I really want to ask about the school content.
Before the new Sagres city, there was a lot of content in school of every major cities on each nations. Yes, I am an old player returning. I want to know why that awesome content is missing now or what is the story behind this weird but convenient method of schooling in Sagres.
Hoping that anyone who played the game from old times can relate to what I am trying to say.
Comments
Welcome back to the game.
You are certainly not alone in questioning the logic behind this change(or lack thereof). I made a lengthy post on the now archived UWO forums about this very topic that is, unfortunately, not accessible anymore. That is also curious...
To summarize:
-The old school system was much better for immersion
-The old school system was vastly superior as a tutorial for new/returning players
-The old school system, though longer, was segmented and able to be followed with relative clarity
-The old school system did a much better job at preparing players for the next step in their journeys, and for the wide world beyond
-The old school system involved new players immediately being able to speak to fellow students in a chat channel just for them. This fostered a more positive and immersive environment for novice sailors amongst their peers
-The new school system has little to no immersive quality
-The new school system does an awful job as a tutorial for brand new players; whether it's the presentation, or having to fulfill certain easy-to-miss conditions in order to make progress
-The new school system is remarkably poor at bestowing knowledge to players; instead bouncing between lulls or an overflow of information that doesn't befit their situation
-As a result of the above point – and in stark contrast to the old schooling(long as it may have been) – the pacing of the new school system is problematic, to say the least. Unlike in the past, where you were introduced to various topics over time, that matched your relative knowledge level
-The new school system's quests and exams received at Sagres are random, instead of curated as per the old school system. This means it is possible to do the beginner, intermediate, and advanced exams back-to-back-to-back. This leaves little opportunity to actually learn from school. Though it does have the advantage of being quicker to complete
-There still exists a lack of information and expertise about precisely all the conditions that must be met before a new character will receive the necessary trigger regarding Sagres and the granting of their European port permits. Coupled with contradictory information about liner times within the game, and the fact that veteran players are less familiar with the evidently befuddling steps that must be followed – it can leave new players feeling stranded and directionless
-The new school system gives prospective players a very poor impression of what the game has to offer on a much grander scale
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We can only speculate as to why they changed the schooling. It certainly allows veteran players to fast-track their alts through school rapidly. But this has come at a great cost to the new player experience(which is pretty dour, on an already low population game).
And the worst part is: it didn't have to be this way. Both the old school system, as well as Sagres could co-exist. All it takes is a simple check when a new character is made to default them to the legacy school system. But give accounts that have completed that legacy schooling(even once) the option to forego it, and proceed with the Sagres line. This shouldn't be difficult to implement. Lots of games have done something to that affect.
It's pretty sad that people's introduction to this wonderful game is this abomination of a tutorial.
All we can do is continue to send our feedback to Papaya/KOEI regarding this matter, while doing our best to aid those unfortunate souls trying to meander through the farcical sea of confusion that they are thrust in.
Fully agree, this game has a special place in my heart because of the uniqueness it brings to the MMOs I normally played and back then it was a really immersive game, but I don't know what happened the new updates that I read and reading are really weird and doesn't really go with the theme of the game I feel in my personal opinion and yes I miss the old school.
Also, I am still trying to think of a reason to why anyone would remove that school system and replace it with Sagres, it really makes no sense. I am sure if they took a vote, the community will always choose the old school system.
Part of the reason was probably the people who had many alts complained about the long time wasted having to go through all the tutorials for every alt. So they streamlined it.