New player "Intro" GUI [Long]

[r2baz]

Hi,

Following on from this post i have been trying to think of ways to help new players be introduced to PA. If like me you joined PA a while back you may not realise how hard and daunting a game this is to learn, its got harder and harder. I know some may even say "Omg help the noobs, help the noobs, thats all people wanna do, you wanna dumb down pa OMG" Well no i wanna help people who wanna play pa... well.... PLAY IT!

I don't know if this has been suggested before, i did a quick search and couldn't find anything.

Imagine having zero knowledge about what PA is about,what any of the screens do, dunno what IRC is, what ship stats are and what the feck a "roid" is...... o.k

When a new player logs in they are "dumped" into the main player screen with a hold loooooad of options that mean nothing with very little pointers as to where to start or what to do. So instead of seeing the actual game they would....

The GUI would be presented to the player when they log in for the first time. Lets says you can also skip it / turn it off / turn it on too if you want.

SO the player logs in and gets a screen asking them to take 10 - 20 minutes to learn a little about PA. It actually may take longer so the GUI could be split into PT1, PT2, PT3 so its in more managable chunks. LIke PT1 PA / PT2 IRC / PT3 The Forums? or somit.

The first screen would be a general intro to PA "O.k you have 72 ticks (or hours) to get your planet up to speed before you fully become part of the universe and able to attack enemies and defend freinds..." "PA is all about.. bla bla here is a load of links to get you started, we suggest bookmarking them and keeping them for future reference..." and give bcalcs/links to posts on forums for strategies etc.

The second screen could be "Production" with something along the lines of "O.k now you have signed up you will need to get your minions to work!" Use the sliders to assign priority to the different options. We suggest...

(If you are thinking along the lines of the quests systems then good, but this system you are pushed into and through to learn more so its actually part of the game and not an option you choose to start)

Next screen would be say "Mining" and somit like "Now you have to generate resources in order for your planet to grow and dominate. In the begining use your own income to buy more. We suggest...." Click next...

Next screen would be "Construction" "O.k now you need to start building constructions.... you get the idea

On each screen not only would it explain the screen but it would tell them what to do with a complete (although suggested) 72 hour tick plan.

The screen order is just something i made up to illustrate the concept.

O.k so that may help get people started?

Next - would it be possible to have sign up to Netgamers and registering a PA nick as part of the game too? Maybe the same as above?

Something like (more screens sorry..) "Most people who play this game use IRC to communicate and have fun. "Now go to Netgamers.org and create an account. Come back here once you have done this!" "O.k you got your user name and password?" "Paste it here.." The reason for this would be that a simple script would take the players user name and password and generate something along the lines of -

/msg [email protected] login yourname password
/mode yourname +x
/mode yourname +i
/list >5

"Now paste this into your IRC client and use it to connect to the netgamers irc" Then have a list of P commands IN PA. You get the idea.

Once this has been done then suggest they create a new forum user account and post in the new users forum. There should and normally is one but i dunno why this is one of the only forums where there isn't a New Players says HI! Forum?? I mean there is a forum to say goodbye but not one to say Hello! :/

I aint moaning btw. It's just my 2 cents based on difficulties i have seen new players have jioning the game.



Edit - I'll even put myself in the firing line and help do some of this if wanted. Although my "skills" aint, well... "skillful" but i wouldn't be able to do it on my own

[[DW]Entropy]

why not just promote irc activity and talk to them about it online? Seems like creating a manual most people wouldn't use (i for one have never read a game manual in my life) is just prmoting solo play. Whereas them learning about the mechanics of the game through other is promoting team play and irc activity.

[r2baz]

Originally Posted by [DW]Entropy

why not just promote irc activity and talk to them about it online? Seems like creating a manual most people wouldn't use (i for one have never read a game manual in my life) is just prmoting solo play. Whereas them learning about the mechanics of the game through other is promoting team play and irc activity.

The "intro" would only take 10 - 20 mins ish to go through (although looking at it it looks like longer)

I don't think it would promote solo play at all. I would hope it would stop new players from signing up getting daunted and quitting. And it would get people "up to speed" easier ad quicker so that when they get to IRC an experienced player will alreayd know they have gone through cetrain steps know a certain amount already. Like started there planet well, got an IRC nick, registered on the forums etc etc

Its also a way to show a more cohesive and community type feel to new players. They are gonna want to see / feel this stuff before they will put effort/time into things like irc etc imho

[booji]

hmm I like the idea. at the moment new players are relying on others to give them some sort of start up guide as the current manual's startup guide is not particularly good (and I doubt new players want to read the whole of the manual before they start) so it would be useful to have a few things they are told about how to get on with the game before they acctually get into the game itself.
It would have the advantage that a new player would appear slightly more knowledgeable to the galaxy they land in so are less likely to be kicked asap and the older players are more likely to have time for someone who has read a basic intro so that they dont need to go through absolutely everything. This introduction could easily point out that the best way to get on with the game is to get on IRC and talk to more experienced players who can then help the new player out on anything s/he did not understand in the intro and with more advanced stuff.

