Are We Having A Player Decline?

karltown_veteran · 2019-03-06 23:28:16

Every Life I have around 1-3 kids, 4 maximum, sometimes I have none. This is way fewer than what it used to be, and towns are dying left and right because there just aren't enough girls being born. This is a serious problem if we want to sustain kids.

karltown_veteran · 2019-03-06 23:33:18

To give one example: the Duponts
The Duponts were picked randomly - Eleonor Dupont was the first old lady I found on the recently deceased elders list.
The women are living to old age and are feeding all their children, but it is still hard to continue the line.. at every generation there's a risk that no female babies... heck, no babies at all, will be born. And of those only a small portion survive to old age. A town *should* be able to survive if it has enough food and few murders. So what's going on?

fragilityh14 · 2019-03-06 23:35:17

I don't know but the families have not been surviving long the last two days, both families i was a female in died out today and they were only get 10 or 11

Chard · 2019-03-06 23:35:17

Moving average has dropped about 50 over the last eight weeks. See here:

https://bream.chardsville.uk/~richard/o … _weeks.png

karltown_veteran · 2019-03-06 23:38:07

Chard wrote:

Moving average has dropped about 50 over the last eight weeks. See here:
https://bream.chardsville.uk/~richard/o … _weeks.png

That's a bit disappointing

CrazyEddie · 2019-03-06 23:40:15

Infertility comes from short-run declines in player population (i.e. people logging off for the night), not long-run declines (i.e. fewer people playing this week than last week). In the long run birth rates stay the same no matter how many or few players there are. What changes is the number of towns alive at any one time.

Maybe what you're seeing is because of the temperature changes. If you're not keeping as warm as other people, you'll see a big drop in your own birth rate.

fragilityh14 · 2019-03-06 23:44:17

CrazyEddie wrote:

Infertility comes from short-run declines in player population (i.e. people logging off for the night), not long-run declines (i.e. fewer people playing this week than last week). In the long run birth rates stay the same no matter how many or few players there are. What changes is the number of towns alive at any one time.
Maybe what you're seeing is because of the temperature changes. If you're not keeping as warm as other people, you'll see a big drop in your own birth rate.

I had that problem today, and I realized too late, there was even a note on the ground about how the smith needed to be moved from being on the edge of a desert biome, so I had yum chained somewhat but I'm sure my temperature was just terrible, should have spent more time inside by the fire. It turned out my fertility mattered more than someone manning the forge.

Peremptive · 2019-03-07 01:07:36

the latest update that switched from linage to location ban might be causing lineages getting shorter. In the previous weeks players would keep getting born in the same towns (sometimes on purpose) which allowed them to keep going, since people liked playing at a place where they knew where food, resources etc are and would pick up from their previous lives. Now if a large portion of the players are playing in one town, it is almost guaranteed to die out, since after they die they will all be banned from it. Also kids being born in towns will have to spend time exploring meaning they will keep fewer children due to being far from the village, or just have worse temp / yum / die younger which all mean fewer kids.

karltown_veteran · 2019-03-07 02:18:00

CrazyEddie wrote:

Infertility comes from short-run declines in player population (i.e. people logging off for the night), not long-run declines (i.e. fewer people playing this week than last week). In the long run birth rates stay the same no matter how many or few players there are. What changes is the number of towns alive at any one time.
Maybe what you're seeing is because of the temperature changes. If you're not keeping as warm as other people, you'll see a big drop in your own birth rate.

I've been keeping medium / close to medium temperature, and sustaining yum of around 5x - 10x. I usually play around three, four o' clock pm (central time)

Anshin · 2019-03-07 02:20:32

fragilityh14 wrote:

... It turned out my fertility mattered more than someone manning the forge.

This is so true in real life as well.

futurebird · 2019-03-07 02:26:43

fragilityh14 wrote:

CrazyEddie wrote:
Infertility comes from short-run declines in player population (i.e. people logging off for the night), not long-run declines (i.e. fewer people playing this week than last week). In the long run birth rates stay the same no matter how many or few players there are. What changes is the number of towns alive at any one time.
Maybe what you're seeing is because of the temperature changes. If you're not keeping as warm as other people, you'll see a big drop in your own birth rate.
I had that problem today, and I realized too late, there was even a note on the ground about how the smith needed to be moved from being on the edge of a desert biome, so I had yum chained somewhat but I'm sure my temperature was just terrible, should have spent more time inside by the fire. It turned out my fertility mattered more than someone manning the forge.

OMG we were in the same town again. It's super-tempting to start an invite-only server for chill yet schooled players like yourself.

futurebird · 2019-03-07 02:29:14

Anshin wrote:

fragilityh14 wrote:
... It turned out my fertility mattered more than someone manning the forge.
This is so true in real life as well.

