I had some ideas lying around from half a year ago about what could be done to improve the currently outdated tutorial. Thanks @Floflorian for reminding me about them.
Q: Why should DECA spend their resources to do this?
A: A tutorial is like the beginning of a book; if the beginning is crappy, some readers are turned off and stop reading. An updated tutorial is crucial for retaining new players, and potentially paying customers.
###Quick Fixes
These are fixes that I think would be pretty quick and easy to implement.
Make a Tutorial Portal (edited as per Nevovâs suggestion)
Reason: New players who wish to revisit the Tutorial will be able to.
Using the /tutorial
command is sweet and quick but newer players probably have no idea how to do that. Having a portal is an easy way for newer players to run through the tutorial again lest they forgot something.
Update the vault.
Reason: Purely for the sake of consistency.
I donât take credit for this idea at all, but now that DECA seems content with the current layout, Iâm sure they can make it happen. This includes an explanation for the the Wardrobe and Gift Chests.
Make the two Nexusâs the same.
Reason: Once again, consistency. Itâs not appealing for new players to finish the tutorial, only to find out itâs a dumbed-down version of the actual game.
This includes all appropriate portals such as the Pet Yard, Bazaars, Alchemist/Tinkerer, Mystery Box and even Arena and Guild Resignation area.
Show players the options menu.
Reason: Would definitely help players right off the bat to get into good habits.
Watching some videos, like @Neutralman (no offense) using no hotkey for Nexusing makes me shudder. Just another one of those green boxes to show the option button would suffice (or let them know itâs the âOâ key).
Show players their stats.
Reason: Would cause less confusion the first time a player gets a stat pot. A link to RealmEyeâs stats-explained page would be helpful.
Another one of the green boxes pointing at the stats tab would be sufficient, maybe a sentence saying you can permanently increase these by drinking stat pots. Another reminder what perma-death means would also be good.
Emphasize the perma-death aspect of the game.
Reason: Perma-death is definitely not for everyone, and itâs especially crappy to find out about it without being warned.
I know thereâs a tip about it, but itâs kinda the most important mechanic in the game, might wanna warn new player about it? There used to be a one time revival but it was removed probably because of exploits, so now they should give it some emphasis in the tutorial.
###Larger Fixes
Yeah, theyâll take some more time but definitely worth it for DECA.
Make a Pet Yard explanation.
Reason: According MSellers, pets were the largest part of RotMGâs income when they were first introduced. Makes sense to explain/hook new players, so they can spend money on it later.
Personally, I made mistakes when fusing as a newer player and now I canât have a fully maxed pet. Itâd be at least nice to have a link to the wiki. Or a few sentences explaining how to get them, what they do and maybe a little âHey, you can buy food!â thing.
Side Idea: Another thing that I think would be cool is to give players a âfreeâ pet to try out, only in the tutorial though. Seems like a coding horror though, so not necessary.
Create a dungeon explaining player-player mechanics.
Reason: RotMG is supposed to be coop, might as well let new players know how to interact immediately. Coop makes RotMG fun = maybe higher retention rate?
I have an idea concerning a cemetery-style dungeon that requires a certain amount of tasks to be completed (in order):
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Upon entering the dungeon, player is greeted by a âSkuld-likeâ character (for now, he will be known as Arthur). Instead of being an enemy, he will behave just like a player.
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Arthur will tell the player to press âEnterâ to chat. Arthur will then request the player to say âhelloâ. Next, he will show the â/helpâ command and explain a few commands like â/tâ.
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Arthur will show the player how to teleport from the minimap (player will effectively teleport to Arthur).
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Arthur will show the player how to click on Arthurâs name on the player list (bottom right). He will go through different aspects such as *trading (see next point), locking, blocking, teleporting etc.
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To illustrate trading, the player could be granted another Ring of Minor Defence upon entrance of the dungeon, and Arthur will trade the player a T0 Armour (+1 defence) for the ring. This makes sense thematically as well; if a player already has a T0 weapon, ability and ring, why not give them an armour as well?
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Edit: As per @Nevovâs suggestion, a counter to the spam in the nexus could be implemented as Arthur shows the player how to
/ignore
spamming hobbits or something.
Anything youâd like to see in it?