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Envisioning the future of zOMG! 

Tags: zOMG!, Idea, Discussion, z!magine 

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DrQuint
Vice Captain

Girl-Crazy Ladykiller

PostPosted: Wed Mar 23, 2011 7:18 pm


Okay, I just had the most awesome idea ever on the issue of players not knowing how to do stuff in-game.

I was just starting up a steam game now and it has some tips during loading screens. I asked to myself out loud "geez, why do they even bother telling us stuff everyone knows".
Then I shift-tabbed into the steam overlay tray to reach the web browser and found myself in the guild's homepage. It clicked me.

Not all users know how to do something as simple as using Rage on rings. Even when the tutorial mentioned it, some people would skip it.

Loading screens are like full screen ads with a timer. They're huge, annoying, get in the way of fun and you have to bear with them until a amount of time passes.
Eventually, I get to know all those youtube2mp3 ads inside out, so it's only common sense that a zOMG! player would too for all the loading screens.

Just place all those tips, simple explanations on how to do stuff as pictures that come up during loadings, and eventually, people will try to follow what the tips say. We can bring out any feature we want as well, be it badges, recipes, areas and instances, the importance of defense/CC/debuffs, the gold curve...

We could stretch this to far more than just gameplay tips. We could have introductions to areas places of interest, rumors about easter eggs (Bassie), joining clans, SOULBOUND RINGS and plot reminders as well.

example
*On the left: picture of a dead OMG by a random confused looking at stuffing that came out of it On the Right: Picture of the gaian grinning and wearing some hat (oh wait) pants made out of OMG. In the middle of both pictures, there's two arrows pointing right, with Nicolae and his caravan in between them.*
(Yes, I need to learn to draw.)
"Recipes can be used with loot you gather from defeated enemies to create marvelous new items for your avatar to wear. To do so, you can go to Back Alley Bargains shop on gaiaonline, and ask Nicolae to exchange the recipes for you"


PS: We'd still need a decent tutorial as well, no way this would replace it. But seriously, in times of need like "3 devs left", a "quick fix" is fine too.
PostPosted: Wed Mar 23, 2011 10:17 pm


You know, I see this a lot in games, and it would be absolutely perfect for zOMG (people don't pay attention to the tutorial, and there's a large amount of advice that can be given).

Atrash the Squidmonger
Vice Captain


gataka
Vice Captain

Familiar Lunatic

PostPosted: Thu Mar 24, 2011 7:57 pm


Idea, win.
Example, fail.
Y u no draw? :V

Brilliant way to use that dead space.
More importantly, M04R Trixie opportunity.
Kawaii/chibi style and illustrating the concept.
Clear to communicate.
Appealing to last.
Wonderful.

Stretch it to include back/story elements?
PostPosted: Thu Mar 24, 2011 10:14 pm


"If the 'Heavy breathing' sound is drawing unwanted attention from those around you, remember: Hero, your Stamina is low!"

(Okay, so I've never played Fable 1, but I've heard a few jokes about it)

Thard_Verad
Crew

Dangerous Genius


DrQuint
Vice Captain

Girl-Crazy Ladykiller

PostPosted: Fri Mar 25, 2011 4:39 am


gataka
Y u no draw? :V


Because:

User Image - Blocked by "Display Image" Settings. Click to show.

and

User Image - Blocked by "Display Image" Settings. Click to show. < serious attempt at making Space Pirates and a Dinosaur (gone better than expected)

I would draw if I could, both in hardware and personal capabilities. I wanted to, you know?

All I can do that would look decent would be copy paste... That can be worked out...
PostPosted: Fri Mar 25, 2011 1:48 pm


Quintafeira12
.../
A A
(°°O)
~~### < serious attempt at making Space Pirates and a Dinosaur DRAGONRAWR (gone better than expected)

I would draw if I could, both in hardware and personal capabilities. I wanted to, you know?

All I can do that would look decent would be copy paste... That can be worked out...
Fair enough. I suggest using the linetool/bezier or zooming in to cover the mouse.

