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Newbie point of view

Postby Itharr » Dec 13, 2002 (10:45 am)

Hello all,

Message boards don't seem to be the most active in the world, but I thought I'd drop in here and give you guys some suggestions based off the POV of a newbie just coming into the game.

Ok, when I first got into the game, I was fairly lost. First of all, there are no help files to speak of. If I could recommend anything to you guys, it'd be to get some type of Newbie guide out there and available (If there already is one, make it easier to find, and please tell me where it is! :)). I imagine that the lack of a help file system that's fleshed out might turn some people off and increase your attrition.

Secondly, and this might just be a pet peeve, but while walking through town, I noticed plenty of places that had Gates, etc in the description, but when you tried to "Go Gate" it would respond with "Go where?". Looking at the gate, I realized it was a residence, which is all fine and dandy, but I still should have gotten some type of messaging regarding that when trying to "Goto" a lookable/real object (The gate).

Third, why is my guild not in my starting city? :P I saw only two Guilds in the starting city, and one of them (The Fighters Guild) I couldn't find a place to JOIN at. When I went up to the balcony, I got thrown out. I didn't check the mages guild, but if it weren't for a friendly player I bumped into (While trying to get to Cal'ziz (sp?), which I only found thanks to the maps on a player's website), who showed me where to go (Thanks Labryn!) and gave me some hints on finding the guild, I'd be lost.

Anyways, more to come. As I said in a different post, I'm quite please with the game overall. The things I listed here don't bother me too much, since I've played GS3/DR, but if you get a true "Newbie", it might be different.

-Itharr
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Postby GDGAELDROS » Dec 13, 2002 (11:41 am)

Hi again Itharr :D

I'll try and address your concerns and observations. As for the shops/gates/buildings and the like that appear in room descriptions but are not yet live, they will be. Area Development, under GD Keris, is doing a monumental job of opening all the stores and places of interest. Many were planned from day 1, so the "facade" was put into the room descriptions, but with more than 5000 rooms already live in Eaxia Online, you can imagine the workload. Try and be patient with us as the staff rolls stuff out.

As for the guilds, it is my understanding that it was done so you, the player, would have a chance to explore a bit of the landscape. Lore and Area Dev are working closely together to remove hunting areas that impeed travel to and from the cities, towns and villages.

As for maps, I am personally working on brining detailed maps to the players, but I have a pretty full plate, working on Professions, and other alternative exp/money gain, as well as writing the whole history of the land of Eaxia and all its subparts. I'll get them to the players as soon as I can.

We also have staff working on revamping both the ingame help as well as writing detailed "newbie" guides for the website. They should be out early in the new year. One reason that they are not yet completed is that I am working not only on new classes for players, but am also revamping the older Base classes to make them more enjoyable. So for now, expect the unexpected, as new things start popping up all over the place.

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Postby Itharr » Dec 13, 2002 (12:11 pm)

GM Gaeldros wrote:Hi again Itharr :D

I'll try and address your concerns and observations. As for the shops/gates/buildings and the like that appear in room descriptions but are not yet live, they will be. Area Development, under GD Keris, is doing a monumental job of opening all the stores and places of interest. Many were planned from day 1, so the "facade" was put into the room descriptions, but with more than 5000 rooms already live in Eaxia Online, you can imagine the workload. Try and be patient with us as the staff rolls stuff out.


I don't think the objects I was referring to were are not yet live. When I looked at the gate, I saw that it was leading to someone's house. I'm assuming if I type "Go <XXX> House" it would have worked.

GM Gaeldros wrote:As for the guilds, it is my understanding that it was done so you, the player, would have a chance to explore a bit of the landscape. Lore and Area Dev are working closely together to remove hunting areas that impeed travel to and from the cities, towns and villages.


That is understandable, however I think it would be better to (and this is just my opinion) set the Guilds in the starting city, then have the guildmaster assign a task to visit a guild "branch" in a neighboring city or somesuch. Setting off into the wilds with no skills whatsoever, and not having a map to guide me (if I didn't have a map) could lead to some very nervous/soon-to-be-dead players if they happen to wander off the beaten path.

