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Probably one of the toughest weekly game update posts I've had to write to-date :(
Probably one of the toughest weekly game update posts I've had to write to-date :(
Poppa Mat :(
Hi There! Thank you very much for taking the time to raise awareness and make this post. I've spoken to Player Support and they were already looking into the account thanks to an in-game report. I encourage you all to report in-game if you see something similar to this post that needs flagging to Jagex.
I really like this idea. Wholesome too :)!
I completely agree with you, except on the point of popular MMO - you achieve popular MMO BY making it the best MMO :P.
This isn't about adding accessibility to everything, this is about making sure in the first few hours of playing, we equip you with the tools to ensure you're ready for that lack of accessibility. We know it's part of the game, that its a steep learning curve, that's never going to change. Right now, our tutorial, anything you do straight away in Lumbridge, etc does not prepare you for this, or explain why that's good.
This is OSRS, intentionally and unapologetically a tough steep learning curve MMO, otherwise it wouldn't be authentic to its time period - a new player doesn't necessarily know that, or expect it, and it's helping to them to get to grips with that.
Imo if they wanna stop the not knowing anything why don’t they make changes to the tutorial island and actually give you information about the map and different aspects of the game and maybe some simple goals to try to achieve as a noob
The tutorial indeed is not effective - a ton of players quit as soon as they leave the tutorial. That problem goes beyond just the tutorial, it's both sides, you leave a very scripted linear thing, which has arrows to everything you need to do, to a vast expanse offering an insane amount of choice.
We need to help players prepare for how to play OSRS, and what it is all about.
There's many improvements to look at, and some of the ideas in the blog, are just that, ideas. Any suggestions from the community, and especially players who've recently played the game for the first time would be amazing. Even more useful... is feedback from those who've tried to play the game, and didn't stick around - we won't find those on this reddit generally, or our other social channels, that takes proper research and is something we are doing.
Read moreA'ight, so this is my perspective on things. I played the game 10 or 11 years ago for about ~3 months, only ever in F2P.
I tried getting back into RS3 in 2016 because I have a friend that really enjoys the game, and dropped off pretty quickly because it had the 'Dead MMO' feeling. I've played quiet a few in my day, but the overcrowded areas, constant badgering from the MTX shop, and general lack of interesting content made me fall off when the free membership expired. So then I tried OSRS, and my main mistake was making an Ironman, I played for a few weeks, but stopped when I learned that I couldn't buy bonds with GP on an Ironman.
I got back into things recently after coming across some youtube series on the game. New character, Not an Ironman. This time, I had a concrete goal: Earn a bond. And while I have the bond, I haven't redeemed it yet due to real world obligations. This took an absurd amount of time, and I probably would have saved myself a lot of heada...
Thanks for the feedback - you make a ton of good points here, a lot is stuff we're aware of, and want to try improve.
At the core, the game is the game, that isn't going to change right - but what we don't do, is help people understand what it is that it offers.
There's a ton of choice, so much that you can do, and not any awareness of how to get to what you want to do, without assistance from friends or guides - which can be an overwhelming amount of information.
A ton of new players are checking out the game, especially due to mobile, and we want to make sure as many as possible stick around - it means the games got a much healthier future, more players etc.
What we did mention in the post too, is that any changes we make will be tested via A/B tests. These will ensure we're making positive changes there, and if something doesn't work - we'll simply not move forward with it. As a framework, it's something we're getting up to speed with, we've spent...
Read moreI think the changes are indicative of Jagex’s lack of understanding as to what drives player retention and how to integrate the new gaming market with the older systems
You hit the nail on the head with this point. 2008 onwards Jagex kept trying to rework the new player experience to keep retention to such an extent that they changed the game dramatically by adding new tutorials, cluttering Lumbridge up and transforming Burthope into a noob area.
And all those changes pretty much flopped and didn't do what Jagex set out to do: retaining new players.
People REEEing about change to early game is unwarranted but I think REEEing at Jagex to listen and implement these changes not hamfistedly is necessary so OSRS doesn't make the same mistakes as it's predecessor.
What do you think will help with new player retention?
I'm so happy to see you guys getting involved with suggestions for this problem. I think this is a really nice way to tie together information, whilst not feeling jarringly separate from the game.
There's some things to tackle first before we get to region based extra information - i.e. right now, a serious proportion of players logout directly after the tutorial. That's a really important problem to try solve :).
This idea itself could have minimap symbols that players are introduced to so they know what to look out for - it is essentially making a good version of the Lumbridge guide - who right now isn't all that useful.
Keep the ideas coming!
Let us know which questions you'd like answered on Wednesday's Q&A livestream at 5pm BST!
Questions that provoke discussion are valued over Yes/No questions.
twitch.tv/OldSchoolRS
Thanks!
External link →Just dont end up like RS3 that has so much crap and junk the game is over saturated. Simplicity is key imo ease ppl in instead of drowning them
We want to do this as simply as possible - one of the reasons we're finding new players aren't staying as long as we'd like is the sheer volume of content overwhelming them, so we wouldn't want to make that worse with even more complexity!
In RSC there was a tutorial island NPC that briefly mentioned and explained what and where the wilderness is. Always thought it was weird how he was left out of RS2's tutorial island. Probably would be beneficial to explain to players that there is a dangerous part of the map they can just walk into where they can lose their stuff.
Getting Around
Other games have a similar system but they typically provide some kind of consumable teleports, like tele tabs. I think a better way to tackle this instead of a one time system that you are seemingly arbitrarily locked out of at some point is to also introduce new players to some kind of teleports that they would eventually unlock or have access to later on, so that they are more familiarized with the game and how it works.
Teletabs is something we discussed internally too. Definitely food for thought!
We have canoes that can be unlocked through woodcutting. Make them f2p. Dont see the point in adding a new service.
You could just make draynor and varrock agility rooftop courses f2p also. There is content in the game that can be utilised.
Thanks, as ever, for the suggestions! We'll be monitoring this post over the coming days and weeks for your ideas.