Beginner experience

Erissime · January 3

Hello, and apologies in advance if this post may be longer than intended.

As per the title statement, this is intended for the experience utterly new players have with the game - specifically on pc.

I write this because I have helped by now several such players confused about many things and one of the main issues I've encountered was the menu: The pc menu opens by default in cursor mode. This leads to a series of misunderstandings when trying to help such players because the conversations tend to go like: "click this/ click that in order to achieve that thing you want" - and it never works for them. The way I managed to solve their menus was by connecting over another platform ( like discord) where they shared screenshots of their menus - and I figured they were in cursor mode - from there on guiding them to change it to actual mouse and keyboard mode ( the original pc-default state!).

But think a little: these are new players, incapable of knowing what eso really looks like for pc - a day or two of that kind of frustration over the menus, and they likely won't continue on the game anymore ( as I already noticed the majority of these new players dropping it after top 1 month play).
Even trying to help such a player change their menu and fix their game to a more comprehensive state for mouse and keyboard for many feels too cumbersome and annoying.

Another issue which also prevents various aspects of the menus from working properly appears to be the accessibility mode (or that latest new addition which already caused problems for many players when introduced). It appears also to be opened by default - which is unadvisable given the problems it creates still.

Overall I write this post because I am pretty sure none of these players lasts enough to make it to forums and state all of these problems - and as an older player met with such situations I myself have found it extremely frustrating to have to set up a newly downloaded game in so many ways - which is utterly impossible from their position without an actual older player's help.

Please fix the default state of the game if you care about the new player experience, because in this current state - at least for pc - it is an utter mess and cumbersome experience, I am pretty sure nobody enjoys.

Thank you.

Erissime · January 3

Another issue I found with new players - but seeing that this is less menu related but actual access - is pvp.

Especially last summer I saw a great number of low level players ( 11, 12, 15... ) - and no I do not mean cp - in actual CP campaigns.

I do not know if this is an actual issue (the reason I prefer to write another post about it) - but to my knowledge people under level 50 have a campaign of their own to log into - and yet the game appears to lead them to cp campaigns.

I will not comment on what kind of experience this may lead a proper newbie to - because you can figure it out for yourself ( and it is never good!). But since I approached some such players too in that environment - again confusion and lack of knowledge was their main card, so to speak. One of them even asked me if he should continue growing up his character in pvp with zero idea of how to get out of there. He was level 11.

If this is intended - I apologise. If it is not - please make it so that new players prompted by who knows what tutorial to try up pvp on level 10 are guided towards their proper campaign based on their cp (or lack thereof!).

vsrs_au · January 3

When I started playing ESO just over 3.5 years ago, I was pretty confused about much of the game also, and it was only after a LOT of internet searching that it slowly made more sense. In other words, the internet provided much of the the tutorial experience that ideally could be provided in-game somehow. I love the game, but am under no illusions about it being flawed in this respect.

Amottica · January 3

It seems the answer has presented itself in that the initial step is to talk them into changing to the mode the person helping them is accustomed to or having the information for both modes and finding out which one they are in.

As for a new player needing help understanding things about a complex game, they just started playing, that is normal. I have found much of the information I needed was already on the internet.

Good to see players helping players.

Erissime · January 3

Amottica wrote: »

It seems the answer has presented itself in that the initial step is to talk them into changing to the mode the person helping them is accustomed to or having the information for both modes and finding out which one they are in.

As for a new player needing help understanding things about a complex game, they just started playing, that is normal. I have found much of the information I needed was already on the internet.

Good to see players helping players.

Not really - the answer is the game to load by default in the mode the person playing it has it set up. In other words - mouse and keyboard players should load the game by default on mouse and keyboard. People I speak of are such players - and yet their game loads by default on cursor.

Why is this a problem? Because your average player not only will not have a cursor, half of them probably aren't even aware such a thing can be added to a pc to play with. Confusion all over the place.

People already owning and playing/having the capability to - use a cursor are usually gamers who already know that if they so choose they can tinker with the menu to suit their needs. So this is not about who helps them, but about what they are met with.

Furthermore - such beginners I speak of cannot even understand that their mode is not the one suitable for their setup because simply they don't know. And if you consider this game has people of all ages and backgrounds joining in - a comprehensive guide (or as originally suggested - proper default mode based on platform: consoles on cursor, pc on mouse and keyboard! on these things is necessary. Still those I have helped were very young ones ( 20-25 yo range) - and still couldn't realise their game ran in cursor mode (while their setup was mouse&keyboard). So age (for those considering younger ones have a higher understanding of such things) - is not real.

katanagirl1 · January 3

Erissime wrote: »

Another issue I found with new players - but seeing that this is less menu related but actual access - is pvp.

Especially last summer I saw a great number of low level players ( 11, 12, 15... ) - and no I do not mean cp - in actual CP campaigns.

I do not know if this is an actual issue (the reason I prefer to write another post about it) - but to my knowledge people under level 50 have a campaign of their own to log into - and yet the game appears to lead them to cp campaigns.

I will not comment on what kind of experience this may lead a proper newbie to - because you can figure it out for yourself ( and it is never good!). But since I approached some such players too in that environment - again confusion and lack of knowledge was their main card, so to speak. One of them even asked me if he should continue growing up his character in pvp with zero idea of how to get out of there. He was level 11.

If this is intended - I apologise. If it is not - please make it so that new players prompted by who knows what tutorial to try up pvp on level 10 are guided towards their proper campaign based on their cp (or lack thereof!).

I cannot speak to the PC issues, but I always queue for CP campaigns in Cyrodiil on a low level character because the below 50 campaigns are empty, there is no way to earn AP and get the assault and support skills unlocked.

Erissime · January 4

I am not entirely sure how this is supposed to go or not. All I was saying with the second post is that true beginners will only understand chaos in cp campaigns, and perhaps more obvious guidance on level-appropriate campaigns is needed. But the access to cp campaigns by older players on new alts with such specific needs is quite another matter.