Reading a book/online tut and some practice should cover the lack of skill.
Getting the basics is easy °3°

No need to copy stuff... I'll try and make a fail-paint example.

gataka
Vice Captain

Familiar Lunatic


Beenz

Dapper Stalker

PostPosted: Sun Mar 27, 2011 7:43 am


I love this idea, I would say that if it was ever implemented:
Quote:
zOMG rings and Charge Orbs are soulbound. Unless they are rings from seasonal events, you can not vend or trade them (with very few grandfathered exceptions).


Or similar would be a compulsory addition to any possible tutorial quotes? (For the love of all that is good in this world? )
PostPosted: Sun Mar 27, 2011 12:21 pm


Beenz
I love this idea, I would say that if it was ever implemented:
Quote:
zOMG rings and Charge Orbs are soulbound. Unless they are rings from seasonal events, you can not vend or trade them (with very few grandfathered exceptions).


Or similar would be a compulsory addition to any possible tutorial quotes? (For the love of all that is good in this world? )

How to grandfather rings? User Image

The concept of a grandfather clause isn't particularly well-known on Gaia (what do you expect, on a site aimed at teenagers?); I think that was pretty poor wording the first time around, and they should probably avoid using it again, if possible... sweatdrop

EDIT: Beside that, of course, yes... whee

Red Kutai
Captain

Benevolent Codger


DrQuint
Vice Captain

Girl-Crazy Ladykiller

PostPosted: Sun Mar 27, 2011 2:09 pm


Red Kutai
Beenz
I love this idea, I would say that if it was ever implemented:
Quote:
zOMG rings and Charge Orbs are soulbound. Unless they are rings from seasonal events, you can not vend or trade them (with very few grandfathered exceptions).


Or similar would be a compulsory addition to any possible tutorial quotes? (For the love of all that is good in this world? )

How to grandfather rings? User Image

The concept of a grandfather clause isn't particularly well-known on Gaia (what do you expect, on a site aimed at teenagers?); I think that was pretty poor wording the first time around, and they should probably avoid using it again, if possible... sweatdrop

EDIT: Beside that, of course, yes... whee


Don't worry, I got this, I got this.

Quote:
with very few exceptions.


Can't believe an adjective was this much of an issue.

And still, that wouldn't answer the question nor prevent the threads. People wouldn't know what the exception are and they still would want to, well, figure out what it is so they can be an exception. If this were to be added, might as well name the exception directly somewhere.

Quote:
All unequipped rings from before December 8, 2008 remain unbound, which is why some rings can be bought from the Marketplace.


Suddenly, you'd feel stupid to bother asking, unless, a) you saw the rings in the marketplace, and didn't the message in-game, or b) you were making threads to say that's unfair and those should be soulbound as well. Then again, others would consider that whining.
PostPosted: Sun Mar 27, 2011 5:21 pm


Quintafeira12
Red Kutai
Beenz
I love this idea, I would say that if it was ever implemented:
Quote:
zOMG rings and Charge Orbs are soulbound. Unless they are rings from seasonal events, you can not vend or trade them (with very few grandfathered exceptions).


Or similar would be a compulsory addition to any possible tutorial quotes? (For the love of all that is good in this world? )

How to grandfather rings? User Image

The concept of a grandfather clause isn't particularly well-known on Gaia (what do you expect, on a site aimed at teenagers?); I think that was pretty poor wording the first time around, and they should probably avoid using it again, if possible... sweatdrop

EDIT: Beside that, of course, yes... whee


Don't worry, I got this, I got this.

Quote:
with very few exceptions.


Can't believe an adjective was this much of an issue.

And still, that wouldn't answer the question nor prevent the threads. People wouldn't know what the exception are and they still would want to, well, figure out what it is so they can be an exception. If this were to be added, might as well name the exception directly somewhere.

Quote:
All unequipped rings from before December 8, 2008 remain unbound, which is why some rings can be bought from the Marketplace.


Suddenly, you'd feel stupid to bother asking, unless, a) you saw the rings in the marketplace, and didn't the message in-game, or b) you were making threads to say that's unfair and those should be soulbound as well. Then again, others would consider that whining.

