New player experience

Agus · 2018-04-07 02:28:53

I started played not long ago and to be honest the idea of this game really caught my attention and made me want to recommend it to friends even though I hardly do that for other games.

Sadly after some gameplays, I felt that the game changed dramatically. I would like to share my experience as some sort of feedback because I think this game has a lot of potential and if I can help it get better then I can't miss the opportunity.

So here it goes:
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-My first life (Or at least the first one I was able to survive long enough to play) I had the best introduction to the game possible: I told my mom I was new and she guided me through the game. She fed me until I understood how to pick up food and eat it, always encouraging me. After that she spent some time giving me a job in the farm telling me exactly what to do and I was able to start helping our small farm right as soon as my new brother was born.

-During my next lives I decided I wanted to help the villages and I did what I knew: water the crops and harvest them. It was just then when I started to survive until late age, it was quite an accomplishment.

-I had my first dissapointment not much later; I was born in a city with plenty of food, buildings and anything I could ask for. My mum told me that everything was already done there and I could stay if I wanted, but she had other plans. She was getting ready to go into the wild because "she was wild" and the city was boring. At first I was excited because I knew that surviving there would be easy, but what was the point of playing there? Fortunately I got distracted talking to mom and starved (haha).

-Eventually I learned how to get seeds and how to keep farming them, I had to ask some people and they explained that to me. I started to set new challenges, like making a basket, starting my own farm or starting a fire. That is how I think the game should feel like, but it didn't last long...

-My biggest dissapointment came when I started spawning in towns with big farms in all my lives, I wanted to help so I asked how, but I didn't know how to craft the things people told me to do. I tried asking but someone told me to google it and check in the wiki, that was devastating to me; The game suddenly was only about searching for recipes in the wikis and crafting them to help a city that had much more technology than what I understood, where was the discovery fun in there?

-I tried to live on my own, start discovering things just exploring and testing, that was when I started enjoying playing as an Eve more than as a baby in an already formed society. I was starting my own farms, trying to make enough food for my kids and help them understand my goals, but then two things happened that ruined it: First it was the fact that every time I walked in any direction, I ended up in an abandoned (or not) town with many tools in the floor, what was the point of starting from scratch if people would leave me to live there?. The second thing was that one of my sons was really smart, he already knew the tech tree. He was still a young boy but he managed to do much more things that I could, and then I realised that the difference in our gameplays were huge. If people were starting towns that quickly, how could I learn the tech tree from the bottom up on my own pace?

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When I heard about the apocalypse I got really excited, I thought that maybe it was the solution I needed, maybe now I can start in savage towns and learn there. Then I realised that people who have been playing the game will probably advance quite fast and it won't be long until any primitive town becomes a city.

I think that in order to provide a good experience to new players there should be a way to play the kind of tech you want. Maybe if we could choose how advanced we want to be born, the game could spawn us in either in the wilderness or in a big city. Right now playing somewhere where the tech is really high is not appealing to me at all.
Spreading the eves sounds like a nice idea too, it would get rid of the problem of too much technology when you want to start over. I hadn't thought about it before tbh but it sounds brillant.

For the rest of the community: How are you playing the game? Do you enjoy discovering things on your own/asking the old way and working the bottom up or do you prefer to be born in a big city and help it get even richer and more prosperous?

Last edited by Agus (2018-04-07 02:29:19)

mikekchar · 2018-04-07 06:20:27

I have not been on the official server except for a few seconds. I live in Japan and the 300 ms lag each way pretty much means that the game is unplayable. I started using my own server and playing all by myself... which seems strange (and it is), but it's actually pretty fun. I can tell you that learning that you restart at your old base if you die of old age as an Eve made the game much more interesting ;-)

I've finally convinced my wife to play with me and so tonight we'll give it a go just the two of us. To be honest, I don't have much time to play games, so I'm strangely happy to dabble a bit and follow the saga on the forums. But I'm getting the feeling that this game really benefits from custom servers. If you get a group of like minded players, I'm sure it can be a lot of fun. At the same time, it seems to be a lot of fun dealing with the drama on the official servers. I'll be honest, though, I don't think I'd want to have that be my only exposure to the game.

This game (and every other game that Jason has written as far as I know) is free software. That doesn't mean free of charge. That means freedom (the old free as in freedom, not as in beer). I think what Jason is doing on the official servers is super interesting, but I also value the freedom to forge my own path. I know that not everybody has the technical knowledge to comfortably set up their own server, but there are already several unofficial servers out there that you can visit if you want. In all honesty, there is no real barrier to learning how to set up your own server either -- it is in your power. If you run into trouble, there will be people to help (and I will try to help as well to the extent that I can).

