Please direct new players to the game manual

Either the on-line version, or a local copy if one is installed with the rest of the game files. Maybe even links that will bring up the manual (either in a web browser, or launch whatever a players default PDF reader is, provided the local copy is in PDF format).

There's a wealth of information in the manual that I've gotten either from fumbling within the game, or watching others try to explain via youtube videos. Maybe even mention the manual as a useful tip on loading screens.

Mention the manual on anything that doesn't break immersion. Thinking menus, skills screen, combat deck screens, there are probably other places where a link to the manual would be super helpful.

 

there absolutely should be MORE references to it.

...BUT one of the mini-quests when starting a new character, before you even leave the isle of storms, is to pick up AND READ the player instruction book, which has the URLs for both the player instructions and the known issues in it. LB has been trying to get players to read useful information for decades.

 

https://docs.google.com/document/d/1Z-svq1OvcZwViqGxFCKdjH3NCn2LTfLuGny5qaAqjTM/pub#h.p61sqmppdj77

 

...has its own nice little redirect link:

http://www.shroudoftheavatar.com/playerinstructions

and

http://www.shroudoftheavatar.com/knownissues

 

Aaawww, good times, good memories, when Britannia felt like a different, living, breathing world.

 

I started by trying SotA for a few hours.

Then i took a whole week off and spent it reading through the entire manual before i played again.

I like how they highlight new information whenever they add to it, though.

Reading is definitely not my thing. My reading speed is slow as molasses. >_<

 

My bad again. The game is perfect. I willingly turn in my casual gamer card, in exchange for my "drooling idiot, barely capable of tying his own shoes" card. Please do not hate me. I will refrain from playing again until I have a chance to absorb the manual in its entirety, and spend some serious time in self reflection.

 

??

you seem to have missed the part where i agreed with you. it should be made more visible.

 

I'm tired. I'm frustrated. I like this game, and I'd like to see it succeed. But I willingly admit to myself that I like it despite its flaws. Every time that I bring up one of the flaws as constructive criticism, I seem to be told that "No, this is not a flaw, the problem is you." I have been playing this game since February or March, and I did not, until today, even know that there was a manual. And when I bring this up as a flaw (this thread, well written and some potential solutions to a problem), my first response is "yes, but you really should have seen this in your first minutes of play". Again, I am the problem. I get defensive.

 

@Deana Beretta
The ? in the upper-right of the game screen opens the Player Guide in a browser window.

 

Sorry for your feeling disparaged. It unfortunately appears to happen a lot around here.

But to be fair, every avatar starts with a New Player Handbook in their inventory.

 

How awesome would it have been if the actual manual looked like this:

 

Actually, every player has the opportunity to pick it up directly and...

PUT...
IT...
IN...

their inventory!!!

 

Whoops, you are in fact correct. Was wondering how I got two...

 

NB feels like a living, breathing world now. Just one with a few more annoyances than usual thats all

 

Is there a way to go back to the Isle of Storms after the beginning ? If not, why not ?

Plus when I started that scene wasn't finished so....

 

Yes, you can visit there anytime. Do you not have your Shardfall Cloak?

 

Unfortunately on this forum you have to get used to that. When you've been around as long as I have, you get to know the regulars who do this. (And now probably some people are getting self-conscious thinking I am referring to them... sheeesh, no) Sometimes when people want to like something so much, it's very hard to accept any criticism. Those who are more stable welcome feedback on the new user experience. The one thing you have to contend with is that feedback, even good feedback, rarely gets acted on because there is so much to do at the moment with the game, and a smaller team. I see the forum here as mainly for game banter among players... and I, for one, get a lot our of it. Expecting more has led many down the dark path to despair... haha. Hang in there.

 

Slapping a document here and there and giving homework to the player does not excuse shoddy game design with convoluted and obscure systems.

No amount of documentation will fix player perception.

It took me 3 hours (in audio chat) to explain the XP, skills and deck-building to a software engineer... and that was after he read all the little pop-up tips.

Then you got issues like NPCs talking about “Little Xenos” with only a few key chosen words describing that it’s a district within Aerie so mostly everyone I know goes to Xenos. It’s not like it’s clearly marked on the GPS map either.

Then you got issues with loading tips that say things like “you can block arrows using dodge and parry with a shield” instead of saying (more clearly) that “you can block arrows using parry with a shield and/or dodge”

So make the game more intuitive, fix the wording across the entire game then worry about shoving a wall of text on player’s faces.

 

As Jaesun stated... yes. If you...

Spoiler: ...just go through the rift...

at the right time, say, when it would normally be sending you back to the location you are at. A small throw back to the earlier ultima games