Is New haven just to boring for new players?

[Vallend]

I have heard from many players that New Haven just is not a fun place to start a new character. When working up skills you are to limited in what you can do and the island should have much more for new players to explore and have fun with.

One of the most common things I hear is that the island needs its own newbie dungeon with 3 or 4 levels to it. This dungeon should be filled with entry level monsters and have a few surprises in it too. New players want puzzles and mini-quests that make them think and grin with delight.

They also want more interesting things around the island like what was on Old Haven. Things that they can find in the wild and they just have to investigate for the fun of it. As it is now New Haven is a place that players try to get away from as fast as they can because there really is not much to do there. Why do you think?

 

[Corvak]

I agree. I think old haven was much more interesting. They ought to add a multi-leveled dungeon and quests to go with it (even if theyre just kill quests). Old haven had quests other than 'go train fencing at an increased rate'. Since undead are in the ruins, maybe add something else. lizardmen, headless etc (like despise) maybe earth eles once you get lower.

I also agree with adding areas on the island to fight in, like the brigand camps in what used to be the old haven farmlands. Maybe a swamp or cave with lizardmen in it or something.

They should also have some sort of backstory of 'old haven'. The only reason I know what it is, is because I played before KR.

 

[RichDC]

Definatly needs some love, i recently started a new character and for about 30mins i was having fun beating up the mobs until that dalgor (or whatever his name is) appeared, then i just got bored waiting for the next one.

An entry level dungeon would be awesome...as there changing so much on trial accounts why not make it a Young player dungeon??
(only problem i can see here is that when a char starts a new char and builds him up to lose young player status all his chars thereafter aren't young anymore) maybe do it on account age...say before the 6month stat boost? Then they can get a message saying that they are too advanced for these minions get out and rid the world of the plague of unvirtue(or summin doesnt really matter) Take this blessing and be on your way.

 

[hawkeye_pike]

I agree. Especially the idea of a newbie dungeon sounds good. Now, all we need in addition to that are new players.

 

[CatLord]

On Catskills we have a boost most shards dont...

- Instant info, backup and interaction.

The Alliance is still training and gearing up everyone... and answering any/all questions...

Providing what we promissed to the Devs... a Permanent Tutorial Program ran by players.

 

[CatLord]

Haven Empty... you need new arcane goggles.

 

[DPudding]

Del was/is a noob. No one outfitted me or gave my copious amounts of gold. Only people I saw in New H were the folks standing on the porch gaining resist.

 

[Rohamiir]

Wow i am surprised that you folks have slipped thru with not even an offer of assistance. I know i was offered alot of help by alliance members when i started. 1 of the main reasons i joined one of their guilds. I have passed that tradition on myself by offering advice, gold, full spellbooks(when i have them), and anything else i can muster. I have also witnessed multiple occasions where other alliance members have done the same. So i offer my apologies for allowing you folks to slip past with out even offering up a greeting to ya. However i degress. Back to the topic. I agree fully in the fact that Haven could use a do-over. And a dungeon would be a great start. I always wondered why there was all that mountain space in the southern part of the isle with no dungeon residing in it's space. perhaps each level should have certain skill requirements to enter it. For instance using a combination of the puzzle idea that can only be triggered properly at those preset skill levels. I would have loved to have seen that when i started. Helps to kick the imagination just a pinch and gives a person something to work toward.

 

[Corvak]

Heheh TW, you can also use one of the old haven buildings to do spellbinders. It has a corner blasted off that lets em cast on you.

The house is just easier to get them to.

 

[TimberWolf]

Heheh TW, you can also use one of the old haven buildings to do spellbinders. It has a corner blasted off that lets em cast on you.

The house is just easier to get them to.

Surely Corvak you know that blocking monsters is considered an exploit?

It is against the ROC, sad that even in Haven, "Some" guilds feel that cheating is the appropriate way to train!


Such is life....as I have always said...bending the rules to suit you is one thing...denying you have ever done it, and boasting how pure and honorable you are is something entirely different.

I was using the binders to train RS myself I just didn't feel the need to stand in Haven where new players HAVE to spawn, setting that example!


How hard is it to stand in the middle of the street surrounded and cast heal on yourself...but then you would have to be attended to make sure your armor didn't go to 0 durability and get destroyed.

Standing on the porch allows you to exploit game mechanics and cheat, just like standing in the blown out corner of the building does. The problem is with the blown out building....you never know who might accidently open the door and let a few monsters in to kill unattended players.

The player owned house is safer to cheat, hell they even stand naked so as to not harm their armor....can you be anymore obvious?

Haven does need to be reworked....it has become an empty joke!

