Confusion Reigns On This Empire

Discussion in 'Community Discussion' started by KatydidBuild, Jul 22, 2020.

  1. New players are confused. And understandably so.
    We use too many of the exact same terms for different places.

    examples: outpost
    "you can only tp from an outpost"
    "you have to go back to an outpost"
    "you can claim an outpost in the Frontier"

    If we can get confirmation that Empires are truly coming, then we should start using the word. That would help us get used to it and help with some confusion over that part.

    examples: wild
    looking at the live map, you will see "Frontier Wild" and "Waste Wild"

    As far as Wilderness goes, that is a term to imply Survival. Could we add that to Waste? "Waste Survival" and give it a little bit of distinction?

    I am told that the community voted on the name "Frontier" a long time ago. A lot of players still call it the "Wild". I understand that wilderness is a term used by a lot of servers, but if we have distinct and unique places, can't they have a unique name? Right now it is the "Frontier Wild" or "Wild Frontier" so it could be "Frontier Survival", "Frontier Keep It Neat" (Kit for short) or even the "Wild West"? Just pick a name, please.

    We have Global chat now and a lot of players use the old names or different names for these things. Everyone could benefit from some uniformity of the nouns, especially with all the different cultures/languages we have playing on EMC.

    TLDR
    I think that there needs to be a uniform use and assignment of names to locations.
    Outpost, Wild, Spawn come to mind as some of the more problematic features with overlapping uses and meanings.

    Edit: this is an old post and I am bumping it. It's still a current issue with new players and the coming 1.17 update. Curious if anything is in the works that might help.

  2. I completely agree with what you say– new players are definitely confused. Understandably, some of the custom features here are unique to other servers. I agree with you that some of the names are difficult to understand, but the purpose of the tutorial is to explain all of these features to players. However, an issue that I've seen arise is players are reliant on other players and the forums to get through the tutorial, allowing them to avoid learning about many of the specific custom features such as the wild and the waste.

    In my opinion, changing the names of things once again would invoke further confusion. Adding on the "survival" part after the word "Frontier" or "waste" may be helpful, but rather than changing EMC to be more like other servers, they should make it so new players can learn how to navigate this custom server.

    What would be more appropriate is for a GUI or chat helper to pop up for new players once they complete the tutorial. In it, it can ask the player "what would you like to do?" They may select from three items:

    1. Mining/resource gathering (teleports the player to the waste). In the lore, it should be clearly stated that the waste is periodically reset, however you still cannot grief other players' builds.
    2. Build on plot (teleports the player to their home) – specifically state that this plot is YOURS and you can control who builds on it.
    3. Survival (teleports the player to the frontier) it should also be clear that the wild is never, ever reset– hence, players need to be careful what they build here.

    Please note that this suggestion is separate from the Empire assistant. I think the Empire Assistant is a bit confusing and still uses too much EMC-specific language for new players to understand when they first join the server. For new players, it can be overwhelming after reading so much during the tutorial. Simplicity is key.

    Then again, I am writing this while not on the server, and I haven't used an Empire assistant in years. It could have changed and I wouldn't know.
  3. That is indeed a bit confusing. :p

    Hmm, interesting. I always just call it the "wild" and the "waste", simple and short. It's been this way for as long as I can remember. :p
  4. I have been confused when I first joined.
    This is confusing and would benefit from some consistent, universal name use.
    "Wilderness" is just asking new players to go there, based on te same name from other servers.
  5. Im sorry i dont remember how to shorten the quotes.
    But i think most of the confusion has to do with the amount of old or original players on the server and how the things have always been named, i feel like "frontier" and "The Wild" are both good names, then you have the wastelands. I'm sorry i just don't see the problem really XD not trying to be mean at all fam

    Joy_the_Miner and luckycordel like this.
  6. I always call it Wild and Wastes. I'm an EMC boomer so I joined when it was called wilderness so it stuck on me. But I agree there needs to be a clear and simple way to show new players / returning players the inherit differences between the two and their purpose. I can't even begin to explain how many times I have seen a message along the lines of "how do I get back to my plot?" because there isn't the most clear indication that the wilderness/wastelands can't be teleported to/from like with other servers.

    I haven't used the Empire Assistant (basically I didn't need it) in my history on EMC. So I have zero clue how it is laid out or if anything has changed since last I opened it. But I do feel little tool tips or lore beneath teleport buttons or something to give a short synopsis of the world you are about to go to would help a ton too. For example, hovering over the Wilderness teleport would give the description of, "Endless Survival world meant for bases and farms." I feel little additions like that would really help.

    I do agree we should also start referring to our established bases as "Empires" now. This would greatly reduce the over saturation of the word "outpost" on EMC that is cause a lot of confusion.

