Why do we need a newbie-mega-guild?

The concept of the Outlander Guild was an indirect result of some Hospitaller's (and myself) requesting a global Help channel. The dev team is strongly against a global help channel due to how easily such a channel has been abused by spammers, etc. when experimented with in other games. About every other week at our Leads meetings I implore the Leads to derive some means by which new players can seek assistance, or be reached out to by Hospitallers to help give them a sense of connection and belongingness, and to let them know how they can seek help anytime they need it.

Our existing guild technology is the best way to provide a "global chat" function to all new players by automatically making them members of the Outlander Guild once they have completed the starting tutorial sequence and find themselves deposited in the main game flow. It also can increase their sense of belonging right from the start, knowing they are in some sort of a starting group. Our current thinking is that immediately after the starting tutorial is when new players will actually be included in the Outlander guild, so they won't be distracted with Outlander Guild chat during their starting sequence. Once they exit the tutorial sequence they will receive additional instructions informing them that, as an Outlander themselves, they enter the world of New Britannia as a member of the Outlander guild, and they are instructed as to how they can use the Outlander guild chat for connection and seeking help, and they will also be instructed how they can exit the Outlander guild should they choose to.

This process has the added value of introducing new players to the guild functionality, and hopefully nudging them toward staying a member of the Outlander guild until they get the "lay of the land" and hopefully steering them toward joining another guild full-time (which greatly improves enjoyment and engagement and sustained interest).

Now, the Outlander guild will need Hospitallers as members or it'll only be all the newbies talking amongst themselves with limited ability to help and guide each other. We also realize that most Hospitallers already belong to a well-established guild themselves and would prefer to not leave that guild to join the Outlander guild. Thus, we will be enhancing the guild technology to allow a player to belong to multiple guilds simultaneously. This way, all the Hospitallers that choose to do so can belong to their personal guild as well as join the Outlander guild so they can monitor the Outlander guild chat channel for any help requests and to provide guidance.

Obviously, the Outlander guild can be abused by spammers, guild recruiters, etc., so it will have to be monitored and moderated for such potential abuse. To start with, we plan to make our Community Manager, @Berek, the owner of the guild, and Berek can assign additional leadership roles to those Hospitallers that choose to participate.

This will be new, unexplored territory for all of us, so I'm sure there will be much that will need adjusting as we go down this path. But it is a worthy path for all of us to fully explore...

dallas

 

The Nobles Chat Orb would have been a much better type of solution, or turning on zone chat by default, if global chat is off the table. The guild is more likely to victimize new players than help them.

 

Awesome news!!! can't wait to be part of this. Thanks.

 

No disrespect Dallas, I like the fact you are trying to help new players joining the game so they aren't lost and lose interest off the bat but our guild leader takes hours of every day to welcome new members with open arms. He literally awaits new member arrivals eagerly ready to help them out & not only does he welcome them but he takes them all over and shows them the ropes of the game. This is also a good recruitment tool every guild should use and be doing if they want to grow.

By forcing new players into a newbie guild and not giving them an option after the tutorial you are taking away our recruitment tools we choose to use and now we have to wait for this newbie guild to send them on there way if they wish to leave. Key word, "IF"... not to mention the new player is going to ask the newbie guild if they have any suggestions on a good guild and what are they going to say back? "Sorry new member, you have to choose this path on your own", no they wont. They will choose a guild of there liking which is not fair to all the other guilds.

New members should have the right to choose on there own and put forth the effort to find a place they can call home like everyone else has done. We have a new player thread here in the forums they can post in, and of course guild leaders eagerly like my own that I am proud of who is out there busting there butts to make people feel at home and not like an outlander.

I suggest you leave things the way they were and leave it up to the entire community to help these players out, not a single entity from the rest of the community.

