Improving experience for new players

[SW]

I need help/ideas as my design skills are lacking. Pictures/screenshots would be good.

Question: How should the website look/flow when new players first discover it?

I'm thinking something along the lines of this on the main page:

Code: Select all

Getting Started
1. Pick a tank name: [   ]
2. Play now as guest
3. Register for free to save your progress, create multiple tanks, and more!

Or it could be laid out like so:

Code: Select all

Play now as Guest!                         Register for free!
   * Pick a tank name: [   ]       or        * Save your progress
   * Try it!                                 * Create multiple tanks
                                             * And more...

Or in some other way. Note: for returning guests, this will be slightly different, like "Welcome back"....

The goal is to improve the experience for new players. Programmatically, I have this in mind for the new guest system:
- Guests get 1 tank tied to their session (cookies)
- The tank's stats are not lost when they quit like current/old style guests
- The tank can be replaced with a different tank if desired
- If they register this becomes the first tank on their account
- After a period of inactivity these tanks would be deleted (they are orphaned if the user deletes his cookies)

A lot of the website flow/design will need updating. Getting a good front page is probably the hardest step (or maybe it's just the first in a long line of hard steps ).

Let's stick to discussing website changes in this thread.

[frog]

- The tank can be replaced with a different tank if desired

free name change to start?

[Baha]

release a practice map. so people get practice before they head out to the main field.

[TekiaTequila]

I think if someone made a tutorial video that you can click and be made available on the main page some might learn a little faster. I know when i first played battlefield i didnt know you could teleport as i would drive across the map. hehe..

[iwasperdition]

release a practice map. so people get practice before they head out to the main field.

expanding on this you could regulate the practice map to kicking you from it after 1/2/3/4/5 hours or whatever is deemed enough time to have a general grasp of the game. Maybe have slightly more aggressive bots in this map as well to get them used to being attacked, having to get fuel, finding eq etc.

[Krusty]

I submitted an idea a while back SW. "Quick register" simply type a tank name and it would do a whole registration for you. Obviously if you delete your cookies and couldn't remember the user/pass then you are screwed unless you went to account settings and registered an email address.

"Play as guest"
2nd page: Game screen.

"Register"
2nd page: Registration page.

"Quick register (enter tankname): _____"
2nd page: Registration page filled out for the player,
Tank name as chosen,
Your username: Tankpit132 (automated),
Your password: XKy3JPtp2 (automated),

"Save/Submit" "Cancel"

Next page: or message that shows at the top of the screen:

Thank you for your quick registration, Please visit "My Account" page to change your password and to add your email address for account recovery "here".

You could also go one step further and let them change their log in username ONCE only if they used the quick registration.

I know it would be easy if they just went to the registration page, but if I find a game and want to check it out, i'll always smash "quick registration" and if that isn't an option then "play as guest". The quick registration would also get more players registering. Like SW stated, if the "Tankpit132" type username is not used for 6months it will be deleted, another good reason for them to register it and change their username. (Using some automated service, I doubt you would want to do each and every one yourself.)

Feedback please

[ALLSTAR41]

You can also emulate exactly how Bonus.com had it or Playbattlefield.com. That's what attracted us all in the first place.

[phr33k]

He Sun,
I really wish you would replace the BB with a real forum.
You're not a child safe company, you're a one man show who doesn't have the same people to protect that bonus.com did.

The BB is fucking lame, and a real forum community with some good moderation would be godsend for the community that doesn't use bfunity.


Secondly,
I have so many ideas for the website, you have no idea.

I wish there was more of a social community feel to the whole website, example:

World timeline:

Without even logging into the game, you could log into your useraccount, view game updates:

Pulling data from the game database to show:

Recent deactivations (dont include bot kills).
Recent promotions (captain and above).

Achievement system on the website, for things you can't award in game.
(Killed 10 tanks in one session without quitting or being deactivated) = 5 Achievement Points.
Your achievement points would be listed next to your name everywhere it shows up on the website. (think gamerscore XB live)

Friend list.
Ability to view friend's tank information, if they set it to public.



