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The Daily Grind: Which MMO has the best newbie support system?
Everybody's a new player to a particular MMO at some point, even if grizzled vets would like you to believe that they were already at the level cap when the cosmos came into being. I think it's easy to forget how complex and mystifying these games can be to a fresh set of eyes, especially when one is coming into the game long after launch. That's why I always applaud an MMO that puts an emphasis on supporting newbies with helpful advice and even structured mentorships. Two examples come to mind: Fallen Earth has a terrific help channel that's staffed with volunteers and CMs on a regular basis, and Anarchy Online had a player advisory group that roams the beginner zones looking to help lost players. So which MMO do you think has the best newbie support system? Every morning, the Massively bloggers probe the minds of their readers with deep, thought-provoking questions about that most serious of topics: massively online gaming. We crave your opinions, so grab your caffeinated beverage of choice and chime in on today's Daily Grind!
Kotaku launches "An idiot in Azeroth"
Yesterday a new series of articles began on Kotaku: "An idiot in Azeroth," written by Mark Serrels as he chronicles is very first time playing through World of Warcraft. Poor Mark may be in over his head--he is only vaguely aware of what WoW is or how it works. It took him 15 minutes to figure out how to turn the tutorials on so he would know how to play. He got eaten by a wolf and squished by a murloc. Sound familiar? The most delightful part of reading about Mark's first exploits into Azeroth is the knowing grin it brings to my face. Ah, yes -- those days! I remember that. I remember wandering aimlessly through the starting zone, trying to figure out where to find that quest item I needed, getting turned around in the woods, and getting eaten by wolves. Each of us only gets to discover Azeroth once, and reading about Mark's first forays into that world are the closest any of us will ever be to reliving the experience. I can't wait to see where it takes him. if we're lucky, perhaps it will make him one of us.
WoW Archivist: Two weeks as a noob in 2004
WoW Archivist explores the secrets of World of Warcraft's past. What did the game look like years ago? Who is etched into WoW's history? What secrets does the game still hold? When I took on the WoW Archivist mantle last year, I wanted to tell some personal stories as well as provide in-depth looks into the game's past. My first column talked about an early but extraordinary world PvP experience. Today I'd like to tell you about my first weeks of WoW in 2004, in a very different Azeroth than our modern version, with a very different incarnation of the hunter class. A hunter will rise In December 2004, a hunter stepped forward in Red Cloud Mesa. He was new to the ways of Azeroth, but eager to learn. What followed would be painful. But when the narrator shut up and the hunter proudly accepted his first quest from the Navajo minotaur guy with giant punctuation over his head, this new hunter set forth. He had nothing but a bow and a hope that his trials would forge him into a hero. He would become a hero, many months and scars later. His first two weeks, however, were marked with terror, failure, and shame in roughly equal parts.
The Daily Grind: Do you beta so you won't be a day one noob?
There are plenty of reasons for wanting to get in on a beta. Probably the most common reason is a dying curiosity to play the game right the heck now. But lately I've started to wonder if there's another group of beta wanna-bes: the people who don't want to get left behind in the rush out of the gate on day one. In an age when you can know practically everything about an MMO before it launches thanks to beta miners and plenty of people use this information to get as fast of a start as possible, there could be anxiety that while your friends have just dinged level 20 in the first hour, you're still trying to figure out how to use the UI. To put it bluntly, do you beta so you won't be a day one noob? Does a beta help you find your "game legs" so that you'll feel more confident at launch? Every morning, the Massively bloggers probe the minds of their readers with deep, thought-provoking questions about that most serious of topics: massively online gaming. We crave your opinions, so grab your caffeinated beverage of choice and chime in on today's Daily Grind!
