Post-Tutorial DisorientationFollow

Well, the more people whine about wanting an easier and easier game, the more SOE is going to do to present everything on a silver platter. Sadly, this applies to true noobs as well.

Some things that SOE does has me scratching my head. The whole moving forward stands you up I can see. However, camping now sits you down, and casting stands you up I don't get. Really....what the hell? How many lazy fat ***** did SOE had to hear from saying "I don't want to click sit before camping. It's too much like exercise for me" or "Why do I have to click stand to cast? I'm just too ******* retarded to remember to do that."

I'm still prolly a noob myself having only been playing almost a year and not having a toon anywhere near 65, but I'm seriously getting sick of all this. I would ask why Sony keeps putting out this crap, but I know why. Because we buy it. No matter how much we *****, moan and groan, SOE knows we will still buy it. However, I think my buying days are over with Sony.

The thing about the tutorial is that it's not working as it was intended to. All of the true no0bs are going through it, understanding the basics, and then complaining because they have to learn some of the finer points of the game without narration and somebody to hold their hand (although selling and such aren't exactly *fine* points).

The other people in the tutorial are the seasoned veterans who have found out that they can get an awesome charm just for running around and hailing a few NPCs. Hell, I did the tutorial just for the charm on my ranger. It's a good charm!

If SOE really wanted to help the true newbies out, they'd tell them to read the damn manual, just like they told me when I first started. That's one of the most enjoyable parts of learning a new game: the learning part!

Twiztid

I would refer them to the manual that comes with the game. Granted, it does not cover all the finer points, but it does contain a great deal of basic information that you need, eg, selling, grouping, tells, etc. I read the manual twice, cover to cover, before I even created a character. Maybe that's too much work for some...

Actually, having been in a game that has seen a large influx of totally new people more than once, I think this is a GOOD thing.

Everyone complains how top-heavy the servers are. There are two solutions that come to mind when something like EQ is top-heavy.

1. Redistribute the weight. You can do this by raising level caps and making low levels easier to progress through. (SOE appears to be doing this) This gives you some level spread by making new characters of level-motivated players hit mid-levels faster and spreads out the top end because many of your 65th level people aren't actually exping that fast. They didn't all hit 65 at the same pace. The top end will spread a bit.
OR you can lop off the head. (Character wipes would lose so much business as to be unimaginable plus that would just make it bottom-heavy, but you CAN make servers for only certain level ranges and force moves.)

2. Introduce enough population at the low end to achieve a balance. I think the tutorial is a good start. Better CS will have to be forthcoming as well. And don't expect every moron that can figure out how to log in and make it through the tutorial to make a decent player. SOE already tapped the hardcore market pretty good, I'd say. If dumbing down some of the initial play is what it takes to bring in a new influx of players, so be it.

I, personally, thought the old way of logging in and 'bam, you're in the world, what do you want to do now?' was too much too fast, anyway. Maybe the dumbing down process will help a few 'normal' people turn into hardcore EQ players. You know, get em over the hump.

I hope that's the way it works out anyway. It happened twice over the weekend when I was playing my new Druid: I ran into someone of like level and we worked together. Ten minutes later, I find out I already know the guy and he's in my guild also levelling an alt. Keep in mind, I did NOT level my main with guildies. He's 99% solo. I think we could use some fresh blood. Besides, it's fun to see when someone first learns what 'train' means.

I think it's just some of that old-school,
'When I was working MY way up, we had to write the the code if we wanted the character to stand up!'
scoffing at anything new and easier.

I tend to agree that it's an improvement. It just makes common sense to me. But no matter what you do, someone will ALWAYS have something negative to say about it. For every Joe Montana, there are thousands, if not millions, of LaZboy quarterbacks who can tell you every step that was wrong. A few know what they're talking about, but most couldn't run a whorehouse sitting in between a barracks and a bar.