Developer Diary: Lessons by John Thornhill

Developer Diary

DAoC has revived the Developer Diaries with a new post from John Thornhill:

With version 1.109c ready to go, we want to start focusing on the content of version 1.110 and the hub system of the new user journey. We have approached the developers to write down some of their thoughts and we will share them with you in the weeks to come.

The first developer diary was written by John Thornhill, it is called 'Lessons'.

"Defenders of Albion, Midgard, and Hibernia,

I jumped at the chance to write a Dev Diary to talk about our upcoming 1.110 patch, specifically the new Lesson Quests that will play a large part in the New User Journey Stuart has mentioned in previous Producer's Letters. When first designing the New User Journey, our goal was to focus on the large amount of returning and brand new players who try Dark Age of Camelot out each and every month.

As most of you know, Dark Age of Camelot is a complicated game. A player must learn and master many things, some of them unique to this game, in order to excel in combat, particularly in RvR. The idea for these Lesson Quests to teach players various game features, mechanics, and tactics was born out of the desire to better prepare new and returning players for the dangers of the Frontiers; and who knows, they may teach some veterans a new trick or two! Our hope is that the lessons facilitate the training of new and returning players so that the Battlegrounds and Frontiers are that much more populated with enemies and allies alike.

Stealth Training
 


These Lesson Quests range from teaching players about /stick, /follow, and /face, to assisting, to interrupts, stealth, and to the various races and which classes they can be. Some Lessons are interactive while others are simple demonstrations. Some offer rewards, such as Buff Tokens, while others may provide a potion or other unique benefit. Additionally, each Lesson Quest will be echoed in the /help menu, so if players want a "refresher," they can read all about it at their own leisure. All Lesson Quests will be denoted by a new "book" icon over the head of NPCs that offer them.

For veterans or returning and new players that understand some of the Lesson Quest concepts, we have made all of them entirely optional in regard to progression through the New User Journey. In other words, if you already know about /stick, /follow, or /face, you can simply skip the quest about it and not lose out on experience or other quests. We want these Lessons to be fun distractions from leveling and RvR that also enhance your game-play experience without forcing experienced players to sit through something they’ve known for year.

A few examples of my two favorite Lessons are the Crowd Control and Snare-Peeling quests. The Crowd Control lesson is an interactive one where a short blurb on each of the various CC types (Mez, Stun, Root/Snare, Nearsight, and Disease) is given before being used on you. Don’t worry, all of the durations are very short! This lesson not only shows players what it's like to be mesmerized or nearsighted, it also explains the immunities, cures, and counters available to them.

CC Training


The Snare-Peeling lesson is a demonstration given by NPCs that shows how valuable teamwork can be in RvR combat.  This lesson not only introduces players to the ability for most melee classes to rear or side snare their target, it also shows the value of positioning for casters in combat. In tandem, melee snares and good positioning can be deadly on the battlefield.

There are so many other new additions coming with 1.110 that we can't wait to unveil. Thank you for reading about this small part of the upcoming patch and I wish you all good luck and many realm points out in the Frontiers!

Best Regards,
John Thornhill"

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