Where to Begin (The Game)

[Mac_Fife]

Well I'm not bothering to factor the GoG in, there isn't much point when not all shards will have the GoG on them.

Oh darn… I had not thought about that.

I wonder if a global chat channel could be created to allow help messages to rely through the shards? If so, that could greatly extend the reach of the GoG. Rather than having to man every shard, one member to could answer questions across several shards.

If so, live help could be made more easily available and reduce the number of people needed to do it.

This is bit OT for this thread, but the provision of beginner's help, ResEng-type in-game support ,etc., is worth discussing and probably warrants a thread of its own. So I started "Providing in-game support"

[Gehn, lord of ages]

For anyone who wants to consolidate their plan in the openuru wiki, here's a sort of hub. Put a link to your plan there (under proposed solutions).
http://wiki.openuru.org/index.php?title ... int_Debate

[Grogyan]

For anyone who wants to consolidate their plan in the openuru wiki, here's a sort of hub. Put a link to your plan there (under proposed solutions).
http://wiki.openuru.org/index.php?title ... int_Debate

Perfect, i'll be adding that page to the instancing page i'm writing.

As I was thinking today, the cleft is the ideal place to start, but with a catch, there being 2 public instances, one for new players or new avatars, the second being a shared one once you've completed the journey, perhaps making the Cleft puzzle the last puzzle in that journey instead of the first puzzle, completeion of which would grant you access to the fissure Relto page

Comments, opinions, critics?

[Gehn, lord of ages]

I'm afraid I'm a critic. Creative idea, though. It just seems too confusing, and the Cleft's puzzles aren't really meant to be last - I'm not sure if they'd fit well. (I'm assuming you mean that the first public instance doesn't have the puzzles or anything? Or do you have to go through the puzzles twice?) Also, I liked how the Fissure worked before. Sorry.

[Grogyan]

Yeah the first time you go with a new avatar, there are no puzzles, no cloths, and everything that could work is broken - wear and tear
Its merely story driven, we a re all called to return, we don't know why, but we do, and as we all gather at the Cleft once more we are met with friends and fellow explorers

The second time through (access is still via the fissure in its semi permanent state) you would do the puzzle and everything is functional including cloths, there by accessing the tree, and instead of a Relto book, you would have the fissure Relto page.
The second time through would be by default a private instance until you get the Relto page.

Any subsequent visits after you gain the fissure page, would mean that you could go to the Cleft which will be a true public instance if you wish, meaning the aquisition of that page would grant you access to the true public instance of that.

Sorry if this is confusing, but it would need to be dealt with if we are to go with starting at the Cleft as opposed to Relto, i'll do my best to explain it better on the wiki page

[Gehn, lord of ages]

How about my plan? http://wiki.openuru.org/index.php?title ... _Gloa_Plan

Minimally invasive, and I think it balances speed and mystery well. You can complete the journey just as in ABM, with all the mystery and training that gives. However, you can also get quickly to Relto/populated areas in case you got confused or frustrated. However, you couldn't start Yeesha's Journey without going through the cleft (although you could have help and advice). A public cleft could also be available later (maybe a nightime cleft) just to hang out in or maybe to get more Relto pages if more arise.

[Lehm]

After some more thought, I decided to dig up this old topic. Seems there is no consensus on where the game should start. The thing I came to realize...there doesn't have to be. Server operators will likely be free to start the game wherever they choose. There's nothing anyone can do to stop them...and that's kind of the point of Open Source. Any definitive answers to questions ended when MOUL ended, from now on everything is optional. So there will likely be multiple starting points for the game.

With that said personally I'm beginning to like the idea of a small public intro town. A place where Greeters can setup shop and new comers can interact and get help before setting off on the single player cleft. And it would be completely optional...a server operator wouldn't have to implement it if they choose not to. A public cleft would give too much away imo, and kind of ruin the experience of solving it later. What's more rather than just saying it would be a good idea. If the concept were strong enough I'd be willing to actually build it. I'm a professional 3d modeler with years of 3ds max experience, so I think I'd be up to it. Of coarse we need some tools first. That's the reason I haven't done much age work up to this point...I really don't like blender.

