I would prefer a separate tutorial

I wish the game hadn't gone to Steam with an unfinished tutorial in place. I'm sure many new players got a less than great impression of the game starting out. After thinking about it, I don't like the idea of mixing the tutorial with the opening scene of the game. I would prefer a separate tutorial.

What I don't like about the opening scene/tutorial:

• I have problems with the chat window (conversations abruptly ending and disappearing into a different tab) that the devs can't reproduce.
• The hints sometimes appear two at a time, one overlapping the other, so I would miss the first one if I weren't watching out for this phenomenon.
• Hints tell me to do things that are confusing. For example in Highvale, I made my way towards the gate and a hint said I should return to the practice area behind me. I turned around, but there was no practice area in sight. I had to run around looking for the practice area.
• Most importantly, the tutorial ruins the first steps I am taking in the new world by throwing hints at me not only telling me what to do, but how to do it. Reading those walls of text I forget why I'm here and don't pay attention to the story that is unfolding.

I would prefer a separate tutorial that is completely detached from the opening scene and that would be available before even creating an avatar. For example, the tutorial could start in a practice field, and instead of walls of text, a series of simple short commands would appear on the screen, helping the player to learn the controls until they feel comfortable enough to go to the next step, e.g.

• practice walking around using the WASD keys -->NEXT
• practice moving the camera holding the right mouse button while you move the mouse -->NEXT
• practice moving the camera while you are walking -->NEXT
• Double-click on the man to talk with him. (the man's dialog would be something like:

Hello stranger. You can ask me my name, inquire after my health, ask me what my job is, or ask me anything else you think I may know about. When you want to leave, just tell me goodbye.​

After finishing the tutorial, the player would know all the basics, could create an avatar and join the opening scene without all the hints and really get immersed in the story.

 

@Kara Brae those are all wonderful suggestions and excellent feedback! I'm totally on board with all this! *signed* Also, just to spread the word, Lum said they plan to redo the whole starting experience for next release (starting highvale). He gave some detail about the approach.

Other things that could help a lot the "first impression" are reduced tips displayed in hovering text so they're easily noticeable, and then expanded tips with more information on the boxes. That way the player knows what the game wants for him straight ahead, and he can fiddle the tips if he wants to know more. For example, the tooltip about movement pops up but in the superior part of the screen letters show up saying "Practice walking around using WASD". I don't want to game to be hand holding, but that doesn't mean we shouldn't carefully nurse new players into the new world... it's better to hold their hand until they know how to walk

There's something that bugs me though... is it really necessary for that kind of things to be detached from the opening scene? A tutorial before the tutorial could feel a bit out of place... Maybe Arabella himself worries about your well being after travelling through the æther... You appear in the ground and she asks you "Avatar, are you awake? Did you arrived safely?" then you stand up and she tells you "Walk around for a bit i want to be sure you're okay", then everything keeps going the way you suggested, but in the scope of the story, and using big and concise tooltips. Maybe it could work.