Guild Wars 2

So with the new changes to the game I feel that we’re still missing an actual tutorial.
It could be via Personal Story at appropriate levels ( 5 / 13 / 30 come to my mind with the current levels to unlock certain content).
Optionally, the new compas guide could point you in it’s direction.
The tutorial area has to fit certain criteria for it to be useful.

Do note that I think tutorials are supplementary to the already existing information you get while leveling. They are not a replacement.
They simply add on to the system and also give some reminders and permanent accessibility to more information.

I tried to order them in order of leveling. Starting with the information needed at the lowest levels.

Functionality

• Optional. You can choose not to do it without being penalized.
• Open world. Being taken to a place where there’s only NPC interaction so early on in the game breaks immersion.
• Player friendly. Have waypoints in the proximity.
• Bank available.
• Possibly have 3 tutorial zones next to eachother with level restrictions to enter the others. This makes people come back to the older tutorial zones and they might see something they forgot.

Low level tutorial content

• Combat / movement
  Have something moving to swing at. With the same information about attribute stats as the leveling up information gives now.
• Dodging
  Similar dodging tutorial as we have now.
• Gathering.
  Have a merchant next to some gathering nodes selling tools.
  This to show where you could normally acquire the tools .
  Possibly let you run out of gathering tools to give more incentive for people to always carry enough.
• Deposit materials
  After gathering show how to deposit what you’ve gathered.
• Bank / wallet
  Explain that it’s account wide.
  Explain that your currencies are shared between characters and that you can view them in your account wallet.
• Material storage
  Show players where their gathered and deposited materials went to.
• Wardrobe
  Explain the details of unlocking skins.
• Asura Gates
  Demonstrate how they work.

Mid level tutorial content

• Achievement points
  Give basic information of how you acquire achievement points through dailies / monthlies / permanent achievements. And
• Crafting
  Give you some materials to craft a simple item. The biggest issue I had when I was new was that I had no clue what profession to choose. This can still be addressed, but I’m not sure if the tutorial is the right place to do so.
• Exploration
  Explain how ‘uncovering’ parts of the map work.
  How Waypoints function. What points of interest are.
  Ideology behind vista’s. And a new skill challenge.
• Downed state / rally / death
  Have a player walk into a trap of sorts to let him down.
  Give him a target to rally off.
  Have another trap without anything to rally off. (Close to a waypoint)

Higher level tutorial content

• Red circles
  Even though it’s pretty straight forward that a red circle means ‘get out’, a little more telling could go into what actually happens. Sometimes it’s a single AoE, sometimes it’s a lasting attack, or it could even be a single swing of a sword.
• Laurels
  Acquisition and possible rewards.
• Permanent combo fields / bundle items
  Have all fields available.
  Because classes don’t have acces to all combinations (projectile / whirl / leap / blast) add a bundle item to give acces to them. Have a proper in game explanation of how they work. It took me the longest time to figure out how projectile finishers on light fields worked. I would’ve loved a proper tutorial on that when I started the game.
• Trait Acquisition
  Explain when you get trait points and how you can unlock traits.
  Perhaps the tutorial area can be close to a reasonably easy to acquire trait.
• Dungeons
  Explain how story mode / explorable mode differ from eachother and that you have to unlock explorable mode on each character individually.
  Brief the players of some tips and tricks, such as being able to respawn after you wipe. Point out that there will be a repair anvil available at the start of each dungeon.
• Wardrobe
  This time go into how transmutating items work.
• World bosses
  Tell a story of how meta events work and that some lead into world boss events that give an additional daily reward.

The problem with tutorials is that the people who actually need them tend to ignore them. Only forced and hands-on tutorials will get the job done, but then people will complain about being forced to do them.

Many of the tutorials you mention could simply be added to the game in the form of loading screen tips. Since the player may be staring at the loading screen for a few seconds anyways, they might as well put a rotating tip on it.

As for a combat tutorial, it should be worked into the personal story itself. A downed/rally tutorial was originally a part of intro boss fights, but it was never actually explained to the player and was removed early on.

Healix.5819:

The problem with tutorials is that the people who actually need them tend to ignore them. Only forced and hands-on tutorials will get the job done, but then people will complain about being forced to do them.

Many of the tutorials you mention could simply be added to the game in the form of loading screen tips. Since the player may be staring at the loading screen for a few seconds anyways, they might as well put a rotating tip on it.

As for a combat tutorial, it should be worked into the personal story itself. A downed/rally tutorial was originally a part of intro boss fights, but it was never actually explained to the player and was removed early on.

Hence why I think the compass could direct people towards this area nicely.
Maybe a little reward incentive could also help out a lot with getting new people to do them.

During beta I could hardly read any of the flavor text during loading screens because I barely have any loading time. I’m very against it.

Like I said, I don’t think this is the means to all answers. It should be a supplement to the current system.