Proof That EA/Mythic Doesn't Care About New Players

[Sweeney]

They have not commented/have no desire to fix the "bug" where you are given the choice of a starting city, yet are forced into New Haven (On prodo) and Britain (on Siege/Mugen).

 

[Belanos/Icicle]

thats not exactly a bug. Its just a leftover from before New Haven, when you'd be dropped in the middle of the city you picked. Its just not a huge priority to get rid of that one screen because New Haven is a better place to start than any of the choices.
If they didn't care about new players, the choice would work.

 

[Sweeney]

thats not exactly a bug. Its just a leftover from before New Haven, when you'd be dropped in the middle of the city you picked. Its just not a huge priority to get rid of that one screen because New Haven is a better place to start than any of the choices.
If they didn't care about new players, the choice would work.

So, in essence, you agree with the thread title.

 

[Sweeney]

And I will add, as someone that knows programming.. this is either

A) incredibly easy to get rid of
and
B) incredibly easy to allow

 

[Elffin]

I would much rather start off in Brit, Thats the place i am most familiar with, So please give us the choice back.

Elf.

 

[InspectorGadget]

I would much rather start off in Brit, Thats the place i am most familiar with, So please give us the choice back.

Elf.

Would it be hard to offer those places, but for new accounts offer the haven pick?

 

[Stratic Fanatic]

KR doesnt allow you to pick a city.

It starts you in New Haven with a small tutorial for new players.

EDIT: Although I could see Siege/Mugen players wanting to choose another city. On prodo shards it shouldnt be an issue, a moongate is very close by to take you wherever you want to go.

 

[Belanos/Icicle]

how does saying exactly the opposite of what you said mean I agree with you?

Whats so bad about new players starting in New Haven?
what do the old starting places have for new players that New Haven doesn't? And why would it imply that they don't care about new players just because they don't get rid of a splash that isn't hurting anyone? And why would they bother fixing such an harmless oversight when the client it exists in is about to be made obsolete?

 

[Sweeney]

KR doesnt allow you to pick a city.

It starts you in New Haven with a small tutorial for new players.

Granted, I haven't used KR.. but just the fact that 2d still allows this false choice, along with the non-response about updating the 2d client at all.. speaks much.

 

[Stratic Fanatic]

Granted, I haven't used KR.. but just the fact that 2d still allows this false choice, along with the non-response about updating the 2d client at all.. speaks much.

I edited my post while you were replying

Siege/Mugen players should get a choice IMO.

 

[phantus]

 

[Old Man of UO]

They have not commented/have no desire to fix the "bug" where you are given the choice of a starting city, yet are forced into New Haven (On prodo) and Britain (on Siege/Mugen).

OMG! UO could be wiped out because of this! It's a one time thing, and not really a bug. You should really reevaluate why you play the game if this is the type of thing that "bugs" you. Seriously, why do you continue to play if you hate UO so much?

 

[Sweeney]

OMG! UO could be wiped out because of this! It's a one time thing, and not really a bug. You should really reevaluate why you play the game if this is the type of thing that "bugs" you. Seriously, why do you continue to play if you hate UO so much?

I'm guessing you love it when truly new players are boggled by such easily fixed issues.. and why it makes them wonder as to the state of the whole game when such a simple thing can't be addressed.

 

[QueenZen]

Well back in the day when I began UO as a brand new customer there were not hand holding *tutuorials* in game popping us to some safe NEW HAVEN. Nope we were given our choice of cities to begin playing within, exited the town and were promptly exterminated. No one held our hands nor gave us a forced tour of DOOM in some frozen limbo telling us about dungeons and monsters or pks even.

So if they did not care about new customers I guess they would not have invented the *hand holding tutorial* that is New Haven and the sort of forced to start here even if you picked elsewhere to begin your new chr.

Course this also can confuse new customers TRUE new customers in that the *choice* is offered and then EA UO wisks em to some town they did not pick so they may wonder what they did wrong with their new acct to land somewhere they did not select. So maybe they EA should just get rid of the choice cuz yeh there really is not one and has not been for years.

Us whom are not new just get out of it all soon as we can but we know about moongates and everything else.. so personally when I make a new chr. I exit New Haven like the plague soon as I can.

They will NOT even see Siege at all if a true new acct. on their shard list.

It would be nice though if the game mechanics could *read* an old acct. is making a new chr. cuz personally I really do not like New Haven, but I just get outta there fast as I can when making a new chr. and as far as Siege goes Brit IS a good place to begin a new chr. lots of resources all around, true new can try to off skeletons or cows there, lots of guard zone when guards work...so for Siege Brit is an ok place to begin a newbie on Siege.

