Mentorship
Thu, 06/23/2011 - 09:34
I find this game to be unfriendly to new players who don't know what to do or how to make enough money to buy CE and continue playing past their mist energy. What I propose is a mentorship system where more experienced players can sign up to volunteer their time to help new players.
It will work something like this:
New players who join the game can request a mentor and an experienced player who has signed up to be a mentor and is online and not afk and in haven will be notified and paired with the new player. The mentor can then help the new player with questions about the game or help the new player with the second half of the first tier; a part that is very challenging to new players but is where all the crowns are.
I believe this will help the game retain new players who join the game who immediately get turned off after finding out that they can't play anymore after using up all their mist when nothing could be further from the truth.
Each mentor can have up to 3 new players paired with him/her.
Personal Anecdote:
I discovered the above issue when I was sitting bored in haven one day and decided to randomly add players to my friend list. One person I added happened to be a new player who had no idea how he was supposed to make enough crowns to continue playing. I helped him out and he told me he was so frustrated he was about to quit the game before I came along and helped him. This made me wonder if there weren't more players in this situation and if something could be done about it. I believe having more experienced players mentor new players could be the answer.
Sun, 06/26/2011 - 19:50
#2
Thanks, but it looks like
Thanks, but it looks like people are more interested in changing the energy system than helping new players. :/
Sun, 06/26/2011 - 20:00
#3
What if there was an option
What if there was an option the mentor could toggle to let them completely forego ALL share of loot, rewards, and other drops of ANY kind in return for having elevator costs of 0 while mentoring?
That way they wouldn't have to go "Oh sorry, man, I really wanted to help you tackle this dungeon but I just used all of my energy for the day so... ... have fun in the graveyard by yourself!" :-p
Plus it'd let the newcomer keep all of the materials while still having someone to pal around with.
Actually, on second thought... what if there was an optional option (emphasis on optional in case anyone out there doesn't get the definition of "option", as people so frequently complain about the option of spending some money in the game. :P ) to remove the mentor an additional step from the game... they'd be there in the levels, but they could be floating around on a little ship/helicopter/jetpack, unable to help the ment-ee with the fighting (because they'll probably learn best doing it themselves) while still being able to keep an eye on them, and having the freedom to sit there and chat at them without getting mauled to an embarassing death by T1 critters. Naturally, they would also have some sort of ability to place MARKERS at any point they choose. Arrows pointing a specific way, a little "attack this!" symbol..
And if flying around overhead is a little too hokey, they could just be watching invisibly, "from a control room somewhere", and their chat could come in a separate bubble from the normal chat with accompanying head-shot to denote it's importance. But still with the ability to place holographic markers and whatnot.
Sun, 06/26/2011 - 20:09
#4
Huh, I always imagined the
Huh, I always imagined the experienced players who would be into this would have so much money on their hands they aren't limited by a cap they set for the day or their mist energy. I know I don't even factor in my mist energy when I play. But instead of reducing CE costs perhaps give mentors an incentive by greatly increasing the amount of heat they gain in the dungeons they do with their apprentices? This of course would stack with the heat amplifier.
Besides I always imagined showing off all that you have gained in the game to new players would be part of the fun. ;)
Wed, 06/29/2011 - 08:25
#5
I think this is a great idea,
I think this is a great idea, but I don't know if you even need rewards as an incentive, at least not gameplay-influencing ones like free lifts; always be wary of people who get into teaching for the money, you know?
Personally, if I'm doing certain sequences - the Snarbolax fight, the Jelly Palace run-up to the Jelly King fight, T2 Graveyards and so on - I'll make a point of asking the other party members if they've done this before, particularly if they seem underequipped at all. If they haven't, or haven't successfully (there are probably still more people who've reached the JK than have beaten the JK), I'll briefly outline pertinent strategies. I don't do this for rewards, or even thanks, but because it makes the game better; new players making classic newbie mistakes is frustrating for the more experienced players (because they know how this is meant to go dammit what is wrong with you) and the newbies alike (because it's often costing them EN to revive, reducing their available playtime and artificially stretching the learning curve as a result). When everyone knows what they're doing, everyone has more fun.
Of course, if you're opting into a game-wide mentoring programme, rather than just offering help spontaneously, maybe there should be some reward - but I think they should either be fairly ephemeral (costume armour pieces, for example) or tied directly to performance (awarding prizes based on feedback from mentored players). The former might help deter players who'd sign up just for rare equipment or free dungeoneering, the latter could help undermine attempts at abuse by making sure that only useful instruction is rewarded.
Fri, 07/01/2011 - 05:48
#6
+
bumpity
Sat, 07/09/2011 - 12:07
#7
like it
I wouldn't mind helping a newbie out with the game. And maybe you could choose whether to join them in regular or mentor mode. In regular mode basically play like a party with them but in mentor mode you don't get any or minimal drops (they still do) and can switch between active mode(where you fight and take damage and can rev them) and inactive mode where you cant help them at all aside from advise and pointing out problems but don't take damage. Active and inactive mode can be switched at any time in the main menu under mentor but you can only switch between regular and mentor mode at the end of a level at the gate.
Sat, 07/09/2011 - 12:47
#8
brilliant
That's what this is - BRILLIANT! That would probably make one of the coolest additions to the game, especially if all of what
you people have said would be implemented. Honestly i love the idea of having those sort of costume armour rewards, and that about the feedback, but what really won me over was the idea that u could switch between an active mode, to help the newbie out if he's in trouble or stuff like that, and an inactive ghost mode where u can only give advice and place markers and such. This ought to be seriously considered by the developers, 'cause it really is cool!
Sat, 07/09/2011 - 12:52
#9
Mentorship is basically
Mentorship is basically provided in Guilds, so choose wisely which guild you join =)
Sat, 07/09/2011 - 13:12
#10
If Guilds were that easy to
If Guilds were that easy to join it makes me wonder why most new players are not in guilds. My suggestion is to help ease new players into the game, though guilds also do the job there is now way right now for new players to easily be able to access a good guild.
Mon, 07/11/2011 - 17:34
#11
I dunno - I still think of
I dunno - I still think of Guilds as largely social constructs, rather than training academies. I really, really think that some sort of mentoring programme should be seriously considered by the devs; it's potentially a very straightforward way to ease new players into the game and improve social interaction between new and veteran players.
Yeah, that's a great idea. I once found a game with this idea implemented. Starting a new game can be pretty disorienting and having an experienced player to help out is really good.