New Duelist Incentive Package

[Claire Gallows]

I got to thinking. This had me thinking about what we do to draw new people to duel and how to get them to stay once they’re here. So, this was my idea…

Have a "Welcome to the Duels" pack. Essentially I'd like to have someone in charge of checking for new duelists on the standings/reports and after they log their first duel, they get a welcome to the neighborhood muffin basket with the following:

-1 Loss Forgiver (single time use, 1 duel, non-sport specific)
-1 Win Doubler (single time use, 1 duel, non-sport specific)
-3 Sport specific mods:
--1 time use EF gem or focus for magic
--1 time use DoS fancy (make it like a one time use dagger or something?)
--1 time use DoF mod (I blanked on ideas for how to make it tangible, open to suggestions!)

Along with a starter newsletter with helpful links and info about mentoring programs, DZ’s tools, Harris’s new duelist guide, etc.

These are all things that we give out for various reasons anyways, only individualized and packaged together in hopes of enticing new activity. I feel like the potential for abuse from alts is minimal but wanted to see if it might be enough of a hook to get people to try things out or try sports they’ve not done before. It would only be applicable to new duelists (never dueled before) and only after they’ve logged their first duel. Then during or after future duels, they just let their caller know they’re using [x benefit] and the caller can note it on the report just like if someone used an EF gem or something normally. They would not be transferable to other names and would expire upon making top rank in one of the sports (AKA, when your newness essentially expires).

I wanted something that takes determining “New” out of the equation but still offers something to say welcome to dueling, take your shoes off and stay for a bit. Of course it'd be dependent on the go ahead from all sport coords and such but I figured I'd open it up to public discussion to get a pulse for it.

Thoughts?

[JewellRavenlock]

Initial thought: I like it!

Maybe an energy drink for DoF? Power up those punches?

[Hope]

A GLOVE THAT DOES THIS

[DemiBob]

Is this an always thing or just a month long thing? I assume it's for each character?

First reaction is I like it but it seems like it could either be abused or would require extra work on the callers part to make sure people have what they say they have and etc.

[Claire Gallows]

Is this an always thing or just a month long thing? I assume it's for each character?

First reaction is I like it but it seems like it could either be abused or would require extra work on the callers part to make sure people have what they say they have and etc.

Always a thing, I hope.

Meant for new chars so we dont have to invade privacy by trying to pick out who is new and what the definition of "new" is. Additionally, in the long run, the items are small boosts in the grand scope of things that I feel like the potential for abuse is minimized by the reward vs the effort.

The second bit, we're still working on as far as the best way to maintain an easily accessible database of some sort. But all great points!

[Spell]

Meant for new chars so we dont have to invade privacy by trying to pick out who is new and what the definition of "new" is.!

Best idea. Having it just be given to any new name who duels in the sports cuts out any chance of administration scrutiny for privacy issues. Plus a one time use EF / DoS Fancy / DoF mod isn't going broken enough to cause an issue, the same as a loss forgiveness token and a win doubler. It's a way for new players to dip their toes in the water, try out a fancy, see how it's like to play as a Keeper with EF, etc.

All together I think the package is a good idea.

[Hope]

I think it's a great idea and the easiest way to avoid any abuse is to just give it to every new character who logs a duel. Then it's actually impossible to abuse. With a doubled win and a single loss forgiven you're looking at a net gain of +2 WoL which in the grand scheme of things doesn't really matter a whole lot. It could help some people get traction, it could disappear in the next night of dueling, but it's a great gesture to new players.

Edit: I also think that one concern might be this making Jade/Enchanter/Swordsman trivialized due to 1 win removing these ranks really. I would suggest an alternative being to make those all +3 WoL required to help balance the scales some.

[Spell]

Edit: I also think that one concern might be this making Jade/Enchanter/Swordsman trivialized due to 1 win removing these ranks really. I would suggest an alternative being to make those all +3 WoL required to help balance the scales some.

tbh it's been trivialized by ARTs, Talon tournament WoL gains, no loss nights, and events like the DoS Christmas gift where you got 3 wols added to your record for dueling during the month of December.

Not to say it's a bad sort of trivialized.. because duelists still have to duel with the results. If you have bad duels, you're going to lose and go back down to commoner, if you have good ones - you continue on.

[DemiBob]

Another comment, and not necessarily about the package itself:

I'm amused that a new character can potentially EF more than a Keeper, since Keeper's can't EF outside of challenges or duels with other Keepers.

