Off-Topic > The Pit

"Guns of Icarus" fans, holding game back.

<< < (11/17) > >>

Charon:
Copying that one down. S!

Captain Magellan:
I love to help out and teach new crews, and it's basically how I spent the day of the sale. But it is SO difficult. I have to sit in the lobby and explain how the game works, 'cause they refuse to read the game manual (pretty sure NONE of the people I told that to (easily over 50) read the manual. Same response from all of 'em, "nah."), and then spend 30 seconds at the beginning of the game talking like a southern at 3000 words a minute explaining my strategy to them. LOTS of work, and most of the time, not relaxing. Especially when they fail, though most of the time, they turn out to be shining crew members. Which is what I love.

I don't play with the noobs to even out the teams, I play with them to give them some guidance so THEY can even out the teams. I did not get this guidance when I started and I played against "stacked" teams (though not really, just higher level. That term is being thrown around a little too generously) with NO help and I had about 70 deaths before I got my first kill. I learned from my mistakes and learned how to beat these stuck up high levels. No I am enjoying a 480 some kills to 370 some deaths.

But your so called "proof" or statistics is not very good at all. You made faulty a assumption that the people who bought the bundle, played this game, and even if they did, left because of "stacked" teams. You did not phone call each one and ask him why he doesn't play it. I have tried to convince a lot of my friends to purchase this game but many of them were completely uninterested in the game.

Also, the amount of people playing the did not decrease it all, it increased by a good 1000% (at least). Before the purchase it was pretty often that I had mostly AI crew. Now people don't like to start a game unless they have full crews.

Yep, completely useless rant is over. :P

N-Sunderland:
That post is more than deserving of a salute, Magellan.

Captain Magellan:
ERMAGEHRD I HAVE TWO SALUTES.

Phoebe:
It kind of goes both ways.

For the most part people who choose to play a certain game are somewhat determined to at least learn the basics;- and I'd say the majority of these players will fare just fine through trial and error.

What doesn't work is when you;- as more experienced player - try to help them out and end up overflowing them with information they don't yet need to understand or learn;- I've witnessed a good example of this yesterday.

I remember that I really had no clue on my first match.  I didn't know how repairing something worked;- or even how to tell what is being damaged.   I didn't know what kind of damage I was dealing with a gun;- and I was falling off ships constantly trying to navigate from battle station to battle station;- exploring ships even in times of stress.

It is perfectly understandable when you have a pretty fresh crew just out of the crib trying to figure the game out that you get a little frustrated or annoyed - but games can last as quick as 5 minutes and generally do not last very long;- so it's a good sacrifice to make to just keep your head cool and give them some time to explore while you just point out the very basics they might be needing to know at the moment.

A completely new player does not need to know what a goldfish is or that flak cannons are best used to take out enemy weapons.   New players do not really need to be told just yet to take a certain ammo type because it's good.  For their first couple of matches we just need to have that little bit of patience to let them figure out some things on their own and get accustomed to the keys and controls - then how to seat a weapon; how to start repairing something.

That always has been and will be the best approach to welcome new players into your game;- people who you consider the biggest noobs on your crew are potentially your best friends and most skillful players a couple of weeks down the road;- all they need is a little bit of time.

People who can't figure the game out; can't handle someone getting a little impatient with them and people who do not have the basic interest in this game to search for a manual; forum guide or seek out the help of a CA or any player at all probably are not the target audience for this game after all.   Now it would be a really bad marketing approach to not care about these players and motivate them to play Guns of Icarus Online;- but you catch my drift.

My advice goes -

If you're the type of person that doesn't mind or even likes to help other people out;- please take into account their learning curve and maximum attention span to detail.  Take it slow; just hit them with a couple of basics and leave some of it for them to learn on their own.   Don't tell them what is good and what is not good before they know how to use it in the first place.

Chances are you will only stress them out with too much information that isn't important yet and then get frustrated because they don't show immediate improvement on basics - a common phenomenon where you might have the impression they are just really not listening to you while they're just confused and unable to distinct what is good and helpful from what is fundamental.

If you're the type of person that simply can't stand having to deal with crew members who don't understand the game yet;-  don't lash out or let them know you're frustrated.  They'll get the hang of it.  Games only last anywhere from 5 to 15 minutes and rarely go much longer than that so just suck it up and see it as a challenge on your own performance before heading out and finding a new lobby for your next round.

Navigation

[0] Message Index

[#] Next page

[*] Previous page