Information
We recently removed the ability for staff members to kick and ban users from the game. This decision was made to improve our retention and average playtime.
The reason kicks and bans affect these metrics is because when users are banned, they create a new account and never return on the old one, and continue to repeat the process. This harms retention rates and cuts their play session short, negatively impacting average playtime.
Importance of Playtime and Retention
Playtime and retention are some of the most important statistics used to promote your game in the Roblox algorithm. Higher retention and longer playtime help your game reach more users.
The Numbers
One week after implementing these changes, here are the current statistics:
- Nova Island is at a 6-month high in both retention and average playtime.
- Retention is up 25.4% since last week.
- Average playtime is up over 30%!
These improvements highlight the positive impact of removing the kick and ban functionality on user engagement and game promotion.
Improvements to Our Moderation Process
We recently introduced the new “jail” command to replace the removed commands. This command jails the user for a specified amount of time and mutes them from the public chat.
We understand some users expressed concerns over whether users with admin privileges could abuse their powers without punishment. To address this, we introduced admin suspensions, which temporarily restrict a user’s admin commands if they are found to be abusing them, as decided by the reviewing member.
We are committed to listening to community feedback and continuing to improve our moderation process to ensure a fair and enjoyable experience for all players.