First impressions from a new player

[Ragitas]

The aim of this post is to describe the feelings and impressions I had when started playing - not telling anyone how the game should look. May it help generate some ideas:).

A road to a new character was easy and I found myself in a new environment with some kind of tutorial explaining what to do (chip rock, take stick). After that I was tasked to get do some distant location that seems to be behind a river so I can't cross it easily - perhaps more exploration will let me circle it. My "tutorial" ended that way. I am a bit lost but have a lot of things to explore.

When I gather a new thing it seems a new craftable idea comes up - that gives me a reason to search around as I do love checking what new item can be crafted. The crafting itself is good although it seems as all I create is the same quality and without any randomness. All the stone axes I created were exactly the same and I couldn't improve them after creation (I was checking if I can carve the handle better or chip the stone part to make it sharper - even if risking making it worse or destroying it). I wonder though if some new recipes will appear when my skill is high enough. And I have no idea what is the differences between two kind of cloaks as I see no attributes (but this is fine if this is the general game approach to hide it).

Then comes the time when I needed to check wiki and realized that perception is important as without it I can't find anything better (a string was what I wanted!). Now a tutorial would be great explaining that string is just a general concept and that roots will do. The roots we find when we have our perception and exploration high enough. So not only skills but attributes are important too.

Then I tried to attack the smallest thing I could find. So I found something small - some kind of beaver. Something happened - a few colorfull orbs appeared and some timer that filled a few times before my character was knocked unconscious. After reading the guides I still do not know what I am doing and now try to avoid fighting entirely. I expected some kind of auto-fight or at least a way to set the character behaviour so that I do not have to figure it all out while my character is dying. A training dummy even would be usefull here. So far a beaver was able to defeat me in seconds - before I even noticed what is going on.

Farming and seeds - Figuring out that I have to dry the wild seeds to get seeds to plant took some time. Maybe some pop-up would be good when finding your first item with explanation what can be done with it - "dry it to get a seed" would be enough). Also I have no idea when to harvest. I will try right clicking from time to time in hope it will work one day.

Tanning - Despite following the guide (there are at least two versions) I still have no idea if tanning started. It would be great if we could inspect the tanning tub and see some information like (tanning is in progess/the tub lacks tanning fluid etc.). It is driving me mad that I can't right click on an item to give an order (fill tub with something, inspect). The searching for a propper button in icon menu is driving me mad:).

Character - with attributes not described and skill with just a general description it is hard to decide where to invest learning points.

Tar Kiln - I wouldn't know what to do if not for the wiki. Even now with the kiln burning I have no idea what to expect. Isn't the tar leaking? Won't I lose it all? I can't see any progress of what is going on. Why can't I right click and inspect what is going on?

Atmosphere - I started quite afraid of other players after what I read and seen on youtube. So far it is peacefull though and I enjoy it. I really hope that I can stay safe and not be involved in any fights.

I have build a house and some things and I am wondering what to do next to progress. Only wait for the learning points to accumulate? Won't I get any better if I carve a great number of stone axes? Will I be able to interact with some NPCs and sell something/earn some coin? Use a market/auctionhouse? Is there a point in gathering some resources? I am a bit angry that I need to login at certain time or some things will burn or perish (would be more comfortable if they just waited for some kind of my action but not spoil). Why my fishing is not getting better the longer I do this - is there even a skill for that?

Items - what item should I wear, what is the difference? Why I do not know it before crafting? Is there even a point in crafting a hat? Is it better or worse than a helmet? Will it be usefull at all? Wiki helps but the in-game questions are multiplying:).

All in all the world is very enjoyable and I want to explore it, create something, discover new things. Thank you for what you created:).

[Ants]

Well, I can answer a few questions.

Until you get your fighting skills up and you get some armor, don't attack anything that can fight back. Go after rabbits, chickens, squirrels, moles, hedgehogs, crabs, frogs, toads and grubs. Everything else is mean. Here's a general list of creatures: http://ringofbrodgar.com/wiki/Creatures

You can see how the tanning is going, I think. If it's lacking tanning fluid, the liquid in the tub should be blue and on the menu the brown bar should be very low. If it's lacking water, I think the tub would look empty and the blue bar on the menu would be low. You can see how well the tanning process is going by the % that appears over the prepared skins when you right click the tub. When they reach 100%, you have leather.

About learning points: unarmed, melee and marksmanship are fighting skills. If you want to fight I recommend investing in unarmed or melee. Exploration makes you better at foraging. Stealth is for criminal acts and crafting certain curios, it's not very useful. Sewing allows you to make higher quality cloth items. Smithing allows you to forge better metal items. I'm not quite sure what masonry does, but I think it affects the quality of the clay you can gather. Carpentry lets you make better wooden items. Cooking helps you make better food. Farming is a very useful skill that allows you to farm higher quality crops. Survival affects the quality of items you forage and the quality of meat you can butcher from animals. Lore is used for crafting a few curios.

You'll probably be safe. In this world, it's a lot harder to kill other players than it used to be so a lot of raiders quit the game.

Crafting tons of stone axes would be pointless. You can get better stone axes by getting your hands on higher quality stone and branches. To get those you have to start farming, mining or trading with other players. There are no NPCs, but there is a public market run by players. Look up the community fair thread under apples and oranges. Here's their official discord: https://discord.gg/zR47YCu

Most resources are at least somewhat useful. I suggest gathering lots of stinging nettles as they can be used as string and they are an ingredient to make medicine. There's no skill for fishing, I think, but there is a credo that will help you out. Look up credos on the wiki. Fish quality is determined by location, I think.

