Blow by blow of Viola starting from scratch

I had Viola sit down and play through into the outskirts so I could make notes of an inexperienced players approach.

This is sequential, so things change over time, you can see progression.

Viola is fairly new to games. We’ve been playing since persistence, and she’s come a long way, particularly on running combat. This provides a few gimmes for the game, such as when she remembers that Enter brings up the chat window, and can now start reviewing missed information.

She is still fresh though, and not used to the common language of gaming, so if you can make a system that she flows smoothly through, your new player experience will be casting a wide net.

I’m going to say popup for the floating white help text that appears, because it’s mentioned all the time.

Quoted text is close to or exactly what she said. I refrained from talking except to ask questions after events. I had her take the way of the Bow.

There is generally a lot more fighting than the specifics I mention.

Isle of Storms – 1 hour

• Thought the Arabella dialog was interesting
  
  
• When CONTINUE displayed, she clicked keywords for some time before seeing it and clicking
  
  
• Likes that keywords gray out so she doesn’t endlessly loop
  
  
• Missed the WASD task
  
  
• Completely blind to popups
  
  
• The planet over the edge was wow! She wouldn’t have gone there, though, except she had seen me texting edges for collision problems. Too scary otherwise
  
  
• Magic mirror, she got confused because finish is only on the last tab. Only a few seconds
  
  • Would like eyebrow customization
    
    
  • Lip color
    
    
  • (she “went fast” this time, taking only about 10 minutes)
    
• On way to Oracle, stops to rotate camera to be able to read pop up text
  
  • Totally misses altar
    
• Oracle popup: She wasn’t moving, complains it is up top while she is looking down, “I’m slow, I can’t read them!”
  
  
• Oracle test: “It was interesting, it introduces the 500 gold test”
  
  
• “Those red candles are nice!”
  
  
• Outside, popup tells her to check journal
  
  • “Oh now you tell me!”
    
    
  • “Where is the book by the way?”
    
• Goes back to find book, finds in Oracle (never sees altar)
  
  • Doesn’t know that “I” is for inventory (we use a different layout, it resets to default in QA)
    
    
  • Popup “Double click Oracle to speak...” pops up again
    
• Loses her mind over how beautiful the lunar rift is
  
  • Screenshot
    
    
  • Totally misses the popup about it
    
    

Battle of Solace Bridge – 20 minutes

• Laughs at scared Charlotte sound, thinks it’s people having sex or doing Ardoris noises
  
  
• Runs around, “There’s nothing to do”
  
  
• Finds targets, tries to attack them with double click. Is standing just a little too far away
  
  • Thinks it doesn’t work
    
    
  • Tries to use Aimed Shot glyph
    
    
  • Eventually moves close enough that it happens
    
• Climbs the laddar
  
  
• Loots by the gate, finds key, opens door, totally misses Charlotte
  
  
• Gets frustrated that Edvard bark and popups are overlaying each other and she misses out
  
  
• Still in combat, it takes 3x of clicking Edvard and trying to read his “Put away your weapon” popup before reading it. She puts away her weapon
  
  
• Immediately says Goodbye because she sees a bunch of weapons. “Yay loot!”
  
  
• Opens inventory, “OMG I have a lot of stuff!”
  
  
• Almost goes down the bridge. “Oh wait I need to go back to the guy.”
  
  
• Reading text, misses 2nd popup and doesn’t know it happened
  
  
• Edvard starts running, she sees bodies
  
  • “Do we loot it?”
    
    
  • “Oh I can leave him”
    
    
  • Misses EVERY popup
    
    
  • She’s looting, Edvard is fighting, he half finishes every fight before she joins
    
    
  • “So it’s a good loot. It wasn’t like that much before.”
    
    
  • (asked later, said fight is very easy, and she didn’t even need to do it he would do it for her)
    
• After action popups really frustrate her, making first definitive statement “Notes are disappearing too fast!”
  
  
• Finishes with Edvard, “Looks like this is the road I should go.”
  
  • Sees fire at end, rethinks
    
    
  • Wanders to stonehenge
    
    
  • To flame covered gates
    
    
  • “It looks like I can run through”
    
    • She tries, hits an invisible wall
      
      
    • I was thinking “Duh, you can’t go through there, everyone knows.”
      
      
    • Then I see that the flame is actually not deep, she may have been right, you COULD run through there!
      
  • Searches inventory for health potion, but heals before finding one
    
    
  • Wonders aloud if she needs to put out the flames
    
    
  • Goes down by the dead end cliff
    
• Talks to Edvard, reads carefully, finds out about the boat. Types (for the first time) “where is the boat”
  
  • “Why doesn’t he tell me?”
    
• Goes on the bridge, looks over both sides, finds it!
  

