Just a suggestion prior to kick-starter

[Irish Red Cap]

Just a mini-suggestion. I remember reading in the news section of the forums about move experienced players helping out the newer ones with dungeon crawls and so forth when the kick-starter has begun.

The suggestion is, just like the billboard in Serbule's main town allows players to change to hardcore death mode, I was thinking to put another billboard (that sir coth or another NPC directs new players to) that allows experienced players to put sign ups on there. The names only appear on the board if the player is online and must be re-signed every time the player logs in if they wish to help.

The purpose would be to allow newer players to know which experienced players they can feel comfortable asking for help from. If possible you could even allow the billboard to post in certain sections such as "Dungeons", "Combat Skills", "Quests", "Non-combat Skills". This will let more experienced players continue to do their own thing without having to wait for a newer player to not feel anxious about addressing the player base on something low level.

Just figured it would be a more simple way for experienced players to get on the radar of newer players without them feeling anxious not knowing how/who to ask what questions or for help.

 

[seasidelion]

I really like this idea, I think it has lots of potential! Eliminates or at least cuts down on spamming "what level skills are you?" when trying to help out new peeps.

Seems like could be great you already thought to include quest grouping and skill grouping (I assume you mean to either get a skill (say necro), or to have 2 or more low level ppl level a skill up together?)

 

[Irish Red Cap]

Yeah i mean it could be used for anything like that. I'll put some examples up.

Dungeons: Experienced, geared player, sitting around just chatting it up or farming a certain material could "sign" the board saying they are available for dungeons or they are available for specific dungeons. (e.g) "I'm farming crypt" sign up for crypt so newer players know they can get a run through to learn the zone even if they can't quite survive there solo yet. Newer players could also sign the board asking for a run through of certain dungeons or just a glimpse of the next dungeon they need to be running through. (e.g) "Wanting to consign an experienced player to run me through goblin dungeon.----(player name)"

Combat Skills: A more experienced player could in essence allow a partner to pay for them to take them through minions that are much higher level than their current skill. Allow the person to use abilities so they gain exp, thus leveling the skill up faster allowing them to quickly transgress between what they want to try out and what they finally decide to use. Also, this could be used if a newer player wishes to learn what they need to level up a certain skill or how to use a skill effectively. (e.g) A newer player signs the board with the tag-line "Need help figuring out sword combos or where to train higher level sword skills---(player name)".

Quests: Newer players that are struggling to figure out how to find quest could request a more experienced player to help direct them to where to complete the quest or gather the materials for them for a price. It could also help new players group together to complete harder quest that aren't quite solo-able at lower levels.

Non-Combat Skills: Allow experienced player to post that they have certain recipes for non-combat skills that they have picked up but already learned, even lower level skills. The board can be used to attach the recipe (ONLY non-combat, no combat related skills) to the board. They can attach a price or leave it as free for people who want it depending on the level of the recipe. It could also be used for newer players to post questions regarding where certain materials required to use recipes might be found or what other non-combat skills should/could be leveled in conjunction with another. (e.g.) "I have decided to level Gardening but I am unable to figure out what uses it has can someone help?----(player name)"

 

[Gremror]

It does often feel like new players are anxious and nervous about asking for help, especially when they see players who've been around for a while talking about more advanced stuff, can be daunting.

Your idea would be a great start to solving that. I think another good idea (if at all possible) would be to have a channel on the chat specifically for new players to ask questions/reuqest help.

 

[Irish Red Cap]

Agreed 100% Gremror. A chat channel might be easier to produce as well. Just like global you could have the default channel for chat when creating a new character in the game go to the "New" chat channel. Then they could ask questions and feel less encumbered by the advanced talking that goes on in global sometimes.

Editting this in after thinking about it.

Allow the "New" chat to be seen by global so that experienced players could see what is being said but newer players aren't overwhelmed by global.

 

[Wyrmrider]

I think the billboard would be a great idea for finding groups and such.

For more general newbie questions, I think the game would benefit from a dedicated <Newbie> chat channel. This channel would automatically be visible to new players (defined however you want -- maybe "under level 20 and/or under 20 hours /played" or something like that). It would also be visible to anyone who wants to designate him/herself as a "Newbie Helper," which gives access to the channel and makes the Helper's posts on it appear differently (e.g. with a special badge, or different color). That's pretty much it.

This has the advantage of being easy to use from anywhere, and also tends to break the ice a little bit. (It's one thing for a new player to hear "don't be shy, you can ask questions" and quite another for that player to actually *see* questions being asked and answered and feel they could easily join in.)