Land for new players

[Goobler Profile]

I still stand behind by my original statement, I back Uekitree's plan seems like the best course and new players can have the freedom of design of their builds.

[DragonofHalo Profile]

I second the Goob. Lots of the new players either have difficulty understanding the concept of "don't build outside your plot," or just don't want to be limited by the plot boundary.

A welcome center to the middle of nowhere removes the plot boundary thing, while still directing people to new land.

[Timberwolf1777]

Yeah, gates aside, I love this idea. Uekitree, if you want to make things even easier (in terms of directions) we could dedicate one of the 3 rail lines in the basement of your shop to go to a Noob Zone so there would be even fewer chances of confusion on the way. More of a "Go to this shop. Buy a minecart. Get onto the "New Player Zone" track and dont get off till the cart stops. When it does, find open space and build." sort of experience. I will happily help build anything to make it as easy as possible.

[abigail Profile]

especially since minecarts are a fraction of the 300c starter (i think the iconomy default is 30c)

from what i can see, maybe we could ask someone with spawn access to add a sign to not spend all their coins in one spot (trying to think of something that will fit on one sign, since explaining about things like minecarts wouldnt fit)

[uekitree Profile]

Yeah, gates aside, I love this idea. Uekitree, if you want to make things even easier (in terms of directions) we could dedicate one of the 3 rail lines in the basement of your shop to go to a Noob Zone so there would be even fewer chances of confusion on the way. More of a "Go to this shop. Buy a minecart. Get onto the "New Player Zone" track and dont get off till the cart stops. When it does, find open space and build." sort of experience. I will happily help build anything to make it as easy as possible.

The plan is not to have just one new player zone its to make a lot of little seed towns that are easy to get to and find. Your idea could work by just going right to my rail station no need to change lines and any stop from there would lead to a seed town. The problem is that my base is right next to the hub so a rail line from leoville wouldn't be okay. If people think it would be easier to direct new players this way I could ask the mods to move my base.

What do people think? Is it better to say "Go to this shop. Take this line. Get off at any stop and build."? Or "Go to the Leoville station. Take the Desert Station line. Follow the signs."?

Making the directions as easy to give and follow as possible really is the hardest part.

[uekitree Profile]

especially since minecarts are a fraction of the 300c starter (i think the iconomy default is 30c)

from what i can see, maybe we could ask someone with spawn access to add a sign to not spend all their coins in one spot (trying to think of something that will fit on one sign, since explaining about things like minecarts wouldnt fit)

I'm working on the useful information board in the welcome center and its really hard to narrow it down. Your suggestion is a really good one.

How about everyone else? What do you think is the most important information/ tips for new players?

[Timberwolf1777]

As a new player, there is often a sort of anxiety feeling of, "I don't know whats happening but I just want to have/build my own place with my own farm so I can be fed and be protected from mobs till I figure out how the server/community works"

Once a player has derped around for a few days and built their new home, they often become ready to ask and learn more about how our community works. At this point, the transportation infrastructure that we all know and use (DoT Rail systems, Netherroads, skytram, etc) will become a part of their "getting around" know-how. They'll learn about the map, the information on the forums, etc., and in theory start to become a positive part of the TWiTCraft community.

It is bridging the transition time of being totally clueless that is the issue. With some basic info about commands like /sethome, /home, and /mvs, a new player's house could literally be anywhere on the map and it wouldn't matter to them until they were ready to start using the resource world and moving their /home location. That is when the map and transportation system become critically important.

Seed towns with the transit infrastructure to maintain them (netherroads/rail/etc) solve the long term viability of these destinations but I think a highly simplistic new player "funnel" is crucial just to get them to a place where they can /sethome as quickly and easily as possible. I love that there are several seed towns and the infrastructure to help them grow being developed. I believe that rail from anywhere in leoville area could be made to not interfere with the DoT lines near Uekitree's base. Also a redstone track switcher could be created at Uekitree's base to allow carts to end up at different destinations so that new players would be funneled to any/all of them in a random manner. So, for example, if I were to ride a rail from the shop, i would, with no stops, end up at a random seed town to start building. However, if I start by taking the DoT lines that are more complex and involve changing stations/tracks, I can pick and choose which seed town I end up at. By incorporating both systems, it could solve the issue of getting new players to available land with almost no problems and also allowing for the long term usability of the seed towns.

Thoughts?

[SWfan85 Profile]

Overall, I like Timber's idea, except for the "random" part. I think that players might prefer to have a list of seed towns and choose the one that suits the environment they may want to build in. I can just see someone that wants to get started and build in snowy region, but ends up in desert seed town by chance.

