What exactly do you think should be mentioned in tutorial? Do you have any specific Ideas?
Well, the typical questions that repeat every five minutes in global chat are:
how do I sell my ships? (you don’t)
how do I change weapons? (you cannot until you buy a tier 2 ship)
how do I equip XXX that I just bought, I see it in the warehouse but it does not appear in the equipment panel (you cannot because it is a different tier and/or for a different type of ship)
why are Mk.III items greyed out? (you have not reached the required loyalty level to unlock them)
how do I unlock Mk.III items (gain synergy with the relevant faction by accepting and completing contracts for them)
how do I know which faction and loyalty level I need to reach to unlock a specific Mk.III item (mouse over the icon to the left of the item name and read the tooltip)
how do you get synergy? (play the game with the ship you want to earn synergy for)
how do I upgrade my synergy level (select your ship, click on the equipment tab and if you have enough synergy click the “Level up” button)
I need to plant a bomb for a mission, how do I do that, I’ve never even seen a bomb? (you need to play a Detonation PVP game, fly towards the bomb indicated in your HUD, pick it up by staying near it until the bar completes, then fly to an enemy station and stay near it until the bomb gets planted)
how do you join a corporation? (you need to get invited. try the “Searching for Corp” section on the forums)
what do I do with artifacts? (currently nothing. if you are in a corporation you can donate them to your corp for use in a future patch)
why do I keep facing T3 ships with my T1 ships? (because the match-maker has a spread of +/- 3 ranks so you can face opponents you don’t stand a chance against. better luck next time.)
There’s probably more that I’m forgetting now. You see these questions all the time, so clearly there’s a need to explain this to a new player in some form when they join the game.
I miss modules to increase the slots per load, or reloading time, while at the same time they should reload even off battle (possibly visible), so that at least at death people would consider switching the ship or waiting for the reload.
Increased capacity per passive slot also seems viable, giving another load (+1 heavy, +2 mid, +3 small, +4 small unguided or similar)
Also, from what I’ve read so far about T5 implants, I find them a bit uncreative and too powerful for “Implants”. I never really got, why implants work per ship tier level, instead of only per battle tier level - which would mean, T2 in a T4 fight at least could benefit from all implants to T4 (the ships are designed linear anyway, so it would not be a big buff) and make it even viable to bring at least some old ships with you, while you expand your set.
For this however the reputation system made much more sense.
Backstory related issues could be adjusted to this anyway.
What exactly do you think should be mentioned in tutorial? Do you have any specific Ideas?
Also, regarding rockets, as I have already mentioned before, this aspect of the game is in work, we see that there is a situation with them and this will be improved.
Tutorials should teach people how to play the game.
Example: “Play a Beacon Hunt mission” is a useless tutorial, because it didn’t teach the player anything.
But if the first time they play the mission they get heavy promptings, which teach them how to play the mission, that would be useful.
Example of a Beacon Hunt tutorial:
When they spawn, they get a big message saying “Follow the map icon to Beacon A.” and the A Beacon marker flashes.
About 40 seconds before the Beacon changes, they get a prompt saying “Beacon B is about to activate!” and Beacon B is highlighted.
About 20 seconds before the Beacon changes, they get a prompt saying “Try to reach beacons before they activate.”
Repeat this over and over until they take the hint and reach a beacon before it activates.
This concern has already been partially addressed - whenever you buy a ship of new role you recive a role-explaining message!
you should be able to access all ‘info pages’ via an encyclopedia as well. as an appendix/index of sorts. nevermind, you already can ;p ‘help screens list’…
in fact, info pages are often better than tutorials that throw you directly into a game, since you have time to digest the information properly, and it can be explained carefully.
you know, just info with pictures… show them what a beacon capture looks like along with all the points regarding mechanics, etc… on another page show them commander roles and mechanics, etc…
i suppose, this button should be made more readily available/visible, maybe with a yellow border around that help button or something. maybe with a tooltip when they first create their account, telling them they can obtain more information about game modes and units by clicking that button.
i didnt even know that existed. i just used pve as my tutorial haha
or just have the beacon appear 20 secs ahead of schedule, but be uncapturable for 20 secs.
solves that issue without a lengthy tutorial.
No! No no no no no!
That solution punishes smart players. With that model, all you have to do is blob your team up and blindly move from beacon to beacon whenever the game tells you to.
If you try that against an organised group, at best you’ll have to fight your way into the beacon (which they’ve captured and held for 10+ seconds). At worst, your unthinking blob will be torn apart as it blindly stumbles into the prepared enemy position.
The Tutorial should tell players how to do this - how to think ahead, how to make good tactical and strategic choices, but it shouldn’t hold their hand. Once it’s explained, and they’ve shown a moderate amount of competence, it’s up to them to remember how to do it and to keep doing it.
I honestly have kind of lost the feel to tell the devs what is wrong with their game since it seems they don’t intend on patching at all currently…Maybe they are on vacation, but that would be the most terrible decision ever that a Game Designer can make. Releasing a huge patch with 20 wrong things then going on vacation telling you to go F yourself.
You know beta the least you could do if you’re going to post so much is get a frigging avatar!
Why?
And to keep it on topic so Error doesn’t get angry, I do believe going on vacation after a major patch was a bad idea. Singularity cannon’s does too much damage against interceptors. Having it “balanced” by being slow doesn’t work well when the first shot can take most of my shields, and it’s silent. Unless they miss and I see a blue ball going away I don’t know what’s coming after me. A “logical” fix is to make it’s damage dealt reflective of the hit accuracy based on size since it’s a giant blue ball. I don’t know how big it really is, but sometimes it looks half the size of a frigate.
