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Lab publishes NUE test results. Greeters vs mentors: Greeters win
Linden Lab recently attempted to evaluate the efficacy of its user-volunteer corps as a part of the new user experience (NUE) in Second Life. Two NUE areas were selected (Hanja and Korea), and baseline results established. Then testing was conducted in two phases using one area as a testing ground and the other as a control. The first incorporated themed tours by volunteer greeters, and the second involved general mentoring in conjunction with the original style of Orientation Island tutorials. Phase one seemed to draw some very successful results, while phase two only showed a slight improvement. The phase two results look to be well within the margins of error, and essentially statistically insignificant. The sort of mentoring you might find at Help Island Public would, based on these results, seem to be broadly ineffective. Are you a part of the most widely-known collaborative virtual environment or keeping a close eye on it? Massively's Second Life coverage keeps you in the loop.
Breakfast Topic: Back to square one
So I finally did it. I transferred my Hunter, once and for a long time my favorite character, from our original PvE realm to our new PvP home. It was the most excitement I've had about the game in a while. I giddily headed off to Hellfire Peninsula to begin journey to Level 70 before the arrival of Wrath. That giddiness rapidly turned to unease when, upon pulling, I realized that I had forgotten how to play a Hunter.I mean, I know my CTRL-1 and my Aimed Shot, which was instinctive to me... but I fumbled around for my Scatter Shot, forgot which bars I had put my traps on, kept pulling aggro because I had forgotten to turn Growl on, and realized that I didn't have a single key bound to this character. As decent as I might have once been, I was now clumsy, slow, and had to -- shamefully -- click on my abilities. Whenever I had to feed my pet I needed to open my bags to select the food because I no longer had a macro for it. Whenever I pressed my mount key combo -- which was standard across my other characters -- I would Track Beasts instead. After two years of not playing a Hunter, I was back to being... a noob. Have you ever had to start from square one? Are there characters you stopped playing for a long time and found that you'd forgotten how to play them? Or perhaps you took a long break from the game due to school or other RL concerns and started playing again only to get completely lost? I'm sure it's happened to all of us... right? Tell me I'm not the only noob in the house.
The Creamy GUI Center: Beginner Addons
Each week Matthew Porter contributes The Creamy GUI Center, a column aimed at helping you enhance your WoW experience by offering an in depth guide to addons, macros and other tools we use to play WoW, along with commentary on issues that affect how we all play.Welcome readers to this week's The Creamy GUI Center. With the expansion's release imminent and the new Recruit a Friend system creating buzz and attracting new and returning players, I thought this week we'd get back to basics with a look at addon essentials. Don't worry UI enthusiasts, in the coming weeks I'll be taking a look at more advanced addons, and what to expect from interface enhancements in Wrath. This week we'll look at addons that help new players and are considered "must haves." So if you're a new player or just want to take the first plunge into the addictive world of addons and UI enhancements, this one's for you.
Vanguard Game Update 6 goes live, adds free trial/newbie area
One thousand. That's how many bug fixes are in Vanguard's sixth game update, which has now gone live. In addition to the fixes, there's a new newbie area for levels one through ten called the Isle of Dawn. Word is that it will eventually serve as a free trial setting. For now, though, it's just an easy place to get a new character started.SOE also redid character models, offering new customization options and making some changes that lower the models' system performance hit. You can keep your old look if you want, though.The most controversial changes are a whole slew of class damage adjustments. SOE looked at every single class in the game and adjusted its damage output to ensure "that each lands in their correct place in the spectrum of classes." The details of all those changes are buried in the patch notes. Did you get nerfed or buffed? Read up to find out.
CrazyKinux answers EVE Online questions for WoW players
If you're a World of Warcraft player looking for something completely different, head over to CrazyKinux's blog and read what he has to say to WoW players looking to make the move to the alien beast that is EVE Online. It reads a bit like one of those articles designed to ease PC users into a transition to Apple's Mac computers.EVE blogger, Drone Bay podcast co-host, and former Massively contributor CrazyKinux covers many of the bases, noting many of the strongest differences (skill-based instead of level-based character advancement, everyone is on one server instead of scattered between hundreds of small servers, etcetera). He also links to several articles written by him and others that are helpful to newbies.It's a fantastic post -- a perfect starting point for anyone considering the switch, or even for folks just curious about what EVE is all about. CrazyKinux ends on a pretty funny quote, too: "EVE is like a sandbox with land mines. Deal with it." But don't let that scare you. Really. We named it our #1 Sci-Fi MMO a while back; admittedly that's not saying much, but it ought to count for something, right?
