Suggestion [Staff][Whitelist] Please, listen to your Players.

[0whitemage0]

I'd like to preface this entire article by saying that I enjoy the small clique of people I've come to meet on this server. I enjoy my town, I love helping out my fellow players and I'm truly becoming an advocate for improvement. I aspire to become a guide for new players, and I want to apply for architect so I can help provide players with content! I want to be a valuable resource to this server. So when you read this, please understand I have no intentions of quitting. I don't plan to give up and forsake trying. So understand, I say everything to come as a gamer giving feedback on something I truly enjoy and simply wish to see improved!

To begin, lets start with what can be fixed, the [Whitelist] issues.

"Players are what drive a successful and thriving community."​

You have a stagnating player base, and I have seen Kainzo himself mention the issue. Players are joining this server with excitement and awe as the world they're convinced is worth joining, vast confusion as they're tackled by virtually an entirely new game, and no one to show them around as a mentor and friend. Instead they join a world where quite literally the hierarchy of players aggressively bully them to the point where their excitement and awe are drained to nothing but resentment and angst.

I mentioned this in general chat and the replies I got were:

- "This is a hardcore PvP server."
- "Hey, high levels get bored. We need something to do."
- "Oh its just good fun."
- "That's how this servers work, high levels have to have something to do. We get bored."​

These comments present an obvious attitude for a negative cycle. One that literally corrodes the very environment that houses it. Herocraft has players who are not being provided outlets for their time and energy, running around bullying your new player base. The very players that are what fuel an ever growing and thriving community. In my short time on this server I have witnessed five players already be completely discouraged from trying to survive and enjoy this server. Mainly because one to two max levels came down and decided that it was in their best interest to kill new players. Because they had nothing better to do. This applies to towns! Start up towns are raided and the laughed at as they fall apart because they don't have the optimism to stick together.

Do you understand what this translate into money wise? Loss. Human capital is the main drive of any successful venture. People are what drive success, and they are what bring in resources. If your player base is stagnating because your traffic of new players is being driven away, then your long term investments are nearly non-existent. Your venture will come to an end because no one had a ounce of drive to give it the time of day. You have to grasp the attention of new players, and then cradle it and nurture it to the point where they're giving back!

"Betting on a single group of never changing players to stick with a server through and through, never pays off."​

Now the [staff] issues, this is what scares me most. It seems like no one is here to moderate, and when someone does its half assed. For example, I asked a member in my town who could fix our global market chest. They replied and I quote, "An Admin, whichever one that feels like caring to do it." And this is just one occasion where a member expressed little faith in the staff. On top of that, it seems as though players can essentially run around unhindered in this world being rude and inconsiderate of new players or people who are unfamiliar with how things work. Its alarming to see an absence of administration when according to your site you make more than enough money through micro transactions to give you're staff some motivation.

It doesn't matter how good your product is, customer support is what people realistically remember when the very product requires participation of said company. Your players are looking at you! They're asking for help, they're screaming for changes, and behind your backs they're discussing the very changes that they want, the things they believe are broken. Customer service is what alleviates all this, its what provides the bridge between customer to company. Its what provides you with the means for improvement.

Take a look at the thriving mmo Final Fantasy 14. They are making leaps and bounds in the gaming community because they keep their fingers to the pulse. Essentially they look for feedback about their game, and they respond! In turn every day people are subbing and paying to be apart of that community! And the company turns around and continues to adapt, responding to what the community notices and reports.

Boiled down . . .

Your servers has new players begging to join, and your current community is pushing them away. Your community is begging for changes, and the staff is no where to be seen. Your. Community. They want communication, so please fix the bridge, and allow for the player base to thrive. Revamp how you treat new players, teach them to swim before you drop them into the Hardcore PvP sea you've created. Because in the end the players choose your server, they choose your dream and all they're asking is your at least try to keep it alive. Don't follow the World of Warcraft motto of, "Don't fix what seems to be working." Adapt, thrive, and then adapt again.​

 

[LightTheAbsol]

Fam, you're like, the voice of justice!

Community matters!

 

[Kainzo]

Staff is no where to be seen...

Hi, I'm on this server more than 8-14 hours a day.

We have a high volume of petitions, some that take more than a few minutes to do, so we can easily get behind. We are always accepting staff applications and have promoted 2 mods in the last few weeks.

Our admins are busy. They have their own things going on, its a position that wont ever be given lightly, it requires trust and a prime dedication to this community.

 

[0whitemage0]

Kainzo, please don't take this as a personal affront. This entire post is an outcry, not a rant or an assault against your creation. Yes, I have seen you online for exactly the time you claim and I even listened in on the community meeting you had just yesterday for a little bit. But the problem at hand is not you, but the staff as a whole. Because you can't look at problems as being just a one man show. You could be doing all the work Kainzo, but your staff is a team, and any problem is not the fault of one member but of the team. So let me explain . . .

If you took a poll and asked the community to name off every mod and admin they knew by name without researching you'd be on the list every time. But how many other names would you find? How frequent would each name be listed, and how memorable would each name be to said community member? You see, you're a figure head. The most noticeable person on this server so your participation in anything is irrelevant in relation to impressions. But the rest of your staff is another matter in itself.

You say you have admins that are busy, okay thats understandable. You have a server and it has back-end responsibilities that must be taken care of and maintained. I'm sure that the content you're developing requires staff as well, so that requires managements attention! So sure, the admins I can imagine are bogged down beyond belief. But what of the mods who are directly in charge of the active server? I asked roughly seven to eight people at random to see if anyone knew of any mods, and the answers I got back were quite dismal. Near to no one knew of more than 2 moderators and what they knew of those people was less then the scope of their name and what they did. That's scary, because it directly translates into:

"Your staff does not have a memorable impact on the player base of your server."​

Now don't take this as being completely negative! It is by no means a admittance or accusation that your moderators are inactive or not participating in their joint responsibilities. By benefit of the doubt, I completely believe they are trying their best. But if this is so, then the way they're trying is not reaching your community! The moderators should be known, players should be able to easily reference trouble community members to said moderators without having to question whether or not they even exist. As well as having faith in their ability to resolve issues.

I'm not trying to raise problems where there are none, this is a direct presentation of what I've seen and heard. Players don't believe the mods will help them, they don't have faith that their problems can be fixed or will be fixed. On top of that you have players who genuinely believe if they spend an outrageous amount of money in donations that, that is the only way to receive a moderators attention to their cause. I had a player and I quote, tell me "Kainzo doesn't care about you, you don't donate enough." Though this comment is directly referring to you Kainzo, but thats only because you're the figure head of this server, its quite literally directed at the staff as a whole when you boil down the intentions of each word. Not specifically you.

