55 replies to this topic

[Dock Steward]

Have you seen the number of threads asking basic questions about this game? It's crazy. We all know the new players aren't given the information they need to understand all of the complicated aspects of this game, but the "simple" things are giving them trouble too. This is in no way meant to disparage new players, just the opposite; I really feel for these players.

Everything from Ghost Heat to how One Shot Camo patterns work is confusing the heck out of people. PGI added a tutorial. I haven't looked at it, but there needs to be more. I realize that things like the skill trees and whatnot have one sentence descriptions regarding how they work, but we have young players and players for whom English is a second language, as well as players with not-fantastic reading comprehension, for whom those descriptions are not working.

What do we do? Even if we compiled an "MW:O for New Players" document, it would be too many pages long for anyone to want to read it. Someone needs to start a web series to go over EVERYTHING, and then put a link to it somewhere where all new players can find it. Or something.

Really, what can we as a community do to help these players out? There's just so much to know...

Edited by Dock Steward, 12 October 2014 - 02:07 PM.

[Nothing Whatsoever]

Yeah, for now all we can do is answer those questions as best we can and as often as we can, like this thread here, in the New Player Section.

[FupDup]

Think of the childrens, man!


Back to serious business, we probably could use some kind of encyclopedia-esque thing built directly into the game (because they're less likely to use the forums).

[Dock Steward]

Praetor Knight, on 10 October 2014 - 09:00 PM, said:

Yeah, for now all we can do is answer those questions as best we can and as often as we can, like this thread here, in the New Player Section.

I've never seen that thread, do you think it's easy for new players to find it? I mean, yeah, it's right there in the new player forums, and clearly people are using it, but can it be advertised better or something?

Plus, on further investigation, it looks like that thread devolves into the same mess that most threads do. Complaining about things rather than asking questions and getting answers.

Edited by Dock Steward, 10 October 2014 - 09:06 PM.

[Levi Porphyrogenitus]

We need three playable tutorials, each tied to an achievement with a meaningful reward.

We have basic movement. We need advanced movement and advanced combat, including how to move in 1st person view, how to operate with arm lock off, etc.

[Nothing Whatsoever]

Dock Steward, on 10 October 2014 - 09:04 PM, said:

I've never seen that thread, do you think it's easy for new players to find it? I mean, yeah, it's right there in the new player forums, and clearly people are using it, but can it be advertised better or something?

Maybe add it to the cycling screens of the Launcher. Advertise: Have a question, Ask here!

And if that thread gets too big, I'd archive it and have a new one open to point to from the Launcher.

[Dock Steward]

Levi Porphyrogenitus, on 10 October 2014 - 09:06 PM, said:

We need three playable tutorials, each tied to an achievement with a meaningful reward.

We have basic movement. We need advanced movement and advanced combat, including how to move in 1st person view, how to operate with arm lock off, etc.

I'm not even talking about actually playing the game, that's a whole other can of worms. I just mean the BASICS. Like how Trial Mechs work, how leveling works, how loading out and customizing a mech works. People are confused by everything, and I don't blame them. If it wasn't for knowledge of previous mech games, none of us would know what the heck is happening.

FupDup, on 10 October 2014 - 09:01 PM, said:

Think of the childrens, man!


Back to serious business, we probably could use some kind of encyclopedia-esque thing built directly into the game (because they're less likely to use the forums).

There is an MW:O wiki, but it doesn't seem to be very...extensive.

[Greenjulius]

MWO has one of the larger learning curves of any game out there. If a player comes in without prior knowledge of the universe, it's even worse.

There really needs to a tutorial system for new players, better than what we have now.

[Nothing Whatsoever]

Dock Steward, on 10 October 2014 - 09:04 PM, said:

Plus, on further investigation, it looks like that thread devolves into the same mess that most threads do. Complaining about things rather than asking questions and getting answers.

Ah, it's rare, but sadly it can still happen, but those who answer tend to go above and beyond to remain civil and help others regardless.

[Levi Porphyrogenitus]

Dock Steward, on 10 October 2014 - 09:12 PM, said:

I'm not even talking about actually playing the game, that's a whole other can of worms. I just mean the BASICS. Like how Trial Mechs work, how leveling works, how loading out and customizing a mech works. People are confused by everything, and I don't blame them. If it wasn't for knowledge of previous mech games, none of us would know what the heck is happening.

So expand my previous suggestion to include a couple video tutorials, complete with achievements to encourage people to watch them through.

