PS2 makes new players unhappy

DSxGIIR · 2012-11-04, 10:15 AM

A group of my friends has played PS2 beta, they all came to me telling me the good looks awesome, but they said the game sucks a**, reason being when they first logged in they didn't know what to do for 20-30mins. Within that time they just stood around in the Warp gate confused about where the fights are, and where they should be fighting. So to the PS2 team please have a tutorial when the game launches.

SturmovikDrakon · 2012-11-04, 10:53 AM

DSxGIIR · 2012-11-04, 11:45 AM

Originally Posted by SturmovikDrakon

They should have a simulator in the game that shows people how to cap bases, towers and outputs.

Crator · 2012-11-04, 11:52 AM

Originally Posted by DSxGIIR

They should have a simulator in the game that shows people how to cap bases, towers and outputs.

TUTORIAL: UI helper elements, directional indicators (waypoints, arrows, icons), pop-up explanations, VR training areas, a more intuitive UI interface overall, etc.. They should all be put into the game.

RSphil · 2012-11-04, 11:21 AM

also they should ask or do a little research about the game. but asking is always the best. like any mmo. just because this is a fpsmmo it doesn't meant the system has changed. if you are not sure then ask, the community on the whole is willing to help.

i would also say saying a game sucks just because you are not sure what to do for 20 mins is a little ott

just my opinion.
the devs have said they are working on ways to improve the new player experience. if they are only used to bf3 or cod and not even played a normal mmo before i can see the confusion. a few of my mates where a little confused at forst but i talked them trhough stuff for like 5 mins and they loved it.

lets hope soe sort this out and make it so new players have more idea of what to do when thay get in world and into the fight

Beerbeer · 2012-11-04, 11:39 AM

If there's one thing SOE could take lessons on is user interface.

They have a vision, yet they do not know how or cannot convey that scheme in a manner that is intuitive to most people. The human/game interface is too complicated and requires too many steps to get information out or perform actions. Even if you are able to find one thing buried three menus deep, the information is often lacking. There should never be more than one menu deep into anything IMO.

Hate to bring up apple, but what makes them so appealing to the mases is simplicity and functionality. They know and understand human interface and intuition that even a four year old can pick something up.

They can't design something that makes sense to their computer programming brain. They have to look at it from a much lower denominator, if they want to appeal to a much larger audience.

Figment · 2012-11-04, 06:15 PM

PS1 tutorial was also brought in way too late. It was rather decent once it was in, though it had some room for improvement in particular aspects.

But yeah, said it before: introducing PlanetSide games requires a focus on class / suit setup, various weapons, a lot about the base layouts and concepts of spawning in particular, conquest and metagame, basics of teamwork principles and ideas behind them.

But yeah, learn people to read maps. Please. (Desperate look in eye) or they will just zerg for years...

Realmofdarkness · 2012-11-05, 04:03 AM

Originally Posted by DSxGIIR

A group of my friends has played PS2 beta, they all came to me telling me the good looks awesome, but they said the game sucks a**, .

shouldent you, as their friend have a guided tour with them and show them how to have a good time ingame. thats what I did with my friends when they joined the first time

Figment · 2012-11-05, 04:09 AM

Originally Posted by Realmofdarkness

shouldent you, as their friend have a guided tour with them and show them how to have a good time ingame. thats what I did with my friends when they joined the first time

Not all new players are buddies with someone else. It shouldn't require someone else to get you into the game at first time coming in. How many games do you know where that happens?

Realmofdarkness · 2012-11-05, 04:25 AM

Originally Posted by Figment

Not all new players are buddies with someone else. It shouldn't require someone else to get you into the game at first time coming in. How many games do you know where that happens?

there will be new players guide upon launch so it wont require a friend later on. But if you have a friend playing(like in this case), why not get a guided tour? im sure that is much better than a instruction video.

when you play a board game for the first time you either read the instructions or play with someone who knows how to play

Figment · 2012-11-05, 05:24 AM

Yes, but there are no instructions right now. Of course it is more complete to ask someone else, I've always taken sometimes hours to instruct new players in the basics.

But I wouldn't say the guide at launch will be fine. I'm willing to bet they forget to really help build up a strategy tutorial. I'm not even sure if they can teach all aspects with tutorials, but all the basics should be covered. Starting with finding a fight and predicting where it'll go. They should therefore really start with a map explanation. Teach them how to set waypoints, detect which bases are under threat, how to travel to set points of the map etc.

Would really help if players are taught about the psychology of other players, particularly zerg as well. But I doubt that will happen.

Realmofdarkness · 2012-11-05, 07:56 AM

I think we will se alot of user created guidelines aswell on youtube. The problem what I think is that BF3/COD users probably wont have the patience to learn the game. they are used to just logon and know what to do. PS games takes a while before you get and not even instructions as you said can tell you all.

psijaka · 2012-11-05, 08:22 AM

I'm all for a tutorial that points newcomers in the right direction, but it shouldn't lead them along a set path; people need to find out what gameplay style suits them.

The basics need to be covered though:

Empires,
Classes,
Squads,
Chat,
Map viewing,
Deploying to a hotspot,
Baase capturing,
How to get a vehicle,
How to switch continents

But not too much - just the essentials to get new players into the action. Part of the fun for me is finding out things as I go along.

Figment · 2012-11-05, 11:03 AM

What they of course should do is go over ways to damage specific types of units and vehicles (will small arms fire actually have any effect? what type of AA is available), what type of weapons are good at close range, what does one class do that the other can't, etc.

Anyone remember the old PS1 offline tutorial that had you try and kill a Harasser with Gold Ammo/Rocket Punisher instead of Anti-Vehicular and of course no EMP grenade explanation? >.<"

It's not a miracle so few people knew of the awesomeness that was the EMP grenade...

EVILoHOMER · 2012-11-05, 11:15 AM

I've experienced this with all of my non PS friends but they don't want a tutorial, that isn't the answer as people get bored of them and just want to get into the action.

All they need to do is make the UI more intuitive because it is a mess and they need to do some kind of home base or something that is easy to understand. Right now standing in the bases in the warp gates is confusing with no clear goal.

The number one issue people have that I see is how to switch between islands. Even new players seem to run to the middle of the warp gate lol. It would make much more sense to have that as the entrance rather than those stupid terminals.