I think Qualia is not the issue with a spawn, I just think the spawn Tunnel is confusing and a bit out of the way. I think if we chose a location more central to market, since that is where a majority of players spend their time in Qualia, along with a Tutorial Chicken it could help new players not be so lost in the early days. I myself try to help out as much as I can but as Gerritt said it can be a lot explaining it over and over again and this easier tutorial system would take more work off of Staff and Players shoulders. I like keeping spawn in Qualia, but change it to a more user-friendly interface.
As far as moving spawn goes I think the new spawn that has been sitting in the south quadrant is a great candidate. Ten and I were there the other day planning out how the new player spawn experience might go in this space.
I think it's best to avoid situating spawn in/near the main market for a few reasons.
Firstly, the number of dropped_item entities in the market is staggering (all the showcases) and can cause clientside lag, not the best impression we want to leave on a new player. (First impressions make or break the "sale")
Secondly, the market is huge and sprawling, as well as being both confusing and a bit of a chore to navigate if you don't know all the warps, let alone without later game tools like elytra and epearls.
The new spawn I think solves these issues handily with the Qualia Minimart, a significantly pared-down version of the market that stocks a number of things useful to new players. The spawn is far enough away that the qualia market doesn't load, and it's small enough to be easily navigable on foot. I think adding a fast-travel portal to the main mart, tucked away so as to not distract from the minimart, and a separate "qualia market" tutorial animal that shows common materials and various warps would be significantly more player-friendly than dropping new players in the market directly.
To address the idea of multiple spawns, I think that the idea of a player first randomly spawning in one of a few possible villages is problematic at best, as it means making multiple tutorials, one for each spawn point, god forbid we want to change them in the future. It also can generate some confusion with players, especially if multiple players arrive as a group intending to play together, or friends invite friends to join. I think a more balanced solution would to make the outlands warp balloon in the new spawn take you to one of these random fixed spawn points and make the main spawn the new spawn w/ qualia minimart. This allows players to easily find their footing in the starter villages, provides a consistent tutorial experience for every player, and allows players who invited friends to easily find and meet up with them.
As for the old spawn tunnel, ten proposed to me an idea I quite liked that would allow us to preserve OG player nostalgia while not detracting from the new player experience. In short, we would keep the spawn tunnel in its current location relative to the new spawn (in the back of the pub), but haphazardly block it off in a way that still kinda allows passage, to serve as an easter egg for the older players. New players would spawn in the entrance to the pub, with clear signposting suggesting they walk out and explore the world, helping discourage new players from checking out the old spawn tunnel until they've had a chance to get properly acquainted with the server. This also can help build that "urban explorer" feeling when checking out qualia that makes it so much fun to investigate.
How to kinda hide a spawn tunnel (Click to Expand)
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