Maybe they should just eliminate the process to CHOOSE cuz we are not given the freedom of choice to start in the cities they offer cuz of that new *tutorial* forcing all new chrs. to begin in New Haven, or Brit on Siege.

A true new account customer may become confused by selecting a city they wished to begin with and find they landed elsewhere, and then maybe wonder what they did wrong...till their *tour* starts up.

Would be nice though if somehow the game mechanics could read *OLD ACCT makin new chr.* and let us start where 'we' wanted to again, but I do not see that happening.

I finally made the 6th chr. slots on Ches and had to endure the tour and New Haven, for all 4 of my OLD accts. I just kinda laughed and split soon as they landed in New Haven.

I knew even though I picked Moonglow they would NOT land there.......no biggie I know where the moongate OFF of New Haven is.

I actually found if I buy new skills there.. I get more tenths of a point for my 1k newbie gp than if I did start in Moonglow buying skillz. So see even oldies learn something there in New Haven, sometimes.

 

[InspectorGadget]

Course this also can confuse new customers TRUE new customers in that the *choice* is offered and then EA UO wisks em to some town they did not pick so they may wonder what they did wrong with their new acct to land somewhere they did not select.

A true new char might actually think the area they selected was brit, skara, minoc wherever...how are they to truly know any different?

 

[TheScoundrelRico]

Not quite sure how this shows they don't care. If they were dropped off in another town (at least on the production shards) new players would miss out on most of the Haven content...la

 

[D'Amavir]

how does saying exactly the opposite of what you said mean I agree with you?

Whats so bad about new players starting in New Haven?
what do the old starting places have for new players that New Haven doesn't? And why would it imply that they don't care about new players just because they don't get rid of a splash that isn't hurting anyone? And why would they bother fixing such an harmless oversight when the client it exists in is about to be made obsolete?

While I won't say that having all new players start in New Haven is 'bad'. I will say that allowing them to start in various cities would be better. To me, there should be 3 or 4 'starting city' options for players depending on what 'play style' there were looking for.

1. Players primarily interested in PVP could start in Jhelom.

2. Players primarily interested in PVM could start in Britain.

3. Players primarily interested in RP could start in Skara.

4. Players with no preference could start in New Haven.

This would allow members of each of those 'play style communities' to gather in those towns in order to help newer players as they come into the game.

This is more or less how it is now with New Haven. Except that it is all play styles clumped together in one small area. I can't speak for anyone else but I do know that many people steer clear of New Haven on my shard because of the amount of out of character activity going on. That's not to there is not rp in New Haven or that there are no good rp groups that congregate there.

And I also know a lot of pvp'ers that refuse to go there because of all the 'Trammies' that gather there. heh

Offering options for new players enabling them to pop into the game with a better chance of being around like minded players is not a bad thing. Each community needs all the support they can get from the development team since 'communities' are what sets UO apart from the rank and file mmorpg's out there.

 

[hen]

New players should start on an island with no way off except boats and with limited facilites. They then have to work together to gm lumberjack,carpentry and tailoring to make rafts with sails to escape Newbie Island while all the time Lizardmen attack them and eat their faces.
Meanwhile us veteran players, dressed in our fancy capes,cloaks etc sail past in our galleons firing exploding mongbats at the newbies, or landing on the island and administering punishment beatings out to those living there.

 

[Connor_Graham]

Accounts 6 mos old or less should not be given any option but New Haven. Accounts over 6 mos should be given the old option of any starting city. Kill 2 birds with one stone.

 

[QueenZen]

New players should start on an island with no way off except boats and with limited facilites. They then have to work together to gm lumberjack,carpentry and tailoring to make rafts with sails to escape Newbie Island while all the time Lizardmen attack them and eat their faces.
Meanwhile us veteran players, dressed in our fancy capes,cloaks etc sail past in our galleons firing exploding mongbats at the newbies, or landing on the island and administering punishment beatings out to those living there.

haha Sometimes they DO. If a player selects the *automatic Paladin* template chr. on Siege they end up in Ocllo cuz there is no new Haven of course, but the Paldin set up that was in the OLD New Haven still pops em onto Ocllo on Siege and there is no gate OFF Ocllo on Siege. I have gated many of em to Brit or Moonglow or Minoc or any old world other land city that is not an island without a moongate.

Brand new to Siege not trusting others yet oft felt they have no choice but to take my moongate OFF Ocllo or delete their chr. start anew. It oft is hard to convince some I am really actually going to gate them to a city & not to their deaths to pk em or something.

