Hospitallers -- Players Helping Players

Discussion in 'New Player Welcome' started by Elgarion, Apr 10, 2016.

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  1. Elgarion

    Elgarion Dev Emeritus Dev Emeritus

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    Sounds great! Let us know when you're ready, and we'll send you an invite to a conversation thread as well as to the website. Thank you so much for taking an interest!
     
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  2. Max Bennis

    Max Bennis Avatar

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    Thank you for kind response! I've strong belief this act of hospitality may nurture SotA into better, more profound state.
     
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  3. Elgarion

    Elgarion Dev Emeritus Dev Emeritus

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    Here's a stats update to show how well SotAHelp.org is coming along. You'll see that some of these charts indicate we need some help! Some of these charts show that things are going great! If you're interested in officially becoming a New Player Helper / Hospitaller, join us on the site :)

    Also of note, I created a favicon for SotAHelp -- it should propagate through eventually. At a 16x16 pixel level, I couldn't use the actual symbol with the circle around it, I had to use the older one we were using with just the X.

    Also, some FAQ's got fleshed out, and thank you to @WrathPhoenix for chipping in!

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    Last edited: Jan 25, 2020
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  4. Elgarion

    Elgarion Dev Emeritus Dev Emeritus

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    @Berek , thought you might want to sneak in on the social networking stuff for www.sotahelp.org as well ;) Just created the Twitter account today :)

    @all

    Here's the Social Networking links for SotAHelp! When I post updates, I'll now post them in all locations.

    www.sotahelp.org
    https://www.facebook.com/groups/SotAHelp/
    https://twitter.com/SotAHelp
    http://steamcommunity.com/groups/hospitallersofnewbritannia

    And of course, a handful of us have access to the support email address, seekinghelp@sotahelp.org.

    Today's Project: Hospitaller Notes Module! It allows Hospitallers to share Help Requests, Projects, Lessons Learned and Success Stories! Also -- got the Twitter Account Created (@sotahelp) so we can work on getting our activity shown in that social network as well :)
     
  5. Elgarion

    Elgarion Dev Emeritus Dev Emeritus

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    An amazing group of community members rallied together to provide Hospitaller flags during the week of HoBLoth III to Hospitallers who came down to Austin Texas for the week. In the picture below, @dallas and @WrathPhoenix hold up one of the flags in proud recognition of the efforts of this wonderful group of New Player Helpers!

    (Kazyn, can you please mention the folks that provided the flags by replying to this thread? I only remember one of the names you mentioned and I don't want anyone forgotten :) Super awesome they did this!!!)

    [​IMG]
     
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  6. Elgarion

    Elgarion Dev Emeritus Dev Emeritus

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    SotAHelp.org Update:

    I found a wonderful tool for API interactions. My first test was to connect SotAHelp to Twitter. Got it right on the first attempt. You'll notice now that when people post new questions to SotAHelp, an announcement is made on the https://twitter.com/SotAHelp twitter account with a link for Hospitallers to quickly login and respond.

    Much more to come. (MUCH MORE ARRRRRRRRR!) (feels more powerful with his new API toolset)
     
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  7. Cordelayne

    Cordelayne Bug Hunter

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    You know what we really need? A really fresh and awesome Hospitaller cloak! :D
     
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  8. Elgarion

    Elgarion Dev Emeritus Dev Emeritus

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    Indeed! That would be fancy schmancy :p

    ANNOUNCEMENT: SotAHelp.org is migrating to a new host which allows some extra functionality. Please be patient while the nameservers propagate. Many thanks!
     
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  9. Elgarion

    Elgarion Dev Emeritus Dev Emeritus

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    ANNOUNCEMENT: All should be up and functional now. If I missed any of the 1 million links that required fixing or anything else that doesn't seem functional, let me know! :)
     
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  10. Time Lord

    Time Lord Avatar

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    ~BTW Gang, I think that single Thai Player is Just Me~:D
    [​IMG]
    and I'm not Thai :( and I don't speak the language, but... I do have an advertising plan that "may" be bringing a strong Thai community of players to our game, yet this is through my planned efforts here in the heart of Thailand ;)
    but my project isn't ready yet and won't be until later this year...

    I would hospital now, yet I don't feel that the duties of a hospitaler are confined to an "ingame thing", or even a forums thing <---<<< which is always needed.
    My own project will be done through a few internet cafes around where I live, meaning that they will be more "hands on and selling the game, without personally selling it"... if you know what I mean o_O

    Just popping into this thread to say "Hi" and I so much appreciate you all :)
    ~Time Lord~:rolleyes:
     
  11. Abercrombie_McCloud

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    Awesome!!
     
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  12. Elgarion

    Elgarion Dev Emeritus Dev Emeritus

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    Awesome, @Time Lord ;) Bringing our asian friends across the globe would be phenomenal! Any contribution to new player support is an honored and esteemed undertaking, and is a welcomed rallying cry of the Hospitaller. In-game, out-of-game... we are united my friend to improve the new player experience in Shroud of the Avatar, all in our own special and unique ways. :) Take care my friend!
     
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  13. Time Lord

    Time Lord Avatar

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    ~Operation Plant it and it Will Grow~:D

    Thank You so much @Elgarion and thank all the Hospitalers!


    It's no easy task for our game to break into deeper Asia and then further into China's as well as other S/E Asian vast markets.
    Just take a look at this...

