You aren't communicating the 3 tandem questlines

Since launch and just prior, new players are repeatedly hitting the tier 5 area wall because they are only playing a single questline. They have no idea that they should be skipping back and forth.

I think Arabella may have been an attempt to make that happen but in many cases it isn't working.

Any quest giver that is about to send a player into a tier 5 area needs to check and see the players adventure level and if they have even started the other two questlines, and if they are low and/or they haven't started the other questlines, politely suggest that they go do that first, then come back later.

And tell them to use the Lunar Rift to get there so they don't get lost.

 

Makes sense, @Vladamir Begemot

 

They should use the mail system e.g. From Arabella "I see things are progressing nicely in Ardoris but your help is needed in Highvale..."

 

The problem with that idea is that Arabella isn't necessarily going to be queried at the right moment. There are specific NPC's that send the players off to hard areas, those are the ones that should be giving the "try something more your size" advice.

 

Agreed.

My old suggestion was to have the third/fourth quest in each path would lead to the next path.

For instance

Love>Truth
Truth>courage
Courage>Love

That way you couldn't progress all the way to the 4/5 tier wall without having sniffed the other paths first.
Also regardless of where you started that design would lead you naturally back to your starter path. But also give you the sandbox of after that point picking whatever you want.

For instance.

Palace of Wind/Earth staff/ruler sending you on a diplomatic mission to request aid against the undead from Longfall/Aerie.
Before sending you to the tower.

Would be a much better player experience.

 

@Spoon Capt. Cudgel in Ardoris is a link from Resolute, but needs to then send the player up to Solace Bridge to get started, or start it himself, and I don't think he does that.

 

Yes they should listen to you @Puuk @Lum the Mad

 

Ah, I missed the mail system part of the message. Yes, that could totally work.

 

Arabella seems to work ok in Soltown - she is easy to find, does give out other quests and gives the lunar rift hint.

Same for Aerie, but I do not remember if she mentions the lunar rift for Blood River.

She is harder to find in Resolute, but you should find her if you are following the Courage path.

 

simply because they are NOT tandum quest lines - they are linear - it is just that player who "know" know better to level as you go thru the quests and work each in tiers.

The quests used to be linera and not really allowed to jumble them up, how it still should be.

 

Don't the journal entries get a (this task should be xxxxx for you) entry, to give players an indication of difficulty?

 

Yes they do.

 

I've repeatedly answered people who are having a problem because they just hit a Tier 5 area on their first questline. It's an over and over thing now in Steam, and here. "Jump to the other quests." "Oh! I had no idea, thanks!"

So Arabella is working fine if the player goes and talks to her, but clearly that isn't happening. Players are getting frustrated to the point of asking.

Since it's kind of a big deal, I think they need to put something more automatic than hoping the player talks to Arabella.

 

Yeah sounds like they should add an entry/task "Talk to Arabella in Soltown, etc." for each path since the subtle hints are not working.

They could also add popup warning if an area is too hard - red or orange like the PVP zones if their adventure level is too low.

 

We discussed this today and we're going to try to solve this in two ways:

- side quests given by NPCs nearby pivotal main plot NPCs early on (such as Brigid in Resolute or Kiakis in Vertas) which point players to other main plot NPCs in other paths. (We feel this is less intrusive than trying to shoehorn something required or out-of-game-perspective to the main quest plot progression).
- similarly to the above, side quests given to direct players to underutilized nearby catacombs and mines to encourage them to get their hands dirty in combat without immediately tossing them into the deep end of the pool. (@Puuk has some ideas here specifically based on some ongoing plot lines he's developing).

We're targeting Release 54 for the first pass at this. Thanks for all the helpful suggestions!

 

Huzzah!

 

Thank you @Lum the Mad.

Just another suggestion:
When we finished the outskirts and receive the BANNER, Arabella could appear at this moment and telling us to go to another outskirts first.
May be she could take us there by magic?
Would prevent new players get lost on their way.

 

Or we get a pop up that says maybe we should go see Arabella if that is not possible. like a thought bubble says hmmm maybe i should go see Arabella. Just an idea

 

Perhaps the Oracle can intervene as well. But the Oracle does make the statement that the three virtues cross paths. Problem is most people wont/dont read the whole conversation and miss out on alot of content. Just like the New player book they are supposed to get at Isle of Storms. They open it cause the tool tips says to read it.....but most dont read it at all. I have read through the New Player and Player guide and there is alot of content in both that can answer most of the daily questions i get from new players.

 

Most of those guides just need to be broken up better. This game in the beginning is a tad overwhelming. It should be more focused on early on (basic) tasks that people need to learn, then move onto the next guide...