Not too difficult to work around, no; that was more a shot at whoever decided it made sense to use "grandfathered exceptions" to explain the situation to 13-year-olds (which is all you can assume of any given Gaian). I suppose it was probably to save text space, but since it doesn't actually communicate what it's supposed to to the target audience, there's not much point in having it to begin with... rolleyes

Red Kutai
Captain

Benevolent Codger


Red Kutai
Captain

Benevolent Codger

PostPosted: Sat Apr 02, 2011 12:16 am



I figure it's only fair to warn you: [ JK ] was talking about another Splash Screen contest at the most recent dev meet. I sent him a PM and a link to this thread, suggesting this as a possible conception of it. I think it's got a lot of potential as a contest - since it finally offers some rewards for people writing these mini-tutorials, as well as for those who actually depict them.

I suppose I might should've asked you first, but I was a bit excited at the thought... sweatdrop
PostPosted: Sat Apr 02, 2011 2:45 am


Red Kutai

I figure it's only fair to warn you: [ JK ] was talking about another Splash Screen contest at the most recent dev meet. I sent him a PM and a link to this thread, suggesting this as a possible conception of it. I think it's got a lot of potential as a contest - since it finally offers some rewards for people writing these mini-tutorials, as well as for those who actually depict them.

I suppose I might should've asked you first, but I was a bit excited at the thought... sweatdrop


Considering I don't get in touch with [ JK ] as much as you do recently, it'd be rather selfish to want to take exclusive responsibility for and praise over the suggestion. It's not "mine", it's "for the game". And if you managed to reach it somewhere it mattered, and if it would totally improve the game as it is, then job well done, you made the thread fulfill its purpose. I'm not going to get John Madden over that, I'm going to thank you for it.

Thanks. cheese_whine

I've got to wonder, what was his response?

Also, if a contest was made out of this, what would prevent people from making 50 "RINGS ARE SOULBOUND!" pictures and only one about suppression?

DrQuint
Vice Captain

Girl-Crazy Ladykiller


Red Kutai
Captain

Benevolent Codger

PostPosted: Sat Apr 02, 2011 5:07 am


Quintafeira12
Red Kutai

I figure it's only fair to warn you: [ JK ] was talking about another Splash Screen contest at the most recent dev meet. I sent him a PM and a link to this thread, suggesting this as a possible conception of it. I think it's got a lot of potential as a contest - since it finally offers some rewards for people writing these mini-tutorials, as well as for those who actually depict them.

I suppose I might should've asked you first, but I was a bit excited at the thought... sweatdrop


Considering I don't get in touch with [ JK ] as much as you do recently, it'd be rather selfish to want to take exclusive responsibility for and praise over the suggestion. It's not "mine", it's "for the game". And if you managed to reach it somewhere it mattered, and if it would totally improve the game as it is, then job well done, you made the thread fulfill its purpose. I'm not going to get John Madden over that, I'm going to thank you for it.

Thanks. cheese_whine

I've got to wonder, what was his response?

Also, if a contest was made out of this, what would prevent people from making 50 "RINGS ARE SOULBOUND!" pictures and only one about suppression?

Well, I did both link to the thread, and name you personally; you were duely credited, I do believe. wink The last thing I want is to take credit for something I didn't do. sweatdrop

No response, yet - he's generally pretty slow about getting through his PMs, actually. whee Even that much I only know because I stalk my own Outbox - he generally only replies when he's answering a question, or something of the sort. Pretty sure it gets busy over there at HQ. sweatdrop

I did realise the problem of multiples, but that's an issue they had with the last Splash Screen contest, too. I think as long as you're letting people pick the subject themselves, you're bound to wind up with that issue. As far as I can tell, though, you wouldn't really need two of any given 'tutorial' screen - you could easily encourage contestants to choose something more off-the-beaten path by simply saying you'll only be picking one from each category. Don't bother submitting your "RINGS ARE SOULBOUND" art unless you know it's going to win, and such. That seems fair to me, at least - it may still be a little harsh... sweatdrop
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