PAX08: Joystiq sets its sights on MMO newbies
Our sister site Joystiq sent an MMO newbie to wade through the crowds surrounding the PAX08 booths of two upcoming MMOs. One of those titles was Warhammer Online and the other was Aion. The goal was to spend some time with each game, talk to the developers and see which title appealed more to an uninitiated MMO player. The results? Well, take a look for yourself.It's hard to spend a short amount of time with any game and draw a conclusion of some sort, especially an MMO. Even still, Initial impressions are just as important as long-term ones. Each of the two games chosen definitely give off an immediately different vibe. Most eastern MMOs from NCsoft tend to focus on the established crowd more than new players and Aion isn't an exception. Wheras Warhammer Online is doing more to appeal to a group of players who's first MMO was, well, World of Warcraft. So, as a newbie to the genre it's not hard to see where one might go.
Forum post of the day: No more newbies?
Malkavius of Korialstrasz posed an interesting question in the General Forums. Is it too late in WoW's life for new players? She told a tale of how a friend got frustrated soon after purchasing the game because of inflation and an inability to find groups. The responses were split. Vylaria of Ch'gall believes that it's not too late for a rookie to get their start. Gathering skills help to boost the personal pocketbook, and even veteran players that reroll face the same problems with finding a group. Cptobvious of Bonechewer believes that it is easier for folks that have played other MMOs than it is for online gaming virgins.
WoW Rookie: Keyboard shortcuts
WoW Rookie is brought to our readers to help our newest players get acclimated to the game. Make sure you send a note to WoW Insider if you have suggestions for what new players need to know.Accept this fact: to be good at playing WoW, you need to learn to use your keyboard at least some of the time. You don't have to bail on your mouse, but it's very helpful to learn some of the very basic keyboard shortcuts that will make your life in the game that much easier. (Easy is good, right?)Using the game interfaceThere are hotkeys for almost everything you do in-game. You can find most of them by just hovering your mouse over the icons that you click -- as no doubt you may have already noticed. Let's start with the button bar that you use to bring up your Quest Log, Spellbook and other things. You'll see that when I hover my mouse over the gold cup icon, a tooltip pops up. The L in parentheses after "Quest Log" means you can just press your L key to bring up the log instead of clicking the icon. (Don't worry that it's a capital L, just press lower-case L. When a keyboard command is capitalized, it's written as "Shift-L".) After the break, you'll see a list of keyboard shortcuts for the game interface.
Stuff talks WoW stuff
A story went up on stuff.co.nz about the World of Warcraft just yesterday, and I was pleasantly surprised by what it had to say. I tend to go into these things with a level of caution, because most news stories that attempt to introduce you to WoW do so very poorly, especially on sites that aren't specifically for WoW. I expected this to be largely the same, and it actually did start out that way. The phrase '10 million obsessed teens' made me cringe. Luckily, it got better. While the summary of what WoW is has inaccuracies, it certainly isn't anything that would matter to people who haven't played the game. It wouldn't affect their gameplay any. Only us obsessed teens would make a fuss over something like that, and the article isn't really for us.Overall, it's a pretty good summary of WoW for people who know little about it. It's definitely a social game, and if you don't want to be social or don't have time to invest social time into it, it isn't a game for you. I could have done without the partial endorsement of buying accounts, but... hey, whatcha gonna do?
Ask Massively: Massively's Guide to MMO Etiquette
You ask me why Im weary, why I cant speak to youYou blame me for my silenceSay its time I changed and grewBut the wars still going on dearAnd theres no end that I knowAnd I cant say if were ever...I cant say if were ever gonna to be free - Veteran of the Psychic Wars, Blue Öyster Cult Here at Ask Massively, we've sought to inform and educate the masses on the esoterica of MMORPGs, but today we are going to go back to basics. We're going to give you some advice, or, if you consider yourself a Veteran of the Psychic Wars on the Internet, some reminders about how to act like something other than a complete and total... well, I'm not sure I can use that word without incurring the wrath of my editors.Our question, this week, is from someone who has had enough.
Breakfast Topic: Finding motivation to level or grind
Arrowd of the US Cairne server has a question: How do you keep leveling without getting bored, abandoning a character, or rerolling? She says that she's had around 14 characters, and she's never managed to stick with one past about level 45. She always gets bored, and she wonders if there is a way to avoid it. Now as I've mentioned before, I've leveled a lot of characters myself, and have a few 70s, but even I can sometimes get a little bit tired of the grind, and sometimes even I need to make up goals to keep myself focused. Sometimes I even need it for my level 70s if I'm running low on gold or raiding supplies. In that way, I can definitely feel where she's coming from, but I do (usually) manage to keep myself motivated. Sometimes, for me, the Motivation is pretty simple. For example, on that Shaman I'm leveling, what keeps me going is the prospect of getting some sweet Dual Wield action going. I'm actually having a lot of fun with her, so I don't need to focus on it too hard, but the idea of imagining her with 2 axes enchanted with Windfury is a mental picture that is too awesome to put into words. I mean, we're talking cover of a Dragonforce album awesome. So now I turn the question over to the rest of you. Whether it be leveling on a lowbie or grinding on a 70, how do you keep yourself motivation when the going gets tough and you get tired out? Is it the promise of a new skill? A new piece of gear? What keeps you charged up and logged in?