GM Gaeldros wrote:As for maps, I am personally working on brining detailed maps to the players, but I have a pretty full plate, working on Professions, and other alternative exp/money gain, as well as writing the whole history of the land of Eaxia and all its subparts. I'll get them to the players as soon as I can.


Tell Exxy you need a grunt to do all your mundane work, yet still claim credit for all that stuff in public. If you want more help on doing this, please see any Management 101 Guide in bookstores. :D

GM Gaeldros wrote:We also have staff working on revamping both the ingame help as well as writing detailed "newbie" guides for the website. They should be out early in the new year. One reason that they are not yet completed is that I am working not only on new classes for players, but am also revamping the older Base classes to make them more enjoyable. So for now, expect the unexpected, as new things start popping up all over the place.


Sounds like you guys need a documentation specialist, or an additional one. :) As for new things, I noticed the huge list of News (Which was all recent) when I first logged into the game. Twas very impressive.

-Ith
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Postby GDGAELDROS » Dec 13, 2002 (2:56 pm)

[quote="Itharr]
I don't think the objects I was referring to were are not yet live. When I looked at the gate, I saw that it was leading to someone's house. I'm assuming if I type "Go <XXX> House" it would have worked. [/quote]

Not sure how homes work exactaly, but I'll look into it for you. Most obvious answer, however, is that if you are not the homeowner or the designated guest, you can't enter. I'll check with Exxy, though.

[quote="Itharr]
That is understandable, however I think it would be better to (and this is just my opinion) set the Guilds in the starting city, then have the guildmaster assign a task to visit a guild "branch" in a neighboring city or somesuch. Setting off into the wilds with no skills whatsoever, and not having a map to guide me (if I didn't have a map) could lead to some very nervous/soon-to-be-dead players if they happen to wander off the beaten path. [/quote]

Not a bad idea, but I'll need to discuss this further with GD Keris and GD Exxy. Not ruling it out, though :)

[quote="Itharr]
Tell Exxy you need a grunt to do all your mundane work, yet still claim credit for all that stuff in public. If you want more help on doing this, please see any Management 101 Guide in bookstores. :D
[/quote]

That's just it, I am the Grunt for Lore ;) GD Aldanon is my boss. I just am a Slacker. ASk around, it's true ;)

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Postby Itharr » Dec 13, 2002 (3:43 pm)

[quote="GM Gaeldros"]
Not sure how homes work exactaly, but I'll look into it for you. Most obvious answer, however, is that if you are not the homeowner or the designated guest, you can't enter. I'll check with Exxy, though.
[quote]

I don't mean to beat a dead horse, but I'm not sure if I'm making myself clear. All that I think needs to be "fixed" is the messaging when trying to do this, not necessarily "being allowed" into someone's house. A message such as "This is not your house!" or something to that effect would do wonderfully. Seeing "Go where?" just confused me. :)

Thanks for the reply pal. :)

-Ith
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Postby GDGAELDROS » Dec 13, 2002 (4:07 pm)

That's exactally what I'm asking him about ;)

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Postby Clauddvon_Mauddiv » Dec 15, 2002 (4:58 pm)

If you happen past the below gate:

You also see: an elaborate wrought-iron gate.

It's mine...and I like it just as it is. You 'see an elaborate wrought-iron gate,' when you LOOK, you see it belongs to the 'Maud'div Family.'...which means it's my home and you shouldn't be in there in the first place.

So to try and 'go gate' is breaking and entering in the first place.

I like 'Go where' for my gates description and request for it not to be changed. There were 2 indicators that it's someone's residence and you shouldn't be trying to 'go' in the first place...so whether or not there's a description while trying to 'go' isn't of significance since you shouldn't be going where you shouldn't in the first place.

Just my random ramblings.

