Morgfyre2007-03-18 17:50:16
QUOTE(Lendren @ Mar 18 2007, 07:38 AM) 391626
I think they're wonderful, especially now that I know the lutes are ten-month, not five-month as we originally thought. Any enterprising bard novice should be able to earn enough for a proper artisan instrument in ten months (I was a little dubious that they could in five).
I understand the reasons why only the primary skillset is automatically selected, but I wonder if it might not be possible to change the rule so that any skillset where you don't have a choice is chosen. It's great not having to teach the Chimes to choose Music, but we still have to teach them to choose Acrobatics, even though there's no alternative.
But even if that can't be done, I still love these changes and think they're definitely a positive step.
I understand the reasons why only the primary skillset is automatically selected, but I wonder if it might not be possible to change the rule so that any skillset where you don't have a choice is chosen. It's great not having to teach the Chimes to choose Music, but we still have to teach them to choose Acrobatics, even though there's no alternative.
But even if that can't be done, I still love these changes and think they're definitely a positive step.
Shorlen was correct that the primary skillset is the only skillset that a guild will always have. So while many guilds don't have skillchoices for particular slots right now - and it's unlikely that some will (e.g., Moondancers will probably always only be able to take Totems/Moon) - in the future that may very well change. Also, it is important for newbies to learn about skillchoice, which is an integral and unique part of our skill system.
QUOTE(Xenthos @ Mar 18 2007, 08:01 AM) 391630
The swords should probably also be called either "A steel sword" or "A steel claymore" instead of "A steel claymore sword."
This is changed for all future newbie claymores.
Xenthos2007-03-18 18:03:13
QUOTE(Morgfyre @ Mar 18 2007, 01:50 PM) 391662
This is changed for all future newbie claymores.
Thanks!
Karnagan2007-03-18 18:51:09
QUOTE(Estarra @ Mar 18 2007, 12:54 AM) 391549
That's fine. Like I said, guilds should award them, not be given as an automatic gift from the Fates. Besides, isn't this type of thing you want to see through roleplaying in a guild? (Ah, young apprentice, you are ready to receive a true sword!)
Point conceded.
Unknown2007-03-23 14:51:08
As a new player who had a failed attempt at starting to play Lusternia a year ago (for the same reasons), I will relate my story:
Coming into Newton Caverns was difficult for me as a normally non-MUD player because I wasn't aware that I was meant to use a map or that there was one, for that matter. The basic game mechanics of Lusternia illude me unless I'm explicitly told them. For instance, I was unaware until recently about the huge role that vials play in combat.
I eventually logged on to the website, found the maps and managed to happily make my way through Newton, which I think is probably what most players do and also not a problem at all as far as the game goes. The combat did seem repetitive, which is expected but I had been drawn into playing Lusternia by promises that the combat is very fresh and non-repetitive.
There are two problems with the Newton Caverns area that really drove me up the wall and eventually coerced me to give up the honors quests and grind until 21.
1. The item decay. Some items seem to decay very rapidly, and when you've got to navigate portals, get the gloves while appeasing the ant queen or fink queen in order to get to the top of smoke mountain, etc - it's very likely that the pick you picked up will be gone by the time you reach the fink at the top. At this point you try pushing the boulder twice and it falls off the cliff, requiring you to redo the whole chain, perhaps failing once or twice due to time restrictions if you're slow. The time restrictions just compound the ammount of frustration while completing the initial quests. I was told that this is meant to 'weed out' the players that are incapable. I believed that until I saw this post, and realized that players are trying to get more to join; now that I have this knowledge it makes no sense why there is a timer on the quest items.
2. There are no explicit directions about what you can and can't do. To the developers and veterans, newton caverns is a familar place. To the newbie, we are unaware of what NPCs there is, what items we should pick up, and I was unaware how to push/pull and find hidden rooms. I found myself very confused by the whole area, often backtracking and discovering hours later that I missed something several times that would enable me to continue the quest. Some of the quest items just don't make sense, or are not easily identifiable as quest items, and some of the things you need to interact with just don't make any sense. You sort of have to 'know' the style of the quest design in order to do these quests. The entire ordeal was made even more complicated by the custom of not giving explicit hints on how to do the quests. I was told to research how a catapult operates, only to find that I did not need any of that information, all I needed to know was that there is a TURN CRANK command that I am capable of using in game.
