Hospitallers -- Players Helping Players

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

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  1. Raistlyn

    Raistlyn Avatar

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    Thanks Elgarion, I will don the tag and help anyone who wants help. :)
    Ill join the meetings when I can as well.
    cheers
     
  2. Elgarion

    Elgarion Dev Emeritus Dev Emeritus

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

    Main Topics:

    • New Player Experiences:
      • Justyn: quiet week
      • Lazarus: quiet week due to SotACon
      • Lady Kate: helped a few folks with roving encounters, saw this as kind of a pick-up group, which was nice
      • Stryker: LFG channel in Discord seems to be working, has noticed people finding groups via that channel
      • Elgarion: decent amount of question activity in Hospitaller Discord chat channel
    • In-Game Support Locations or Concepts:
      • Elgarion: found the services that Vyrin and Womby are doing for bookstores to be very clever and helpful to publishers
    • Website/Out-of-Game Projects:
      • SotACon October 2017, Austin
      • Elgarion noticed a crafting site, sotacrafting.wiki
      • Lady Kate: noticed lots of questions are getting answered on SotA forums
      • Elgarion noticed that the best way to search for forums for answering your questions is by backing out to Google.com, typing "Shroud of the Avatar" then the item you are searching for.
    • New Tech:
      • Lazarus has a new foot pedal for push-to-talk :p
      • Stryker: noticed the POT NPC buildings got a pass for cosmetic and functionality improvements, to include more furniture
      • Lazarus: heard that the forced Outlander guild concept has been trashed. Alliances still on the table.
      • Roper DocHoliday: Biggest thing he noticed was news of COTO's fixing armor only partially is upsetting people, evidently there are people claiming they'll quit the game over this. Roper comments on a Fortifying power for item repair. He does not expect people to be using as many resources to create items, nor use up all the crafting materials in the game. He suggests a bulk order system to encourage crafters to have another goal than just making items.
        • Room went back and forth on this concept quite a bit, people rallied to both sides, crafters and pay-to-play folks.

    Round the Room:
    • Minerva: SotACon was great, wish everyone was there! Had been discouraged with the way the game has been going, but SotACon has reinvigorated her to a total new degree -- so so happy she went.
    • Elgarion: great meeting!
    • Grimace: hoping for meeting move time and to Discord, and announcing topics ahead of time and promoting these topics for encouraged attendance. Thread in the forums about Gustball event for telethon to include the developers, link:
      https://www.shroudoftheavatar.com/f...ournament-nov-20th-3pm-nbt.69261/#post-698668
    • Justyn: Slow week for her, panic deco time ;) Nothing exciting to report
    • Lady Kate (Acred): Crafting crafting crafting
    • Lazarus: great time at SotACon, Richard was putting in ideas/bugs etc throughout the meeting into their work schedule
      https://www.shroudoftheavatar.com/forum/index.php?threads/sota-con-austin-2017.70799/
    • Rada Torment: Has been utilizing Discord to help new players quite a bit
    • Roper DocHoliday: (added to New tech section)
    • Selene: brought up the Discord for the meeting option, and switching it to 2 weeks -- being put off until next week until Winfield's return, also said, "yay meeting!"
    • Stryker Sparhawk: LB sighting at Rift's End, got some folks to buy a viking bundle ;)
     
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  3. Mykll

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    About moving the meeting to Discord (I've yet to attend the meetings, even though I bookmarked I think the meeting TS server) talking about using the Hospitallers (Help) voice channel in Discord?
     
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  4. Elgarion

    Elgarion Dev Emeritus Dev Emeritus

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    That likely will be the proposed new location. This discussion got shelved before there was even an official SotA Discord server, and now that there is and its being utilized by far greater numbers than our current location, we're hoping for a lot of additional participation with the new venue. Some folks have trouble with Discord, our only worry.
     
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  5. Mykll

    Mykll Avatar

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    Cool thanks. Wasn't sure if it would have gone to a chat channel (NO) or use an existing voice channel, etc. But regardless where, I do love the minutes being posted and kept here.
     
