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A newbie hub

Discussion in 'Wishlist Requests' started by Nick, Oct 31, 2020.

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  1. Nick

    Nick Avatar

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    After the outskirts is completed, the new player will be sent to this new scene (via a rift perhaps), and upon exit, he will be sent to soltown.
    For other players entering from other places, when exiting, they will go back to where they came from.

    There could be several daily quests given by various NPCs for low to middle level players. There also can be a public vendors only for buy orders for materials only. Low to middle level players can use this place to earn gold.

    Hospitaliers can then easily find players who, when lost, can come to this hub from various places in Novia. We have different entry from the major towns like Resolute, Aerie, Ardoris and Soltown.

    Arabella can also be sitting here to give her npc dialogue to guide the outlanders.

    Main purpose of this zone/hub is to create a low lag, a more uniform town scene and allows any tutorial and information that players might need.

    We can have an npc to teach how new players can use the basic movements, simply by teleporting to the little boy up in the sky to do the basic tutorial.

    We can allow travelling to Highvale or BloodRiver outskirts easily.

    We can also have a Npc to introduce the concept of Player Own Town, to advise players to have homes in these towns instead of NPC ones. (since they just got a deed)

    When required, the dev can always add new information. Like a Npc to introduce mounts.

    Most importantly, hospitaliers know where to easily find new players to help.
     
  2. Nick

    Nick Avatar

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    Come to think of it, @Elgarion just need to set down a POT somewhere. Place lot markers and leave housing instructions. ie no fancy deco.
    @Sannio just put 2 way teleporters to all the outskirts and soltown. Make all outskirt exits teleport to this POT. remove overland access for all outskirts.

    I think players can do the rest. Don't think it will take too much time to set this up. Don't think it even needs QA testing.
     
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  3. Time Lord

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    Just FYI :)...

    @Nick , as long as I can still exit, then "start on map" and then get away from "having" to do new player/new character quest stuff, then That sounds fine with me :)

    I start many new characters and sometimes new accounts, and I *&%$^* (and allot of other words I shouldn't ever print) "dislike" being "forced into or through content".

    I don't think our opening content is good. I think our welcoming content is a turn off game killer. I love the game, but I'd rather be buried alive in fire ants than try escaping from another Auschwitz concentration camp just so I could gain freedom onto our overland-map.

    If it were fun content for me, then I would engage in our entry content, "but of my own free will" as long as I'm not trapped there or having any mandatory boot camps.

    With that said, for those who like such questing content and those wanting to learn new things or refresh their knowledge on forgotten things, "I think setting such things into a questing style would be a great idea!"

    The Perpetual Newbie,
    :D~Time Lord~
     
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  4. majoria70

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    This sounds like a great idea except for the hospitaler part. One complaint many have mentioned to me is they were not comfortable with players coming up to them. I have always felt we needed a knowledge journal with tabs telling of game features such as all types of quest tabs, housing tab, our music system explained tab, taming info tab, crafting system, getting help tab etc. Wala no more lost and confused or at least less lost and confused. The game does a very poor job of giving in game info to be easily found imo.
     
  5. Nick

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    We can use conversationalist and help. Place a guide book beside the conversationalist for players to read.

    Am sure there will be players willing to do that.
     
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  6. Time Lord

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    One suit never fits everyone's tastes...

    One of the differences between UO and SOTA, was that UO "dropped a player into the game", where discovery was driven through need, necessity or just stubbled across by the player, whereas with SOTA, the information is presented, taught, or placed as a barrier to be crossed before being allowed to proceed with free will.

    One thing that has always bothered me is our chat, message system, or when just plain talking. Our window isn't the most friendly in it's initial using of it. UO had it's typing demands, but our communication window seems more like that old 1987 program "Mavis Beacon Teaches Typing". Before becoming accustomed or well versed in using our chat window, it seems to me that what we're demanding or offering, is a typing test which is an immediate immersion breaker.

    @Nick is correct within creative line of thought, "we do need to continue searching for better" because satisfying it's not and in harmony with the game's atmosphere what we have is not.
    @majoria70 is very correct as well...
    Myself being the perfect example of a perpetual newbie (for example)...