[Dock Steward]

Greenjulius, on 10 October 2014 - 09:15 PM, said:

MWO has one of the larger learning curves of any game out there. If a player comes in without prior knowledge of the universe, it's even worse.

There really needs to a tutorial system for new players, better than what we have now.

Completely agree, but, call me selfish, I really want PGI working on other aspects of the game. There are enough players, that I think we could do something. I just don't know what...

Levi Porphyrogenitus, on 10 October 2014 - 09:16 PM, said:

So expand my previous suggestion to include a couple video tutorials, complete with achievements to encourage people to watch them through.

Not a bad idea at all.

[Greenjulius]

Dock Steward, on 10 October 2014 - 09:18 PM, said:

Completely agree, but, call me selfish, I really want PGI working on other aspects of the game. There are enough players, that I think we could do something. I just don't know what...

I really want new blood in this game. I wish there were hundreds of thousands of active players. My best guess is it's closer to tens of thousands. Tonight I've been waiting for minutes on matches, in a medium. A medium!

Peak times are the only time to play unless we get a healthy number of new recruits.

Edited by Greenjulius, 10 October 2014 - 09:28 PM.

[Dock Steward]

Simple idea: what about a very prominent link to the New player forums put somewhere where players absolutely cannot miss it, even if they've never been anywhere near the forums? If you click the "Community" tab on the launcher, it brings you to this: http://mwomercs.com/community. I just don't think that's nearly prominent enough of a link, a clear enough of a label, nor a direct enough of a route to get new players where they need to be. And the "Forums" tab just brings you to the main forums page without giving any hint that new players will find what they need to know there or exactly where in the forums they should go.

Edited by Dock Steward, 10 October 2014 - 09:29 PM.

[Dock Steward]

Greenjulius, on 10 October 2014 - 09:28 PM, said:

I really want new blood in this game. I wish there were hundreds of thousands of active players. My best guess is it's closer to tens of thousands. Tonight I've been waiting for minutes on matches, in a medium. A medium!

Peak times are the only time to play unless we get a healthy number of new recruits.

Bringing in new players is super important, and I'm with you on that, but let's focus this thread on retention (through giving them the tools they need to at least understand the game).

[Dock Steward]

I play this table top game, Flames of War (very popular in some parts, in others, not so much), and their website is fantastic. Every week or two they add a new video tutorial dealing with a single aspect of gameplay. Their archive at this point is pretty large. MW:O needs that, but I just don't know if PGI has the resources at the moment.

I would bet that if a group of MW:O players took it upon themselves to create that kind of thing, PGI would be all about making it a prominent feature on their site. Unfortunately, I'm just not the guy to do it. I haven't got the equipment.

Volunteers?

Edited by Dock Steward, 10 October 2014 - 09:42 PM.

[Johnny Reb]

Praetor Knight, on 10 October 2014 - 09:00 PM, said:

Yeah, for now all we can do is answer those questions as best we can and as often as we can, like this thread here, in the New Player Section.

Koniving has been doing a great job in this regard for months now.

[Timuroslav]

The In game Tutorial Voice Acted missions need to be finished. Preferable after Invasion mode. Scripted Training Missions were stated to be in the works but are being moth balled, because people want Community Warfare so bad.
Honestly, Scripted Training missions would take a while, but they need to be in the game really really really badly.
The current tutorial mission can be buzzed through, but it doesn't explain how the weapon systems work. Which is bad news bears. Also role warfare needs to be explained.

[Dock Steward]

Johnny Reb, on 10 October 2014 - 10:08 PM, said:

Koniving has been doing a great job in this regard for months now.

Which is great. I guess we should all start trying to actively promote that thread then. I'm just not sure if the forums are frequented by enough of the new players for it to make a big dent. I'm not saying it's not, just that I literally have no idea what percentage of new players find their way to that thread.

[Timuroslav]

For every one person who asks a question in the forums. There are 50 people who are too shy, intimidated, or confused on leaving a post in the appropriate thread.
Let's be honest here, gamers are quick to gloat and slow to compliment. This is why people are afraid of leaving posts. Plus Posts after having encountered a problem are not as fun as a ingame training mission with PVE that can be played once for 2 million C Bills

Edited by Timuroslav, 10 October 2014 - 10:16 PM.

[Johnny Reb]

Dock Steward, on 10 October 2014 - 10:12 PM, said:

Which is great. I guess we should all start trying to actively promote that thread then. I'm just not sure if the forums are frequented by enough of the new players for it to make a big dent. I'm not saying it's not, just that I literally have no idea what percentage of new players find their way to that thread.

Well, in that regard can bring a horse to water but can't make him drink.