Newbie boon?! Maaaaybe

[sye]

So I was thinking.. why not make a cool bag of goodies for newbies, or something, or a micro legendary item for newbies.   Anything to make it slightly more appealing and a tad easier for them to get into the feel of the game?

You could make it owned so they can't just deliver it to other players and keep recreating
maybe figure out pros/cons and what you could do to do it?  it would be an easy easy patch/codein and it would add a whole lot for people making alts, or new players. 

[Daklore]

It'd be like rewarding people just for making a new character/alt/whatever. All in all, it's not something we should be considering. It's not necessarily going to draw in new people, and they're just going to be getting free stuff they don't actually need. So... This receives the Daklore "No" stamp.

So, No.

[Thalia]

Things already in the game to aid newbies...
- newbie hints
- newbie/training area
- Free Torches with armor bonus
- basic equipment
- runic staff & runic faceplate
- spells from mobs in training area
- random spell from newbie fountain
- free healing and low level buffs from all healers
- support from other players and the occasional IMM, typically includes undeath light

What would be in a "cool bag of goodies" or what would a micro-legendary do that would provide a sufficient benefit to a brand spanking new player to keep them playing?

Are lack of freebies really keeping players from returning?

[Daklore]

Are lack of freebies really keeping players from returning?

Not at all.

[sye]

I dont think that is it.    I tried to keep it vague and just idea oriented so it couldn't be trounced on so easily lol.

Alot of new players get a TON of help, lets not forget the higher players that hand them free runes, and sometimes even tokens, or mob moxes, or quest items/ blood dagger etc.

but, What if, the game was *TAD* easier for people so they dont require any help if much?
I was thinking a micro legendary that gave 1k hps just to help them along until they got customs.

Questing can be boring for some people, and I know we shouldn't just appeal to instant gratification, but I was just thinking of ideas that would help hook new people you know?

They dont need freebies, And sure they get enough to help them,  But when players aren't on to help them in a low active state, kinda like we been dunking into, just thought some ideas would help you know?  *shrug*

[Daklore]

A better option would be to rebalance the mobile damage output so they don't kill people in five rounds without customs. After the last pwipe, the game seems to have been balanced around people having customs, rather than uncustomed stats. Giving them an extra 1000 HP will help, but it's only a stopgap, since they'll have to wait that much longer to sleep their health to full. Because the healer is expensive for a newbie.

The fact that you have to rely on healshield to survive should be indicitave of the damage problem here. (and I dare you Sye, to tank Arthie without healshield and survive it.)

[Chalgyr]

Is the damage output really so bad though? I mean later in the game sure, and Arthri's probably not a great example since he's not supposed to be a one-person kill by design.  Originally he was meant to be 3-6 people to take him down.  But I have seen quite a few players get into the upper levels without elite gear, though I admit they do struggle to progress beyond that, but then with an online game, I don't know that top levels/content should be easily accessed either. 

I just never got the impression that the damage output was what was preventing newer players from starting up, as most of them seem to get through the first 20-50 levels pretty quickly, and then once they tier they have better skills sooner and again coast through those first 50ish?

[Daklore]

It's been a while since I've done newbie, to be honest, but from what I remember, WITHOUT getting some buffs, you're pretty much screwed against mobiles. Breezing through the first fifty levels is generally easy because of the experience tnl rate. It's low, so it's alright. But without sanctuary, you're often taking too much damage to mitigate, and potions simply don't have the mitigation you need because you get full on them. You'll often have to sleep after two or three kills, or recall and heal altogether.

Prewipe, you could actually survive quite well with -just- a vampiric weapon, nowadays, vampiric is more of a, "does this even do anything"? If you're lucky and have good physical resists, you're pretty much set against most mobiles, but without customs/decent resists/heal shield/a good heal spell, you're pretty much going to struggle from level 150 onward. And by then it's often too late to quest and fix the problem and you're stuck with muddling through being able to do one out of three or four quests, or recreate.

Or, you've got access to half decent heals to give you the sustain you need to actually push through those later levels.

Without healshield, I can only survive against mobiles that I'm not immune too, with power heal. And that's 500 spirit a pop(250 when spellcasting or sorcery procs), so it runs dry awful quick if I have to cast powerheal every seven or eight rounds. Mana regen isn't enough to sustain on powerheals.

And Arthie is a good example, Fuzzbutt, because most of us that fight him can solo him as is >P

I'm probably the only one who can survive him without healshield, though.

[sye]

I can survive him without a shield period, and without auro buff. 

[Daklore]

without manashield?

[Psaro]

I can have Arthenon dead before he eats through my Mirage...

Most times.