I think there is a thin line between hand holding and frustration. I realized this when playing other mmos, with big mission arrows and markers on the ground when needed. It is convenient just following orders without thinking, but it can get boring really fast.
I think Ryzom does it more subtle, there is not much "official" guidance, if players need help / support the community is there in universe / region / around / guild chats, on various websites / wikis and even with ingame apps. Players have the freedom to just explore the game and tinker without using any of these resources.
On the other hand many new players are used to these assistance auto pilot like systems and feel uncomfortable without them. Ryzom is not the most userfriendly game. It is in many aspects not self explaining. Silan is a good step in the right direction, but also giving players the wrong impression the whole mainland is build on missions and rewards like this.
I don't have an answer to the general problem of freedom / exploration vs hand holding / convenience, but I believe offering optional support without forcing it is the right direction.
What would happen if the community suddenly vanished and all the resource sites and tools with it? The game would be fun again. It would be a new world to explore, discoveries would be meaningful again. A new community would build similar maps, tools, resources, as it happens in every online world. With this, I don't think it is a problem to have so many different sources of information all over the place. If a source vanishes, a better one might appear. They could also be linked to the game or combined to make it easier for new players to find them. There are some forum posts doing this already. (Example http://app.ryzom.com/app_forum/index.php?page=topic/view/23395/1)
arc
PS
Arcueid = lazy
I think Ryzom does it more subtle, there is not much "official" guidance, if players need help / support the community is there in universe / region / around / guild chats, on various websites / wikis and even with ingame apps. Players have the freedom to just explore the game and tinker without using any of these resources.
On the other hand many new players are used to these assistance auto pilot like systems and feel uncomfortable without them. Ryzom is not the most userfriendly game. It is in many aspects not self explaining. Silan is a good step in the right direction, but also giving players the wrong impression the whole mainland is build on missions and rewards like this.
I don't have an answer to the general problem of freedom / exploration vs hand holding / convenience, but I believe offering optional support without forcing it is the right direction.
What would happen if the community suddenly vanished and all the resource sites and tools with it? The game would be fun again. It would be a new world to explore, discoveries would be meaningful again. A new community would build similar maps, tools, resources, as it happens in every online world. With this, I don't think it is a problem to have so many different sources of information all over the place. If a source vanishes, a better one might appear. They could also be linked to the game or combined to make it easier for new players to find them. There are some forum posts doing this already. (Example http://app.ryzom.com/app_forum/index.php?page=topic/view/23395/1)
arc
PS
Arcueid = lazy
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