The Art of Wushu: Being a master or an apprentice
Fun facts for fans of the Art of Wushu: I wrote three articles about Age of Wushu for this week. I started off writing something lame, but I scrapped it because I didn't like the topic. The second is one about reaction times, perception, and brain chemistry. However, I realized somewhere in the middle of writing it that I used terms about "skill levels" that I have never really defined, and I figured it would be a good thing to do that before I went any further. So this time, we're going to talk about skill levels and what they mean. All of them are fairly discrete, and they are pretty universal, whether you practice swordsmanship or carpentry (or do either in a video game). I have probably used the term "expert player" over 9000 times while writing for Massively, and I've held an opinion on what an intermediate player is since long before I was blogging. This is a good way to identify where you and others stand, which is how you'll know what kind of advice you need to get to the next level.
The Daily Grind: What mistakes did you make when you first started in MMOs?
Looking back at my first steps in MMOs, it's breathtaking just how little I understood about how these games worked. I mean, a lot of that was on the developers because early MMOs didn't exactly go out of their way to teach me squat. It was a lot of trial, error, and often continued ignorance until someone laughed at me and told me how to actually play. I wasn't aware of guilds when I was puttering around in Anarchy Online in the early days. I think I played City of Heroes without slotting any enhancements for the longest time. And there were those initial World of Warcraft dungeon runs where I thought nothing was wrong with rushing into fights even though I was just DPS and the tank was over there beating his head on the wall due to my stupidity. But enough about me! Let's hear about you: What mistakes did you make when you first started in MMOs? Every morning, the Massively bloggers probe the minds of their readers with deep, thought-provoking questions about that most serious of topics: massively online gaming. We crave your opinions, so grab your caffeinated beverage of choice and chime in on today's Daily Grind!
Free for All: How to be OK with not knowing how to play
I've written before about how to accept your fate as a permanent newbie, international game explorer, or constant PvP victim. It has always come down to accepting the fact that many MMOs require hours of dedication in order to become skilled. Sure, we can break down what "skilled" really means and examine what sort of timetable is realistic for most human beings, but let's just say that we're past that. We're well into the territory of accepting our fate as a digital traveler, someone who simply cannot say no to a new MMO. This time I thought it would be better to list some lessons on how I learned to love the MMO explorer lifestyle. It worked for me! (Cheesy theme music starts in the background.)
Wings Over Atreia: Aion re-newbed
Amidst all the possible topics for Wings Over Atreia floating in my head, one decided to lure all the others into a dark closet and lock them in. What precipitated the nefarious mental culling? While I was campaign questing in Asmodae for last Friday's livestream, it hit me. You could say it just clicked -- like the sound of the key turning in a door's lock. What topic was trying to look innocent while a key dangled from its grip? That would be newbness in Aion. Wait, what? How can you possibly talk about being a newb when you've been playing since launch-ish? I heard that! And I can explain. Granted some people might contend that once you have a high-level character in a game, you can't ever be a newbie again (although you can be a n00b anytime by embracing ignorance). However, this simply isn't true, especially in Aion when a change in archetype, coupled with a change in server and faction, makes things all new. I have to admit that I never really thought I could recapture that total newbie feeling again either, but I certainly did. In full-force, even. The experience revealed a few things to me about Aion as it continues toward its third anniversary. What I found may surprise you.
Behind the Mask: The separation of newbie and expert
Last week on Behind the Mask, we got into a little discussion about why Champions Online's Elite difficulty needs to be buffed (and possibly also the very hard difficulty as well). This led to a discussion of whom Elite would be tailored for. I'm sure this is a big issue over at Cryptic right now. If Elite is increased in difficulty, whom should it be designed to suit? I was asked this burning question a few times, and I've made my opinion clear: that Elite should be for the top tier, the tip of the iceberg of player ability. Don't take that to mean Gold players only. There is a sharp divide between an expert Silver player and a poor Gold player. In fact, the poor Gold player is likely to be worse than a bad Silver player. How good is good enough? This week, we'll find out.
The Daily Grind: When does friendly turn frustrating?