Forum post of the day: Rookie Mistakes
Kemmeua of Emerald Dream decided to share some WoWhead love on the official forums. (And by the look of the WoWhead main page it needs a little love.) He shared some rookie mistakes that players have made. For example: Didn't know there were different Zeppelins, thought it was a triflight system so that if I stayed on long enough it would take me to Tirisfall then to Grom and back to Durotar was on there a long time. Didn't know they people were yelling at me to TANK better, I thought tanks plowed things and that's what I was doing Saw alliance in crossroads and thought, "OMG," so I go an whack 'em and get camped for a day yelling for help. Didn't know how to talk to people. Saw a hunter with dual weapons on a Kodo and thought "WOW!" Saw a raid group forming in Kargath for MC, asked them if I can join, getting told I cant roll with the big dawgs at 43. where do u get liferoot if you can't herb? stupid quest giver.
Linden Lab puts out new newbie avatars
If you check the Library folder of your inventory, and look in Clothing, you'll see that Linden Lab appears to have selected the new Second Life newbie avatars from the set that Torley Linden was running the survey for earlier this week. We are not totally sure that these avatars are on offer to newbies today, but if they aren't, then it is probably only a matter of days before they become available to new signups at the selection screen. The new avatars are from Nylon Pinkney, Adam n Eve, Renegade Clothing, Wraith Unsung and Grendel's Children. We recall that there were a number of fantasy/role-play themed avatars in the mix, but apparently none of those made the final cut. You can be a dragon, but not a dragon-slayer. Pictured above are five of the new avatars. From left to right, they are: Gamer Female, Professional Female, Clubgoer Female (although at only five-feet two, she's easily mistaken for a minor. The underside of the prim-skirt on this avatar is messed up as well), Boy Next Door (as long as the boy next door to you is six foot, five inches -- he could be!), and Cardboard Boxbot. Older residents can access these avatars by dragging the folder onto themselves from the library which will generate a copy in your personal inventory. [Thanks to sharp-eyed Sean Heying]
Player vs. Everything: Starting over
Most of us have spent a lot of time playing our favorite games. Chances are good that unless you're totally new to the MMOG world, you've got at least one character at some ridiculously high level, armed to the teeth, sitting on a big pile of gold amongst the trophies of your slaughtered foes. You might even be part of a guild and still play that character with your guildmates on a regular basis to go topple foes of ever-increasing power. It's good to be a dragon-slaying, world-destroying, gold-hoarding demigod of awesomeness. That's why it's so tough to start over, sometimes. Whether it's rolling up an alt on your current game or picking up an entirely new game, it can be really frustrating to go from a bloodthirsty, battle-hardened warrior who wades into combat swinging an enormous, glowing two-handed sword to some level 1 nobody with a leather jerkin and a knife. All of your accomplishments on your old character seem pretty far away when level 3 wolves are having you for a light afternoon snack, and a brand new grind stretches out interminably before you. Is it any wonder why plenty of players don't even bother with having alts and stick to the game they like?
New Players' Guide: Your life as a Hunter.
The WoW Insider New Player's Guide is a series of features designed to help those brand new to World of WarCraft get up to speed as fast as possible. It's our way of giving back to the community, without the paparazzi mob that usually follows celebrities when they try this.As a Hunter, your primary role will be to provide ranged damage-per-second and crowd control with your traps. Actually, I lied, your primary role will be spent convincing everyone you group with you're not one of those brainless morons that seem to end up playing Hunters.You see, Hunters, hands down, are the easiest class to level in the game. At level 10 you get your first pet. This pet will tank for you while you stand back and hail arrows at your target. This means that your overall deaths and repair bills will be lower than other classes, while at the same time your kills will be faster since your pet adds to your damage output.Combat with your Hunter is fairly straightforward: send in your pet, wait a few seconds for it to build sufficient aggro and then start plinking away. It's worth installing an add-on like Omen so you can tell when you're in danger of out-aggroing your pet. You will need to do some damage yourself to get xp or be able to loot the corpse, so even if you're just out farming easy mobs, make sure you hit it once or twice with your bow.
