uncomprehensible instructions for new beginners

While I appreciate the time, effort and well meaning intentions of individuals trying to explain how to play settlers online. I do have some concerns/complaints.

I consider myself to be of average intelligence; however, for the life of me I cannot find instructions on the most basic of game plays such as how to find and adventure. Which are the easiest for new players and which are the more difficult. When I finally found some adventures, no instructions on where to click to begin.

This is not only about adventures. I am also talking about the most basic of instructions for playing the game. The use of abbreviations which is pervasive in the game. The official guides for new players are also sadly lacking in plain English. For those who get tired trying to decipher the lingo used and the difficulty in playing the game, they just leave the site, which is too bad as there appears to be many long term players exchanging pleasantries and no newbies who have the courage to ask questions on the global or guild chat lines. Also, some will say we will help you if you are having a problem and then when you ask for help you almost feel like there is an attitude in the answer.

playerslights

you will find help for those basic things in Help Tab

Also take a look at cempire.org and thesettlersonlinewiki

I noticed the same thing when I started. So, the first thing I did was to turn to Google. The more I learned, the more pointed and informed my questions became, and Google was able to churn out many answers...without an attitude.

I agree that searching is both helpful and necessary, though it does nothing to address the fact that there are people who believe that every single thing in the game can be abbreviated into two or three letters, even single words. If I have to research a post to try to figure out what the heck it says, it's probably not worth the effort.

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Originally Posted by Gwalben

I agree that searching is both helpful and necessary, though it does nothing to address the fact that there are people who believe that every single thing in the game can be abbreviated into two or three letters, even single words. If I have to research a post to try to figure out what the heck it says, it's probably not worth the effort.

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Do you mean something like, "wts bk ls ff" or "wtt beans for ish?" If so, then sorry, that is on the newbs. That is so much easier to type than "I want to sell Black Knights lootspot and it is fast finish which means I will finish after you tag, which means I will finish after you have sent your general and attacked a camp and no I will not explain what a lootspot is." Or "I want to trade magic beans (the items that drop on Fairy Tale adventures. Fairy Tale adventures are advanced adventures for level 44 and up, like Valiant Little Tailor, Clever Little Tailor, Betrayed Little Tailor, Heroic Little Tailor. You get Valiant Little Tailor from Adventure search. Adventure search is when you send an explorer out for adventures. Explorers are bought from....o, nevermind."

If you mean basic game mechanics other than ppl's (see what i did there?) shorthand, than i agree with blaqvenom:

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Originally Posted by BlaqVenom

I noticed the same thing when I started. So, the first thing I did was to turn to Google. The more I learned, the more pointed and informed my questions became, and Google was able to churn out many answers...without an attitude.

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There is also cempire, settlerswiki, etc. Any followup questions can be made in help tab.

If you don't understand "wts bk ls ff" than I don't want you tagging my adventure.

Varies which guide. some are not designed for new players. Or do you mean the quests that BB has?

My gosh...I came into this thread because I am a new player and had some questions that seemed to fall into this thread. After reading the replies of plyers in the know, however, I am amazed at the hostility being shown. Someone stated the abbr language was difficult to understand when you're new...the reply was, too bad newbie, it's on you. Seriously?? Then they went into a line of abbr chat and there is no way someone just starting out could ever figure that out. Oh, and they said, don't ask what a lootspot is, because they weren't about to tell you. Really?? wtf! This game is not worth dealing with this kind of attitude. I know my comments will spawn more nasty replies, but don't bother, I've already left the game.

http://forum.thesettlersonline.net/t...t=abbreviation

this might have helped at the time.

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Originally Posted by playerslights

While I appreciate the time, effort and well meaning intentions of individuals trying to explain how to play settlers online. I do have some concerns/complaints.

I consider myself to be of average intelligence; however, for the life of me I cannot find instructions on the most basic of game plays such as how to find and adventure. Which are the easiest for new players and which are the more difficult. When I finally found some adventures, no instructions on where to click to begin.