We all know, from years of experience, that there's a certain community duty to help newer players get acclimated to the game. Or younger players, or... really, anyone. It's in the community's best interests to be friendly and open. But there's always the threat of the player who seems friendly and enjoyable... until you log on again and he whispers you almost instantly. And then the next time. And again. He's always there, latched onto you as if you're the only beacon of kindness in the world, and while you want him to keep playing, you want to play City of Heroes, not City of Helping the Socially Maladjusted. The worst part of these situations, naturally, is that it spoils you on helping former players. It makes the community as a whole more hostile, and even though you still know helping new players is a good thing, it's hard not to be colder. So when have you run into a player whom you wished you hadn't helped out? When has being friendly and open wound up frustrating you to no end? Every morning, the Massively bloggers probe the minds of their readers with deep, thought-provoking questions about that most serious of topics: massively online gaming. We crave your opinions, so grab your caffeinated beverage of choice and chime in on today's Daily Grind!
The Daily Grind: What are the unwritten rules of MMO etiquette?
When my wife first started playing MMOs, I realized that she had absolutely zero comprehension of how to interact in a multiplayer environment. After all, she had only experienced single-player games up to this point in her life, so all of her habits from those games were simply carried over into the new one. She'd attack mobs that other players were fighting, she thought players were stalking her if they sent her tells, and no mining node was safe if she was in the vicinity. As her quote-unquote teacher, I knew that it was my responsibility to teach her basic MMO etiquette -- the unwritten rules of how most players behave and interact in these worlds. Most of my instruction was helping her to see that these other computer characters were actually piloted by people (something we take for granted, but trust me, it's a weird concept to outsiders) and they should be treated as such. So if you were teaching a complete newbie in the ways of MMOs, what unwritten rules of etiquette would you stress? I'll get you started with one: CAPS LOCK HURTS OUR MINDS. DON'T DO IT UNLESS YOU ARE LITERALLY ON FIRE AND NEED ASSISTANCE. Every morning, the Massively bloggers probe the minds of their readers with deep, thought-provoking questions about that most serious of topics: massively online gaming. We crave your opinions, so grab your caffeinated beverage of choice and chime in on today's Daily Grind!
Guest Post: Confessions of a noob rogue
This article has been brought to you by Seed, the Aol guest writer program that brings your words to WoW Insider's pages. Back in the dark ages of history, in vanilla World of Warcraft, I rolled a rogue. This was before battlegrounds, when dishonorable kills were a fear and world PvP was a rush, when men were men, mages sheeped for fun and warlocks ... well, let's just say that warlocks have a reputation that they've earned. World of Warcraft was my first MMO, after coming from persistent worlds hosted by Neverwinter Nights. I played a rogue there, too, steeped in Dungeons & Dragons rules and the like. World of Warcraft was both nothing like and exactly like my roguish experiences before -- a sneak who dealt devastating damage with small weapons, no matter whether the target was gnome or giant, fearsome orc or fiery dragon. In the midst of a Westfall investigation (tasked by SI:7 to infiltrate a tower), I noticed a few growing complaints in guild chat: "We have seven rogues in the guild but only one priest; would someone please roll a priest?" I told them I would, sent my rogue back to the character select screen, and rolled the character that would take up the entirety of my vanilla experience.
Guest Post: Confessions of a noob hunter
This article has been brought to you by Seed, the Aol guest writer program that brings your words to WoW Insider. As a prot paladin, I've learned my place in the world (of Warcraft). True, that place is usually face-deep in the crotch of some monster, but that's beside the point. When I'm tanking, I know I'm here to do one thing and one thing only: to piss off bad guys so they'll leave you alone. Strapping on my shield and a mace keeps me in a Zen-like comfort zone where everything seems to just come naturally. Like many others, though, I've found myself looking for more to do as Cataclysm lurches ever closer. After all, there are only so many things to get beaten by each week. This has left me joining a growing percentage of players in a less-than-exclusive club: "Hi, I'm Brian, and I'm an altoholic." Most classes I've tried have felt fairly natural. I've leveled my DK and priest with no problems and have really been enjoying the early levels of both my mage and warlock (which, as you'd imagine, leaves me with quite an internal struggle). There's one class, however, that has managed to bewilder me at every turn. A class that, for whatever reason, seems so counterintuitive to me that It's taken me over a year and a half to hit level 27. My friends, I am -- cue dramatic music -- the worst hunter in the world.