[Claire Gallows]

Another comment, and not necessarily about the package itself:

I'm amused that a new character can potentially EF more than a Keeper, since Keeper's can't EF outside of challenges or duels with other Keepers.

It'd be a one time use EF gem. No different than the EF gems that're given out during ARTs and other DoM events. Otherwise the only one with that ability would be whoever has the Spirit Staff. Keepers can get EF gems or the SS just as any other player could.

[Sabine]

You already know my thoughts I think. But lemme say again...

LOVE IT.

[Jake]

To pose the question...

Looking at the poll about New Players... http://www.ringsofhonor.org/forums/view ... hp?t=30388 and the question posed..."Do you feel the duels are inviting to new players?"... so far there have been 8 (rather depressing) responses.

There are 2 "not sure" responses, and 6 "no" responses.

I think a lot of your package is worth following up (like the follow-up contact with info), but is this what will change the newcomer experience?

In addition to adding a lot of book-keeping to track the usage of benefits, my sense is that the "no" responses aren't so much about the mods, but an emotional response to the environment. Feeling picked on. Feeling unwelcome. Maybe some confusion.

I'm hoping a newcomer or two will respond to this thread. Would this package (or something like it) improve your experience? Or...is there something else that would improve your experience?

Just me speculating now...

We do have the mentor/apprentice stuff...but, do newcomers feel that's something they have access to?

Maybe what could be useful is a list of folks (OOC) that are/would be willing to spend time coaching/answering questions/practice dueling with newcomers. I know there are LOTS of folks that WILL do this. What may be unclear is whether newcomers know about them.

Maybe the list of "outreach volunteer coaches" is something that could be included in the initial reach-out. "Hey, if you're new, and you'd like some help feeling things out, we have volunteers that would be delighted to show you the ropes!" Along with a list of names maintained by our "Welcome Wagon/Outreach Committee" (or whatever it's going to be called). And maybe even an offer to make introductions if the new person is feeling hesitant about initiating contact.

My feeling is that most of the "no" responses are emotional ones. Sure, the mods *might* mean something to them, but what would mean more is feeling welcomed. Feeling as if someone *wanted* to help them learn the ropes.

Just some thoughts.

[Luna Eva]

I really love this idea. It's kind of a nice way to entice people to come back after their first duel, since they now have an additional something fun to play with, and encourages people to try different sports too. And I also like how it makes it easier for people to find all the great tools and information that's available by just sending it right to them. It's a really nice welcome idea.

Thank you, Claire!

ETA to respond to Jake's question/point:

I think you're right that those responses are emotional. That makes it harder to address the problem, because the problem is at least in part about individual perception and experience which can't be controlled for every time a new duelist wanders in for the first time.

What I like about this welcome basket as one potential answer to that challenge is that it might help warm up, emotionally, the first-time experience of duelers. We hope that people come into the room and meet friendly or interesting characters. We hope that they're not ignored. But if something not-so-awesome (from their point of view) happens, then it gets followed up with this, which might make them feel a little better, and might make them curious enough to give it another try.

I also like the idea of having a list of names who are willing to be contacted OOC. I think that's a good idea too.

[Sabine]

I also like the idea of having a list of names who are willing to be contacted OOC. I think that's a good idea too.

I agree with this. I think it'd be awesome to have a running list of those willing to mentor/coach OOC and/or IC.

Whether it's in an official capacity (where mods are given ) or unofficial (less pressure to commit off the bat but someone who they can go to and ask questions.)

Maybe if we had a list, when a caller notices someone new, they can say something like "Welcome to the duels, if you'd like, here is our corkboard with a list of mentors." (Something like that.) and it could be linked in room or in a private IM.

Honestly when I was newer, I didn't quite know HOW to go about getting a mentor. I honestly thought that you had to be picked or be a friend of...I was worried that popularity would play a factor. Now obviously, I ended up getting over that...

But, I think being more conscious of those who are new and engaging them and showing them what we offer IC would be nice.

That's something as a caller (sub) I want to work on because I know I sometimes have a hard time engaging everyone and saying hi to everyone. Scrolling rooms are hard but as a caller I do want to get better at welcoming people.

[Hope]

Do we think we could start including these kind of messages, with beginning lessons and the things to come like ooc help in the chat introductory texts? The ones that display when you enter the room. I know most people gloss over them now and forget they exist most of the time due to how many times we've simply entered the chats, but maybe some links will stand out to new players.