Originally Posted by [DW]Entropy

Seems like creating a manual most people wouldn't use (i for one have never read a game manual in my life) is just prmoting solo play.

I dont agree that it would be promoting solo play because it could emphasise the community aspect and let new players know how to join the community of their own initiative without relying on someone within the community mailing them to tell them how to get into the main part of the community that is IRC

[r2baz]

Originally Posted by [DW]Entropy

why not just promote irc activity and talk to them about it online?

Sorry should have said this would have been a good way to promote IRC aswell (as mentioned there would be a section on IRC) as its gonna be one of the first things people see when they log in etc

[GReaper]

Whilst I agree that something like this is needed, what are the chances of it happening? Nobody has looked at the game from a new players point of view for such a long time.

The game should guide you through each page for new users. Something along the lines of the quest system, but a bit more useful than "send a message to 1:1:1" and the join or create an alliance rubbish. More like an advisor which can give you guidance according to the state of your planet which appears at the top of every screen.

Maybe a flash screencast could be used on certain pages as a more interactive form of communication to users. So instead of reading about what to do they get short bursts of a video clip along with audio explaining the basics of the page.

[Ave]

The idea seems fine aslong as u can enter the game skipping the intro. Maybe it will come again until u turn it off from preferences... (so force them study the game a bit.) But also view it without the "booring" reading part.

Most likely how to get inside the community is biggest issue to mention in such introducion page.

[Membrivio]

Originally Posted by GReaper

Whilst I agree that something like this is needed, what are the chances of it happening? Nobody has looked at the game from a new players point of view for such a long time.

Whilst this seems true, lately efforts have been made to take this perspective into consideration (like what MORPHEUS did).

Originally Posted by GReaper

Maybe a flash screencast could be used on certain pages as a more interactive form of communication to users. So instead of reading about what to do they get short bursts of a video clip along with audio explaining the basics of the page.

I believe something like that was made by AdmVorlon. If I can find this intro video I will post it (It was somewhat amateuristic tho )

Back on topic: I like the idea of a step by step introductory guide, especially if it can be done with video and audio effects. Though, it should happen in a decent and professional manner, not like it has been done in a weekend someone was drunk. This, accordingly, would mean someone will have to step up to cooperate with PA team, as they (probably) will lack skill and (especially) time to create such a feature in a sound manner. A combination of a good sounding voice of PA team plus someone who can make the introductory vids should do the trick.

[GReaper]

Originally Posted by Membrivio

Whilst this seems true, lately efforts have been made to take this perspective into consideration (like what MORPHEUS did).

True, but I meant by PA Team. We can discuss the weaker parts of the game as much as we want, but unless they come to the same conclusion and decide to do something about it then it isn't going to happen!

[Membrivio]

Originally Posted by GReaper

True, but I meant by PA Team. We can discuss the weaker parts of the game as much as we want, but unless they come to the same conclusion and decide to do something about it then it isn't going to happen!

Change doesn't come only about top-down. Change also can emerge bottom-up. I mentioned a team up between someone from PA-team and person x for the video coverage, though it can also be established without their help, i.e. delivering a quality feature that they "can't refuse". In the end, of course, they will have to be the ones to implement it, but I think if the community comes up with an quality effort (by having made an intro vid) or in this case a quality idea (AND someone offers some help) they will be willing to take up the challenge to make it happen.
It is the positive interplay that makes things happen. I think they are interested in improving the game (if they wouldn't they would be in the damn wrong position, aye?), the bottleneck lies in that they can't do everything themselves.
In my opinion a concerted effort of someone with a good voice and someone with the skills to compose a visually good intro vid could do the trick. (this can be someone in PA team as well!) Delivering such a "product" will make PA team give feedback to improve it further, or they will implement it.

[Soap]

Hi all, first post on forums. Ex player getting back in the habit :-D

Alot has changed since i last played PA, and i like the idea thrown up here. However, i think they is something that could be (trying to think of a word without being insultive towards r2baz) more effective, and whats more its already in game. I recon the quest system thats implimented would be more than enough to get new players into the game. Yes, the system will need to be expanded so that it guilds a player though setting up their planet/gal/alliance, and it would actually help the newbie navigate round the page.

An extra option under this would be for a narritive under each quest explaining what they are doing as part of the quest (which should be able to be hiden by the experienced players). EG; Quest: Research:- Hull - This enables you to build ship... or what ever etc, etc.

The time scale is already sorted as well, if done in order and in the time frame, it could be set to last the players protection time. Im not saying that they should be a set order of what people should do, but it would be a guild for new players. Experienced players would probs have their own style of which way they do things anyway.

Thats my thoughs on the matter anyway, gl in the round guys.

Soap

[Mzyxptlk]

That was the original idea of the quest system, but development was stopped/paused/cancelled halfway through.