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  6. Solazur

    Solazur Avatar

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    well dang @Elgarion ,

    I meant to try and make it.. thanks for posting the notes. I haven't "flagged" as a Hospitaller.. mostly because I feel so ignorant about so many things myself but i try and answer up (discord) if I have a clue as to the answer. I DID have a cool experience last night however...a player I used to chat with in earlier releases had been away from the game for a while and said they were really struggling to get any traction out of the gate. Now I have always been in he "teach them to fish" school so I did not bust my bank loading them up with a phat wallet and +12 stuff (none of which I have anyway) however I was able to put my skills to use...crafted them some decent starter gear and took em out for a little basic leveling. I must also say I like the new distance thing (40m or w/e it is) instead of park at the gate and watch your XP rise. Hell that was the most fun I've had in ages. Also, while I'm sure it's all been said before, I appreciate all the work that has gone into this and the sotahelp website in particular.

    Good stuff!
     
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  7. Numa

    Numa Avatar

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    I think a starter equipment set for new players is a great idea. Specially if we teach the recipes to them so they can replace it if need be. 250g per recipe is a steep price for someone just starting out.
     
  8. Elgarion

    Elgarion Dev Emeritus Dev Emeritus

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

    Main Topics:

    • New Player Experiences:
      • Lady Kate noticed more logins and also is noticing less new people, lots of higher health bars indicative to this.
    • In-Game Support Locations or Concepts or Events:
      • Roper had in-game events that were tested as an in-house concept for his guild but plans to have it opened up to all next time
      • Stryker promoted Lace's GM crafting classes, the next one coming in December
      • Getting word out on events was discussed: Concerning regular (monthly) re-occuring player organized events - can we help get the organizers to contact Berek a full day before to add it to the MOTD shown on log in.
      • Roper stated that we should get word out to community leaders to ensure they know how to advertise their events.
        • Stryker suggested creation of a press kit to be given to community leaders interested in
    • Website/Out-of-Game Projects:
      • Discord Useage:
        • Elgarion pointed out that in the Discord Hospitaller Chat channel, people can scroll back to see all the past activity.
        • Temujin stated he's doing a LOT of assistance on Discord Hospitaller Chat
      • SotAHelp.org: break-out session after discussiong revamp, no minutes.
      • Discussions about keeping guides updated occurred, such as SotAWiki, cheat sheets etc.
        • With game changes constantly occurring during design, keeping things updated with limited contributors keeps accuracy being an overwhelming task
        • Roper brought up non-wiki sites are sometimes having better success in certain areas, such as other crafting sites
        • Minerva stated anyone can fix items on SotAWiki -- Elgarion mentioned there are guides made by @Lace which train people on how to update the SotAWiki
        • Berek suggested cross-sharing between sites, just referencing material
        • Winfield asked if these imports can be possible from Portalarium raw data to help maintain these sites, Berek said he'd look into it (or did he say... "Good question...") hehe
        • Minerva stated the crafting sites are still very useful with the new discovery recipe changes, since people are gathering materials to provide to others so the items can be crafted for them
    • New Tech:
      • In-Game Welcome Message now has links! Berek can adjust these, be sure to let him know if you need something advertised (community activity/event)
      • Hospitaller Tag: still seeing usage. Laz noticed the Hospitaller tag was getting by new folks just due to the color. Temujin stated he's getting most help requests from Discord. Roper brought up maybe the color should be reverted to normal so less people would use it for a purpose other than its intent.
        • Winfield brought up maybe the concept of Outlander title being tied to an expiration concept.
          • Roper stated it shouldn't be attached to time, it should be attached to character advancement.
          • Lazarus stated perhaps just the color expires with time or stats so that way people can still utilize the tag.
          • Elgarion stated perhaps when proposing tech changes, to include possibilities of how the tech can be utilized for other concepts, like this for instance, where someone is diseased or poisoned or low health, their tag color could change to indicate it.
      • Minerva suggested new tech concepts to help Berek track and organize community events, more forum related, included concepts for community members being able to share some of the burden without sacrificing security (web forms for submission, with specific fields etc for the concept). Elgarion volunteered to help with design. This conversation will be continued in the future, either as a break-out session after this meeting or another meeting.
    Round the Room:
    • Berek: community hangouts will be occuring every week there isn't a stream -- two have occurred. Loved SotACon and things the community is what this is all about. Was so happy to meet everyone during the event! Said the MOTD can also have this tech for links.
      • "Fall into Winter" Telethon Title is coming, 28 November!
        • 2 Community Hours!
          • 2PM (CST) Homes of New Britannia Screenshot Contest!
          • 6PM (CST) Community Hour
            • Vyrin & Womby's Bookstores
            • Support Website Promotions
            • New Player Support Concepts/Activities
          • 11PM (CST) Adventure Hour
            • Midras Ruins
            • Ravensmoor
            • R...isle?
            • Desolace
      • Weekly Community Livestreams (every week that there isn't a stream)
        • 18 November Livestream:
        • Hometown was discussed last time
        • Looking for ideas for these weekly live streams!
        • Generally on Fridays at 4CST (right after release dance parties if its on the same week)
    • Minerva: loved the one-on-one access at SotACon
    • Elgarion: taming lately, hasn't been happy with the system, and been grinding away for gold to buy 7 public access chests. Stated that if something is even indirectly related to new players and improving their in-game lives, it is welcome to be discussed.
    • Gurney: been digesting new release content and helping new players with the transition. So much to say from folks in such a compressed time. Good meeting.
    • Justin Credible: been 10 years, getting back into the PaxLair community as of yesterday. Didn't reactivate UO account (yet?) Ready for some gaming now that winter is here! New player (1 day old) enjoyed listening in and liked seeing this community interaction and planning.
    • Justyn: Deco deco deco! Deco! Stated we get off track with our meeting's intent and deviate from New Player support.
    • Lady Kate (Acred): crafting and been going on hunts with new players, rewarding week! Agreed with Justyn that there's a lot of topic overlap, but is happy to hear about it.
    • Lazarus: still licking his wounds from the SotACon injury (broken wrists). Concurs that non-new player support concept should be tabled until side-bars afterwards for purposes of expediency for the meeting.
    • Rada Torment: (pasted from TS3 Chat, chat only) Wished I had been there with some of you guys in sota con but I'm living in Europe, but happy to hear all your experiences and feedback. In game I have been playing with my two "new" guild mates, and I found two new players asking for help. One of them was an Italian new player and due to some language issues I talked with Katrina Bekers (she lives in italy), she kindly offered to help him. Pointed out this post is no longer updated and perhaps there should be migrated to someone actively maintaining it:
    • Roper DocHoliday: been working SotACon Austin details/security. Has a Children's Hospital project brewing related to SotA! Thinks we've gone past our original mission plan, but doesn't think its necessarily a bad thing, but thinks we might need to refocus like Justyin stated.
    • Sean Silverfoot: was happy to meet so many folks at SotACon, been working on PaxLair. Talked to some folks who were experiencing a change in thought once they got to hear things directly from the developers. Roper brought up
    • Stryker Sparhawk: been plugging the Hospitaller meeting on Avatars Radio, been helping new players by answering questions. Had new players attend the last Happy Hour. Also feels the topics can be reigned in to be New Player Support.
    • Temujin: noticing the questions are getting more advanced, indicating more knowledgeable new player base. Feels confused sometimes that we talk about so much beyond new player support.
    • Womby: 1PM Austin Time (today, 20NOV) will be a grand opening of the Womby/Vyrin bookstore branch -- door prizes will be given! https://www.shroudoftheavatar.com/f...f-vyrin-wombys-new-location-in-estgard.71105/
    • Winfield: had a fantastic time at SotACon, spoke of Laz's unfortunate broken wrist mishap. Got to be master of ceremonies at SotACon -- had a fantastic time with developers, sometimes as late as 2AM! Lots of fun :)
     
