Lets kickstart this up!
I think newbie experience is a pretty big deal to Orn and it's future. I really wish I had a big, fat wall of text to contribute at the moment but I haven't had nearly enough caffiene at the moment and the exhaustion from the october event still has me spinning in a haze.
This will probably be one of the toughest discussion groups here, Because I feel so much about the newbie experience isn't broken to begin with. I like to think that if someone doesn't enjoy orn then it probably wasn't what they were looking for in a larp to begin with. As a result I would imagine that anything coming out of these discussions would be seen as more like minor tweaks and optimization.
Probably some of the most important changes that I could imagine being implemented would be adding more to the lore and making the lore more accessible for first timers so that they can imagine and create the perfect character before they even touch the actual statsheet. The class guides have already done pretty wonderful things to character creation.
A boon bounty on weapons of all kinds seems like it would be a fitting idea as orn is growing almost to the point where soon being able to supply newbies with loaner weapons may have an adverse effect on the types of monsters that can be fielded during a mod. I think it would be great to see some staves and twohanders being available for the new players who were hoping to use something of that nature for their character. Not to mention the possibilities of allowing monsters with varied weapons and styles of combat.
Those character questions than jenn had been asking were wonderful, and I can still remember my first event when lyrion walked into the tavern, had some newbies gather around, he offered them some sort of delicious drink and asked them what their story was. Of course, I kinda clamped up being the shy roleplayer that I am, but the act alone was still pretty memorable and I hope to see more player driven initiatives like that in the future that allow newbies moments to actually roleplay and dive deeper and deeper into their character.
One of my favorite things that I hope preserves through this season and onto future ones is the spirit of equality thats in the larp. There is no "nobility" and generally, every player has an equal voice without having to put in a season of playing into their character before they are seen as anything more than a run of the mill redshirt/cannon fodder/footslogger. I think that feeling important and influential to the story and setting of orn from your first game onward is a feeling that will keep people coming back and back again and most likely one of the edges that no other larps in the area can provide.
If the question ever comes to please the seniority or to please the beginners, the answer should always be a nobrainer. It's just a basic courtesy to allow other people to follow behind you in your footsteps, like flushing a toilet. Or spritzing around a little air freshener right after you put damn that toilet into therapy.
Whether you've been to five, ten, twenty games; you'll be driving home that sunday with tons of fond memories while a player with only one or two games under their belt might not have any, at which it becomes hard justifying attending a game where you might feel just as insignificant as you do in the real world. Because isn't it all about being what you can't be in real life what makes roleplaying unique and special?
There is something about orn, I don't know what it is, that makes players completely fall in love with it. And I don't think it's a concidence that the majority of those players who have fallen in love with it either have very little larping experience or have had bad larping experiences from more serious ones. So even as the numbers of experienced and high level players grow, I'd like to see the system as it is, along with player driven initiatives help make beginning players grow and feel just as awesome as they did when they attended their first games.
Does anybody else have any thoughts on the matter?
If that's NOT a wall of text, I can't wait to see one. Thankfully I like reading.
I agree with the general ideas so far. We do need to give new players a bit more information at character creation so they can work their PC's into the existing world instead of trying to shoehorn in new major people, places and organizations that Plot are then expected to create and introduce.
I also think we need to encourage our existing players to take on a mentorship role for new players. Saturday morning is the perfect time for someone to sit down with the newcomers, welcome them to town and then address any mechanics questions that may have arisen from the previous night's events.
I think we should also have a specific newcomer's mod on Saturday AM, along with the other choose your own mods. This can be hooked and overseen by a PC to provide guidance.
I also think (and this is Tom's idea, to give credit where it's due) that new players should be encouraged to start unflagged and wait to flag until their 3rd game. I don't know if this should extend to asking for the manditory flagging of certain races to be removed, but it will help new players to determine if PvP is for them by seeing it in action.
We could address the weapons issue by having a few weapon construction workshops throughout the year. This way more experienced weapon-crafters can oversee the work to make sure everything's safe and players can walk home with a weapon that suits them. Basically, people pay a certain amount that goes to materials, and they make a weapon for themselves and help in creating another one. We use the excess to supplement the Dragon's Den stock.