Player vs. Everything: Age of Conan's newbie blues
I've been playing Age of Conan a fair amount over the last week, trying to figure out if I like it well enough to continue paying for it on a monthly basis after my free month expires. The problem is that it's going to be my second MMOG -- the one I play when I'm not busy farming or raiding with my guild on World of Warcraft. Even for someone who writes about videogames professionally, when you start stacking up multiple subscriptions, things get pricey pretty fast. Usually, I keep two subs active at a time and write about what I'm playing. Anyway, I've been trying to make this decision and I have a problem: I hop classes a lot. When you're talking about a 250 hour investment, you want to make sure that you pick a class you enjoy playing. To figure out what you enjoy playing, you really just have to try the classes out -- especially when the classes are as unique as the ones in Age of Conan. I've leveled two characters to the high teens in Tortage, and several more to the 10ish range. What I've decided, after doing all of this poking around with the classes, is that AoC's first 20 levels are about as frustrating as they can be once the initial sheen of "new game wonder" wears off. If you didn't notice it your first time through, just wait until you make your first alt.
Insider Trader: Tradeskills for noobs
You've entered Azeroth with a brand spanking new character and you're trying to find your footing in the world. Perhaps this is even your first MMO entirely, and while looking for guidance, you're overwhelmed at the sheer volume of information available. Sound like you? While our very own WoW Rookie column has a wealth of information specifically tailored to new players, this week's Insider Trader is going to go in-depth and personal with your profession choices to help make sure that you get the job you want. Whether you are looking for a challenge, thinking ahead to your future, or looking to maximize your profit, you'll find the advice you need to make an informed decision. Have you already chosen, and are regretting it? Never fear, I'll walk you through backing out of the deal and finding something that really suits you.Make sure not to skip the comments section, as input and personal experience will help you learn about the different outcomes you might face.
Player vs. Everything: Learning by doing
In most MMORPGs, it's practically considered a right of passage to learn advanced concepts by the sweat of your brow and with a big helping of independent research. We're MMO players, after all! We don't need tutorials guiding us through the advanced aspects of the game. Right? They're for the weak and lowly fans of single player and casual games. We rely almost solely on forum information, lessons from more advanced players, and learning by doing (and we're darn proud of it). And as Tobold discussed a few weeks ago, you really have to do that stuff if you want to be a successful player.While raiding Karazhan last weekend, my guild brought a relatively newbish hunter along for the ride. Her spec wasn't terrible, and she brought a number of epics (albeit PvP epics) to the table, so we figured, "What the heck?" We didn't even get too worried when her DPS wasn't up to par. Things were going just fine until we got to the second boss fight and needed her to do a little chain trapping. A few wipes later, we realized that she had absolutely no idea how to use her frost traps effectively-- a core mechanic of her class. What was the problem there?Well, there's no game tutorial that comes in, holds your hand, and says, "Hey, pal. You're going to need to use frost trap effectively in the end game. Let's practice it a little until you get the hang of it." Most MMOGs just teach you the bare-bones basics of the game (like running, moving, and auto-attack) before they abandon you to the wild. You're expected to figure out the rest on your own, and eventually to hit up sites like Elitist Jerks or the World of Warcraft class forums to make sure that you're being all that you can be. Is this necessarily the best way to do things, though?
WoW Rookie: What the hell is going on today?
We heard from a few people either new or returning to WoW that the amount of information overload on our front page was reaching critical mass, so it occurred to us that it might not be obvious why the fabled Patch Day is such a ("Dogs and cats living together! Mass hysteria! Details at 10!") big deal in these here parts. Here's an older WoW Rookie on "What is a patch?" from Amanda Dean if you're new to the business of how Blizzard updates its content.For the uninitiated, Patch 2.4 is what is known as a "content patch," which is a sanitized version of saying "A ton of stuff gets added to the game and all hell breaks loose." This particular patch doesn't contain a lot of new content for people still leveling their first character, so you're unlikely to notice any differences unless you have a fairly high-level toon being affected by the class changes coming in or one who was beginning Karazhan attunement, which is no longer required. Apart from that, a rare new-5 man is being added (Magister's Terrace), a new endgame 25-man raid (Sunwell Plateau), and a host of new quests and a rep grind if you've got a toon at nearing 70.The official patch notes are here, and WoW Insider has full coverage on the changes if you want a more in-depth look. Enjoy Patch Day!
WoW Rookie: Raid 101
WoW Rookie is brought to our readers to help our newest players get acclimated to the game. Make sure you send a note to WoW Insider if you have suggestions for what new players need to know. It's been brought to my attention that there are rookies of all levels. Recent columns have covered very basic topics such as instance play, group etiquette, and account security. Once you get to level 70, you'll have several options including solo play, PvP, and instance raiding. Raiding is a major part of the game, but can be somewhat overwhelming at first. Raid instances vary from ten, twenty, twenty-five, and forty players. These instances are similar to five-person dungeons but require considerably more coordination. Ever player must work in concert to bring down challenging bosses, and they are typically rewarded with excellent gear for their efforts.
