Ideas to help new players settle on BG

[trogers2]

Hello guys, I have always tried to make the new blood on this server feel welcome and settle in but there is only so much I can do on my own; I have noticed a trend however that most of the new players that last the week typically end up leaving within the first month - if they do survive the month they have a bigger chance of becoming a regular player.

This prompted me to do a bit of research and I found that roughly 3 out of every 5 new players leave because of either 1) unable to fit in / 2) confused/lost 3) Not a fan of the server for whatever reason.

These first two reasons worry me and I think it would be healthy if we come up with some ideas to help make new players feel welcome I have drafted some ideas below but would be greatful if you guys could throw some ideas forward as well.


My ideas

- Make all quest NPCs names blue / bold / stand out
Giving new players the prompt (via a pop up message or inventry item) where the quest NPCs are roughly.
In the eyes of a new player - it'll give them something to do and help them settle in. Bare in mind there are a lot of NPCs, to us it is no big deal but to a player it can be intimidating; typically the player will end up grinding anyway to level, which often leads to the new player getting a false impression of the game.

- Mentor program
If some players volunteer to become 'mentors' they can tutor the new player both IC and OOCly; this could be a new staff tag on the forums -- and an in game prompt to let new players know; a small monthly exp reward can be given to players who wish to take on this role.
The mentor's duty includes:
- Arranging RP with the new player
- Speaking with the new player OOCly and addressing any concerns they have / questions
- Helping the new player find their way around
- Introducing them IC and OOCly to the lore / rules

Alerting Server
An in game prompt window when they log in (for level 1s) to ask if they are a new player or not Yes/No, if 'Yes' is selected a system message will pop up alerting the server of the players name; this will make it easier for mentors but also other players who wish to help.

Active Guilds
A list of active guilds (ideally in game on a notice board) with all the guild leaders / brief outline of what the guild is / does, this will make it easier for players to join guild and hopefully give them quailty RP.

Let me know what you guys think, I'll jot down any other ideas I get.

[Darkcloud777]

These are all great ideas.

[Zanniej]

I like it.

Not yet sure about the NPCs and the specifics of the mentor program though. I like mentoring new players, but wouldn't do so for XP gains or anything. I just think it's fun. I also don't think a tag on the forum would work. Most people just start playing, and find the forum only until later.

Also, part of the fun is finding the quests, to some . . . colouring the names would take that fun away, a bit, I think.

Perhaps the server alert. Something along the lines of:
"Are you a new player and would you like some help getting around the server?"

And if you press yes, a status will be added to the scry.

[Asmodea]

As one of the most established RPers on the server I would actually really enjoy having people given my name and me having the goal of helping them establish and find their place in the server. Sometimes I seek out new players but a system by which they could seek me out would be entirely welcome. I think it should be entirely volunteer though, and the only reward being interacting with new players. The whole vetting system might be complex though. As in: Who counts as an old established player and who does not.

[chad878262]

My own experience when I first started playing makes me also agree with such a program. After my third week I was close to giving up. I had been slowly learning my way around, roleplaying my Stalker style Ranger, but found that every group I joined ended up leaving me behind as I slowly stalked through the dungeon, using stealth, tracking, roleplaying (even by myself). I got lucky and was found by one of the best RP'ers I've encountered in any medium, but not everyone is so lucky. If there were a way to pair up new players with volunteers that could show them the ropes based on what they're looking for out of the server it would be a big win IMO.

[Maecius]

They're great ideas. I'd be all for their discussion and possible implementation. I'll flag them staff side. If anyone else has ideas for making the server more easy to get into for new players, feel free to spitball them here or shoot me a PM.

[Tantive]

In the Tales of the Moonsea server, quest npcs would sometimes speak up they have a job for you to do, or you would get the messages in your combat box that theres a stink coming from a sewer nearby (maybe denoting another traversable area). Though they would also note if a job is too difficult for you.

[Aspect of Sorrow]

Colorizing of the quest NPC names is a good idea.

For everything else, the player should be redirected to a community maintained resource and informed during login. Something that is more consistent throughout timezones and irrespective of player availability.

Code: Select all

bgtscc.net/new

redirecting the player to our Wiki, with a new player guide from there, where map images, quest information, etc, can be maintained by the community as a whole.

The Guild information is referenced from the forum directly, where activity is automatically determined by a single glance.

