Helping new players stick to the game

[Munchboii]

Hello this is my first forum post. This post is an idea to increase the retention rates of new players to the game.

 

I started the game going along the British cruiser line playing coop battle until tier V and when I reached this I started the "devastating strike" fest that is a new player playing the emerald in random battles. I was playing and I had 0 clue what a "citadel" was and that if I go broadside then I am putting myself at big risk. I'm pretty sure I didnt even know what the term broadside meant, all I knew is that it was the ship angle where all my guns could go pew pew. Followed by my death. You have to learn the hard way and I think there should be more help from the game to explain this to new players.

 

Honestly this was such a shock and it really made me consider quitting the game due to the sudden difficulty. I was lucky that I have a few friends who have over a thousand hours and they were able to guide me to the leander and then Fiji. It makes me wonder how many more new players have stopped playing at tier v-vi who were in a similar situation to me and by that I mean being overwhelmed and really struggling with the game mechanics. 

 

This is why I propose that wow introduces a mandatory tutorial at tier V for new players and until they complete it they cannot play random battles. The tutorial would place you in every kind of ship be it cruiser,DD or battleship and teach the new player the strengths and weaknesses the ship type. For example with the cruiser, you could be placed into a emerald or Omaha and shown IN-GAME (NOT SOME CRAPPY YOUTUBE VIDEO!!) what a citadel is and how to reduce the chance of getting hit there (bow towards enemy ect). Also with a professional voice over in the 4 major languages because nobody reads text box tutorials.  For battleships it could be more of the same but also teaching the player how to use damage control sparingly. And for DD it could be how to use stealth and torps. Then, once you have waited through this you can finally enter into random battles but also replay it in the future if needed. 

 

This is my suggestion linked with increasing the player base because I believe many players disappear once they lose their tier V random battle virginity. If I had given up I know that WG would be around £100 poorer because this is the approximate amount I have spent in game so far. 

 

Thanks for your time

 

 

[MrWastee]

... it's long wanted by many players in general, but better not hold ur breath. policy seems "education through CC's". one can dream though

[thiextar]

People really dont like being forced to do stuff, so id suggest using the carrot instead of the stick.

 

Basically a missíon series that teaches the basics of the game, and for every mission you complete, you get some worthwhile reward.

[HaachamaShipping]

5 minutes ago, Munchboii said:

For example with the cruiser, you could be placed into a emerald or Omaha and shown IN-GAME (NOT SOME CRAPPY YOUTUBE VIDEO!!) what a citadel is and how to reduce the chance of getting hit there (bow towards enemy ect).

And get citadelled through the bow, because Omaha has a lulzy 10 mm bow armour that gets overmatched by CL guns? Though still better than Emerald that can get citadelled by HE rounds even by accident.

 

To be fair though, tutorials would be great but has been axed by WG quite some time ago when they said they wouldn't bother.

[MrWastee]

12 minutes ago, Munchboii said:

Hello this is my first forum post. This post is an idea to increase the retention rates of new players to the game.

 

I started the game going along the British cruiser line playing coop battle until tier V and when I reached this I started the "devastating strike" fest that is a new player playing the emerald in random battles. I was playing and I had 0 clue what a "citadel" was and that if I go broadside then I am putting myself at big risk. I'm pretty sure I didnt even know what the term broadside meant, all I knew is that it was the ship angle where all my guns could go pew pew. Followed by my death. You have to learn the hard way and I think there should be more help from the game to explain this to new players.

 

Honestly this was such a shock and it really made me consider quitting the game due to the sudden difficulty. I was lucky that I have a few friends who have over a thousand hours and they were able to guide me to the leander and then Fiji. It makes me wonder how many more new players have stopped playing at tier v-vi who were in a similar situation to me and by that I mean being overwhelmed and really struggling with the game mechanics. 

