The Newbie Experience

[Elodin]

Hi all,

We are looking at focusing on the newbie experience on the game again and making some changes. Caemlyn will become the central point that all new players are funneled to, not the place we call the Eye of the World. With that in mind, I would like feedback and suggestions from those of you who frequently assist newbies:

1) What do newbies really NEED TO KNOW that isn't already thrown at them when they start?
2) What parts/tutorials from the Eye are essential and need to be replicated in the actual mud?
3) Do you think there needs to be more told to newbies at character creation? If so, what?
4) If you could tell/teach a newbie one thing, what would it be? (this shouldn't be things like "go abs to learn pk" but moreso "ask for help on chats, people are very friendly")
5) Do you see value in a "Newbie Helper Clan"?

Any generic suggestions will be considered as well.

Thanks,
Elodin

EDIT: Also, any feedback/suggestions on the Clive and co newbie arc would be welcome.

[Mangler]

Is there any possibility of giving newbies a light that lasts for a really long time, but that can't be used by anyone over level 5?

[Weir]

1) The underlying importance of reasonable stats, and why you want them, needs to be heavily stressed to starting players. The availability of prerolled stats, but the tradeoff that comes with them, should be something that is very upfront.

2) I think something key that needs to be stressed very early on is marking the difference for new players between those who have any sort of mudding experience and those without. The plaques in the Eye really focus a lot on people brand new to mudding, whereas a lot of the basics come quite easily to those who have mudded before.

3) I know there are some things letting newer players know, but I think we need to stress perhaps even more to ask on chats whenever they run into a problem.

4) Don't stress about lost gear. Dying happens, to deathtraps, mobs, and other players. Gear will always come, and if it doesn't necessarily come easily early on, there are still plenty of people around who are happy to help you get back to a basic gear level.

5) Honestly, no. I think there are plenty of people who already go out of their way to help out newer players, and something like a "Newbie Helper Clan" really isn't going to do much to change that, imo.

[Elodin]

Thanks, Weir.

Is there any possibility of giving newbies a light that lasts for a really long time, but that can't be used by anyone over level 5?

Not off the top of my head. Can likely just give them multiple lanterns in newbie kit and/or some mechanism to get new lanterns.

[alima]

Tell guardian lantern

The guardian tells you 'You are too high level for a lantern!'

[Orino]

What would keep someone from issuing a long lasting lantern on a lowbie and alting it to higher character?

[kyra]

What about the possibility of adding more things for lower level people to do to keep them engaged as they get more familiar with the world? Experienced players don't stay below level 30 for more than a day or two, it is the newbies that can hover between 5-20 for days/weeks. So what about adding quests beyond the standard 'Find 5 X in Y zone' maybe by implementing some very low level mini-smobs similar to the Southern Mini-Smob Chain around Andor area.

[Sidar]

I don't particularly know what all was in the eye or what's in place already for info, but having an initial tutorial area maybe with a scripted walk through of some of the muds basics would be nice, maybe leading up to their first set of stats, with an explanation of each abilities scale and affect, upon the completion of which they get dumped into CoL or a select room in Caemlyn adorned with signs and the like with more advanced info. Having a basic command list would be nice, not sure if there is one already, and having info regarding mud clients and how to set them up with colors, mappers, etc. might go a long way. A true newbie getting dumped off in Caemlyn on telnet with no inkling as to what makes wot tick is a pretty big uphill battle. Zone learning is the biggest challenge, but if every newbie shows up with a map, maybe they have a chance to swim before they sink. Maybe they can actually find their own way to the practice yards which you might want to consolidate into one area in Caemlyn if that's to be the starter city. Access to better starting/statting gear would be a big help as I'm pretty sure there's not a single veteran player out there statting with less than a mid class h/h weapon and I'm sure it must be frustrating barely tickling deer while some power statter comes through with an e-axe killing everything around you. There is probably no real upside to having a newbie helper clan at this point with numbers so low, I mean how many true newbies try this game on the reg? A good idea would be to have newbie characters log in with a NEWBIE title that a veteran player could toggle off or some such that way we can see these new players on the who list loud and clear. I'm sure more of us would be obliged to take them under wing then.

[Ludn]

From what i've been told, there are a number of "quests" crier, gambler, grizzled veteran? I don't know, but to me, I have no knowledge of any of these things, and I would vote that beginner quests are the number one way to keep people interested in the game at lower levels.

The idea is to keep them around at the low levels (1-30), keep them engaged, and when they accidentally run into PK and get that first adrenaline rush that all their hard work is about to disappear, they're hooked forever.

[Elodin]

There is a series of mobs that teach basics, award eq, and generally guide players from lvl 1 to lvl 15? 20? via quests and in-character activities. Been a while since they were imped, but I plan on re-visiting them during this because I don't remember what all I included on them. For those familiar with the Clive newbie arc, suggestions on that are welcome as well.

I tried making maps of Caem for newbies to carry around when I wrote the newbie quests, but ran into issues. I'll revisit that during this process.