This is not only about adventures. I am also talking about the most basic of instructions for playing the game. The use of abbreviations which is pervasive in the game. The official guides for new players are also sadly lacking in plain English. For those who get tired trying to decipher the lingo used and the difficulty in playing the game, they just leave the site, which is too bad as there appears to be many long term players exchanging pleasantries and no newbies who have the courage to ask questions on the global or guild chat lines. Also, some will say we will help you if you are having a problem and then when you ask for help you almost feel like there is an attitude in the answer.

playerslights

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I found that cempire.org and settlersonlinewiki.eu both cover a lot of the information your looking for. Give them a look.

With all due respect, I've never played a game that's so bug ridden and I agree with OP, but unlike OP, I still enjoy the game, support it by buying gems, and play daily.

When I first started playing, there was so much that didn't work right or didn't make sense that I started a new map. The same exact things happened on the second map. The game asks me to do things I can't do and generally behaves as if it doesn't know what level I'm on and\or what quests I can\can't do or have\haven't done. When I asked other players, they dismiss the bugs and re-iterate what a great game it is. I don't disagree in that it's a great game, but it is bug ridden.

Here is an example. Both of the games I played credited me with having cleared the map when I still had over a dozen bandit camps left. You can even see one of the bandit camps in the background.

http://i.imgur.com/9yobRhG.jpg

It then went on to give me quests and adventures to do as if I was on a higher level than I was in reality.

...just sayin. Devs need to play a game for the beginning as if they are an end user and observe then fix the anomalies before adding new layers of complexity.

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Originally Posted by Elysee

My gosh...I came into this thread because I am a new player and had some questions that seemed to fall into this thread. After reading the replies of plyers in the know, however, I am amazed at the hostility being shown. Someone stated the abbr language was difficult to understand when you're new...the reply was, too bad newbie, it's on you. Seriously?? Then they went into a line of abbr chat and there is no way someone just starting out could ever figure that out. Oh, and they said, don't ask what a lootspot is, because they weren't about to tell you. Really?? wtf! This game is not worth dealing with this kind of attitude. I know my comments will spawn more nasty replies, but don't bother, I've already left the game.

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I didn't mean to sound so nasty (or maybe I did), but as with ANY game, yes it is on you, the newbies to figure it out. If that means asking in help tab, or using one of the many guide sites (some of which i provided), then so be it. If you can't handle that, you may want to stick to Duck Hunt. And if someone is too new to the game that they don't understand the lootspot abbreviations, they probably can't handle a lootspot. Otherwise, just ask, its not that hard to.

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Originally Posted by Bad-Manners

] When I asked other players, they dismiss the bugs and re-iterate what a great game it is. I don't disagree in that it's a great game, but it is bug ridden.

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You can do your part and send in support tickets or post about bugs in the forums, and then like the rest of us, you can try not to get too upset if nothing changes.

EDIT: if it seems like I am irritated, maybe its because I am a longer time player that had to figure this stuff out myself through the aforementioned resources instead of whining and quitting the game. There are much friendlier players in HELP tab.

Hey Bad-Manners, you should have been here for the closed beta. We had to learn everything by trial and error. There were no players available to help us.

Here's another that just happened today.
I know these things should go in the bug area but nobody seems to know what to do with them.

http://i.imgur.com/1C5qZNd.jpg

bad-manners: if you will please send in tickets for these issues, the devs will see them, and hopefully work to fix them

Check out these links:

[Guide] Fhearghus's Guide For Dummies - The Settlers Online – Information by level:

http://forum.thesettlersonline.com/t...ettlers-Online

Island Resources:

http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-MD_fZAv2an...sresources.jpg

Building set-ups:

http://forum.thesettlersonline.net/t...possible-guide

Production Ratios:

http://forum.thesettlersonline.net/t...Chains-(Ratios)

How-to Adventure?

http://forum.thesettlersonline.com/t...-to-Adventures


I hope it helps you.

> bad-manners: if you will please send in tickets for these issues, the devs will see them, and hopefully work to fix them

Can you tell me how to submit a ticket please?

It's maint time right now so I can't open the game and the only thing I see here is the bug report forum.
Really, all they would have to do is play a game from the beginning as if they are an end user.
Hard to imagine they don't do that so it's hard to imagine they are unaware of anything I would have to point out.

