First Impressions of a brand new player

Discussion in 'New Player Welcome' started by Quantum Joe, Jun 2, 2016.

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  1. Phydra

    Phydra Avatar

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    The term you're looking for is "interaction design" and it deals with how to shape and present information so that it is:

    - easily discoverable for the player
    - contains an implicit lesson about "how things work", "what is possible", "actions that may exist"
    - enables rather than impedes progression
    - does not rely upon "intuitive leaps" that are less and less likely the further one sits from the developer/producer/tester/founder's chair

    These are not new, untested theories. These are part of an EXTENSIVE SCIENCE for which formal education exists (or a hell of a lot of hands on experience though the birth and growth of this science from "soothsaying" to "empirically proven").

    These are lessons that every bank, airline, auction site, and mobile application continue to iterate, refine, and deepen their understanding.

    Their only new to gaming (and to MMOs specifically) because this industry has always thought itself something of a "special little snowflake" and every game within it takes this and recurses it into every atom of their collective, corporate being.

    (JUST LIKE EVERY OTHER COMPANY IN THE WORLD, BTW.)

    Oh, and in case it's still not getting through - it's also a concern for your current, preternaturally loyal backers - they just haven't moved out of their "cone of fear" about this game even making it to launch to consider (Not that they'd ever say it aloud.... or maybe only on occasion).

    Interaction design is a crucial part of any game. The interfaces reflect that design. The language and presentations of the NPCs reflect that design.

    By way of pointed example (No offense, Lum, just using what I know):

    NPCs consider no method of response to their conversation other than the one they prefer. So if any other response is given, they treat you like you're an idiot.

    I ask you: Is this an accurate reflection of conversation between strangers, friends, family, or others? (You know it's not, for all that we could have extensive humor with this if we but tilt it slightly to politics.)

    You are demanding the player discover and value YOUR thinking over THEIR OWN. Do you genuine not see how this considerably narrows your pipeline of acquisition? If you're having trouble imagining it, try imagining this:

    Tomorrow, Portalarium announces that they've just received the results/reports from their competitive business intelligence analysis on the top five feature and experience requirements to sustain a fantasy-based MMO over 3+ years that is so remarkably like World of Warcraft in it's summary that you actually throw up a little in your mouth. Then, Portalarium says that they finally must accept reality and, due to this, they will be initiating another Kickstarter to deal with the overhaul and rewrite of the systems... oh! ... and to hire a team of interaction and information designers to teach them the basics of welcoming, tutoring, and rewarding the behaviors you seek, while making it clear that you'll need your awareness as well as your focused attention to progress in this game. They say the game is "going dark" for a year to accomplish this and invite you to check back with them or sign up for the newsletter.

    There. that should do it! (dusts off her hands with a pleased look)

    Now, understand, the above is pretty much what you're asking THE ENTIRE AUDIENCE OUTSIDE THIS FORUM to accept.

    I just want you to realize how limiting this is; for you as a backer, or you as a Portalarium employee, or for Shroud of The Avatar as an offering.

    I would rather you take the TIME to do it RIGHT. It makes me sad that you likely do not have that luxury for reasons that will never be made public (or, if so, only glancingly). I fear it will greatly complicate things.
     
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  2. Lord_Darkmoon

    Lord_Darkmoon Avatar

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    A game should be self-explanatory which also applies to the gameplay.
    If I see an item I should be able to use it in the most logical way. Opening a door, picking up a sword. But in SotA this isn't the case. I want to use iron at the forge but I can't. I have to bring up some lists and windows and read through recipes about how to craft something and then the game has lost me. Because it doesn't work in the world like everything else and because it is way too complicated. I just want to use iron with the forge and then hammer the metal on the anvil. It would be the most logical way to do this by just combining the items in the gameworld.
    I don't know when this happened but games made a huge step backwards from being very intuitive and "simple" to play like in Ultima 7 to the overly complicated gameplay modern MMOs use with windows, lists, recipes, floating texts, numbers, calculations etc. There simply is no flow to that.
     
    Last edited: Jun 5, 2016
  3. E n v y

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    A really good review from a new player perspective. I really hope Portalarium look at this and take notice.
     
  4. Lord Andernut

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    Some of things from this person I agree with:

    1. Controls awkward/non-intuitive. Maybe a focus on the UI removes the need for knowing so many hot-keys.
    2. Walls of text from NPCs. Lots and lots of text. (Nothing wrong with U7/8/UW conversation systems!). I'd like a list of highlighted keywords that have come up in the conversation to stay to the right of the window or something.
    3. Even tutorial tips are a lot of reading. A quick sentence or two would be nice!
    4. Feeling lost in the world (no mini-maps or VERY few of them! Come on! Maps! Maps! Maps! Maps! Maps!!!)
    5. Finding stuff in your inventory or bank - not easy, but doesn't bother me too much.


