Good question. I don't think anyone has the true answer. You would need to poll these "newbies" first.

99% of top players are NOT 13. To be a top player, you must, in 99% of cases, satisfy all 4 of these (source: A top player):

- IQ of 120+
- Freetime
- Motivation
- Focus

Age is a MAJOR factor in Focus and Motivation. I am younger than most people on this site, and I satisfy IQ and Freetime. I am only focused on warlight when I am playing RT and have only that tab open and never move from my seat. Motivation is hard, especially when you play other games, which many people my age do.

People quit after 3 games because of a lack of understanding. I wrote a basic strategy guide that I am going to publish very soon. Things that just teach players to capture bonuses, and why you shouldn't pick wastelands.

Edited 12/9/2015 03:23:57

I think Freetime is the bigger factor...I'm running out of it.

I think intelligence is, Szeweningen still manages to perform at a top level despite being relatively inactive.

Its not just a lack of understanding.

As someone else said, most players who join a game, will probably not like it. This is the case in pretty much every game I have played. Warlight is not an exception.

Many people will look at warlight in the first few seconds after making an account, and decide they don't want to bother learning the game, because it doesn't have fancy graphics, a whimsical/cool/attractive avatar of a "tutor", or because they expected something more in line with Call of Duty, or Clash of Clans.

Personally, I like playing games which are more or less, purely competitive, with no frills, or at least no real focus on such. *cough*facebookgames*cough*

some of these are very easy to understand, and to play somewhat successfully, certainly more so than warlight.

however, I still find that I am largely the only one I know, typically, who will stick around with these types of games (warlight is actually the exception here, with 3 others playing still)

Imo, it is not just that Warlight is not built with the purpose of being aesthetically pleasing, to go and carry the player through the initial stages of the game. It's the nature of the game, that will put many people off, and I'm not saying that is a bad thing. These more "flitty" people, for lack of a better term atm, would be the worst possible group for Fizzer to try and cater to, same with anyone who tries to teach them, as they would not be able to take the game seriously. These people are more finicky, and any serious effort to please them would seriously risk alienating the relatively mature player base that populates the game at the moment.

Warlight has much more in common with Chess, than the glitzier multiplayer online games that attract more players, it would be a bad idea to shift Warlight in the same direction as most other computer games. It occupies more of a niche, more solidly than any other game of this nature that I have seen, and it would be a mistake for Fizzer to try and compete with Zynga or whoever.

edit: This post took me a while to type, so others posted after I started. Responding to those now. "Free Time" is not so much an issue, except when trying to beat single player challenges. Especially with the newer players, who are more likely to get booted. It's probably a combination of intelligence, maturity, and patience, I think. Players who stay here are either looking to do some sort of fantasy roleplay, or cerebral challenge I suspect, neither of which is likely to appeal as heavily to your typical kid, as Fallout, or such. There are people on the forum who do not come across as very smart, or knowledgable, but you get a few of those everywhere.

Edited 12/9/2015 03:58:31

They quit because the title of the game isin't cool like "WARZONE".

calling it something like "warzone" will not change things that much, i think, except to attract more people who will expect a First Person Shooter, and be sorely disappointed.

And you my sir can't understand sarcasm.

can you feel the sizzle from the heat you under?

Warlight has much more in common with Chess

I was going to make much the same point. Beat me to it.

Except Chess takes skill.

Except Chess takes skill.

I was thinking that Chess is different, because I see fewer trolls, and fewer stupid/offensive names, on Chess sites.

I find your name offensive. It reminds me of punching, that is violent.

It's probably a combination of intelligence, maturity, and patience, I think. Players who stay here are either looking to do some sort of fantasy roleplay, or cerebral challenge I suspect, neither of which is likely to appeal as heavily to your typical kid, as Fallout, or such. There are people on the forum who do not come across as very smart, or knowledgable, but you get a few of those everywhere.

Damn, that was the other point I was thinking of. The way I see it, Warlight is like a mix between chess-style strategy and RPG-style imagination. I think it attracts both types, and you can play it on the extreme-strategy side of things, and on the extreme-RPG side of things, or somewhere in between. So, I think the people you're referring to as 'not at smart/knowledgable' are probably more attracted for the historical/fantasy-battles/RPG aspects of it than the out-think-your-opponent/strategy aspects of it.

actually, the historical/fantasy battle thing, seems to be more the realm of the thoughtful people, at least among those i know on other sites. most people who stick with these games seem to be more serious, quiet, analytically oriented, or lower energy/relaxed, overall. especially when you get to the higher levels of play. scatterbrains like me are rather rare, it seems, this is a calculation game after all :(

the "not as smart/knowledgeable" was aimed at the people who troll, or come across fairly immature, or who act like they are pretty young.

So, I think the people you're referring to as 'not at smart/knowledgable' are probably more attracted for the historical/fantasy-battles/RPG aspects of it than the out-think-your-opponent/strategy aspects of it.

So not as smart people are probably attracted to fantasy stuff?

I don't agree with that. Intelligence isin't based off how good they are at strategy games. That would make most people who are artistic or authors un-intelligent.

what a difference, forgetting to add in a couple of spaces before my last sentence can make! (see my previous post.)

you might have that backwards. skill at strategy games, should have some reasonable correlation to intelligence. skill at strategy games, involves a number of factors, such as flexibility in thinking, calculation, prediction, and such. i don't see where you get the comment about artistic people and authors from. lots of intelligent people are artistic.

Lot of artists have a good imagination.

the "not as smart/knowledgeable" was aimed at the people who troll, or come across fairly immature, or who act like they are pretty young.

-ahem- *looks around, suspiciously*

Back in the day, I was pretty darn trollish. Still liked my strategy games and RPGs.

Kids have an IQ of 90 , so yeah...