    This could mean that our game must "leak" into such a market, or maybe if it does leak into such places as China, it then may at some point fall into needing at least one Chinese employee in China.
    Here in Thailand, where some of the most liberal and encouraged online markets for everything by anyone exist, my current hopes are to plant a seed of 4 free (gifted by me) SOTA pledges and hope they like the game. A well above average salary here in Thailand can be around 30,000 ThB = $856.00 USD a month, meaning that those players who wished to play SOTA will have to afford it's price tag of 1500+ ThB for our lowest pledge, yet also will have to afford to already have a PC that can play our SOTA's download.

    It's my hopes for these first 4 players to have good written English skills. I do know of one thus far and I'm further hoping he would then know 3 others, "who may or may not have such skills" :confused: Yet this would provide our game it's first real foothold into deeper Asia, so I do feel it's a noble endeavor for our wider community to undertake.

    So, as all my Hospitaler friends can see, "this ain't going to be as easy as it may sound". So those first players I do bring that do read and write English, I will be delivering to our Hospitaler's doorsteps.
    DuKe NuKeM and I are dedicated in making this happen by opening up our doors in providing housing for them, yet we both truly aren't the sharpest at the ins and outs of our game's interface.

    Just an FYI heads up for all of you that wish to come help in this broader community project.
    Thanks Hospitalers for reading... :)
    ~Time Lord~:rolleyes:
     
    Last edited: Jul 15, 2016
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  14. Elgarion

    Elgarion Dev Emeritus Dev Emeritus

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    It was brought to our attention that the minutes from our meetings would be a great addition to this thread as public knowledge. There's a lot of them, so I just tuned things back to the May 16th minutes. This shall provide a good sampling of the minutes and we'll continue to post each week's in the coming months ahead--hopefully years ahead! Long Live Shroud of the Avatar!


    Hospitaller Meeting Minutes on PaxLair TS3 Server 43.245.163.15:10099 (ALL ARE WELCOME TO ATTEND!)
    15 May 2016, Sunday 11 Central Time

    • SotAWiki (speaker, @Lace)
      • Folks helping require more direction
      • Desire for meetings with the wiki collaborators so all can be on same page/focused
      • Fear of wasting time creating pages on temoporary/placeholder/soon-to-change topics
      • Mistagged items, broken links
      • Wiki creation guides, such as a video on how to work with wiki pages
    • Hometown (speaker, @WrathPhoenix)
      • Crafting Complete
      • Boxing still required
      • "Stealables" still required
        • @Lace brought up a contest idea to support Hometown by awarding prizes for those gathering stealables
      • Decorators still required
        • @Elgarion volunteered for a small house, awaiting assignment
    • Success Stories (speaker @WrathPhoenix)
      • Got 2 new members involved in community projects, @Zader & @kayjo, they started to help decorate Hometown after asking how to become involved in the community, who then in turn went to Steam to post positive reviews.
    • Discord
      • Becoming more active, both the Official SotA Discord as well as the New Player Help Center
      • This promotes the concept of one day Discord becoming the primary VOIP choice for SotA, though now it still most prevalently TS3.
    • Steam Reviews
      • Discussed the problem, but basically thought the best recourse is to continue to assist new players in hopes to encourage a positive review.
      • A new wave of positive reviews would be helpful.
    • New Combat System (@Leostorm, @Lace, @WrathPhoenix)
      • Videos to train folks on the nuances of the combat system
    • SotAHelp.org (speaker, @Elgarion)
      • New expertise chart
      • Revamped to-do list to include a third category, "Later Development as Interest Levels, Dev Time, or New Tech Becomes Available" which allows @Elgarion to focus in on the Pending Projects better.
      • Notes Module in current design... Note Categories are:
        • Hospitaller Beware (sharing info on "malicious" players)
        • Hospitaller Needed (sharing info on players not fully helped)
        • Lesson Learned (sharing important items learned while providing support)
        • New Player Note (sharing a helpful note about a particular new player)
        • New Player Support Location (sharing a location which provides new player support)
        • New Player Support Project (sharing details on a project which supports new players)
        • Success Story (share your testimonials)
      • Notes will have 3 viewing levels:
        • Private notes to help keep you organized in your New Player Support endeavors
        • Hospitaller viewable so we can all stay on the same page
        • New Player Viewable (only certain note categories) so they may also benefit from the location
    • Round the Room
      • @Lace inquired how to make the Hospitaller Signs, @WrathPhoenix replied that they are not yet craftable. They are currently stored in The Novian Academy lot in Britanny.
      • @Lace offered up more details on the contest to have a point system to give particular credit for certain "stealables" and turn-in time schedules for multiple deadlines for submitting items.
      • @Elgarion mentioned that it is most wise that the contest holders/officiators are the ones burdened with all aspects of the contest, and the Hometown decoration crews (unless they also volunteer to assist with the contest) do not become burdened with additional tasks such as working nuances to the contest.
      • @Elgarion suggested a Contest Conversation Thread could be a good idea, which includes Hometown leaders and contest volunteers.
      • @Lady Kate discussed progress on the New Player Handbook which appears in your inventory upon login. She stressed that @dallas suggested that community resource/actual links should not be included so favoritism could be avoided. The handbook draft is currently in @dallas 's court, and we await his response.
      • @Womby brought up he has had progress with his real-estate video project but mentioned sound quality issues which might prompt recording some items again.
      • @WrathPhoenix needs dishes! Needs Stealables!