First off, I love the idea of a second Saturday morning newbie mod (or maybe newbie plus lower level characters) whlie the random mods are going on. Especially if we get a couple more plot members, this should guarantee newbies get a treasure pull in the mornings and that the higher levels who know what's going on already with the random mods don't hog all the treasure by beating them to all the mods.
I would also like to see a basic "Welcome to the game, here's how to make a character" guide, probably with links to the appropriate sections of the game guide if needed. Go through the basic steps: Pick a race/class combo, come up with a background and/or personality (with some possible hints for basic background ideas), learn all your beginning actions, choose your skills, and the possibility to boon up before the game starts.
There also needs to mention somewhere for newbies that the library exists and how/why they should use it. Books also need to detail what you can learn from them.
Ditto on the weapons, and I like the weapon construction workshop idea. I basically did that with Tom at his house to make mine.
Mentoring would be nice and should certainly be encouraged, but it's impossible to force that in anyway. Perhaps we could put certain people (maybe one from each class or something) as online mentors, where newbies can ask specific people questions pertaining to their class (fighting style, useful skills, important actions, what magic items to make/look for).
I'll go ahead and call this one the Newbie Experience group's brainstorming thread, since we're all over the place. Here's a summary of my feelings on each idea:
- Saturday morning content for newbies. I like the idea, but it necessarily falls to the head of plot to manage the schedule. I don't want to step on his/her toes by mandating that more newbie-specific content needs to be created.
- Three-game waiting period before flagging. I like the idea even though it introduces uncertainty with races that require flagging. Newbies often jump into PvP without knowing what they're really getting into. I'll pass this one into the PvP group for further discussion.
- Weapon-crafting workshops. This one got pitched about halfway through season two. Apparently there are game stores that sponsor such things, and they serve as good neutral meeting points for newbies who aren't sure if they want to play yet. If someone wants to take the initiative, getting in touch with local game stores and seeing if they're interested would be the next logical step. Arie was the one who originally suggested it if someone wants to get in touch with her.
- Basic tutorials on character creation and management. Absolutely, yes. It will need to wait until the system is finished, but having a beginner's guide is a no-brainer.
I definitely agree with jen, it's easier on the plot and players alike to find a common ground when plot already has an idea where the player comes from. maybe is lore is to still remain restricted then to at least create like an in depth setting/background general information type of class guide so people have a bit of an idea of the world beyond the shard that jastrey is on and build from there.
I absolutely love the concept of mentoring players both ingame and out of game, especially in the encouragement of roleplaying.
I could totally see class mods ( mage,warrior, theurge,and rogue) occuring, where it makes the most of those classes story actions and gameplay styles that can bring those of those classes together in a blend of roleplaying experience and old players mentoring new players of similar classes. Also helps to make introductions easier when they need to learn how to do something from a teacher later on. (think like rogues being given an oceans eleven style infiltration/robbery/assassination while other classes all have another mod that plays to their story, roleplay, and combat strengths in which it all plays together into a larger plot, like the resistance mods during the ressik occupation.)
I could elaborate on that if anyone thinks it's worth elaborating on, but I'm trying to keep things shorter and to the point.
Also, march fighter practice is another good time to hold a weapon construction class (and a great time to show the off-season influx of first timers how to create a weapon before the season actually begins.)
Dude. Alex. Succinct. Please. :P
I don't foresee the current lore system changing much. Many people have called for race packets to become more broadly available, which may be allowed, but lore in general will still be access-restricted.
We always offer a boon bounty for weapons, although we don't often go out of our way to advertise that we need more. This is mostly out of concern for transport and storage space. I've already requested to Nick that we get a greater variety, including ranged weapons, two-handers, and staves, for both of the reasons that you mentioned, and he seemed amenable to that.
I'm glad you enjoyed roleplaying with Lyrion your first event. I remember it, but I didn't realize it had stuck with anyone. The question becomes how to foster things like that where existing characters go out of their way to sit down with newbies and learn more about their characters.
I agree that newbies should be made to feel significant and useful right alongside the older players. We try this often in the newbie mods; plot will intentionally seed the evening's main mod with information that the newbies are bringing in. The only issue is that some newbies run with it and some don't, depending on their extraversion and roleplaying ability. I think it's still a good practice, though, and that all we can really do is give newbies the opportunity to be important. It's up to them to take it.