PlaneShift

Gameplay => Newbie Help (Start Here) => Topic started by: Illenai on March 07, 2005, 09:37:42 pm

Title: instructions are crap
Post by: Illenai on March 07, 2005, 09:37:42 pm
ok in all the instructions it says  to make a new character you \"click on \'new character\'\" but im haveing a problem. were is the link that says \"new character\"!!!!! why havent i seen anything that fits this description and were do i go to create a friggin character.
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Post by: Jazeera on March 07, 2005, 09:44:37 pm
So have you logged on your account?
Type the E-mail in that you have registered, and the password, and clicked ok?

after doing that, it should be pretty easy to see the \"create new character\" button -_-
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Post by: Illenai on March 07, 2005, 09:45:49 pm
ok heres another question, where do i log on???
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Post by: Jazeera on March 07, 2005, 09:51:33 pm
When you start the game then there is something called:
Account:  here you type the E-mail that you have registered.
Bellow there is something called
Password:
 here you type your chosen password.
Then you mark the Laanx server and then click the ok button, and it should log you on.

In case you haven\'t registered an E-mail then follow this link: http://laanx.fragnetics.com/register/

and here is some instructions on how to create a new account: http://www.planeshift.it/guide/installation-account.html

whew... this should help you ;)
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Post by: Illenai on March 07, 2005, 09:55:30 pm
im very sorry but all i have done so far is register my account... what ive been trying to figure out is how to access the game. where do i go on the website.
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Post by: Jazeera on March 07, 2005, 09:57:06 pm
...say have you downloaded the game?...
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Post by: Illenai on March 07, 2005, 09:58:56 pm
yes i installed it and everything.
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Post by: Jazeera on March 07, 2005, 10:00:12 pm
have you tried opening the game? you will access it from there...

Or have you updated the game?... just wondering
start menu - Programs - planeshift crystal blue - planeshift updater
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Post by: Illenai on March 07, 2005, 10:09:46 pm
well whenever i open the shortcut on my desktop it just goes through the whole installation process again.
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Post by: Illenai on March 07, 2005, 10:11:36 pm
omg i just figured everything out!!! thank you thank you thank you!!!!
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Post by: Jazeera on March 07, 2005, 10:12:07 pm
try opening it from here:
start menu - programs - planeshift Crystal Blue - Planeshift open beta

not sure where you are from, so the name \"Start menu\" and \"programs\" might be different :S

EDIT: seems that I was too late with this post -_-..... *sigh*
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Post by: Moogie on March 08, 2005, 01:03:55 am
The instructions are not crap. But user intelligence appears to be. :)
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Post by: Annah on March 08, 2005, 08:30:21 pm
I finally agree with Moogie :D

 Though, I don\'t think your post is so on topic :P

 Anyway, is fun :)

 Don\'t worry Illenai, I guess time will be your ally. I hope ...  :D

 And next time, just try to read the instructions and everything, before posting things like this one. Okay? Is not hard, trust me.
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Post by: Illenai on March 08, 2005, 08:51:41 pm
ok sorry guys for the trouble... im not the smartest person with computers. but now that ive finally found out how to access the game now i have another problem!!! it cant connect to the server!
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Post by: Jazeera on March 08, 2005, 09:32:17 pm
Well perhaps if you posted a little more info on your problem, quite hard to sit here guessing all the time ?(  

and Moogie, some things you should just keep as a thought ;)
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Post by: Suno_Regin on March 08, 2005, 11:06:37 pm
you guys, seriously, this is the hardest part of registering and yer just saying what do do AT THE LOGIN SCREEN, he wants to know WHERE THE LOGIN SCREEN IS

I can tell you that unlike these idiots, if you have a windows computer press START and go to PlaneShift, then click updates and it will update everything you need to play. Then at the bottom right of the update window it will say start playing or start planeshift or something like that. If you have another type of computer like a mac or something then just go to wherever all your files/links are and click on updates, same process, and everyone, DONT BE SUCH A FREAKING IDIOT NEXT TIME
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Post by: Suno_Regin on March 08, 2005, 11:08:36 pm
for the server problem check the right of the access window where your logging in at, and it should have the words localhost, and below it it should say laanx, click on that then start the game
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Post by: Illenai on March 08, 2005, 11:45:50 pm
well, i have noticed that when i go to the login screen and enter my email and password, on the right there is a list of servers. the only server on there, though, is \"fragnetics\" and in small letters next to it it says \"wait\". then after a few seconds \"wait\" changes to \"fail\". so i would try to press ok but the it just says that it cant contact the server. there ya go.