Things like this would attract a lot of people.

If i can help with this, let me know.

[ALLSTAR41]

He Sun,
I really wish you would replace the BB with a real forum.
You're not a child safe company, you're a one man show who doesn't have the same people to protect that bonus.com did.

The BB is fucking lame, and a real forum community with some good moderation would be godsend for the community that doesn't use bfunity.


Secondly,
I have so many ideas for the website, you have no idea.

I wish there was more of a social community feel to the whole website, example:

World timeline:

Without even logging into the game, you could log into your useraccount, view game updates:

Pulling data from the game database to show:

Recent deactivations (dont include bot kills).
Recent promotions (captain and above).

Achievement system on the website, for things you can't award in game.
(Killed 10 tanks in one session without quitting or being deactivated) = 5 Achievement Points.
Your achievement points would be listed next to your name everywhere it shows up on the website. (think gamerscore XB live)

Friend list.
Ability to view friend's tank information, if they set it to public.



Things like this would attract a lot of people.

If i can help with this, let me know.

Tankpit is a child friendly website. Also, these are all awesome ideas, but in order to implement them he would need help. He already works long hours as it is just to maintain it right now. I think we should take baby steps.

[frog]

so pretty much do what uTanks did

[phr33k]

I honestly didn't play utanks for more than 5 minutes, i don't know what they did on their website.

But i do agree that utanks had a better community feel from what I've seen.


It's not a matter of copying utanks, it's more of creating an incentive for people to use the website and interact with other.


A lot of MMO's are kid friendly, but still have real forums that are heavily moderated.
Don't need someone to review each post before they get posted.

[iwasperdition]

utanks had more of a community feel because there wasn't a disconnect from the game - community - forum etc. the problem with TP/BF is that there won't ever be that community feel on the site or a site sponsored message board because BFU exists and contains 95% of the player base. i agree a better forum for TP could help but right now the problem is there just isn't anyone to use it and no incentive for people in this community to ever use it over BFU

[phr33k]

The why not have a link to BFU for new users to access the real community.
Could always put a disclaimer before the link.


The "social community" features of the web site would work without the forum regardless.
I see a lot of potential, and all this without touching the game itself.

[iwasperdition]

the social aspects on the site would be nice little features i agree.

[Krusty]

bfu and TP should be kept secret.

I am all for a more "social network" type site, its basically what you are suggesting. (Check other players profiles, be able to message them, check their stats etc...)

More of a forum type message board, it would need to be VERY heavily moderated, by people NOT part of this community. Some may suit the positions but every person here is biased, no matter how strongly they disagree. If it was more forum based then 'game ethics' would be pushed upon the new players and the players who already just play for fun in their spare time. There should be no forced way to play. Once a player is forced out of the community, all motivation and enjoyment of the game is gone. (Not for me btw, I don't give a shit lol) but for some other players they can't handle the hate and would leave.

Maybe a real time BB? Again this would need to be moderated heavily or some kind of word censor that stops ANY post with bad language. Players who abuse the real time BB would be banned from posting etc... ? I think real time BB would be a step in the correct direction since players can ask questions/get answers right away rather than waiting sometimes 2+ days for a reply.

Also this would help my adopt a newbie approach that I have had since the start of TP. (Don't bring bman into this, we gave him advice, he chose to go in the opposite direction.)

Achievement system on the website, for things you can't award in game.
(Killed 10 tanks in one session without quitting or being deactivated) = 5 Achievement Points.
Your achievement points would be listed next to your name everywhere it shows up on the website. (think gamerscore XB live)

I would love a xbl point system type thing. I've never used XBL so not sure how it works but players earning points for staying in the game for over an hour with out leaving, killing 10 human tanks/killing 100 human bots (or hitting 100, 200, 500, 1000, 2000, 3000 etc...)

Daily/weekly/monthly top 25 lists of the players who received the most achievement points.