 

[DPudding]

Wow i am surprised that you folks have slipped thru with not even an offer of assistance. I know i was offered alot of help by alliance members when i started. 1 of the main reasons i joined one of their guilds. I have passed that tradition on myself by offering advice, gold, full spellbooks(when i have them), and anything else i can muster. I have also witnessed multiple occasions where other alliance members have done the same. So i offer my apologies for allowing you folks to slip past with out even offering up a greeting to ya. However i degress. Back to the topic. I agree fully in the fact that Haven could use a do-over. And a dungeon would be a great start. I always wondered why there was all that mountain space in the southern part of the isle with no dungeon residing in it's space. perhaps each level should have certain skill requirements to enter it. For instance using a combination of the puzzle idea that can only be triggered properly at those preset skill levels. I would have loved to have seen that when i started. Helps to kick the imagination just a pinch and gives a person something to work toward.

Well....I may not be the sort of person that any alliance would wish to help. Luckily...I am a scrounger of epic proportions....and I was able to arm myself in billions of gold worth of stuff with my own abilities. Honestly...kill arrow shooting rat critters....goto an invaded town...kill the fletcher....sell em to the new one as quick as you can. Billions of gold can be made in four minutes.

 

[Corvak]

Surely Corvak you know that blocking monsters is considered an exploit?

It is against the ROC, sad that even in Haven, "Some" guilds feel that cheating is the appropriate way to train!


Such is life....as I have always said...bending the rules to suit you is one thing...denying you have ever done it, and boasting how pure and honorable you are is something entirely different.

I was using the binders to train RS myself I just didn't feel the need to stand in Haven where new players HAVE to spawn, setting that example!


How hard is it to stand in the middle of the street surrounded and cast heal on yourself...but then you would have to be attended to make sure your armor didn't go to 0 durability and get destroyed.

Standing on the porch allows you to exploit game mechanics and cheat, just like standing in the blown out corner of the building does. The problem is with the blown out building....you never know who might accidently open the door and let a few monsters in to kill unattended players.

The player owned house is safer to cheat, hell they even stand naked so as to not harm their armor....can you be anymore obvious?

Haven does need to be reworked....it has become an empty joke!

Hahah, well I don't deny that i've done it. I'm lazy. I did not do it unattended, however.

All they need to do is give em magic arrow...

 

[Zuckuss]

Whats a spellbinder?

 

[Corvak]

its one of the undead types that is in Old Haven. They cast magery and necro curses on you, and melee attack. Using (or abusing, depending on your point of view) line of sight and their inability to open closed doors can give you easy Resisiting Spells skillups.

 

[Zuckuss]

Oh thanks. Yeah in pvp the line of sight thing happens alot, especially if you have 2 houses next to each other with the stairs placed a certain way, you can cast into the other house! So basicly it made the whole house unsafe, because if you went afk anywhere other than a certain area. You could be killed from the other house.

But in your case Corvak, if you are standing outside in a corner (not in house) and you had not blocked movement, and the AI of the game has not told the monster to find a new path to you. I don't think it means you are a fraud, a cheat, a sham. I think you found one of those unique situations in the game where the AI is not up to speed (usually due to the wall/terrain layout). Sounds like this one is a bit well known though.

Monsters have pathfinding issues all the time.

Lets compare to this scenario.

If you are doing a champ spawn, say in despise, and during the spawn some monsters get stuck on a buggy trap tile on the bridge. They are flagged on you and facing you, but you clearly see they cannot reach you because they are hooked by the effect of the trap.

What do you do???
Do you stop the spawn? Page a GM? Try to lure those creatures out of the trap before you kill them? Hehe. It's not fair! The rats had the disadvantage! You are such a horrible person!

Is anyone who didn't who immediatly didn't page a GM a cheater? Is the necro who went through and withered the bridge now a low-life "sploiter"?

If two people block baracoon in the stalagmites, are you cheating?

Using a boat to kill Mephitis, are you now?

 

[TimberWolf]

Actually I believe a couple years back the Devs answered this question.

Without going into specifics players were using items to block a particular monster. It was a fairly common occurrence, but a few players too offense to it.

There was a huge debate on the forums about it. The Devs were asked to clarify. Unfortunately the post was lost with the crash but to paraphrase their response was basically!

Any time you use game mechanics in a manner other then that originally intended they consider you exploiting the game mechanics.

Purposely blocking/blocking in a monster so it is unable to attack you is a violation.

If a monster accidentally get hooked on a piece of geography, that is unavoidable. If you continue to do this as part of an over all strategy
that is an exploit!


Perhaps we can ask for another clarification since some players obviously feel they are well within their rights to behave that way!

Maybe I have it totally wrong.....maybe, but I doubt it!

 

[Corvak]

Someone from EA can start giving warnings if it's so wrong. Otherwise, I shall assume it's fine.

The GM's word on the matter is what counts. Everything else is just personal preference.

My personal preference is to not tell anyone how to play. I leave that to EA.

 

[Moreeg]

I thought New Haven was empty because there are not really any new players, not because of New Haven content was stopping people from starting playing.

 

[CatLord]

One word... "sanctuary"

Two Words... "broken quest"

Three Words... "pictures were taken"


Houses of Glass tend to break under the the softest of Hail...


Sure is fun to know the History of the Shard...

