I believe I have identified two roadblocks to player retention and potentially optimal solutions.
One, integral reason players decide to stay with a server is absolutely prosperity. Players don't want the game to be too easy but they don't want it to feel impossible either, and when you come into an economy where the average balance gap between the highest end and the lowest end for regular players is well over 2,000,000 units of currency in a server where diamonds cost 150, and towns cost 150k, things can feel a little bleak, especially when not only are spawners not mineable, but they've been nerfed all together.
So how do we remedy this solution without breaking the server? We can't just increase the starting meebles players begin with, because then towns can just scoop up newbies and give them plots to leach free money at much higher levels than they already do knowing the player is going to disappear from the server 2 days later.
Here are my solutions:
Firstly, the cost of towns, I like the cost of towns, I don't think it should go up or down, but what I do think is that maybe there should be a ramping up period for plot cost, like maybe the first 9-10 plots you buy increase in cost at increments of 50 or 100 meebles until capping off at 1k per plot.
Secondly, limiting the ability of the already existing towns to spiral out of control and gobble up the entire server. In the peak of meep's activity it seemed like a town would be discovered every other day having sat untouched for days or weeks in the wild after crumbling. Now everyone and their mother knows when the next town is going to crumble because the mayor quit, sets a home, and is waiting there to outpost it the moment taxes roll around. This causes two problems, one it leaves less for the little guys (I'm not complaining for my own benefit, I don't claim anything I don't intend to restore anyways) and it spreads the net of towny power too wide to where all of the best spots (hence why a town was built there to begin with) get stolen up by the richest people in the server leaving lack of opportunity for the new comers. My solution: Limit maximum number of outposts to 15 or 20. This will still allow large towns to be large, and even claim out crumbled towns, but it will force them to think a little harder whether or not it's worth it and maybe save some for Joe-Shmo who joins the server next week.
Thirdly, I feel there needs to be a town warp room where towns with an open door policy are able to setup a portal to their town, where once there, players can hit a sign and that one single action allows them to claim a plot (with the plot price/taxes clearly listed but preferably free) and start playing no strings attached.
Lastly, lack of activities and self reliant economical growth. Let players help each other by posting a pwarp board or room in spawn dedicated only for helpful pwarps like grinders, enchanting rooms, etc, things which don't have a sole purpose of turning newbies into slaves but instead give them a chance to survive. Here is an example, in the spirit of getting back to what I used to do I am building a one stop shop for newbies to use. Players can pwarp to this room and instantly start making money for themselves while contributing to the economy, and even have space dedicated for new players who have played on the server for more than a day, and less than a month to open up shops. In this pwarp will be a free enchanting room, free brewing room, free food, free anvils, and a free guardian grinder. There will be swords for sale for only the fair market value of the iron or diamonds it took to make them, and they will be able to 1hit kill guardians to gain levels and enchant their own gear, sell me the lanterns/prismarine at a fair price etc, and everything they need to thrive in meep and hopefully stick around and start their own towns/projects in the future.
In conclusion I believe one of the biggest issues we have to surmount in order to come back from this EULA hit is to reform the way our economy works. Right now it revolves entirely around 10 or so players and 3 towns, we need to de-centralize the balance of power and allow people to be independent or the server will never regrow it's population. Thank you for your time, and for reading this, I am open to all suggestions and criticism.