Serverwide alerting is a strong no from me, something considerably abused.

Tagging / yet-another-staff-position is extra overhead not necessary to maintain. Scry messages about willingness to help new people is sufficient.

[7threalm]

or put at 50% or 30% movement penatly on the skeletons in the graveyard.

I went in there it it spawn like 6 of them.. was not good

I know the spawn rate was up but the skeletons are to fast

[Mallore]

I would love to have Guild Tags for those who wish to show them.

a tag would appear below the players name so that it new players can approch me about such RP either ICly or OOCLy.


Sort of like how Guild Names appears in World of Warcraft, though optional and maybe below the character name in a smaller font text. This would only be on the player character ID bar and not in the chat box.

So example, if you looked my Character Jane Price while IG it would Say Jane Price and under her name might be SCCE for the Sword Coast Commercial Exchange. Or Jane Price Baldurs Gate as I would happily answer anyone with RP questions about the city and its groups OOCly or would love anyone to approch me IC with IC RP in regards to city roleplay and city life.


this is just a neat little Meta Tag to help new players.

[Aspect of Sorrow]

The scry is perfect for that, not player names, which numerous systems are built on and have enough issues with.

[Nemni]

Great topic! I think many games are flawed in that they make the beginning too hard (for a real beginner) and the ending too easy. This server is no exception - the risk of dying is never greater than when you have less than 10 hp and 2 hits easily kill you. So in my opinion all CL1 monsters should do like 1-2 damage at most and have about 4 hp.

Also just remove those ambushing wolves in the bandit cave already, it seems they are specifically designed to make new players rage quit

[genbor]

I really like all of these ideas. While I agree that part of the fun is just to find which NPCs give quests, it also slows down after you leave Baldur's Gate, where most of the early quests are. After the players finish the quests there, they are left wondering what to do now.

I remember my first time on the server, and it was pretty fun, but after a while I also lost purpose as I wasn't as much into RPing back then and had to ease into it.

As for the prompt, I think having a scry message automatically appear could do wonders.

[aaron22]

one of my favorite things to do is find new players in the farmlands and help them learn some of the most useful aspects of the UI and server. after they get as much as they want from that, i do some IC stuff with them, get to know the PC they are trying to be. then lead them to meeting some other players for IG introductions to help them progress there social network. it is usually just an hour or so, but after the OOC UI and server help. the rest fits into IG realism to me. and i think for a new player as well.

i remember my first few days on the server. i didnt know how to RP or even where to get a sword. after a few days i found a group and a couple of them helped me out. i have also seen other players helping like this. so maybe just a scry message would go pretty far.

[Cowbot]

I started playing in December and I am still here, but I came with a group of 6 people. Of those, 1 other besides me is still playing. All of the others quit for the same reason: They can't RP, or didn't want to.

I know some people like a play-style that involves mostly grinding and not that much RP, I don't want to belittle that. However, I would say, for gamers as a whole (not just people who play NWN) chances are if they don't value RP more than grind, they'll quit. Why? Because other games do the grind so, so much better than this one, whereas no other game does RP as well as this one.

My personal play-style is extreme RP, so it was easy for me to stay here. I got to level 8 entirely from RP xp before I learned how to fish. Even now I hardly grind ever, maybe once every two weeks.

Because I theorize that RP is linked to retention, I would propose a few things to facilitate RP for new players:

Clean up the roads between FAI and BG. Low-leveled people can't make that trip easily in a lot of cases. FAI is an RP hub and it is essential that all people have constant access to it. Just move the bandit and animal spawns away from the road and get rid of the random road ambushes.

Stop running as quickly as possible through dungeons and grind areas unless you are sure everyone is on board for that. Even then, I encourage people to walk and talk. Give people a taste of the RP. Often I want to RP with people and explore the server, but I can't because people run the most optimized route and don't actually talk to me while we're there. I've not seen but a tiny fraction of the server because of this behavior, and because I am (rightfully, I think) afraid of dying to creatures of unknown strength.

Label all the zones with CR. Some already do this (the sewers, the graveyard), just do it to all of them. I love exploring, and I like meeting people on the road, but I don't want to go into a zone to find someone to play with only to get wrecked by insane monsters.



I found the community to be highly positive and caring. Many people reached out to me with advice and nobody has ever spurned my questions. Upon joining I was invited to at least three guilds within the week, all of which I learned about IC.