    Hospitaller Meeting Minutes on PaxLair TS3 Server 43.245.163.15:10099 (ALL ARE WELCOME TO ATTEND!)
    22 May 2016, Sunday 11 Central Time

    • Mathew "Berek'' Anderson Introduction/Closing Comments:
      • Expressed his excitement in how great the community is
      • Never seen such a dedicated community in any MMO he's experienced
      • Motivated us to keep moving forward and press on with great work
      • Expressed his future interest in helping us in our support endeavors
      • Said he'd give 1,000,000,000 gold to each Hospitaller, weekly
      • He didn't say that
    • New Player Experience:
      • Minerva expressed her son is having initial gameplay difficulties which she feels will be common to many new players
        • Quest system is not to his liking with long dialogues and illogical keywords
        • Berek mentioned this is a known problem and is also learning the game
          • Stated he's been playing MMO's for a decade and recognizes that he was also lost when initially playing the game
          • Enjoys the challenge of learning the game but recognizes the frustrations involved
          • Described that there is essentially a steeper learning curve
          • Described a goal to enhance challenge and frustrating difficulties
          • Asked the nature of this Hospitaller group in regards to its function with what type of goals or feedback we provide to the Developers
            • Kazyn described a brief summary of the goals and features within the Hospitaller program. "Players Helping Players" essentially
            • Laz brought up one of the Hospitaller goals for player retention
      • Minerva and Laz discussed an enhanced tutorial system inherent to the game which is opt out capable for those enjoying a greater challenge in learning a game
      • Doc Shroud brought up that hints should be displayed during loading scenes
      • Elgarion pointed out there is a new player experience stream by a Legion of Myth Streamer, MaxLiao (Callandryn Davilpine in game): https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PL7EtdhpcaaJWsMb51adj1p1x1NXNyEhLl
      • Winfield mentioned that we might want to get new players to express their experiences in a stream
      • Night Fury mentioned the possibility of eventually being able to remote in to help folks with remote connections.
    • Hospitaller Participation/Advertisement/Recruitment:
      • Laz brought up making the Hospitaller Program more public
      • Roper and others expressed concern about forum toxicity
      • Others expressed the forums are a necessary evil, if you will
    • Virtue Chapter Houses
      • Elgarion brought up the history/evolution of the Chapter House Concept
      • Minerva thought it was important that they are selfless concepts
      • Laz felt that the Chapter House program should not be part of the Hospitaller Program which many expressed similar concerns.
      • A consensus was reached to treat this as a separate program and only list it as a single resource on the resource page on SotAHelp.org
      • Winfield mentioned a SotAWiki page could also be devised
    • Conversation Limitations on Forums
      • Elgarion expressed interest in a change where the initial conversation topic could be edited permanently throughout the life of the conversation
      • Berek said to PM him the details to see what can be done
    • Roper reminded us of the offerings at the New Player Help Center
    • Kazyn has brought up the importance of Social Media to enhance advertising the SotA experience and promote new player support
    • Round the Room:
      • Doc Shroud was concerned about repeating/perpetuating drama and exclusive groups
      • EMPstrike mentioned progress with POT NP Support endeavors
      • Lace still working tutorial videos
      • Lady Kate promoted new player retention
      • Laz promoted the importance of Hospitaller diversity
      • Luca happy to be here
      • Roper happy to be here
      • Scroda "pew pew"
      • Sea Bear expressed concern over the need or difference with what the Virtue houses will offer and that he was happy to be a part of the group
      • Selene promoted House Honor in Verdantis which is stocked with scrolls and other supplies which could greatly aid the New Player endeavor
      • Stryker was weighed down heavily by transporting goods and could barely speak due to the effort :p
      • Womby mentioned progress with his projects such as the videos
      • Kazyn readdressed social media efforts and actual in-game new player support importance
      • Winfield really missed us. Because we're awesome. Awesomesauce. Let's bring that back. And Psych. That needs to come back too.
    • Public Roll-Out for Hospitaller Program
      • Laz summarized his previous comments about advertising the Hospitaller program
        • Expressed bringing our discussions public
        • Forum Toxicity was a concern
        • Kazyn brought up successful forums use for projects
        • Berek mentioned website work at shroudoftheavatar.com to include a new link in the Community drop-down for a portal for resources
        • Winfield mentioned how do we categorize resources, fan, dev sponsored, and what's in-between?
          • Berek gave thoughts on how things could be categorized BUT expressed much is to be figured out as of yet. Something is coming however!
          • Winfield wants a "how to play the game" as a resource
        • Berek expressed that a new conversation thread should be started to discuss SotA website and forum updates/changes
        • Selene brought up a sub-forum suggestion for Hospitallers -- to actual launch the discovery phase of the project.
          • Many including Laz expressed the need to be in deployment phase
          • Selene suggested its time to shut down the main conversation thread and go public
          • Elgarion expressed the need to still have off-line private discussions about the program, not to go completely public - mentioned the Hospitaller to Hospitaller discussion concepts (or the new Notes Module) at SotAHelp.org
      • Resources Page Forum Post for Hospitaller Program
      • Weekly Update Advertisement for Hospitaller Program
    • Half-Time Discussion Between Discussion Topics
      • Berek asked if IRC is still necessary
        • Many replied positively, others begrudgingly replied positively as a necessary evil, no negative replies to can IRC on the official SotA Site
        • Elgarion mentioned in TS3 chat that SotAHelp.org will incorporate the IRC client as well, but awaits IRC Moderator support... still.
      • Berek expressed more aggressive use of Social Media to retweet and like community projects
      • Berek expressed coming improvements and wider coverage of events for community calendar
    • Break-out Session for SotAHelp training and ideas
      • New Notes Module is live
        • Elgarion asked can Notes replace Hospitaller to Hospitaller questions? Consensus was yes, Notes replaces Hospitaller to Hospitaller questions.
      • Winfield discussed the importance of Language Support / Recruitment
      • Winfield discussed the nuance of Welcome Messages and Session Activity
        • A reminder to all Hospitallers, be sure to update your Welcome Message with helpful information and also to ensure that if your Session Activity is not populated with helpful information, to leave it blank so that when your hopefully helpful Welcome Message is inserted in its place, it gives the new player some idea of what you're all about and what type of help you can provide. Contact Elgarion if you'd like more info on this topic.
      • Elgarion Brought up SotAMap.com Integration at SotAHelp.org
        • Elgarion showed those attending the integration already at RPOTA.COM as an example and folks found that it could be helpful also at SotAHelp.



