I hate learning how to play new games

[Dawkinsfan69]

Picked up the AoW3 collection on sale a few days ago ($11 for game + all dlc fuck yea homie! xD) and started with the tutorial.

Inc. infinite pop-ups trying to explain the 10 billion facets of this game jesus christ:

"Build x first to grow population (but if you didn't have such a large army maybe you'd want to build y, y2, y3, y4, y5, y6, y7, or y8-20 instead). Be sure to pick up z resource, and keep an eye on the 5 other resources you need to manage."

"Ok now these guys gifted you units but maybe you shouldn't take them because they cost upkeep and you may not be able to afford in 20 rounds so keep that in mind."

"K so time to research spells for your hero here's a book of about 500 different spell options with 6 tabs and each tab has spells that are used in very unique situations here's pop-ups explaining what each set of spells does make sure to remember all this crap"

"Ok now go attack these goblins. Inc 20 pop-ups in combat explaining all the different unit types and what to do with them"

Etc... It fucking goes on forever.

Like wtf m8 I'm playing a vidya game not trying to memorize an encyclopedia. Shit's too complicated, tutorials should ease you into the game and explain things over a longer period rather than fucking bombarding you with info non-stop.

Especially considering I'll maybe play the game a few hours a week and will probably forget half the shit in between play sessions. Ugh.

/quit and go shoot shit in quake kthx peace

 

[agentorange]

It's ok most games now days play themselves anyway.

 

[Nathir]

How do I unsubscribe from this blog?

 

[Ivan]

I hate learning
:kwafuckyeah:

 

[Beastro]

I hate learning
:kwafuckyeah:

More like "I hate being lectured about ho to play a game, by the game". So much of the fun of most games is learning as you play, but it seems that games so complex with things like the spells even that wouldn't work out.

 

[Teepo]

I don't think I used the tutorial in AoW3 since I already played AoW 1 and 2. I just jumped into random maps. A lot of those things are self explanatory too. I don't mind tutorials usually, but I understand your grievances. If I was forced to take a extremely long tutorial in Age of Wonders 3 I would probably be pissed too especially since I already know 99% of the information. Age of Wonders 3 isn't rocket science. It would be more conducive to look at tool tips and if you are confused about a particular thing to just google it.

 

[Burning Bridges]

An apt view from someone by the name of "Dawkinsfan".

Why don't you just buy a console? I heard they have games now that always show you where to click, and when you take too long, they do it for you.

 

[Somberlain]

 

[Black_Willow]

D A W K I N S F A N
A
W
K
I
N
S
F
A
N

 

[Shackleton]

I was all set to rate this post and leave some sarcastic comment like you lot all have, but then I remembered that I was guilty of installing Homeworld Remastered, playing for 11 minutes and then thinking 'fuck this shit, I can't be arsed to learn all these controls and icons.'

Dunno about Dawkinsfan, but it's strategy games does this for me these days. I'm too old and just don't have the time or the inclination to learn too much stuff anymore. Our brains have clearly atrophied, either from the extreme age we have attained, or just from being spoonfed 'Press F to pay respects' bullshit.

Spoiler

 

[Astral Rag]

I hate learning
:kwafuckyeah:

 

[Burning Bridges]

"Is France a country?"

 

[Dawkinsfan69]

I hate learning
:kwafuckyeah:

WOW LUL PEOPLE DON'T KNOW ALL THIS USELESS TRIVIA? WOW HOW STOOPID LMAO LMAO

Im so smart I know geogerphy ahahahahaha they stoopid

"Is France a country?"

No, it's a

منطقة

 

[SomeDudeandHisHamster]

So, you want that thing in Mega Man and Doom where it shows 1 new enemy type after another then mixes them to challenge how much you've learned from the previous encounters?
I remember Age of Empires doing this in the tutorial campaigns where it teaches you the basics then tests what you've learned at the final mission.

 

[Reapa]

Picked up the AoW3 collection on sale a few days ago ($11 for game + all dlc fuck yea homie! xD) and started with the tutorial.

Inc. infinite pop-ups trying to explain the 10 billion facets of this game jesus christ:

"Build x first to grow population (but if you didn't have such a large army maybe you'd want to build y, y2, y3, y4, y5, y6, y7, or y8-20 instead). Be sure to pick up z resource, and keep an eye on the 5 other resources you need to manage."

"Ok now these guys gifted you units but maybe you shouldn't take them because they cost upkeep and you may not be able to afford in 20 rounds so keep that in mind."

"K so time to research spells for your hero here's a book of about 500 different spell options with 6 tabs and each tab has spells that are used in very unique situations here's pop-ups explaining what each set of spells does make sure to remember all this crap"

"Ok now go attack these goblins. Inc 20 pop-ups in combat explaining all the different unit types and what to do with them"

Etc... It fucking goes on forever.

Like wtf m8 I'm playing a vidya game not trying to memorize an encyclopedia. Shit's too complicated, tutorials should ease you into the game and explain things over a longer period rather than fucking bombarding you with info non-stop.

Especially considering I'll maybe play the game a few hours a week and will probably forget half the shit in between play sessions. Ugh.

/quit and go shoot shit in quake kthx peace

let me help with that.
tutorials are for people with special needs. if you can skip them, you should. if not, the game is for people with special needs.
the same applies to games with overly long introductions and/or cut scenes.

