Posts tagged newbies 
Free for All: The importance of those first moments in a game
This week, I decided to download and install Aion. I haven't played it since beta. Although I was not impressed with it at the time, my favorite Aion columnist has been covering the game in such a way that I knew some good things had happened to the game. And after all, it's free now. Right? I ...
The Daily Grind: Do MMOs coddle us too much in the early game?
As much as I loved playing RIFT this year -- and I truly did -- one of my biggest critiques happened to be something beloved by many. This was the fact that the early game was so skewed toward giving you everything all at once: access to mounts and all of your class souls (and several builds). As ...
Dark Age of Camelot gears up its newbies
As part of Mythic's continued efforts to introduce a "New User Journey" experience that's friendly to Dark Age of Camelot beginners, the studio has turned its attention to the ever-crucial subject of gear. In a new dev diary by DJ Frazier, the dev spells out the problem: "For a new player who ...
Veteran EVE Online pilots share wisdom with new players
If you're looking for an excuse to visit the recently revamped EVE Online official forums, you could do a lot worse than a newbie help thread started by CCP Fallout. Whether you're an actual New Eden rookie or a veteran looking to dispense advice (note we didn't say good advice, since it's EVE), ...
EVE Evolved: Corporate benefits and new players
In a recent article, I explored the effect that power players have on EVE Online's subscription retention. In particular, I suggested that CCP has stopped developing features with EVE's power players in mind and that this could be the cause of a worrying downward trend in new player retention. ...
The Daily Grind: When does friendly turn frustrating?
We all know, from years of experience, that there's a certain community duty to help newer players get acclimated to the game. Or younger players, or... really, anyone. It's in the community's best interests to be friendly and open. But there's always the threat of the player who seems friendly ...
The Anvil of Crom: Tortage in four hours (or less)
So you've just created another Age of Conan alt and you're dreading a second (or third, or fourth) Tortage run-through. Maybe you've come back to the game after a long absence -- or you're completely new -- and your friends are waiting for you to get off the island in a hurry and join them in ...
SOE shows off DC Universe Online newbie video
For those of you who haven't run through DC Universe Online's tutorial instance 36,000 times by now, SOE has posted a new video to its Facebook page previewing a bit of the goings on aboard Brainiac's prison/invasion/newbie ship. The one-minute clip is full of furious fists, physics-based combat ...
A Mild-Mannered Reporter: Starting fresh and clearing conceptions
So last week I had announced that I'd be going through some Mission Architect content for this week's column. There were two things that derailed that event, however. The first was dealing with the aftermath of a Thanksgiving holiday and an immense patch for another game which I cover, which meant ...
Final Fantasy XIV updates official site with a guide to interactions and guildleves
Despite the in-game tutorial, players in Final Fantasy XIV aren't given a straightforward idea of where to go after the first few steps in the game. Early adopters have been gamely figuring out what comes next as they go, but Square-Enix has put together a small primer for new players covering two ...
