Newbies and the accessibility of Planetside 2

[fvdham]

PS1 had a tutorial but it was broken after half a year.
So perhaps an intro video on world domination in PS2.
Also hotspots on the map.

[TheDAWinz]

Originally Posted by Aurmanite

Please don't ruin this thread by being a whiny bitch.

I second this

[SFJake]

Originally Posted by EisenKreutzer

He doesn't know what he's supposed to do.
He doesn't quite get the PvP aspect, and is concerned about where he gets quests from.
Discovers classes by clicking through each one.
He clearly doesn't get that everyone he has seen in the Warpgate is on his side, or he just doesn't care.
He wants to try out all his weapons straight away, even if it means team killing to do so.

Of course, the most pressing feedback should be how to solve the problem of what to do about bell ends who, within their first ten minutes will immediately team-kill, kill-steal and fire at Gal's because they haven't been picked up.

I have not seen the footage, but here's what I think:

The game really needs to make it obvious with big markers and huge warning, flashy sounds and alerts that says YOU'RE SHOOTING A FRIEND AND YOU'LL BE PUNISHED IF YOU KEEP DOING THAT. Something excessive that can be turned off or that will go away after a little playing time, after which there should still be obvious warnings that you should not be doing that. Ignore this, and be prepared for MASSIVE amount team killings, in my opinion. If its annoying, then its even better, because it naturally discourages people from shooting friends.

I understand that this might sound like a "patronizing" attitude for the game to take, and thats why maybe all this excessive warning should just go away with time/rank whatever. But the game WILL need to be strict and clear from the beginning about those basic, vital things if they want new players to not feel completely loss.

This should also come with easy identification of friendlies in general. Clear icons or text that enemies don't have, etc. This is especially needed with all the camo crap in the game. If the game does not have a sure fire way to identify someone has an ally regardless of factions, massive team killing ensured.

Thats my 2 cents.

[WiteBeam]

Originally Posted by TheDAWinz

I second this

Cute.
Now can you two grow the fuck up and take my question seriously?
Your whole argument in the other thread was that it doesn't matter if he was a vet or not. So how is this any different? The tech test is only about different hardwares stressing the game. If not, then you might as well call this beta.

[EisenKreutzer]

Originally Posted by SFJake

I have not seen the footage [..]

Don't. It's a trainwreck, and it's an NDA breach.

[exoteror]

I belive the hardest part he found in the game was "where is the action"

But I did notice that there wasen't any hotspots on the map, maybe things would have been different if they were there.

[EisenKreutzer]

Originally Posted by WiteBeam

Cute.
Now can you two grow the fuck up and take my question seriously?
Your whole argument in the other thread was that it doesn't matter if he was a vet or not. So how is this any different? The tech test is only about different hardwares stressing the game. If not, then you might as well call this beta.

Please don't bring that thread into this one. The mods will delete any thread discussing a breach of the NDA, so let's not take any chances.

[TheDAWinz]

Originally Posted by WiteBeam

Cute.
Now can you two grow the fuck up and take my question seriously?
Your whole argument in the other thread was that it doesn't matter if he was a vet or not. So how is this any different? The tech test is only about different hardwares stressing the game. If not, then you might as well call this beta.

Lol! You told me.

[WiteBeam]

Kid. Stop acting like such a little shit and get back on topic. What the fuck is wrong with you?

The OP is talking about how that individual may have been a perfect candidate for beta in a way. I agree. But he wasn't in beta.

[TheDAWinz]

Originally Posted by WiteBeam

Kid. Stop acting like such a little shit and get back on topic. What the fuck is wrong with you?

The OP is talking about how that individual may have been a perfect candidate for beta in a way. I agree. But he wasn't in beta.

You're the one flipping out here

[Littleman]

Originally Posted by WiteBeam

Kid. Stop acting like such a little shit and get back on topic. What the fuck is wrong with you?

The OP is talking about how that individual may have been a perfect candidate for beta in a way. I agree. But he wasn't in beta.

The topic is the accessibility (in this case, tutorials in the basics) of the game for newbs. His (apparently abysmal) performance is separate from the fact it was a tech test.

To put it another way: This topic isn't about the video, the newb, or the tech test.

A new player being completely lost as to what to do or who to shoot is something else entirely, and shouldn't be ignored. I doubt most shooter fans walking into PS2 will be as bad as the guy in the video as people are making it sound. Note that I haven't seen the video. I trust most gamers can pick up on the basics fairly quickly, however. FPS gamers anyway.

[The Degenatron]

There's a good argument for the good ol' staple of gaming: The Introductory Tutorial Walk-Through.

There's no shame in having one, and it would solve all of the problems new players have. If they choose not to follow the intro, then they are at fault.

That said, an intro is something that comes late in the development because you need to have things set in concrete before trying to build the intro tutorial.

[Dsent]

Why should anyone give this guy's video a second thought? Sorry, but the problem wasn't that he was a complete newb. He didn't read any information about the game, tech test, NDA, and anything else that was there to provide him information. He had information pop-up on screen and he exited out. Tech Tests have rules about streaming for a reason. We don't know what else has been explained to players in the tests to jump to this irrational conclusion that Planetside 2 isn't newbie friendly.

[Dloan]

The reconstruction process results in disorientation and random memory loss. To quickly get soldiers back up to speed, a virtual reality "tutorial" is replayed in the soldier's mind. This negates the requirement that a tutorial take place in the "real world" so it can be as linear and as disjointed as required.

So, for example, it starts off explaining the background in cutscene, giving a run down of each different faction and then asks something like "Do you recall which faction you belong to?" after which you make your choice etc etc.

[OutlawDr]

Honestly, whether or not PS2 is in "beta", Im confident that video has some of the best "feedback" the devs have gotten to date from an outside source. Sorry to say, but hardcore followers don't make the best beta tester. Maybe for higher balancing, end-game stuff... but not so much for everything else.
http://penny-arcade.com/patv/episode/playtesting

I think new players need to start in the VR. Maybe even their own instanced VR, where they can mess about and the game introduces to them the various terminals, guns, vehicles and what do with them. They can shoot their weapons at targets, and get all the newb asshatery out of their system. I agree at some point they need to watch a video that explains to them the domination gameplay of PS2, and the mission system. Players need to understand that there are no NPCs or traditional quest givers and rewards. They need to learn how to squad up and work with their squad to take strategic points on the map for resources. Those first 10 minutes are crucial.

Things that I witnessed today..:
-Most tkers won't get past the sanctuary..heh (fix with weapons lock in sanctuary)
-New bored, clueless players will resort to TKing for fun (case for upfront VR training, and alarming, first-time notifications to not TK).
-New players are expecting hand holding quests (explain the domination gameplay of PS2 and mission system form the very start)
-Terminals and their locations need to more obvious to new players (terminals need to be explained from the very beginning)
-New players like MAX (new players like MAX <shrug>)
-New players are wowed by PS2 even if they don't know what the heck is going on (make sure the the game keeps up this momentum and doesn't lose their attention!)