132155-morning-coffee-921-care-and-feeding-of-newbies-edition

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Sausage links, mini waffles and some fruit bits. I already drank most of the coffee, someone else makes the next pot. :P
 
What a busy weekend for the Dominion! <Department 13> picked up almost a dozen new and returning players, just by making a couple of recruitment posts throughout the day. More than one person told me how thankful they were to see *anyone* talking out there, much less a welcoming guild recruiter!
 
That just leads me to believe what I've thought all along - the Dominion doesn't just have an image problem, we have a serious PR problem. New and returning players don't feel welcome. They don't feel important or like anyone is looking out for them, unless they're already level 50 and attuned. All it took was some encouragement and friendly advice, and some of the new recruits went and got their Exile friends to change sides!
 
So, that's my topic for the day: The Care and Retaining of Newbies.
 
How to recruit them. What to do with them. How much help is "too much" help? Personal thought? Do you think the Dominion "issue" can be solved through a strong public relations push? Would you be interested in helping out in such an endeavor?
 
Who's making the next pot of coffee?
 
 
 	
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Monday	
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			Ms. Sophie Snobberton knows her way around a coffee pot!	
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Well, the Dominion is OK, there are so many quests that I, a veteran player, was ~this~ close to being overwhelmed. They didn't/don't seem to lead you around in a way that isn't very confusing. For example, following to quest chains, I ended up, at the end of Auroria, back in a level 18 area with me only going in that direction because of map exploration.
 
I think the way for the veteran players to help the new people, would be to be open to newb questions. I made a new toon, Charlotte DeSuave (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Charlotte_de_Sauve) and tried to be helpful at Lightreach. Things like the LFG channel, guilds, raiding guilds etc. 
 
I honestly think that you are a fantastic person to start a leveling guild. I remember what you did with Blazing Saddles  :wub:
 
(work...again)
			
				
	Edited September 21, 2015 by Khandi	
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I'll treat new players like I treat all players: friendly greeting, offer to help if they have any questions, happily join them on dungeon runs if they want (well okay, maybe less of that because I am not going to be reruning my gear in drop 6 apparently). I don't really like to bombard people with unasked for advice. xD
 
I'm afraid I'm not much help for Dominion-side, though! I have a level 50 medic there who I RP on a semi-regular basis, but I'm not really involved in any guild or whathaveyou.	
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That just leads me to believe what I've thought all along - the Dominion doesn't just have an image problem, we have a serious PR problem. New and returning players don't feel welcome. They don't feel important or like anyone is looking out for them, unless they're already level 50 and attuned. All it took was some encouragement and friendly advice, and some of the new recruits went and got their Exile friends to change sides!
 
 
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Nil, drop me a line with any pointers you might have. I am going to do my damnedest to "rebrand" the NA Dominion into something worthwhile.
 
I know I can't compete with loli-catgirls, but I'd happily take any advice you have to offer - either here or via PM.  Thanks.
 
(I had also thought about contact the community managers and seeing if they could kick down some prizes for contests or whatever. Seeing as I've only been Dominion for 25 levels, all my good stuff is locked behind the stupid faction wall, so I don't have anything worth donating.)	
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Got my equinar today from my boombox
 
Few days ago  i was cussing its rng on chat lol, newbies gonna like rng ha XD
 
			
				
	Edited September 21, 2015 by jvjd	
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Nil, drop me a line with any pointers you might have. I am going to do my damnedest to "rebrand" the NA Dominion into something worthwhile.
 
I know I can't compete with loli-catgirls, but I'd happily take any advice you have to offer - either here or via PM.  Thanks.
 
