1.2.0 Improvements to New User Experience

The tutorial has to explain that the monsters are designed to kill you in this game, it seems to be very common that players go all out on offensive passives, die a lot and quit.

I think this could be showed really effectively by having a zombie from later in the game spawn, hit them once, with a text bubble that explains that this is what you're going to be fighting in 25 levels, you might want to stack up on life and other forms of defense until then.

I think the tutorial also should explain how your passives from the tree work. People need to know that life passives in the tree are not very powerful by themselves but are very strong when combined with life on gear.

I'd say the "Feeling Is Power" is almost unanimously the FIRST choice now. Almost any build can power through Normal and beginning of Cruel - Because you keep getting core parts of your skill tree in, Skills/Bonuses from quests and continuously improve your gear.

If anything, When you reach mid-late Cruel and on-wards, You'll hit a brick gear check wall and feel helpless because it will be much harder to gear up - You have to cater to your support links and stats much more, So replacing each item of gear (assuming you found something better) is a test of leaping through multiple currency and RNG hoops. Also, it will take longer to get anything more significant out of the skill tree.

At least that's how I've felt it since OB, more or less. Obviously playing solo makes that more prominent/obvious.

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Chris wrote:

We're investigating ways to improve the feeling of combat at the start of the game while still keeping a clear sense of progression as you level up and become more powerful.

The solution is already sitting there, barely any effort required: again, tutorials. Currency drops all the time for new players, which, when used, will make them feel a lot more powerful. However, they just stash all of them because they don't understand what they do etc.

The first time each currency item drops on a new account, pop up a tutorial window and explain in detail (with a simple picture/animated example?) what it does. The tutorial should also overtly beckon a player to immediately use each new orb that drops for the first time (exceptions: Mirror, Eternal, Exalted, and Divine), so they understand and retain what the tutorial said, and aren't afraid to make themselves more powerful.

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Make_A_Witch_Foundation wrote:

I also suggest having global/trade OFF by default.

I think having global on by default is important. It's the only way new players can easily get any additional information. Take that away and they are even more at sea than they already are. Not as bad if/when tutorials are in, but global will still be essential at that point. A tutorial will only cover the tip of the iceberg.

All that really needs to be done is to point out that global can be turned off, again, in a tutorial item. Perhaps the first time a message appears on global (or 10th?), pop up said tutorial item.

Quest rewards need to be improved in some way. Giving an unid rare as a reward is a nice gesture but the chance of it being useful make it almost less useful than the support gem I might have needed.

I don't really know what a solution would be, I just know that right now item quest rewards are not in a great spot.

I also guess gem rewards might need a look over, sometimes a class doesn't get a gem you expect it would.

Community based tutorials could save you a lot of time and money.

For example organize contest where people make 1 minute youtube tutorials and winers get some MTX points. Then you just have in game to add button tutorial that opens small video that explains with friendly player voice some aspect of the game:)

My problem, when I started playing (open beta), was that I had no fucking idea, how the gem system works. For my second char I just copied Nugi's LA-Ranger, he worked good, and this build is why I didn't stopped playing POE.

This brings me to my final idea:
Give us players the posiibility to help new players. Not like in the forums or on reddit. Somethink like a buttin "Yes I want to help new players". If now a new player comes to the game give him a button like "Yes, I want other players to help me finding into the game". So new the new player automatically get's somebody with the other button to his friendlist and he can help the new player.
Just an idea, don't realy know if this could help.

For the Attack Speed changes: I don't think this is a good idea --> currently <ou already have mana problems in the beginning, just think about what will happen if you increase the early attack speed.

It would be awesome if Loading Screen Tips also appeared in the chat window once loading has completed. That way the user can access it in case they missed it! It would also be nice if the tips on the loading screen used a brighter colour so as to help make it stand out and make it easier to read in general.

The problem with the early game is the fact that you can miss attacks. It's so fucking annoying, to new and old players. Maybe there should be 100% chance to hit in normal, maybe even cruel then only have accuracy be relevant in merciless, with a tutorial explaining that when they get to merciless.

Skill tree and skill points refunds are the biggest issue for me. One may start a good build, then decides to go CI: refunds health points, invests in CI and ES, just to realize that the toon becomes perma-stunned! And no way back from here: all refunds lost with hp->es transition, and the toon is tuck at, say, lvl 40-ish. The play experience is completely lost in despair. Fix this skill points refunding issue, please. Thanx.

issues for new players:

- i do not think that 'slow combat' is an issue. it is obvious observation for seasoned players but my first playtrough wasnt noticeably 'slow'. i experienced some network clunkiness (now i know that was desync) but thats it

- introducing fast weapons to solve this non-issue is going to create several late game issues (for ele builds it is only the attack speed that matters, damage is irrelevant - more or less). this is also yet another step on the PowerCreepLadder. just dont start this kind of tinkering. it is risky and youve failed already few times to see what endgame consequences your decisions have

- tutorials. sadly it is too late now (everyone has only one first impression and this is already 'released' game). tutorials are SO NOT HERE! if not for Kripp and his 'tutorials' id not even bother. your ingame information is miserable, no combat text keep you guessing (who likes guessing games?). poe wiki is a nice thing but sadly it is hopelessly outdated.

if you are going to write tutorials do 'level 20 and below' and 'level 60 and above' sections. first one detailing linking, damage conversion, MORE and INCREASED difference, accuracy/crit/evasion details. second one should detail mana management, niche mechanic (totems/mines/traps - how and what their passives affect etc)

no, forum posts WONT DO

- permanency of choices is ok. but.. if you want players to not feel like wasting their time - think about full respec for all chars below lvl 20. it is so easily to make silly mistakes early on. this ofc is disabled during races

- on my first playtrough i didnt know that poe is 'one click' game (please, do not deny it). using several skills < focusing on one. hint it somehow to players. D3 makes a perfect job of encouraging mixed gameplay and players trying the same are wasting their time in Cruel and have no chances in Merc. this is noobtrap that is not encouraging

- removing Rare monsters glow was imho a mistake. all diablo-like games have normal/magic/rare mobs. poe has them too but i think that poe's rare/magic mobs are the least standing out. this might be minor but it is noticeable

- be honest with players. there are no 'classes'. there are just starting points on the tree. people thinking 'classes' have different expectations than they should have. poe system is OK, but it is being sold as something it isnt.


real problems start in late Cruel anyway because gear does not drop and one is forced to crawl/farm for it for hours (or trade, the magic solution to all challenges in this game).

to sum it up: TUTORIALS. built in, available from the game client (not some forum posts!) tutorials. these can be just 1-2liners of text: "Gems have different Tags - your Cleave gem has Melee, AOE, Attack. Check your other gems" or something of sorts. Nothing fancy is needed. anything is better than what is available now (nothing)