I've reached level 25 and am trying very hard to stay interested in the game. I recently swore upon quitting WoW (I'm not a typical WoW player though, I've played about every graphical MMORPG that has existed) that I will no longer take up a game that requires me to be bored for any ammount of time, even 2 minutes. I got bored while grinding in the beach flats and had to log off. As far as I can tell there are tons of fun things to do in Lusternia and I see the higher levels doing it plenty - it's just hard for me to maintain interest for long when all there is to do is grind. Perhaps Lusternia isn't for me? I heard grinding is not a large part of the game, but am very skeptical of any claim like that about a persistent world game and am beginning to wonder if I was misled. Let me know if you can play moderatly without grinding, just doing events and having fun - or if that is not an option.
Other than that the players were extremely helpful. I was refered to the help guides, my questions were answered, and I was given some free vials. A minority of players did annoy me quite a bit with their RP style. The Hillary Clinton RP style usually revolves around being a stoic, non-emotional (yet surprisingly sensitive) covertly proclaimed know-it-all. Gets on your nerves after a while. I dealt with it on some NWN servers where people were new to RP and it was the style of choice chosen on every WoW RP server I've played on - it just gets old I guess, lack of character. But again, most players were great characters, were helpful, and did a great job. I think the community is not a problem in retaining novices, from my limited and just-starting perspective - it is the quest difficulty and perhaps the grind.
Coming into Newton Caverns was difficult for me as a normally non-MUD player because I wasn't aware that I was meant to use a map or that there was one, for that matter. The basic game mechanics of Lusternia illude me unless I'm explicitly told them. For instance, I was unaware until recently about the huge role that vials play in combat.
I eventually logged on to the website, found the maps and managed to happily make my way through Newton, which I think is probably what most players do and also not a problem at all as far as the game goes. The combat did seem repetitive, which is expected but I had been drawn into playing Lusternia by promises that the combat is very fresh and non-repetitive.
There are two problems with the Newton Caverns area that really drove me up the wall and eventually coerced me to give up the honors quests and grind until 21.
1. The item decay. Some items seem to decay very rapidly, and when you've got to navigate portals, get the gloves while appeasing the ant queen or fink queen in order to get to the top of smoke mountain, etc - it's very likely that the pick you picked up will be gone by the time you reach the fink at the top. At this point you try pushing the boulder twice and it falls off the cliff, requiring you to redo the whole chain, perhaps failing once or twice due to time restrictions if you're slow. The time restrictions just compound the ammount of frustration while completing the initial quests. I was told that this is meant to 'weed out' the players that are incapable. I believed that until I saw this post, and realized that players are trying to get more to join; now that I have this knowledge it makes no sense why there is a timer on the quest items.
2. There are no explicit directions about what you can and can't do. To the developers and veterans, newton caverns is a familar place. To the newbie, we are unaware of what NPCs there is, what items we should pick up, and I was unaware how to push/pull and find hidden rooms. I found myself very confused by the whole area, often backtracking and discovering hours later that I missed something several times that would enable me to continue the quest. Some of the quest items just don't make sense, or are not easily identifiable as quest items, and some of the things you need to interact with just don't make any sense. You sort of have to 'know' the style of the quest design in order to do these quests. The entire ordeal was made even more complicated by the custom of not giving explicit hints on how to do the quests. I was told to research how a catapult operates, only to find that I did not need any of that information, all I needed to know was that there is a TURN CRANK command that I am capable of using in game.
