Newcomer's first impressions

[Late]

Hello. I'm the new guy in town. I played the game for a few hours and found stuff to complain about.

The tutorial was fine. After that, things got messy, when I was taken to Hydlaa. Except that I didn't know it was Hydlaa then, nor did I have any idea of anything else either. I had no idea should my character know where he is and why, or where the smith is (apparently he was absent since I spent half an hour looking for him around the forge, after spilling out directions from an NPC. I'll get to that soon). My first thoughts were along the lines of "What the **** happens now?" I think those are things I should've been informed about before I left the tutorial.

So I take a quest, and get some directions. Except that I have no idea where those places are. Part of this is because of the graphics and the fact that its so dark I can't see anything. (An hour later I pulled the graphic settings to the very heights and realized there was a STATUE in the middle of Hydlaa plaza. Isn't it funny I didn't notice it before?) At the latter part of my testing scenario I already have a generald idea at which direction the smith and the inn is from the Statue, but I still don't know where Szasdks-Stodzue'al'drekzen is. So, is a map-system of some sort going to be implemented?

Of course, I tried to ask the NPCs for directions. Now, I'd like to hear your opinions of the current NPC chat-system, people. Because I am immensely turned off by it, and I'd like to know if there's anything GOOD about it. While the system is different from all the other MMORPGs, I don't know if it really counts as a bonus when I have to spend 5 minutes guessing what to say to the NPC in order to make him understand. I don't see how it serves roleplaying purposes either, because God forbid I try to make a sentence that sounds like it came out of the mouth of the Gimli-copy that my first character is (I may work on a REAL character concept in the future). I know, I could've asked PCs for directions and help too, but I wanted to try the NPCs. What's wrong with the popular system where you get to choose what to say from a list of pre-defined sentences?

Can I blame the alpha stage of all this? Can I expect improvement?

Otherwise I'm impressed, and I like the idea of an RP-oriented, free MMORPG. I understand pulling this out already has taken a lot of work, so I'm going to see if I can live with these things.

[Arerano]

The very good news is: Yes! It can and will improve!

That is with our help to spot and track issues and by reporting them at the right places.

If the text-based system is good.. well, it's being improved all the time. Most NPCs have already a great set of questions which they can answer, some of which "triggers + answers" are shared. I think it's a mere "getting into it" at first, which may indeed seem rocky. However, a good start is to ask "about Hydlaa" or "who are you", "how are you", "greetings" and "good bye". But don't stick to those "basic phrases" and if you have some "natural question" which the NPC just can't understand please write it down and let it the Settings Team know.

Things are getting forward, and the more we help, the quicker is the pace.

The bugtracker is here:

http://www.hydlaa.com/flyspray_upgrade/

Inconsistencies between settings assets should go here:

http://hydlaa.com/smf/index.php?topic=28285.0

Places where npcs are stupid or there are insufficient triggers should go here:

http://hydlaa.com/smf/index.php?topic=29353.0

Problems with quests can go to Rizin here:

http://hydlaa.com/smf/index.php?action=pm;sa=send;u=30268

If you are too lazy to hit alt + tab to do any of these things while in game you can use the petition system in game
 
(which I think should be a last resort as it is basically forcing gms to do work that you as the tester should take responsibility for)

All of this info is stickied in the forum and iterated elsewhere in this thread, but to simplify, it is all in this post now.

I think this post, the stickies, the report feature, the bug tracker, and any new feature advocated in this thread would be avoided for the same reasons the current tools are not used: people are slothful by nature and players do not view themselves as testers. People do not seem to realize their effort is needed to promote the game's advancement. Please don't treat the devs/gms/testers as costumer service this is a community effort.

[Cebot]

Hello. I'm the new guy in town. I played the game for a few hours and found stuff to complain about.

