I Want To Play Wurm, But The New Player Experience Is Just Too Horrible.

[Mythix 12]

Really, all they need in the tutorial is "Press H".  Now search "digging".  Now search "wooden house".  and +1 on keeping a compass.  Then let them wander thru that tutorial area seeing what is possible, then set them free!  

That is all.  

[Gaeron 551]

The first days as a new player are definitely some of the hardest, getting orientated being one of the most critical things.

 

The thing I rarely see mentioned is that there are no levelling areas, no zones, nothing. In Wurm you just enter the world, be happy if where you are is relatively safe today because it may not be tomorrow. I don't think many new players realise quite how the game world works and there is nothing to protect you from the biggest, baddest  mobs in the game and a day 1 player could just as easily meet them as a top end warrior.

[Nekojin 197]

Something that might be worth exploring is how A Tale in the Desert (sometimes) handles it - have a separate newbie zone that teaches the basics in an open, free-form method, and also allow veteran players to teleport to this newbie zone to give instruction. The zone would contain everything that a player might need, within a much smaller area. The veterans would not be able to help or hinder the newbies in any way, other than to explain how things work, in case the newbies didn't understand the signposts/tutorial. No materials collected in the Newbie Zone would transfer to the real world (to prevent people from stockpiling before leaving), but the skills gained during that time would be untouched.

 

As an incentive to veterans to DO this, there could be a Gold or Diamond level achievement for helping new players; when the new players leave, they can enter the names of up to three veterans who helped them, which would give the veterans credit toward the achievement.

[khatanka 317]

It's always the same problem with the new settlers. Within three days going back 90% and come not soon.

Why not just an extended Tuturial? Why not the "Golden Valley" leave after the first lesson, of course, equipped only with weak monsters. And only when the player has level 10 in combat, etc, he may hand over the portals to its desired server.

[robino 79]

How about something simple as a papyrus note with top 10 newbie tips given to each new character?

 

And newbie compass that stays after death...

 

they would get lost or forgoten pretty soon

 

better to make an 'essential playing tips' tab - which can be reviewed at any time

 

would also be nice to have a notepad in-game .. to make notes

 

many people say the initial learning curve after the tutorial is too steep - i have to agree with them

[camobeast 11]

Really guys... Really... Half the fun in the game is trying to survive! specially when you first start playing it, minimap has been discussed before countless times, first they cater for the lazy people and bring out servers with double skillgain What are you going to be asking for next PRE skilled characters with 90 skill in everything on creation? ITS NOT EVEN THAT HARD.

[rosedragon 2,282]

How about something simple as a papyrus note with top 10 newbie tips given to each new character?

 

And newbie compass that stays after death...

+1 with compass.

For the new tips, nah.. the tutorial already wall of texts no one read >_> ... I'm thinking of something like reduce the tutorial to bare minimum then have the rest of the lessons as newbie quests that give the player the newbie set (one by one) and bartender-like refresh for each completion. This give them the clue of what they should and could do in the game but allow them to either do with their own pace or neglect it?

[Eobersig 1,006]

Please note that you guys posting about tutorial and stuff are now talking about things the OP said are okay. From the OP: "I go through the tutorial, which is pretty reasonable and covers most of the things you need to know ..."

 

The problem of posters like the OP is not the tutorial, or the lack or the quality of it. The problem is that there's no room relatively close to the spawn point for new players to make their first steps because both established and newer players grab all of the space to build huge plots and even larger parking lots. And that is the problem cause it forces newer players to go out into the wilderness to find space - and there they get eaten by the local wildlife and are back at that spawn that they need to leave as soon as possible.

 

And then they are back in that huge waste of space and back in that maze of walls people have build to grab land they never use anyway.

[sunshadow21 4]

Keeping the compass would be very helpful. I understand the arguments against it, but in real life there are other ways to figure out direction that simply don't exist in a computer game, so having something small and basic, while still limited as the starter compass is, is definitely helpful and allows the new player to focus on the rest of the game rather than simply trying to figure out where the heck they are.

 

As for the ingame map, I would love to see a very basic minimap that would provide at least some idea of the immediately surrounding area; yes, it's not particularly realistic, but especially with a strictly 1st person perspective, it would be nice. Add in a map that shows your location and the location of the starter town, and a new player would have enough context that getting completely lost, at least near the starting town, would be much harder, but far from impossible. To get more information, such as highways, villages, resources, nearby creatures, etc, you could make it so that a cartography skill would allow to see more on the mini map, and/or create more detailed maps you could share with others. Again, the idea is to provide just enough information to encourage and support the new player while still making it clear that they will have to do a fair bit of work on their own to do more than the very basics.