And as a side note, I'm concerned that out of the entire post you only mentioned my notation about staff. You didn't address my comments about the real issue, your players and the dwindling traffic of new players. Your staff can be fixed but if you burn that bridge of new players it will be near to impossible to mend. Look at Tales of Malencia, the first real privatized RPG server. It thrived on new players, and it survived for quite a long time. It was quite similar to this server in theory. Yet the reason it failed was because it flunked at capturing traffic and maintaining it. This is the real issue at hand. Like I said, staff can be fixed but your traffic is a significantly touchier situation!

 

[Kainzo]

Player retention is and always has been a problem. We're a very complex server. I'm really up for improving this and over the past few years it has improved drastically.

@0whitemage0
What are your immediate solutions for this? Having a staff-hand around to walk players through the basics? a better in-depth tutorial that makes the players understand the classes/abilities before letting them onto the server?

I'm very interested in what you have to say and I did read your entire post.

 

[_Trains_]

Player retention is and always has been a problem. We're a very complex server. I'm really up for improving this and over the past few years it has improved drastically.

@0whitemage0
What are your immediate solutions for this? Having a staff-hand around to walk players through the basics? a better in-depth tutorial that makes the players understand the classes/abilities before letting them onto the server?

I'm very interested in what you have to say and I did read your entire post.

Maybe this is wrong, maybe this isn't. What @0whitemage0 said at the beggining of the first post, is that new players are immediately thrown out into the open, with nobody to help them. I myself have helped quite a few players take their first steps in this game; help them build a house, farm, level, mine, etc.

Our guides are mostly riding on chat. If one has a question, a guide will jump on it and answer. Classic questions like: "How do I check my skills" "How to get back to spawn" "How to join a town" "How to change chats" are all answered easily by everyone. However, there aren't many replies to "Hi I'm new" and "How do I play".

What I think @0whitemage0 is suggesting, is that we need more people who are willing to help the new people and their first steps. Someone of high level, who will protect the new player until he is safe enough to really start on his own. Show him around spawn, the market, the nexus. Explain dungeons, skills, health, healing, classes, and just help the player generally.

Once again, maybe I'm wrong, but that's the vibe I was getting from these posts.

 

[Kainzo]

Maybe this is wrong, maybe this isn't. What @0whitemage0 said at the beggining of the first post, is that new players are immediately thrown out into the open, with nobody to help them. I myself have helped quite a few players take their first steps in this game; help them build a house, farm, level, mine, etc.

Our guides are mostly riding on chat. If one has a question, a guide will jump on it and answer. Classic questions like: "How do I check my skills" "How to get back to spawn" "How to join a town" "How to change chats" are all answered easily by everyone. However, there aren't many replies to "Hi I'm new" and "How do I play".

What I think @0whitemage0 is suggesting, is that we need more people who are willing to help the new people and their first steps. Someone of high level, who will protect the new player until he is safe enough to really start on his own. Show him around spawn, the market, the nexus. Explain dungeons, skills, health, healing, classes, and just help the player generally.

Once again, maybe I'm wrong, but that's the vibe I was getting from these posts.

I'm all about it, I just don't know an easy way to implement that. Up for indepth suggestions.

 

[Enduriel]

Correct me if I am wrong, but wasn't there some sort of basic training camp/tutorial two (or maybe three, my memory isn't great) maps ago? Because of course one way to learn everything is to go on the wiki and well... read A LOT. Whilst I'm not a person to be dissuaded by that (quite the opposite; I enjoy reading wikis) most of the people I know have serious issues with reading long things. Perhaps a startup tutorial is the answer, maybe it's not (maybe the answer is a book with ALL of the ESSENTIAL information and a link to the wiki with more specific stuff). I get that some people are trying to help; I myself to help when I can, but if I'm in the middle of a boss fight I can't exactly be answering questions at the same time (same would go for a lot of other players). What I'm saying is that we need something for new players to learn from, because there are not always people online who have the opportunity or ability to help.

 

[0whitemage0]

I appreciate you reading the entire post, and I apologize for having presumed otherwise on the premise of your replies content. I will first list solutions that I have heard presented by the community, and then I will provide my own afterwords as supplemental ideas. As my experience on this server is still limited, I do not believe mine to be well founded in regards to this servers knowledge.

The Issues and Solutions Presented by the Community​

The tutorial:

A complaint was brought to my attention about the signs. Vaguely quoted, "There are a shit ton of signs, like I wouldn't be surprised if people quit right there. Or just flew past it." I believe the root of this complaint lies in the need for a more hands on tutorial possibly? I have noticed that server with vast stream lined sign tutorials tends to either bore players, or overwhelm them with to much information to memorize. Essentially, in comparison to a college student, you're flashing to many note cards in their face at to quick of a speed for memory retention.​

The solution presented was:

Providing the new player base with a tutorial dungeon. A place where they could test abilities and be guided along mob encounters. While still being exposed to scenarios hospitable to introduction of commands and the inner workings of the servers economy.​

New Players:

This is in regards to bullying. Multiple new players and relatively "acclimated" new players have complained that the high levels are abusing their stats and resources to halt the experience of lower players. Essentially cutting of their attempts to experience this servers potential. I wouldn't want to go as far to say that people are inadvertently complaining about the "Elitest Attitude" that may be in the air, but it would be work looking into. Because there are under tones of that complaint.
​

The Solutions presented:

None were immediately mentioned but I do believe your community has some in mind. Since I have yet to ascertain what they are, I will supplement my own.
​

Staff:

I've mentioned this issue in both posts, while quoting people on this issue. So I do not feel as though rephrasing would do any good, but beat the already dead horse as the saying goes.
​

The Solutions present:

What I've heard are more or less the byproduct of solutions but I will list them none the less. In my supplements I will do my best to translate these byproducts into solutions that I feel the community would vocalize if asked.

• Quicker petition responses.
• Engaging and public awareness
• Presence in the community
• Vocalized efforts and understanding of peoples issues.