[realXCV]

Do we have consensus on anything?

[Tweek]

How about my plan? http://wiki.openuru.org/index.php?title ... _Gloa_Plan

Minimally invasive, and I think it balances speed and mystery well. You can complete the journey just as in ABM, with all the mystery and training that gives. However, you can also get quickly to Relto/populated areas in case you got confused or frustrated. However, you couldn't start Yeesha's Journey without going through the cleft (although you could have help and advice). A public cleft could also be available later (maybe a nightime cleft) just to hang out in or maybe to get more Relto pages if more arise.

your idea doesn't really seem to fix anything, it just seems to strip out the initial cleft puzzle and give players the book right away. Cleft is a starting point, a place to dip ones toe in the water and get the hang of how the cloths and stuff work, not to mention an introduction to Yeesha and Zandi which is knowledge players should probably have before Linking not something to come back to.

[Gehn, lord of ages]

How about my plan? http://wiki.openuru.org/index.php?title ... _Gloa_Plan

Minimally invasive, and I think it balances speed and mystery well. You can complete the journey just as in ABM, with all the mystery and training that gives. However, you can also get quickly to Relto/populated areas in case you got confused or frustrated. However, you couldn't start Yeesha's Journey without going through the cleft (although you could have help and advice). A public cleft could also be available later (maybe a nightime cleft) just to hang out in or maybe to get more Relto pages if more arise.

your idea doesn't really seem to fix anything, it just seems to strip out the initial cleft puzzle and give players the book right away. Cleft is a starting point, a place to dip ones toe in the water and get the hang of how the cloths and stuff work, not to mention an introduction to Yeesha and Zandi which is knowledge players should probably have before Linking not something to come back to.

Going through the Cleft puzzles would still be encouraged (the note or whatever would be phrased more as 'if you need to meet people, you can use this book now' - I think most Myst/Uru style people would stay in just because they are already at the Cleft and all as well [and already at least seen Zandi, and probably gotten the first message], and there is a logical reward for finishing the Cleft). I personally love the Cleft, but some people have reasons to want to skip through it quicker (already having gone through it, wanting to avoid Yeesha-ness, not knowing what to do, wanting to quickly get to friends, etc.) . A public cleft would solve many of these reasons, but has its own problems (the problems with the puzzles already being solved or being crowded, ways to accidentally sabotage people's work through the puzzles [or one way where the player can get trapped], etc.).

Perhaps this other idea of mine would work better? You start in a simple dirt parking lot near the Cleft as a multiplayer area (so people can meet or help new people there, and so that new people can meet each other). There are signs or brochures around that give a little background (a little bit of where you are [in general] and what you are going to) in an IC way, and instruct you to walk in the direction of the Cleft. People can walk towards the Cleft alone or in groups. If they are in groups, then they arrive in groups (it calculates if people stay within certain radii of each other). If they go alone, then they arrive at the Cleft alone. This is not explained IC (for all they know, the other people just stayed behind, or walked slower, or whatever). They arrive through a short scene of them walking into the distance, and then the Cleft loading. They can always turn back from the Cleft, and return to the multiplayer area (to get a group, to leave a group, to simply go back to look at it, whatever). They could get their Relto by one of these means:
- The traditional way. Each person or group has to solve all the puzzles and enter into the tree.
- The traditional way except for one exception. Experienced players can give new players their Relto books (and then have to go get another one from the Cleft). I'm not sure if the book would retain its Relto pages and all (I just thought of this idea, so I'm still figuring it out). Maybe the experienced player could leave behind a journal that the newer one could read (which could provide information on what to do). This sharing would be mainly for people's friends.
- There's a couple books there in the multiplayer area, with a sign/note that strongly encourages people to go to the Cleft first (probably from Zandi - the note, I mean). The helpful experienced players would also explain and could encourage people to go to the Cleft. People can pick up books here if they really want to (for people who just want to get in fast for some reason [and some people have good reasons for this]), but they don't have a page for the pillars with the four Journey Ages (they'd have to return to the Cleft to get those).
- Zandi hands a Relto book to people (or there's a stack on a nearby table). Again, the note (or speech) encourages people to go through the journey (which gets them the journey pillar things).