It all started when I tried helping out three newbies. And then a few more in the following days. But when I do, I always suggest joining a clan, and hitting squid and boar epic battles. There was even a time when one of these newbies joined our clan, and tried hitting goth. That's when I thought, "When will there be a better tutorial?!" So I tried making a plan/script on how it would be, and it will focus on a temporary clan... ============================ INTRODUCING: TRAINING GROUNDS This is a clan that is only accessible in tutorial. To keep the "fantasy" of the game, the narrator could say this: "To further strengthen yourself, I believe that you should train once more. Try joining the Training Grounds!" "Tap here to join the Training Grounds!" *(a pointer appears, pointing to clan)* *(player taps it)* "Tap Search Clan" *(pointer points to search clan)* *(player tapped search clan)* "Type Training Grounds, and then tap Search." *(Let the player be lol)* *(player types)* "Tap join!" *(another pointer maybe)* "Now that you have joined the Training Grounds, you can hone your skills to be a better warrior!" "Try joining their epic battle!" =========================== At this point, the player should try performing an action by themselves. Now that we have a temporary clan, we also need a temporary epic battle! Such epic battles will initiate by itself, since it is just a tutorial. And since epic battles have starting time, I think that the player may be able to wander around the home page while they wait, but they must not be able to see the world chat, forums, battle list, and clan members yet until the tutorial ends. When they try tapping it, a window may come up, telling them that they must finish the tutorial first before they can continue. This is made so that they can focus in the tutorial. The other players may also not be able to see these new players in the ally list since, it would be a waste of account if the player stopped playing before finishing the tutorials. If they did, the game can delete such accounts in a span of a week or month. But of course, I'm not perfect to assume that this is the best way. Therefore, all suggestions are welcome. ============================ TRAINING: Practice Course (Starting time: 30s) Description: This is for strengthening your skills. Remember everything that you have learned for future battles. First bar: Strengthen up! (500) Description: Before training, drink this special elixir to endure the test. *(Use Elixir of Vitality. Each successful use has 50 damage)* Second bar: Get the flag (100) Description: Now that you have strengthen up, put your stealthiness to the test. *(Steal)* Main bar: Fight with all your strength! *(Attack)* After Completion: You are now fit for battles your Highness. But I'm afraid, we still have one more challenge to face. ========================= Since it is our instinct to select "attack" first in the actions, let's assume that the player will do that. Since the first bar needed items, the action would have no effect. And the narrator continues, ======================== "Not all conflicts can be resolved through brute force." "This test requires an item. Try buying the right item in the marketplace." "If you have trouble finding it, try reading the text under the bar." (Ok, at this point I'm worrying that the tutorial might be too lengthy if we follow the same step-by-step procedure like before. So, all opinions are welcome) ============================== After the player uses the item, the player will continue playing by himself/herself, until the epic battle ends. Then, the narrator can show the rewards from the epic battle by pointing to the notifications. But even at this point, the player is probably not aware of the varying strength of epic battles. So I thought of another mini epic battle. =========================== Black Rat the Bandit (Starting time: 1m) (Can't think of a better name lol. But I intentionaly made it sound weak) PHASE 1 Description: Similar incidents of thievery have been heard around your trading routes. There seemed to be someone behind. See what you can do about them. First bar: Unknown Thieves Description: Gather information about the said thievery. (500) *(Scout)* Second bar: Hideout Description: The entrance to their hideout is heavily guarded. Stealthily reduce their numbers.(500) *(Assassinate)* PHASE 2 Description: You now have the upper hand. Attack him with full force now, or continually deplete his forces with cunningness. Main bar: Black Rat *(Attack and assassinate)* After Completion: You have succeeded in vanquishing an enemy! Now, you have the right knowledge to set out into the real battle. =========================== So, if you haven't noticed yet, there's quite a lot of troops and spies needed for the next epic battle. If it were to start immediately, there won't be enough time for the player to replenish his/her troops. So in this epic battle, the usage of crystals will also be introduced. (For this tutorial though, the game might give the player a health crystal to use.) ============================ "You are out of spies, your Highness." "But worry not, we have a special item for that: Health Crystals." "You can use crystals to regenerate your troops and spies." *(A picture of "Do you want to use a crystal?" box will appear to demonstrate)* "While performing an action, you can choose to regenerate immediately by using health crystals." *(The box will disappear. The game could show the picture to the Oracle to demonstrate this, or just mention it)* "You can also regenerate your troops by visiting the Oracle in the Marketplace." "Regenerate your troops and spies now to continue battling!" =========================== Upon regenerating, the player can continue the epic battle by himself/herself. But wait! There's more! The epic battle is too strong for them to hit (or too big for them to finish alone). So, to resolve this, the narrator comes in again... ============================= "I'm afraid your Highness, but we'll run out of Health Crystals if we take this