 

This is why I propose that wow introduces a mandatory tutorial at tier V for new players and until they complete it they cannot play random battles. The tutorial would place you in every kind of ship be it cruiser,DD or battleship and teach the new player the strengths and weaknesses the ship type. For example with the cruiser, you could be placed into a emerald or Omaha and shown IN-GAME (NOT SOME CRAPPY YOUTUBE VIDEO!!) what a citadel is and how to reduce the chance of getting hit there (bow towards enemy ect). Also with a professional voice over in the 4 major languages because nobody reads text box tutorials.  For battleships it could be more of the same but also teaching the player how to use damage control sparingly. And for DD it could be how to use stealth and torps. Then, once you have waited through this you can finally enter into random battles but also replay it in the future if needed. 

 

This is my suggestion linked with increasing the player base because I believe many players disappear once they lose their tier V random battle virginity. If I had given up I know that WG would be around £100 poorer because this is the approximate amount I have spent in game so far. 

 

Thanks for your time

 

 

 

8 minutes ago, thiextar said:

People really dont like being forced to do stuff, so id suggest using the carrot instead of the stick.

 

Basically a missíon series that teaches the basics of the game, and for every mission you complete, you get some worthwhile reward.

 

 

tbh, imo this deserves a more official statement. why can't we have nice things like a "simple" tutorial to lower the skillgap and raise gaming experience for everyone? this just became more of a question indeed with all the rumble around the cv rework and points stated with aim on exactely that, lowering the skillgap. why not finally bring tuts so every class gets such treatment, including a tut for cv's?  @MrConway

[lovelacebeer]

It certainly would help if there was a basic tutorial for new players so they can understand the importance of ammo selection and how to angle the hull to maximise armour, and it really wouldn't hurt to explain the importance of checking before firing torps. 

 

The current system of learning from CCs and trial and error does work but it's certainly not ideal. I personally would have benefited from some tutorials back when I started. 

[lovelacebeer]

35 minutes ago, thiextar said:

People really dont like being forced to do stuff, so id suggest using the carrot instead of the stick.

 

Basically a missíon series that teaches the basics of the game, and for every mission you complete, you get some worthwhile reward.

 

Sounds a very good idea, if memory serves didn't they do exactly that in WOT to try and motivate players to do the tutorials. 

[Aotearas]

You can lead a horse to water, but you can't make it drink.

 

 

What WG most definately needs to do (and could do so at the drop of a hat if they were ever so inclined, but apparently WG thinks too much information is too much to handle for their target audience ... which ought to be telling really) is make informations more readily accessible instead of hiding it away (things like inherent fire chance reduction based on ship hull tiering, damage saturation mechanic, overmatching, etc. pp.).

[pra3y]

Don't get your hopes up on an in-game tutorial. WG spends the time on all those video tutorials etc but aint nobody got time for an in-game tutorial, which will actually benefit the game and teach certain segmants of the playerbase.

 

Heck they even provided an answer in the form of those mission scenario stuff. Just have to tweak it abit. 

 

I guess short term profit is more important then customer retention 

[El2aZeR]

The official answer to tutorials is that WG doesn't believe ingame tutorials change anything.

What they do ironically believe in is that the majority of people who actually need it are going to watch their videos and learn from them. ¯\_(ツ)_/¯

[xxNihilanxx]

3 hours ago, thiextar said:

People really dont like being forced to do stuff, so id suggest using the carrot instead of the stick.

 

Basically a missíon series that teaches the basics of the game, and for every mission you complete, you get some worthwhile reward.

 

As that popular, seaside wife-beater Mr. Punch would say - "That's the way to do it!"

[Imsali]

I am also relatively new to the game (i.e. I can remember how it felt like), and I don't think this is an issue. In fact, WoWs is easy to get into (especially by today's standards) and difficult to master.

 

The first time I felt like a bit overwhelmed when I got the Fuso as first T6 ship. I felt like I was progressing too quickly towards mid-high tier.

So what I did I started the sessions with a T3 match, T4, then T5 - and once I started to be more confident, I started my sessions with T4 and played T6 more often.

[LemonadeWarriorITA]

6 hours ago, El2aZeR said:

The official answer to tutorials is that WG doesn't believe ingame tutorials change anything.

