Feedback I've received from new players

Just spoke with a new Outlander the other day. He had many questions centering around acquiring gold.

We discussed the various level 1 (and 2) scenes in the nearby area. How to go about getting started. Selling to NPC's. Quests and the daily Oracle Virtue test.

It dawned on me. Perhaps the new player experience can include all this to get them thinking along those lines.

I haven't been through the updated tutorials myself. I am under the impression new players may need a bit of a walkthrough.

Personally I don't mind answering questions. I'll always stop what I'm doing to help a new player out. Still, it's come up enough I'm thinking it should be considered.

My .02.

 

I ran around for an hour last week with a new player who was very frustrated with the game and who was taking advantage of it now being F2P. Admittedly, he hadn't read any of the online materials but I think that is common with many gamers today. I asked him about the NUE and he said he simply rushed through it trying to get out and into what he considered to be the "Main Story". I mentioned to him that he should go back and try it again as it explains the game dynamics, starts you on the story line and outlines the deck system (which was one of his bigger complaints).

Not wanting to do ANY of that (of course ), I bought him some upgraded gear (he hated the fact that it was a player crafted economy) and worked through the starting quests in Soltown and to the point where we are told to go to Ardoris. When we got to Ardoris, he did what I think most new players do, he asked a guard for directions. Sadly, as we all know, this led to some inane and unhelpful response from the NPC guard and more frustration from my new friend. We were trying to find Captain Cugel and after awhile, he simply gave up looking and asked me to just show him where to go. Since I had to log off shortly anyway, I brought him to the docks and pointed out Cugel.

Before I left he thanked me for all the help and stated that he probably would have quit playing if I hadn't helped him. I tried to encourage him by saying he should never be shy to ask players for help as we have a tremendous community and to go back and do the NUE in it's entirety without simply trying to bypass the "gated" portions as quickly as possible. He said that he might if he continued playing. This of course agitated me as I thought, "WTF did I just spend an hour with you for if you're just going to quit!" . With that I wished him well and logged off.

Afterwards, while walking my puppy, I pondered on if this is a commonality with many new players trying out the game since its now F2P. Is the quest system still so non-intuitive to new players that they simply give up? It made me realize how much I take for granted the fact that I have been playing since R12 and have consumed this content multiple times. What would it be like if I didn't know anything at all? Granted, it's easy enough to figure out if you stick with it, read the forums and ask other players for help. Yet shouldn't you be able to get the gist of things from the get go, on your own, even if you do blow through the NUE content? I would like to think so, but what the hell do I know, lol!

 

Knowing and filling "roles" in regard to strategies for in game gold and RP value as are both very angle to take. Examples of people earning gold and looking how others bring RP into the world would be great for newbies to look at and consider...

So be sure to answer the Careers Survey!
https://www.shroudoftheavatar.com/f...-careers-are-you-role-playing-in-game.136058/

 

As a newer player I can tell you... it kind of stinks! Almost every part of the story feels glued together with extremely little dialogue choice, very minimalist lore, and one gets the impression that the NPCs were made by someone who hasn't played a single player RPG since the '90s.

But the game is extraordinary, and the precious few plot twists there are are compelling, so some of our new players since release are sticking around (like me ).

One has to wonder, though, Mr. @Cordelayne , if he was unwilling to learn the basics and found the idea of a player driven economy repulsive, he just might not be the sort who will enjoy the game despite its merits. His expectations were likely formed by his first MMO experiences in a very different game. No amount of tutorial or even free guidance and material gifts will change those expectations.

Now that the gates have been flung open for the unwashed masses to enter we can probably expect a lot of players who cut their teeth on other F2P games, which, if you aren't familiar, are about as wonderful as you might expect (to our point of view, of course).

But don't feel discouraged! Good on you for helping him out! Many new rifthikers will be tourists and lookyloos, but some of them will stick and you'll be glad for the effort!

 

It looks as though Episode 2 is going to be the real release time period in my opinion. Since that is when all of the major fixes will be implemented. Major as in, quests, journal, combat fixes, balances, and less bugs to fix, to name a few, what we are playing in now and what new people are coming into is still a beta or pre-release version. So there will be more and more frustrated new players who will be discouraged for what the rest of us are pretty much used to.

 

A few days before a player liked a thread, I posted Sept. 30., 2017, 'New Players could get missed'

Now this thread of @Sentinel2 (like a lot of them) confirms it is very important to focus the beginner problem. The first impresson is so important!

Beside what was said (and as a lot of us wrote over years),

I would like to see prioritize effort for
- bug free quest marker (sparkles, tasks)
- MARKER on the map showing quest targets (for example: Coming from Soltown, entering Ardoris: even if I won't use the compass sparkle, opening the map should provide the information of the guards barracks at the docks!)
- Journal with Chapters for each main path (love, truth, courage, oracle - with sorting ability for towns and (maybe) persons), each quest target connected with the map

and from what is in the Post Episode 1 plan:

Map Improvements:

• Fog of War: Hide where you haven’t been

Especially this would be a great help, because if I am new, I am overwhelmed from the land masses. So it would be great to know, where I've been before and where not.
A great amount of fun while exploring the lands is taken away, because we can see the whole land from beginning ...
XP point for exploring also could increase the interest to travel around - by foot / horse

@Brewton, yes. I also said it a lot of times: end of year we will have the state people expected at launch (of course: with a lot more features)!
So to focus on the last 5% to raise the fun and the sense of achievement factor from beginning would help so many people!
(and really: The outskirts are great, the new user intro is good. And the new Solace Bridge looks amazing!)