    Last edited: Nov 20, 2016
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  9. Wintermute of CoF

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    If you want to specifically search the forums with Google use this syntax:

    Code:
    site:shroudoftheavatar.com/forum/ whatever you're searching for
     
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  10. Winfield

    Winfield Legend of the Hearth

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  11. Elgarion

    Elgarion Dev Emeritus Dev Emeritus

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    Ooooh, I like that Wintermute -- I'm going to see if I can make a tool on SotAHelp that automatically starts a search that way :) Super super handy :)

    Folks be sure to put a space between the code he offered and your topic you are searching for -- for instance:

    site:shroudoftheavatar.com/forum/ taming
     
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  12. Elgarion

    Elgarion Dev Emeritus Dev Emeritus

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    Ah, no worries, so many meetings to come. We look forward to having you and hearing from you! I started off quite unknowledgeable but I feel I'm slowly getting the hang of things. A lot of times I'm asking people questions so I can answer questions lol, but as time passes, I'm learning more and more. For instance, I finally tackled taming, so I'm ready to help folks with that subject. So any help is fantastic, and sometimes even just pointing someone in the right direction to find their answer is all they need :)

    Glad you like the new 40m change for grouping and sharing xp. I also think this is really going to help group dynamics and encourage more exciting group gameplay :) I mean really, how fun is it to just sit at an entrance and let someone grind for you?

    Thanks again, Solazur -- see you soon!
     
