This is what turned away most new players right at the gates.
This is one of the biggest factors why there were barely any new players coming.
I had this problem when I first joined the game (March 2019? or April). So many things to fix before even launching the game for the first time. My 2 other friends who were supposed to come with me straight up moved on to better games like MHW when the launch failed for a 2nd or 3rd time.
It was good that I had someone with a complete install to copy the files from (I tried to tell my friends who left to copy, but they already said they lost interest).
Looking back at it now if it was a newbie who was trying out the game for the first time and didn’t have anyone to help them. they would have walked away (Why would a newbie who hasn’t even tried the game put up with 1 to 10 to 30 hours of troubleshooting). Barely any other steam game does this. Most games are download and play in 2019.
It kinda makes you wonder how much of the playerbase was squandered right at the beginning. The next generation of players who would keep the economy growing never made it to the starting line. IMC really ■■■■■■ the game over from bottom to top.