It's a touchy subject atm with many player reactions being more negative. I want to make this suggestion as a possible rework for the current system.

First, the current pros and cons of the current system:

Pros: - new players now have access to something exclusive/special after not being able to obtain old exclusive rewards.

- more new players are encouraged to start playing. Special rewards for joining will always lure in more players.

- soulbound rewards make these items valueless on the market, making chances to multi smaller.

Cons: - old players that have already invited their friends struggle inviting more people.

- older players who are collectors cann6get these rewards with grinding if they can't refer anyone.

- begging people to play just to get a reward feels disingenuous

So now with tgese in mind, I have the following suggestion:

Friend Rewards.

This section rewards players after gaining enough "friend points". For now, we have 5 milestones, each having 1 of the new companions. More can be added at a later date. Each milestone requires let's say 50 points to reach. If you refer a friend and they play till x milestone, both of you get 50 friend points.

Every day you will get 5 friend gift points, allowing you to gift 1 friend point to 5 friends on your friend list. Multiple points can be sent to the same person with a limit of 5 points each day. Points cannot be saved up (say day 1 you have 5 and you don't sent them, day 2 still has the same 5) and reset at every rollover OR each week depending how to balance it.

You cannot get any friend points on your own, the only way to get them is getting them from friends or referrals. This way referring someone still rewards both parties while also having friends from before this update can net you the rewards eventually.

Friend points can either be a progress bar that unlocks rewards as you go or an in game shop where you buy the exclusive items with the points you get. Either work.

I feel like this would still allow for more referrals while also allowing people who can't refer to slowly get the items!

Oh I like this one. I would actively use it and probably engage with the community a bit more if this was how it worked tbh. Not that I feel like I need a reward for interacting, it'd just be a little extra push across that "doorstep mile" to get me started.

I'm not sure the first 'pro' holds. The items aren't truly exclusive cause technically everyone can get them. So they aren't at all at the same level as the KS exclusives, of which there is a fixed amount (instead of 1 for every account). Additionally, KS exclusives are not account bound, meaning that you can make a huge profit off of them if you do end up selling them. I think because of these 2 differences the first pro doesn't hold at all.

Additionally, (barring your suggestion, which would include it) the referring exclusives are for people already on site, not those joining. So I don't see them as a benefit to new people joining. Rather, they are going to have it even harder to obtain them, because apparently some folks they know are already playing (they referred them). Yes they will get their first referral companion after reaching a certain milestone, but in order to obtain the other 4, they will still need to refer 3 people themselves and get them to play long enough to reach the threshold to claim them.

With regards to the companions being soulbound reducing multiacounting; in terms of obtaining multiple of the companions and trading/selling them for profit, yes this is deterred. But since most people's gripes is with the fact that they don't know people to join to get their own copies in the first place, I think it might actually encourage multiaccounting in order to get their own copies.

Finally, I don't think this is necessary old players vs new players, but rather a personality/social thing. Everyone I know that is into these kinds of games is already playing or already determined its not for them. People IRL ... yeah I'm not even going to go there. Last time I tried to get a friend to join a game like this they laughed in my face and ridiculed me. So I'm not gonna take that risk again. Approaching strangers to join? Lord no, apart from being too socially awkward to even have the nerve to do so, I also found it rude if others did that to me, so I'm not going to stoop to that level.

I definitely get the idea of wanting exclusives for those that missed the KS, but I don't think a referal system is the way to go about it. Rather; have events where everyone can equally earn exclusive things. Make the companions part of the achievement system, where you can claim them after reaching certain points. Make those account bound if need be, although if you want to give people who missed the kickstarter a chance at their own valuable exclusives, accountbound stuff isn't going to work, cause they are inherently unsellable, unlike the KS stuff.

I saw another suggestion floating about regarding other rewards that a referal system could include, that did not involve exclusive accountbound collectibles, and I'd much rather see that. Things like just the water, or a percentage everytime they purchased moonstones, or even just some pebbles.

I like the idea of the friend points... maybe making something like MS: you get shards of friendships and with 10 shards you can craft 1 point!
I already recommended this game to all my friends, so really, unless I pay someone to eventually use my referral link, it's going to be quite hard to get something just for aesthetics more than usefulness :')

Seconding all of Gaia's points.

Also adding another thought - A lot people have been saying that their friends are already playing or that they don't have friends who would. This proves that a game like this does need to recruit to some degree. While the referral system released yesterday was undoubtedly approached in the wrong way by making rewards limited to 1 per account and soulbound, I understand the need for one. What I have the biggest problem with is that they are asking us players to do it and putting desirable collectibles behind it. I personally think the most desirable solution is to make the referral reward companions not soulbound and not limited to 1 per account so players can eventually buy them. It's okay if they are rare and expensive, players need goals. Many will buy MS for purchases like this, which is part of the goal for LW anyway. More MS do need to be in circulation to alleviate the stress that many players still have about the economy.

As for rewarding points for other social activity, I am actually on the fence about it. It's not a bad idea, but it doesn't fulfill the same goal as recruiting does and while I'm not happy with LW's program I do want to respect their intention. Players will be social on site to the degree they wish to be and incentivizing more is a particularly burdensome chore. At least it was on Dappervolk. I think I'd rather see a more straightforward solution within the existing referral system, but I think a lot more discussion still needs to be had.

If LW is committed to the soulbound item idea, it can be aesthetic/clout items like profile decor, forum banners, and Badges (like the sub or forum post ones). Things that bear no effect on gameplay but are still visible and enjoyable to have (NOT Companions). The kickback on this program wouldn't be happening the way it is if these Companions weren't soulbound.