My Solutions
​

The tutorial and my solution:

I believe that the idea for a dungeon is wise, possibly difficult to accomplish on a large scale, but a good base idea to build off of. I am personally a fan of player interaction. But lets start at the beginning, I advise dwindling the amount of knowledge you expose to the players first hand. Provide them with the immediate knowledge they need and keep it at that. This can be done with signs, but stick to the absolute necessities. Then ease them into a beginner dungeon that is stream lined to introduce them to combat, classes, currency etc . . . After this I highly recommend putting your [Guide] staff position to use. Have these members claim a new players as their apprentice and have them essentially help and support the new players with information. I can expand on this if needed. Another possible solution is a starter town, a town that people can join specifically ran by the [Guide] staff that players are given the option to join. This towns goal will be to acclimate them to the games inner workings. I recommend that the town is ran by staff, PvP free, and protected. Once they are fully acclimated to the server release them into your Hardcore PvP sea at that point. This way they can join other towns as a contributing member to the server, not a burden that people have to bare with.
​

New Players:

Being directly related to the tutorial issue, players are clueless and thus easily bullied. Relieving them of their naivete should reduce this issues frequency. However as I am optimistic, I must be realistic and thus doubt players ability at self restraint. So, in protection of beginner players I believe a worth while solution would be to providing new towns, with a protection of some sort. This way raiding isn't an issue in the beginning stages of development. By no means am I claiming to remove PvP from them, but to provide them with a chance to get on their feet and establish themselves. Some brainstorming on this issue is needed so possibly gathering up some players and discussing this would be beneficial.
​

Staff:

This is the most tricky of problems to provide solutions to because nothing works the same twice. However, I will do my best. In response to providing quicker petition responses, there is no real solution as staff members can only work so fast, and so hard. However to alleviate the stress of players I believe that having someone vocalize that their issue is being looked at, and listening to the complaints or issues of said player may help. Generally people just want to be heard, and recognition of the fact that they have been heard. And this brings me to another solution of engagement and public awareness. Obviously your community has ideas and complaints, I advise creating the Ambassador position. I need only be one or two people, extroverted individuals with capable people skills, that can go around the community taking down their messages, relating and empathizing with them and then relaying all that to the appropriate staff. I understand that the forums is what this is made for, but player interaction with staff directly provide a higher quality in service. It also makes players feel as though they are being cared for, and that they are important. This also takes care of the last two issues regarding presence, and vocalized efforts.
​

 

[0whitemage0]

Also, Iliketrains, yes I have seen you guys working hard to introduce new people and to help them! I've been paying attention to /ch help and I know first hand that you guys are indeed, helpful. But I feel as though this isn't so much an issue of Guides not doing their job, but more of the tools at their disposal and the environment at which players are introduced to is not hospitable to acclimation. If that makes sense, and Kacerpot, if thats true I'd love to hear more about this! I didn't know such had existed in previous maps, it might be useful and brainstorming about possible solutions! History always provides an understanding of what could be in the future.

 

[J2BH]

While I agree that experienced players tend to push away newer players with various methods like town camping and other stuff, It's important to know that kainzo is aware of these issues and has already addressed them in game. Another thing which can be debated is that the new players push themselves away. We have a tutorial at the start of the server that has information on everything that new players leave for. While yes, the experienced players have their effect on the new ones, i did my own research. When players were on the verge of quitting i asked them why, and most of them replied that the server is too confusing. Then i would ask them about the tutorial and they would say even that is confusing. This is where the debate comes in as to whether it's the tutorials fault or the new players fault. My stand on this is that it's both. The newer player base are usually >16 years of age, which don't like to really read. because of this they just zoom past the entire tutorial and resort to help chat and, when they get no help, they leave. I agree with many of the issues in this post and I think it's awesome that you took the time to type it out but, more than half of these issues have already been addressed by kainzo. I also used to make outcries to certain things wrong with the server in game until I finally realized that kainzo and the staff are 2 steps ahead of it all. There are a lot of things in this post that have been taken into account but no action has been taken towards it, but change doesn't come in minutes .

 

[_Trains_]

@Kainzo, I was thinking for a while, and I think I'm on to something. Something Possible.

In the server Mineplex, there is (/was, depending on if it was updated) a villager that asked you if you wanted a tutorial. Once you agree, you are placed in a cutscene. You can try to check it out yourself, for best results, but I will try to explain what happens to the best my ability.

You are unable to move, and there are no players in the spawn area. This probably means you get teleported to an alternate world.
The global chat goes away, and words replace your chat, explaining everything. "here is spawn" "here are mini games" "here is parkour" etc.
Then, you teleport back to where you were, with nothing received except for more knowledge on the server.

Now, let's go back to what we can do. I know, it might not be as good, but it might be better than Mineplex as well. This time, it would follow the same idea, and it will show the players around the basic area. Show them the nexus, spawn, the market, the trade district, the dungeons, how to activate skills, how to go to spawn, how to go to test, etc.

And, how would we make it work? I don't know anything about code, but I have tested some things in adventure. @devotedworker can make cutscenes, where we are automatically moved. I don't know if we can do that on this server, but that is a simple way to do it.

But now, will we have a villager that we have to talk to for this? I don't think so. After one finishes the tutorial, and jumps through the portal, this cutscene plays. Because anyone like me will just skip over it, making it pointless to make.

So, what do you think? Doable, or risky? Hell yeah, or hell no? Too Hard to make for such little purpose, or a need for the bettering of the comunity?

 

[GodOfGales]

I wouldn't mind helping brand new players by sitting in the Tutorial towards the end and offer help before they join the server, but I can't really get to the tutorial right now, and sometimes I'm busy and don't pay attention to chat outside of times I devote to helping. Sitting in the tutorial might help though, I could help at certain parts where new players are confused.


EDIT: I didn't read through the whole comments so I could get back to an in-game boost. Sorry.

 

[RegularHumanMode]

I appreciate you reading the entire post, and I apologize for having presumed otherwise on the premise of your replies content. I will first list solutions that I have heard presented by the community, and then I will provide my own afterwords as supplemental ideas. As my experience on this server is still limited, I do not believe mine to be well founded in regards to this servers knowledge.