    Every hangout the devs ask us to keep our questions brief, and to avoid lots of commentary because it's overwhelming and makes you want to skip the question. I sometimes feel that way as a player.

    I don't mind it so much for the main plot, and fully fleshed out dialogue for every NPC sounds great, except.... if the NPC isn't relating anything very important then I don't really want to have the conversation. When you read a book you don't get the internal dialogue of every character the hero runs past. Maybe it's nice to be able to stop and chat once in awhile with an NPC for some backstory to their town, but I'd like to know which NPCs are plot-central or tell a story of their own (side-quest) without stopping to ask every occupant Name/Job/Health/Keywords. Maybe when we are past the cloned NPCs things will be more obvious (and NPC barking will be better utilized).

    Thanks for the review!

    Graphics are great, and the breadth of skills once balanced is pretty good. Archery, Melee & Magic all do feel like pretty different styles, and there's a lot of thought put into the crafting systems. I know the focus is get the systems in place then polish - it's just hard to look at that count-down ticker and remember that it's just hitting persistence and not "launch."

    At the same time, most folks are treating it as "launch." As someone who doesn't order single-player games until a few months after launch, AND as someone who is quite competitive. It's hard to figure out what I'd like to do. Wait until things are more polished at the end of the year, or start playing now so I don't feel behind later!
     
  5. WrathPhoenix

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    Thank you for you feedback @Quantum Joe as it is also very important to players whom are hospitallers as well. I do hope you will stick around, as I know many of your complaints and problems are in fact on the docket to get addressed.... It's just the fact that development takes time.

    I heard you had a good interaction with @Justyn04 whom is one of our hospitallers that's always on the move. Hope she was helpful! She had some cool stuff to say about the interactions you had over the phone last night.

    The video was great IMHO, I'd reccomend @dallas take a good look because it echoes some of the points that we hear a lot. At least I personally dont feel you came off as salty but rather just had some personal recommendations to assist newer players - which is a good thing :)
     
  6. Eriador

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    You lost me when you didnt say that you will love to have more purple vortex llamas in the game!
     
  7. Beaumaris

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    Welcome to SOTA, Quantum Joe!
     
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  8. Brass Knuckles

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    Ok dude, from a new user prospective I can see what its like to start from scratch here. You made alot of misteaks but they were not your fault I suspect its the early stage of developement and the explainations are not flushed out well like the auto attack vrs free attack is a toggle setting and you can drag and drop your sword onto your character. However I loved your video and I look forward to a second remake of that after you have played a bit. You have a talented communication style and did a great job breaking things down.

    Ive not been happy with the way the quest system is or the wall of texts. But im not a quester anyways and will avoid all story lines.

    It is a complicated combat system though and I actually love that aspect.
     
  9. Mata

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    Welcome Quantum Joe!
     
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  10. Womby

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    Welcome Quantum Joe. I loved your video. That's exactly the kind of feedback the developers are looking for.
     
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  11. Serafina

    Serafina Portalarian Emeritus

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    @Quantum Joe Thank you for posting this and sharing your feedback! I watched the whole video and appreciate the time you put into making this.

    Thanks to everyone else in this thread for your feedback as well. We always appreciate hearing what players have to say, so don't be shy!
     
  12. Luka Melehan

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    Welcome to SotA! I think some of us long time players forget that the things we are used to would seem odd to a new player. Also, a lot of us Ultima lovers are older, like me. We have eye problems, can't type well, and aren't quick in a fighting situation. But we still love Ultima and gaming and as much immersion as our limitations can allow. Please ask for help when something feels clumsy, and please post feedback as we are still in the testing phases. The combat system, for example is currently in a state of change. Feedback is how the devs know there is an issue. Read your emails from Portalarium for updates, like our upcoming final wipe. And enjoy!
     
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  13. Solazur

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    Hey, things seem odd as heck if you get busy and can't play much for a spell. FOr the life of me I can't get used to this new (improved???) reticule thing..

    or the_____ or____ <take your pick, many things to insert lol>

    Great OP though
     
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  14. Luka Melehan

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    Do You like the classic tab targeting method, or do you like to play first-person-shooter style?

    Perhaps @dallas or @Berek can bring over the post about how to use setttings to change your targeting system. Is that possible?
     
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