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Hmmm

Postby Itharr » Dec 15, 2002 (7:46 pm)

Claud, I don't see that as making much sense. "Go where?" is displayed when the object does not exist. In the case of your gate, it DOES exist and a message should be displayed when a user tries to access it. If you're two west of the bank, and you type "Go Bank", you get "Go where?" because it does not exist in that room. If you are trying to access somethign that IS there, you should receive different messaging.

Something has to tell the user that there is a difference between not being able to access something, and something not being there. Otherwise, people start ignoring room descriptions.

-Ith

[edit] In addition, most people do not "Look" at something before trying to "Go" into it in regards to gates, shops, etc. When was the last time you looked at a building entrance before entering, IG? If you hung a sign on your gate, it might be a different story, although the return message should still be different, since the gate DOES exist, and that message is reserved (or should be) for things that DON'T exist.
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Postby Miraje » Dec 15, 2002 (10:13 pm)

You could always have something like:

GO GATE
As you approach the gate, you notice a sign that says, "Private property, no trespassing."

Or something similar. That would allow the player to quickly realize the gate does exist but it is not somewhere they can or should enter.
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Postby GDEXXY » Dec 16, 2002 (7:36 am)

Right, the actual frustration is that the game indicates that what the player is trying to interact with does not exist, but is yet refered to by the description of the room elements (descriptions, etc.) which should be remedied game-wide.

As you see examples of this, please report them to BuXX@XXXXX.XXX so we can compile a list and give the project to one of our staff in the Area & Rooms Development department.

Thank you :)
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Postby GDALDANON » Dec 20, 2002 (1:35 am)

Eaxia is in essence, a young game. We have not fully gotten out of our initial "growing" phase. All of the department heads, and their staff are working full out to ensure that what exists in NOW in Eaxia, is not only becoming "useable" but also has rich history and detail. We strive daily to improve the game for you, the player. If you find problems or "unfinished" things in Eaxia please report them to us via the contact addresses and rest assured that Gaeldros will not sleep until something is being done about it. We appreciate ALL comments and suggestions, and will continue to keep the best interests of the player in mind.

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Postby Hokeypokey » Jan 27, 2003 (7:37 am)

I was to believe there would be punch and pie??

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Signs

Postby gloomwarden » May 5, 2003 (1:05 pm)

One suggestion i, as a newbie, would like to make is to put signs that are actually instructive in places like the bank where making a deposite is not intuitive. I also agree that the help files need alot of work. Documentation is very important for new players, the lack there of is a big reason for players leaving.

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Postby Zosa » May 7, 2003 (11:49 am)

I agree that help documentation is very important. However, in the mean time, you can find most of this information if you look around a bit one some player websites!

Some have very nice maps, and listings of store inventories. On my website, I have a quick guide to help new people get started (which isn't complete, but I'm working on it), and also a chart to help new people figure out what they should be hunting. :D
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Postby gloomwarden » May 7, 2003 (7:04 pm)

I located your site and agree it was quite helpfull. Thanks for that.

However, it seems to me that many very basic help items have been neglected, possibly because staff felt that these were common knowledge. The problem is that though i'm sure there are players that are of every profession, you might not be able to locate them during the time you have available to play. I'm not asking that game secrets are given away, but if i'm a cleric or a mage, and i've learned a spell, its only common sense that i should be able to know what that spell does without asking someone. same goes for skill training and possibly for feats.

What i'd like to see implemented most is:

help (skill) - tells what training in that skill will accomplish

help (spell) - tells you what that spell does. - ie; bless: This spell can be cast on your weapon to improve its efficiency in battle. or something simular.

help combat - explains the very basics of combat and the
cammands involved. I am aware that this information is in the library, however, you shouldn't assume this resourse will be utilized.

help magic - give basics on spell casting. refers player to help spell files

I'm aware that some of these help files are in the works, I just think they should be a priority. on another note, i enjoy the combat engine alot, love the intuitive crafting learning system for skining carving and gem cutting. I've only just begun exploring the magic systems, perhaps i'll be posting on that later.

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