It would keep people interested knowing they can make lists just by been active. Right now its very basic, hit top 10 color, then top 10. In battlefield I never even thought about going for a good # because it was just to much time. BFU extended the list to 100, maybe even having a top 100 instead of top 25 will help. People like to see their name in lists, it feels good, like an achievement.

[phr33k]

what's his name:
Instant BB is move in the right direction for sure.

SW:

Another feature I would love would be the ability to "Pop-Out" the game.

I'll tell you why:

On a 720P monitor, when I tried to load the game at 2x. Alot of the applet gets cutoff by the bottom part of the website due to it being in an IFrame.
I want to play on 2X because I find that my tele's are alot more accurate with a bigger game, less room for error.
I don't know how other feel about that.

If you click Pop-Out, it would open a new browser window with Only the java client Centered on the page horizontally (instead of being left aligned like it is now).
This could also be a setting in your account so that you automatically pop out when you hit play.

What do you think? Please?

P.S. I already do this manually by copying source code to HTML file to my desktop and playing from that(with a few mods to make it work), but would be nice to have the option available from the site it's mean to be played on.

[Tragic]

SW I'm begging you, can you please add "LOL" to the messages?


How about giving people the option to reformat the ingame messages so that it's easier to call and such during raids and so on?

[Krusty]

what's his name:
Instant BB is move in the right direction for sure.

SW:

Another feature I would love would be the ability to "Pop-Out" the game.

I'll tell you why:

On a 720P monitor, when I tried to load the game at 2x. Alot of the applet gets cutoff by the bottom part of the website due to it being in an IFrame.
I want to play on 2X because I find that my tele's are alot more accurate with a bigger game, less room for error.
I don't know how other feel about that.

If you click Pop-Out, it would open a new browser window with Only the java client Centered on the page horizontally (instead of being left aligned like it is now).
This could also be a setting in your account so that you automatically pop out when you hit play.

What do you think? Please?

P.S. I already do this manually by copying source code to HTML file to my desktop and playing from that(with a few mods to make it work), but would be nice to have the option available from the site it's mean to be played on.

Not computer literate at all but, do you mean like the "detached" option SW has already? Click what tank you want to play, scroll down to the bottom, click "play detached".

[phr33k]

Huh? Where is that feature?
And i'm pretty sure that's what I'm talking about.

Detached = Pop-out most of the time.

[Warrior]

I think if someone made a tutorial video that you can click and be made available on the main page some might learn a little faster. I know when i first played battlefield i didnt know you could teleport as i would drive across the map. hehe..

I had this in mind as well. Good idea I'm probably gonna start putting a vid together if interest is shown in this idea.

[Ms_Lucy]

**WARNING TLDR** ONLY FOR SW

So, my little brother who has been very curious about this “tank game “created an account the other day and started to play the game. As he was struggling to understand the game he kept asking me questions of what to do. I then realized.. Hey! There is no live tutorial of what to do. I mean seriously there is nothing to indicate to a new player while playing what to do. So, this is what I think should be done for new players.

1) Missions
Ranking: A bot programmed to use “follow me . " The programmed bot teaches the player to shoot another bot till ranked to coporal.
Fuel : After ranking to corporal the bot instructs the player to radar for fuel ( or helps radar for fuel).
Equipment: After filling up fuel the bot instructs to pick up equipment ( 1 of each eq )

2) Ranking

Player must fill equipment to full. After filing the player is instructed to rank to sergeant and kill a corporal. An arrow figure indicates the experience bar allowing the player understand the experience system and next rank. The reason why this is imporant is because there is no emphasis on how important equipment is in game nor is it obvious filling equipment to full will help a player . The knowledge of filling equipment comes with time. Honestly, for a new player you need to catch their interest in the first few days .

3) After the “mission" is complete, which is ranking to lieutenant. The player must switch to a regular account to continue further play.

Awards,
There should be a to do list/ guide on player profile after logging in (Toggle option to turn notification on or off). Every time a player logs in there is a to do list with further instructions of how to earn the next award/mission. The guide book is great but there is neither stress nor relevance indicated while playing the game.

