Lately the shard's emptier.

I asked some newbies entering it and some new guildies about why they are quitting it after about a week / 1 month.

First and most told reason: very, very little people. And most are seen as inarrivable multi 100 people. Even those level 100 spend hours and hours to get a tailor...

Some of the new mobs are strong and a group would help. It's a MMO after all, but when there's a grand total of 13 players below 21 rating it's hard to even find them. Nothing in game teach them about the player search feature.
The temptation to just find a level 100 at Kion and ask for spoonfeeding grows strong.
And they mostly don't know of the public channels, that help so much us older ones to keep in touch and to convince us that this is not a single player game, after all. Usually about 35% of the visible players come into marketplace.
10% are the newbies that do.

Then, a newbie is usually not positively "biased" like us old farts.
They come in game and look how it is. Period. And compare, like you do in a street market seeing the same vegetables offered on different tables by different sellers.

A very nice and well done game... The first impression is good (after some 100 meg "patch" that is).

They try some maggot at a starter city or something but after a while killing 3 different mobs gets old. With some bligthted cedar or maggot skinas hugest, catchingprize.
Then they find trainers. Which will tell them that nothing is available for them, sorry.
My alt is 22 reaver plus other 3 classes that took 5 trainers. Not once he heard he could do anything (maybe it's fixed now?). Nor he had any faint hint by the game on what to do next or where. Lucky me that my main is old and knows where and what.

But unlessthe newbiedoes the trials of the gifted (and dies because at level 1 he will end up in huge packs of wolves 16+ at Dalimond), nothing, absolutely NOTHING will tell him even why he's here and what he'supposed to do.

In some very well planned games like Arcanum, you are very summarily introduced to the game. They willingly hide you information. Then, by questing and solving puzzles or finding lore, you get a bit at a time a full, deep, picture of the entire environment.
In Horizons you get a really advanced but cold technology.And the shallowest, most uninteresting plot. More that uninteresting, it's just not developed at all. Unless once again, you are a level 100 that kept the ancient Tazoon beta times lore pages etc. etc. That is not a newbie.

Newbies feel the lack of purpose since level 1. But unlike us, they come here with the idea to find something immediately "useable", to interact with it.

If they are lucky they will find Gregory. Of course one of his first missions will send you to Champagne - an hour long walk expecially not having Selen attuned, constantly surrounded by mobs level 85-95.
Or could send you to the NPC in Harro... and let the newbie discover the good of Oggres and Pygmyes 90-100.
I tried with my dragon 100 to walk to Harro without fighting and simulating a newbie which won't i.e. go off road and other tricks. I barely made alive, using sprint etc. What about a level 10 newbie?

Then they could go to try crafting.

Static, all equal, level 1, rag dressed trainers will greet you, and give you 2 fed ex quests or some make X of Y that will earn you 1/100 of the experience you do in the same time by just mindlessly crafting away.
In fact when a newbie is lucky enough to find market, they sometimes ask and some old guy warns them to skip the quests, which are pointless.
What if the newbie wants to create something for himself? A sequel of absolutely mind destroying, awful, boring (to the point that people prefers paying 1s a single token not to do them!) tasks with the only reward of a green token. 1 of 1000 you need. Numbed grinder paradise.

Of course anyone may find his perfect climate in doing 5 wood boards running all the time off city but a newcomer sees other things, with loud advertising by competitors still in the ears.

They see other games with instant decent quests, instant and easy adventure, people packed. In a short blasphemic word: FUN.
And then they find themselves here, in a permanent work in progress... where until the last brick of the grand cathedralwill be placed, so much is completely disabled.

In the end, too many newbies tell me "sorry this game is not for me, too little people and is too difficult / boring, you'll have probably noticed by me playing less that it's a week I am trying Wow - I play on server XXX hope to meet you soon. Farewell".

And off they go.
The few who randomly (because I don't see other ways) learned of Horizon's very existance.

I even have exausted all my RL friends, which sometimes came directly on my word and made 2 subscriptions each but now all quit. 10% to EQ2, 80% to Wow, the rest returnedto their old games.

Now I am sure that by this time, some will be ready to flame me about players that would involve newbies in their game play etc. etc.

Which I do, and much.

But a level 100 cannot forever supplement the lack of game facilities for the 101 of gameplay.
Nor the majority is doing that, so for one newbie "kept", 10 go loose.

End of this completely silly blabber.

My 1000th silos of bricks on commission is full now. I can finally grind another class, I don't even remember what one.