 

The glut around the starter towns is a very big problem with no easy solution. The only real one I can think of off the top of my head is to simply not allow deeds, and limit digging/mining within a certain radius of the starter towns, though that has problems of it's own. The challenge is maintaining a buffer area that new players can use to get started while still protecting the area for future new players and allowing older players who genuinely are helping to build useful and necessary structures and deeds.

[alaskanbob 225]

Compass yes.

Aggro free time, no. It'll impact pvp servers. Besides that my first month of noobin it up was probably my favorite time playing this game.

[Ubai 17]

alaskanbob said:

"Aggro free time, no. It'll impact pvp servers. Besides that my first month of noobin it up was probably my favorite time playing this game."

 

Aggro free time would not impact pvp servers if it was mobs only, I am pretty sure I specified that. As for your noob experience, I'm glad you enjoyed being killed repeatedly but I think you might be in the minority on that one. I found it amusing too, the first half dozen times, but after a while the novelty pales.

 

thanks,

Matt

[kajmir 80]

I like others really enjoys the writing, and lol'ed a few times.

 

 

On one hand, the right one,  fully agrees. It's hard to get started, it's not player friendly in slightest..

 

 

But my left hand says in an amused voice, "Welcome to Wurm" And continues to tell you that while starting out in Wurm  is evil, I would like to time-warp you back say...5 -6 years when I started. If you think being a nublet now is hard, ask around with vet's. You have far more advantages then many others did upon starting.

 

My memory admittedly is a tad shady, however, I have recently made a nublet account (3 months ago) and I was amazed at the benefits compared to starting Kajmir.

 

A compass, bowl, ....A tutorial that could actually be completed without dying, it all amazed me. Dude we didn't even get a compass to die with and loose. Back in the extremely old days there was no tutorial at ALL.

 

 

So I'm going to have a talk with my hands, get them to stop arguing and yeah that's all I can say, really torn.

[alaskanbob 225]

alaskanbob said:

"Aggro free time, no. It'll impact pvp servers. Besides that my first month of noobin it up was probably my favorite time playing this game."

 

Aggro free time would not impact pvp servers if it was mobs only, I am pretty sure I specified that. As for your noob experience, I'm glad you enjoyed being killed repeatedly but I think you might be in the minority on that one. I found it amusing too, the first half dozen times, but after a while the novelty pales.

 

thanks,

Matt

I disagree. Making it easier for spy alts to maneuver around the server is not something that should be encouraged. So yes it would impact pvp.

[Sinisa 1]

I Literally just started a few days ago, and I must say that I enjoying my time in Wurm. However this is only the case because we joined as a group. Had I been alone all those deaths would most likely have scared me off.

 

Id say do not give newbies reduced aggro, but give 0 penalty for dieing the first day (kinda like the food water bartender guy, and the newbie light).

 

Could maybe even allow big deeds to have a "starter"  zone that new players can start in so the community itself can take care of its "young"

[Protunia 735]

I dont know I've played tons of MMO's and you learn in all of them not to go running off into the wilderness with all your stuff.

 

So sure maybe for brand new first time MMO players it might be tough learning this...we all did,  but experienced MMOers should know better.

[Dran 24]

Some of my fondest memories of Wurm are the challenges of being a new player.  Dieing, getting lost, is all part of it.  You really feel accomplishment when you have made it long enough to bake the first clay bowl, cook that first casserole, find your first iron vein, save your life by healing a bad wound.

 

-1 to newbies being immune to monsters

+1 to respawning with the newbie compass

[Ubai 17]

I think a lot of people are confusing "reduced aggro" with "immunity". What I am suggesting is that the radius in which a monster notices a player is reduced, so that a new player has a little more "wiggle room". This should last a couple hours at most. I don't think they should get any kind of "immunity".

 

As for the pvp spying argument, I don't think it is significant enough to matter, since an established player could just make a twink alt and spy with more advantages than a "real" noob with a relaxed aggro radius.

 

Thanks,

Matt

 

edit: if you don't like the reduced aggro idea, how about starting off with some no-drop, no-trade bandages? Finding cotton to bandage wounds is really hit and miss. Too bad you can't bind wounds with woad, you'd never have to worry.

Edited July 1, 2013 by Ubai

[Aurorane 27]

I agree to a degree, but... (and apologies if this was brought up): Griefer alts.
Now, if what Griffith brought up would happen (can not harm other players), it'd take care of them killing mounts like total d-bags, but you'd have to figure a way around people who make alts just to give everyone hell - which, unfortunately, is much more a sandbox problem I find than an mmo problem (and it's already an issue in mmo games).

If the JK community has been funny, feel free to message me whenever you see me on, and I'll do what I can to help. I like helping provided someone realises I need space too, haha
(for some reason I pick the needy-needies to help. I'm good at pickin' em evidently.)