New player experience

[Zyon Rockler]

I thought maybe the Devs could program a new pop up for new players that would ask them if they would like assistance from a Veteran Player.

Then, Veteran Players could have an option that would allow them to receive a message of a new player's request. This could place the new player directly into chat with the Veteran Player and show the new player on their map.

If no Veteran Players were available, the new player could receive a message, There are no Veteran Players available.

When the message comes up to The Veteran Player, it could ask them if they would like to help the new player. If they click No, then the query would go to the next active Vet Player with the option set to Yes, I would like to help new players and receive messages from them.

This could set up a link between the New Player and The Veteran Player where the new player could click End Help Session and then click on a 4 option box on how the help was from the player.

If the New Player is satisfied and happy with the assistance, there could be a rating system or if they were not satisfied a Game Master could screen if there were a comment written about the player.

There could also be some type of incentive for Veteran Players, some type of thank you items and possisbly, guild recognition for those whom set up recruiters.

 

[Kylie Kinslayer]

I was thinking Cal implemented something like this while he was at the Helm. I do remember him saying new players would have the "new player smell" and would allow vets to have increased skill gain while assisting the new player.

 

[Zyon Rockler]

That is kind of vague and I don't really remember seeing anything on how it would work and i'm positive I've never seen anything put in the game, like I just suggested.

But I think if they did this along with some fixes to the guild system and faction system, it would be easy for me to establish a steady flow of new players and a continuous growth of my guild, thus, increasing the population of UO.

I wonder if this new player system that Cal spoke of is actually still being considered. There doesn't seem to be much communication for the people on the front lines who pretty much have their hands tied unil Mythic decides what they are going to do.

 

[Martyna Zmuir]

There was a new player token thing that gave them, and any partied player, increased skill gain for a rather long period of time. (as well as a 'meh' suit of armor and a weapon I think) This was nerfed a few patches ago for no apparent reason. Not that I'd ever seen anyone using the token, nor figured out the way to receive one when I started a new account a few months ago.

Newbs are stuck with no meaningful in-game NPE for the forseeable future according to Jeff. A poor, poor development choice, IMHO.

 

[King_Fisher]

My cousin just started a fresh accout, and that new player ticket is amazingly helpful to them. He's been playing for about 10hrs total and with my help he almost has a 5xgm warrior. We turned on the accelerated skill gain ticket and it hasn't ended yet! So with a Stam/Mana full 70's suit. You can go far.

 

[Kylie Kinslayer]

Cool, we always hear how hard it is for new folks to get up and going. It's good to hear a decent story like that every once in a while.

 

[Zyon Rockler]

I did not know that was added. All my characters are Vet Characters. It sounds like a good system and as long as there is something that is working then they could probably just wait to add what i'm suggesting.

I just like the fact that you could communicate with a new player, kind of like a beeper and then recruit them. There is really no way to know when a new player enters the world. So, it's possible that they just wonder aimlessly.

We would take alot of new players and invest time into them, the only problem with that is alot of the players would become Vets and move onto other guilds and then you would end up with a bunch of new players.

It takes alot of dedication and alot of time. So, any tools that could be added, such as, communication or a way to know that people are interested in seeking help rather than looking for them would save alot of time and make the process easier.

They could always add more and maybe sometime, some day the community will work together to insure our numbers continue to grow and we are able to hold onto those who just may be passing through.