What they do ironically believe in is that the majority of people who actually need it are going to watch their videos and learn from them. ¯\_(ツ)_/¯

Kinda how WG should learn from other companies how a good functioning UI should look like. MMMMMMMMMMMmmmmm

[Saltface]

My two cents

 

It is not an easy game to play, and, it is not an easy game to learn to play.

Well, play does not mean to turn the ship with WASD and LMB to fire. That is easy. Even I could learn that.

The game is rather complicated and has depth. The information one has to process is on the "enormous" side of the scale.

All the above being true make a tutorial rather ineffective. Unless, you want the tutorial to replace the game at the early stages. That would work but it would deter more players than it would teach let alone retain.

 

The best place to learn is the Forum. And the best teachers are the forumites that "lose" their time to teach you. It worked miracles for me. Being a middle aged man with no gaming background makes it evident that it will work for the younger generation that are more adept to learn to play "video games". However, what might be missing (from the younger players) is the mentality of putting your nose down and learn. The forum can be a "harsh" environment at times. (lol)

 

The best lessons I had were the reviews of the battles I posted. They pointed out how stupid I was and how badly I played and why. I still remember the first review when a fellow forumite @159Hunter told me "you did too little too late and you lost the game for your team". And explained to me why. And the story gets better. A few forumites "lost" their time and invited me to division with them. And on voice com they guided me step by step. And they called me out when I messed up. It worked. And as I see it, it worked miracles. Same story repeated when I wanted to learn to play Destroyers and now that I asked a fellow forumite to teach me to play Carriers. They lost an hour in training room to guide me. And more time to answer my messages. 

 

I am grateful to All.

 

So Gentlemen, if you want to better the player base do it yourselves. It is like what you all told me when I complained that all my teammates turn around and leave at the first sight of red ships. Don't expect support.  And yes, I do know not all want to learn (or can for that matter). But the ones that do are the most valuable addition to the game.

 

Warm regards and my expression of gratitude to those that taught me 

Saltface

 

P.S. I only mentioned one in this post. He was the first one to call me out in a constructive manner. The list is long. One day I ll post all the names.

 

 

[Cambera_1]

@Munchboii Welcome to the forum, you should get help here.

 

Please don't forget that there is the Campaign "The Science of Victory" that helps reinforce an number of the mechanics that you raise.

This becomes available at Account Level 9 and starts with T4 ships. If this was highlighted better when Level 9 was reached it would be a big step towards closing the skills gap.

I'm also all for the tutorial(s) (with @thiextar carrot(s)) but I'm not going to hold my breath.

[Episparh]

10 hours ago, MrWastee said:

... it's long wanted by many players in general, but better not hold ur breath. policy seems "education through CC's". one can dream though

The thing with that is that most of the new players do not care for CC programs and even game portal. And besides some "how it works" videos there is nothing ingame that hints about ship vulnerabilities, armament types concealment systems and so on. 

 

Omaha, Nuremberg and Emerald are probably the most dev stricken ships in the game due to that fact.

And what CCs do? ... Playing test ships and shouting "Idiot potatoes" around. 

[RAHJAILARI]

11 hours ago, Munchboii said:

I started the game going along the British cruiser line playing coop battle until tier V ....

This is your capital mistake right there lad. Many do that because they think they would be learning to play before "playing for real agaionst others" but unfortunately Coop cannot teach you anything about real gameplay - In fact it is probably harmful because you really do not learn to play against others, only playing many, many Randoms can teach you to do it right. Bots do not play anything like real people and also at tier 5 you will no longer have protected MM so you will face tier 7 ships and players with vastly more experience than you. Which means that you will get blapped every time.

 

Essentially though, all this was really your own mistake - As a result of which you basically went directly to tier 5 without having any idea on how to play the game and suffered the inevitable consequences (this happened to many others also, no worries).