Last, I am taking this example from Need for speed. Do you remember how you start the game with a bad ass car? To me starting a guest tank with awards would help catch the player’s interest in achieving them. ( This can be a great idea to some or nonesense to others its just the way you look at it as a NEW player and not existing.)

release a practice map. so people get practice before they head out to the main field.

^ A practice map and the awards for guest tanks might work together.

[Warrior]

In my opinion there should be something on the website explaining to players what a raid is. I've submitted this for a lb,I think it's a solid idea to explain the ropes of raiding/raid taking as it is a major aspect of this game. Also in game tips can be added as well.

[SW]

The why not have a link to BFU for new users to access the real community.
Could always put a disclaimer before the link.

One of the biggest problems with TP (and uTanks had the same problem) is that newbies are lacking. BF thrived on its diversity of players. You could always find sergs to kill because there were people around who were just learning how to play and didn't know how to fill their EQ. There were players who just made bases and tagged along and ran and quit low and died in stupid ways for hundreds of hours. There were players who got rusty swords before they got triple stars. All of this added to the diversity of the game.

Out of that diversity evolved a small community of elite players, but that small community could never be the entire community of players. If we create a game where every player is in communication with every other player and follows a certain set of guidelines/ethics as to how to play, the game turns into: take FKs to rank up, fake fights for points, and take raids. This has been adequately demonstrated.

Personally I don't see this as being a very healthy game or something we should aim towards.

So, either we stick to trying to promote diversity (which probably requires no chat/forum/etc), or we change the game into something else that doesn't require that diversity (which involves redesigning the game in general, into something new and different).

[Krusty]

Huh? Where is that feature?
And i'm pretty sure that's what I'm talking about.

Detached = Pop-out most of the time.

Click "My Account" at the top right.
Select a tank.
Scroll to the bottom and there is a little yellow link saying "Play Detached".

I also agree, I've noticed some tanks this past week who just drive and do not know how to tele. I didn't know on the first day of playing when me and a friend found the game. Tanks do not tele irl lol we accidentally figured it out when on map.

[phr33k]

SW:

I see and understand your points. All very valid.

But there has to be a middle ground.


Tankpit sits on the extreme end of conservative, with a BB that is not dynamic, takes over 24 hours to see your message, and 48 hours to get a response.

The system needs to be live, and people need to be punished if they break the rules.
Nothing permanent, but temporary.




I agree with you now that you should not link to BFU.

But I also think that you need to give the site players a bit more interactivity.
Make the BB a live BB, with a way to reply directly to a message (tree hiearchy system) Think GMAIL conversation style.

People will become respectful and abide by the rules after being temporarily blocked from posting for a couple days.


This would also lighten the load on you, instead of sittiing there for an hour a day going through BB messages,
You could have responsible people moderating the live BB, and they'll do it for free.

[SW]

Going to work now, just wanted to say briefly:

Let's stick to small steps in this thread, please, just trying to get the basics of a new guest system in place. If anyone has visions for what the website should look like to a new user feel free to do it up in paint.

[Zenta]

Yo why was double click to pick up equipment and move obstacles changed. You got something against the old school players? FACT. Fuck these scrubs these are the way controls were suppose and meant to be. I am demanding this be changed back or I will never play this scrub game again. Fuck you BLUNTZ. FACT

[phr33k]

SW:

The intro video these guys are talking about is probably your best bet for new players. Someone make a intro video, get it vetted by SW, and he could Embed it into the newcomer page through youtube.
Under your new change you're making in your OP.

[DemonicTank]

release a practice map. so people get practice before they head out to the main field.

LIKE THIS 100 percent! like basic Training with limited Ranks and medals.

[Krusty]

Tutorial video ftw. PH competition ftw.

You check out that "detached" page ben?

Grimmy, awesome idea. I love how you compared it to need for speed, that does get you hooked. Something similar would be perfect for this game although it would be a big project for SW. I guess tut video's would be the best way to go for now also getting some of those advertisement video's out there. People should be posting them all around on game forums etc..