The Issues and Solutions Presented by the Community​

The tutorial:

A complaint was brought to my attention about the signs. Vaguely quoted, "There are a shit ton of signs, like I wouldn't be surprised if people quit right there. Or just flew past it." I believe the root of this complaint lies in the need for a more hands on tutorial possibly? I have noticed that server with vast stream lined sign tutorials tends to either bore players, or overwhelm them with to much information to memorize. Essentially, in comparison to a college student, you're flashing to many note cards in their face at to quick of a speed for memory retention.​

The solution presented was:

Providing the new player base with a tutorial dungeon. A place where they could test abilities and be guided along mob encounters. While still being exposed to scenarios hospitable to introduction of commands and the inner workings of the servers economy.​

New Players:

This is in regards to bullying. Multiple new players and relatively "acclimated" new players have complained that the high levels are abusing their stats and resources to halt the experience of lower players. Essentially cutting of their attempts to experience this servers potential. I wouldn't want to go as far to say that people are inadvertently complaining about the "Elitest Attitude" that may be in the air, but it would be work looking into. Because there are under tones of that complaint.
​

The Solutions presented:

None were immediately mentioned but I do believe your community has some in mind. Since I have yet to ascertain what they are, I will supplement my own.
​

Staff:

I've mentioned this issue in both posts, while quoting people on this issue. So I do not feel as though rephrasing would do any good, but beat the already dead horse as the saying goes.
​

The Solutions present:

What I've heard are more or less the byproduct of solutions but I will list them none the less. In my supplements I will do my best to translate these byproducts into solutions that I feel the community would vocalize if asked.

• Quicker petition responses.
• Engaging and public awareness
• Presence in the community
• Vocalized efforts and understanding of peoples issues.

My Solutions
​

The tutorial and my solution:

I believe that the idea for a dungeon is wise, possibly difficult to accomplish on a large scale, but a good base idea to build off of. I am personally a fan of player interaction. But lets start at the beginning, I advise dwindling the amount of knowledge you expose to the players first hand. Provide them with the immediate knowledge they need and keep it at that. This can be done with signs, but stick to the absolute necessities. Then ease them into a beginner dungeon that is stream lined to introduce them to combat, classes, currency etc . . . After this I highly recommend putting your [Guide] staff position to use. Have these members claim a new players as their apprentice and have them essentially help and support the new players with information. I can expand on this if needed. Another possible solution is a starter town, a town that people can join specifically ran by the [Guide] staff that players are given the option to join. This towns goal will be to acclimate them to the games inner workings. I recommend that the town is ran by staff, PvP free, and protected. Once they are fully acclimated to the server release them into your Hardcore PvP sea at that point. This way they can join other towns as a contributing member to the server, not a burden that people have to bare with.
​

New Players:

Being directly related to the tutorial issue, players are clueless and thus easily bullied. Relieving them of their naivete should reduce this issues frequency. However as I am optimistic, I must be realistic and thus doubt players ability at self restraint. So, in protection of beginner players I believe a worth while solution would be to providing new towns, with a protection of some sort. This way raiding isn't an issue in the beginning stages of development. By no means am I claiming to remove PvP from them, but to provide them with a chance to get on their feet and establish themselves. Some brainstorming on this issue is needed so possibly gathering up some players and discussing this would be beneficial.
​

Staff:

This is the most tricky of problems to provide solutions to because nothing works the same twice. However, I will do my best. In response to providing quicker petition responses, there is no real solution as staff members can only work so fast, and so hard. However to alleviate the stress of players I believe that having someone vocalize that their issue is being looked at, and listening to the complaints or issues of said player may help. Generally people just want to be heard, and recognition of the fact that they have been heard. And this brings me to another solution of engagement and public awareness. Obviously your community has ideas and complaints, I advise creating the Ambassador position. I need only be one or two people, extroverted individuals with capable people skills, that can go around the community taking down their messages, relating and empathizing with them and then relaying all that to the appropriate staff. I understand that the forums is what this is made for, but player interaction with staff directly provide a higher quality in service. It also makes players feel as though they are being cared for, and that they are important. This also takes care of the last two issues regarding presence, and vocalized efforts.
​

1. Entrance Tutorial: This idea is workable. Sadly MC players nowadays cannot handle reading a few signs to figure out a server. Really one or two encounters in a set area to explain the basics of combat (skills), brief introduction to the nexus, dungeons, and the economy are the only things people ask about that's worth it to explain. Frankly if they cannot figure out how to pick a class from the signs it is doubtful they will donate.

2. PvP Bullies: Upcoming raiding improvements (new war system) should at least stem someone's zeal for PvP. The higher levels attacking lower levels are really an experience on any PvP server though, and is not unique to this one. Not a whole lot to do about that other than giving new players PvP immunity temporarily. Not gonna talk about that though.

3. Staff: Sounds like people believe server is understaffed. Problem is not all staff members can cover any given time, and maybe the players from West Russia will get some unsupervised time before another staff member can get on in their own timezone. Other than that you basically are saying there should be a PR campaign, and I do not see the point. You are adding on to the stresses of trying to keep up with everyone's annoying complaints, but now you have to do it with a smile!

4. Guides: Another quick bit. The server gets enough new players there is not a chance it is viable for a staff member to guide a player into the game. That is why we have signs, the wiki, guide books, and a surprisingly friendly community.

5. Starter Town: I do not believe it is doable. You would need to make sure that only certain a levels could live in that area. Aside from getting that to work, you would then need to remove them, their times, and their builds when they reach a high enough level. Just would not work.

6. Ambassador: People complain quite a bit, and I am sure that the staff are aware of anything that could be complained about. Many players go ahead for themselves and gather the ideas of others (much like you have) and create suggestions. Often these suggestions seem redundant to me. There's only so many ways to say "We need more PvP." or "We need less PvP for newbies."


Overall, the only thing I find viable of your solutions is the increased depth of the tutorial.

@Kainzo, I was thinking for a while, and I think I'm on to something. Something Possible.

In the server Mineplex, there is (/was, depending on if it was updated) a villager that asked you if you wanted a tutorial. Once you agree, you are placed in a cutscene. You can try to check it out yourself, for best results, but I will try to explain what happens to the best my ability.

You are unable to move, and there are no players in the spawn area. This probably means you get teleported to an alternate world.
The global chat goes away, and words replace your chat, explaining everything. "here is spawn" "here are mini games" "here is parkour" etc.
Then, you teleport back to where you were, with nothing received except for more knowledge on the server.

Now, let's go back to what we can do. I know, it might not be as good, but it might be better than Mineplex as well. This time, it would follow the same idea, and it will show the players around the basic area. Show them the nexus, spawn, the market, the trade district, the dungeons, how to activate skills, how to go to spawn, how to go to test, etc.

And, how would we make it work? I don't know anything about code, but I have tested some things in adventure. @devotedworker can make cutscenes, where we are automatically moved. I don't know if we can do that on this server, but that is a simple way to do it.

But now, will we have a villager that we have to talk to for this? I don't think so. After one finishes the tutorial, and jumps through the portal, this cutscene plays. Because anyone like me will just skip over it, making it pointless to make.

So, what do you think? Doable, or risky? Hell yeah, or hell no? Too Hard to make for such little purpose, or a need for the bettering of the comunity?