Nevertheless, I will play a game from the beginning, screencap all the anomalies I see and post them all chronologically in a single thread in the bug area as I play the game. I'm not a beginner anymore so I probably won't catch all the confusing bits but I think....

If BB made things easy and clear *in the game*, people would not be as prone to bail. I don't know if you've ever checked out other gaming forums but avid gamers can be\tend to be super critical about things. Truth be known, one of the reasons I like this game and community so much is that they are able to take things in stride. However, I still think the game would be better off if it didn't have strange quirks that either don't make sense and\or don't seem to work right.

I'll post a link here to the thread I create in the bug area after I start it. I would think the devs read that area regularly so just consider it one big comprehensive ticket. Plus, I think it would be easier and clearer for them if they had all the bugaboo's listed in one place in chronological order than if I submitted a bunch of separate tickets, ... because I think some errors (quests) are associated\tripped up by previous errors.

This will be rather time consuming and pain staking for me to do so I hope ya'll take it as I intend, ...as to help.
If it's interpreted as something else, no biggie, I'll just play around the bugaboo's like everybody else.

That's very ambitious of you, I thought about starting an account on Ares to do exactly what u describe, but I think I'm too distractable to get very far with it. :) Good luck! (and btw, the devs don't read the forums, Rawren does and it's her job to forward important stuff to them)

re tickets: in game, click down arrow under avatar, support, contact form. or there's a help/contact button on the main login page.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by Bad-Manners

Here's another that just happened today.
I know these things should go in the bug area but nobody seems to know what to do with them.

http://i.imgur.com/1C5qZNd.jpg

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Thats not really a bug. You, some time ago, managed to 'not negative' production value of steel and (Whatever is below that) but AFTER you had completed the quest, your values dipped and your no longer producing 0 or more /12 hrs. It can't 'uncomplete' a quest for you.

But I can see how that would make one think its a bug, or rather, something the dev's should work on (And the example above with the bandit camp, I agree, ive seen similar things myself)

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Originally Posted by ebotty

Do you mean something like, "wts bk ls ff" or "wtt beans for ish?" If so, then sorry, that is on the newbs. That is so much easier to type than "I want to sell Black Knights lootspot and it is fast finish which means I will finish after you tag, which means I will finish after you have sent your general and attacked a camp and no I will not explain what a lootspot is." Or "I want to trade magic beans (the items that drop on Fairy Tale adventures. Fairy Tale adventures are advanced adventures for level 44 and up, like Valiant Little Tailor, Clever Little Tailor, Betrayed Little Tailor, Heroic Little Tailor. You get Valiant Little Tailor from Adventure search. Adventure search is when you send an explorer out for adventures. Explorers are bought from....o, nevermind."

If you mean basic game mechanics other than ppl's (see what i did there?) shorthand, than i agree with blaqvenom:


There is also cempire, settlerswiki, etc. Any followup questions can be made in help tab.

If you don't understand "wts bk ls ff" than I don't want you tagging my adventure.

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My mama always taught me: If you can't say anything nice, don't say anything at all.
You might want to take heed.

Thanks! Very helpful!

Same thing happens on Gameranger and Voobly. As if one should be an expert instantly on the games. Funny thing is that those advanced players forgot that at one time they too didn't know anything. Someone helped them out, but the selfish, self-serving people can't even extend a hand to another player. Lame. Good thing I don't ask them for help, since I know google won't be rotten about giving me answers.

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Originally Posted by Vlad_D_Impailer

Same thing happens on Gameranger and Voobly. As if one should be an expert instantly on the games. Funny thing is that those advanced players forgot that at one time they too didn't know anything. Someone helped them out, but the selfish, self-serving people can't even extend a hand to another player. Lame. Good thing I don't ask them for help, since I know google won't be rotten about giving me answers.

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woa woa woa. I didn't have help, yet I try to help as I can. Do some reading, too, please. Know that it will take some time. I posted some links above to help you get started.

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Originally Posted by Melorr

http://forum.thesettlersonline.net/t...t=abbreviation

this might have helped at the time.

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Thank you for this link.