Providing feedback like you are doing is a great thing. I'm a software developer and the kind of message you wrote is like pure gold to me. I don't want to discourage you from doing that kind of thing. But I hope that you'll get some ideas for shaping the game exactly how you and your friends would like to interact with it -- because that's a thing you can do.

pein · 2018-04-07 07:02:33

i like small to medium cities. like having a carrot farm so i dont worry about food, but still challenging when a famine runs, triyng to fix problems like bear attack, bad logistics, mikweed shortage. when all tools are there is kinda feels boring. nobody needs anything, kids are selfish and start griefing. a few runs i was hunter, spawned int osame place 3 times, i was gearing everyone up, making more than 10 backpacks in a lifetime, filling with carrots and giving to newborns then taking it back when they died. even enjoyed a city with some sheeps, small milkweed farm, grew into my heart, or once when my mom died and raised my brother then we had random eve settle and making a bit of progress. i dont enjoy starting over and over just to end up dieing before i can start crafting advanced tools.the game needs more content, different paths. now you can have 2 types of clothing, like 4 types of food the foraging, the farming, hunting then mixing both. i would enjoy some kind of group events, random weather, for example rains, and picking mushrooms after it, hot wheather when you would need to store up water, hurricanes, fire, wild animal attacks, npc attacks (if the fighting system wouldnt be 1 hp aim to kill), just soome random events which would modify the rules temporarily.

some games you were born in big cities but only 1 of each tool and nobody could use properly, it can be fun that too. but you can always leave a big city, run 5 minutes and make an outpost.definitely should allow/force playing as an eve or as a small group.

2-4.th generation is enjoyable, i seen cities where 5th generation made everything and the griefing started

Sakkiyn · 2018-04-07 14:24:54

I was naming my kids before the name update. i loved establishing a sense of personality and family.

But since the apocalypse I have actually forgotten to name kids, so busy trying to establish a farm, because I know you cannot run through the wilderness now and find some sort of civilization.

I ask my kids "are you new?" if you say yes I let you die (it isn't personal). I have no carrot farm yet, making tools with rope and still naked and freezing. Surviving off berries and cactus fruit.

I had a kid that was so new once they died standing by a berry bush pressing "F" at me, they were old enough to pick and eat themselves. I do not have the time or "luxury" to teach a new player when I am standing on the precipice of starvation any minute.

I had a few kids die because I told them "stay close" and they did not listen, Momma has a lot of work to get done or she will die herself and not establish a place for any family that is able to survive if she does not keep moving and working.

I used to RP a bit and type to my family, sorry no time for that stuff anymore, we are on the verge of collapse every minute now.

I do not mind hardmode, but I need kids that are able to play hard-mode. Not newbs that cannot listen to direction or better yet do not need direction. Do not blame me, blame the apocalypse and the new spawn for Eve's.

New players are going to find it much rougher now. New players are a huge liability now. Spawn as an Eve new player and try and learn to survive, or maybe you will get lucky and find a family with an actual carrot farm up and running that can afford to have someone learn the game while they work non stop to keep things from collapsing.

Edit: If it sounds like I am complaining, I am not. I was fortunate to learn the game when there was an easy mode. I know how to make or do everything in game. I am, and have been, self sufficient many times.

I could even raise all the kids if I keep moving and eating berries, but then I can't set up a base. It is one or the other not both. I am merely sharing my personal experience since apocalypse happened.

You may be a better player then me and can raise all your kids, and teach the newbs and make a great civ while smelling like roses and wearing the latest fashion, if so good for you. I have yet to be able to bring home the bacon and cook it too. But I am still playing and still trying and still learning.

Last edited by Sakkiyn (2018-04-07 14:33:41)

breezeknight · 2018-04-07 14:48:58

Agus wrote:

...
-My biggest dissapointment came when I started spawning in towns with big farms in all my lives, I wanted to help so I asked how, but I didn't know how to craft the things people told me to do. I tried asking but someone told me to google it and check in the wiki, that was devastating to me; The game suddenly was only about searching for recipes in the wikis and crafting them to help a city that had much more technology than what I understood, where was the discovery fun in there?
-I tried to live on my own, start discovering things just exploring and testing, that was when I started enjoying playing as an Eve more than as a baby in an already formed society. I was starting my own farms, trying to make enough food for my kids and help them understand my goals, but then two things happened that ruined it: First it was the fact that every time I walked in any direction, I ended up in an abandoned (or not) town with many tools in the floor, what was the point of starting from scratch if people would leave me to live there?. The second thing was that one of my sons was really smart, he already knew the tech tree. He was still a young boy but he managed to do much more things that I could, and then I realised that the difference in our gameplays were huge. If people were starting towns that quickly, how could I learn the tech tree from the bottom up on my own pace?
---------------------------------------------------------------------------

When I heard about the apocalypse I got really excited, I thought that maybe it was the solution I needed, maybe now I can start in savage towns and learn there. Then I realised that people who have been playing the game will probably advance quite fast and it won't be long until any primitive town becomes a city.
I think that in order to provide a good experience to new players there should be a way to play the kind of tech you want. Maybe if we could choose how advanced we want to be born, the game could spawn us in either in the wilderness or in a big city. Right now playing somewhere where the tech is really high is not appealing to me at all.
Spreading the eves sounds like a nice idea too, it would get rid of the problem of too much technology when you want to start over. I hadn't thought about it before tbh but it sounds brillant.

