Tour Guide - Expanded SOT Partner Program

  • SweetSandMan
    Lord
    Insider

    With the number of new players joining an exceedingly complex game, it's obvious that the Maiden Voyage lacks a LOT when it comes to what they'll encounter out on the seas. With that in mind, I came up with an idea for those newer players to be able to queue up with a "Tour Guide", of sorts, to help them get their feet wet out on the seas.

    There's a lot that could probably be tweaked with this idea, but here's the high-level idea I had in mind.

    Tour Guide Partnership:
    -Partner must be able to record all audio and video during their shifts as a Tour Guide
    -Partner must go through a FULL vetting process by the Rare team. This vetting process would ensure that they have the right mindset for actually being a Tour Guide. This means being a teacher, not just a "doer" or a "showoff" to players.
    -Partner must present a sound understanding of the game's mechanics, best practices, and display a critical
    -Partner must be able to submit support tickets for any truly toxic encounters and players that are abusing the "Tour Guide" function.
    -Partner must have a microphone and keyboard to ensure they are able to communicate with all types of players accessibilities.
    -Partner cannot live stream while they are being a Tour Guide.

    Tour Guide Responsibility:
    -Partner's responsibilities are to teach players how to handle all aspects of the game. Whatever the current situation is, your responsibility is to help the other player(s) understand what that encounter is, and how to handle it from start to finish...both in victory and defeat.
    -During PvP encounters, partner is to be as communicative as possible and show true leadership throughout the encounter.
    -During voyages, the Tour Guide is responsible for ensuring that the player learns how to complete whatever the voyage task is.

    Players needing a Tour Guide:
    -This would likely need to be a whole new mechanic similar to LFG. In a perfect world, players can request this in-game and not have to go into any Xbox or Steam-specific tools.
    -Players can only request a Tour Guide if they are under 100 game hours. Not sure if that's the right metric, but something that would only allow for truly newer players to use this mechanic.
    -Players must have all crew communication settings enabled. If at any point the player is non-responsive or "afk", the Tour Guide has the right to terminate his participation with that player.
    -Players have the right to terminate the assistance at any time for whatever reason.
    -Players would be required to provide Rare with feedback on their Tour Guide with a couple questions and a comment card...this would generate a sort of CSAT rating for each Tour Guide.

    Reward for being a Tour Guide:
    -This could be done a multitude of ways. I'm thinking Ancient Coins and maybe some unique cosmetics would be the most logical rewards. This could be based on hours per week of participation and a solid CSAT rating

    Thoughts?

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  • WolfManbush
    Champion

    I think this works out much better organically in open crew than it does being manufactured.

    if this existed it is what it is but I don't think all the best teachers for what this game takes to thrive are necessarily popular or fit in with a getting approved system of power

    I think there is a lot of fluff and cliqueish stuff that is unnecessary in something like that but we all view teaching and learning differently and maybe others would appreciate it.

  • Metal Ravage
    Champion
    Insider
    Founder

    At first the game might seem different with a steep learning curve, but we are actually talking "hand holding" now. I think giving room to the new players, in order to figure out things on their own would be better.

  • SweetSandMan
    Lord
    Insider

    Appreciate the feedback. Honestly, if Rare introduced some true playable "tutorials" on all the key elements of the game, that would be even better. Sure, content creators do a decent job making YouTube vids on some stuff...but watching and doing are 2 totally different things. Think about all the cool tutorials within games like Rocket League and Knockout City. That is what new players really need IMO...but I feel like that's a ton of work to create.

    @wolfmanbush I'd love to think that Open Crew is the solution, but, it's not. I can't imagine how infrequently a player that wants to learn the ropes actually gets paired with someone interested in teaching them the ropes. I'm sure it happens, in fact I've done that and been the teacher. I'm merely presenting a more reliable way for newer players that actually want to learn, to get a "certified" (by Rare) teacher. And it would be available for a very limited time to newer players. Again, first 100 hours or so...maybe even less.

    This is also heavily predicated on the vetting process being of high quality. Most of the current streamers/partners would probably not fall into the good "teacher" category. Some would...most probably wouldn't IMO.

