Sign in to follow this  
ToiletTsunami

New player friendliness?

Recommended Posts

I'm sure I'll be crucified for this. First I'm very new to the game so I'm sure my opinion doesn't matter. But my suggestion involves a global reduction in the action timer by some %. Crazy right? Well I like self mutilation when it comes to games but this game tried my patience with how long it takes to do specific things as a noob. Since I'm a glutton for pain, I am sticking with it, skill ups are slower but action times are too, so I'm fine. But getting past those first 48 hours for someone who has a lesser tolerance would push away a potential player/payer.

 

I guess my main suggestion stems from the pitiful shack I made on my third day (it's my pride and joy but I know how sad it is). Not including the gathering and plank cutting, the house took me around 2-3 hours of mind dulling "continue" smashing.

 

By reducing every action by 5-10% less, it would make the game more noob friendly past the first few days (maybe saving 2 seconds off a mining action) and it wouldn't change the older players experience nearly as much (maybe save .1-.2 off of say... digging). 

 

Meh, I'm sure it's a stupid idea, but this way maybe we can keep new players that are on the fence instead of them dropping out after a few days (the deed I'm at has received 2 new players that both never signed back in after they built a shack)

 

Lastly, I'm not asking for easy street. I don't want to build a mansion in 10 minutes. I want instead of taking 3-4 hours to collect, plank, and attach components for it only to take 2.75-3.5 hours. 

 

Tsunami

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites

you know for 2-3 silver coins you can get all the main tools and enchanted with woa to speed the things up. Also you can earn coins nowdays by just foraging botanizing which is fairly easy too

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites
2 minutes ago, Sin said:

you know for 2-3 silver coins you can get all the main tools and enchanted with woa to speed the things up. Also you can earn coins nowdays by just foraging botanizing which is fairly easy too

 

Damn Sin, i was just gonna write that!

Definitely the best way for a new player is to forage for a while and buy WoA tools.

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites

I thought the whole point of a trial account was for the player to get a free taste of what the game is like? Spending money negates the trial part. 

 

  • Like 2

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites

true, but foraged money is free. you still would not have spent real cash.

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites
16 minutes ago, ToiletTsunami said:

Not including the gathering and plank cutting, the house took me around 2-3 hours of mind dulling "continue" smashing.

 

I agree with this.

 

The length of action timer and - especially - the failure rate for new players causes a lot of frustration. I would not have designed it that way, but it is what it is. Wurm heavily punishes low skills and heavily favours high skills. In my opinion: too heavily. Sadly I cannot see how this balance - or mis-balance - can be corrected without a complete overhaul of the skill system.

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites

True foraging is free. Once every hour or so you get a chance at a moment, supposedly this concept banks hours where no moments were recieved. You can get anywhere from 1c to 1s. Say you get 20c everytime. That's still about 10 hours of luck... when I could have built 2.73 shacks.

By then I'm assuming a new person would have started downloading a new game?

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites

Those action timers become your friend when you are trying to level up skill, lowering those timers would not be without victims

Edited by Simyaci

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites

Plus, systems like woa were lost on me when I first started. Assuming half of the new player population is as stupid as I am, how would they know what to use? No one spelled this out, maybe the starter town? But I'm an idiot, I can't read. So I ended up doing what I'm assuming most noobs do sit there and grind it out. Which could lead to not logging back in (which happened in my study of 2 people... sufficient data, large enough sample size)

  • Like 1

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites
29 minutes ago, ToiletTsunami said:

I'm sure I'll be crucified for this. First I'm very new to the game so I'm sure my opinion doesn't matter.

Definitely on the contrary! New player experience is a vital focal point of the developer team and something we are always keen on improving, ensuring that new players manage to learn about Wurm and get as hooked on the game as we all are, without sacrificing the core of the game that keeps us here.

 

7 minutes ago, ToiletTsunami said:

True foraging is free. Once every hour or so you get a chance at a moment, supposedly this concept banks hours where no moments were recieved. You can get anywhere from 1c to 1s. Say you get 20c everytime. That's still about 10 hours of luck... when I could have built 2.73 shacks.

By then I'm assuming a new person would have started downloading a new game?