For the rest of the community: How are you playing the game? Do you enjoy discovering things on your own/asking the old way and working the bottom up or do you prefer to be born in a big city and help it get even richer and more prosperous?

i play for a week first & i'm playing rather slowly, no rush

my experiences are similar to yours, i was spawned in several big cities, most of them were not well running but full with stuff
i didn't have much motivation to learn there what i don't know, i resigned most times to farming

after the apocalypse i decided to climb up my tech tree on my own, learn the very basics & master bare survival first
so always if spawned as baby i run away, i tried to survive in the wilderness as Eve, but since my basic skills are not very efficient, so trying to keep up a child too while i learn to survive efficiently is not going well atm

& yes, my experiences with my kids doing stuff faster & more efficient than me is rather demotivating

here my best survival experience i managed so far

i am not sure if i wish for options before spawning, maybe

breezeknight · 2018-04-07 15:00:25

Sakkiyn wrote:

...
Edit: If it sounds like I am complaining, I am not. I was fortunate to learn the game when there was an easy mode. I know how to make or do everything in game. I am, and have been, self sufficient many times.
I could even raise all the kids if I keep moving and eating berries, but then I can't set up a base. It is one or the other not both. I am merely sharing my personal experience since apocalypse happened.
You may be a better player then me and can raise all your kids, and teach the newbs and make a great civ while smelling like roses and wearing the latest fashion, if so good for you. I have yet to be able to bring home the bacon and cook it too. But I am still playing and still trying and still learning.

there was an easy mode in the game ? wow, that's so unfair

i die so many times as Eve because the landscape is just too vast with too little ressources or even one crucial missing in a nearby area

to try to learn while constantly on the verge to extinction is very stressful

i tried to play on one of the private serves where life is easier, but they are all not on the last update, so unable to play there at all

Sakkiyn · 2018-04-07 15:08:36

breezeknight wrote:

Sakkiyn wrote:
...
Edit: If it sounds like I am complaining, I am not. I was fortunate to learn the game when there was an easy mode. I know how to make or do everything in game. I am, and have been, self sufficient many times.
I could even raise all the kids if I keep moving and eating berries, but then I can't set up a base. It is one or the other not both. I am merely sharing my personal experience since apocalypse happened.
You may be a better player then me and can raise all your kids, and teach the newbs and make a great civ while smelling like roses and wearing the latest fashion, if so good for you. I have yet to be able to bring home the bacon and cook it too. But I am still playing and still trying and still learning.
there was an easy mode in the game ? wow, that's so unfair
i die so many times as Eve because the landscape is just too vast with too little ressources or even one crucial missing in a nearby area
to try to learn while constantly on the verge to extinction is very stressful
i tried to play on one of the private serves where life is easier, but they are all not on the last update, so unable to play there at all

Easy mode was huge towns stuffed with carrots, pies, and a hundred berry bushes. So you could grab a cart of food and go learn a trade young man. Now you run from berry bush to cactus, and maybe dig up the odd wild carrot, just to keep from starving.

EQRA · 2018-04-07 16:14:57

Well i started this game yesterday and i learned really much since then - when spawning as eve i almost everytime set up a pretty decent civ... theres basically just ca. 10 recipes you gotta know to get everything going. Its pretty fun if you get there and join in the civ you started earlier. If you see a civ named "Smith" its probably founded by me

breezeknight · 2018-04-07 16:59:17

Sakkiyn wrote:

Easy mode was huge towns stuffed with carrots, pies, and a hundred berry bushes. So you could grab a cart of food and go learn a trade young man. Now you run from berry bush to cactus, and maybe dig up the odd wild carrot, just to keep from starving.

ah, that's what you mean

i thought you meant an actual easy mode, with doubled berry bushes, milkweed & carrot plants

yeah, it's very hard now in the wild

One Hour One Life Forums

#1 2018-04-07 02:28:53

New player experience

#2 2018-04-07 06:20:27

Re: New player experience

#3 2018-04-07 07:02:33

Re: New player experience

#4 2018-04-07 14:24:54

Re: New player experience

#5 2018-04-07 14:48:58

Re: New player experience

#6 2018-04-07 15:00:25

Re: New player experience

#7 2018-04-07 15:08:36

Re: New player experience

#8 2018-04-07 16:14:57

Re: New player experience

#9 2018-04-07 16:59:17

Re: New player experience

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