 

To explain better... Tiers 1-4 are specifically intended for practice and learning to play WITH other players. This is why they also have protected MM. At tier 1 you will only meet other tier 1 ships, but also more experienced players, who are there for seal-clubbing so you'll get killed easily a lot BUT you also learn from them, get at least 25-30 games and up to to 46-48% WR and you are already 100% better player than anyone who has played 300 games to tier 5 in Coop. In tiers 2-4, you will only face +-1 MM, so these are very good tiers to practice your basic tactics and ship roles. Play at the least 300-500 randoms (WG should make this mandatory TBH) in those tiers before even thinking of going to tier 5 to face +-2 MM with the big boys (who will still be more experienced than you, but at the least you now have a few hundred random games under your belt so it won't come as a shock).

 

My advise to you is. Go back to low tiers - There is no shame in it, this is what they are there for and play a few hundred Randoms there. Once you have begun to do well in those games (about 46% WR minimum), then try tier 5 again. It will go much better and you'll like it more too.

 

Oh yeah, just realized you done all this already. Thank Gods for that. It is a rare gift for one to begin suspecting they might suck and admit the need to learn some more. Good for you! In that case feel free to ignore the previous..

 

Oh well, with all that said, perhaps we shall move to the actual topic then? Already doing the tutoring part, though just within the framework of our Clan, where we (though most often it tends to be just me, since I have no obsession of playing just high tiers) accompany new guys a few tiers up the ladder before abandoning them to their fate. Usually at the least up to Tier 5. As for any other random people, no problem, if someone happens to be requesting. But yeah. many just aren't very receptive to advice, I'm afraid.

[Donar79]

9 hours ago, Munchboii said:

This is my suggestion linked with increasing the player base because I believe many players disappear once they lose their tier V random battle virginity.

Or they just buy their way through to T10. Because they don't lose of being bad no it's always high tier ships that make u better^^

 

6 hours ago, pra3y said:

I guess short term profit is more important then customer retention 

Yep...

 

38 minutes ago, optimal_909 said:

I am also relatively new to the game (i.e. I can remember how it felt like), and I don't think this is an issue. In fact, WoWs is easy to get into (especially by today's standards) and difficult to master.

 

The first time I felt like a bit overwhelmed when I got the Fuso as first T6 ship. I felt like I was progressing too quickly towards mid-high tier.

So what I did I started the sessions with a T3 match, T4, then T5 - and once I started to be more confident, I started my sessions with T4 and played T6 more often.

Good move. Started similarly. But for this decision u need some kind of self-awareness/reflection. And this is something a lot of players lacking of.

 

@MrConway i am adressing it to you since you reacted to the last post. Do you really think teaching people to avoid crucial mistakes is not possible because the game in the whole is to complex? I mean broadsiding the whole time, pressing R after the first fire or rushing in like there is no tomorrow all these are bad habits not complex tactical manouvers. These are things u can show new players. I get that its hard to convey players to use the minimap, know when the right moment for push/retreat has come and so on.

I don't think mandatory tutorials are driving new players away. It's all about bait and reward. I mean it's mandatory to play the first games in coop why not add another stage of entering the game.

[MrWastee]

1 hour ago, Saltface said:

My two cents

 

It is not an easy game to play, and, it is not an easy game to learn to play.

Well, play does not mean to turn the ship with WASD and LMB to fire. That is easy. Even I could learn that.

The game is rather complicated and has depth. The information one has to process is on the "enormous" side of the scale.

All the above being true make a tutorial rather ineffective. Unless, you want the tutorial to replace the game at the early stages. That would work but it would deter more players than it would teach let alone retain.

 

The best place to learn is the Forum. And the best teachers are the forumites that "lose" their time to teach you. It worked miracles for me. Being a middle aged man with no gaming background makes it evident that it will work for the younger generation that are more adept to learn to play "video games". However, what might be missing (from the younger players) is the mentality of putting your nose down and learn. The forum can be a "harsh" environment at times. (lol)

 

The best lessons I had were the reviews of the battles I posted. They pointed out how stupid I was and how badly I played and why. I still remember the first review when a fellow forumite @159Hunter told me "you did too little too late and you lost the game for your team". And explained to me why. And the story gets better. A few forumites "lost" their time and invited me to division with them. And on voice com they guided me step by step. And they called me out when I messed up. It worked. And as I see it, it worked miracles. Same story repeated when I wanted to learn to play Destroyers and now that I asked a fellow forumite to teach me to play Carriers. They lost an hour in training room to guide me. And more time to answer my messages. 