Honestly, the idea did come to mind when I first read the dungeon idea. It would need to be quick and only describe the absolute basics necessary for the game.

I wouldn't mind helping brand new players by sitting in the Tutorial towards the end and offer help before they join the server, but I can't really get to the tutorial right now, and sometimes I'm busy and don't pay attention to chat outside of times I devote to helping. Sitting in the tutorial might help though, I could help at certain parts where new players are confused.


EDIT: I didn't read through the whole comments so I could get back to an in-game boost. Sorry.

That's the problem though, isn't it? No one is going to have time to baby every new player into the game, and if the new players do not want to read a few signs to figure out the game before rushing out blindly, is that a concrete foundation for a server's community?

 

[GodOfGales]

That's the problem though, isn't it? No one is going to have time to baby every new player into the game, and if the new players do not want to read a few signs to figure out the game before rushing out blindly, is that a concrete foundation for a server's community?

Yes, very true, but the server can be very confusing, signs read or not. I know this by experience- for when I joined I read the tutorial very carefully and was still extremely confused. Helping players still confused isn't babying them. I did not mean I was to stand there and repeat the tutorial by typing out how to play, but to help them with specific questions. Yes, there is help and tour chats, but I mentioned about that before

This got me thinking though, about my previous idea, why not have the tutorial area open to all Guides? They could /tutorial or something, and have access to help new players. Maybe make the chats in the tutorial and normal survival separate, so people don't get confused?

 

[0whitemage0]

1. Entrance Tutorial: This idea is workable. Sadly MC players nowadays cannot handle reading a few signs to figure out a server. Really one or two encounters in a set area to explain the basics of combat (skills), brief introduction to the nexus, dungeons, and the economy are the only things people ask about that's worth it to explain. Frankly if they cannot figure out how to pick a class from the signs it is doubtful they will donate.

2. PvP Bullies: Upcoming raiding improvements (new war system) should at least stem someone's zeal for PvP. The higher levels attacking lower levels are really an experience on any PvP server though, and is not unique to this one. Not a whole lot to do about that other than giving new players PvP immunity temporarily. Not gonna talk about that though.

3. Staff: Sounds like people believe server is understaffed. Problem is not all staff members can cover any given time, and maybe the players from West Russia will get some unsupervised time before another staff member can get on in their own timezone. Other than that you basically are saying there should be a PR campaign, and I do not see the point. You are adding on to the stresses of trying to keep up with everyone's annoying complaints, but now you have to do it with a smile!

4. Guides: Another quick bit. The server gets enough new players there is not a chance it is viable for a staff member to guide a player into the game. That is why we have signs, the wiki, guide books, and a surprisingly friendly community.

5. Starter Town: I do not believe it is doable. You would need to make sure that only certain a levels could live in that area. Aside from getting that to work, you would then need to remove them, their times, and their builds when they reach a high enough level. Just would not work.

6. Ambassador: People complain quite a bit, and I am sure that the staff are aware of anything that could be complained about. Many players go ahead for themselves and gather the ideas of others (much like you have) and create suggestions. Often these suggestions seem redundant to me. There's only so many ways to say "We need more PvP." or "We need less PvP for newbies."


Overall, the only thing I find viable of your solutions is the increased depth of the tutorial.

Honestly, the idea did come to mind when I first read the dungeon idea. It would need to be quick and only describe the absolute basics necessary for the game.

That's the problem though, isn't it? No one is going to have time to baby every new player into the game, and if the new players do not want to read a few signs to figure out the game before rushing out blindly, is that a concrete foundation for a server's community?

This concerns me dearly, and I don't want to go as far to say your entire post has an attitude of "nothings wrong" but its pretty close.

"You are adding on the stresses of trying to keep up with everyone's annoying complaints, but now you have to do it with a smile!"​

I work as a full time manager in retail, let me begin by clarifying that this server whether or not you see it as one, is a company. It provides a product, a service, and runs on donations and micro transactions. As I've mentioned numerous times in the original post, a companies greatest tool for memorable experiences and generating loyalty among customers is by providing quality customer service. At my store, we deal with customers who's questions and complaints would drive any person up the wall, yet we're expected to provide engaging and helpful customer service while being positive and real in the moment! This is because at the end of the day, it doesn't matter what you believe, its the customers of your product that are putting their hard earned money into your wallet. So as a company, hearing that quote from one of its staff members is frightening. And to be quite frank, if you're staff isn't capable of maintaining a positive outlook on the scenarios they're dealing with, then you might need to reconsider who is in what position. Readjust your staff to suit their skill set. At my store, I would never put someone who's naturally an introvert out on the floor, I'll use them to do floor sets, where they don't have to deal with customers.

"Other than that you basically are saying there should be a PR campaign, and I do not see the point. "​

You don't see the point? Your community has little faith in the ability of the staff, they have no inkling about who any of the mods really are. I'm not going to further address this point because I've covered the entire reasoning already in both posts, so I implore you to go back a read because there is a point to be had. And again it concerns me that Public Relations is not on the forefront of your agenda.

"Upcoming raiding improvements (new war system) should at least stem someone's zeal for PvP. The higher levels attacking lower levels are really an experience on any PvP server though, and is not unique to this one."​

To be honest, from what I've read and have been told about this upcoming change is that in a short while its actually going to endorse bullying if you're to new to afford the costs of neutrality. (Taking into account when the Town wars begin, excluding this upcoming Saturday specifically among nations) But yes I believe you're right in that it may stem the tide of their boredom.

"Guides: Another quick bit. The server gets enough new players there is not a chance it is viable for a staff member to guide a player into the game. That is why we have signs, the wiki, guide books, and a surprisingly friendly community."​

I've already addressed this in earlier posts, but what I found odd is that Kainzo has openly spoken otherwise about your new player base, and veteran players have come out and spoken against your claim of, "friendly community" in regards to new players and treatment of new players. If we were to talk averages. If its necessary I'll pull direct quotes from posts and other players and present a post specifically about traffic, new players, and player retention.