I've reached level 25 and am trying very hard to stay interested in the game. I recently swore upon quitting WoW (I'm not a typical WoW player though, I've played about every graphical MMORPG that has existed) that I will no longer take up a game that requires me to be bored for any ammount of time, even 2 minutes. I got bored while grinding in the beach flats and had to log off. As far as I can tell there are tons of fun things to do in Lusternia and I see the higher levels doing it plenty - it's just hard for me to maintain interest for long when all there is to do is grind. Perhaps Lusternia isn't for me? I heard grinding is not a large part of the game, but am very skeptical of any claim like that about a persistent world game and am beginning to wonder if I was misled. Let me know if you can play moderatly without grinding, just doing events and having fun - or if that is not an option.
Other than that the players were extremely helpful. I was refered to the help guides, my questions were answered, and I was given some free vials. A minority of players did annoy me quite a bit with their RP style. The Hillary Clinton RP style usually revolves around being a stoic, non-emotional (yet surprisingly sensitive) covertly proclaimed know-it-all. Gets on your nerves after a while. I dealt with it on some NWN servers where people were new to RP and it was the style of choice chosen on every WoW RP server I've played on - it just gets old I guess, lack of character. But again, most players were great characters, were helpful, and did a great job. I think the community is not a problem in retaining novices, from my limited and just-starting perspective - it is the quest difficulty and perhaps the grind.
Korben2007-03-23 23:53:15
Yes, the kind of quest where you have to interact with an item that doesn't show up with the IH command but is mentioned in the room description - or with a specific subpart of one such item - was my beef as a novice in another IRE game. This is very unintuitive and people are likely to not find out about it at all unless told by another player - and when they find out they might feel 'cheated'.
Shiri2007-03-24 03:04:10
QUOTE(Korben @ Mar 23 2007, 11:53 PM) 392895
Yes, the kind of quest where you have to interact with an item that doesn't show up with the IH command but is mentioned in the room description - or with a specific subpart of one such item - was my beef as a novice in another IRE game. This is very unintuitive and people are likely to not find out about it at all unless told by another player - and when they find out they might feel 'cheated'.
Yeah, I was annoyed when I first discovered that "trick" in Delport.
Unknown2007-03-24 03:11:05
QUOTE(Shorlen @ Mar 18 2007, 03:28 PM) 391637
"A steel claymore sword" is very specific though. The problem with the ambiguity of "a steel claymore" is that it could be either a sword or a landmine. How is the poor novice to know which they are swinging around?
or 
?Ixion2007-03-24 03:17:30
Thanks for your open and thorough explanation of your experiences in Lusternia, Tyler. Being overwhelmed is not uncommon in any MUD. Once you learn the basics I assure you it goes vastly uphill from there.
A couple things:
- Things you can try to do to an item in IH, or sometimes "hidden" in the room descriptions are: TOUCH USE PUSH PULL TURN OPEN CLOSE. A great way to find if a room item is hidden is to PROBE it.
- I tended to see you in realms when the fewest number of people usually are logged in.
- You can always ask for help from a citymate, even about quests and they'll probably push you along a little.
- The grind of hunting won't change in any MUD. I think levelling in Lusternia is really unique because if you get tired of fighting, you may use your influencing skill to earn experience.
- Hunting does not equate to combat. When you start to learn about combat you'll see what I mean. It's in depth, and yes will be overwheming initially, but trying to learn anything new usually is overwhelming, yes?
- I hope you stick around, it was fun meeting you IG.
A couple things:
- Things you can try to do to an item in IH, or sometimes "hidden" in the room descriptions are: TOUCH USE PUSH PULL TURN OPEN CLOSE. A great way to find if a room item is hidden is to PROBE it.
- I tended to see you in realms when the fewest number of people usually are logged in.
- You can always ask for help from a citymate, even about quests and they'll probably push you along a little.
- The grind of hunting won't change in any MUD. I think levelling in Lusternia is really unique because if you get tired of fighting, you may use your influencing skill to earn experience.
- Hunting does not equate to combat. When you start to learn about combat you'll see what I mean. It's in depth, and yes will be overwheming initially, but trying to learn anything new usually is overwhelming, yes?
- I hope you stick around, it was fun meeting you IG.