 

I am grateful to All.

 

So Gentlemen, if you want to better the player base do it yourselves. It is like what you all told me when I complained that all my teammates turn around and leave at the first sight of red ships. Don't expect support.  And yes, I do know not all want to learn (or can for that matter). But the ones that do are the most valuable addition to the game.

 

Warm regards and my expression of gratitude to those that taught me 

Saltface

 

P.S. I only mentioned one in this post. He was the first one to call me out in a constructive manner. The list is long. One day I ll post all the names.

 

 

i did that once. picked a guy up from forum and went for a turn. he kinda ignored every hint i gave him inmatch, got wrecked quite quick and never been seen again.

 

that self-educating community might would workl in a community with the need to communicate. we don't have such. many players seem just to load up for a few and be gone again, like until a week later.

tutorials are a way more reliant in terms of establishing a wide spread "skill-level"/level of understanding of simplest game mechanics.

u won't establish a standard by offer, u will by give a path'n lead so to say.

 

it's kind of the same princip, the broadcasting is just wider and more inclusive.

 

on a sidenote:

i learned this game the hard way. i hardly do yt for gaming vids (nor most other stuff than music), i did not watch tourneys. i got some hints from forums and mostly that's been it. while still i managed to score 5 kills in my very 1st stock fuso match ages ago , i absolutely felt tuts missing and had a rather long way to go that could've been way shorter.

the frustration been real and not every player is stubborn as this one

[MrWastee]

#justn'thersidenote:

i guess @MrConway is not allowed to talk about such or collecting backgrounds over his red telephone (hurrhurr... DApun ) before he replies. so, while i expect there to be an answer, i not expect it to be positive ...

 

... can haz wows-bets.com ?! moar money, new fence for gulag

[Hannibalurg]

New players are just cannonfodder for older players, let's be real.

[Donar79]

1 minute ago, Hannibalurg said:

New players are just cannonfodder for older players, let's be real.

Like in every game/competition.

But you get to a point were the "New Player" becomes an "older player".

[Hannibalurg]

12 minutes ago, Donar79 said:

Like in every game/competition.

But you get to a point were the "New Player" becomes an "older player".

Yup, at some point there is a transition.

[Redcap375]

11 hours ago, Aotearas said:

You can lead a horse to water, but you can't make it drink.

 

Well lets at least provide some water in the first place for the horse to even think about drinking from.  

 

That saying is more in tuned if there is something already in place for the horse to choose to ignore.  There currently isn't. 

 

BEST example is absolutely no guides to the old CVs, nothing, Zip, naff all.  For a change to a RST style I thought that would be mandatory, but WG? Oh no, lets keep them in the dark and learn the hard way.  Sink or swim, only that most that didn't swim, drowned (leave the game).

 

My only conclusion is that WG has something going on.  Like @Hannibalurg has eluded too, cannon fodder to balance the books. Regardless, it's money driven no doubt.

 

9 hours ago, El2aZeR said:

The official answer to tutorials is that WG doesn't believe ingame tutorials change anything.

What they do ironically believe in is that the majority of people who actually need it are going to watch their videos and learn from them. ¯\_(ツ)_/¯

 

Conclusion because of this really ^^^^ 

 

*sigh and shakes head*

[Aotearas]

34 minutes ago, Redcap375 said:

Well lets at least provide some water in the first place for the horse to even think about drinking from.

I was alluding to the readyness of players to even want to learn in the first place. I'm pretty sure anyone playing the game at hightier has seen enough people play so absolutely braindead to know that some people simply refuse to learn anything and are willfully ignorant to a degree that if you try thinking about it too hard your brain goes 404: thought process not found.