Solace Bridge Outskirts – 1 hour 30 minutes

• Wowed by village across the river
  
  
• Couldn’t read ¾ of the first popup due to disappear time
  
  
• Checks out fallen piano that I totally missed
  
  
• Loots, becomes encumbered, can’t read popup fast enough
  
  
• Suddenly remembers Enter calling up chat window, uses it to review messages
  
  
• Hasn’t used Task List yet
  
  
• Talks to first soldier
  
  
• Conversation Help Window pops up, “It’s much easier to read”
  
  
• Gets Captain Kinsey Task, notices it
  
  
• Talks to second soldier
  
  
• Looks at cargo platform. Loots, expects to loot boxes but can’t
  
  
• Equips leather helm, misses braids, removes helm
  
  
• Talks to the Lord, says Goodbye immediately because she should talk to the crying lady instead (compassion)
  
  
• Says Goodbye to go find the Captain
  
  • Types in “Kinsey” with soldier, no help
    
    • Types “where is Kinsey” and gets it marked on the compass
      
  • Can’t find compass (it is open in it’s normal place)
    
    
  • Clicks ? On the drop down menu bar, launches a web browser, surprised
    
    
  • Back in game, highlights everything on her screen, finally sees compass
    
    
  • Runs right up to Kinsey, who at that exact moment barks “Check in with Kinsey when you get the chance”
    
    
  • Since Kinsey wouldn’t say that, she leaves and follows the compass around behind the Ruin
    
    
  • Runs around a bit, goes back to Kinsey and talks to her
    
    • Her name is Commander, not Kinsey, so she leaves and runs across the bridge
      
  • Goes back ”It’s not the Captain!”
    
    
  • Clicks everything in the ruins, mutters about Kinsey hiding in boxes
    
    
  • Goes back to the Lord, types “Kinsey,” no help
    
    
  • Uses compass, goes around behind ruins
    
    
  • Loses patience, quits looking, decides to go to Soltown because it’s on the Task List
    
    
  • I give in and tell her that’s the Captain. “Oh, it’s a cold secret” she says
    
• Kinsey tells her to go to the Lord, she does, talking to Lady first, then Lord
  
  • Gets Painting quest, talks extensively to Lord
    
    
  • Scrolls back up to figure out exactly what she is supposed to do, finds out
    
    
  • She hadn’t realized daughter is dead until scrolling back up
    
    
  • Sees quest on task list
    
    
  • Scrolls to find out “Go East”
    
• Lines up on Compass, decides the exit to the left is the closest to East
  
  
• Runs down to the way she came up
  
  • Realizes this is the way she came, becomes indecisive and feeling lost
    
    
  • Thinks she should just go to the boat and go to Soltown
    
    
  • Loots a raft, very frustrated
    
    
  • Checks if she can leave on a boat, can’t
    
    
  • Swims the river, tries to scale far cliff, can’t
    
    
  • Runs part way back up
    
    
  • Rereads “Rabble to the East” in chat window
    
    
  • Figures out to go across the bridge she had seen earlier
    
• At the bridge, she almost talks to guard, then leave. I ask why, “Because he didn’t talk to me” (bark)
  
  
• Sprints straight down hill, East
  
  
• Gets hit by 2 arrows
  
  
• Accidentally opens social window
  
  
• Gets hit about 6 times before drawing bow
  
  
• Kills all 3, ½ dead
  
  
• It’s super dark & she has no light spell
  
  
• Kills 3 more bandits
  
  
• Doesn’t appear to be healing, ½ dead still
  
  
• She is using Aimed Shot, clicking it like 10 times per 1 use
  
  
• 2 more archers by the shack, she realizes she’s dying because of the red overlay
  
  
• Almost dies, puts away weapon (I have to tell her all the time)
  
  
• In the house “Oh my God you can take everything!”
  
  
• Uses heal for the first time
  
  
• Wonders where the light is, it’s pitch black
  
  
• Loots like crazy anyway
  
  
• Leaves shack without finding painting (it’s pitch black)
  
  
• Kills bandit in the dark, I couldn’t see him (dark)
  
  
• Kills a wolf, “Congrats, you have defeated your 1st enemy!” popup
  
  
• “You can heal” popup
  
  
• Scrolls all the way down from Lord chat to find out what she just missed
  
  
• Decides she should go East to find the painting
  
  
• “There must be a camp”
  
  
• Runs toward soldier camp, unsure if she is backtracking (she is)
  
  
• Sees she’s encumbered, “What is encumbered?” (she has been for a while)
  
  
• Runs back to camp. Runs back down.
  
  
• “To the East, to the East, I’m going to the East, should I swim across the ocean to the East?”
  
  
• “That house, I checked it already”
  
  
• She’s in a fight getting nailed, not shooting, beating Aimed Shot not sure why she isn’t firing (I’m not sure either, an enemy was targeted, they were in front)
  
  
• Uses heal for 2nd time
  
  
• Finds a farm, “I don’t need to go there”
  
  • Decides to go in and sell trash
    
    
  • Likes sunflowers and chickens
    
    
  • Freaks out that she can harvest the cotton, only harvests one
    
    
  • Talks to the farmer because he’s waving, first time that has got her
    
    • “He will give me a quest”
      
      
    • Pays particular attention to the directions
      
      
    • “Kill the Alpha, man, now I need to FIND him!”
      
• Fights skeleton archer. “I need a wolf!”
  