 

[Dawkinsfan69]

let me help with that.
tutorials are for people with special needs. if you can skip them, you should. if not, the game is for people with special needs.
the same applies to games with overly long introductions and/or cut scenes.

Have you seriously tried playing some paradox grand strategy like EU4 or whatever without any sort of tutorial/outside help?

I mean for real if I started the game up and was greeted with this:

I'd immediately uninstall and take a nap.

 

[Burning Bridges]

 

[Reapa]

let me help with that.
tutorials are for people with special needs. if you can skip them, you should. if not, the game is for people with special needs.
the same applies to games with overly long introductions and/or cut scenes.

Have you seriously tried playing some paradox grand strategy like EU4 or whatever without any sort of tutorial/outside help?

I mean for real if I started the game up and was greeted with this:

I'd immediately uninstall and take a nap.

"paused" informs me right away that it's a real time strategy game. wouldn't waste time on it.
but how hard would it be to guess what you're supposed to do?
you don't need to know everything on your first scenario/map/playthrough/whatever. i see resources listed at the top. a minimap in the lower right corner. some big map in the background reminding me of risk. a menu with different submenus on the left. if i had to venture a guess, i'd say the menu is the game. click through the different submenus to see what the symbols are supposed to represent. often there are also tooltips and if not, it's a badly done game.
i assume you can let the simulation run with spacebar but if not, a quick glance at the hotkeys will often also offer a lot of insight into what you can actually do in the game with no need for any tutorial. if the game doesn't have a hotkey list, uninstall the crap and move on.

 

[Humanophage]

Sadly, this is exactly how the majority of people perceive computer games. They have no time to waste on such trifles. Spending 200+ hours and blowing $50 on a mind-numbing rubbish mobile game is perfectly fine, however. Then they just laugh ironically.

That said, other people play a new complex board game pretty much every time they gather, as if the main pleasure comes from learning the rules. That's perhaps a little too extreme.

 

[Dawkinsfan69]

"paused" informs me right away that it's a real time strategy game. wouldn't waste time on it.
but how hard would it be to guess what you're supposed to do?
you don't need to know everything on your first scenario/map/playthrough/whatever. i see resources listed at the top. a minimap in the lower right corner. some big map in the background reminding me of risk. a menu with different submenus on the left. if i had to venture a guess, i'd say the menu is the game. click through the different submenus to see what the symbols are supposed to represent. often there are also tooltips and if not, it's a badly done game.
i assume you can let the simulation run with spacebar but if not, a quick glance at the hotkeys will often also offer a lot of insight into what you can actually do in the game with no need for any tutorial. if the game doesn't have a hotkey list, uninstall the crap and move on.

Well, yeah but it's not really that easy. There's the main screen that has about 30 different menus and each menu has like 10 submenus and they all conflict with each other and it's a big fucking mess. If there are hotkeys, have fun learning 30+ hotkeys for this specific game.

Obviously one could just give up and uninstall from being overwhelmed but here's an example where a good tutorial would let someone actually play the game.

I totally understand the "just jump in and play" mentality where you don't worry about picking everything up on the first play-through though. I do that in most games but strategy games can be particularly overwhelming especially when you're learning a new one for the 10th time.

 

[Forest Dweller]

What is AoW3?

 

[Dawkinsfan69]

Sadly, this is exactly how the majority of people perceive computer games. They have no time to waste on such trifles. Spending 200+ hours and blowing $50 on a mind-numbing rubbish mobile game is perfectly fine, however. Then they just laugh ironically.

That said, other people play a new complex board game pretty much every time they gather, as if the main pleasure comes from learning the rules. That's perhaps a little too extreme.

Well when most people sit down to play a game they're pretty drained from real life stuff and they don't have the mental energy required to climb a learning curve that looks like the face of a cliff. This thread's more about how devs could ease people into these complicated games over time in maybe an extended tutorial rather than just dropping their 10,000 systems on the table and saying "go at it m8 have fun reading half a million lines of tooltips"

 

[Reapa]

you're not supposed to learn the hotkeys. just look at them for a general idea of what the game offers. there's plenty of time to learn them once you know what you want to do. even a simple game like "heroes" will let you build one of 5-6 building on the first day, with your choice possibly influencing a big chunk of the rest of the scenario. a tutorial narrating what each building does and how your first choice is gonna influence your first month would be overly detailed and put you directly to sleep with information related to a lot more than building management.
the more options you have the more useless and disruptive a tutorial will become.
if such a complex game has a tutorial it's stupid. either it won't cover shit or will cover so much you won't get to play the game on your first day.
are you overwhelmed in skyrim when you get out of the cave and have an infinity of possible directions to walk towards?
the game probably gives you a general idea of what your goal is and you can look at the menus and take a few guesses of what your first step should be. with pause you have plenty of time to make an informed guess. but there is no faster way of learning the game other than reading its menus/submenus and possibly the tooltips.
i wouldn't recommend learning how to pilot a plane this way, but for a single player strategy game it should be viable.

 

[fantadomat]

Most americans are stupid and ignorant.

 

[SomeDudeandHisHamster]

Most americans are stupid and ignorant.

You arent american then?