I'm doing IVF right now and this is fucking me up.

Don't wait till you are 38 to have kids, young ones.

pein · 2019-03-07 04:01:48

we always have drops but it isnt that bad, people enjoy his game if they get the hang of it, i think around 300 hours is a good approximation. if they quit after that, its bad, but the rest of people who we lost, never really contributed anyway. sometimes a noob is good to raise a pro kid but chances are they starve or abandon kids by not seeing them

we can get boosts from time to time

sadly the biggest content update is now obsolete, jungles are quite bad now
and jason really would need to add some mid and high level choices and techs

fragilityh14 · 2019-03-07 04:34:08

futurebird wrote:

Anshin wrote:
fragilityh14 wrote:
... It turned out my fertility mattered more than someone manning the forge.
This is so true in real life as well.

I'm doing IVF right now and this is fucking me up.
Don't wait till you are 38 to have kids, young ones.

My wife just entered the third trimester with our first child- a daughter!- i'm 31 and she's 28. Though it's funny, part of me keeps thinking of life matrilineally [sp, spellcheck won't find it], because of this game. "She's a girl, she can carry on my family line!"

Anyway, who were you in that family?

I was the last woman

http://lineage.onehouronelife.com/serve … id=3709682

I was all proud of myself for getting sauerkraut going, but no one to enjoy it!

Also, good luck with the IVF, i'm rooting for you!

Edit: I should add, I had three daughter in a row /die, who were then of course lineage banned, so it's not just the fault of the temp, it's players who /die for no apparent reason.

though maybe they saw where the forge was and gave up right away lol

Last edited by fragilityh14 (2019-03-07 04:52:20)

Portager · 2019-03-07 04:44:40

Yes, most of my eve spawns and 2nd generations plays have been harrowing lately. One or two kids are born max, making SID worse than ever.

This has become very noticeable at all times of day, it used to only be a late night EST issue, not anymore.

I can crank 3-5 if I yum and warm, but that is increasingly impractical at an eve camp. The women with more diet options, clothes, and buildings in villages will always be favored by the algorithm.

WalrusesConquer · 2019-03-07 06:14:34

I had 6 kids the other day as an eve...I hope people aren't quitting.

Greep · 2019-03-07 06:32:28

As said, while there is a player decline, it shouldn't be very noticeable unless something else were going on. Way too many eves being born per player is always going to crash all of the towns, and the area ban is likely somehow a cause of this due to the next several eves in a spiral being within the area ban. If decreasing the area ban distance is undesirable, than increasing the eve spiral distance is the other option. Probably both would be best?

Last edited by Greep (2019-03-07 06:34:09)

ryanb · 2019-03-07 06:33:29

I agree with Peremptive in that the area ban likely plays a part here. Isn’t it a couple thousand tiles? Yet Eves don’t spawn nearly that far away from each other, so if you are within this distance from a town or successful Eve then it really limits who can spawn as your child.

Maybe the ban area size should be reduced to the size of Eve spawn distance.

breezeknight · 2019-03-07 08:11:36

Anshin wrote:

fragilityh14 wrote:
... It turned out my fertility mattered more than someone manning the forge.
This is so true in real life as well.

only if your main concern & reason to live is maintaining the lineage

so what is the concern here anyway ?

not to maintain the lineage
or a dwindling players base ?

cause those two are not linked for the most part

breezeknight · 2019-03-07 08:39:11

pein wrote:

we always have drops but it isnt that bad, people enjoy his game if they get the hang of it, i think around 300 hours is a good approximation. if they quit after that, its bad, but the rest of people who we lost, never really contributed anyway. sometimes a noob is good to raise a pro kid but chances are they starve or abandon kids by not seeing them
we can get boosts from time to time
sadly the biggest content update is now obsolete, jungles are quite bad now
and jason really would need to add some mid and high level choices and techs

i still think we should get the early stage, the "stone age" fleshed out
with more basic tools, like a stone axe & a stone knife
like more options to live a peaceful life, improved sheep pen with wicker/willow/branches options, wicker baskets, hemp ropes ...
the tremendous success of Dawn of Man (initially 15 thousand players !) speaks volumes

the next would be improved biomes generation & spawning mechanism
then trade
then, after more people play on a regular basis, fleshed out mid game
then higher tech tree levels

so far the game consists of surving long enough to get to iron tools if in beginner camp - again & again & again
if in town, then forging up the tech tree while some players have to grind the cycle

no other life design is possible
i am trying to do smething else but there is not much, hunting rabbits, hunting beasts, what else ?

other life design options like eg a nomad's life
is without birth control a pain, extremely poor & boring

trade is not possible already cause the biomes & the Eves are badly spawned
there is no other meaning to life than grind the lineage tree - this is definately not attractive enough, especially because the people spawned into a lineage are random (just to say this, i think the randomness is the good part but the gameplay has to consider its side effects in goals given)
we need wider life content, as i already wrote - way more art options, not just more tech tree or more food, not just more of what is already in game

- - -

Glassius · 2019-03-07 14:42:04

breezeknight, it is true. Jason posted in the toughts behind this game a video about meaning of life. Reproduction, mastering minds, mastering environment and increasing satisfaction.