Hello to you too, I'll try to answer and solve your few issues. Welcome to planeshift

The tutorial was fine. After that, things got messy, when I was taken to Hydlaa. Except that I didn't know it was Hydlaa then, nor did I have any idea of anything else either. I had no idea should my character know where he is and why, or where the smith is (apparently he was absent since I spent half an hour looking for him around the forge, after spilling out directions from an NPC. I'll get to that soon). My first thoughts were along the lines of "What the **** happens now?" I think those are things I should've been informed about before I left the tutorial.

The tutorial is still kind of new and the settings department is trying to advance it. If you think there should be more information in the tutorial, please file a bug report on bugs.hydlaa.com

So I take a quest, and get some directions. Except that I have no idea where those places are. Part of this is because of the graphics and the fact that its so dark I can't see anything. (An hour later I pulled the graphic settings to the very heights and realized there was a STATUE in the middle of Hydlaa plaza. Isn't it funny I didn't notice it before?) At the latter part of my testing scenario I already have a generald idea at which direction the smith and the inn is from the Statue, but I still don't know where Szasdks-Stodzue'al'drekzen is. So, is a map-system of some sort going to be implemented?

Let me guess, you have a CRT screen? It's a known issue, that the graphics on a CRT are very dark, adjusting the gamma value of your monitor might help in that case.
A map system is already implemented, kind of. There are "General Maps" available and players can make their own maps - in fact there are players who are very good at that and sell them to other players. A map system which displays your current position on the screen is not going to be implemented tho.

Of course, I tried to ask the NPCs for directions. Now, I'd like to hear your opinions of the current NPC chat-system, people. Because I am immensely turned off by it, and I'd like to know if there's anything GOOD about it. While the system is different from all the other MMORPGs, I don't know if it really counts as a bonus when I have to spend 5 minutes guessing what to say to the NPC in order to make him understand. I don't see how it serves roleplaying purposes either, because God forbid I try to make a sentence that sounds like it came out of the mouth of the Gimli-copy that my first character is (I may work on a REAL character concept in the future). I know, I could've asked PCs for directions and help too, but I wanted to try the NPCs. What's wrong with the popular system where you get to choose what to say from a list of pre-defined sentences?

There's a thread here in the forums for that. The settings department has requested help from us players. have a look please:
here: http://hydlaa.com/smf/index.php?topic=28285.0
and here: http://hydlaa.com/smf/index.php?topic=29353.0
XilliX and other settings developers have explained several times already why the quest system is like it is. There won't be a change in that. In due time it will get improved, but a pull down menu with predefined sentences - like in other games - won't get implemented.

Can I blame the alpha stage of all this? Can I expect improvement?

Otherwise I'm impressed, and I like the idea of an RP-oriented, free MMORPG. I understand pulling this out already has taken a lot of work, so I'm going to see if I can live with these things.

You can indeed blame the alpha stage of the game. It's helpful for the developers. Keep reporting issues you encounter and help the engine devs to solve those issues in the code and the settings devs to solve issues with npc dialogue, quests, action locations (when you right click on some parts of the world, like doors for guild houses and such), knowledge areas (what npc's know about the environment) and so far.

Welcome to planeshift, lean back and enjoy the flight

cebot

[Late]

Thanks for your replies, folks!
(And sorry for posting in the wrong forum, lol)

Let me guess, you have a CRT screen? It's a known issue, that the graphics on a CRT are very dark, adjusting the gamma value of your monitor might help in that case.
A map system is already implemented, kind of. There are "General Maps" available and players can make their own maps - in fact there are players who are very good at that and sell them to other players. A map system which displays your current position on the screen is not going to be implemented tho.

No, I have LCD. There's only the brightness setting, and that's been 100% all the time. Could this have something to do with me running on Vista? I had to run the game with XP settings to make it work at all.

[Xillix Queen of Fools]

Welcome aboard!

[Prolix]

It might have to do with an integrated graphics card, particularly if it is and intel chipset. Look in the technical help forum for more details.

