This is one of three threads I made in the Steam Forums but remained ignored as people prefer flaming each other instead of discussing feedback. I hope it is better here:
For people new to Vermintide starting the game on Recruit can become frustrating. For any player having played for 5 hours or more this seems strange as dying on recruit is nearly not possible with just a few levels and some better equipment (unless you get hooked or pinned). However, said players aren’t around much in Recruit anymore. As such you can get the situation where a whole group of new players will form, creating the bizarre situation where they won’t win a single game on Recruit but could technically be carried on Veteran because more experienced players are there. In this regard there forms are rather strange skill/equipment wall at the beginning of the game which may scare of new players. Reducing the difficulty of Recruit even more can not be the solution as it makes subsequent step-ups just more brutal.
To counter this problem a Tutor-system could be introduced. Community helping community. An experienced player (let’s just say someone who reached level 30 on any character for example) could host a game and mark it as tutor (together with the language he speaks). New players (up to level 5) could then join this game (after confirming they speak the same language). As such new players could watch and learn from older players and have a higher chance of success at the beginning decreasing the frustration. The difficulty would obviously be on Recruit for this game. To give this a bit more sense than just watching the veteran rofl stomping all enemies there will be a new function which only works in tutor mode. The host can stop the game at any given moment (there has been a mod that could do this in V1, so it is possible) and use this time to explain the situation, what the players have to look out for and what possible strategies are as well as general knowledge like difference in potions/healing items or block reviving etc … It could lead to a more friendly introduction to the game without butchering the difficulty of Recruit into absurdness. The reward for the Tutor would be … nothing additional beside the normal Recruit crate. Yes, people would do this out of goodwill.
I am already doing this myself when my friend are offline .
I think 5 mission long tutorial/prologue would be good idea.
During those 5 missions you would play as different hero every mission.
You would learn more about blocking/dodging against proper bosses.
Mechanics like tomes and grimoires would be explained to you.
You would be “forced” to play every character and try out different weapons.
And by the end of 5th mission you would be level 5 prepared to take first talent and ready for recruit difficulty.
Now you have one mission, where they only show you what Chaos Warrior looks like.
And you play only Kruber, who is as we all know the best character, but he lacks mechanics like:
Infinite ammo midget
Primary damage from ranged combat
Primary damage from ranged combat but you are human
Having to vent or exploding on spot
Kruber is the most limited when it comes to special mechanics, and you dont even get to play mercenary during the prologue mission.
Maybe high level people could join to these prologue missions to guide new players.
I think a longer tutorial would only scare people away. Most people probably wouldn’t even bother to do it and if you force them they will complain (they like doing that). That is why I think a human counterpart would make it more interesting as he can answer to questions as well. And he can cover all stuff because it is hard to cover everything with a technical tutorial.
Also with the possiblity of a “real” game which can be stopped at any point you can show new players exactly at what they have to look out for. And it would serve as a show effect. The game is not hard you are just weak at the beginning due to skill (and equipment).
Add a global chat channel all new players are automatically enrolled in. Implement a commendation system at the end of the match, no down vote, 1 commendation vote per person. While participating in a Mentor game after X amount of commendations earn a portrait.
j_sat one of best players of V1 making exactly things like this. He take new/fresh/player who wish to learn more and become better V2 player and play with them. After they finish he asking about stuff for example what you did wrong or why ect.
He is online atm
I know Jsat from name. I’m just not interested in watching other people play the game But yea, I think it that direction. Just that it is directly available as option in the Inn. “Join a tutor game”. I think it would decrease the initial wall quite a bit.
I thought about some kind of voting afterwards. But not for reward as it would attract tutors for the wrong reason and we all know people would do all kind of things just for a silly portrait. But there should be a chance to exclude people from further turtoring if they are doing a poor job or are trolling new players.
In FFXIV you get some people that just do it for the rewards but that’s a small amount. The overall benefit of it outweighs the few who just want things.
I don’t feel like people would do this without some sort of reward. Why would they? We all have limited time. The 2 people that have enough free time to do this would be busy 24/7 and 99% of the people needing the tutoring would never see them.
I don’t think it would be this bad. In Vermintide 1 a lot of the more experienced players where ready to help others if they just had been asked. The same could happen here although such players often had something in common:
They already beated the game on the highest difficulty
They had overcome their obsession for loot and played just to have fun
Looking at the Steam forums I’m just afarid people gonna tutor for the wrong reason and bringing no good.
.
looks like.
But yea, I think it that direction. Just that it is directly available as option in the Inn. “Join a tutor game”. I think it would decrease the initial wall quite a bit.