    @metal-ravage said in Tour Guide - Expanded SOT Partner Program:

    I think giving room to the new players, in order to figure out things on their own would be better.

    That's literally how it is now and we get endless threads from newer players saying they want PvE servers. I feel that is in part because the skill gap is SO wide between new players and veterans and the fact that newer players don't even have a chance to learn before they are killed and sunk.

  • WolfManbush
    Champion

    @sweetsandman said in Tour Guide - Expanded SOT Partner Program:

    Appreciate the feedback. Honestly, if Rare introduced some true playable "tutorials" on all the key elements of the game, that would be even better. Sure, content creators do a decent job making YouTube vids on some stuff...but watching and doing are 2 totally different things. Think about all the cool tutorials within games like Rocket League and Knockout City. That is what new players really need IMO...but I feel like that's a ton of work to create.

    @wolfmanbush I'd love to think that Open Crew is the solution, but, it's not. I can't imagine how infrequently a player that wants to learn the ropes actually gets paired with someone interested in teaching them the ropes. I'm sure it happens, in fact I've done that and been the teacher. I'm merely presenting a more reliable way for newer players that actually want to learn, to get a "certified" (by Rare) teacher. And it would be available for a very limited time to newer players. Again, first 100 hours or so...maybe even less.

    This is also heavily predicated on the vetting process being of high quality. Most of the current streamers/partners would probably not fall into the good "teacher" category. Some would...most probably wouldn't IMO.

    @metal-ravage said in Tour Guide - Expanded SOT Partner Program:

    I think giving room to the new players, in order to figure out things on their own would be better.

    That's literally how it is now and we get endless threads from newer players saying they want PvE servers. I feel that is in part because the skill gap is SO wide between new players and veterans and the fact that newer players don't even have a chance to learn before they are killed and sunk.

    the heavy vetting thing is just gonna be a social status thing.
    In your scenario they aren't really making judgement on teaching they are making judgments on who they like, who has a personality they want to represent their feature, who says the right things, who acts the right way.

    That doesn't necessarily lead to teaching it leads to a system of choosers and those that want to be chosen. So you'll see a lot of people saying and doing what they think will get them into positions that they value socially.

    A lot of the current issue with lack of skill comes from glorified Pirate Legend to where it became piratical complacency and people think it makes them special. That messaging often came from the top and from streamers and people that would be trying to climb socially for this guide position.

    To me the results are not very authentic or useful it's just a social status climb that won't really be preparing new pirates for what lies ahead any more than just a random basic tips and tricks video will. It'll be in person so that's something but I don't think it'll result in an improved base of pirates

  • SweetSandMan
    Lord
    Insider

    @wolfmanbush Wow. I mean that sounds more like an indictment on Rare and their Partner Program...but yeah...if we assume only terrible teachers would be brought on, then yeah it's a terrible idea.

    This was merely an idea on how to more formally welcome new players to the seas. I didn't realize it would be met with such disgust lol.

  • WolfManbush
    Champion

    @sweetsandman said in Tour Guide - Expanded SOT Partner Program:

    @wolfmanbush Wow. I mean that sounds more like an indictment on Rare and their Partner Program...but yeah...if we assume only terrible teachers would be brought on, then yeah it's a terrible idea.

    This was merely an idea on how to more formally welcome new players to the seas. I didn't realize it would be met with such disgust lol.

    It's a matter of results. You want results and have good intentions I just disagree that a social system in place will get the results you're after.

    There is always how something looks on paper and how it looks when implemented. Your idea isn't terrible and it's in good faith but when applied it becomes more about appearance and status than results imo. Plenty of people will agree with you on this and disagree with me.

    As for the Rare thing
    when someone puts their name/brand behind a feature they are put into a position where anyone they bring in becomes a representative of the name and brand. It's not malicious to pick people that fit a certain image/personality it's just a name/brand protecting the reputation. This issue is that protecting the image doesn't have anything to do with creating a foundation for low skill pirates to move up the food chain. So although everyone involved is trying to do what they think is right it's not actually bringing in the results that it was all set up for. Imo.

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