Unknown2007-03-24 09:52:22
When I played my first ever MUD, Imperian, finding four hidden-in-room-desc objects was a requirement for getting out of novicehood (at all) in the Mages guild. The only reason I saw it was because I had verbose on. :/
Unknown2007-03-24 11:22:24
I saw someone go to the Tosha Monastery off the mountain path with my first character. There was also learning how to enter the guild hall after she graduated from novicehood. That's how I learned about manipulating hidden items. ^^;; I didn't really poke around until I started playing Xiran though.
Korben2007-03-24 12:22:57
Here's an excerpt from my favorite essay on games design (I have no Words and I must Design, by Greg Costikyan), which I think should be the general guideline for quest design.
QUOTE
The interface must provide the player with relevant information. And he must have enough information to be able to make a sensible decision.
That isn't to say a player must know everything; hiding information can be very useful. It's quite reasonable to say, "you don't know just how strong your units are until they enter combat," but in this case, the player must have some idea of the range of possibilities. It's reasonable to say, "you don't know what card you'll get if you draw to an inside straight," but only if the player has some idea what the odds are. If I might draw the Queen of Hearts and might draw Death and might draw the Battleship Potemkin, I have absoutely no basis on which to make a decision.
More than that, the interface must not provide too much information, especially in a time-dependent game. If weather, supply state, the mood of my commanders, the fatigue of the troops, and what Tokyo Rose said on the radio last night can all affect the outcome of my next decision, and I have to decide some time in the next five seconds, and it would take me five minutes to find all the relevant information by pulling down menus and looking at screens, the information is still irrelevant. I may have access to it, but I can't reasonably act on it.
Or let's talk about computer adventures; they often display information failure. "Oh, to get through the Gate of Thanatos, you need a hatpin to pick the lock. You can find the hatpin on the floor of the Library. It's about three pixels by two pixels, and you can see it, if your vision is good, between the twelfth and thirteenth floorboards, about three inches from the top of the screen. What, you missed it?"
Yeah, I missed it. In an adventure, it shouldn't be ridiculously difficult to find what you need, nor should victory be impossible just because you made a wrong decision three hours and thirty-eight decision points ago. Nor should the solutions to puzzles be arbitrary or absurd.
That isn't to say a player must know everything; hiding information can be very useful. It's quite reasonable to say, "you don't know just how strong your units are until they enter combat," but in this case, the player must have some idea of the range of possibilities. It's reasonable to say, "you don't know what card you'll get if you draw to an inside straight," but only if the player has some idea what the odds are. If I might draw the Queen of Hearts and might draw Death and might draw the Battleship Potemkin, I have absoutely no basis on which to make a decision.
More than that, the interface must not provide too much information, especially in a time-dependent game. If weather, supply state, the mood of my commanders, the fatigue of the troops, and what Tokyo Rose said on the radio last night can all affect the outcome of my next decision, and I have to decide some time in the next five seconds, and it would take me five minutes to find all the relevant information by pulling down menus and looking at screens, the information is still irrelevant. I may have access to it, but I can't reasonably act on it.
Or let's talk about computer adventures; they often display information failure. "Oh, to get through the Gate of Thanatos, you need a hatpin to pick the lock. You can find the hatpin on the floor of the Library. It's about three pixels by two pixels, and you can see it, if your vision is good, between the twelfth and thirteenth floorboards, about three inches from the top of the screen. What, you missed it?"
Yeah, I missed it. In an adventure, it shouldn't be ridiculously difficult to find what you need, nor should victory be impossible just because you made a wrong decision three hours and thirty-eight decision points ago. Nor should the solutions to puzzles be arbitrary or absurd.
Unknown2007-03-24 18:19:31
Would never have thought to look for hidden information if I hadn't seen this thread, thank you.
Unknown2007-03-25 01:06:49
QUOTE(Ixion @ Mar 23 2007, 08:17 PM) 392948
Thanks for your open and thorough explanation of your experiences in Lusternia, Tyler. Being overwhelmed is not uncommon in any MUD. Once you learn the basics I assure you it goes vastly uphill from there.
