In-Game Towny Guide

qazini

As some of you may know, I have written a short in-game towny guide to help players new to the server. It covers basic information such as warps, chatting, and making money.

I hope that towns utilize it by copying it and giving it out to new residents, but I have no way of knowing that, or whether people find it at all useful. To figure this out, I have created an anonymous survey. If you have encountered this guide, I urge you to take this survey so that I can update it and improve upon it.

The survey:
Towny Guides

Thank you.

Noahnda

@CluelessKlutz are players currently given a guide upon joining? If not, can we add this guide, or a version of this guide as something they recieve? This way everyone has a chance automatically to receive such an item.

lanekids40

nope and it has already been accepted

Noahnda

nope and it has already been accepted
~ @lanekids40

Nice. Super easy addition with great value.

lanekids40

probably not gonna happen soon. I have been waiting 2 weeks for @Cooleysworld to add a book of formatting codes to shop.

CluelessKlutz

@CluelessKlutz are players currently given a guide upon joining? If not, can we add this guide, or a version of this guide as something they recieve? This way everyone has a chance automatically to receive such an item.
~ @Noahnda

They are not currently, waiting on the new API to be implemented before the new tutorial is fully implemented. The outline for said guidebook is already complete and ready to go.

qazini

The responses I got for what to change about its length:
"I think it's perfect how it is"
"Maybe we can add a little bit more"
"shorter"

FamousZAmos

The responses I got for what to change about its length:
"I think it's perfect how it is"
"Maybe we can add a little bit more"
"shorter"
~ @qazini

Well RIP anonymity but I think it should be shorter because:
- new players don't want a really long read, they just want quick info to reference if it's needed
- most meepers (especially newer meepers) have short attention spans and low reading levels.
- the kind of people that play video games often read at a 4th grade speed. Don't waste their time with a 7 page book when it can be condensed to 4 :) it's got good content but a lot is kinda longwinded

qazini

Well RIP anonymity but I think it should be shorter because:
- new players don't want a really long read, they just want quick info to reference if it's needed
- most meepers (especially newer meepers) have short attention spans and low reading levels.
- the kind of people that play video games often read at a 4th grade speed. Don't waste their time with a 7 page book when it can be condensed to 4 :) it's got good content but a lot is kinda longwinded
~ @FamousZAmos

One of the things I focused on most was length, I wanted it to be as short as possible while still providing all the necessary info. I totally agree with what you say, people new to a server don't want to read a lot, but I don't see what information to remove. What should I remove?
Unless you mean just to remove all the spacing, which doesn't look all that good and I thought might be even more discouraging to read, I don't know what to delete from it :)

CryogenicNewt05

what happened to the server guide written by Sjoeppappentrap that would only be obtainable in the old tutorial world? I think we should bring that back

Enron

the kind of people that play video games often read at a 4th grade speed
~ @FamousZAmos

That's the dumbest thing I've heard all week

CluelessKlutz

what happened to the server guide written by Sjoeppappentrap that would only be obtainable in the old tutorial world? I think we should bring that back
~ @CryogenicNewt05

They are not currently, waiting on the new API to be implemented before the new tutorial is fully implemented. The outline for said guidebook is already complete and ready to go.
~ @CluelessKlutz

FamousZAmos

One of the things I focused on most was length, I wanted it to be as short as possible while still providing all the necessary info. I totally agree with what you say, people new to a server don't want to read a lot, but I don't see what information to remove. What should I remove?
Unless you mean just to remove all the spacing, which doesn't look all that good and I thought might be even more discouraging to read, I don't know what to delete from it :)
~ @qazini

the spacing and a lot of the words (wow detail!)
what I mean is like chop the details. each command should have only a couple lines description to it. Think of it as more of a "commands list" than a "describe basic functions in great detail"

qazini

To the person who talked about adding a bit of Meep's history:
I do not think a Meep history lesson would benefit new players. It will go over their heads, and just make the guide look longer. The less pages there are, the more likely players will read it.
Thank you for the suggestion though, I am making a pwarp for the towny guide and a few other towny related things, and if you're ok with it I can add a bit of Meep history in there.

the spacing and a lot of the words (wow detail!)
what I mean is like chop the details. each command should have only a couple lines description to it. Think of it as more of a "commands list" than a "describe basic functions in great detail"
~ @FamousZAmos

If you would like to look over the guide with me and suggest specific changes that would be great. Just /msg me in game. However, I think I will keep the spacing, my previous guides were more compact and were less easily readable because of it.I'm planning to update the guide in a day or two, here are the changes that I have established so far:
1. Change prize amounts to correct numbers (5k to 2.5k for a quest)
2. Change /sethome (name) to /sethome since cits can't name their homes
3. Move /modreq to chat page (done to remove a page, because as aforementioned, the less pages cits see the more likely they'll read it)
4. Remove most chats (Keep /g, /m (player)
5. Possibly add the Meepcraft.com website on there somewhere

Any other suggestions (as specific as possible please) are welcome. If you'd like to look over the current guide just /msg me in game.

Thank you for all the input so far.

They are not currently, waiting on the new API to be implemented before the new tutorial is fully implemented. The outline for said guidebook is already complete and ready to go.
~ @CluelessKlutz

I also want to clarify why I'm continuing with this project even though as Clue said an official guide will soon be out (excited for that, thank you!) I don't know what it will cover, but they will probably differ. I hope you don't construe my continuation of this project as a protest of the server guide, or a belief that mine is better. Neither is true. I guess other than all that, I'm still going to work on it because I have grown attached to the guide through the many months that have passed since I wrote the first version, and I don't feel like abandoning it now.

Enron

4. Remove some of the less important chats (If they stay they will learn them anyways)
~ @qazini

Honestly you might as well remove any chat commands other than /g and /msg (and modreq if you move that)
New players couldn't care less how to toggle trade chat, they just want to talk

qazini

Honestly you might as well remove any chat commands other than /g and /msg (and modreq if you move that)
New players couldn't care less how to toggle trade chat, they just want to talk
~ @Enron

Yea, I that's a good idea. I might also add /tc to the list, since some towns communicate like that, and it gets the attention of all online town staff at once, so that player doesn't have to message all of them, but yea, /tr and /w will be learned through gameplay if the player stays.

FamousZAmos

. I might also add /tc to the list
~ @qazini

I've never seen someone use it. Someone will ask someone if they know /g and /modreq

qazini

I've finished the new towny guide, with some of the changes listed above as well as some others:

1. Added a Towns section that teaches players to join and leave a town
2. Made section headings bolded
3. Made a hierarchy of information with indents
4. Moved the modreq section to the chat section
5. Chat section includes global, local, and /m chats
6. Sethome information is now correct
7. No numerical values are mentioned in relation to money

Thank you for all who helped edit it.