Rarity rolls and the rare coin system are two unrelated systems, though I can understand that through global discussion, as well as using the same animation and message that the assumption could be made.

 

Finding a rare coin on any rare coin actionm (selling to a token, burying, foraging, botanising, killing an animal) is 1 in 100. The chances of a rare roll window starting at any second is 1 in 3600.

 

 

That said, making a house is intended on being tough, depending on the size, you could require many materials. A simple 1x1 shack requires 80 planks, which would take around 15 logs and 2 lumps of iron, along with house building actions having no failures.

 

I'm aware that not everyone will find a 1x1 shack appealing to start with, but there are certain levels of expected difficulty as your house size increases

  • Like 2

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites

Although I agree with the replies about foraging but I also think that a bit of assistance to newbs would be nice.  and just might get them to hang in there.

 

The game already help them with the newb light and all the other bonuses for the first 24hr of game play. Why not give them a bit faster action timer while they still have the newb

status. If I was new to the game i would not want to forage for a few days to get some coin and find a supplier for tools I can afford before I can start experience what the game can give me. 

 

Wurm is very harsh as it is more so in the beginning.  We need to get new people hooked on the game not chase them away before they even started.

 

 

  • Like 10

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites

I really like Killerspike's suggestion of a faster timer action during the newb buff period.

  • Like 1

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites

Agree with you KillerSpike, that was just what I was thinking right now. Giving them a bonus for a certain duration for faster action timers in a way that people cant abuse it by just making many alts, would be nice.

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites
2 minutes ago, ToiletTsunami said:

Plus, systems like woa were lost on me when I first started. Assuming half of the new player population is as stupid as I am, how would they know what to use? No one spelled this out, maybe the starter town? But I'm an idiot, I can't read. So I ended up doing what I'm assuming most noobs do sit there and grind it out. Which could lead to not logging back in (which happened in my study of 2 people... sufficient data, large enough sample size)

 

Also, just to give you a different opinion on this WoA tool advise from above ... it doesn't really help you much.

 

First because in a lot of actions (attaching planks/nails/shingles to the shed) no tool is used and thus WoA casts or tool ql have no effect on your action timer.

Second because skill gain per action is relative to length of action timer, thus using tools with WoA will give you less skill-gain.

  • Like 1

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites

So ultimately, there is no tool that will make there be a reduction in house building. 

I completely understand this game isn't suppose to be like that "give me now" games that are coming out. But really hard core gamers like most the ones playing this game now (I'm assuming) are few. The noobs 24hr bonus would maybe pull in the slightly less hardcore crowd and keep people in the game. 

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites

That is incorrect, Woa on a hammer or mallet speeds up the building process for wooden walls and roofing

  • Like 1

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites
2 minutes ago, Retrograde said:

That is incorrect, Woa on a hammer or mallet speeds up the building process for wooden walls and roofing

 

Oh, yes, Retro is right of course. No need to activate materials for buildings, walls, fences and so. I was thinking of the items where you attach materials by activating the material, then no tool gets used. My apologies, needs more coffee!

  • Like 1

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites

We all started like that and we had even longer mining timers, which have already been reduced, i personally dont find timers slow but meh. Just keep in mind that you are really chaging the world by even building a 1x1 house. If you dont like the current sistem there is always Wurm Unlimited.

BTW a 90ql mallet which can be bought nowdays for 40c if not less will speed up timer by atleast 10 seconds.

There is also a option to join a village which would fill you with lots of knowledge and help you with skills and tools

 

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites
19 minutes ago, Sin said:

 If you dont like the current sistem there is always Wurm Unlimited.

 

 

I was borderline on the current time system but I still stuck around. I was only making a suggestion so that potentially others would stick with this game, instead of quitting. Just seems like this game needs new players and new players to stick around is all. Sending everyone away because "new players should like it because I liked it" isn't going to help imo. The 24 noobs timer will trick them into loving this game... which is the secret to catching a noob. 