A couple things:
- Things you can try to do to an item in IH, or sometimes "hidden" in the room descriptions are: TOUCH USE PUSH PULL TURN OPEN CLOSE. A great way to find if a room item is hidden is to PROBE it.
- I tended to see you in realms when the fewest number of people usually are logged in.
- You can always ask for help from a citymate, even about quests and they'll probably push you along a little.
- The grind of hunting won't change in any MUD. I think levelling in Lusternia is really unique because if you get tired of fighting, you may use your influencing skill to earn experience.
- Hunting does not equate to combat. When you start to learn about combat you'll see what I mean. It's in depth, and yes will be overwheming initially, but trying to learn anything new usually is overwhelming, yes?
- I hope you stick around, it was fun meeting you IG.
A couple things:
- Things you can try to do to an item in IH, or sometimes "hidden" in the room descriptions are: TOUCH USE PUSH PULL TURN OPEN CLOSE. A great way to find if a room item is hidden is to PROBE it.
- I tended to see you in realms when the fewest number of people usually are logged in.
- You can always ask for help from a citymate, even about quests and they'll probably push you along a little.
- The grind of hunting won't change in any MUD. I think levelling in Lusternia is really unique because if you get tired of fighting, you may use your influencing skill to earn experience.
- Hunting does not equate to combat. When you start to learn about combat you'll see what I mean. It's in depth, and yes will be overwheming initially, but trying to learn anything new usually is overwhelming, yes?
- I hope you stick around, it was fun meeting you IG.
Ixion! You've been a great help along the way!
Influencing eh? I haven't tried much of it but will definitely be using it more often now that you mention it gives experience.
Verithrax2007-03-25 02:08:04
QUOTE(Korben @ Mar 24 2007, 09:22 AM) 392994
Here's an excerpt from my favorite essay on games design (I have no Words and I must Design, by Greg Costikyan), which I think should be the general guideline for quest design.
Whoo, it's good to know there's another hopeless Greg Costikyan fanboy in the forums.
Unknown2007-03-25 09:44:15
Oh and despite my criticisms in my post up there - I am really enjoying Lusternia. It's great fun putting up icewalls and exploring all of the unique abilities. I also enjoy the Nexus alot! Hopefully I can survive this novice stage and see the rest of the game!
Unknown2007-03-25 09:57:42
QUOTE(Tyler @ Mar 25 2007, 09:44 AM) 393435
Oh and despite my criticisms in my post up there - I am really enjoying Lusternia. It's great fun putting up icewalls and exploring all of the unique abilities. I also enjoy the Nexus alot! Hopefully I can survive this novice stage and see the rest of the game!
Lusternia is probably the most in-depth game I've encountered... best of luck When you say nexus though, do you mean the java means of connecting, or your city's nexus? Just seems kind of odd that someone would say they're enjoying their nexus
If you haven't tried it yet I suggest you look int zmud or other front end programs for playing the game, they can change a lot.Unknown2007-05-11 02:55:09
Sorry for bringing up this old topic, but I thought I'd like to put my two cents in. Also, I guess I'd also like to bump this topic again, so that more people can put their opinions on the topic forward, as this really is an interesting MUD that deserves to retain more new players than it does currently.
The first thing that bothered me was that as soon as I got out of the tutorial, I was pounced on by the older players of my guild. I was told to come to a certain room. Then I was told to follow someone. Then I was told to read a certain help file. And so on.
Now, I realise that if this doesn't happen, the new players are usually completely lost. So I guess it's nice of them to help me out like that. But when I start a new MUD, I prefer to interact solely with NPCs until I figure out what I'm doing, with help from help files, tutorials, and if I get really stuck, asking on the newbie or guild channels. I like to ease into interactions with other players, as I'm generally pretty people-shy, and also fairly independent, so being told by other players how I should be doing things is pretty off-putting.