 

So at first thank you for takeing the time and answer my request on a sunday!
I admit i still don't like the idea. Really.
Non the less i do see the benefits of it of course. As long as this experiment is under constant watch from the Dev side there isn't much i can say about i guess.
Though i really would prefer if you give the people the choice if they want to join the guild or not with a pop up window after the starting part is done.

 

In regards to the single player online, this is not in place of a tutorial is it? I very seldom play in MO mode.

 

I don't get why we don't just have a better tutorial in the first place. Even the guide is too vague on a lot of game mechanics. A newbie channel or guild doesn't solve that problem. Besides, how would that work for offline or SPO? I've never tried those modes so I have no real clue, but I can't see the channel/guild solving anything in those cases.

Edit: Hah! I was typing my post while you were in fact posting this:

Awesome.

 

I don't thing the community manger is going to help much. The deal is one on one, building trust up front.

NP: What is this mirror for?
HP: You use it to change your appearance.
NP: Thanks

CA (whisper): If you need help, let me know.
NP (whisper): Thanks
CA (whisper): BTW: in this game you will want a house. I can help you get one.
NP (whisper): Ok
(friend invite)

... next day
CA (whisper): I can get you gold real cheap at http://eatme.com.

Some will say that is going to happen anyway, which it will. But the guild gives easy access to the victim pool.

 

A chain of quests introducing game mechanics generally seems to work well. Maybe coming from a skills trainer in Soltown, rewarding a small starter kit with a weapon, a few reagents and some basic armour. The newbie experience is pretty good at introducing story and lore but poor at explaining how all the systems work. I like a bit of mystery and research myself but its going to be off-putting to some new players. I think new players would prefer this ingame tutorial over reading, what is quite frankly, a poor to navigate starter manual.

 

Thank you for posting this!

 

Not all people helping new players participate in the Hospitallers farce. And this game isn't as difficult to figure out as some like to make it out to be.

 

Still yet to see a good reason for it all.....will almost certainly end up in a horrible mess. Multiple guilds as well? just awful lol

 

When a new player gets kicked out of the guild for being "mean" or making someone "sad", I expect that will be the last time they ever load up the game.

 

Neutral and fair isn't what I would call it personally. Take ideas and poo poo them then turn around, use them as your own later down the line and act like a self righteous ass is more what my personal experience was.

 

how do I join the Outlander Guild? do I ask the Oracle? thank you...

 

This is a horrifically bad idea.

 

If you truly want to make new player experience better putting more focus into guild functionality and tools such as the alliances is a better route. From the multiplayer perspective many people come into a game like this and immediately seek out like minded folks and many times specifically a guild. That guild experience is usually what leads to retention and a better new player experience.

 

I mean what problem is this even trying to solve?

I remember when I first played UO, I had no idea what I was doing. I logged in walked around and had a chat with some people.......I found my own way and that was part of the experience that made the game great.

This is almost like trying to find a solution (a very very bad one at that) for a problem that doesn't even exist. For what purpose? To create a more meaningful purpose for a small group of people?

 

The median age of players is 40. I am not sure that demographic is a good candidate for all this love and hand holding. I know when i start games, I loath anyone talking to me and guild invites too. The game needs to be just figured out, a few tutorial tips are welcome.

 

At the very least make it opt-in for new players. The title "Outlander" by itself is close to the word "outsider" and doesn't seem like it's meant to make you feel at home, so why would I be automatically put into a guild in order to make me feel like I'm at home? It just doesn't make sense.

And I'm going to add that, even though I only ever play in MPO, I do not want forced player interaction. Sure, as a newbie I could quit the guild at any time I guess, but I would at least like an option to NOT join right off the bat (i.e. at least describe what it is before giving an option to join or not; but even then, I can see how this takes away from other guilds who put effort into recruiting new players and enjoy the benefit of helping without having to have a specific title).

To add another point to the discussion, I don't want someone's chatter spoiling quests or learning points that I actually enjoy figuring out myself. Besides, if I want help, I'll ask for it, or find it myself.