So unless they page a gm to get off or find someone to get em off, or another way off they are virtually STUCK there on Ocllo on Siege, or some wait till they can delete that new chr. tp make a new one, that is not auto pali template forced onto the non New Haven on Siege that is Ocllo, then they begin in Brit. if not *auto pali templated* chrs. They wander all over Ocllo looking for a moongate off the is not there, they die to the dark wisps, then they look at the prices of ships on Siege, & find they can not afford those to get off, they maybe see 1 or 2 folks in hours of time land on Ocllo on Siege and if lucky, they finally get a player to gate em off of Ocllo. . dead or alive.

Wish they would either PUT a moongate on Ocllo Siege or fix it so those whom do select the 'auto pali template' begin in even Luna with their *auto templated paladins or somewhere besides our Ocllo which is NOT Haven & no gate off Ocllo here on Siege. Luna IS a...bad place to start on Siege but least it is city of Paladins, and they can exit Luna thru the moongate.. unlike Ocllo.

The automated pali templaters land near the tannery on Ocllo Siege, that is where they either should slap a Moongate OFF or just make auto paladins land somewhere that is not an island with no gate OFF.

 

[Old Man of UO]

...
So unless they page a gm to get off or find someone to get em off, or another way off they are virtually STUCK there on Ocllo on Siege, or some wait till they can delete that new chr. ...

The help option for physically stuck doesn't work on Siege?

 

[Kensai Tsunami]

oh my this is TERRIBLE!

comon man ...sure it would be nice if new players could choose their starting city like it used to be. and i'm sure it will be fixed soon enuf. big friggin deal!

fix important things; things like the client crash bug when recalling or gating, fix the bug that causes an aggressive monster to chase u like a paragon after you cross a server line with it on yer tail.

i could go on and on about fixing the many other more important things than a starting city?!? EA scrambles to fix goofy bugs like this when they should be fixing IMPORTANT things. if folks wouldnt cry and whine so much about silly insignificant crap, then maybe some of the GAME-BREAKERS would get fixed.

they HAVE proven that they care about us in the past few months imo. what game are YOU playing? sheesh.

 

[QueenZen]

Yes it works. Trouble is folks have to remember or know it IS there to use it.

This just is something years old that never should have happened originally. There never was a Haven on Siege. When they did the *automated* templates the paladins landed in Haven the original Haven which itself no longer even exists as it was, these automated palis landed in Haven by the paladin quest building on all shards but SIEGE. Now that been years and these auto palis STILL land on Ocllo after all these years.

So either a moongate should have been put there on Ocllo or they coulda put the auto palis onto Luna or somewhere they ( EAUO Dev. team) KNOW there is no gate off Ocllo yet all these years on Siege those auto palis still land by the tannery on Siege. . so IF they remember or even know that the help stuck option is there time and time again they may be forced to use it IF they remember it is there...when it has been Years...slap up a moongate off or put the automated paladins somewhere where they are not forced onto an island with no way off. How many years has it been since the original HAVEN pre NEW HAVEN, was first created and that paladin template ..... ?

AOS era was ages ago. It still isnt *FIXED* for Siege after all these years least not when I still run into a newbie *automated* paladin from time to time yet even just a few mos. ago ran into another one there. I avoid the *automated template* picks anyways, but new players may not avoid those, they may think those auto templates may be better choices, to start with.

And after all THESE YEARS gone by it should have been addressed years ago...sort of like the quest for...'fishing up white pearls' toy maker quest, off the pier there of *HAVEN* on Siege, a City that does not even nor ever has existed on Siege.

 

[Old Man of UO]

...
New players should not have to be stuck on an island with no way off ...

Oh I agree... but then Siege is for the "hardcore" player, right? No wonder there are so few Siege players.... they create a new paladin character, get ported to Ocllo, think that is all there is to the Siege shard! heh

 

[Sweeney]

Wow you people amaze me.. wanting to help new players seems to be the least of your troubles.

You like new players (who may have played in the old days) being given the option to choose a city and yet being forced to start in (New Haven? Or in Britain?) This is disgusting.. you'd rather have the current players satisfied than to allow new players to feel cared for.

"Who cares for the new players?", you say... this is why UO is on the decline.

 

[QueenZen]

*laughs*

I have a couple crafters on Siege so many a time I am banking on deserted islands like Ocllo and Serpents Hold to somewhat bank in peace sometimes on my crafter.. not that that helps cuz my last pkin was right IN the bank on Ocllo. HAHA Just was a weird day all the reds also thought to go bank there to avoid red killing blues............. was for once a busy day in that day in Ocllo bank for once on Siege. lol

But yeh my chrs. oft bank on islands cuz anyone that can not gate...I won't SEE them if they are not stealthin to begin with..cuz if they can not gate they wont BE there where I go cuz all my Siege chrs. pop gates to island hop. So yeh I run into new chrs. some times stuck where I wander on Siege and I usually gate em*alive* to somewhere where land moongates exist for them.

