Options for better in game direction for first time players

DanielFreedomHunters

We see it in game all the time and it happened again last night.   New players who just download the game, have a very hard time getting to Sagres or understanding the basics.   New players are lost just trying to get started and most do not know about the in game Sailors Guide.  (And if it is like mine, it does not always have the information I need).  

If someone is does not talk to them or is not recruiting for a company an catches them early, many get fed up and quit after a couple hours.  If the game tells them to talk to all the NPCs, and the requirements to trigger the Sagres message, it is getting lost in all the newness.  The new players rarely know that doing a quest or 2, helps make the directions for Sagres will appear.

Most of us who go back multiple servers, remember how long but useful the old school system.  And I know it cannot be put back and that is not my suggestion.  The complaint then was it was too very long and drove people off. 

There can be a compromise or a fix to the current situation.  If new players had an NPC to talked to them.  That NPC could tell them initially what to do to navigate the game.  And I know they get some of the following steps now but not all of them.  Most importantly have that NPC would tell them:

• Tell them to talk to Ship Yard
• Then the market, craftsman, tavern and bank
• Then before they leave town, talk to the Company Admin.  If they join a company, other players can help them and like last night, save a frustrated player from quitting.
• Then explain where to get skills and vigor.
• Then the difference between Guild Master and the Mediators. 
• Then explain they need to complete quest to raise their fame to enter the school in Sagres.
• By the way, an explanation how the Liner works would be useful... (I have played the game for years and never have used one).  

Here are 3 options for that NPC guide (I will start with the one I like best) but #3 maybe the most practical: 

1. Have the NPC direct them to the school, every time they enter the major city, until they go to Sagres.  Once at the school, Then the secretary at the school could tell them, just these things in a message window menu. The new player could pick the topic from the menu or skip it, if they wanted to.  It they pick the topic, it sends them to the Sailor Guide tutorial.  
2. NPC could appear every time they entered a building or a port (like a story line (or Event History), until they get to Sagres.  Make getting to Sagres a "event" so they can see what they did and what the next step is, if they get side tracked.   The NPC could either give them information, one step at a time.
3. NPC could appear every time they entered a port and tell them how to get to the Sailor's Guide and what still needs to be done to be sent to the Famous School in Sagres.  

Something has to be done because, we cannot afford to have new players quit, after a hour or 2.  

The game is desperate for new players.  Look at what happened to the companies on the update today.  1 company in Amsterdam has 50/50 membership.  Only 3 have 45/50 membership for more.  New players are quitting before they even get to Sagres.  

purplepirate

Hi Daniel, if I could give you 2 thumbs up here I would. Ya I saw that to the other night when I joined you two to help with Winnie"s quest. This whole Sarges addition to the game is such a nightmare for new players. And what's worse is that many new player's can't realistically even get there on their own. I'll explain...

A couple months ago when we were discussing this topic here, I tried a test to see if even certain new players could even get in to the city and I found that indeed they can't. If you start your home nation from far away (Amsterdam, London or Venice). You aren't given the port permit i initially for Lisbon waters so you can't enter the school which is so dumb. Why even play those nations then (this unbalances the game).

Then, that night while we were helping Winnie i noticed that even though she had a few lvls from local trade and sailing, they were still in the starting barca because she didn't know how to get and equip a new ship from shipyard so she kept running out of supplies and didn't know how to get to Sarges..

It is ridiculously hard to sail from Venice, London and Amsterdam in a barca all the way to Sarges on your own.

My suggestion would be as follows... When you create a new character, a prompt should come up asking one of 2 options...

"I'm a first time player" where you would go through the old system for beginners and intermediate school from the old system and then go to Sarges for advanced school.

"I've played before" where the current system is now with only Sarges available.

This would give a choice from the start and be better and easier for new and old players. But yes this new way is definitely flawed as it is now...

calicaddy46

In the current state it does a very poor job explaining about things. You have to follow a certain set of steps exactly in the correct order to get the port permit for the entire Europe. Miss a step or skip a dialog and you have to do it in the old fashioned way, which is also not really explained anywhere in game. Perhaps a mandatory course of tutorials up until you get the port permit for all Europe would be nice. And then you would get an option to have an one-time only teleport to Sagres, similar to EPF transport or emergency return. 

skawef

As a complete beginner, I’d done a bit of research before deciding whether I wanted to play, and found this guide. Although I started in London and chose Adventurer instead of Merchant, the steps were pretty similar.

I completed the Advanced exams for Adventurer and Merchant, and the Intermediate exam for Maritime. I later went back and completed Maritime.

My problems came after I’d done the Sagres quests, working out what to do next.

DanielFreedomHunters

skawef,

If the schools were better than you would know what you like to do, and go from there.   Probably the first thing would be to open the rest of sea zones and make some money.   If you have not joined a company yet, there are many good ones in every major city and the players in them are usually really good at helping figure things out. 

DanielFreedomHunters

Calicaddy is 100% right.   We saw it again today.  Met a new player and they were already lvl 20 Trade, and did not know anything about Sagres and had not gotten the pop up message, even through they had completed multiple quests.   With companies desperate for new members, there is willing help for the new players, if they just knew where to find it or what a company is. 

rangerzfan

When Sagres first came out, my expectations were high. Those expectations were dashed as soon as I took a new alt through it. The old school system was not perfect by any means, but I feel it was more thorough. Running through the various schools led to better levels upon completion. This Sagres short cut thing doesn't seem to produce anywhere near the levels you obtained via the old system. Anyways, this game has more issues than just retaining new players. I have noticed some mid-level players disappear all to frequently as well. Being a Dutch-toon only company does not help, but I have noticed in the other top Amsterdam companies which I know to be multinational are also having trouble maintaining a stable roster. There is only so much we can do as leaders. First, we need to make sure we as leaders are fairly active or atleast communicate when that is not possible. Ask ourselves what is/are the focus of our Companies? Funnel people to the the right company, if necessary. For example, for DC, we are generally a Dutch Adventure/Trade/Production company. We do have some that like the Maritime aspect, but I suck at it due to a physical issue with my wrist and refer those wanting a more dedicated Maritime experience to Buffet in HoO with a warning of what to expect. :D Anyways, we need to talk more about any trends we are seeing outside of the forum. 

kensd123

A lot of players were lost when Sagres was first introduced. Even the veterans were unsure where to go next etc. It was until GM Sheebs who clarified certain steps to get from Character creation to Sagres, then we veterans were able to move forward with our dummy account we created. Overall I would say the introductions and tutorials were very unclear and assuming if I was a first-time newbie, I will be completely be lost and I'll probably just hang out for a while more before I leave this game for another.

Even so after once they finish all 3 schools of all 3 exams each, it's clear that newbies aren't sure what direction they can do next after that. The old skool tutorial directions were clear and at least newbies roughly got an idea what they can do in-game. Because after the school exams, all the newbies are left in the dark without a direction.

Twitchalot

Aside from an endorsement for the original school tutorial, especially now that I tried to run a toon(LickitySplit) through Sagres and having given it an official "It Sucks" rating, maybe something like The Deckhands could be re-instituted? As I recall they were volunteer players that gave some of their time to help new players in School Chat. Maybe they could hang out in the Guild Halls in the 6 starter cities as well, and keep a watchfull eye peeled for newbies. Since it seems like Sagres is what we get, let's try and make some more suggestions that will help with new player retention within the system as it stands atm. Unlike the Bador-log, we can't make it happen just by wishing they were so.

crazyhunter2003

Simple solution: go back to the old school system