Expectations and game speed

[Jos Elkink]

I like the original idea better - every account 1 opportunity to spawn there. Misbehaving players can simply be removed, and will have used their one slot, so they won't return either.

This tutorial island idea is quite old, actually. I think it was even decided in the GAC that it should be implemented, but I'm not sure I remember that correctly . It just never really materialized.

Language groups is a bit of an issue: yes, we need them, but how are the small language groups going to form the necessary mass to have a useful tutorial?

The one thing that slightly bothers me is the OOC talk. On the one hand it's indeed really necessary; on the other hand it means that the tutorial will be weak in teaching that aspect of the game, which is actually one of the main things that sets Cantr apart from most other games, where OOC chatter is very common among characters. So are we not setting a really bad example there?

[formerly known as hf]

How about, if there are going to be a number of locations, only at the spawn point is OOC chatter allowed?

[Jos Elkink]

So you're suggesting a separate system for spawning as well? No density spawning? I would think it's better if the newspawns spread over the tutorial island from the start.

And I don't see how that is a solution, rather than a serious complication of playing in the tutorial island

[formerly known as hf]

If there is going to be a tutorial involved, it would probably make sense for all new players to start at the same location (or two/three if just one gets far too packed), so any required equipment is there. Also, older players will know where to go to help the very new players. If we are planning to leave descriptive notes, and have players on-hand to answer OOC questions when on the island, known starting locations would be useful.

If one of the issues with Cantr used to be that characters for new players could start in uninhabited locations (which I know was recently fixed) we especially don't want to run the risk of new players starting on a 'tutorial island' in a location where they can't get any help...

[Phalynx]

How do you stop this isalnd getting massively over crowded?

Once you are identified by the 'guardians' your character gets ferried elsewhere?
An age cap...?
Slaver boats from other islands?
Horrible diseases?
Volcanic erruptions...?

(Perhaps I should change my name back to Reaperman?)

[formerly known as hf]

How do you stop this isalnd getting massively over crowded?

You don't. It will be exceptionally busy, and things will move exceptionally fast for Cantr... Which would be a good things for new players...

[Chris Johnson]

Not so much of a problem, we can extend the number of locations , and actually the social interactions in a denser region (up to 100 people+ ) could be very interesting , and yes if necessary we could introduce age caps in this region .

[Phalynx]

Man, I know I am a geek! I am actually salivating at the prospect of this island!

[SekoETC]

lol Yeah, judging from your history of creating new accounts, I bet you'd end up there more than once.

[Phalynx]

Which raises another problem....

[viktor]

geeze you people had to bring this topic up, do you have any idea what my creative side stayed up till 8 am doing? i was sketching out ideas for making this lil island and i'm in no way shape or form a member of the staff(also note that the 'god(s) would have all expert skill and have so much strength that it would take an army to drag them)

tutorial island: a small island in a closed lake that has no dockpoints at the edges, i actually know a lake that can be used
anyways the island has 2 locations and only bare essential materials, stone,wood,sand,spinach, everyone may spawn 1 character there, stay as long as they like as long as they don't tick off the god(s) who can on a whim send them to another island idea anyways you cannot get any other resource unless the god(s) really like you and this little place would have OOC chatter.

second island: a not quite as small island with 4 locations (including a 1location island in a tiny inner lake) none of which are on the outer coastline so nobody can emmigrate or immigrate, no OOC (or at least very little) and only characters who went through Tutorial island can get here and this is where they are sent, has rich resources and as would be expected a massive highly active population which after tutorial island would be a good experience for new players, also prevents anyone from having more than 1 character on this island and this island can be anyhere any lake or anywhere in the sea and when people from the outside world see it it's just an undockable island they rip thier hair out wishing they could explore.

oh ya and all languages mixed

so ya look what you made me do you got me doing this stuff, sheesh
sad thing is i drew the islands and placed resources and animals!
i need counciling

[Mykey]

I have thought and have removed this phrase

[Nakranoth]

*cough* That character *cough*

[viktor]

every new player gets to go free, the rest of us must pay 500 credits to get there after the first one if we die.
wanna know what's sad?
after i made that last post i went into paint and drew tose 2 islands, then i went into notepad and typed out the land types borders/routes, resources, resource slots, animals, i even colored them in and surrounded them with water...

i told you i need counciling and now it has become too obvious

[javacougar]

Well, maybe its just something in the air out here, but I have spent way too much time thinking about this as well. Anyways, here's my idea, taking into account some ideas that have been mentioned above.

I think it would be good to have an island with a minimal number of locations. The main idea would be that when someone first starts an account their first character would spawn on this island (which would only have say wood, stone, potatoes, and a few kinds of squirrels). There would be a certain number of objectives (ie. bone knife, bone shield, stone hammer, 1000 potatoes, and 50 hide) which must be completed before they could make the transition to the "real" world. One way this could be done is to have a doorway at each location or at a central location where characters could exit/enter the Cantr world.

In order to help with the tutorial aspect of this island, it would be helpful to have a number of notes on the ground such as "OOC: How to make tools", "OOC:How to hunt", etc. (These notes could link to a copy of the article on the wiki, so that players could still check the notes after they had transitioned off the island. The notes could also have a link to a broader wiki FAQ that would answer a lot of the questions like "what do I click on to use the bones on this shield project?"

It could be helpful to include a list of objectives and to mark each one as complete when the character finishes the objective. Possibly have each objective link to a help note about how to complete the task. For instance, to get the 50g of hide you need to hunt and kill a squirrel (a bone knife would make it easier).

One thing that I think would be important is to add a "fun" factor to the tutorial. This could be the random chance of getting some "useless" but rare/special object. For example, there might be a one in five chance that when you kill a squirrel you would get an acorn.

Anyways, when the "newspawn" goes through the transitional doorway they would be stripped of everything except the tutorial objectives plus any special object they may have acquired. When they start the tutorial, the character should be 19, so that when they make the transition, starting at 20 would seem completely natural. Thus after coming through the tutorial a new player's first character would have some of the basic tools to survive in the world.

In order to help those who have genuine difficulty with the game/interface, it might be helpful to have certain triggers in place if a newspawn does not accomplish any of the objectives within a certain amount of time. Or possibly have a 'request assistance' link or something and someone could come in as "a man in his fourties" and give them some in-character assistance.

Well, this has turned out to be a nice long post, hopefully it makes sense. I would be happy to clarify things as needed.