[SynergfyFlo]

welcome...

the issues you mention are irksome, and you are not alone in your criticism.

In a way, I actually enjoyed being a bit lost when I first started playing - it felt more real for someone suddenly emerging in a completely strange world. However, based on the notion of races and of origins within Yliakum, which is intensified by the reference to a character history, I feel that there is a lack of available contextual knowledge which a "real" denizen of such a world would have at their disposal as a result of their life history and culture. I'm no coder, more from a social sciences and anthropology background...but it would be great if the history a character has could unlock certain types of knowledge that would be displayed when a player considers an object or a topic.

I recall that Morrowind had a type of cumulative lexicon of information that grew as a character interacted with npc's and quests. This type of thing would also be very useful to reflect a character's memories and life history. Of course, based on intelligence scores, the game might include "memory errors" by saving bogus stories, or dropping significant details.. ;-) 

The lack of such contextual info encouraged me to seek out the help of other players, which I guess is useful and in line with the apparent intent of the devs. It certainly gave rise to some very interesting encounters and a few bouts of really good humour around one of the mines, when people began chanting limericks about the rigours and boredom of mining.

ok, be well,
Synergyflo

[CrazyYlian]

Hello. I'm the new guy in town.

Hi, welcome to Yliakum.

The tutorial was fine.

Tutorial?! You lucky yulbar, you!  Why I remember when a fellow just popped right into this world without so much as a by your leave, not a clue at all as to who, what, where or how.  Kids these days sure got it easy! <grumble mumble rant>

its so dark I can't see anything.

While I'm sure your system is a finely tuned graphics powerhouse, as indeed are all systems of posters on this forum, you should google Norman Koren. His site has some superb tips on gamma and color calibration, and despite rumors to the contrary, LCD monitors can and do have issues with these occasionally.

but I still don't know where Szasdks-Stodzue'al'drekzen is.

Me neither... is that good or bad?

What's wrong with the popular system where you get to choose what to say from a list of pre-defined sentences?

Whoa... don't go there!  That would definitely take all the fun out of a conversation with Ukabnu!

Can I blame the alpha stage of all this?

Sure. Or blame me. It's my day. I did it.  <runs away laughing hysterically>

I'm going to see if I can live with these things.

Now you're talking!  Trust me, it won't be long before 'these things' will be forgotten entirely, and you'll have graduated to entirely new and improved annoyances... and loving every minute of it.  Or climb the big stairs in Hydlaa and try out the gossip and red liquor at the tavern... it won't help you find your way around, but you'll have a great time not caring.

Hope to see you around!

[Mythryndel]

Is it acceptable for a new character to start with a book in their inventory that contains some of their basic background information? If they are from Ojaveda, they would have a journal style book they can read and it mentions some of the NPCs like Trasok and Brado with blurbs about what they do. If you start in Hydlaa, then it would have blurbs about Harnquist and so on. I think that this would help with the setting and help people get immersed in the game without quite as much confusion starting out. I think it would be important for the character to be able to continue to add entries to this book. This could also help with keeping the characters story going in-game as well.

Sorry... just my $0.02 worth.

[Under the moon]

The 'dark' issue is common for some. The explanation might be more simple than graphics issues, though. Check the ingame clock in the info window and see what time of day it is. Night gets rather dark in PS.

[potatoehead64]

At times when the server is down and I get extreme withdrawal symptoms, I've taken a look at 1 or 2 other MMORPG's. Regnum looked something similar, but there was certainly no tutorial whatsoever. I found the same with one or 2 other games like this. I have to say that after the last 2 months I'm totally and irretrievably hooked on this game now. Yes, it was a little lonely at the start and a bit awkward, until I discovered a suitable camera view. Then I started to get to grips with it all. I found other citizens of Yliakum were pretty helpful too.  Things became far more interesting when I was invited to join a Guild.
Keep it going guys.
I love it.