 

Edit: i just reread my post and i want to say im sorry if I in anyway am coming off offensive. I mean no harm in anything I put here. I just like this game but the noob experience is still fresh in my brain

Edited by ToiletTsunami
Clarifying
  • Like 2

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites

Well the issue I remember when starting out wasn't so much the long timer times, it was the constant need to reprocess materials due to the intense failures.  An across the board increase in creation success for "early game" actions might offer a more balanced solution.

 

When you have 20 carpentry and a decent set of tools shack construction is easy, but when your carpentry has just hit 8 and your tools are terrible its not a nice experience since you spend a lot of time trying to add the same QL3 board over and over again!

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites
1 hour ago, JDBooker said:

 

Damn Sin, i was just gonna write that!

Definitely the best way for a new player is to forage for a while and buy WoA tools.

 

1 hour ago, Sin said:

you know for 2-3 silver coins you can get all the main tools and enchanted with woa to speed the things up. Also you can earn coins nowdays by just foraging botanizing which is fairly easy too

 

That's right, but it must be stated somwhere in some window a player can't close before reading. I mean, of course, they can ask stuff, but things like this should be put on the table without any request.

  • Like 1

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites

i think telling a brand new player "you have to buy stuff to be able to play" sends the wrong message.

most new players don't know what older players are talking about if they mention things like WoA.

  • Like 3

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites

I think the idea of a buff that increases creation success would be better than a buff to decrease timers.

 

Is Wurm harsh for a new player? Yes.. but to me, that is one element that sets it apart from other titles and one of the appealing aspects to wurm. There's so much to gather and try and carry around in order to survive long enough to be semi-self-reliant. The first few days of play-time are possibly the most interesting and challenging. Getting hold of basic resources like iron - and enough of it to create some basic tools and an anvil etc, making something to carry water around with you (clay jars - need to find clay, or a bucket - need nails)...  Every small task requires several other tasks to be completed first and it is very easy to be sidetracked no matter how focused you are on your initial goal. (Note, I ignore waterskin here, because for that you already need a container to make the lye). One of the hardest parts is what you can carry with you - until you've managed to gether everything to construct a cart - or you've wandered far enough away from the starter town that you can pitch a tent to store stuff in. On top of that you are constantly running into small skill-barriers and need to spend time improving a skill enough that you can continue with your more immediate aims.

 

Heck, several years ago it was REALLY harsh. No starter buffs (other than free food for 24 hours), no tent, and every failure when creating pretty much destroyed the materials you were working with. On top of that, creation just resulted in an 'unfinished item' and unusable that required other imping tools to actually finish it - leading to numerous catch-22 situations.

 

Certainly the tutorial needs a lot of work. Walls of text about stuff you haven't really encountered yet are very easily dismissed and forgotten - not to mention somewhat overwhelming. I am reminded of the very early tutorial which had an NPC at the top of New Dawn giving you basic tasks to create the things you really need. Sadly when I was a new player at the time (7 or 8 years ago) I got completely lost in the dark trying to find the clay for the jar I was asked to make, and never found my way back to the NPC.

 

I do think that old system had some merits though. It did attempt to guide you on the 'what do I do?' aspect of the first time in Wurm. I think it would also be nice if 'helpful' tutorial starter quests even rewarded the player for completion - possibly added extra game time to the starter buffs, or even by giving the player a few free days of premium once they had all been completed. Such tasks would be things like - make a clay jar, find some iron to make a small anvil, make some nails, chop some logs, make some planks, build a small cart...

 

I'd even go as far as to suggest that there could be a new type of trader (only available to new players during the first 24hrs of gametime) that allowed you to barter any foraged and botanised items in exchange for some low QL lumps of iron, basic tools, jars etc.

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites

I can see how even a 10% increase in both production success chances and timer friendliness for the "noob buff," would be extremely helpful.  Worth looking into at least.

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites

A 'succes chance' buff ('beginner's luck') would have to only work on creation options that existing skills allow though - not the other options that have a chance so low as to currently be 'not available'. Otherwise it could lead to players being confused why some crafting options have disappeared after 24hrs.

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites

Create an account or sign in to comment

You need to be a member in order to leave a comment

Create an account

Sign up for a new account in our community. It's easy!

Register a new account

Sign in

Already have an account? Sign in here.

Sign In Now
Sign in to follow this