 

[Belanos/Icicle]

I used the stuck player option once and got a button back from a GM telling me that it isn't there for my convenience.

 

[Old Man of UO]

Wow you people amaze me.. wanting to help new players seems to be the least of your troubles.

...

"Who cares for the new players?", you say... this is why UO is on the decline.

I see no where anyone said that. It seems we all agree that is should be fixed, and that all bugs should be fixed.

We just don't agree with you that:
A) this proves EA/Mythic doesn't care about new players
b) this is all that big of a bug and that it should be the first thing fixed.

 

[Sweeney]

I see no where anyone said that. It seems we all agree that is should be fixed, and that all bugs should be fixed.

We just don't agree with you that:
A) this proves EA/Mythic doesn't care about new players
b) this is all that big of a bug and that it should be the first thing fixed.

First impressions make the whole impression...

 

[QueenZen]

I used the stuck player option once and got a button back from a GM telling me that it isn't there for my convenience.

Last time I used it was also on Siege back in 2004 new to Siege but not new to UO.

I accidently ran thru this red moongate that was in downtown Brit. That moongate took me to Serp. Hold. So I tried to use the stuck help option and was told there WAS a way off Serpents Hold. Well Siege was strange to me I did go looking a bit...but I just wanted OFF the island and there was someway off so I was told cuz they didnt help me off with the stuck help option.

Only way I *KNEW* off Serpents Hold was to dart thru that cave pass thru the hellish monsters to get to the old lost lands...then jog dead to papua..use the recsu recdu to land in Moonglow.

Months later when I could finally gate..I found there WAS a moongate OFF Serpents Hold in the big warrior hall.




OH well. Least I knew that cave in serp. hold thru the dungeons of hell as A way off. I was hoping NOT to have to resort to that but *help stuck option* obviously was not an option. I had no clue there WAS a moongate off Serp. Hold ON Siege and was not about to wander all over looking on that island full of giant serps and dark wisps.........sooo I ducked thru the cave from hell. Landed at the lava lizards in the lost lands jogged dead to papua..recsu recdu ahh Moonglow ! What did I know I was new on Siege then.

 

[Aran]

What a coincidence, I don't care about new players either.

 

[TheScoundrelRico]

"Who cares for the new players?", you say... this is why UO is on the decline.

What new players?...la

 

[Sweeney]

What new players?...la

I do..

 

[TheScoundrelRico]

You do what?

I was refering to the fact that I highly doubt UO gets many new players these days. The only people creating new characters are either old UO players or people with existing accounts.

UO doesn't sell on the selves of the stores any more, it's a 10+ year old game, with pretty much 10+ year old graphics. With game companies coming up with new online games and console games every day, I really doubt there are many people to worry about when it comes to "new players"...la

 

[Sweeney]

To quote Bush, It's the little things that kill.. (or matter).

 

[TheScoundrelRico]

Personally, I'd rather the devs put Siege Perilous as a starting option for new accounts rather than them have to drop their newbie status to get it to show up on their list of shards, instead of the new players getting a real choice of where they get started...la

 

[JC the Builder]

The only "bug" is that they didn't remove the city selection screen yet. Their intention is to have all new characters start in New Haven.

 

[Mairut]

New players should start on an island with no way off except boats and with limited facilites. They then have to work together to gm lumberjack,carpentry and tailoring to make rafts with sails to escape Newbie Island while all the time Lizardmen attack them and eat their faces.
Meanwhile us veteran players, dressed in our fancy capes,cloaks etc sail past in our galleons firing exploding mongbats at the newbies, or landing on the island and administering punishment beatings out to those living there.

LOL...where do I sign up? ^.^

I took a boat off when I started playing again just so I would have something to store my extra stuff...and I was looking for unlocked boats parked in the middle of the ocean and elsewhere to loot. Unfortunately not many people use boats any more and those that do keep them secured.

What a coincidence, I don't care about new players either.

ROFLMAO

 

[DHMagicMan_1]

The only "bug" is that they didn't remove the city selection screen yet. Their intention is to have all new characters start in New Haven.

That's my whole issue with this. They forced all new toons to start in Haven (old Haven) maybe 6 or 7 years ago... that's when it started? It should be very easy for them to code their starting screens to skip past asking "Where would you like to start" and simply drop you in New Haven after you pick a name, if that's their wish... the fact that they still ask the non-sense questions shows careless disregard for the "Starting Experience" of new players.