Breakfast Topic: A crowning moment of noobishness
It seems like we've been playing World of Warcraft forever. Sure, we're all experts now (or at least we think we're experts), but we weren't always epic Kingslayers. We were all noobs once. And we all made ridiculous noob mistakes. As evidence, I shall recall for you a tale of a noobish Fox Van Allen. I had just made the leap from trial account to paid, and a friend of mine had sent me a small care package to get me started in the game. Nothing big, since he was just starting out too -- just a little bit of money. I was very eager to get it, but I had a problem: I couldn't access my in-game mail. That little mail icon in the upper right hand corner of the screen was taunting me. After several frustrating minutes of trying to get my not-so-phat loot, I decided to put in a GM ticket. I explained I had just upgraded from the trial and that WoW wouldn't let me access my mail. I was a little frustrated (no one has ever wanted one piece of gold so badly), but I tried not to let that show in my note. An hour or so later, I got a response from an exceptionally helpful GM. He researched my account and tried helping me best he could. He explained that since I had just paid, there may be some lag in that information reflecting my ability to get in-game mail. The GM then suggested that I should go to a mailbox and try to access my mail again so he could help troubleshoot while the chat window was open. "Holy hell," I thought. "You have to be at a mailbox to get your in-game mail?" Do you have any crowning moments of noobishness? What's the most noob thing you've ever done? Come on, we won't judge. (Too harshly, anyway.)
Wasteland Diaries: Try not to be such a noob
Fallen Earth has a steep learning curve. It's not hard to die a horrible death in Fallen Earth because you simply didn't have even the slightest clue what you were doing. But life doesn't have to be short and brutal in the wasteland. In fact, you can eke out a decent living and make quite a name for yourself. There are a few things you can do to minimize the bewilderment you will face once you emerge from the LifeNet pod for the first time into the unforgiving desolation of the apocalypse. After reading this guide, you are likely to be heard saying things like: "Y'know what? The apocalypse isn't all that bad." and "I wish this place were just a little more dangerous."
70% of trial players quit WoW before level 10
When Blizzard put all characters below level 10 on easy-mode and added the tutorials in patch 3.3, I thought that was because they were expecting a huge influx of new players for the holidays. But I was wrong. CEO Mike Morhaime stated in the quarterly conference call for investors yesterday that only 30% of all Trial Accounts make it past level 10. This would account for the priority of making the beginning of the game new player friendly, over other development we veteran players would like to have seen. He goes on to say that the changes to the leveling game in Cataclysm will be good for retaining new players while giving better replay value for the rest of us. Now, I know what you're thinking. How many of those trial accounts are scammers, so of course they don't make it to level 10? Good point. I don't know the numbers, though I'm sure Blizzard could just look at how many of those accounts made character names by facerolling. However, the account thieves aren't strapped for cash and have been known to not only purchase full accounts to do their evil bidding; but will also reactivate lapsed accounts, slap an Authenticator on and farm/scam away. So the 70% may very well include a large percentage of potential subscribers by process of elimination, since the scammers can afford multiple accounts. As I've said before, the pre-level 10 changes we already have help us introduce our loved ones to the game. And I think we're all looking forward to the new starting zones and leveling experiences we'll find in Cataclysm. Particularly now that we've had a taste of the new quest mechanics in the Love is in the Air quests, such as PIlfering Perfume and Hot on the Trail. [via Digital Spy]
Patch 3.3 PTR: New tutorial system to be bigger, better
Patch 3.3 has had a lot of awesome small tweaks aimed at improving the starting experience for new characters and new players, likely in preparation for Cataclysm. In addition to streamlining the first few levels, Blizzard has added something else to the latest patch notes: A new tutorial system. According to the patch notes, the tutorial windows will now be larger and contain pictures and other visual cues to better direct new players where to go, what to do, or what buttons to press on the UI. In addition, new tips have been added, and other existing tips will appear at more opportune moments. With this, we have yet another good example of Blizzard's preparations going into Cataclysm. Despite having somewhere north of 10 million players, they aren't resting on their laurels, but are adjusting their game to invite in even more players, making it easier for them to get into the game, and ushering in a new era of the newbie (in a good way) for the expansion.
