(3/30/2007) Presenting the New Player's Guide!

[Karinya]

Re: (3/30/2007) Presenting the New Player's Guide!

HNMs for a new player? Surely you jest. (Not that there aren't some 75s that could benefit from watching the new players guide, I'm sure.) SE doesn't want to encourage camping NMs for money either, that's why they eviscerated most of them over the past year or so. (How long has it been since Lizzy/VE/Argus?) It was never more than a crapshoot to begin with anyway.

The suggestions they offer are much more reasonable, although I winced when they showed someone selling silk thread to a shop. That would have been a good place to emphasize getting the best price for your goods. Rice growing might be a good idea for a newbie too (killing saplings for the seeds); maybe gardening will appear in a later chapter.


Overall I think the guide is good, and they probably wouldn't have bothered to make it now if they didn't expect a significant number of new players. Since it's clearly not complete I won't criticize omissions. Most players should be able to get to level 5 with no more than is in the first couple of chapters.

[ItazuraNhomango]

Re: (3/30/2007) Presenting the New Player's Guide!

Hmm. Putting resources into a project like this at this stage of FFXI's life...

It's either "We wanted to do this at xBox 360 launch, but had to divert resources back then, so only now able to finish it" or S-E may actually be planning a major push for new players?!

I'm kinda mean, so if I was in charge, I'd have ax'ed the project instead of allowing it to limp to completion post xBox360 launch, unless there really is a commitment to enlarge player base.

Here's hoping S-E is really going to become serious about finding new customers. ^_^ Advertising campaigns! Price drops! Friends and Family(tm) Discounts! Revise art assets! (OK, maybe not...) New--and newbie friendly--expansion packs!

Give us the works! Give us NEWBIES! FLOOD my server with them!

<_<;

(No, I'm serious. I think. As long as they don't all end up in my LS, that is.)

[Susurrus]

Re: (3/30/2007) Presenting the New Player's Guide!

They won't load for me.

[Legal Fish]

Re: (3/30/2007) Presenting the New Player's Guide!

I've tried to make a big guide on FFXIOnline, like a small section devoted to it with a lot of people working on it, but there wasn't enough interest on the Mod Team to make it go anywhere.

[Mhurron]

Re: (3/30/2007) Presenting the New Player's Guide!

Here's hoping S-E is really going to become serious about finding new customers. ^_^ Advertising campaigns! Price drops! Friends and Family(tm) Discounts! Revise art assets! (OK, maybe not...) New--and newbie friendly--expansion packs!

Actually, it's more likely that as SE took more interest in message boards, they saw all these posts by long established players saying how hard it is to start. These posts went on, and on and on and on.

So they made a guide.

[Mog]

Re: (3/30/2007) Presenting the New Player's Guide!

That tarutaru hacks >.> Nobody gets that many drops from a single crawler.

[Shroo]

Re: (3/30/2007) Presenting the New Player's Guide!

I thought it was all funny now that I got a chance to look at it longer, and got a better feel for the game..and yeah nobody does get that many drops from a crawler!

[Carter]

Re: (3/30/2007) Presenting the New Player's Guide!

I still see new players fairly often, and I think this will go a long way to retaining these new players by giving them a little guidance. Let's just hope it is not the Brady Guide...

I wish they'd do an updated Brady guide...I play casually and can't keep up with most people The info would be invaluable.

Carter.

[Murphie]

Re: (3/30/2007) Presenting the New Player's Guide!

I wish they'd do an updated Brady guide...I play casually and can't keep up with most people The info would be invaluable.

Carter.

Any of the info you would have been able to find in the Brady guide can be found via the FFXIWiki, or various player-written guides on the internet.

A physical guide is never going to be adequate for an MMO due to the ever-changing nature of that type of game.

[ItazuraNhomango]

Re: (3/30/2007) Presenting the New Player's Guide!

A well written, well researched printed guide would be nice--especially if bundled with new copies of FFXI.

It seems like the standard practice here to toss half of the newbies to FFXIclopedia.

While that's a great resource for the current player base, it's not that useful when you're so new that you don't even know what you should be asking. (Take yourself back to the days before you know what "aggro" was, if you have trouble understanding what I mean.) Also, good luck finding anything if you can't spell it exactly.

The point of such a guide would not be to include every last details in FFXIClopedia--it is to carefully select information relevant to new players and packaged in a logical, digestible, and attractive format.

Of course, no info is still better than being told that Warriors aren't good for dealing damage or other such nonsense. <_<;

[Carter]

Re: (3/30/2007) Presenting the New Player's Guide!

Personally I prefer a hardcopy to the Net alternative.

Yes I know it's flawed (as it can't keep up with game changes) but in my experience online guides tend to be incomplete and / or hard to navigate, not all of them granted but...well...I just prefer a hardcopy

Also this isn't the most user friendly game around you know...sometimes quests are so un-obvious it's untrue = can be quite frustrating and I h8 asking people Q's about stuff they did years earlier than I.

I prefer the FFXI approach to questing than the WoW "arrow pointing you everywhere" approach but I see nothing wrong in a decent and well written players guide.

I already use the Atlas and that has useful info in it besides the maps.

Carter.

[Murphie]

Re: (3/30/2007) Presenting the New Player's Guide!

If you have a modicum of intelligence, finding things via the wiki shouldn't be a problem. Laziness isn't a very good excuse for remaining ignorant.

You want to know about quests? Look up quests. Missions? Missions. Want to know where to find an item? Look it up. Want to know about a monster? Look it up. I don't see how they could possibly make it any easier for a new player to find the information, than if they came to their house and talked them through it like they were five.

[Mhurron]

Re: (3/30/2007) Presenting the New Player's Guide!

You know, a lot of people just prefer books. Personally, I think an updated Atlas would be great and would buy it as soon as I could.

[Murphie]

Re: (3/30/2007) Presenting the New Player's Guide!

You know, I was aware of that. I'm just saying, you can make your own book by printing things out, and you don't even have to pay $25 to do it.

I will say, however, that the visual aspects of this new guide could be really helpful to new players. It's one thing to read about the mechanics of the game, and another thing altogether to see them happening.

[Mhurron]

Re: (3/30/2007) Presenting the New Player's Guide!

You know, I was aware of that.

You know, I don't think you were.