Last but not least: if the disturbing underlining of words will not be removed, @Sannio, may be you could consider to use a highlighting color for the clickable words instead?
It would be better for reading flow and it would fit more the fact of 'listening' to a person, 'hearing' a word or a phrase we want to ask about

 

..... downloaded.....10/30...f2p date? I followed forever having been a TC brat from way back when, but......$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$. Anyways, put 30 hours in {or so, more from estimates of doing a second avatar, and the copper runs there to build a decent set of primary plate n weapon fer the main.....good deal there....and then, the companions, I got all three, decent equip, the troll still kicked my ass......}, the OFFLINE MODE......heh, no online character, I may never even make one, who knows.

I am old, I must say, the new player experience isnt bad, if you had played UO, in any way, shape or form. Any kidz, that exist in online gaming thereafter, most likely will never acclimate to the game that is here. . . . Take it, as it is, there is a certain soul, that would play a game like this for any extended period of time. **** outa luck in this day n age though.

g'day.

~~~

~~~~~edit~~~~~~
IMO

XP system to level skills, is gay btw. If I wanna grind GM, without questing, and any other such stuff, I should be able too, wtf is that?

 

Nope, most people are lazy and want everything handed to them. This game actually makes you pause and think. He is likely not a thinker.

 

I couldn't disagree more with this statement. He wasn't lazy at all. I ran around Ardoris with him for awhile, as he searched for Cugel. He didn't want any hints and did what I think most of us would do, which is ask an NPC guard where to find Cugel. This should be in the game and it is rather silly that it has not been implemented already. He only gave up after about 30 minutes of us just running around in circles.

It's not about being lazy or having things handed to you, it's about the game having basic game mechanics that allow you to progress through the game without simply guessing. It's ludicrous to me that NPC's don't give you directions on where to go; especially guards and Tavern keepers.

 

My rebuttal... Run around a real city doing the same thing...

 

Lol I live in a real city, Washington, DC, and if I ask a cop for directions they give them to me. Have you run around a real city?

 

I've lived in New York, Boston, Atlanta and have been to LA and Miami.

You guys don't even have a state... how can you consider that a real city?

 

How does that relate to a video game and players issues?

 

What part of Manhattan? I grew up on 72nd and Madison for eighteen years.

As for not, "having a state", I didn't think I would need to explain the historical/political semantics of why that is the case but here it goes...

Washington, D.C. was founded as the capital in 1790 as a result of a compromise between Alexander Hamilton and northern states, and Thomas Jefferson and southern states. However, the lack of statehood for the capital is enshrined in the Constitution. Article 1, Section 8, Clause 17 reads, “The Congress shall have Power To …exercise exclusive Legislation in all Cases whatsoever, over such District (not exceeding ten Miles square) as may, by Cession of particular States, and the Acceptance of Congress, become the Seat of the Government of the United States.” The reason for this is because the founders worried that if the capital were to be a state, the members of the government would be unduly beholden to it.

Hopefully that helps clarify things.

 

I already knew all this... yall are still disjointed!

 

Sicne you asked. You would not go to a new city without prep work and expect to just "get around". Most sensible people will create an itinerary, research etc, so they don't end up in a "bad situation" . Player doesn't want to do the pre-work and ends up in a bad situation is the exact same thing. You end up in a bad situation due to laziness.

 

Says the individual that posited the contrary. Ah well, as Martin Luther King Jr. once said, "Nothing in all the world is more dangerous than sincere ignorance and conscientious stupidity."

 

Play nice guys, New Player area and all......

 

Personally I don't see the point of that conversation.

New Players are asking questions and the NPC's answer they don't know. Which is weird IMO. Most large cities I've lived in, people have a tendency to know at least some basics. Especially if they are popular for the location.

Plus, I see it as an opportunity missed. I mean talk about a scavenger hunt! Asking an NPC who tells you maybe the banker or Alchemist knows . And THEY can give an additional clue ;-)

 

Agreed, it was pointless and I apologize for straying off topic.

The point I was trying to elucidate, was simply that NPC's should be able to direct you to the places you are asking them about. Shoot, Ultima VI and VII had these capabilities why doesn't Shroud? To expect players to have to go online and research this information is absurd. Back when Ultima VI and VII were out, there was no capability to do so online (or it was extremely limited), all information necessary was acquired in game and was done so in a logical manner. Shroud should be the same, IMHO.

I also like the idea of having one NPC direct you to other NPC's for information, especially in towns like Ardoris, which are huge! It's a fun way to find your location while getting a feel for the layout of the city.