So, what I'm saying basically is that there really needs to be more information available for new players, instead of the burden being on the older players to teach new players. Of course, having it all shoved at them is going to be overwhelming, so instead, perhaps there could be a few training courses on various aspects of the game. For example, the stuff that my guild was trying to teach me could instead come from a training course, which I could take multiple times if I wanted to. Either that, or there needs to be a fairly expansive set of pages on various topics that a new player will need to know, such as the skillsets, things you can do in your guild, the portals, and all the rest.
I don't mind having to mess around with help files, tutorials and webpages, since I can do those at my own speed. If some older player is telling me what I should do, I feel like I have to understand these things fairly quickly so as to not take up much of their time. Also, since I am just starting out, I don't know who this person is who is telling me all these things, so I don't know how they might react to me telling them (politely) to leave me alone. I'd be quite happy if I was asked whether I need help or whether I'm happy with reading and learning from the game itself, but the current method comes across as quite pushy, even if it is necessary.
I really don't want to seem ungrateful for the help I got when I first started playing, and I can imagine that a lot of players would appreciate having someone give them something to work on as soon as they start. Some people here have complained that nobody was on when they started, so they had to figure it out for themselves. But I would actually have been fine with that, as long as the information was there for me to work from, and I think I'm not the only new player that was actually a bit annoyed by how I was treated by my guild, well-intentioned though it was.
The first thing that bothered me was that as soon as I got out of the tutorial, I was pounced on by the older players of my guild. I was told to come to a certain room. Then I was told to follow someone. Then I was told to read a certain help file. And so on.
Now, I realise that if this doesn't happen, the new players are usually completely lost. So I guess it's nice of them to help me out like that. But when I start a new MUD, I prefer to interact solely with NPCs until I figure out what I'm doing, with help from help files, tutorials, and if I get really stuck, asking on the newbie or guild channels. I like to ease into interactions with other players, as I'm generally pretty people-shy, and also fairly independent, so being told by other players how I should be doing things is pretty off-putting.
So, what I'm saying basically is that there really needs to be more information available for new players, instead of the burden being on the older players to teach new players. Of course, having it all shoved at them is going to be overwhelming, so instead, perhaps there could be a few training courses on various aspects of the game. For example, the stuff that my guild was trying to teach me could instead come from a training course, which I could take multiple times if I wanted to. Either that, or there needs to be a fairly expansive set of pages on various topics that a new player will need to know, such as the skillsets, things you can do in your guild, the portals, and all the rest.
I don't mind having to mess around with help files, tutorials and webpages, since I can do those at my own speed. If some older player is telling me what I should do, I feel like I have to understand these things fairly quickly so as to not take up much of their time. Also, since I am just starting out, I don't know who this person is who is telling me all these things, so I don't know how they might react to me telling them (politely) to leave me alone. I'd be quite happy if I was asked whether I need help or whether I'm happy with reading and learning from the game itself, but the current method comes across as quite pushy, even if it is necessary.
I really don't want to seem ungrateful for the help I got when I first started playing, and I can imagine that a lot of players would appreciate having someone give them something to work on as soon as they start. Some people here have complained that nobody was on when they started, so they had to figure it out for themselves. But I would actually have been fine with that, as long as the information was there for me to work from, and I think I'm not the only new player that was actually a bit annoyed by how I was treated by my guild, well-intentioned though it was.
Unknown2007-05-11 03:02:45
It is annoying, but there's not much you can do in this game until you have your guild skills.
Anarias2007-05-11 04:46:57
QUOTE(Ladybug @ May 10 2007, 08:55 PM) 406280
Sorry for bringing up this old topic, but I thought I'd like to put my two cents in. Also, I guess I'd also like to bump this topic again, so that more people can put their opinions on the topic forward, as this really is an interesting MUD that deserves to retain more new players than it does currently.
The first thing that bothered me was that as soon as I got out of the tutorial, I was pounced on by the older players of my guild. I was told to come to a certain room. Then I was told to follow someone. Then I was told to read a certain help file. And so on.