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  13. Wintermute of CoF

    Wintermute of CoF Avatar

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    There is actually a Google tool specifically for that sort of thing: Google Custom Search Engine. You add a selection of URLs you want the search to be restricted to, select a look and feel and then click 'Save & Get Code' to get some JavaScript which can be added to your web page. It's a free service so there will be ads, but there would be if you went directly to Google.
     
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  14. Elgarion

    Elgarion Dev Emeritus Dev Emeritus

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    Ah! Very very cool -- I'll be looking this over and trying it out! Thanks Wintermute :)
     
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  15. Elgarion

    Elgarion Dev Emeritus Dev Emeritus

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

    Main Topics:

    • New Player Experiences:
      • Justyn noticed people having troubles with complexity of game
        • Elgarion stated the complexity is appealing to certain types of players, a turn-off to those looking for a simple game
        • Justyn stated people are still lost upon new arrival into the game
      • Justyn notices it takes about 4 hours of teaching per new player to give them the basics before they're sent off into the world
      • Justyn stated there are so many mechanics that are not the norm compared to other games, its a huge learning curve for new players
      • Temujin had 2 friends that joined the game with him, but they're missing key concepts of the game even after significant play
      • People seem to think that having played prior MMO's it'll be easy to adjust to this game, much in the room disagree with this and feel this is a problematic expectation that it is similar to other MMO's.
      • Elgarion will start new thread to track all New Experience Improvement Ideas to run along side the minutes/Hospitaller/SotAHelp thread.
      • Justyn brought up that the in-game tutorial manuals need to be reviewed each month or two by Hospitallers to ensure stuff is still accurate
    • In-Game Support Locations or Concepts or Events:
      • Lace hosted another Masterwork Crafting Class
    • Website/Out-of-Game Projects:
      • Discord Useage:
        • Elgarion stated still lots of Discord question activity
        • Elgarion found a new site, sotalore.com which has a strong emphasis on agriculture
      • Lady Kate is curious about the new apps that are popping up, hoping for more information on these apps,
        • More research coming, use at own risk!
        • Justyn curious is these items or items like it are officially approved or accepted by Portalarium
          • SotA HUD
          • SotA Navigator
          • SAM (Shroud of the Avatar Mini-Map)
      • SotAHelp.org:
        • Elgarion is revamping SotAHelp, hopefully to be complete before the Telethon, removing access to a LOT of unused/underutilized modules.
    • New Tech:
      • Elgarion stated there should be 1 Tutorial NPC that stores ALL the Tutorial Quests -- that NPC should be automatically loaded into everyone's map compass for each starter town. Lady Kate suggested, Arabella.
    Round the Room:
    • Minerva: glad she survived Thanksgiving and Black Friday, this last week she's barely had time to play
    • Elgarion:
    • Gurney: bad experience with Hospitaller 1-2 days ago. 13 Hospitallers online, and asked a simple question and had to wait for a response 10 minutes and only 2 answered.
      • Lazarus stated is that its because people have lingering discord logins even when not available
      • Elgarion has some special instructions
    • Justin Credible:
    • Justyn: meeting went well, talked about a lot of important stuff
    • Lady Kate (Acred): thankful to hear everyone's viewpoints
    • Lazarus: good meeting as always, great info, great topics
    • Roper DocHoliday: good meeting, said the !signon and !signoff concept in Discord needs advertised
    • scroda: thanks, good
    • Solazur: no comments
    • Temujin: working on Discord Hospitaller activity of late
     
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  16. Solazur

    Solazur Avatar

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    Ugh....11 CST... I missed it again didn't I?

    shoot.. I got into the mining groove... till I saw my clock said 5:30...prayed kids would sleep in but.... HA HA HA>..

    I"ll try harder next week
     
    Last edited: Nov 27, 2016
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  17. Elgarion

    Elgarion Dev Emeritus Dev Emeritus

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    Hahaha, no worries! Next week, same time, same place!
     
  18. Saladid

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    Saladid Atreides

    I have been helping people through my stream, so if you ever got a question just pop into stream and ask. I have a set schedule but i also play beyond those times and days. The time on stream is just a guarantee.

    https://www.twitch.tv/saladid
     
    Last edited: Nov 28, 2016
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  19. Elgarion

    Elgarion Dev Emeritus Dev Emeritus

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    Oooh nice! Post the stream info please ;)
     
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  20. Saladid

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    sotahelp.org

    im getting a fatal error when trying to get onto the page
     
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