    Hospitaller Meeting Minutes on PaxLair TS3 Server 43.245.163.15:10099 (ALL ARE WELCOME TO ATTEND!)
    29 May 2016, Sunday 11 Central Time

    • @Elgarion
      • Reminder to folks to log-in to the SotAHelp site so new players know you're out there to whisper for help. Folks have described it makes it feel like work. Folks have described they don't see the point in logging in their sessions, but Elgarion pointed out the primary purpose for flagging yourself available is to... flag yourself as available GLOBALLY so not just the people next to you in-game can receive your assistance.
      • Lady Kate brought up the importance of the Hospitaller tag is also important.
    • @Lace
      • Brought up the idea for doing a video for SotAHelp.org, more of an ad, but training guide could also be done.
      • A great success story, a promotion for Hospitallers -- direct player help success. Guided a player through their first day of play.
      • Had questions about how to help advertise SotAHelp.org. The consensus is to be careful about direct guild tie-ins to the program to ensure it doesn't seem like it is a guild project, rather than a community wide project.
      • Rehashed the details on the SotAWiki tutorial video that Lace plans to make
    • @Acred aka Lady Kate
      • (Off Topic, Not Hospitaller Project): wanted added to House Honesty and House Spirituality
      • New Player Handbook
        • Asked for folks to provide bullet points about the New Player Handbook to present to @dallas and @Berek that espouse the importance of the book.
          • The New Player Handbook provides a more responsive update frequency due to engaged players, freeing up dev time.
          • Written from the player's perspective.
        • It was brought up that perhaps a "Latest Changes Section" prominently displayed at the beginning could even allow veteran players an advantage to see/focus in on the latest changes.
    • @Lazarus Long
      • Impressed by the vid progress and offered his assistance on the vid project
    • @Stryker Sparhawk
      • A few success stories to report for direct new player support.
      • Is concerned about the mixing of certain projects that cause the New Player / Hospitaller program to lose focus.
      • Brought up that Hospitaller signage is still available, @Lace requested a sign. They will deliver.
      • @Lady Kate requested that Stryker add Kacey Cupcakes to the house in Britanny where the signs are stored.
    • @Womby
      • Kacey and Stryker rerecorded all the audio for the housing videos, but progress is there! Womby is hard at work on it.
      • @Lace mentioned the vids should include perhaps a disclaimer the ensure folks know the Hometown workers do not get free mats or any advantage for the work there, @Elgarionadded the disclaimer could include a big thanks to their hard work. @Womby stated it could be in text form at the end, like a canned statement for all the videos
      • @Lazarus Long expressed concerns over how Hometown will be handled after launch in regards to abuse of stealing supplies or getting crafting xp for their work there.



    Hospitaller Meeting Minutes on PaxLair TS3 Server 43.245.163.15:10099 (ALL ARE WELCOME TO ATTEND!)
    5 June 2016, Sunday 11 Central Time


    @Justyn04
    • Ran into a frustrated new player / streamer, Quantum Joe and saw him pop into Discord and asked about resource gathering support. He was ready to rage quit. He posted a video which could be a helpful case study for the new player experience in SotA. Only intended to ever play single player but utilized multi-player to get help from the community.
    • Hometown -- still need decorators.
    • A negative thread about Hometown might require some addressing by the devs, @Berek @dallas . Oddly, there is a negative focus on this wonderful community project. They are concerns after final wipe that folks can level up their crafting abilities with free mats or stealing materials for personal gain. Also, there are many people who dedicate themselves (THOUSANDS of hours) who feel very upset right now that they're the recipients of such negativity. Putting the naysayers at ease about abuse plus congratulating/appreciating the endeavors of those involved could be in order.
    • Potential for making an official Hometown Thread, possible in Player Resources forum.

    @Acred (Lady Kate)
    • New Player Handbook is ready, one is published in House Honesty in PaxLair, and is almost ready for submission to the Devs, but she's awaiting review by Kacey and Winfield upon their return from HoBLotH.
    • Justification for the book was well received, and the possibility for it being in the inventory is promising.

    @Womby

    @Elgarion
    • Summarized the aforementioned (on the last 2 pages of this thread) changes to SotAHelp.org.
      • Hospitaller to Hospitaller question capability removed and replaced by Notes Section.
      • Resources page fleshed out into 3 categories
      • Please use the interface in the Resources tab to suggest more web, support location and video tutorial resources. Currently there is only Hometown and Lace's video loaded!
    • Wishes he was at HoBLoth...