"Ambassador: People complain quite a bit, and I am sure that the staff are aware of anything that could be complained about. Many players go ahead for themselves and gather the ideas of others (much like you have) and create suggestions. Often these suggestions seem redundant to me. There's only so many ways to say "We need more PvP." or "We need less PvP for newbies."​

I agree people do complain, and yes you're right that the staff is most likely aware of the issues already. I am by no means and have never attempted to claim the staff is not doing their job. Simply that the community does not see them as doing such. Hence my advice for the Ambassador position. Public relations has always been the tool of a company to ease tension between customers and customer service representatives. It provides the customer with a sense of being recognized, supported, and cared for. Which fosters memorable experiences and positive attitudes among the community. If being redundant deters you then I would instead consider that what seems redundant to you, may just be the unconventional solution. As far as your last statement, I'm not asking for you to reduce PvP, I'm not asking you to harbor newbies indefinitely. This entire post has actually skirted those requests. What I've asked is that you consider training and developing your new players into functioning members of the community by providing them tools that vibe with their mentality. For example, it is apparent that the signs and wiki are not methods that vibe with a specific set of players within your community. Providing different outlets may resolve that issue.

 

[joshtsai]

Hi there @0whitemage0,

I'm joshtsai a mod here on this server. Sorry for the late reply but I opened this thread right before I got on my flight home and wasn't able to respond.

It seems that you have joined this server at a time where some of the staff were away for the holidays and spending time with their families. I can see from your forum join date and my unfamiliarity with your name that you most likely joined the server when I myself was out of town.

I am the type of person and mod, that I hope that I was one of the staff that was named by the players when you asked them, if not I might have to visit and few people and break a few kneecaps. /s

Anyways, back to your situation, I'll try to reply to your issues from my point of view along with anything else anyone brought up in this thread.

Joining a new server is hard, at least in my experience most servers have a learning curve that new players will need to overcome in order to begin the path of mastery and really having fun. This goes for any game really, it's a new environment, new community that you need to integrate yourself into. It's very akin to immigrating to a new country, though on a much smaller scale.

It's unfortunate that your first few experiences are what they were. But often times I don't blame the players, or as I like to think of them, bandits, to hunt you down. You already got this response, but the "this server is a hardcore server" really is how the player base thinks. There isn't much babying or handholding on the server. It can be cutthroat and difficult to really get a hang on of the server. In fact in my opinion one doesn't really become a learned member until around a year on the server, once you really start getting the hang on how things are done, etc, etc.

I see from your post that you're already in a town, and that is a good first step. You also said that you saw poor new players in a difficult situation, so you already know how I would reply to people getting mercilessly hunted down by these bandits. Joining a town, and in a turn an established sub-community within this server is the very thing that I have noticed in my time here really helps with player retention.

From what I have seen in your post, and from the information that I have gathered from other players by asking, your situation is not unique. In fact it is the very situation that you witnessed, new players being hunted by higher leveled older players, that is the very thing that creates some of the best players this server has ever seen. In fact those players that are able to survive the initial onslaught, gain levels, and create protections to help themselves become the best players on the server. I truly believe that the negative experiences when joining the server build character and in turn, allow a player retention and creation of real, quality players that help increase the experience on this server. Some might call me out on being crazy, but that's why I think this form of bulling, is very similar to the infamous hazing of American Greek Houses. To build that brother/sisterhood is crucial when forming groups, and those that suffer together really do grow together. (side note just because I support small amounts of hazing/"bullying"(for lack of a better term) does not mean I condone vicious bullying, witch hunts, or another form of excessive actions that may cause grief on other players. Please note that PvP is a feature on this server, and outside of very extreme circumstances, is not bullying.)

So then how do we fix this?
Many players have brought up ideas and I hope to respond to them and you so that you may see and comment on any efforts that we may take in improving the new player experience on this server.

Our guides are mostly riding on chat. If one has a question, a guide will jump on it and answer. Classic questions like: "How do I check my skills" "How to get back to spawn" "How to join a town" "How to change chats" are all answered easily by everyone. However, there aren't many replies to "Hi I'm new" and "How do I play".

What I think @0whitemage0 is suggesting, is that we need more people who are willing to help the new people and their first steps. Someone of high level, who will protect the new player until he is safe enough to really start on his own. Show him around spawn, the market, the nexus. Explain dungeons, skills, health, healing, classes, and just help the player generally.

Once again, maybe I'm wrong, but that's the vibe I was getting from these posts.

These ideas have always been thrown around. My issue with this particular one is, how do we determine which new player gets this personalized help, from what I would assume is staff/veteran players. Most people come of the server to play a game, and while a few do dedicate some of their time to helping new players, this is on a whole new level and the logistics of a tutorial such as this would be difficult. I could be wrong but something on the scale to support every new player that ever joins the server isn't really possible at this point in time. How unfair would this be for say an Australian new player who just joined and none of the said helpers were online?

I don't have an answer to this, nor do I think that this is a bad idea, in fact I have toyed with the idea myself, but as it currently stands we don't have the infrastructure to support this.

This got me thinking though, about my previous idea, why not have the tutorial area open to all Guides? They could /tutorial or something, and have access to help new players. Maybe make the chats in the tutorial and normal survival separate, so people don't get confused?

I have also toyed with this idea, even way back in Bastion, where it had been so long from the point that I read the tutorial that I had forgotten everything in it.

I would support this idea, and I did want it back when I was a guide. I would even go so far to install a kind of mini arena, where if guides have the time too, show off how to do skills/how pvp works

Many of the other replies to this thread juggle with the same idea, so again I'll be very honest and frank in the next few paragraphs. Feel free anyone else to call me out on any bullshit that I might say.

I'm a huge proponent of just giving new players just the barebones on information. I can be very frustrating in chat to constantly answer the same questions over and over again, just because someone didn't read enough in the tutorial, or couldn't be bothered to read any of the guides that are numerous about this server. Honestly those types of players, the ones who are too immature to think that reading isn't important, don't bother to use the resources that are provided, or fail to use common sense aren't really the ones that I would like in a community. But hey, this is the internet and open to everyone, and I would block anyone from this server just because I don't agree with them, that's stupid. But as one who spends long hours in chat, and especially in long days, it can suck answering the same exact question over and over again, just because someone didn't bother to do any of the reading at all. Very similar to a college class, where people ask stupid questions right out of the textbook reading. They pay for the education, so they should put in the work too. Same with this server, the great and wonderful experiences aren't just given right when you log in, sometimes you have to delay gratification, and work a little bit to get the satisfaction that you want from something. [END RANT]

So, what should we do? It's harder now to see things from an outsider's view for me. I really don't understand not knowing anything about the server, though I do suck at basic Minecraft things and that can be embarrassing sometimes. The information asymmetry is real on the server, and is both part of the solution and part of the problem.

I again don't have all the answers to my questions and responses but I hope I could have helped a bit with this post.

Feel free to contract me, or any of the staff really in-game, we would like to get to know you and always remember, no matter who it is behind the screen, it's always a person there, and that person is a true living, breathing person, with emotions, and feelings just like you. Always just try to be nice/the better person in any situation, and you should have a positive experience on the server.