and you cant tell me not to be an idiot!... thats just the inevitable.
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Post by: zilo52 on March 09, 2005, 12:14:31 am
well hello i\'m also confused....*drools*

(http://instagiber.net/smiliesdotcom/contrib/edoom/BarneyKill.gif)oops i killed barney....WHAT HE CAME BACK!!!!!!!!
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Post by: Tharizdun on March 09, 2005, 02:59:49 am
\"Fail\" means that the fragnetics server is unreachable from your client, you need to be able to connect to this server to make a new character and log into the game.

Check your network settings, firewalls, proxy servers and so on for correctness. If your PC is blocked from accessing the server it will be an issue that you need to correct.

It could also mean that you tried at a time the server was down, in which case the next time you try there will probably be a number ( which is packet latency to the planeshift server ) in this window instead, this will mean that you can connect.
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Post by: Suno_Regin on March 09, 2005, 10:43:11 pm
Quote
Originally posted by Illenai
well, i have noticed that when i go to the login screen and enter my email and password, on the right there is a list of servers. the only server on there, though, is \"fragnetics\" and in small letters next to it it says \"wait\". then after a few seconds \"wait\" changes to \"fail\". so i would try to press ok but the it just says that it cant contact the server. there ya go.

and you cant tell me not to be an idiot!... thats just the inevitable.
I\'m not telling you that your being an idiot, I\'m telling everyone else answering your question, instead they\'re saying upload this and that but not answering your question, and the mods were even spamming on this topic, sorry if that confused you, anyway your computer must be different from mine, my servers are laanx and localhost, and if yours says wait then fail then the server must be down, ask somewhere when it will be back up, or check if you updated everything you need to update.
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Post by: Azerelus on March 09, 2005, 11:22:44 pm
Yes I agree, the instructions are crap.

That is if you are not computer literate to the point where you understand what is what in computer terms.

The instructions are also crap when you consider that many come through the search link of: Plane Shift  (http://www.planeshift.it/main_01.html)

(I passed the annoying intro page)

Given that you do not immediately see a link to the registration page, nor are you given a direct link to the forums and the web site requires a person to look for the FAQs it is crap. It does not take in the general mentality of the average human being who is loath to dig for information.

Yes news is great, for those who are already playing and have been with the game for a while hearing new news is fine and wonderful. For the first time visit Recent News is less than helpful in \'Getting Started\' and in some instances may be counter productive, adding confusion to a new complex set of ground rules and instructions.

Ideally the main page of the site should have a direct link to the download, a direct link to the players guide, a direct link to the registration page (where you create your account) a direct link to FAQs & Troubleshooting (You must make it clear that FAQ covers troubleshooting)

Perhaps the main page should be dedicated to screen shots, the general gist of the World (About) Then a link to News, Story and other additional information about the game.

Another issue (at least on my end) is that many times when I do click on the link to players guide, story, etc I get the infamous \"Page cannot Be displayed\" I assume that others are getting this as well, which is frustrating and leads people to skip reading the instructions. Here I am a week later (day by day I get more information) and I still have only read 75% of the guide simply because clicking next leads to that error page. I would image that the less patient would give up after one or two tries and ?wing it?.

Compounded by all this you are introducing what for many RPG players is a new concept in game play - No levels, Progression points, etc. If the person is fresh and new to RPG forget it, they are clueless to what all of this means.

To be blunt about it the instruction should be dumbed down a little more, taking nothing for granted about the average user?s understanding of computers, RPG, etc. This is also called \"User Friendly\" a nice way of saying \"We went out of our way to make this as simple for you as possible.\"

Yes including simple instructions such as going to one\'s C:/program files/plane shift folder to find the icon for playing the game (which I assume was the mistake made with the OP here - which may be in part that most programs put an icon on the desktop).

