changes to the server and how people can join. (testing phase)

[Steelcryo]

We're considering alternatives at the moment

 

[roopot]

nice idea, but no one reads the signs, nor do they check the forums, they need to be given a more forceful way of noticing it, maybe a seperate spawn area for new players?

We should make a rule where you have to read every sign you see.

 

[Ofelion]

Having just joined the server yesterday and still being a peasant, I agree with Itzzaboy's suggestion and Roopot as well.
While I DID read all the signs I could find, it was still a bit confused as to where to go.
I settled for chasing chickens and pigs around the courtyard for food... hehe
But really, the immensity of the server and the lore that holds it together is a bit confusing for a new player.
A seperate "spawn" point for newcomers would server quite nice, and it shouldn't be much of a hassle to build into the story of silver port.

Say, a city as big and wealthy as Silver Port would have a large wall installment, with adjacent rooms/cells. These could be used as a starting point.
The traveler has just come in by boat, wayn or foot from afar. Upon arriving in Silver Port, they are brought to the adjacent quarters. This would be protocol for all strangers to Silver Port. To stay in story, this would ensure that the guard of the city can instruct all strangers in the laws and conducts of Silver Port.
In this little scenario, the stranger would just have to complete a few simple tasks, like reading signs or carry a message or recite something. I don't know.

Just my 2 cents.

Now a question of my own:
Reading the tome, it says I have to provide a background story for my character. I'd be glad, but I've surfed around the forum and can't find a place to type it in. Was it in the whitelist you did that prior to now? Or am I just blind?

Thanks for your time.

Ofelion

 

[Kruziik]

Use this if you want to make a character profile http://hollowworld.co.uk/index.php?forums/character-profiles-journals.24/

The ToC is a little out of date at parts due to the speed with which things have changed recently, it'll be updated though. I agree though i think a starting point for new players would be good, I remember from Ultima Online they added a starting town to help new players out, it was small enough so they got familiar with how things worked before being unleashed on the world I think it's something that we're seriously considering, although knowing the speed Steelcryo and Lars work they've probably already made the damn thing

 

[Ofelion]

Thanks for that Halfmad.
I must be blind to have missed that.

 

[Mees]

I still think the whitelist was a better method though...

 

[SanchezNI]

I still think the whitelist was a better method though...

Well that's a useful post.

Maybe want to suggest why?

 

[Mees]

Well that's a useful post.

Maybe want to suggest why?

Sure,

People had to read The Tome of Citizenship and The Rules, so they basicly understood whats happening in the server, then they wrote a Application.
Now they just can join the server, and don't understand things, so they ask random players.
Wich can be kind annoying sometimes,

(Dont get me wrong, im not against any of the changes, i just think the previous method was better...)

 

[Itzzaboy]

This is true, personally i though the whitelist method was better but there are pros to this method. The new players begin to immerse themselves in the community, and we can iron out any Lutheranuses before they can do any damage ^_^.

Also, it's still just a test, it may go back to the old way, although lars has mentioned he has a plan of having new players perform quests in a seperate area before joining the world.

 

[Megan]

Wouldn't it be awesome if there were a seperate world for players to spawn in, and in that world they found bits of lore and quests, as well as Villagers and Guard NPCs that told some of the rules to the players? actually... im going to take this to the admin team... i just got an exposion of an idea... Lars prepare to get spammed xD

Another great idea would be to create an introductory movie with some comedy, rp, and seriousness with some lore on the webpage as well. Actually... hmm... carry on peasants! Megan might be doing some crazy things soon...

 

[Stevey]

I told you was doing that megan

 

[Megan]

yes but i has more epic awesome ideas and i want to help :3 prease prease?

 

[Kruziik]

Happy to help build a new player island if anyone needs me, not touched NPCs etc yet though so don't expect me to do that bit

 

[SanchezNI]

Whats wrong with new players on the server who don't know what they're doing? I saw the same with new villagers who got accepted via the forums log in and not know what they're doing initially. It's a learning curve and I've said in other posts, this spreads the responsibiltiy of welcoming new players and helping instruct new players to all our current players. I have to say, some of you have been steller in doing so.