  
• Fights yellow wolf, kept alive by backup fighting
  
  
• She has wolf corpse selected and gets hit by another, second fight she hardly shoots due to this
  
  
• Wins but has to run when another spawns because the last one took a long time due to not firing often
  
  
• Decides those are the wrong wolves
  
  
• Goes East
  
  
• Chases a squirrel
  
  
• Gets attacked by a Brown Bear (orange)
  
  
• Opens Social Menu on accident while trying to fight so I can’t see health (she rarely looks anyway)
  
  
• Backwards fights until the bear leashes, I think she was hurting
  
  
• “I’m kinda stuck, I wanna, I dunno.”
  
  
• In general never remembers to holster weapon so always starts fights wounded
  
  
• Fighting 3 wolves, losing. Has forgotten Aimed Shot, kills 2/3, third leashes
  
  
• Tired of wolves, runs when she sees them
  
  
• Looks at Task List. Frustrated by painting. Mouses over Task, sarcastically says “Very helpful, man.”
  
  
• “SE of farm, somewhere there.”
  
  
• Gets SE of farm, sees big cave, clicks all the wolves from afar to see if any are Alpha, doesn’t find one
  
  
• Stands on a rock and mercs a couple wolves from safety
  
  
• Goes back to the farm
  
  
• Looks at painting in shack, clicks it, it’s not the one
  
  
• Goes in house
  
  • Sits at piano, can’t get up using movement keys, gets frustrated
    
    
  • Checks every painting in the house, up to the attic
    
    
  • Searches containers, doesn’t bother looting
    
• Gets stabbed by a trap in the barn
  
  • “What was it? What is eating me?” (damage over time)
    
    
  • Gets lit on fire, very confused, happens again, (the fire sound is confusing, btw)
    
    
  • Figures out pressure plates after getting nailed one more time
    
    
  • Tries to cook in the barn, has no ingredients
    
    
  • “Man it’s dark! I don’t have this light!” (the spell she means, but she may have a torch and not know it)
    
    
  • “Ok, there’s no painting here”
    
• Sees Wolf Lair on compass decides to go to it
  
  • Sees exit to Novia, thinks that’s the way
    
    
  • Sees 4 skulls laying around the pole
    
    
  • “4 skull already! And Alpha Wolf is there!”
    
    
  • Starts going in
    
    
  • “Novia, it takes me to Novia.”
    
    
  • “Oh, this place (the Outskirts) is 4 skulls!”
    
• “Ok, I’m tired and hungry.” (Thank God, I was STARVING!)

Stats:

Ranged Combat: 47
Aimed Shot: 28
Healing Touch: 11
Heightened Awareness: 12
Healthy: 18
Train Dex: 9
Mining, Foraging, Forestry: 11
Field Dressing: 16

 

How old is viola? I like how she ignores pop up notifications, that is so frustrating to watch! I am the unofficial official IT support person in my family and watching people compulsively close error messages before I can read them is maddening.

Great feedback for the devs.

 

She actually didn't SEE a whole lot of them, as she's busy doing other things. The ones she saw were frustrating if they disappear quickly, or are over something else. For instance the first one that she stops to re-position the camera, the white text is partially washed out due to the sky behind it. With Edvard the text was over his words at the start, and the "put away your weapon" text was popping pretty quickly.

But she didn't ignore any purposely, quite the opposite, I had to give patience for her to read everything. That doesn't help with interface blindness, though. For instance, she never saw any of the help question mark buttons that are new this release.

She's 38. English is not her first language, hence the odd phrases, but reads just fine, books and the web. Navigating in a 3D environment is newish. She's done some, we played The Secret World before this. She does Brittany Alleys and Owls Head no problem for shopping.

 

@Vladamir Begemot
You've been giving a lot of good feedback. So much so that the devs are probably overwhelmed by it.

 

now thats some good stuff!

 

You're welcome, go team!

 

My kid is ready to start playing, but I'm having him wait until next weekend so he can try the new user experience. He volunteered to let me record it, streaming-style, so we can submit it for usability feedback. Should be interesting...

 

@Sannio I'm back in game Tuesday, if you need help finding things (like all the jumping enemy spots) or need specific things tested, let me know. That goes for every build, I know things change fast.

 

They need to put a Do Not Enter sign on the barn. At least give a warning to avoid the traps inside.

 

Great feedback! Oddly enough, many of her experiences mirror my own, even though I have ample practice starting new games and am already intimately familiar with the geography and quests. The popups came and went too quickly for me to read them. The popups and Edvard's bark overlapped so neither was legible. Edvard killed most of the mobs by himself bcause I was busy looting. I didn't end up in the Outskirts, so that worked out better for Viola.

 

This is great, thank you!

 

Awesome post.

 

TL

 

How did you get to the not outskirts? That happened to me the first time but I thought it was a previous build. That might be a big problem, did you bug it?

 

I submitted feedback (https://www.shroudoftheavatar.com/f...ing-a-new-game-solace-bridge-outskirts.87410/), and Lum replied that in the "next build" players would be taken from Solace Bridge to Solace Bridge outskirts. So I just tried it out too early.