General New Player Discussion + Map Sorting

FrxztOfficial commented

2025-07-25 05:27:31 +00:00

Member

The other day, I caught wind that xQc tried RSurf for the first time live, in front of tens of thousands of viewers. This was an exciting opportunity to introduce many players to the world of Surf. But, to tell you the truth, when I reacted the vod, it was what I expected. He loaded into surf_shard, died a lot on the first ramp, and left after 58 seconds.

xQc's experience is not unique. Every day, there are many would-be players who join the game, play for a short time, then leave. I believe this happens in part because of the lack of a map sorting system, and in particular a tier system. In an ideal world, new players could be sorted into servers with easier maps, giving new players a better first impression. I believe the lack of a difficulty system has had a real effect on the game's net playerbase and retention over the course of the game's lifespan. Also besides difficulty, other qualities that maps could be sorted by are gameplay quality, visual quality, type, length, and overall player experience. Other solutions that have been proposed to remedy the problem are a readily accessible in-game command list and official interactable tutorial maps.

The other day, I caught wind that xQc tried RSurf for the first time live, in front of tens of thousands of viewers. This was an exciting opportunity to introduce many players to the world of Surf. But, to tell you the truth, when I reacted the vod, it was what I expected. He loaded into surf_shard, died a lot on the first ramp, and left after 58 seconds. xQc's experience is not unique. Every day, there are many would-be players who join the game, play for a short time, then leave. I believe this happens in part because of the lack of a map sorting system, and in particular a tier system. In an ideal world, new players could be sorted into servers with easier maps, giving new players a better first impression. I believe the lack of a difficulty system has had a real effect on the game's net playerbase and retention over the course of the game's lifespan. Also besides difficulty, other qualities that maps could be sorted by are gameplay quality, visual quality, type, length, and overall player experience. Other solutions that have been proposed to remedy the problem are a readily accessible in-game command list and official interactable tutorial maps.

Quaternions commented

2025-07-26 01:16:38 +00:00

Owner

@itzaname there you go, supporting evidence for StrafesNET/data-service#32 (comment) number 2 in your list

@itzaname there you go, supporting evidence for https://git.itzana.me/StrafesNET/data-service/issues/32#issuecomment-3792 number 2 in your list

itzaname commented

2025-07-26 01:21:33 +00:00

Owner

These are the user stories we have for this feature since people can't see the linked issue:

"I want all maps in the game to have a visible difficulty rating."
"As a new player, I want to be placed on servers with easier maps so that I have a better first-time experience."
"As a player, I want to be matched with servers that have maps suited to my skill level."

These are the user stories we have for this feature since people can't see the linked issue: 1. "I want all maps in the game to have a visible difficulty rating." 2. "As a new player, I want to be placed on servers with easier maps so that I have a better first-time experience." 3. "As a player, I want to be matched with servers that have maps suited to my skill level."

FrxztOfficial commented

2025-10-17 00:51:12 +00:00

Author

Member

This has happened again with Youtube content creator and streamer DougDoug, who was live to over 7,000 viewers earlier today.

He gave the game an honest try, he booted into a Tier 3 map (surf_i_know), and died to the first ramp a bunch of times. He was lost on what to do, read the chat for guidance, and the chat instructed him to switch to faste. He left and remarked "this game sucks".

Again I can't help but feel like if he had loaded into an easier map, or have been provided more in-game guidance, the results could have been different. Perhaps I am reading into this a bit too deeply but I sense that these are huge opportunities for the game to grow that are being squandered.

This has happened again with Youtube content creator and streamer DougDoug, who was live to over 7,000 viewers earlier today. He gave the game an honest try, he booted into a Tier 3 map (surf_i_know), and died to the first ramp a bunch of times. He was lost on what to do, read the chat for guidance, and the chat instructed him to switch to faste. He left and remarked "this game sucks". Again I can't help but feel like if he had loaded into an easier map, or have been provided more in-game guidance, the results could have been different. Perhaps I am reading into this a bit too deeply but I sense that these are huge opportunities for the game to grow that are being squandered.

Quaternions commented

2025-11-02 20:05:56 +00:00

Owner

It is my opinion that even with the best of tutorials and new user onboarding, bhop and surf are still fundamentally niche games to enjoy in and of themselves. That being said, I also believe that more people could have a fair chance to learn and experience the game if I invest the time into making an in-game tutorial & map onboarding a reality, just like you say.

General New Player Discussion + Map Sorting #247