When I was younger I really enjoyed MTG (Magic: The Gathering), which is a pretty difficult game to be "really good" at. First you need to overcome the learning curve of the rules and basic strategy of the game, which I'd rate at medium/hard in terms of card games. Then you need experience and knowledge to build effective decks and play them properly against other skilled players. Lastly, you need time and/or money. Building a few very strong decks can be expensive. Getting to the point where you can compete at a "tournament level" (which I never did) in MTG isn't like being an Olympic athlete, but it's not trivial either.

There are, however, many other card games that have far simpler rules, require little to no "collecting", aren't nearly as competitive in nature, don't rely so heavily on strategy and acquired knowledge, and so on. I've been introduced to card games like these and within minutes, I was having as much fun as I would playing MTG, albeit a slightly different kind of fun.

When I first started playing MTG it was a lot of fun. I knew the basic rules and had a piece of #### "starter deck" containing mostly stock cards and a few additions that added no strategic value to my deck but were there purely because I thought they were "cool" cards. I either lost repeatedly or won only because I was playing someone as ignorant as me. As I got better and more experienced, the "fun" of MTG shifted from being about a mere game to being about building powerful decks, winning games, and improving my strategy.

When I first started playing CF it was a lot of fun. I had Galadon directions sticky-noted to my CRT monitor and I had no ####ing idea whatsoever that half-elven axe "spec" (I use quotes there because I never made it to 20) was a terrible choice. I was pathetic, but that was okay. As I got better and more experienced, the "fun" of CF shifted from being about a mere game to being about winning more fights, knowing more quests, finding more secrets, and other quantifiable "power gamer" type stuff.

Ultimately, what makes CF appealing to the people that matter seems to be the things that make it unappealing to people who just want to sit down, get a fifteen minute lecture on how the game works, and enjoy a few games on a relatively level playing field. That's not necessarily a bad thing, it's just the nature of a small game having its niche. Changing CF in ways that would make a player like that happy without changing it in ways that would make its existing players (and staff) less interested is not a trivial goal.

tl;dr: It's really hard to "fix" this problem without turning CF into the kind of game you probably wouldn't have chosen to dedicate yourself to in the first place. CF can't attract every player or keep every player in attracts, and that's okay.

In my opinion, the failure of CF to keep new players isn't the learning curve itself, it's the lack (or poor quality) of the resources available to new players. Far more important than rejiggering game mechanics or anything like that in effort to benefit new players is simply making more information available to them in a way that is easy to digest. I don't mean wand locations or pseudo code that describes every check parry makes, but rather a more complete, succinct "tutorial", if you will. The New Player Guide (or whatever it's called) that hasn't been updated in a decade was a good effort, as was the official Wiki. I think the not-so-new-anymore website is a fair resource, but probably not nearly good enough for a true "green horn" either. Likewise, there is some good info on the forums, if a little out of the way and hard to find. Reorganizing all that information and making it available somewhere would probably be the most impacting thing anyone could do to help new players without changing CF in ways most of us probably wouldn't want to see it changed. It's also a pretty tall order and not the kind of job that I think the staff has the time or frankly, the care for.

RE the original post:

I don't necessarily think changing things up regularly benefits new players a whole lot since at the end of the day, they need to learn all the same things the vets need to re-learn, and the vets certainly have a leg up on them in terms of doing that quickly and effectively.

For what it's worth though, I don't think CF is hurting for "new content" right now. We've seen a ton of new areas in recently, as well as a pretty high volume of code changes (at least relative to the past few years). I wouldn't start writing neo-shaman rules just yet, but you never know.