Just have fun, and make friends dammit it, it's a game!
Holy 1.6k words, I'll cut if off here and just make other responses to other people in other posts.

TL;DR: This took me like forever and a half to write so you better just read the whole damn thing fool.


EDIT #1: Whitemage's post right above mine was made when I was typing this so I missed it, will respond in a new post as this one is hella long already.

 

[LordZelkova]

I really don't have time right now to read this whole thread, though I wish I could.

As a Player, Guide, Senior Guide, and Mod, I can say I would've loved some kind of /tutorial warp or something. Being able to walk people through it instead of having them just blaze through it.

As the the "No responsed to 'I'm new'" and the like, it's very hard to stop playing and guide someone through the basics vs just answering some questions. Tour chat is a place for people to try and help noobs, but generally acts like either a second O chat or a second H chat.

Lastly, I'd like to just reiterate that we are all people, wish our own Holidays and Car Crashes to deal with. We do our best, and Kaino's been promoting more staff. Me and Josh recently and he seems to be looking for more.

The forums is a great way to get in touch with Staff, as well as PE's for any issues that arise in game should there be no staff at that time.

I can't speak for all of the staff, but this isn't a job to us, it's a passion that we have spent time and effort put into.

This right here.

 

[joshtsai]

Read my first post, before moving onto this one. I didn't see that until I posted the first one so thereis new information here that I will respond to, breaking it down hopefully in readable portions, no more massive walls of text.


Full Post:

This concerns me dearly, and I don't want to go as far to say your entire post has an attitude of "nothings wrong" but its pretty close.

"You are adding on the stresses of trying to keep up with everyone's annoying complaints, but now you have to do it with a smile!"​

I work as a full time manager in retail, let me begin by clarifying that this server whether or not you see it as one, is a company. It provides a product, a service, and runs on donations and micro transactions. As I've mentioned numerous times in the original post, a companies greatest tool for memorable experiences and generating loyalty among customers is by providing quality customer service. At my store, we deal with customers who's questions and complaints would drive any person up the wall, yet we're expected to provide engaging and helpful customer service while being positive and real in the moment! This is because at the end of the day, it doesn't matter what you believe, its the customers of your product that are putting their hard earned money into your wallet. So as a company, hearing that quote from one of its staff members is frightening. And to be quite frank, if you're staff isn't capable of maintaining a positive outlook on the scenarios they're dealing with, then you might need to reconsider who is in what position. Readjust your staff to suit their skill set. At my store, I would never put someone who's naturally an introvert out on the floor, I'll use them to do floor sets, where they don't have to deal with customers.

"Other than that you basically are saying there should be a PR campaign, and I do not see the point. "​

You don't see the point? Your community has little faith in the ability of the staff, they have no inkling about who any of the mods really are. I'm not going to further address this point because I've covered the entire reasoning already in both posts, so I implore you to go back a read because there is a point to be had. And again it concerns me that Public Relations is not on the forefront of your agenda.

"Upcoming raiding improvements (new war system) should at least stem someone's zeal for PvP. The higher levels attacking lower levels are really an experience on any PvP server though, and is not unique to this one."​

To be honest, from what I've read and have been told about this upcoming change is that in a short while its actually going to endorse bullying if you're to new to afford the costs of neutrality. (Taking into account when the Town wars begin, excluding this upcoming Saturday specifically among nations) But yes I believe you're right in that it may stem the tide of their boredom.

"Guides: Another quick bit. The server gets enough new players there is not a chance it is viable for a staff member to guide a player into the game. That is why we have signs, the wiki, guide books, and a surprisingly friendly community."​

I've already addressed this in earlier posts, but what I found odd is that Kainzo has openly spoken otherwise about your new player base, and veteran players have come out and spoken against your claim of, "friendly community" in regards to new players and treatment of new players. If we were to talk averages. If its necessary I'll pull direct quotes from posts and other players and present a post specifically about traffic, new players, and player retention.

"Ambassador: People complain quite a bit, and I am sure that the staff are aware of anything that could be complained about. Many players go ahead for themselves and gather the ideas of others (much like you have) and create suggestions. Often these suggestions seem redundant to me. There's only so many ways to say "We need more PvP." or "We need less PvP for newbies."​

I agree people do complain, and yes you're right that the staff is most likely aware of the issues already. I am by no means and have never attempted to claim the staff is not doing their job. Simply that the community does not see them as doing such. Hence my advice for the Ambassador position. Public relations has always been the tool of a company to ease tension between customers and customer service representatives. It provides the customer with a sense of being recognized, supported, and cared for. Which fosters memorable experiences and positive attitudes among the community. If being redundant deters you then I would instead consider that what seems redundant to you, may just be the unconventional solution. As far as your last statement, I'm not asking for you to reduce PvP, I'm not asking you to harbor newbies indefinitely. This entire post has actually skirted those requests. What I've asked is that you consider training and developing your new players into functioning members of the community by providing them tools that vibe with their mentality. For example, it is apparent that the signs and wiki are not methods that vibe with a specific set of players within your community. Providing different outlets may resolve that issue.

And here broken down with my response to each little part

You don't see the point? Your community has little faith in the ability of the staff, they have no inkling about who any of the mods really are. I'm not going to further address this point because I've covered the entire reasoning already in both posts, so I implore you to go back a read because there is a point to be had. And again it concerns me that Public Relations is not on the forefront of your agenda.

It sucks that you see it this way. From a staff point of view I honestly don't see it this way. I try as much as possible to help players when they are in need, to the maximum of my abilities/power. From donating items to players in need, to helping stuck players in dungeons I really do try to build up the faith that this community has on the staff team, and what we do on a daily basis.

I work as a full time manager in retail, let me begin by clarifying that this server whether or not you see it as one, is a company. It provides a product, a service, and runs on donations and micro transactions. As I've mentioned numerous times in the original post, a companies greatest tool for memorable experiences and generating loyalty among customers is by providing quality customer service. At my store, we deal with customers who's questions and complaints would drive any person up the wall, yet we're expected to provide engaging and helpful customer service while being positive and real in the moment! This is because at the end of the day, it doesn't matter what you believe, its the customers of your product that are putting their hard earned money into your wallet. So as a company, hearing that quote from one of its staff members is frightening. And to be quite frank, if you're staff isn't capable of maintaining a positive outlook on the scenarios they're dealing with, then you might need to reconsider who is in what position. Readjust your staff to suit their skill set. At my store, I would never put someone who's naturally an introvert out on the floor, I'll use them to do floor sets, where they don't have to deal with customers.