(I had also thought about contact the community managers and seeing if they could kick down some prizes for contests or whatever. Seeing as I've only been Dominion for 25 levels, all my good stuff is locked behind the stupid faction wall, so I don't have anything worth donating.)
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You'd be surprised how often I get asked this, actually. I lead guilds like I heal,
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Oh god. I was the most cynical healer back in the day. "Standing in the fire, eh? Guess someone doesn't like healing." "Oh, you think pulling's your job? Be my guest. I'll heal the tank over here." "Pull while I'm still gathering mana? Lemme finish all of this bottle."
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Help from within the community can certainly play a role, but the devs need to help too by redesigning the places where players congregate, especially Ilium. Nothing major, just a re-positioning of certain key things.
 
In Thayd the majority of players hang out in that stretch between the AH / crafting and the contracts board / vendors. Things are relatively close together, so you bump into people regularly, overhear conversations, witness duels and antics etc etc. All the things that help build a community. In Ilium everything is more spread. The crafting is nowhere near the AH, the contracts and vendors are off on a limb. Ilium always feels more empty even when there's a decent amount of players around. 
 
Then there's day to day things. Ilium is a much less convenient city than Thayd to base yourself in, because of the distance between things and where certain key features are positioned in relation to each other (AH, crafting, boards, vendors, transporters etc).
 
For example, if you need some materials when crafting in Thayd, the CX is nearby. In Ilium it's is a longer journey. Need to clear some junk from your inventory while shopping at the AH? In Thayd there's a Lopp just behind you. In Ilium you have to travel some distance to a vendor (from any of the AH nodes). Need to quickly hop on a transporter for your contract? In Thayd the transports are all in a nice convenient line. In Ilium they are all over the place - can you remember where to go without consulting the map? 
 
These are little things I know, but they do add up incrementally on a daily basis when you're playing. Whoever designed the cities in Wildstar never actually PLAYED in them. They are created by the art department with aesthetics in mind, they are not created with everyday playability in mind. Form over function.  	
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Well yea, that would apply to guilds too. Oh you're being a complete arsewipe to a fellow guildie and someone else is drilling in on you because of it? less work for me! :P
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There's a plinth my guild grabbed in the middle of Illium and we've had lots of notice by hanging out there. So there are places to be noticed. Poke me if you need any more help Tex :)
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Help from within the community can certainly play a role, but the devs need to help too by redesigning the places where players congregate, especially Ilium. Nothing major, just a re-positioning of certain key things.
 
In Thayd the majority of players hang out in that stretch between the AH / crafting and the contracts board / vendors. Things are relatively close together, so you bump into people regularly, overhear conversations, witness duels and antics etc etc. All the things that help build a community. In Ilium everything is more spread. The crafting is nowhere near the AH, the contracts and vendors are off on a limb. Ilium always feels more empty even when there's a decent amount of players around. 
 
Then there's day to day things. Ilium is a much less convenient city than Thayd to base yourself in, because of the distance between things and where certain key features are positioned in relation to each other (AH, crafting, boards, vendors, transporters etc).
 
For example, if you need some materials when crafting in Thayd, the CX is nearby. In Ilium it's is a longer journey. Need to clear some junk from your inventory while shopping at the AH? In Thayd there's a Lopp just behind you. In Ilium you have to travel some distance to a vendor (from any of the AH nodes). Need to quickly hop on a transporter for your contract? In Thayd the transports are all in a nice convenient line. In Ilium they are all over the place - can you remember where to go without consulting the map? 
 
These are little things I know, but they do add up incrementally on a daily basis when you're playing. Whoever designed the cities in Wildstar never actually PLAYED in them. They are created by the art department with aesthetics in mind, they are not created with everyday playability in mind. Form over function.  
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I was nicer there. But that's mainly because my guilds usually only have five, six members in them anyway, since I tend to lead RP guilds with a very specific concept. Last one I seriously lead had someone in it who liked to stirr up drama, so I had to do a lot of diplomacy most of the time. Eventually the guild fell apart when I took a break. :X
Basically, when I healed it was mostly with randoms, and we all know how randoms are. Very easy to become a cynical, misantrophic *cupcake* in random groups. ;>
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From what I've observed you were once in EU? Did we ever rp together? What guild was it called? I wish I had known you were struggling, I would have happily helped! Sometimes I get stuck inside Venus Rising and refuse to stick my head out and say hi cause I'm so comfy in my home xD
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Oh, just listening to the brainstorming is a HUGE help and so motivational, I already wish I was at home, so I could keep recruiting!
 