In this game there is no mastering of minds. It is happening on Discord and in forum. The game does not allow for chatting about the life, the universe nor about nr 42, because chatting person will die. Maybe understanding other players and coordinating efforts on great goal would work, like establishing trade routes, resource outpost, discovering the world. This is happening, when a small community performs an apocalypse on public server or make long lasting 200-generation village. But it is against game design currently, without external management.

There is an attempt to master our satisfaction, like bonsai, dogs and painted walls. Its just, a casual player will not do it: the tension on survival is to strong.

There is only continue of species (lineage) and mastering the environment. The second one is also neglectable, because we discover and implement new content much faster than Jason can develop it.

The continue of species is irrelevant also. There is no parenting, only communistic nursery. There is no parenthood, nor mating.

And it will be this way, because Jason believes the inevitable death should be a motivator for most of those things to happen. But I believe, it turns most players nihilistic. They leave the game or grief. After learning the tech tree there is almost nothing else to do here.

futurebird · 2019-03-07 15:21:33

Glassius wrote:

There is no parenting, only communistic nursery.

Only if you choose to play that way. I ask my kids if they want to learn about what I'm doing and if they do I keep them with me as I work showing them whatever task I was on when they were born. I have taught the entire soup process in game, by having my toddler child copy each action I do so that together we make two pots of stew.

To do this is it key to have sliced bread and remember to feed the kid breast milk as long as possible.

The kids who I teach tend to live to old age more often.

I also make a point of finding my kids from time to time during life, bringing them a pie, or setting up soup where they are working or making clothing for them.

The pop-n-drop child quickly named and dumped in a nursery is a recipe for dead kids unless the child is already an expert. (not just "not new" but someone who knows more than I do)

Tarr · 2019-03-07 15:32:25

You have to remember we went from a lineage ban system to an area ban system. If you have a town/camp/city near your own city you'll fight for children between the two towns. Had this exact thing happen today where my mother was new and alone in a city. We dressed her up in the best possible clothing, gave her yum food and how many babies did she have? Four after a sids reset baby. Of course all her surviving children were male but that's a story for a different thread.

So once she goes infertile I look in my stdout for a place to go and wouldn't you know it we have a giant city NW of us that you wouldn't even know existed without looking at the file in the first place. I thought the lineage ban was dumb but holy shit is the area ban even worse. I get that he doesn't want people to return to their old projects but it makes less sense that you would want to check the stdout and ride over to the closest town and stab all the girls to up your own chances of survival.

Last edited by Tarr (2019-03-07 15:58:19)

Booklat1 · 2019-03-07 15:39:30

Make sure to check Jason's talk in gdc, maybe if it trends we'll get more players.

CrazyEddie · 2019-03-07 16:13:55

Tarr wrote:

I thought the lineage ban was dumb but holy shit is the area ban even worse. I get that he doesn't want people to return to their old projects but it makes less sense that you would want to check the stdout and ride over to the closest town and stab all the girls to up your own chances of survival.

Perhaps you should stop thinking of the first town as "your town", and instead think of the larger conglomeration as "your region", if you insist on continually coming back to the same place anyway.

One Hour One Life Forums

#1 2019-03-06 23:28:16

Are We Having A Player Decline?

#2 2019-03-06 23:33:18

Re: Are We Having A Player Decline?

#3 2019-03-06 23:35:17

Re: Are We Having A Player Decline?

#4 2019-03-06 23:35:17

Re: Are We Having A Player Decline?

#5 2019-03-06 23:38:07

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#6 2019-03-06 23:40:15

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#7 2019-03-06 23:44:17

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#8 2019-03-07 01:07:36

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#9 2019-03-07 02:18:00

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#10 2019-03-07 02:20:32

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#11 2019-03-07 02:26:43

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#12 2019-03-07 02:29:14

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#13 2019-03-07 04:01:48

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#14 2019-03-07 04:34:08

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#15 2019-03-07 04:44:40

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#16 2019-03-07 06:14:34

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#17 2019-03-07 06:32:28

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#18 2019-03-07 06:33:29

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#19 2019-03-07 08:11:36

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#20 2019-03-07 08:39:11

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#21 2019-03-07 14:42:04

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#22 2019-03-07 15:21:33

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#23 2019-03-07 15:32:25

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