And there is a reason why there is massive burnout and low retention rates among normal retail and service. While my knowledge and experience in retail is limited, I avoid it like the plague, there is a reason why there is very many unhappy workers among most retail stores. I honestly don't see the point in spending the time, most staff members are outstanding community members who have spent, often more than a year in this community, to train up these normal players, to take on extra roles, one which they are not paid for, unlike your job, which you must admit at the end of the day is just a job for you. I can't speak for all of the staff, but this isn't a job to us, it's a passion that we have spent time and effort put into. To have staff burnout because of players driving them up the walls, will only result in poor staff members. I will again reiterate that according to your forum join date, you have only been around for less than a week. No offense but there isn't many averages you can pull from only being around for a short time.

Outside of my post that I have created just seconds after your latest response that this is replying too, I haven't seen any staff members talking in negative outlooks on this server. You're right we do use the individual skill sets of players who with to volunteer on the server to the max, the players above are Architects meaning that they build for the server, they aren't PR in any form, that's me.

As for maintaining a positive outlook, I would ask you, what then is your retention rate and happiness of the most extroverted employees that work in the store from day in and out. Do they still work there because they need to pay rent or pay off some student loans? Or perhaps they love the job but hate the people? This isn't the kind of attitude that we want on this server, Look at my favorite example of superior staff. Three Star Michelin Restaurants, known worldwide for their superior server, these often don't follow the "the customer is always right" mentality. I don't know what crazy American came up with this but to be frank, it's wrong, and an even more negative attitude. Actually the one with more experience and knowledge here is more right. Sure maybe a master sommelier might give you a white wine to do with that steak, but at the end of the day, the red wine is still the superior pairing to the food choice. Sorry if that sounded too overly condescending just telling you my opinion.

"Guides: Another quick bit. The server gets enough new players there is not a chance it is viable for a staff member to guide a player into the game. That is why we have signs, the wiki, guide books, and a surprisingly friendly community."​

I've already addressed this in earlier posts, but what I found odd is that Kainzo has openly spoken otherwise about your new player base, and veteran players have come out and spoken against your claim of, "friendly community" in regards to new players and treatment of new players. If we were to talk averages. If its necessary I'll pull direct quotes from posts and other players and present a post specifically about traffic, new players, and player retention.

"Ambassador: People complain quite a bit, and I am sure that the staff are aware of anything that could be complained about. Many players go ahead for themselves and gather the ideas of others (much like you have) and create suggestions. Often these suggestions seem redundant to me. There's only so many ways to say "We need more PvP." or "We need less PvP for newbies."​

I agree people do complain, and yes you're right that the staff is most likely aware of the issues already. I am by no means and have never attempted to claim the staff is not doing their job. Simply that the community does not see them as doing such. Hence my advice for the Ambassador position. Public relations has always been the tool of a company to ease tension between customers and customer service representatives. It provides the customer with a sense of being recognized, supported, and cared for. Which fosters memorable experiences and positive attitudes among the community. If being redundant deters you then I would instead consider that what seems redundant to you, may just be the unconventional solution. As far as your last statement, I'm not asking for you to reduce PvP, I'm not asking you to harbor newbies indefinitely. This entire post has actually skirted those requests. What I've asked is that you consider training and developing your new players into functioning members of the community by providing them tools that vibe with their mentality. For example, it is apparent that the signs and wiki are not methods that vibe with a specific set of players within your community. Providing different outlets may resolve that issue.

I don't see a point in this ambassador position, other than the misnomer, an ambassador is defined as a a diplomat sent from foreign nations, so in this case it would be server, and that's a bit odd don't you think? I also don't see an issue with the majority of players knowing what each and every staff member does, every minute of every hour. Do the customers of your store known what the differences in duties of the floor manager from the store manager to the district manager? Does knowing that help them decide what to buy?

You mention different outlets of passing information onto players, we have signs and wikis that already do this. While I agree the signs are just a quick fix to give general info, why would a wiki not be the ultimate source of information? I don't know if you are in school/been out of school for 50 years, but is Wikipedia not the ultimate paper writing source for any individual the night before that due date? It's the same situation here, and the main issue is most new players that don't stick around can't be arsed to just read a few paragraphs and honestly I don't know if there is anyway to help that kind of player out.


Edit #1: Just saw Zelkova's post and yes always remember that staff consists of real people, and Kainzo isn't the type to think that our lives revolve around Herocraft. It sucks that you seemed to have joined at an awkward time but this isn't the situation all the time.

Would also like to plug in the IRC at Esper #Herocraft.
No player's seem to use this, and all of the active staff hang out on here when not online and can help from here. Just be sure to know who is staff and who are coders on here, the coders won't be able to help with your in-game issues not really revolving around bugs.

 

[_Trains_]

Players are joining this server with excitement and awe as the world they're convinced is worth joining, vast confusion as they're tackled by virtually an entirely new game, and no one to show them around as a mentor and friend. Instead they join a world where quite literally the hierarchy of players aggressively bully them to the point where their excitement and awe are drained to nothing but resentment and angst.

Your situation is not unique.

Player retention is and always has been a problem. We're a very complex server. I'm really up for improving this and over the past few years it has improved drastically.

It's very hard to stop playing and guide someone through the basics vs just answering some questions. Tour chat is a place for people to try and help noobs, but generally acts like either a second O chat or a second H chat.

..But I can't really get to the tutorial right now, and sometimes I'm busy and don't pay attention to chat outside of times I devote to helping..

That's the problem though, isn't it? No one is going to have time to baby every new player into the game, and if the new players do not want to read a few signs to figure out the game before rushing out blindly, is that a concrete foundation for a server's community?

That's why I think my solution might work. This would allow players to immediately see what's going on, without having anybody waiting for them in the tutorial idea.

Now, let's go back to what we can do. I know, it might not be as good, but it might be better than Mineplex as well. This time, it would follow the same idea, and it will show the players around the basic area. Show them the nexus, spawn, the market, the trade district, the dungeons, how to activate skills, how to go to spawn, how to go to test, etc. And, how would we make it work? I don't know anything about code, but I have tested some things in adventure. @devotedworker can make cutscenes, where we are automatically moved. I don't know if we can do that on this server, but that is a simple way to do it.

It has to be forced. Once players complete the tutorial, this cutscene will automatically play.

Honestly, the idea did come to mind when I first read the dungeon idea. It would need to be quick and only describe the absolute basics necessary for the game.

Even that would be better for the new players.