bandit down alone." "But since this is a part of your training, you need another way to defeat Black Rat." (If the epic battle can be hit, but the player's damage is small) "It seems like Black Rat is quite stronger than what we have expected." (If the epic battle is too strong to be able to deal damage) "To be able to deal damage to him, increase your strength." "Build more attack/defense/balanced and spy buildings to be able to defeat him." *(After upgrading)* "Now, attempt to strike again." "If ever you face enemies that you cannot hit, it simply means that your forces are not strong enough to deal damage." And then, after the epic battle... "I greet you for your accomplishment." "You are indeed ready to face the upcoming conflicts that you shall face upon ruling your kingdom." "But the world is too wide to accommodate all troubles and downfalls." "If you would like to succeed in your quest for glory, I suggest you to gain alliances from other kingdoms." "You can join small discussions or send help in the world chat," *(points to world chat)* "Or share your thoughts and discover more about the world of Kingdoms at War in the forums." (So that they would reach out, you know..) "And, before I forget..." "You must leave the Training Grounds now." "There is no point training once again. A whole new world is waiting for you." "Go to Manage, and choose to leave clan." *(Points Manage) * *(Player leaves clan)* "Now, you can join other clans to battle stronger monsters." "But this time, you are not alone." *(So please, make the newbies feel welcome lol)* "I bid you farewell, your Highness." (If the narrator is not a character) "May your kingdom nourish in strength and wisdom." *(Tutorial ends...)* =========================== Tldr: I suggest making a temporary clan and temporary epic battle that is only accesible through the tutorial to teach newbies about joining and leaving clans, performing actions in epic battles, and using health crystals. I also presented a design for the temporary epic battle which you can check out by going to the eb part. I understand the lengthiness so.. I don't mind that much if you skip most of the post lol..
Edit: My hunch was right. There is an existing clan named Training Grounds. So.. Since it's a temporary clan, you can't get back to the clan after you leave the tutorial. However, it might complicate the coding process if we are going to let two existing clans have the same name. And, if bugs occur, I assume that you can visit the temporary clan?.. In case it needs a new name though, I'm preparing a list for a new name: Courtyard (because according to this website knights train in castle yards) Epic Trials (because.. nah..) Warrior's Trials (More suggestions welcome)
I like this idea. I remember my first time playing as a small player. A co-worker introduced me and at the time, we had 3 clans. We had a beginner clan for player that were just beginning. We graduated from the beginner clan when we got 250,000 atk or spy stats. The beginner clan did boar and squid eb’s. Once that happened, we graduated into the next tier of clan. The next clan did ogre to stone eb’s. That lasted until we reached 1,000,000 atk or spy stats. When that happened, we graduated to the top clan, which at the time, did haunting to desert sting eb’s. Along the way, they added bigger eb’s. I think somewhere along the lines, someone has to screen the players before letting them join a clan to hit eb’s like goth. Maybe introduce new players to a “feeder” clan and put a stat requirement on it. Some are still putting stat requirements on the bigger eb’s. Recently, I have seen ads on wc stating you need a 6B combined stats to hit goth/lotl/noth. Hope that helps.
That just gave me an idea. Maybe the tutorial can also hint to the player that the ebs in "Epic Battle" tab are assorted according to strength, and importance (like events and br). Maybe that way, they'll understand that lotl, goth and noth are for the really big players.. In-case they became active when no mentors are available.. That also reminded me of a mentor system that is already used by another game. Mentors can apply to be a mentor and they'll receive rewards for completing each task. On the other hand, apprentices will also receive rewards for completing each tasks. If the system were to be used here though, the name could change (counselor, guide, etc.) and we'll need to have our own tasks (since that system is used in a completely different game). Should I make another thread for it? (lol).. Um.. Sorry for my lack of knowledge/IQ.. But by "feeder", do you mean... Virtual clans (like my idea) but with stat requirements to teach them about what stats are fitted for each eb? Virtual clans with stat requirements that are only meant to strengthen newbies by automatically starting ebs and once they are strong enough will automatically kick them with a message saying "You are strong enough to participate in bigger epic battles."? Recommended active actual clans that has the graduating system?..
The only problem would be favoritism. If new clans wanted to make the same system, they couldn't have the opportunity to recruit if the devs already suggested them to such clans. But, the devs could make a proper (and regularly updated) list of clans who are willing to train these newbies. Remember what I said about the mentorship program in another game? They could show a list of clans that hosts the graduating system. Meanwhile, clans would only be included in the list if they apply for it (to certify/let the community know that they are for new players). Or, the devs could just make a title for clans? Rookie (squid to boar), Trainee (usaris to destroyer), Warrior (haunt to desert), Knight, you get what I mean. It's up to the Warlord to decide for their clan's title, and when clan titles exists, maybe devs could also add a searching system based on their titles? You know, instead of searching clans with squid and boar ebs, they could just search, for example, Rookie clans, which is already expected to regularly run squid and boar ebs..