like VT2... let me and and all the other players help. Let us please help....

[Lead Pipe]

As per my post on the 18th Nov its a week later , we have now got 453 kds ( 428 last week ) and the number of provinces has gone from 7086 provinces to 7072 . I cant see how losing 14 provinces in a week can create 25 new kds . This is 1 of your main problems with keeping new players to the game , if when they join they end up starting in a kd with half a dozen other newbies .

You need to random the new provinces into existing kds and build there numbers up above 20 . I have friends kds who would love to have 5 - 10 newbies land in there kd , so they could maybe get a few players that stick around . ( i know they will have to kill inactives but im sure they would be willing to kill 10 inactives to get 2-3 stayers )

Ive recruited twice this age from freshly formed newbie kds , and found 1/2 the people i talk to are returning players from 5+ years ago , nearly all have said that being put in a kd full of nothing isnt worth them even returning to the game .

I'll bump too. Agree totally.

[Jeroon]

Yeah bump too! Good that it's pointed out in the age 49 changes too! This urgently need to be fixed

[Debauchery]

New update 1st December - 482 Kds - 7096 provinces ( change + 29 Kds + 24 provinces ) ( Total change + 54 Kds + 10 provinces )

25th November - 453 kds - 7072 provinces ( change + 25 Kds - 14 provinces )

18th November - 428 kds - 7086 provinces

As you can see in 2 weeks we have gained 54 kingdoms and only gained 10 players - so thats an average just under 0.5 players per kd . Please help me figure this out .

[goodz]

I think you can easily put more effective parameters on what KD people join.

1) At end of age auto merge any KD's that can.
2) start of next age fill KD's starting with KD's at 15 provinces. Any smaller KD's should have been merged.
3) at any point if a KD drops below 10 players stop sending it people. They can play out the age as a group of 10 if they want and then get merged next age...
4) only put a province in a new KD aka start a small kd if every single slot is full (I have not noticed all top kds to be full at anypoint so i dont know why you would create more kds)

What is problem with a method like this?

[Zappa]

yes this is insane. i would like to build a kingdom but it just impossible recruit if you only have 4-5 players. ive got a couple of players who have returned to the game and are very experienced BUT we are going to pull the plug at EOA because of the lack of any future. who wants to play in a 5 person ghetto??? You claim to be punishing the top level cheaters by creating mini ghetto farms. me thinks you are punishing everyone who is not in a top kingdom.