It is easier to weed out the poor players this method. Not everyone enjoys writing an application - it makes a server which is supposed to be fun feel stuffy and like submitting homework. This way, the palyers can log into the server and immediately sense the grandeur of our world and they have an opportunity to instantly get involved. This can help them shape their characters.

 

[Stevey]

I was skeptical of this at first when steel suggested it, but I think it turned out to be a great system. I'm happy to work with it now and implement things to make the whole process go a bit smoother. This enhances RP and saves a lot of work on the whitelisting.

New players will spawn in a seperate world that normal players cannot get to. They spawn in a ruined version of Port Silver that was struck by Queen Grief long ago. Lots of trees, grass and overgrown parts. They are resurrected by the sisterhood. They receive a quest where to have to find Quin (the guy from the ToC) who lives in one of the (ruined) houses in Port Silver. Quin explains a thing or two about roleplay, then sends the player to bring some mushroom soup tot Bob in his basement. When you meet Bob the quest explains that Bob wears a pink creeper. All the people in town made fun of Bob, Bob ran away and Quin took him in and locked him in his basement.

The quest will expand on the lore of the server, making the player visit places like Fortress Naught and Galo Gulch. Many aspects of the server will become apparent for the player, such as roleplay, skins, chat, currency, trade shops, voxel ports, towny, rules, possibly custom spells and skill when they are implemented, the dynamic map (they have to find a location by using the map) and there will be a room with statues (NPCs) of all the admin staff and honorary members of the server. They will also be given instructions to visit the forums and read the ToC.

A continuation of the introduction quests will send them to all the different towns on Altera, letting them earn quite a bit of startup gear by doing it. This way they will have seen all of the towns and they can make a good decision on what town to join.

By doing this we ensure that players who run through the quest and end up in the Northern Kingdoms are actually worth our time. We won't have to deal with Cat_Rapist_69 who comes online and starts asking for Kinghood and money. A further filter we could add is force everyone to use the spout client. Anyone that joins the server without spout will automatically be kicked and given a link to the forums to download spout, making them read the forums first.

Once they come out of the Newbie World and into the Northern Kingdoms, I want to stick them all in a village to begin with. I saw o0oInuyashao0o's village ingame and I think it fits perfect. She will expand it more and then all newcomers could live there, have a house and have a place to store items in chests etc. Here they can meet other newcomers and some of the wonderful people on our server who like greeting newcomers (the admin staff, and individuals such as TheCastellan). It will give them a place to roleplay right away, rather than spawning in Port Silver with no immediate inentive to do something.

I'm open to suggestions on what I could put in the Newbie World story-wise. I have a couple of ideas at the moment, but I would need to speak to some people about it first.

 

[SanchezNI]

I want to be a new player again ;-)

This sounds awesome, Lars.

 

[Steelcryo]

/me sees a lot of work on the horizon.

I'll just let lars do it

 

[SanchezNI]

This kinda stuff I'd love to help with

 

[flaa]

Wouldn't it be awesome if there were a seperate world for players to spawn in, and in that world they found bits of lore and quests, as well as Villagers and Guard NPCs that told some of the rules to the players?
...

The newbie village/area is often a beneficial concept as has been discussed. Although it may not always be necessary - Perhaps the Port Silver spawn could be adapted into one with the ideas presented here. This would spare people from the work of designing a separate area. And would bring more people together at Port Silver. Also, it would be nice to have a server welcome message which could display something in the lines of:

Welcome to Hollow World!​

This is a medieval/fantasy roleplaying server - For answers to your questions visit our forums at http://hollowworld.co.uk​

Use /rules for the server rules and /help for available commands.​

Of course, the /help and /rules commands would need to be set up accordingly.

 

[atkrye]

I love the idea of initial quests. You could also add a rank below Kings Hand (maybe as a stepping stone to Kings Hand?) which functions as a sort of guide (maybe literally have the title of Guide, or perhaps Traveller?) for new players. They just generally answer the questions of all new players and help them out with finding their way around, which means they wont be bugging the Kings Hands and Kings for help Just a thought