Just my two coins.

[Timberwolf1777]

and thats exactly why i was pitching to give both options (fast + random OR more complex + selectable). Some players just want/need to get to land as easily as possible. Others are more patient and choosy. This would allow for all types.

[SWfan85 Profile]

Touche.

[uekitree Profile]

The first seed town is ready for people to be sent there! It is being called Redstone City because anyone who settles there will be able to remember to follow the signs backed in red wool. A bit dull but practical. There is still a lot I need to add and I'm sure there will need to be changes once it actually sees use but it is basically functional so send people over.

How to get there: Leoville Station to Desert Station. Go outside and follow the blue signs. From there it should make sense.

Once Redstone City offers a little feedback I'll use it to stamp out nearly identical seed towns in other biomes.

Many wonderful and elaborate suggestions have been made and I think they would make great projects for someone else. I wanted a simple option that would help most new players and could be implemented quickly without interrupting mods or anyone else with special requests.

In addition to making my station as user friendly as possible, I still need to add the useful information board in the welcome center. I could really use suggestions on what you think the most important things to include would be.

Thanks!

[PosterAnonymous Profile]

Good luck! I'm curious to see how well this works out!

[Timberwolf1777]

As for necessary information for new players:

Shop locations are good info
The map web address is very useful http://mc.twit.tv:8123/
Very basic commands (with brief descriptions) like:
/sethome
/home
/mvs
/cprivate
/cremove
/list
/money

Maybe even a link to the "guides" section of the forum.

[SWfan85 Profile]

I know that this entire idea is ambitious. But nothing ventured, nothing gained.

[gregor1942 Profile]

i think a mod would have to help with this but could we possibly do a sky tram stop Right above spawn that would go to these areas on the map?

[abigail Profile]

timber actually said how i started, i found some place to build a home, made a food garden then talked to people, helped out with things and built a much better house near a rail station. just about the only place i have not been to that i want to is one of the mycellium islands. but thats mostly from not playing as often

the only thing i see with the skytram is people with render on too low to see it. and any hub in the air near or right over spawn (the spot new players are more likely to elevator to) could have a map thingy as a guide to which way to where (like dot) so when someone gets there they just need a location name and they can run off to where they want to go (or see the name of the places they are randomly heading to)

[Robrotheram Profile]

Sounds like a very cool idea and I be happy to help. I have been very very busy with university for the past month with lots of coursework and exams in a weeks time. I should have more time to help on the server

[DragonofHalo Profile]

Quick little random suggestion: make a few somewhat derpy cobble and wood houses. Not horrible looking, but just a few scattered about near the seed town with a bed, a chest, small farm, etc. Keep it sweet and simple so that people will decide to move out to make a better house, or modify it to make it look better. Once the player picks one of the houses, they can begin poking around, asking the good people of Twitcraft for advice and such, rooting around in resource and learning their way around. (Also nice to cut down on dirt huts. Might even give the new guys some ideas for their "real" home.)

After surfing the plank of shame for an hour this morning, I noticed quite a few instances where new players would just move into a house they found. Now I obviously don't want to encourage this, but I think that having a sign out front saying "Open" would show that this house was made for new players. (Maybe even have a sign saying, "Do NOT move into houses that have already been claimed.")

One last thing: I think that a Skytram line would be one of the best methods for people to find the seed towns. A. It's fairly straightforward,
B. It's much easier for a player to explain to one of the new kids, "Follow me, right click this sign, Put the cart down, follow that track until it stops," to trying to explain how to get to the Netherroad. Also, the relative closeness to spawn makes it much less of a hassle for older players to lead the new guys to. And finally, C. The gigantic diamond helix really marks it as an object of interest. Once a player finds the Skytram, it's pretty hard to forget where it was.

[SWfan85 Profile]

Just kind of an FYI, the "Welcome Center" for a potential new player area on the far east side of the map is coming together. X:2694, Z: 983.

[gregor1942 Profile]

the only thing i see with the skytram is people with render on too low to see it. and any hub in the air near or right over spawn (the spot new players are more likely to elevator to) could have a map thingy as a guide to which way to where (like dot) so when someone gets there they just need a location name and they can run off to where they want to go (or see the name of the places they are randomly heading to)

that is why i think doing a skytram station with a lift sign right above spawn would work then you can tell them to punch the sign in front of them instead of "go to citadel." Where's that? "East." Which ways East?