 

[TimberWolf]

The bold face lies that come out of your mouth are truly staggering. Do you even know how to tell the truth?

Innuendo, and misrepresentation are your favourite tools, and everyone knows that!


Haven is empty and dying, don't get angry at the messenger go spend 3 days in Haven like I just did...and tell me what you see....


On second thought don't bother...I don't have time for more lies!

 

[Black Sun]

Catlord, Timberwolf, when you two get going it makes me want to strangle a puppy. Enough is enough. We all know how you two feel about each other, how about you take the petty bickering elsewhere. It's really getting old.

If it continues, I'm locking the thread.

 

[CatLord]

My apologies...

Just count the times GRI is mentioned... and how many are attacks...
You would get a nice %.


You want to know about New Haven...

Lets learn then...


Any newcomer to this shard is welcomed by the Alliance... any.
Then we have the Magik Academy:
" Magik Academy
The Magik Academy helps everyone and it is non-guild based. You can either do it IC or OOC. We are tutors, teachers and helping hands. You will find it easy to interact... at least while you are respectful. (As we have no patience for leet Fellucans or arrogant Trammies.)

Goals:
- explain to everyone what is the fastest way to gain magik related skills,
- help char. development by pointing to templates, suggesting stats and gear,
- create a circle of guilds that work together to help the newcomers,
- 24/7 backup, either using uo chat or other options,
- please add your own goals...

Procedure:
- post possible templates,
- gather all med-able LRC 13 or better low resist pieces,
- gather all med-able mana regen 2 low resist pieces,
- gather all mana wasting skills 110s power scrolls and mage related (magery, eval, resist, meditation, bushido, chivalry, ninjitsu, focus...),
- add your own ideas here...

Stack the items, sort them and make special welcoming packs with:
- 1 spellbook with at least all spells till circle 5,
- 1 runebook with a rune to Haven, another to the EyE, - 4k gold to buy the starting skills,
- a wand,
- lrc 100 suit,
- mana regen 12 suit,
- 10k for insurance.

After the young ones reach 80+ skill, supply them with the powerscrolls they need for further development and show them possible housing spots.

This should provide the newcomers their independence, a way to train almost all mage related skills, allows them to hunt and find a path towards their future.

If this is done right we'll have a thriving, respectful community... much unlike the smirking one we have right now.

Pitr; 5th March 2008"


Next to the Academy, We have a Rune Library free for Everyone...


When it comes to warriors... we introduce them to:

http://www.geocities.com/eye_of_valor/

or we introduce them to UP or PGoH... others to H^A.



Tamers are introduced to CYM... led by Robert Pendragon...

“Cymbrogi” – companions of the heart we are, those who fought shoulder with shoulder in battle for a common ideal, with nothing else to gain than to fulfill their dreams for a common vision of truth that serves everyone... these are companions of the heart.

Where they get the basics...




Most of the blind hate that is directed to our Alliance comes from the fact that we help everyone... we request nothing... and trust is given...

This is what we're about...

By the Alliance Leader... Leila

" One Circle, One Soul Alliance
The Alliance exists as an entity and as unique parts. The goal of the alliance is to bring together those who have an identity but seek to share it with those who find similar activities fun. Things like peerless hunts, champ spawns, ilsh wanderings, etc. are often more fun when you have a group to learn from and hunt with!
The alliance does not seek to absorb folks, but rather to help guilds grow and learn from each other while being able to perform tasks that might be difficult with only one or two people.
Any guilds who are interested in sharing friendship and fun are invited to speak with any alliance member and ask their opinion.
The process for being allied with the One Circle, One Soul alliance is a simple one. A representative from the applicant guild (preferably the GM) will be asked to present the guild at an alliance meeting. Items to be discussed include: playstyle of the guild; how many members, any red members, answers to any questions alliance members may have. The alliance members will then take a vote regarding the addition of the applicant guild.

Expectations of allied guilds:
1. No foul language
2. No cheating (unattended macroing included)
3. Respect for all players (allied and non)
4. No killing alliance members (only exception is sparring or insurance checks, but someone BETTER know about it first)
5. If a help call goes out and you are able, please respond
6. We help new players (armor, weapons, skill advice, templates, etc)
7. If there is a security issue (stealing, scripting, snooping, Pk'ing, etc) I expect action or an explanation from an emmy or GM, either one.

I hate to put so much stuff down because we have so few problems. Let's just say, our goal is to have fun and help others learn how to find their fun. We are primarily Trammel based, but do venture occasionally to Felucca for some fun. Any questions? Please PM me here or find me in game.
Building the Catskills community, one player at a time!"


All of this... made us call Haven home...
All of this... is a thorn to some...

The newplayers need a tutorial... we give them a Family.

 

[CatLord]

Almost forgot...

All of the above got some players mad... making them strike at GRI everytime they could, both in and outside UO... making them go Red in game and costing them their Stratics Moderator title... and granting GRI a public apology from the Stratics Boards Admns.

 

[Black Sun]