The installation instructions can be confusing. On the same page you have Windows, and Mac and Linux user instructions. I would suggest that the page before breaks these down into three separate pages to where the user clicks on his/her Operating system and is not cluttered with the three sets of instructions. Each following branch of pages is only covering that system.

Take the configuration instructions: \"Specify the graphics and sound settings that you prefer and then press OK.\" Great for those who know what size their screen is, or understand the differences between software sound and Open AL - yes there are many out there who are clueless to what would, on the surface, appear to be basic computer knowledge. Perhaps a breif description of what each thing means will go along way in helping the newbie find his/her way to configuring the game. You must assume that the person just took their computer out of the box and never had one before.

Another terrible assumption being made is that everyone follows directions or even turns to the directions before doing something. In reality the percentages of people who do take the time to read the instructions first is far, far lower than those who jump in and start doing.

Ideally the game itself needs to have the instructions right there on each page of character creation: EXAMPLE, Most people will start off on the first creation page, select a race, and play with the buttons for features name the character and hit next. They will either not see ?Paths? or they won?t know what it is since it is not a button people will assume that it is a title.  It should be right there ?You have two choices: click Paths for quick generation, or Next for the longer, more in-depth, creation process.?

I know it is, to those who understand and read instructions, obvious that one reads instructions first and carefully proceed. It is human nature to jump in with sweet abandon and then go to the forums and post their questions there.
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Post by: Suno_Regin on March 09, 2005, 11:32:00 pm
I couldn\'t have said it better myself, dig through some of my posts, i had the EXACT same problems
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Post by: Moogie on March 09, 2005, 11:38:34 pm
I dunno... I consider it somewhat of a \"filter\". This is an Alpha Techdemo. Ideally, we want competant testers who are able to identify and report problems in a way we, as developers, can understand and make use of. Planeshift is not ready for those who need the instructions \"dumbed down\", as you put it.
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Post by: Azerelus on March 09, 2005, 11:45:41 pm
Considering that the end product you will have those who aren\'t computer techs playing it may be bad policy to weed them out now - because sooner or later you will have to deal with them and then you may find there are a lot of human bugs to take care of which would change the way the game works.
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Post by: Illenai on March 10, 2005, 06:30:08 pm
this... is not helping me...
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Post by: Illenai on March 10, 2005, 11:53:48 pm
actually i found another problem that might be contributing to this. i went to the plabeshift updater and tryed to download it but it told me that it \"ran out of mirrors\". any info on that?
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Post by: Suno_Regin on March 10, 2005, 11:58:55 pm
Maybe you have short computer memory?
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Post by: Illenai on March 11, 2005, 12:14:11 am
man this sux...
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Post by: Mr. Dave on March 11, 2005, 02:34:50 am
Illenai:

It sounds to me like a network problem. (Several others mentioned that, but it\'s got lost in the noise.)

First, are you connected to the Internet? You have to be to play the game. Even if you\'re sure you\'re connected, you should still check. More than once I\'ve solved nasty computer problems by simply plugging the frelling thing in. :P

Next, try to ping the Fragnetics server. For the less-techy readers, here\'s what you do. (I\'m not intimately familiar with OS X, but since it\'s mostly a BSD variant I\'ll assume these instructions are valid. Someone correct me if I\'m wrong.)

Open a command prompt window. At the prompt, type the command
Code: [Select]
ping laanx.fragnetics.com
and press Enter. You should see a series of messages like
Code: [Select]
Reply from 203.81.47.91: bytes=32 time=408ms TTL=45

In Windows, it should stop after 8 lines; in *nix you may have to press ctrl-c to make it stop.

If the response is
Code: [Select]
Response timed out.
or says anything about being blocked, you\'ve probably run up against some sort of firewall and will need to povide us with more information to help us solve your problem.

Hope this is helpful (and understandable); let us know how it works out.
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Post by: zenofeller on March 11, 2005, 03:17:16 am
the following info needs to be put somewhere alot more visible (because in classical linux style i was stuck looking for precisely HOW to create an account for about half hour)

to CREATE an account you need to visit

http://laanx.fragnetics.com/register/index.php?action=reg


Maybe include it in the client ? (makes no sense that you should NOT be able to register an account from the game client)

Maybe post it somewhere stickified, instructions for first time player ? if it is already, somewhere else then, because i didnt see it.