Now, I realise that if this doesn't happen, the new players are usually completely lost. So I guess it's nice of them to help me out like that. But when I start a new MUD, I prefer to interact solely with NPCs until I figure out what I'm doing, with help from help files, tutorials, and if I get really stuck, asking on the newbie or guild channels. I like to ease into interactions with other players, as I'm generally pretty people-shy, and also fairly independent, so being told by other players how I should be doing things is pretty off-putting.
So, what I'm saying basically is that there really needs to be more information available for new players, instead of the burden being on the older players to teach new players. Of course, having it all shoved at them is going to be overwhelming, so instead, perhaps there could be a few training courses on various aspects of the game. For example, the stuff that my guild was trying to teach me could instead come from a training course, which I could take multiple times if I wanted to. Either that, or there needs to be a fairly expansive set of pages on various topics that a new player will need to know, such as the skillsets, things you can do in your guild, the portals, and all the rest.
I don't mind having to mess around with help files, tutorials and webpages, since I can do those at my own speed. If some older player is telling me what I should do, I feel like I have to understand these things fairly quickly so as to not take up much of their time. Also, since I am just starting out, I don't know who this person is who is telling me all these things, so I don't know how they might react to me telling them (politely) to leave me alone. I'd be quite happy if I was asked whether I need help or whether I'm happy with reading and learning from the game itself, but the current method comes across as quite pushy, even if it is necessary.
I really don't want to seem ungrateful for the help I got when I first started playing, and I can imagine that a lot of players would appreciate having someone give them something to work on as soon as they start. Some people here have complained that nobody was on when they started, so they had to figure it out for themselves. But I would actually have been fine with that, as long as the information was there for me to work from, and I think I'm not the only new player that was actually a bit annoyed by how I was treated by my guild, well-intentioned though it was.
The first thing that bothered me was that as soon as I got out of the tutorial, I was pounced on by the older players of my guild. I was told to come to a certain room. Then I was told to follow someone. Then I was told to read a certain help file. And so on.
Now, I realise that if this doesn't happen, the new players are usually completely lost. So I guess it's nice of them to help me out like that. But when I start a new MUD, I prefer to interact solely with NPCs until I figure out what I'm doing, with help from help files, tutorials, and if I get really stuck, asking on the newbie or guild channels. I like to ease into interactions with other players, as I'm generally pretty people-shy, and also fairly independent, so being told by other players how I should be doing things is pretty off-putting.
So, what I'm saying basically is that there really needs to be more information available for new players, instead of the burden being on the older players to teach new players. Of course, having it all shoved at them is going to be overwhelming, so instead, perhaps there could be a few training courses on various aspects of the game. For example, the stuff that my guild was trying to teach me could instead come from a training course, which I could take multiple times if I wanted to. Either that, or there needs to be a fairly expansive set of pages on various topics that a new player will need to know, such as the skillsets, things you can do in your guild, the portals, and all the rest.
I don't mind having to mess around with help files, tutorials and webpages, since I can do those at my own speed. If some older player is telling me what I should do, I feel like I have to understand these things fairly quickly so as to not take up much of their time. Also, since I am just starting out, I don't know who this person is who is telling me all these things, so I don't know how they might react to me telling them (politely) to leave me alone. I'd be quite happy if I was asked whether I need help or whether I'm happy with reading and learning from the game itself, but the current method comes across as quite pushy, even if it is necessary.
I really don't want to seem ungrateful for the help I got when I first started playing, and I can imagine that a lot of players would appreciate having someone give them something to work on as soon as they start. Some people here have complained that nobody was on when they started, so they had to figure it out for themselves. But I would actually have been fine with that, as long as the information was there for me to work from, and I think I'm not the only new player that was actually a bit annoyed by how I was treated by my guild, well-intentioned though it was.
I'm gonna go ahead and just quote all of that for emphasis. I find the immediate jumping pretty offputting too.
Arel2007-05-11 05:28:24
QUOTE(Anarias @ May 11 2007, 12:46 AM) 406289
I find the immediate jumping pretty offputting too.
The amount of "Uh, so what do I do? I need help" I see on the newbie channel every day makes me think that the initial jumping of novices isn't too great an evil.