    Basically, I agree.
  7. I have always called it the Frontier, people say Wild and I get confused sometimes. I call the waste, the Waste.
    My Base in the frontier I call Frontier Base. The Outposts are where you return to town.:D

    Here is how I see it.
    Town
    Games
    Frontier, Nether, End (Outposts to teleport)
    Waste, Nether, End (Outposts to teleport)
    Joy_the_Miner and AbyssalxVoid like this.
  8. Also the fact that you can't visit player outposts if they're private - but we tell new players they must be at an outpost to teleport back... It's just a lot.
  9. I agree Katy, some consistency would be nice for the newer generation of players. What's considered "standard" to those who have been on the server long enough to know what each word means, is just daunting for newer players.

    In terms of "Empires", Katy, I've been looking at the Development Status of EMC since I've joined in 2015, and it's almost always said "Next: Empires". --- It's almost a running joke at this point of whether Aikar will even get there, haha~

    All in seriousness, I do agree with you Katy, and I think that newer players should have a simpler terminology to acquaint themselves with on this server. :)
  10. Very true, just like Dragon Tombs the update that shall not be named :p. But we should still try and call them Empire nevertheless to help alleviate the use of the word "outposts" to just the safe-zones in Wastes and Wilderness.
    KatydidBuild and HazardousCode like this.
  11. "Outpost Minecraft" --- I did it better >:3
    Cyberazaz101 likes this.
  12. I say let them be confused

    Only the strong survive
    JesusPower2 likes this.
  13. It's how the names "have always been" and how confused the new players are. That is my point.

    Look at the names listed on the "live map" Both the Waste and Frontier have a "wild" after them.

    So better use of the actual names to help with the confusion. That is all I ask.
  14. Bumping old post to check for new ideas.
  15. *blows dust off account* Oh my, it has been a while since I've posted on here! Let's see...

    I'll start this off by saying that I've seen posts talking about new player training/tutorials/guides needing to be "updated" since the day I joined EMC. And when I say staff have tried everything, I mean everything. There was once a quiz tutorial, then a long tutorial, then a short tutorial, then a short tutorial with a quiz, to name just a few off the top of my head!

    Here's the problem, in my experience: there's no way to meet the needs of every new player that joins EMC. It's just not possible! Everyone learns differently, plays differently and wants something different from EMC. How can the "Play Your Way" server also have a "One size fits all" tutorial? Somebody is always going to be left confused by the end! (For example, last time I did the tutorial after the new quiz was added, I got one of the questions wrong despite being a veteran player!)

    So, this is where the community steps in. Staff does their best with tutorials, guides, etc - and the community fills in the gaps!

    Nobody on EMC says "Wow, I remember my first day. That tutorial was so great, I just had to stick around!" For many players, myself included, our first day experience was more about how helpful and friendly the community is. It's almost like by having a tutorial that doesn't cover everything, it encourages people to interact with the community and see why EMC is so much fun!

    Now, that being said, sometimes there are things staff can do to make the experience better for new players. While calling out issues can be important, I always try to encourage people to try to give specific ideas. Offer solutions instead of calling out problems. This is easier said than done, I know! But if people can come up with small, specific adjustments that can assist players who are starting out, that can make a huge difference. Maybe there is some confusing wording in the tutorial, you could suggest a different way to phrase it! Or, maybe we need to call out something that's currently not in the tutorial - suggest some phrasing that could be added!

    Nothing can beat the experience of getting help from veteran players though - veteran players helping the newbies is the way EMC has always been, and is one of the best parts of the server. Over time, people learn the ropes and need less help - just so that one day, they can help the newbies with the information they learned from somebody else!

    ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

    Also, somebody smarter than me might correct me, but I believe the reason why we have 3 names (wild, waste, frontier) is because they actually mean 3 different things!

    Waste = Mining World
    Frontier = Outposts and building
    Wild = Waste and Frontier

    My understanding is that the "Wild" actually refers to either of our survival worlds. Now, it used to be that when we didn't have the "Waste" we just had Town and the Wild. Then when we added the Waste, we referred to our survival worlds as the Wild and the non-Waste world became the Frontier. (Now, I might be completely making this up because I heard this a long time ago :p) So, Waste Wild and Frontier Wild actually means Waste Survival World and Frontier Survival World, we just use "Wild" to shorten it.
  16. Time flies. Seasons change. Nothing is what it once was.
    And yet, I find this gem while hunting down something else. Gonna bump it in favor of any new ideas and a reminder mention for the new "global live map" I requested and the upcoming Empires update. Just to keep that as a current idea.
  17. have you make a suggestion about those?
    also, for emc because they lack of developer to develop for emc
  18. Yes w1ther. That's why I said I was reminding about my map suggestion.

    I didn't ask any developer questions here. No clue what you mean. At all.
  19. ahh
    i was mention that reasons why these suggest has not done yet on emc
  20. This is currently a discussion of semantics and for planning ahead. Nothing is done yet, because the "yet" is not here yet. Future discussion.
    .
    You very much seem to enjoy bashing staff and your perceived lack of server attention to everything brand new. This is NOT what I am discussing here. And I am not interested in a debate of your flawed ideas of "free speech" at this time. If you have a useful comment on this topic, then by all means, go ahead and let's hear it. Otherwise .... Next!
    JesusPower2 likes this.