Improving the Newbie Experience

Xiran · July 2023

Like Uilani said, "throw any and all bizarre newbie experience things [here]." Point out quirks or improvements for newbie quests, TASKS, colleges, the newbie intro itself, etc.

Luce · July 2023

This one might be more for the IRE team than Lusternia specifically, but if races are added back to the intro, some way to have the newbie prompted to do a self description with a command that shows them 2-3 descriptions from players or NPCs who are typical members of the race? I know a lot of MMOs do put character customisation up front for a reason.

Xiran · July 2023

Quoting prior suggestions from the Q&A.

Xenthos —
Right now if a newbie runs out of POOLS, they cannot get back to finish the quests in the Pools of Remembrance. We had a newbie who didn't realize that, and was working on the honours quests there, thus getting locked out while still being well under level 31 (they were intentionally not getting xp, but using portals to quickly get around places to explore/look around/get stuff/check out parts of the game/just return to Glom).

Is there any reason for limiting the number of Pools any more, really? Access doesn't need two different sets of limits imo, just level 31 would seem fine. Note that this isn't related to allowing over level 31s access (that could be a QoL report), just... not locking actual newbies out of the newbie quests because they ran out of Portal charges.

Uilani —
This question showcases my earlier point about overhauls very well. Sometimes, unless you look at a feature from every possible angle and really go deep, you will not find the issues that need tackling. You only apply bandaids and some bygone systems stay in place.

Yes, agreed. The two don't have to be separate and it is not serving our novices. We'll definitely have a forum thread on that as well, throw any and all bizarre newbie experience things like that there.

Freja —
Will we be allowed to experience Newton changes (if it changes dramatically) or will we need to make a new character to test it? Like with the pools, I believe old players were able to go through the quests to help newbies if Skein/Bobbins/Spindle weren't around.

Uilani —
Presently we are looking at instancing Pools entirely. This will result in less confusion for newbies should more than one be doing them (and run into someone else taking something critical), and also allow us to allow non newbies to do the quests as well.

Those areas are significantly larger than other things we have instanced, in terms of items/denizens/quests, but that is the leading idea.

Luce —
So, I pointed out in one of the appropriate places that the Newton quests could probably do with more HINTs here and there, is there any thought being put in a direction of bringing them to be more in line with modern quest design principals?

And unrelated to that, we've had a couple of attempts at game-wide newbie support systems like Ashira and Alarin's BNA, but the players almost inevitably have real life Interfere. Are there any discussions or thoughts in the direction of having something like that as a non-clan, baseline sort of thing?

Uilani —
A lot has definitely been done to modernise these quests but some parts, especially the honour quests, sometimes require such leaps of logic that it feels like they expect newbies to be clairvoyant. I agree, and have recently patched up one of such gaps. We can do more, and one of our newbie todos is to go through everything with a fine-toothed comb. Players pointing out these places will help too.

For the latter, the newbie channel/guides/players is really the intended hub but one of the ideas is to prepare bite-sized helpfiles that guide into the 'deeper mysteries'. These can be player sourced as well. We have not given thought to a bigger, more proper coalition of newbie helpers beyond the systems we are supporting right now, open to ideas being pitched.

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Esei —
Just thought to throw in a comment here, but aren't CGHELPs (generally speaking) partly "deeper mystery" initiation? then again, I suppose that's more of an org level. I know that we [as a game*] have help files on nearly everything, including things I didn't even know we had help files about, like individual areas or quests.

Uilani —
Yes, CGHELPS are intended to be it too. There is a disparity between how well they are updated, and what sort of information they have though. Something worth looking at as well.

Cerosir · July 2023

The novice introduction might need to be more explicit about the importance of the claymore you're given. From what I've talked about with older players it's almost essential for hunting until you're able to trans your main skill and receive your "specialized" bashing attack (e.g. Symbol Strike). I'm at level 45 and killing rockeaters with two claymore strikes versus five cosmicfire blasts, so newbies should probably be told not to throw away that weapon. I know if I hadn't thought to ask I would have thought it was seemingly as useless as the wooden lute I received.

Cerosir · July 2023

One potential idea for the "bite-sized" helpfile might be the karma system and the blessings it can provide. HELP KARMA is very detailed and provides an excellent overview of the whole thing but if the idea is to introduce newbies to these bigger ideas, it could be a nice place to start, especially since you start earning karma right from the very start.

Luce · July 2023

Actually, come to that, a TASK for accumulating karma and getting a Harmony or Death blessing might not go amiss.

Xiran · July 2023

More an idea for fellow players: I really liked being able to give bite-sized bits of guild/org lore tied to abilities as newbies tried them out. I realised I haven't done that in teaching recently. It may be a nice nice way to weave together aspects of a character someone is trying out for the first time, be it their class plus their guild, their org, or their chosen race. As a teacher, offering something to build their roleplay on and seeing where they take it is fun.

