The First-Time-User-Experience needs a SERIOUS OVERHAUL.
I've been here since the game first opened back in 2013, so I know my way around School Of Dragons, but playing the game on a new account, it's easy to see that the game doesn't put it's best foot forward. Here are some things I've noticed;
1. The quests are shown in the wrong order.
When first talking to the Headmaster, the Expansion Pack quests are shown first, making it seem like everything is locked under a paywall. While this is mostly true, having a quest that ends up leading you to a paywall doesn't seem like something an MMO who is wanting to gain and keep new people while a franchise is going out wouldn't do. That, and it makes the story seem out of order. Bucket's Icy Problem is the first EP, yet it's at the bottom of the list of EPs. Also, you need to explain more firmly what is an Expansion quest and what isn't.
2. The cutscene with Harald in the school happens too soon.
This goes with the quests being out of order. In Battle For The Edge, there's a moment where we think Harald is our friend. To a new player, it's going to be a bit confusing seeing someone who attacked the school trying to befriend us as if nothing happened. Maybe have that cutscene happen in The Hidden World, with the ship rescue being the first thing to happen, then the explosion cutscene, and then Astrid questioning what's going on with the giant hole at the School.
3. Keybinds aren't explained properly.
Don't get me wrong, the radial menu is pretty neat for those wanting to take a picture without the side icons in the way, but this isn't efficent when someone just wants to turn off MMO. They should be able to press Esc and access the settings that way (like you used to be able to), and not have to waste more time by trying to click yourself. Also, why was strafing taken away?
4. Following Quests can be tricky.
I can think of many instances where the Quest Arrow ends up bugging. At one point, it might ask you to talk to an NPC, but the Quest Arrow will sometimes disappear, making it hard to find the NPC in the first place. And when you're working on a quest and click on the NPC you're supposed to talk to, it ends up showing a quest list instead of going straight to the dialog for the current quest, leading the player to believe they're supposed to click on one of the quests on the list and not the red X to continue on their current quest.
5. There is no in-game guide.
Sometimes players will end up needing a little bit of a refresher if they end up taking a break. Well, there is no proper in-game guide to help them. There is an FAQ page linked on their website, but there are a few small errors; one FAQ mentions you can use firepits and logs to level up your dragon when that has been taken out over a year ago.
6. The Uninstall wizard doesn't fully remove the game.
SoD's install size is small because it installs only what it needs to boot up; you're downloading the rest of the game as you play it. What sucks is that when you go to uninstall the game, the cache isn't cleared. At least provide a means to clear the cache in-game. The last thing people want is to have 6gb being used by a game they no longer play.
7. Lootboxes in an educational game.
Really??? Knowledge Adventure, do you know what your target audience is? You're targeting children with gambling mechanics. You have paid lootboxes placed in prominant locations. I don't know about you, but when I was watching the movies, I didn't see any slot machines. Look, if you're going to have loot boxes, you're going to need to be more transparent. If you're going to be greedy, own up to it! Have odds for Loot Boxes easy to see. Don't burry it somewhere on your site where almost no one would go to (the bottom of the page for example); that's just a weak move right there. http://www.schoolofdragons.com/help/loot-crates
These are just a few nitpicks I have on the FTUE of SoD. I know I am not alone on at least a few of these. Let me know on what other FTUE nitpicks y'all have.
I completly agree! Plus they should maybe add in locks on certain islands. I know this is counter intuitive but here me out.
Islands should be unlocked as the player lvls up. That would give players motive to play! I am tired of seeing players who signed up yesterday in the most rare and beautiful place in the game, the hidden world. Haralds cutscene should only happen when the player buys the hidden world expansion and STARTS IT! No random explosion that happens and confuses the poor new player WHO JUST GOT HERE!
Basicly certain quests should be overhauled, just so they make some logical sense to whatever story SOD is trying to tell (ive been playing for almost 5 years and still dont know) and PLEASE GET RID OF TRAITOR JOHAN!!!!!!
ADD IN A NEW QUESTLINE FOR SOMEONE WHO CAN REPLACE HIM!!! (he's ded)
Updated information is key to having a nicely running in game system! As well as keeping the new players in the game! (who by the way pay your salery...) We veteren players arnt gonna be here forever!
As a veteren player and former member (yeah thats right SOD... FORMER!) I have seen many good and bad desisions made through the years... SOD admins.. if you're not gonna fix the bugs AT LEAST EXPLAIN WHAT WE ARE DOING HERE!
I'll make this short because if i had to describe everything it would take me 2000 years or so. I completely agree with both of you!! I'm also a retired player and former member who has seen a lot of glitches. I might not be a 2013\14 player like you, but i've still been around for 3 years, which is more than enought to witness at least 90% of the glitches in this game xD
Been a 2016 player. I had several quest accounts that went bye bye whenever I deleted the game (I also lost my tablet a lot). In 2016 I managed to make an actual account. It gets really annoying seeing all of these issues. The poor player is probably so confused! Also get tid of Traitor Johhan. I really dislike seeing him. :'D
Here's a couple things I think need to be added/brought back to help new users:
- Add back descriptions in the store
There used to be descriptions on the back of items in the store that you could see by pressing the little gray button in the bottom left corner but they were removed for some reason(either that or the lack of descriptions is a glitch that needs fixing). They should be brought back so new players will know how many crops you get from 1 bag of seeds, how many animals fit in pens, ect. The lack of descriptions makes farming harder for new players.
- A racing tutorial the first time you enter TRR on a new viking
I've noticed that it seems like new players don't really understand how racing works. They don't know to press the join button, which way to go on the track, and that you have to go through the checkpoints for your lap to count. I know about the popup that's supposed to explain the checkpoints but I wonder if it actually pops up when you enter TRR for the first time because I've seen a lot of threads with people asking why their laps aren't being counted ever since checkpoints were added. There needs to be a mini tutorial that pops up when someone enters TRR for the very first time on a new viking that explains about pressing the join button, following the red arrows placed throughout the track(that will at least get them started in the right direction and then finding shortcuts will come with enough time spent on the tracks), and that explains about the checkpoints. I think this would really help new players have a better first time racing experience.