    Hospitaller Meeting Minutes on PaxLair TS3 Server 43.245.163.15:10099 (ALL ARE WELCOME TO ATTEND!)
    12 June 2016, Sunday 11 Central Time


    NO MINUTES FOUND​




    Hospitaller Meeting Minutes on PaxLair TS3 Server 43.245.163.15:10099 (ALL ARE WELCOME TO ATTEND!)
    19 June 2016, Sunday 11 Central Time

    • Low activity rates believed to be related to upcoming Final Wipe?
      • Folks resting from burn-out before the big event?
    • Starting zones attracting a lot of guild formers
      • Elgarion mentioned this might be a good sign that once dormant people are becoming active prior to final wipe, starting their guilds prior to launch to get a jump on establishing themselves
      • Lace mentioned it might be from guilds splitting up forming new ones as a result
      • Lace noticed low activity with Hospitaller/Helper activity in Starter Towns
      • Elgarion mentioned the low login rate on SotAHelp.org
    • Minerva mentioned Violation's new auction system
    • Round the Room:
      • @Berek
        • Focusing on cleaning up the forums, content was not deleted just moved, consolidated
        • New Outlander Player Experience/First Time User Experience is a hot topic at Portalarium
        • Has a passion to improve the first impression of new players
        • Devs will become more active in Steam forums, reviews upon launch
        • First 6 hours of gameplay for new players is the strongest focus
          • Questing
          • User Interface/How to Use Chat
          • Setting Up Graphics
          • Combat
        • Has experienced the first time user experience first hand as he is also a new player
        • Solid-state drives a known concern, that Port uses them and don't see the problems many of the "spinny" users are experiencing with load times etc.
        • Finalized Community Rules and Guidelines:
          • Changes being worked
          • Award Program changes
          • Do's and Do Not's
          • Should be released sometime around Release 32
          • Will put a paragraph in describing the Hospitallers
        • Let the Crowns of the Obsidian threads live for a while to let the community vent a bit
        • If Hospitallers want to inform Berek of certain threads that might need his attention, please do so
        • Expressed to the positive helpful community that he can assist with dealing with folks that are negative folks that are hindering progress, just to point him in the right direction with PM's or the report feature.
        • Expressed that spending 90% of ones time to recapture 2 or 3 lost causes is not prudent. Spending that time on the much larger active community is more beneficial
        • Verbiage of Final Wipe and Launch will be clarified in upcoming Hangouts
          • Asked us to continue to spread the word on this key information to New Players
      • @Justyn04
        • New player activity is slow, been very quiet in-game
      • @WrathPhoenix
        • New Player Experience help will also help veteran players
        • Described transition from New Player area to areas completely different based upon the desire of the player. This implies paths of interest concepts.
        • Crafting complexity/explanations needed
        • Game Tips in Loading Screens
      • @Acred (Lady Kate)
        • Doesn't think Hospitallers should be enforcing items on the forums, @Berek replied that to instead use the Report Function in the Forums so that way the Hospitallers can retain a positive aura on the forums, not seen as Moderators
        • New Player Handbook -- great strides made
          • @FireLotus has extended it considerably and it will no longer fit inside an in-game book, Release 31 coming
      • @Lazarus Long
        • Also noting that things have been quiet
        • How does one join the program?
        • How does one get signs?
        • People have expressed concerns on about how to help other players
      • @Minerva
        • Different players have different approaches and differences in how much they can absorb.
        • Mentioned forum moderation is inconsistent
        • Expressed importance of stating Central time instead of NB time
      • @Elgarion
        • Calendar discussion might be prudent
        • Reminder, Activity Levels on Site
        • Resources needed for site!



    Hospitaller Meeting Minutes on PaxLair TS3 Server 43.245.163.15:10099 (ALL ARE WELCOME TO ATTEND!)
    26 June 2016, Sunday 11 Central Time


    @Acred Lady Kate
    • Conversation with new player, he was a counselor in another game and wanted to sign up at SotAHelp.org
    • New Player Handbook is on Dev+ side for review and in the new player inventory
    • Pathways in Conversation Thread (@Winfield described it fully):
      • Suggested we strongly support this concept
      • Folks chimed in they are a little behind on the conversation thread and we'll get into Paths next meeting in full strength after catching up :)
    @Lazarus Long
    • Interested in new Twitter API with SotAHelp, contact Elgarion for details.
    @Luka Melehan
    • Expressed interest in working with the Novian Academy
    @Stryker Sparhawk
    • Working on offering a class for Player Owned Town owners and how to interact with a town's features as well as how to be a steward to a town under another governor.
    @Womby
    • Change requests for player made quests more viable, stressing how important the "can only take one item from chest" concept to facilitate quests.
    • Here is the thread if you wish to join this battle :)
    • Womby might dive into another housing video, thank you Womby!
    @WrathPhoenix (Kazyn Phoenixfyre)
    • Novian Academy:
      • Planning in the works in prep for final wipe!
      • Goal to include many groups, community owned
    • Starr discussion yielded:
      • Signs are coming next release and craftable. Hospitaller Symbol will be a craftable one.
      • Permission system enhancements coming with R31 which will greatly benefit help centers which are handing out care packages. Also, the post office system will be enhanced!
    • Kickstarter backers were encountered that have only just now initially come into the game and are excited to see how it is coming along. They wished to join Hospitaller movement when they get up to speed.
    • Open Mic Night, Storytelling Hour is returning -- much to come after final wipe!
    • Party today, 6 Central, Jade Valley, Mal Hari & his wife returned from the Philippines!
    @Berek
    • Requested ideas for telethon
      • Kazyn suggested a Gustball tourney
      • Elgarion suggested Crafting and Combat tutorials and the repository of TheCaverns material
      • Stryker suggested 101 Ways to Use an Obsidian Crown
    @Elgarion
    • SotAHelp has transitioned to a new hosting service which will allow for server side/PHP scripting to expand for future functionality
    • SotAHelp now speaks to Twitter! Through use of a service like Zapier.com, Elgarion was able to enable SotAHelp to create tweets on the SotAHelp Twitter account. If you'd like more details, please contact Elgarion
    • Pending, not approved, but has been requested: requesting a /sotahelp <variable> command just like SotAWiki has for webhooks. Response still pending
    • Minutes from last week's meeting still waiting on @Berek to approve so we can ensure he wasn't misquoted. Elgarion gave a gentle reminder :p



