This is one the the biggest issues since game's release in 2010. For that reason this has to become a priority after Gamma islands are released again. No point now in dropping the gamma improvements though, its still (I would assume) too far ahead in development to just cancel.

Therefore in order of priorities , what need to be fixed next:

Travel times:  This has always been the number one issue with new and old players, the whole map network needs to be reworked. It's all well and good to create distances in game worlds but as pointed out before PVE/Missions needs to be more casual friendly, the idea is in 1 hour of game play , players needs to be satisfied with what they have accomplished.

Assignments: This is a long time coming. More variety is required if it's to remain random, mini terminals, soft instances etc, the priority here is to get the player right on the action as soon as possible hence why I mentioned travel times first, both issues need to be worked together in unison probably. Balanced rewards for each misson as well as more challenging ones for the vets.

Robot changes: Variations of the the same bots might be the quickest solution. We need specialized robot tiers. Specialized mission bots that are more dependent for single account players. Every combat bot (except Ewars) need to have a pvp and pve tier with their own roles and weaknesses. Just slap new stats and paint job, and a new name on same bots.

Corporation management: Leaders/ CEO are the ambassadors of the game, they provide player created content and vastly improve player retention. We need a better system for other players to contribute to the corp without leaving the corp open to theft. More role options, alliance system etc. The easier you make it for leaders the more they will try and keep players happy and get more involved. An improved corp industry UI where we can give members specific roles and take limited amount of resources to build.

Balancing risk vs reward: A holistic approach with how Alpha-beta-gamma works providing a rewarding experience for those who would like to take more risks and be rewarded for it.

I know this must have been all mentioned before and most stuff is planned. Just wanted to get it out there in my own words and see what others have to say to improve player retention all in one thread.

I think this improvements should be more focused to newer and casual players to build more player numbers steadily, then they can focus on improving killing each other even further.

answer game/support tickets in a timely fashion. IE 3 -5 days max.

Leaving a new player waiting on an answer that can take 1 month is just unacceptable. Even if it is just no - no new bot at least it is closed and they can attempt to rebuild.

What is a new player to think when customer support takes a long time? That the devs dont care about the game or people who put the time in.

Proper Customer Relations will help a lot in retention.

I won't bother to list anything because;

1. Devs usually don't listen to me
2. Devs usually don't have a clue how the game really works for me
3. Devs usually balance the game strictly based on forum posts other then mine

Over the years the playerbase posted a LOT of topics like this. They haven't listened before, they rarely listen now, I wouldn't hold my breath thinking they'll start listening now.

Gamma didn't get wiped because players exploited a game mechanic to create turtle islands. Gamma got wiped because Devs didn't listen to the players who tested it on the test-server and explicitely told them it will result in turtle islands.

The only real benefit we've achieved over the years is the test server (which isn't being used by me because broken code is still pushed through to live), and we got rid of the skype-list of privileged closed-beta players influencing development (and we only have their word for it).

No I'm having fun playing a free game, gonna ride this train all the way to the bottom and laugh my a** off.