I'm not 100% sure what the difference between different types of clothes are. I know some clothes boost certain attributes and that gilding is important. There are also clothes like the bat cape that have special effects (the bat cape will stop bats from attacking you when you pass them). Some clothes like the crown of laurels are purely cosmetic and offer no bonuses. Someone else might be able to explain clothing better than me.

If you're in the kingdom of Akihabara, my village might be able to help you out.

[AntiBlitz]

your post just oozes that you've brought expectations of other games here and were unhappy or just unsure to find this game didnt follow the same formula of typical mmo's. The analogy of a shooter not using wasd but ijkl on the keyboard, the game doesnt need to recreate the wheel,or trod the same path. Not all games need to follow the same formula of kill x boars to level up hunting and weapon upgrades. I've always been impressed by how the game gave a certain sense of the hardcore, or atleast in its original format when i started playing. Not knowing what is going on and learning things the hard way is part of this game, might be why it gives me so much nostalgia. But with that said, cant a hat just be a hat? does everything need explanation? its like the hearthstone syndrome, nobody can create their own decks anymore, they just google "best deck" and use that instead.


I feel like the op's post digs into modern gaming as a whole, and cant help but read it as such. Without derailing the post, I do feel as though this game takes me back at times to a point where as a child, I had to just figure shit out at times, because there wasnt an internet to look up everything and blindly guide my hand through it all.

Having stepped back from the post and thought it over a bit(at work), I believe the tutorial could be expanded to at least the point of Yeomanry, kind of guiding you to getting Yeomanry and explaining why things happen or how they work. Maybe make something the quest givers tell you similar to the xp pop ups; or have a special quest giver like the Zelda fairy. At that point, if you havent figured out how to purchase skills and understand the fundamentals of the skill tree then I believe you are just permanently OODA loop'ed and beyond help, maybe try like candy crush or something.

[AAlex]

I think posts like this are important, although I don't think the game should hold your hand. But maybe small hints to help out new players, I'd like more emphasis on the 'inspect' tool, showing quality, as well as when the product will be ready, or if it's processing at least.

e.g. inspect Tar Kiln... 'The wood is burning, it should be ready in x days' (or maybe something more vague), at least to say it is in-fact burning.

[Granger]

your post just oozes that you've brought expectations of other games here and were unhappy or just unsure to find this game didnt follow the same formula of typical mmo's.

I read it as first impression and would like to thank Ragitas for it, as we old players are completely useless when it comes to giving a fresh look (as we already more-or-less know how the stuff works).

I believe the tutorial could be expanded to at least the point of Yeomanry, kind of guiding you to getting Yeomanry and explaining why things happen or how they work.

That certainly would be helpful, especially when they would add more detailed explanations of concepts (like OP said about string and such) and how things go together (skills & abilities and how to raise them, that you'll have to use the number keys while in combat, what keys do what, things like that) in the beginner quests.

I think posts like this are important, although I don't think the game should hold your hand. But maybe small hints to help out new players, I'd like more emphasis on the 'inspect' tool, showing quality, as well as when the product will be ready, or if it's processing at least.

e.g. inspect Tar Kiln... 'The wood is burning, it should be ready in x days' (or maybe something more vague), at least to say it is in-fact burning.

Tar kiln is already doing that when being inspected. Having detailed inspection explanations added to other objects that process items might be helpful.

The game is quite confusing when it comes to interactions with items and objects, at times they have an interface (with or without inventory) and other not but will need stuff to be RMBed onto it...
We need an up-to-date manual explaining how the client works and the basic interaction types it enables. I vaguely remember having voiced that in the past. Ideal would be an action that can be applied to every item and object in the game that opens a window with detailed explanation about the item, what it does, where it comes from, what can be made out of / with it. Then a good part of the information (that people who start with the game really need), except client basics, would be available by interacting with the thing they currently interested in.

[jorb]

Thanks for this post, OP. I found it a very interesting read. Will try to consider your thoughts!

[Ants]

your post just oozes that you've brought expectations of other games here and were unhappy or just unsure to find this game didnt follow the same formula of typical mmo's.

I get the impression he's just confused because this MMO is so different from others. It's hard for newbies to know what to expect.

I do think the game does need more explanation. Let's face it, figuring stuff out on your own isn't always fun. I learned most of what I know about the game from other players and the wiki. Running around completely clueless gets annoying after a few hours, particularly in a permadeath game where you're not sure if what you're doing will kill you.

People reading this, consider editing the wiki. It's great help to new players and returning players who missed out on recent updates.

[Gigglepuddy]

your post just oozes that you've brought expectations of other games here and were unhappy or just unsure to find this game didnt follow the same formula of typical mmo's.

I get the impression he's just confused because this MMO is so different from others. It's hard for newbies to know what to expect.

I do think the game does need more explanation. Let's face it, figuring stuff out on your own isn't always fun. I learned most of what I know about the game from other players and the wiki. Running around completely clueless gets annoying after a few hours, particularly in a permadeath game where you're not sure if what you're doing will kill you.

People reading this, consider editing the wiki. It's great help to new players and returning players who missed out on recent updates.

id say hes confused because the game makes absolutely no effort to explain any mechanic at all to you, and without a client mod its damn near unplayable. it dosent help that half the pages on the wiki say they are "legacy" and assume you already understand the basics of the game that were never explained.

[AntiBlitz]

I wouldnt say he is confused, its more so appropriate to say trained. Majority sake of the time, mmo's follow the same formula, so when this one doesnt, and you apply the already learned logic to the game, from other games, you get the op's.....well confusion i guess. Guess he is confused. Either way, my post didnt have negative connotation, so please dont feel as though that was me attacking you, just wasnt sure how else to express it i guess.

[2d0x]

A global chat with settings might help.