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[NiteStar]

OK so I'm posting this here because Mamoru asked me to do so.

First of all, it's great that the first thing we now get when landing on the new TI is a pop-up modal window. However, the text here needs to be changed. It currently reads as show in the attached screenie.

For one, it shouldn't start out with "Portolas says:"

And perhaps instead of "Book" it should be named "Welcome to Atrinik"

Then the first line could start with, To move around in the game, either left-click with your mouse to the tile where you want to move and your character will be moved there, or use your numeric keypad on your keyboard. If you don't have a numeric keypad (for instance, you're playing on a laptop), you may wish to read the "Key Settings" section in the help file on the web site.

And, make sure you link "Key Settings" to the web site so it's clickable, or provide the URL so users can C&P the info.

Then continue with, Press the "3" key on your numeric keypad a few times to move east and get off this raft, onto the main island.

You  may wish to throw a few other things in here. But end with Remember, you can press F12 at any time to get help, or press enter and type "/help" (without the quotes).

[EDIT] Also, make sure to have a "CLOSE" button after the last paragraph:

{CLOSE}
(You can also click on the "X" in the upper-right
corner of this "Welcome to Atrinik" window)

[NiteStar]

Next, the NPC tutorial should be moved to the raft, with Portolas taking the lead on this one. As soon as the player moves off the raft takes one step (see attached screenie), a modal dialogue window should pop up, advising the player,

Hey, one of the game characters (NPCs) wants to talk to you. Look at the status window box on the left hand side of your screen to see what he has to say!

And then start the NPC tutorial, by first letting players know that in most instances, players must initiate conversation with the NPCs. Also, let players know about the /T_TELL command, and refer them to the /help file for instructions on how to use it and bind it to a key to macro it.

[EDIT: Replaced attached screenshot file with newer version.]

[Mamoru]

In my opinion the magic mouth works better. According to Nitestar this wasn't very obvious. He asked me to change it to a modal window (Book GUI). I don't think that is suited for this purpose though.
M.

Edit: In reply to your double post, here you are assuming that the signs will use modal windows (Book GUI) which forces the players to halt and read it. Which IMO isn't suited for this purpose. However, the NPC tutorial could come first. I just don't know why it should be removed from the tutorial cave. The island is linear anyway.
M.

[NiteStar]

In my opinion the magic mouth works better. According to Nitestar this wasn't very obvious. He asked me to change it to a modal window (Book GUI). I don't think that is suited for this purpose though.
M.

Edit: In reply to your double post, here you are assuming that the signs will use modal windows (Book GUI) which forces the players to halt and read it. Which IMO isn't suited for this purpose. However, the NPC tutorial could come first. I just don't know why it should be removed from the tutorial cave. The island is linear anyway.
M.

I double-posted so I could have only one screenie for each comment. I figured it was better to just keep everything in one post than to create multiple posts for the same topic. I didn't want to confuse the screenies, so 1 comment per screenie. :p Also, I'm writing this as I'm going through things, and really want to keep one topic per comment. Does that make sense?

As to why to do pop-up windows (the modal windows) instead of the status box:

a) It's not very noticeable, especially for players who aren't familiar with the game. Many players won't notice this.

b) By forcing the first few instructions into modal windows, you force players to read them, or at least put it in front of their face where they can't miss it.

c) My suggestions are linear, too, as they're following the path laid out in TI--the remake.

d) I modified things slightly above; please go back and re-read the changes. As I'm writing this, I think it would make more sense.

So with the modal windows, there would be a total of three of them:

1) The welcome modal window.

2) The introduction to the NPC Tutorial modal window.

3) Instructions on how to use signs modal window.

For #3 above, as soon as the player takes its second step (off the raft, see the attached screenie), the third, and final modal window would pop-up. This window would instruct users that from this point forward, the should use the signs to get their information, and point out important parts of the screen. See the second file attached to this comment for an example of what it COULD look like.

After this third modal dialogue, the new player would now know to look in the status window box for messages. Additionally, the sign usage tutorial could be incorporated into this.

Just as a reminder throughout the TI, all signs should be as they are done to the north of the Orange tree (see 3rd screenshot), instead of regular. Especially, the sign to the north of the apple tree. But ideally, all signs should state how to use them when a player stands on them, just as a reminder.

I would also change the "Press the 'a' key to read me" to "Press the [space bar] key to read me." If there are lots of players, and other players are standing on the sign, pressing "a" could apply the players, not the sign. This could be explained later on, in the TI Cave.

Doing things this way, the "auto-display" for the first two signs one encounters along the linear path of TI could be turned off, and sign labels could just be used to guide the player. See the third screenie in this comment for an example.

[NiteStar]

Food - I offer the following suggestions:

Add a bunch more trees to this area along the shore line and out onto the peninsula. Have fruit dropping from the trees at regular intervals. You can have the food here worth 1 copper, to prevent players from just gathering it all up to sell it to the shop.

Put a tutorial here about food. Let players know that they need to eat food, point out the food status bar, and let them know that if they go for too long without food or let their food get to zero, they can start starving to death.

Have one of the trees drop poisonous food, with instructions that not all food in the game is safe to eat, and some of it can be deadly. Maybe fence this tree off on three sides to set it apart from the others. Use one of the withered tree arches for this poisonous tree.

Have a priest NPC (or maybe a fairy, or something) standing by the poisonous tree who will heal any poisoned players who might eat fruit from the poisonous tree.

In fact, the priest NPC could be the one to tell players about food, and poisonous food, and also how to cure poison.

[Cleo]

A withered tree dropping fruit? Strange...

Anyway, don't worry about NPCs and the actual starting tutorial itself for now - I have grand plans for that matter that would be too lengthy to type out, but basically it involves making the whole starting tutorial much more interactive and intuitive, and hopefully not as long as it currently is.

[NiteStar]

Aw, but I like my ideas. And what Mammy's done! And it's close to being finished so it can be implemented....

[Mamoru]

A withered tree dropping fruit? Strange...

Anyway, don't worry about NPCs and the actual starting tutorial itself for now - I have grand plans for that matter that would be too lengthy to type out, but basically it involves making the whole starting tutorial much more interactive and intuitive, and hopefully not as long as it currently is.

Yeah, I think it is a tad bit too long the way I remade it =p
Only saw that afterwards though. And still most of the info would be on Incuna.
M.