    I'm currently needing :
    132 Boards
    132 Wax
    44 Coal
    176 Silver Ore

    and I'm debating whether or not to just blurt that need over the Universal Channel, or just blurt out that I need 44 plain Street Lamps, to see where that gets me, yet it will have motivated me without an immersion break to become prepared for passing that typing challenge. My fingers always fear the chat window here in SOTA, because it's so very not like chatting with someone in UO due to the system. Our SOTA chat system doesn't allow the outside of window text to linger long enough to enjoy and what's inside the window takes the reader's eye's away from the character, which is very unlike real world conversation. I mention all of this, because I know it must be a contributing factor to the uneasy nature of their/our first SOTA chat encounter with another player.

    Within quest encounters, the NPC's image comes into a "face to face box", yet with players, it doesn't, thus the game attempts to make any conversation more personal, yet with another player, it does not offer this same "face tp face" option. This is to say, one attempts to make the speaking encounter more real, while the other takes attention away from the graphics and into the chat window where reading is more like a very jumpy book to attempt to immerse the player into.


    @Nick is thinking of the right subject that needs "something", but I'm at a loss to figure out any better solutions other than @majoria70 's idea of the tabs. I know for a fact I've asked her about a solution to picking up things on my property when I only wanted to open them. She's given me that answer 3 times within the past 5 years, but I always forget it later. Maybe if I had that "tab journal" she's speaking of, maybe there would be a way where that question, once asked and "noted" like an addendum by me within that journal, maybe then once asked would then have provided me that answer within my journal forever, so I don't have to ask again... (it has to do with something in the options which escapes me) :p That's a fine candidate for blurting out on the universal chat window channel, because both the thing and the options are both immersion breakers ;)

    Those are just some comments on this subject I'm far too lost to find any solutions in.
    ~Time Lord~:(
     
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  7. Violet Ronso

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    Many games have a system just like that, within the UI of any activity, there is a "?" At the top which will open up a guide. Is this immersion breaking? Probably. Will this resolve many new players questions and frustrations? Most definitely!

    Whats even better? The players will write all this information themselves! Many guide writers are out there giving tons of information all the time, while I stream I try to explain as many things I know about combat, and why I do things a specific way or another way, so get guide writers and the people with the knowledge together, offer them a little something (Heck even just a named NPC somewhere, win win win scenario since this will also make NPCs live a bit more), and these wonderful minds will create all these informative pages that the devs will only need to plug into the UI!

    If this Idea kicks off, I volunteer ‍♀️!
     
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  8. majoria70

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    Oh poor TimeLord. You can ask me something a zillion times. Never worry about that. If you are speaking of the ability to turn your deco on and off it will be to set a hot key in options for deco to turn off and on. If this is it go to options, controls, scroll down to toggle deco mode and set a key you want. I have mine set to num-lock key 0.

    Also to see more windows I have 4 opened for convenience. I will send you my book chat windows revealed. It is a bit outdated but it will give you ideas.

    I do try to give game tips around town. Some are at the town entrance, some are on my Inn bulletin board, some are on crafting pavilion tables, in the Oracle building, on signs that are pointed at.

    I am happy at any time to put any info into a book for reference you need.

    My comment about helping others is not because I don't want to help others, of course I do and I always will, it is due to my belief the game design dropped the ball on that forcing players instead to do that work. It's not a bad thing just it can be an intimidating, irritating thing for some who want information to be more readily available and not invasive. We have the new players hand book in our inventory also for those who don't notice as well but sifting through that is not the simplest or fastest.

    [​IMG]

    [​IMG]

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    Last edited: Nov 1, 2020
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  9. Time Lord

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    [​IMG]
    Thanks! :) I'm trying my best to stay in character :D~TL~
     
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  10. Nick

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    How about after you create your character, you get an option.

    How shall thou art wish to start thy adventure?

    1. Bring me to the tutorial quest. I would like to learn more.

    2. Screw the tutorials.... I am Mr Old School.

    1 will bring you to the solace bridge. 2 will drop you at the newbie hub.
    From there you still have an option to go back to solace bridge, or you can just skip them and go to soltown. (and outskirts)
     
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