The best of WoW.com: September 1-8, 2009
Cats and dogs, sleeping -- well, you know the drill. Blizzard introduced faction transfers to World of Warcraft last week, and as you might imagine, it has us WoW.com folks in a tizzy. Trolls becoming Humans? Night Elves becoming Tauren? It's one big scandal all around. Here's that story, and nine more popular ones, from Joystiq's World of Warcraft-obsessed sister site WoW.com. News Faction change service now availableFor the first time in the game's history, players can switch from Horde to Alliance or vice versa. Patch 3.2.2: 5-man Coliseum jousting woes addressedThe next patch will smooth out some issues folks have been having with the new 5-man instance. Play safe, because a trojan can get you bannedBlizzard's Warden isn't just working for you: if it finds some malware, you might be asked to leave the game for good. Garrosh is not well-likedThere are rumors going around (spoiler) about Garrosh Hellscream, and players aren't real happy about it. Yogg-Saron in bluesThink you need epic gear to be great? Think again. Features Spiritual Guidance: 12 reasons you don't want to play a PriestOur Priest columnist looks at the bad side of the clothy healing class. Officers' Quarters: Loot rageAnd how to deal with it. WoW Rookie: How not to be a noobJust imagine if this was required reading when you first started playing games. No more noobs! Ask a Faction Leader: Genn GreymaneIt's an advice column and a lore story all in one! Survey: Figuring out the faction transfer numbersBreaking down who's transferring where.
WoW Rookie: How not to be a noob
New around here? WoW Rookie points WoW's newest players to the basics of a good start in the World of Warcraft. Send us a note to suggest a WoW Rookie topic, and be sure to visit the WoW.com WoW Rookie Guide for links to all our tips, tricks and how-to's.This week, WoW Rookie would like to share a little gem of an article we discovered that delivers a catch-all of collective wisdom on rookie mistakes. If you've ever agonized over how to act and what to do (and how not to act and what not to do) in your first group, or your first instance, or your first Battleground, or your first raid ... Be still, restless heart; the answers are here.What's to learn from this oh-so-savvy article? Start off with a listing of common tactical mistakes categorized by role (tanks, healers and DPS); these are the Learn2Play basics that aren't necessarily things you'll learn leveling up on quests and the occasional instance. Next up, listings of things you should and shouldn't do between pulls in a group, when part of a raid group or duking it out in a Battleground. A final section discusses netiquette and common social conventions (something WoW Rookie has also covered extensively).
Drama Mamas: Of scrubs and terribads
Let the Drama Mamas guide you through the sticky business of dodging drama, toward becoming that player everyone wants in their group. Drama Mamas Lisa Poisso and Robin Torres are real-life mamas and experienced WoW players. And just as we don't want our precious babies to be the ones kicking and wailing on the floor of checkout lane next to the candy, neither do we want you to become known as That Guy on your server. We're taking your questions at DramaMamas (at) WoW (dot) com.Sometimes, there simply are no words that do justice to our friends' lack of play skills. You know the people I'm talking about. We say, "He's a good guy, but ..." or "She's a real sweetie, for someone who ..." Argh! It's the last halves of those sentences that wipe the raid group every time.So what's a player to do when his friends turn out to be scrubs, terribads, n00bs or any other variety of out-of-tune toon? Sometimes there's hope – but we'll be honest, sometimes things are beyond repair. Either way, you're going to have to decide: can you fix it, or can you grin and bear it?