 

[JC the Builder]

It was only during the launch of the Kingdom Reborn client which was about 2 years ago. Not 6 or 7.

 

[Belanos/Icicle]

I didn't realize so many people cared about the terrible inconvenience of hitting the next button one more time.
/rolls eyes

 

[Spree]

The last time i made a char it let me pick the city.

 

[DHMagicMan_1]

It does let you select the city... that is the problem. You select Minoc or Vesper or wherever... then Next and Poof... you're in New Haven.

... and I don't believe this problem started with KR client. That may be when they blew up OLD Haven and created NEW Haven but it's been many more years (unless I'm older than I think) that we've been able to select where we want to start and then were DUMPED uncerimoneously into one Haven or another...

 

[Belanos/Icicle]

does it really upset you this much?

 

[DHMagicMan_1]

I'm over it. I'm not the target that this thread is about. This is about how NEW PLAYERS would experience their first hour or day in game.

I haven't logged into the game other than to harvest logs from some stumps in several weeks... don't really care about the game at the moment.

This thread just caught my eye so I'm saying it's been a problem for 5+ years and I don't see anyone scrambling to fix it now.

 

[Viper09]

The only "bug" is that they didn't remove the city selection screen yet. Their intention is to have all new characters start in New Haven.

Indeed!

Sweeney, this is not proof that EA/Mythic doesn't care about New Players. On the contrary! It IS proof that they care about New Players! Haven is a great place for new players to learn and train. Infact, they need more quests for new players to make New Haven even better!
Being forced to start in New Haven may be an inconvenience for older players who don't want to start there, but who cares!? Older players know how to get around and there's a moongate right next to the dang city!

 

[Grumm]

If there is any actual new players starting, then New Haven is the best place to start. Imagine playing the game for the first time and selecting, let's say Moonglow. There is no other player to be found. You have no idea what you are doing and not having anyone else there isn't very inspiring to play.

What they need to do is code it based on acount age. If your acount is less than three months old, you have to start in New Haven. If older than that, you get to choose. Even with five years active play time, I would choose New Haven every time. With the exception of a few trainers, all you need to start is there. get your skills up to fifty fast and be on your way.

Not to mention, you can GM resist in a couple of hours there.

 

[Belanos/Icicle]

I'm over it. I'm not the target that this thread is about. This is about how NEW PLAYERS would experience their first hour or day in game.

I haven't logged into the game other than to harvest logs from some stumps in several weeks... don't really care about the game at the moment.

This thread just caught my eye so I'm saying it's been a problem for 5+ years and I don't see anyone scrambling to fix it now.

new players don't care.
Whats better, being dropped in a town built for new players, with walkthroughs and help and veteran players who go to Haven just to find newbs to help, or dropping them in the middle of a deserted town with no information on how to find anyone or get out?

In the old days this would have been fine, but that was the days when online gaming (i.e., UO) was something that pretty much only the more mature people did - video games used to be uncool. Today, the person who is starting to get into the MMO scene is a kid who doesn't want to learn the hard way. a lot has changed in attitudes towards gaming in general. New Haven caters to the people who will benefit from it, not the old vets who want new players to learn the hard way when they don't want to.

 

[D'Amavir]

new players don't care.
Whats better, being dropped in a town built for new players, with walkthroughs and help and veteran players who go to Haven just to find newbs to help, or dropping them in the middle of a deserted town with no information on how to find anyone or get out?

You are confusing cause and effect. New players aren't dropped in New Haven because there are veteran players there. Veteran players are there because new players are dropped there. If there were options of starting towns based on play style those new players would be more likely to pop into a town with people they want to play with as opposed to some they want to play with and more that they don't.

Usually, not always but usually, mixing of dramatically different playstyles in one place doesn't end well. Hard core pvp'ers, hard core pvm'ers, hard core rp'ers and hardcore fillintheblankers hanging around a newbie city usually ends up being a mess and a place that most members of each style don't want to be in. Which defeats the entire 'veteran players there to help' logic.

 

[Belanos/Icicle]

You are confusing cause and effect. New players aren't dropped in New Haven because there are veteran players there. Veteran players are there because new players are dropped there. If there were options of starting towns based on play style those new players would be more likely to pop into a town with people they want to play with as opposed to some they want to play with and more that they don't.

no, you just misunderstood what I was saying.

and have you been to any of the old starting towns lately? they're ghost towns. No matter what play style a person has, they'll be unlikely to run into anyone in a lot of them.