    Hospitaller Meeting Minutes on PaxLair TS3 Server 43.245.163.15:10099 (ALL ARE WELCOME TO ATTEND!)
    3 July 2016, Sunday 11 Central Time


    MAIN TOPICS:
    • Reminder to login to SotAHelp during the meetings. Elgarion stressed that is the the global method to let new players know that you are available to help them.
    • In-Game Resources Needed, please provide write-ups which describe resource to Elgarion for publishing at SotAHelp.org (or post them on SotAHelp using the suggestion feature on that page).
    • Pathways:
      • @Winfield brought up Pathways and provided a Link to SotAWiki.net Pathways Page which really fleshes out the concept.
      • A collection of help topics and resources and keeping track of their publication dates as well as providing links to those pathways.
      • This concept will help us all to work together to keep track of the current and out-of-date resources.
      • @Womby requested a pathway for becoming a Hospitaller.
      • Winfield suggested the Novian Academy classes can be listed in the pathways as well.
      • Hopes to have the Pathways concept advertised SotA wide eventually.
    • Outlander Tags/Hospitaller tags might be being potentially utilized by players due to the uniqueness in color, not for their intended purpose. Roper said he's seen a player utilizing the Hospitaller tag as a guild recruitment tool.
    • @Acred mentioned that new rolled Avatars will have a copy of the New Player Guide/Handbook in their inventories now.

    ROUND THE ROOM:
    • @Elgarion
      • Brought up the migration to the new hosting service, which allows for additional API/PHP capabilities, was successful.
      • The Video Tutorial section was revamped to show release dates and makes release #'s more visible.
      • Hoping for 24hr coverage by Hospitallers on SotAHelp.org before final wipe or perhaps launch.
    • @Grimace
      • Looking for out of date resources that require updating to match current in-game features.
      • Expressed we're really starting to see the fruits of our labor and that Port is listening to the feedback provided to them.
    • @Gurney
      • Impressed by the display of the Hospitaller titles in-game and those players' willingness to help.
      • Embraced the anti-virtues and wishes to kill all new players :p
    • @Acred (Lady Kate)
      • Noticed more returning players and new players. The question she gets most is how to select someone for talking to someone or emoting towards them. (Shift-Click)
      • Going forward, she felt that players feel many of the public events are actually private, and that their public nature should be stressed.
      • Believes we should try to harness the energy of Hospitallers who are not involved in the meetings.
    • @Lazarus Long
      • Requested information about API/LUA and Elgarion stated there is some progress to work towards getting an in-game SotAHelp command similar to SotAWiki's.
      • Finds that new players are most frustrated with learning the targeting system.
      • Hopes for launch (not necessarily final wipe) that the Hospitaller program can become more streamlined and important to people and hopes for more new user training.
      • Expressed concerns that some folks might be protective or secretive of what they've learned about the game.
    • @Luka Melehan
      • Visiting Finland and will be working out of that location and her schedule will vary due to time differences.
      • Loving the Pathways idea and she'll invest some time in the Novian Academy soon after speaking to Kazyn for more info.
    • @Minerva
      • Learning the new changes to help her teach the R31
      • Thinking their could be a site, one-stop-shop for learning of all the guilds in the game.
      • Happy for the return of @Winfield and she likes fish!
      • Reminded folks about the Kingsday Celebrations! Next up, the PvP event at Britanny Alleys -- Kings Tournament.
    • @Roper Docholiday
      • Posed as a New Player, noticed more people talked to him as a female character.
      • Major issues reported to him which he explains to new players:
        • New targeting system
        • Movement is sluggish/wonky
        • "How do I do quests?"
      • Brought up the End of the World Party, stating there's a block open to showcase the Hospitaller program (the opening is 3-4 Central Time). @Winfield is looking for a POC to run this Hospitaller event. None were identified or could commit as of yet to run the Hospitaller segment. He's reserving that time slot in advance, even with the facilitator pending.
    • @Stryker Sparhawk
      • Working on a class/syllabus for a POT class
        • Hands On
        • How do I work as a Steward for a POT
        • Likely will be multiple sessions
      • Most questions posed to Stryker by new players are housing, permission system, and geographical questions.
    • @Womby
      • Housing video in the works. Looking for a complete set of decorated Adobe Homes for this upcoming video. Plan B is to dive into another house category.
    • @WrathPhoenix
      • Discussion with Port about permission systems was fruitful
      • Currently working with a disabled player who is paralyzed on half their body. He is learning new aspects of a player's possible challenges to play the game.
      • Might have some technical work-arounds developed soon to help players
    • @Winfield
      • Footstomped the following items that were addressed at the meeting:
        • 24hr coverage concept before final wipe or launch
        • The concerns of the targeting system is causing some difficulties in the new player community.
        • Refreshing helper material such as guides and videos to be current with the version of the game.
        • Get New Players drawn into event and in-game tutorial activity.
        • Asked about Novian Academy's state of creation. Kazyn expressed it can be anywhere. It is more of a concept than a location. Kazyn said the classes are in the works.
      • Expressed the need for an "Outreach Person" who takes on the role of advertising the Hospitaller program to recruit additional support/members.