Uilani · August 2023

To improve the newbie experience, we're looking for all sorts of ideas. Here's a few topics that would be helpful for us to get ideas for, but also please do include whatever else comes to mind as well.

Newbie Intro itself - the House of Moirae sequence.
The Pools quests.
The TASK system.
Newton & its quests.
Colleges.
PORTALS.
Mentors/teaching newbies.
Equipping newbies.
Introducing newbies to lore in bite-sized bits.

Hyirah · August 2023

I'm new to Lusternia and have played text-based RP & other IRE games for over a year. I would like to share my newbie experience on Lusternia, if it's helpful.

I adore the newbie intro and the pools quests. The vibe is utterly captivating, and for me, it is by far, the most entertaining introduction I've experienced. And then I was enchanted by exploring Serenwilde and nearby areas - such gorgeous room descriptions. Also, the Lusternia website looks so good, and the "game" menu content describing organisations, classes, races, and history is fantastic. So in the first couple of hours, I found Lusternia more intriguing than other initial IRE game experiences.

The intro could teach you some more practical things like good job punching those rats, now use this sweet sword (or select a class and learn a class attack). Explaining teardrop sigils and linking liquid rift is too complicated for an intro, given all else there is to learn, so maybe it could just be auto setup then they can learn it later? As a newbie, I loved in Starmourn how easy it was to get started with Wetwiring (curing system) - you didn't have to do anything; it just worked. Likewise, maybe the fates can grace you with the enchantment defences rather than having to manage all those rings at first.

There are a few things that have kept me coming back (maybe relevant for newbie retention):

the players - relative to other IRE games, I've had so many fun RP-rooted interactions. Xiran was the first person I had fun RP with early on, and she RECOGNIZEd me, which is a lovely feature, and I love recognising now - just as an excellent OOC way to say thanks for the fun & hope we RP again. Encouraging recognizing newbies could be good
Maylea blessed us with Divine favour and said kind words over CT when a few of us newcomers were being more active. It's a small thing, but it went a long way to making the world feel alive.
The Frost Abomination mini-event - I wasn't even there for it, but lingering permafrost in the forest is such a good catalyst for conversation & player RP. I just get such a kick out of showing (sleepy or new) people the ice and telling them the story. Even if nothing further comes from this, the -potential- that something might come of it makes the world come alive. I love it.

Lusternia is such a fantastic game. Thank you!

Huskii · August 2023

Enchantments seem like an awkward thing to approach. Often I see them sitting in a novice's inventory for a few RL days. I know I could easily write a straightforward CGHELP file saying 'Welcome to the game do XYZ with your teardrop sigils and pipetanks and rings that are mysteriously in your inventory' (we already sort of do, only a little more of a long-winded explanation).

I wonder if this is something that could be added to a task though. Or if mprog could be added to a newbie/pools quest to encourage the use of an enchantment to (for example) waterwalk over a river...

Cerosir · August 2023

I don't know if this would FIX the problem, but could the rings be modified to give more of a hint as to what they do? You're just given 7 golden rings or something, whereas if you received "an aquamarine ring adorned with cresting waves" you might associate that more with waterwalking.

Uilani · August 2023

Good points all. Please do keep them coming! That's exactly the kind of feedback we need. The whole equipment drop on a newbie can be very overwhelming, especially all them rings and pipetanks with zero explanation. Does a newbie really need all those enchantments? Perhaps as lessons along the way instead?

Cerosir · August 2023

Uilani said:

Good points all. Please do keep them coming! That's exactly the kind of feedback we need. The whole equipment drop on a newbie can be very overwhelming, especially all them rings and pipetanks with zero explanation. Does a newbie really need all those enchantments? Perhaps as lessons along the way instead?

I don't think any sub-31 bashing or influencing requires that much health/mana/ego regen. Auto-curing could probably be made an inherent ability and be on by default which would also help prevent insta-death if a newbie does find themselves in over their heads.

Maybe the other enchantments could become rewards for new novice-focused quests? Just as an example, there's that lake on Lolliprin(? the place with the shroomies) where you have to go out and gather the emerald snake for the Queen and King. Maybe make the lake a bit more vast (5-6 rooms of water to cross) and when you turn in the quest for the first time, the NPC mentions that swimming for such a long amount of time can be exhausting, and then offer up a waterwalking ring and explain how to use it.

I know that when game mechanics and tips were doled out to me over time and in context of their use they stuck much more than the infodump you get right out of the intro.

Xiran · May 31

Xenthos —
Is there any reason for limiting the number of Pools any more, really? Access doesn't need two different sets of limits imo, just level 31 would seem fine.

Recent change went in.

Changelog 2963

- Newbies will now be able to use unlimited POOLS to travel to the Gardens of Moirae, up till level 30 (inclusive). HELP POOLS has been updated to reflect that change. Gone are limited uses of rescues.

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