Newbie Experience

Macian

Hey all,

I just went through the Aet newbie experience due to retiring an Achaea character. I have to say that Aet's version is awful compared to Achaea's in terms of how easy it is to follow, how much you learn, and how involved you feel in the wider world. Are there any plans to upgrade this?

The Achaea newbie experience makes you feel like what you are doing is a big deal and that you are backed up by some heavy hitters in the real world. Aetolia's... not so much.

Any plans for updates, given that Aet has a reputation of being more RP focused?

Iazamat

Both the intro and academy are in desperate need of an overhaul. Both do the bare minimum, at best, to onboard new players, but without player support I really don't believe new players would actually learn the depth and breadth of what the game truly has to offer and how to play it.

I can't say whether this is on the Pools' radar at all, though, especially with their already full plates.

Ulo

The Academy is honestly a terrible novice experience. Having just went through it.

In Achaea, you join up with two prominent members of your City-State, and then undergo a mission, throughout this mission and experience you learn of your City Lore/Purpose, what your organization represents, and earn a place as a Citizen, in an IC way that shares game history/org history and so on.

The Academy is a very generic experience, it doesn't really represent anything and then you get thrown into your org.

I would honestly love to see a more exciting experience for our novices. On this same vein of discussion "CITY QUESTS" Please. Lusternia City honors lines were so much fun.

Macian

@Ulo you just summed up what I was trying to say a hell of a lot better than I did. The Achaea novice experience made me want to play IRE games again.

The Aetolia experience frustrated the hell out of me

The Achaea experience made me feel part of the world.

The Aetolia experience made me feel inept.

Teani

When the Academy was first added, there were plans to add in quests that provided information about lore and skills connected to guilds, but that never seemed to get done.

I definitely agree that Achaea has a more engaging intro, even though the game itself lacks the nuances and rp I feel in love with in Aetolia. Perhaps it would be possible to put together a group of people to brainstorm ideas? The long quest line in Masilia is a great example of something that could be mimicked, but making it city-centered, with potential to learn about the different guilds before leaving the Academy where you can switch class as you want.

Legyn

I've had to explain to a few new players what the tethers and the Albedi Gods were, and while I'm happy to help new players understand the lore, basic game elements like tethers are so fundamental to the setting that new players should have a good understanding of them before they make their character, and that's really the minimum. Ideally, the cities should be pitched to new players on their strength.

You should want to join Bloodloch because you want to be part of the evil empire. You should want to join Spinesreach because you're into Call of Cthulhu. You should want to join Duiran because you think Dia'ruis and its spirits are cool. You should want to join Enorian because you want to be the last light standing in the darkness until the sun rises.

City and guild selection should probably be part of the character introduction, not character creation. I don't think it's possible to make an informed choice about city and guild based only on what the Help files say, especially not with the way the game is currently shifting.

Put new players in a setting with a Syssin, a Shaman, a Carnifex, and a Templar so they can see what the cities are like while they learn the basic game mechanics. The second part of the tutorial or the Academy can focus more on the guilds.

Ludmilla

As a recent consumer of the 'Aetolian Newbie Experience(tm)' I have to chime in with my agreement here.

Starmourn and Achaea provide something akin to a short single-player campaign customized to guild/equivalent org and city/equivalent org out of the gate, with the Achaean tutorial continuing until you're finally handed off pretty seamlessly to your city/house n00b wranglers. The tasks are streamlined into it really, really well and they even slipstream their version of milestones, renown, into it while you're still clueless that system even exists.

The Academies in Aetolia feel like placeholders, and from skimming this thread it seems like that's likely because at the time of their creation they were - embedding more of the history and lore of the tethers and the cities bound to them, as well as the organizations loyal to those cities was probably a plan that just never saw fruition and is something that should be looked at anew. Also, with the presence of classes not tied to guilds, tasks like 'attain entry into your guildhouse' really should be obsoleted to remove pressure to join a random guild and quit while novicehood allows it just for the sake of completion.

Otherwise, as someone returning after... Christ, a lot of years? I'm honestly amazed at and appreciative of all the things that are just honestly BETTER than they were when I quit. The newbie experience... isn't really one of them. That said, seeing what huge changes HAVE been made? Gives me the idea that someday, we'll see that change for the better, too.

Teani

Legyn said:

Put new players in a setting with a Syssin, a Shaman, a Carnifex, and a Templar so they can see what the cities are like while they learn the basic game mechanics. The second part of the tutorial or the Academy can focus more on the guilds.

I would say a Teradrim rather than a Carnifex for Bloodloch to get the Undeath/Earth connection that city has, or involve Dominion if Vampires should be the bigger focus of attention, but other than that, I agree completely.