    Hospitaller Meeting Minutes on PaxLair TS3 Server 43.245.163.15:10099 (ALL ARE WELCOME TO ATTEND!)
    10 July 2016, Sunday 11 Central Time


    HOT TOPICS:
    • Please ensure the first 20 or so minutes of the game is frustration free, fully explained. The New Player Experience is still very painful.
    • End of the World Party:
      • Winfield mentioned that teleport scrolls and welcome baskets will be required and will put out the word for their creation.
      • It will be occurring before final wipe.
    • Per @Sophi 's suggestion, and the room as energized to concur, we'll get all the minutes posted publicly on the Hospitallers / SotAHelp.org -- Players Helping Players thread on the forums. @Elgarion also stated we should publicize the upcoming meeting agenda before the meetings. There is some concern over trolls.
    ROUND THE ROOM:
    • @Winfield
      • Suggested a pop-up window that is accessible by hotkey which brings up a window with all the commands and shortcut keys. Felt that the challenge of learning mechanics is unnecessary to be a Lord British game, the challenge of learning the story and quests and required actions is key.
      • Suggested a quick reference window in the interface which is a summarized view only version of the key bindings. Elgarion suggested also that it could be a window that only stays open whilst holding down its hotkey, then closes when the key is released for extra quick reference capability, and that the window's listed keys will update as you change your key bindings in the options menu.
      • Iconology should be used on the Overworld map to help differentiate location types.
      • Welcome Baskets:
        • Wonders what people have been putting in them
        • @Minerva stated that the game is still in flux, and they might have more solidified contents after Final Wipe
        • End of the World Party should have Welcome Basket handouts
        • @Acred stated cloaks can be placed into Welcome Baskets since folks might not have one depending on their Pledge Level (or might not know how to initially claim their items).
        • Wants to do a breakout meeting after the main meeting to come up with the 1.0 version of a welcome basket so we can get started for the End of the World party.
      • Briefly mentioned the Pathways concept and how to improve one's PvPenis. :p
    • @Berek
      • @Lum is the main man for the pop-up messages for the New Player Experience. @Berekstated the speed that they're popping up is a known problem and has been brought up. Stated that if you're ready for the pop-up message, you can read it, but if you're not ready, there isn't enough time to read it.
        • Was thinking a Click to Continue feature might be helpful, but requested feedback if this regard from Hospitallers.
        • Agreed that the speed alteration is an easy fix.
        • Mentioned that the "Where is my Journal" concern is part of a larger concern about ensuring the player is instructed about the interface as needed.
      • Brought up the Message of the Day concept and how helpful it will be about reporting bugs and to provide announcements for community events.
        • @Lazarus Long suggested that it could also be utilized for promoting various SotA resources and newsletters.
        • @Minerva brought up the importance of having a guild MOTD.
        • @Winfield brought up it would be great to have POT MOTD's.
        • @Justyn04 said the town MOTD should auto-populate when they auto-login in a town AND when they enter the town.
        • @Berek said we should post it on the forums and let the full community chime in so he can start including it on certain community reaction reports
    • @Elgarion
      • Law/Oath/Motto
      • SotAHelp/Pathways
        • Explained how SotAHelp is featuring the Pathway concept.
      • SotAHelp In-Game Command
        • Might put it on hold until we can prove the site is going to be successful.
    • @Justyn04
      • Brought up the New "New Player Experience" concept
        • Approached it as a New Player with no experience and took a page of notes which were really hard.
        • Messages are popping up too fast in the beginning
        • Path decision part kept saying items were being put in her journal, but never explained what a journal is or how to access it. She also said "Journal" about 1,327,512 times :p
      • Will PM the experience items she recorded to @Berek
      • Excited about the focus on the first 20 minute experience
    • @Acred (Lady Kate)
      • Suggested that second monitor use or alt-tabbing out to use outside resources should not be a near requirement for easing the New Player Experience.
      • Likes that the range of our activities we bring into these discussions for the Hospitaller program and the meetings are a great place to express our ideas for New Player and Community support.
    • @Lazarus Long
      • Defended the Lord British games typically require thought, which is more of an old-time player mentality. Elgarion nodded his head, but nobody could see it. :p
      • Reminded us about the video idea where we all record video and vocally express our concerns as we restart our characters and use those videos to show the devs examples of how difficult the experience can be.
    • @Mal Hari
      • Liked the idea about Guild at Town MOTD's, enjoyed the meeting and is glad to be back!
    • @Minerva
      • Excited about final wipe!
    • @Sophi
      • Disagrees about non-immersive items being added to the new player experience. Likes the help window that pops up on demand.
      • Feels the opinions of this small group of people have more Developer visibility that the broader community. Thinks we should be more visible and transparent as to how the New Player Initiative is also a think-tank for developing ideas for the Devs.
    • @Stryker Sparhawk
      • Asked the question:
        help request for decorating houses at Hometown for the upcoming Housing Video
    • @Doctor Shroud
      • Loves the new scenes, especially Solace Bridge. Agrees the first 20 minutes is vital, but must be the game itself should be guide and should be immersive.
      • Feels that new player support should be personalized, 1 on 1 and not to ask the questions for the player. Simplicity is key.

