So I was trying to think of ideas on how to help new players integrate into the game and I started thinking about most video games work and there is always an automated tutorial at the beginning when you create an account. So what if when you create a new account on EE you had to select either beginner or experience as a skil level and if you picked beginner it would take you to an automated server where you instantly had like 500 turns or so and there was a ton of advice. You could have like 10 bots running where they could practice grabbing against them and the bots would have set parameters on when to attack back and such. So if the noob hit the bot like 5x it would send 10 nukes back at him or something.

I don't know a lick of programming so I don't know how hard that would be to do but maybe others can offer suggestions on how to make it practical.

like the idea, +1

anyone have any thoughts?

It'd be tricky to implement new servers for each new account and then disable them.

It'd be reasonable to make an express-style Tutorial server that everybody had to finish above say 1M nw before they could play on the other servers...

I like the idea of a noob-server. Makes it so you can only play on it for 1-3 resets or until reaching some goal.

Or... maybe just a scripted solo deal where you build a country and attack dummy countries that have land, resources, and defenses but no AI and will not retal. Maybe script in defending an attack or two @ around turn 300 and 500. The tutorial could give you instructions such as:
*choose a govt type other than M
*buy goods from the market
*sell goods on the market
*create a standing order
*adjust military production levels
*perform a successful spy op to gather information
*locate a suitable target and perform a successful SS or PS
*locate a suitable target and perform a successful special attack
*perform a successful harmful spy op
If you fail any of the above, the tutorial could give advice on what you could have done better (e.g. failed SS after attacking target that you didn't spy on, game advises that a spy op would have helped you to determine how many units to send). OR the tutorial could really be made for noobs and scripted down to the level of "perform a spy op on #14", "calculate how many units to send to break", "correct, now attack #14 with a SS"

To add a new suggestion to this idea (cuz I really like it), you could do something like this:

1. Set up live chat within the server. mibbit in an iframe should work just fine, I would guess, but if you wanna go really cool you could do something like Evony's live chat.

2. Make it a 500 turn server with a list of goals as dantzig suggests. Players start with 400 turns so that they can learn about 12 and 18 hour bonus turns.

3. Designate 5-7 mods who are idling in the live chat and can answer questions/give advice/help new players to get acquainted with EE. (obviously, these mods shouldn't be allowed to recruit out of this server as it would give their clan an unfair advantage).

4. Cut the server off to currently active players, but allow mods to run 3-4 countries each for training in attacking/spying/defending/etc.

5. Once a player completes the tutorial server, it is no longer available to them.

great suggestions :)

I think the live chat would be great if we could get enough people to mod it so there was always someone there. The server would definetely need to be closed to regular players cause otherwise it would get abused. I think the list of goals is pretty good, I think added some NW goals would be good too and maybe a land goal as well.

Utopia temple had a thing where you could runa province over time. you can set something like that up maybe instead of a real server?

I'm sure there's enough skilled players who idle in their own irc channels who wouldn't mind idling in another:)

I would be happy to do it - I'm usually logged into IRC 24/7 on at least 1 machine, and could easily up it to two and set up alerts and stuff again.

Not sure if you want me giving new players advice though - that could get ugly once I start telling them how fun topfeeding can be. :-D

I'll admit, topfeeding can be a lot of fun :)

Dont need someone giving advice. It can all be automated. (like most online tutorials were they dont allow you to do anything until you do the current step)

Step by step with more freedom as they go.


So start with gov/strat, explain that they want to stick to 1 building type

Make them build CSs to increase BPT

Make them explore and build their building type

Onces their food gets low if they arent farmer stop them and make them go to the public market (which is automated) and get them to buy X amount of bushels and explain they need to watch their food supply.

Then train them to attack someone

Explain hitting 1 person too much will get you hit back. Get them to lspy #999. You will see he has x military. Now go to war and hit. to calculate how much to send you need to do this.
(and have country #999 a automated country that resets every 5 minutes or something. So its always has the same land and break for training purposes)


Teach them that they should probably go buy some tech

Then say you have learnt all the basics, Then give them more freedom to spend turns to get 1m nw with tips along the way.

I agree it COULD be automated very easily. I'll even agree that it would carry come benefits....

The question is, why would we have a tutorial server in the first place? What is the purpose and goal of such a thing.

Imo, it's to increase new player retention as much as possible, and give new players a leg up in game mechanics before they get farmed stupid by clans who don't give 2 fluffs about untags. (Yeah, I'm lookin at you LaF).

I think giving the personal touch up front will lead to much better new player retention than some automated General Mehulito up on the top of their screen giving them directions that they may or may not fully understand. This is a community game that gains a whole new level of depth once you become involved in the social functions surrounding the game - automating the tutorial server wouldn't allow new players to get that first connection as easily, and would be passing up a golden opportunity.

Everything in game could be automated but like now3p suggested there could be an additional live help function that would give the players somewhere to go to get questions answered without having to post it in the forums. It would be for additional help, not a requirement to complete the training.

or perhaps it is one of the first required tasks to connect to the live help.

That's what they do in Evony, and it seems to work extremely well in getting players to use it.

Earth has never really been a game, that has a very good 'help' dialogs..

If it weren't for the die hards, we prolly wouldn't be playing still.

I love Synoder's suggestion, but I don't see who is going to spend the time to write this up, and have the brains to post it in a friendly user understandable format..


I mean if you look, at ANY page while logging in to the EE, and while you are logged in, there is not one single help link..
Not one!


That is 'fluffed' up.....


This should have been handled during the recreation time period, so the nOOb, would have something to pull from. This should be written at a 5th grade reading level, so most people, (world wide, more could understand it), at least the general workings of how to build a country..

Thanks much... but gotta go fix our site problems..... .
talk about a nOOb.. lol

A lot of the material is already written and on the Wiki

I think the "Advisor" on the top of the screen would most certainly count as a help link, as would the "help with governments", "help information on military purchases", "help information for buildings", "help information on alliances", "help information for spy operations", "help on attack information", and "help information for technology" links

hmmm yea maybe links to the wiki from key words in the advisor would be good