Young homin, Read This!

[jamela]

I was prompted to make this thread by Bosse's post in another:

Originally Posted by dcrispo

... How many times have we been asked by new arrivals on the mainland where the mission npcs are located? Another common problem of understanding is the fact that racial choice is only a matter of preference of the user and in no way affects or effects the characters they have chosen.
Since most people do not read documentation, I think a simple text message explaining the differences between Silan and the mainland would help new players understand that subscribing not only gets them to the mainland but, opens up a whole new free style of play within the game.

These are well known issues which players frequently address ingame and have also been well dealt with on the forum - for those who come here looking.

I've been thinking that there ought to be a pop-up window every time that someone begins the character creation process and again when a character leaves Silan for the mainland, with just two or three short points to read, and a checkbox to tick to say that these have been read, before being allowed to continue.

On character creation:

• Character race is almost entirely cosmetic. Some initial prejudice does exist on mainland Atys, but may be worked off.
• The Ruins of Silan is a training island. The tasks (missions) are designed to teach players the basic essentials of gameplay, and to help them to get started quickly. This is not typical of the Ryzom mainland.
• Ranged skills are not available on the training island, Silan. Ranged fighting, crafting, weapons and ammunition all become available upon travelling to mainland Atys.

On leaving Silan:

• On mainland Atys the tasks (missions) are jobs, with fairly little reward, which is why these tasks are still available; no NPC wishes to do them.
• Travel between the lands is easy and painless by teleport, but teleport pacts (TPs, or tickets) can only return a homin to the place where that pact was purchased. To buy a teleport pact, a homin must first travel overland, which is extremely hazardous without experience and/or help.

These are my suggestions, which I tried (honestly!) to keep as succinct as possible, especially in the first case. I think these pop-ups would be only a minor irritation to any experienced player, but would help to make a few salient points clear to a new player who might, with experience elsewhere, be a little shy of asking questions of other players.

[dcrispo]

Much better stated, my thanks!

[tydamus]

Moving this to the Newcomer forum for better access to new players.

[frakel]

Well put Jamela!

[jamela]

Originally Posted by tydamus

Moving this to the Newcomer forum for better access to new players.

Actually, this is supposed to be a suggestion for GameForge to consider, and I thought other experienced players might have some better suggestions for the points which need to be made. The Newcomer forum isn't really appropriate. Please would you move it back?

[tydamus]

Moving back...

Regards,

[acridiel]

Actually just today morning I was going over his experience with a friend of mine who just got to Yrkanis from Silan.

And he came up with the almost exact same idea.
Although he suggested to put these "warnings" into the texts of some NPCs you´d meet on your first missions.
Like for example the Town Welcomer would state to you:

Be carefull when you venture out there, young homin. It´s a land far more "dangerous then Silan and you may need some help with your first steps in these lands."

Popups would be actually a nice idea if they could be deactivated.
Then we´d only have to worry about those guys, who make a point of NOT reading helpfull information.

And there always are some of these around. They will deactivate popups right away and never read what a NPC has to say to them. *sigh*
But well, that´s their problem then.

CU
Acridiel

[mugendo]

There are many ways to gain information on game mechanics already in place. There is the ingame communication with other players, there are mission givers ingame, there is this forum..and many others with clear documentation onmany aspects of the game, and of course there is the trial and error approach available to players.
I have used all of the above in varying degrees over my time in Ryzom and still discover more each day....that is what Ryzom is, a place of discovery.
There are some players who refuse to discover for themselves....these siphon off other player resources and time to make life easier for them.

There are also the players that only want to max their skills in the most efficient way before they consider 'ready' to play...then they dominate their area of 'expertise' preventing others being a threat to them.

Then there are the extremist folk who gather into 'elite brotherhoods', where outsiders are treated with contempt. Their tunnel vision views are the way a game was designed to be played...and anyone not in the brotherhood are treated as external influences who can be included or excluded at will.

There are many more types of player I have encountered in the online games I have played...not all get my sympathy or support by default.

In summary I will assist anyone who endevours to progress and intergrate into Ryzom....
And I will object to having my environment changed to ease their lack of effort.....

[jamela]

Originally Posted by acridiel

Popups would be actually a nice idea if they could be deactivated.
...
And there always are some of these around. They will deactivate popups right away and never read what a NPC has to say to them. ...

The latter is why I don't think the pop-ups I suggested should be capable of deactivation. And that's why I suggested only two times during a character's existence for these popups; trying to keep irritation minimal.

Mugendo, I think I understand, and agree, with your concerns. Ryzom's gameplay does a great deal to encourage players to talk to each other, ask questions, team up, and take part in the community, and I would not like to suggest anything which would detract from that. The points that I proposed, however, and which Bosse raised, generally concern some very common, ingrained assumptions or expectations which many new players seem to bring with them from experience elsewhere and so may well not question for a very long time. Sometimes when they discover their mistake, they may be unduly disappointed, so I'm sure that GameForge would much prefer to try to address those assumptions at the earliest suitable opportunity.

Now I hope I have explained myself a little better, are there any suggestions of common misconceptions, expectations or assumptions which don't apply well to Ryzom and might be dispelled quickly at character creation, say, with just a brief line of text?

[jamela]

On behalf of xolghost, who is missed but unable to post in this forum at the moment:

Originally Posted by xolghost

I'd point to two things as well:
-picking one's specialization at char creation does not obstruct any skill's possibilities of achievement. All skills can be learned, starting spec's only give a slight boost and more actions/tools from/for that specialization.
and
-performing actions from the crafting and harvesting skill tree require the Homin to have an appropriate tool equipped.

hf *waves*