    BREAK OUT SESSIONS:
    • Pathways on SotAHelp.org Discussion
    • Welcome Baskets



    Hospitaller Meeting Minutes on PaxLair TS3 Server 43.245.163.15:10099 (ALL ARE WELCOME TO ATTEND!)
    17 July 2016, Sunday 11 Central Time


    Please come out and join us for the upcoming Hospitaller Meeting!​
     
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  15. Elgarion

    Elgarion Dev Emeritus Dev Emeritus

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    Sounds like a challenging venture BUT there's lot of potential for it to become a wonderfully rewarding enterprise :) I think you are probably the go to person for SotA in Thailand! Is Steam in Thailand? Do their prices change across that border? Curious...
     
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  16. Elgarion

    Elgarion Dev Emeritus Dev Emeritus

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    SotAHelp Update:

    New Video Posted: Lace's Guide to Vendor Pricing and Finding Good Deals
    With the robust player run regional economies of Shroud of the Avatar, a player will encounter many many player run vendors which display their wares, but which to buy? Which are good deals? Which are overpriced? These questions (and many many more) are answered by Hospitaller Lace's insightful video! Keep in mind, she mentions pricing will be changing in future versions of the game as final wipe approaches but the concepts she discusses can resound amongst wise shopping decisions for many game versions to come. This video is current as of R31.

    Great video, @Lace! A very helpful and insightful vid :)
     
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  17. Time Lord

    Time Lord Avatar

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    ~Amazing Thailand~:)
    I haven't had any luck with steam here, mostly because it's in Thai language of what there is. I do however know that there's certain games such as Tropico and it's other sequels which are banned here. As for steam... steam can't be changed from Thai, back to English on their site, "which will make it very difficult to ever know what is offered there", unless you know how to read Thai.

    I've often wondered about adjustments in pricing for such Asian markets, because it's adjustments in pricing which have made many Asian airlines so successful here. Air Asia and Virgin were among the leaders who made such low prices encourage local travelers to buy tickets.

    As far as Asian gaming stores and their prices, "I haven't see any difference at all between them and the western market prices".

    Where Thailand excels, is in the prices of high end personal computers, made anywhere in Asia, "yet if any of their components are made in Thailand, then they are much cheaper". This is because of Thailand's trading practices. If any company is bringing in products that have employed their people by setting up a factory within their boarders, then import taxes are drastically cut for that manufacturer.

    If I bought a computer in the USA and had it shipped to Thailand, then it would very likely incur as much as a 70% import tax. I found that out when shipping an electric bicycle from the USA to here.
    That's a real wake-up call when a postman won't deliver your item until you pay them ;)

    It's living expenses here that the Thai Government wishes to keep down, while raising all their people's standard of living. The farmer as well as the executive in their mind all need to be clothed, housed and supplied a rich abundance of good food, "yet luxuries remain luxuries and at the same prices as the rest of the world.
    ~Time Lord~:rolleyes:
     
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  18. Winfield

    Winfield Legend of the Hearth

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    REMINDER:

    Weekly Hospitaller Voice Meeting (1 hour)

    Sunday 11AM Central Time (US)


    Voice Server: Pax et Veritas (PaxLair) TeamSpeak3
    IP: 43.245.163.15:10099

    ALL ARE WELCOME TO ATTEND!

    Standard agenda:

    We go through Areas of Interests:
    • Hospitallers (face to face support)
    • In-game Resources
    • Out-of-game Resources
    • New Tech Ideas

    We cover for each Area:
    • What's been happening?
    • What's going to happen?
    • Are there any roadblocks?
     
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  19. Sophi

    Sophi Avatar

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    Perusing the published minutes that are posted above, it is not clear to me what suggestions are being presented as specific ideas/requests to the devs for changes to the new player experience.

    Since I imagine that those are presented from the group to the devs in written form, it would be easy enough to also publish them here in the forums. This would allow feedback from both New Player Project folks who are unable to attend the meetings as well as from the larger sota community.

    I would very much like to know what suggestions are being presented to the devs, perhaps there are others who would also be interested.
     
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  20. Doctor

    Doctor Avatar

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    I must agree with Sophi. It's nice to understand what us avatars are suggesting that has or will be added to the game. All the talk about hospitallers got the developers to create objects and titles.

    It's understandable that developers read comments and take the feedback and build on it on any post and PM. But what exactly are the developers taking from our meetings and PM forum and will it be proposed to the rest of the community before it becomes official?

    It's like a log book. It's nice to acknowledge how we influence the game and how awesome the community is. Knowing that developers hear our suggestions gives a good image to new people. Let us all be one community. There will be disagreements, and annoying avatars wanting to nickpick. Nevertheless, we are all in it for the same thing right?
     
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