Newbies and powerups

Allegiance discussion not belonging in another forum.
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juckto
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Location: NZ

Post by juckto »

TurkeyXIII wrote:QUOTE (TurkeyXIII @ Nov 23 2009, 02:48 PM) There will inevitably be people who want the lightning icon to be what newbies see when they log in, for whatever reason. As entertaining as I find the 'FAO is a dictatorship! All important decisions are made behind closed doors!' posts, you should probably make a poll.
Proposal:

Make a minor change to the next version of the installer so that people who download and use the installer - in other words, just newbies - have the for a powerup icon instead of the currently used.

Reason:

We have all seen newbies fly from one powerup to another, thinking they're "leveling up" or whatever. Or we've heard them ask "What does a powerup do?". This is because a lightning bolt is confusing. A wrench is associated with mechanics, which is associated with repairing, which is kinda what the powerup does. Thus, it is more self-explanatory.

Note:

Because this change is for the installer, NOT automatic update, this will NOT affect anyone's current icons. You can still mod it to whatever you like.

Query:

Can you come up with a good reason why newbs should still use the lightning bolt?

"Don't fix what ain't broken" could equally have been said about FAZ R1 ...


(Posted in general for visibility)
Last edited by juckto on Mon Nov 23, 2009 2:08 am, edited 1 time in total.
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Usually though, "skill" is used to covertly mean "match the game exactly to my level of competence." Anyone who is at all worse than me should fail utterly (and humorously!) and anyone better is clearly too caught up in the game and their opinions shouldn't count.
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Xeretov
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Post by Xeretov »

So if I vote no, that means "Yes please change the icon", and if I vote yes, that means "No don't bother"?
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Makida
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Joined: Tue May 08, 2007 12:04 pm
Location: Canada

Post by Makida »

"Yes" means that you can come up with a good reason why newbs should still use the lightning bolt, and "no" means that you cannot. But after reading Xeretov's reply I had to double-check again. :lol:

(I cannot... It seems like a pretty good change. The lightning bolt symbol really is confusing. (Unless you're trying to stay cloaked for as long as possible, I suppose... :lol: ))
Last edited by Makida on Mon Nov 23, 2009 2:38 am, edited 1 time in total.
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Camaro
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Joined: Sat Jan 28, 2006 8:00 am

Post by Camaro »

juckto wrote:QUOTE (juckto @ Nov 22 2009, 04:06 PM) "Don't fix what ain't broken" could equally have been said about FAZ R1 ...
No its "If it ain't broke, don't fix it."
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Jimen
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Post by Jimen »

IMO, this is a case of catastrophically misplaced priorities. The reason newbies don't know what a powerup does isn't because of the icon being confusing or something silly like that, it's because it's literally not documented anywhere at all, except the occasional forum post and perhaps Cadet II. Doing a text search of the entire wiki for the term "powerup" scores only three results - two of them dealing exclusively with what the powerup icon looks like (without explaining what the item itself does), and the third being a random buglist entry. Needless to say, that means it's not in the Learning Guide or the Academy or Cadet I or Common Newbie Errors or any of the other training material. Powerups aren't the only thing that suffer from that total lack of wiki info, either - a lot of things that newbies find hard to pick up (like accurate ripcording and ship loadouts) suffer from the same "barely mentioned at all" syndrome. I don't know if it's vets taking small things for granted or what, but as things are now, you can't expect competence even from Cadet I graduates.

Additionally, I find it ridiculous that anyone's considering changing the icon because it's too misleading. It's not the icon that's misleading, it's the name. In most other games, a powerup powers you up - in this game, however, it just refills your current fuel/ammo/energy bars (I think?). Before you change the icon, how about changing the name to something more suitable like "Refill" or something?
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Camaro
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Post by Camaro »

Or "Repair Kit" and replace it with a +, or a wrench.
Last edited by Camaro on Mon Nov 23, 2009 4:02 am, edited 1 time in total.
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RealPandemonium
Posts: 649
Joined: Sat Sep 20, 2008 7:32 am
Location: NY

Post by RealPandemonium »

Jimen wrote:QUOTE (Jimen @ Nov 22 2009, 10:20 PM) IMO, this is a case of catastrophically misplaced priorities. The reason newbies don't know what a powerup does isn't because of the icon being confusing or something silly like that, it's because it's literally not documented anywhere at all, except the occasional forum post and perhaps Cadet II. Doing a text search of the entire wiki for the term "powerup" scores only three results - two of them dealing exclusively with what the powerup icon looks like (without explaining what the item itself does), and the third being a random buglist entry. Needless to say, that means it's not in the Learning Guide or the Academy or Cadet I or Common Newbie Errors or any of the other training material. Powerups aren't the only thing that suffer from that total lack of wiki info, either - a lot of things that newbies find hard to pick up (like accurate ripcording and ship loadouts) suffer from the same "barely mentioned at all" syndrome. I don't know if it's vets taking small things for granted or what, but as things are now, you can't expect competence even from Cadet I graduates.

Additionally, I find it ridiculous that anyone's considering changing the icon because it's too misleading. It's not the icon that's misleading, it's the name. In most other games, a powerup powers you up - in this game, however, it just refills your current fuel/ammo/energy bars (I think?). Before you change the icon, how about changing the name to something more suitable like "Refill" or something?
+1

ib4 edit the wiki yourself or shaddap
Last edited by RealPandemonium on Mon Nov 23, 2009 4:49 am, edited 1 time in total.
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Edmond wrote:QUOTE (Edmond @ Aug 31 2010, 04:20 PM) I think girly's idea is much better, since it is more freeform, only needs to be updated by one person, and maintains the openness of the command channel without the spaminess. Plus it can have ASCII goatse.
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finnbryant
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Location: England

Post by finnbryant »

Jimen makes a good point, but it doesnt change the fact that the lightning bolt doesnt make sense. the wrench is much better.

so maybe the extent of the change could be increased?

1. change icon
2. change name to refill/repair kit
3. update wiki

I would fix the wiki, except i dont know anything about "powerups" and would probably do more damage than anything.
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jpomailo2
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Location: Canada

Post by jpomailo2 »

juckto wrote:QUOTE (juckto @ Nov 22 2009, 07:06 PM) thinking they're "leveling up" or whatever.
Damn, is that why im still a (5)?
Jpomail > Does weed always type like that?
FreeBeer > No, no. Sometimes he uses his fingers.
____________________________________________
Zdude > I'm moving on. In fact... there's this girl who may be a little on the ugly side but is pretty easy
____________________________________________
Penix: .... jop never reproduce please.
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Psychosis
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Joined: Wed Oct 27, 2004 7:00 am
Location: California

Post by Psychosis »

i think that is a good idea, the lightening bolt doesn't really make much sense...
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