The weapons system was good for balance (if it had been more thoroughly thought out: doesn’t seem like a lot of effort went into it, tbbh), but I disliked the removal of choice. And let’s face it: people still use the shrapnel cannon. Meta change? Nnnope.
players will be able to experiment and be equally effective with all kinds of weapons!
Erm… Say that again? I can’t hear you over the sound of a thousand beachballs.
You guys really think a better tutorial would help people more? really?
I mean, it does really not explain people in T3 still behaving differently than expected, not going for the beacons.
Even players with long playtime seem to search for the next beacon. I know I do.
Not the point, the point was to make it more fun. Like I said: if you can make a tutorial that has the same level of badassery as God of War’s, you’re doing it right.
You guys really think a better tutorial would help people more? really?
I mean, it does really not explain people in T3 still behaving differently than expected, not going for the beacons.
Even players with long playtime seem to search for the next beacon. I know I do.
A better tutorial will help players understand the tuning and advancement features of the game. That’s a good thing. Some people won’t go for beacons, they’d rather have a combat recon without a captain.
Try pinging beacons in the pregame if you don’t know where in beacon hunt. I sometimes do it whenever someone pings beacon A or I just can’t remember. Then you can figure out where B is, where C is, and once you spawn you can figure out if it’s left or right. Changing tab to show the map instead of toggling the map helps make it a fast check.
You guys really think a better tutorial would help people more? really?
I mean, it does really not explain people in T3 still behaving differently than expected, not going for the beacons.
Players ignore beacons because they play for synergy or DSR. Going for beacons is too risky to be good source for either (unless you’re in a covops doing the nuke self-destruct thing, that’s pretty much the fastest way to raise both synergy and DSR).
Personally I love high DSR players the most. They are so easily distracted, bait them with a worthwhile kill and they’ll let your bomb carrier sail through unmolested.
I honestly have kind of lost the feel to tell the devs what is wrong with their game since it seems they don’t intend on patching at all currently…Maybe they are on vacation, but that would be the most terrible decision ever that a Game Designer can make. Releasing a huge patch with 20 wrong things then going on vacation telling you to go F yourself.
No matter how much everyone complains on here, the devs manage to somehow find people who love the update and don’t want any changes. The devs dont care about the people who dont like the update, they only care about the people who do like it. If they listened to both sides equally, then they would understand all the problems in the game rather than listening to brainless zombies who praise everything they do. I just think that the devs don’t feel like listening to all the complaints and would rather hang around on all the foreign forums where they probably dont complain as much
No matter how much everyone complains on here, the devs manage to somehow find people who love the update and don’t want any changes. The devs dont care about the people who dont like the update, they only care about the people who do like it. If they listened to both sides equally, then they would understand all the problems in the game rather than listening to brainless zombies who praise everything they do. I just think that the devs don’t feel like listening to all the complaints and would rather hang around on all the foreign forums where they probably dont complain as much
I meant seriously, you believe in the fact, that the people not doing the objectives well or being confused would be less confused, if it was in the tutorial?
I mean most people who actually do play a tutorial are already open to search for answers to their questions…
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It is different with bacon hunt, that game mode, and finding the next beacon, actually needs a bit more of help ingame, because it even confuses older players often enough. I am glad that I know most of those maps now even by the rock formations; but it certainly should not be required, to open a map and “guess” where the next beacon might be (because it is also not noted there). So yes, making it visible 20 secs before is actually a pretty nice solution.
and I think tutorials can’t fix Bacon hunt confusion.
Of course pinging, etc. helps, but that should actually indicate tactics, not be used to explain what we should do next.
The entitlement in these arguments is gone all over the silly line and well into “I’m and xxxxxxx” levels of terribleness.
Devs don’t deserve a normal summer vacation? Really? What are they, americans? Hell, around here we have a month summer vacation. They’ve put the game into the mode where balance is better than it was in a very, very long time, and then barely took three weeks off and some people start to rage. Can you maybe consider that there are living, breathing people developing the game with families, children, spouses and life outside 4 walls at work.
Fact is, game’s concurrent online numbers are staying well above 2.000. People are having fun. A few folks on forums with a huge axe to grind stand out in their loneliness - there are very few of them, and they keep regurgitating the same talking points like your average populist politician.
Players ignore beacons because they play for synergy or DSR. Going for beacons is too risky to be good source for either (unless you’re in a covops doing the nuke self-destruct thing, that’s pretty much the fastest way to raise both synergy and DSR).
Personally I love high DSR players the most. They are so easily distracted, bait them with a worthwhile kill and they’ll let your bomb carrier sail through unmolested.
People like me are easily distracted? Have you played against me before? DSR merely says that you’re either very good at tactical analysis and flying (solo pilots), have a very good squad to carry you (squad only pilots) or a mix of two of the above. There are a few exceptions that just sit back and snipe, but those are players that are so few, they can be counted with two hands or so.
In general, DSR is a very good indicator of pilot’s flying skill and tactical awareness for vast majority of players. Those that aren’t are usually either a part of a certain corporation and get carried quite a bit, or those few sniping fighters that largely left the game now as that gameplay style became really hard to execute properly.
And btw: capping beacons gives synergy. Lots of it. Mainly because it’s both points AND medals that you get for every cap, and synergy is gained from both.