I have a little work to do this morning, but once the cancer kids are out of the way (my morning project is a newsletter for childhood cancer patients and their families, it's my one charity project I donate a month, and they are just the sweetest, saddest little babies, I can't say no to them) ... I'll post some more thoughts and get y'all to gimme some feedback.
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I feel like I'm giving away my trade secrets here lol xD But glad to help!
 
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.
 
Not to mention, I am a professional marketing designer and have been for over 20 years. I know a thing or two about pushing a brand and selling people things they don't know they need - but that doesn't always translate well to guild recruitment. :lol:
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I'll have to write all this down XD. Delve Deep recruitment is starting to pick up as well. We want to swell the guild ranks enough that we can go back to having a full raid team and change. We've had some success with pug raids actually. A lot of people that pug raided with us went ahead and just joined, which was great, but still not enough. Perhaps if we did something like leveling groups, having guildies level new characters and such so that we have characters at all levels to help the young-uns, might help us pick up the new blood when it hits the gate. We'll see.
 
I know that I at least am going to be busy building on my house. If you guys see any new people though who are really interested in housing, feel free to send them past the Nexus Construction League! (contacts are Kezan Nano or Salasazia Skychaser), We're always happy to teach the housing ropes and show off a little :D	
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Coffee, (e)cigarette and a piece of banana bread for breakfast. Baked goods and confections are one of the best things about late September till February...
 
I've been knocking around the idea of streaming for weeks and finally decided to do some basic Q&A type streams for Wildstar on some nights for people who are new to the game or want info on changes and things. If new players have questions or want to see certain aspects of the game, I show them or give them the best answer I can. Hopefully it drives up some interest in the game as a whole. It's been alright so far, I think. I had a good 12 people come and go for the couple hours I streamed the other night, but I didn't promote it anywhere.
			
				
	Edited September 21, 2015 by Ratstomper	
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Can someone help. I am getting errors trying to log in saying the log in service has timed out....I am guessing the servers are up. I am running Windows 10 
 
Thanks for the help.	
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Can someone help. I am getting errors trying to log in saying the log in service has timed out....I am guessing the servers are up. I am running Windows 10 
 
Thanks for the help.
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 -snip-
 
I've had a weird week and weekend, caught a cold and been ill and can't shake it from my lungs, it's more annoying than anything! 
 
-snip-
 
Man, I'm tired. x.x Bring on Free to play!
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I'm able to log in on both live and PTR, atm, so it's not a server problem. Sounds like it may be a connection problem on your end, but someone else more knowledgeable about troubleshooting that may have to help you. 
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Yeah that is what I thought but I have done everything I could find online :(
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Mmm coffee.
 
I keep meaning to take a break from PUG raids buuuut... As of right now it looks like anybody who's put any effort into runing their gear is going to be handed a massive tax to get their gear back into shape.  So on the off chance that nightmare becomes reality I decided to get another run in.  I joined <Ascent>'s GA run on Saturday night on my slinger alt Anna.  Fun times!  Anna got legs!  Oh and a leg token. :ph34r:
 
Another first for me!  I finally tanked a complete Vet Dungeon on Kitty :D  Had most of an SC run finished last week but I had to bail after several pulls on Mordechai because I was late for another commitment.  Disappointed we didn't get that kill.
 
The F2P release candidate is expected to drop tomorrow on the PTR.  I'll be watching this one closely.  To be fair, Jeff's doing a great job talking me down off the ledge :lol:
			
				
	Edited September 21, 2015 by PlasmaJohn	
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