Posted by Kendama

Well it's not really the players job to teach new players the basics. It really should all be provided by the game, whether in a response team or in-game information.

That's why you volunteer...  

Posted by Crono

That's why you volunteer...

wat  

Posted by Kendama

Well it's not really the players job to teach new players the basics. It really should all be provided by the game, whether in a response team or in-game information.

That's like saying blizzards phone support staff is supposed to help with in game questing.

no.

Everything FAQ should be in game information  

Posted by Kendama

Well it's not really the players job to teach new players the basics. It really should all be provided by the game, whether in a response team or in-game information.

A 'response team' would be entirely made up of players, like the rest of the staff is?  

Posted by Rufus

A 'response team' would be entirely made up of players, like the rest of the staff is?

I don't see it as orthodox or very logical to put FAQ entirely in the responsibility of the players. Nevertheless, I could care less on the issue- as I require no answers as a experienced player.  

Posted by Kendama

I don't see it as orthodox or very logical to put FAQ entirely in the responsibility of the players. Nevertheless, I could care less on the issue- as I require no answers as a experienced player.

'Orthodox' in the context of what? Online games?  

Posted by Rufus

'Orthodox' in the context of what? Online games?

yes

Most of graal's information is hard to reach. The VERY basics are gone through in the tutorial, but most of the actual information regarding towering/sparring/events/guilds/questing/mounts/houses/ect is tucked away, instead openly available from the start. While part of the fun is unraveling the mystery, it is a deterrent to many players just starting out and the common player is more likely to be mean and give out ridicule rather than offer genuine assistance, when asked a question.  

Posted by Kendama

yes

Most of graal's information is hard to reach. The VERY basics are gone through in the tutorial, but most of the actual information regarding towering/sparring/events/guilds/questing/mounts/houses/ect is tucked away, instead openly available from the start. While part of the fun is unraveling the mystery, it is a deterrent to many players just starting out and the common player is more likely to be mean and give out ridicule rather than offer genuine assistance, when asked a question.

Okay, please tell me common concerns that players have with regards to those specific things and they can be fixed.  

Posted by Rufus

Okay, please tell me common concerns that players have with regards to those specific things and they can be fixed.

Super tempted to 'have fun' with this, but I'll try to be serious, seeing as though Rufus has asked, and not some one else.


Towering - Tactics and techniques aside, most kids straight off the boat from balamb don't even know to hit the flag. The rest of this is kind of more 'guilds' related.

Sparring - Again, just being aware that this is a thing. It's not mentioned to new players directly. Sure, there's a spar area in the starting town, but it's not obviously outlined as different from actual sparring (as opposed to practice spar). Some info about GST would be nice to see somewhere other than in the news posts a few days before it happens.

Events - Many players don't have any idea that there are administrator hosted events, and have to ask "What are you doing?" when there's a crowd of people in front of Graal City gate waiting for the next round of hide and seek or whatever. It's not mentioned anywhere. The only notification is that the administrator's message pops up, and some folks (younger players, admittedly), are not aware of or familiar with the messaging system... that keeps them from participating at times.

Guilds - This is gone over in the menu sections. There is some information, but navigating the UI for the guild menu (as with most of the menus) is buggy and frustrating even for some one who knows how it works behind the scenes. Having your guild members page not load, or having the guild pic not automatically update can be confusing and frustrating. There is no tutorial on how to run a guild, what constitutes a 'good' guild, or what the reasons for having a guild (or a guild house) may well be.

Questing - There's questing in this game? I thought that was just a single fetch chain that resulted in unlocking a few extra stores? Seriously, though, there is nothing but the 'visual clues' in a few places to indicate that there is a quest. Finding and feeding the homeless guy to get it started is about 95% dependent on some other kind player telling you where to go.

Mounts - This is actually well gone over. You have to explore to find the mounts to purchase, which is good. You can't walk three screens without seeing some one riding a mount, which is information enough that they are out there. If you are aware of the map function you can find the stables. I thin mounts are pretty simple and straightforward.

Housing - This... I am passionate about and will try to keep from ranting on. There are controls that were implemented that some people may not understand (namely the copy, shift-move, edit mode) and are not mentioned anywhere except in ancient news posts. The furniture list is rather simple when you have less than 100 furniture objects, and gets frustrating when you have more. There is no simple 'house' tutorial that explains how to drop or move furniture in such a way that people would be able to do so without handholding or hours of trial and error; I have met some folks who don't even know how to use the paintbrush button to edit furniture settings.

Etc - Renovation is always more work than construction from scratch, to reference real-life building. The foundations here have had many hands work on them, some more than others. When dealing with such a situation, the folks living in that house (players like us) need to be patient with the folks who are working on improving the house (Devs & Admins). We might think of something as simple or intuitive that they don't understand or see a different way, given their insider knowledge.  

I think the new players have the common sense to figure things out themselves as well as asking players for help.  

Posted by Livid

I think the new players have the common sense to figure things out themselves as well as asking players for help.

It's pretty common that when asking others for help, they are shut down by the ignorant over-confident players who downgrade them as "noobs" and afterwards block them.  

Posted by Livid

I think the new players have the common sense to figure things out themselves as well as asking players for help.

Objection your honor, this poster is not an expert on noob mentality.

Posted by Bryan*

It's pretty common that when asking others for help, they are shut down by the ignorant over-confident players who downgrade them as "noobs" and afterwards block them.

Unfortunately a majority of the community is like this.

I remember someone making a list of different types of noobs and why people didn't help. Was pretty funny.  

I do not see what would be hard about implementing a thoroughly well-done guide that can be accessed from the very beginning on everything he just typed. I do not see the downside to it, and it is a lot more foolproof than expecting new players to get genuine answers from other players.  

im an expert in this I have done alot of experiments and I know about everything about how a common burger refuge graalian lives by following players on noob accs

First of all id like to adress that when players do not understand how the message system works its generaly because they are too young to understand which anyway is not the audience we target
We dont target 6 year olds we are currently targeting 9+ year olde acordng to the rating on the app store

So those people will have the common sense to understand these things, things like changing your look is explained
This games like Zelda Nes in a way that your given little explanation and you just go off to the unknown and meet new people
eventualy you start memorising where is where and you improve
Spar is not really mentioned alot because its not in the overworld map its in a single building But players eventualy learn what it is once a gst passes and they see players with gst items

Heres the more relevant part:
A faq team is kind of needed though due to some questions not being answered that may be important and not mentioned at all
The idea of players helping players is a joke nowadays
I remember a good playerbase 9 years ago but igraals community is a little different
If you dont beleive me go make a newb acc with a wierd name thats original and dont pk much and be rly poor

then go to a bunch of players with 20h or over and ask em questions
Also dont use good gramur
New players learn to mock new players and call em noob
We are dealing with a generation of hate and low self esteem  

Noob: Hi, may you help me?
Player: **** you stupid poor loser!
Noob: I'm only new to the game, sorry.
Player: You have no uploads. You not pro. Blocking you!