Not keeping all IT jobs here is a major reason IT is so bad HERE. 33y IT 10y IT Security
(edited by AmandaG.2063)
-Hermann
(edited by Hermann.1537)
John Smith: “you should kill monsters, because killing monsters is awesome.”
While I agree they made bad decision about these changes I think you were a bit rude on your statement. I believe there are even several new players that doesn’t even know what WoW is about. Yes, there are players who could need help figuring out that things even though they were pretty obvious for the most. It’s just that the way which Anet has chosen to help them was a bad one, there could be better ways for how this NPE could have been implemented as all these pages has showed. There are people from all levels out there, since from basic or very unexperienced (“noob” as some would call it) to hardcore or experienced players who would learn stuff in a eye blink. Someone having difficult learning things doesn’t mean the game isn’t for them, but then it’s what a well-designed tutorial (current NPE is miles away from that) is for if they intend to attract these type of players. Let’s try to keep it not offensive to any group of players.
Though he is right about the NPE doing exactly what GW2 throughout its entire history has strived not to do. Examples being the whole “I swing a sword! I swing a sword again! And again!” thing, “You shouldn’t have to get to max level to have fun,” among others.
I understand and agree with the idea of spreading things out so new players can encounter them gradually and without being overwhelmed. I also agree with the idea of pacing new abilities and skills to add to the sense of progression and accomplishment as new characters level up. I think the NPE does a good job of that.
I do think the NPE could use another pass, however, to ensure that the order in which things — especially interface elements — are unlocked better matches the order in which players will need or encounter them.
Do that, and the NPE will finally earn my official thumbs-up.
The problem is that the NPE does this without any regard to whether the player actually is “overwhelmed and confused” or not. Not to mention the fact that several things are actually more confusing now than they were before (such as the "Why can’t I use skill poins/vistas questions, that somehow “I finally found a staff! OMG now I have 5 weapons skills I never used before! I don’t know what to do!” is somehow less confusing that people unlocking weapon skills as they go, and the other threads that shadow keeps mentioning in here) and that the NPE actually interferes with people trying to help out new players (such as people trying to teach friends about skill points/vistas without realizing that the new player can’t see or use them).
Pre-NPE the game did just that: while admittedly a few things could have been explained better coughcombofieldscough, it at the same time gave players credit for figuring out the game on their own.
Also giving me a “reward” consisting of something that I could have done 10 levels earlier pre-NPE, or even worse, at the beginning of the game is very… unrewarding. There’s a difference between “Congratulations! You are now level X! Have you checked out Y yet, it’s awesome!” and “Congratulations! You are now level X! We’ve arbitrarily decided that players aren’t experienced enough to learn about Y until level X, so you can now do Y!”
People also tend to be put off by ANet’s attitude of “pretending that this thread doesn’t exist, so that everyone will just give up and go away” that they’ve shown ever since this thread was created.
(edited by HandOfKane.5409)
New Possibilities for Everyone
My advice is to get every single skill point you can while leveling, because the more you get, the faster you can unlock everything.
This is very good advice, and what I’m doing now with my new Norn Mesmer (my fifth Mesmer; I have four of each of the other professions), who I ginned up with one of my new HoT slots, since I already had four empty slots set aside for Revenants for quite a while.
Having already taken 27 characters to level 80 under the original system from launch (and loved leveling every single one of them), I found last year’s combination of trait revamp and NPE able to take all the fun completely out of the process for me.
Despite my distaste for last year’s changes, I still did my best to give that system a fair go, and still have three characters I started last year sitting in their 30s. That was where they tended to peter out under that interim system, and where I just couldn’t push myself to continue.
They are still on hiatus, this time because the recent transition assigned all of them utilities and traits I didn’t want, left me no unspent points to compensate, and fixing that is going to take a lot of extra effort.
I eventually will take all of them to 80, because I do like the characters, but wanted a fresh start to evaluate the current state of affairs, hence the new Mesmer.
NPE: The Good
My new Norn Mesmer is now level 27, and on the way up, I’ve gotten a good look at the NPE process for new players. While my previous criticism still stands, I do think it’s important to acknowledge what’s good about the NPE, which happens to be a lot.
The NPE gives level-appropriate advice and rewards every step of the way, and lets players know what to expect from future levels. By combining the rewards and tutorial messages, the NPE makes it less likely new players will skip important information, and mixes the sugar with the medicine, so to speak.
To the extent the NPE does that smoothly and without causing confusion, which it does most of the time, I think it’s excellent.
NPE: The Bad
My only remaining complaint about the NPE is that the order in which some key elements of the interface, such as map icons, and other game mechanics are unlocked, doesn’t always occur in a manner consistent with when players will need or encounter them. Information new players need is, in some cases, held back in such a way that it ends up causing more confusion than clarity.
I understand and agree with the idea of spreading things out so new players can encounter them gradually and without being overwhelmed. I also agree with the idea of pacing new abilities and skills to add to the sense of progression and accomplishment as new characters level up. I think the NPE does a good job of that.
I do think the NPE could use another pass, however, to ensure that the order in which things — especially interface elements — are unlocked better matches the order in which players will need or encounter them.
Do that, and the NPE will finally earn my official thumbs-up.
“Not the same, real and true. True you feel inside.
Always follow what is true.” — Sentry-skritt Bordekka
Always follow what is true.” — Sentry-skritt Bordekka
“It isn’t working!” CL4P-TP
Ingame Name: Guardian Erik
Ingame Name: Guardian Erik
(edited by Tiscan.8345)
Maybe a title like “Infinitely patient”.
RoF
I’m actually glad that the programmer assigned to this is extremely meticulous. Makes me hopeful that the fix will be an actual one.
Also i’ve just noticed the little typo (hidden easter egg?) in Lauren’s comment about the Gods Walking Amongs Mere Morals. Wow.
I think her “t” key is broken or she is trying to tell us something.
(edited by Bloodstealer.5978)
Hey guys!
No release date yet, but it looks REALLY promising right now. Not for next release though, I don’t want to get your hopes up and dash them on tuesday.
FWIW the programmer doing the fix is extremely meticulous and wants this to be 10000% right when it goes out. It is not an easy fix and it has been being worked on since it broke.
If we can all be patient just a little bit longer then we will have more Gods Walking Amongs Mere Morals in the future… but sadly one of them won’t be me.
So a couple of conclusions we can take from this update:
1 - For those wondering, the fix probably won’t come out for about another month. Since we’ve been told they will only release the fix in a scheduled patch, and since Miss Lauren has told us it won’t go live next Tuesday, maybe by the end of July (best scenario). Just speculating on what’s been told…
2 - Like someone else suspected, in a different thread about this issue, we now have confirmation that only 1 programmer has been assigned to deal with this fix and that, probably, he’s been bashing his head against this issue, for 3 months now, with little to no help.
My question is as follows: Why has ANet assigned so few resources towards fixing this situation? Since HoM is a big part of GW2 (because it rewards players with exclusive skins, pets and minis) and since it’s a critical link between the only 2 MMO’s ANet has ever made, why is 1 guy enough? Everyone tells us that it isn’t an easy fix, that it’s really risky and that it’s a programming nightmare, still they assign this to 1 programmer (No offense intented, towards him. I’m sure, whoever was put in charge of this fix is a very talented programmer. Keep up the good work lad! ).
Go figure out corporate priorities… Sigh… Anyhow, thanks for the update.
(edited by Lunacy Solacio.6514)