Noob Academy

[BBmine]

/me drinks his coffee and wonders why helpless can't join.

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[BBmine]

The port has changed to 30001! Try now helpless!

[Wuzzy]

I don't think this server is good for newbies. I helping newbies is the true purpose of this server, I don't believe it is doing a great job.

My first impression is that it is way too much information overload. There is too much stuff going on on the screen and on the spawn point. There is a tutor message AND way too many signs and the player is probably not aware on what to focus first, so a lot of information is probably getting lost.
I'm not a newbie (obviously) but I have the impression that an actual newbie could get easily lost in here.

The player is bombarded with information right from the start. Frankly, the Tutor mod is not very good yet because the messages are disappearing too quickly and I think it is impossible to make them appear a 2nd time. Very bad. I find it also pretty distracting because at the beginning it shows way too many messages in succession (it wants me to craft all the wooden tools).

Although I very much approve of the idea behind Tutor, but it is not in a very usable state yet.
The chat2 mod must be removed, it just makes the chat more confusing by duplicating the chat. By the way, colored chat is now a CORE feature, we just need a mod which actually utilizes it.

This server also includes WAY too many gameplay mods. The server should be EASY and not drop the player into a melting pot of CRAZY. xD
I don't even know how many mods your server uses, but `/mods` outputs FIVE CHAT LINES on my screen. And you included Homedecor. So much NOPE for Homedecor, sorry. Nothing against the mod, but the complexity goes way out of the roof with that one.

Missing features:
- Server does not display in the HUD if the area is protected and by whom. An absolute MUST especially for a beginner server
- No crafting guide. I suggest [craftguide] by jp (aka kilbith). Or switch to Unified Inventory which also has a very good crafting guide.

The selection of mods must be significantly thinned out. There are many mods where not even I know what they are good for. xD
Maybe start with Minetest Game without mods and only add the mods which are really needed. One or two example mods are fine (maybe to show what mods are capable of), but not so many. I would remove the armor mod, it makes the inventory screen look like shit
Help-related mods like doc or tutor are obviously OK and even required, but not more esoterical mods like growing mese crystals. I would be careful in choosing new mods.
Protector mods are definitely OK, too, they are almost standard on all servers.
However, the concept of protection is (I think) not explained at all, but this is very important for server gameplay.

But if you absolutely have to add so many of mods, at least put their content FAR away from spawn and keep the spawn point as vanilla (and simple) as possible, slowly going to the more and more advanced stuff as you move away from spawn.

You may also want to draw inspiration from my Tutorial subgame / world: viewtopic.php?f=15&t=10192

I see you included the Help modpack, but you included it completely wrong. There is no obvious way for the player to access it, nor is the player even aware that it exists. This makes a very useful mod very useless. xD
Possible fixes:
- Add the Lookup Tool into the starter inventory
- Add a button in the inventory menu which opens the help (Easy: Just call doc.show_doc(playername))

Possible problems:
- Many items (especially from obscure mods) don't have help texts, so their help entries are empty. This can be solved by convincing the mod authors to add support for the Help modpack (e.g. by writing help texts for their items). The more mods support the Help modpack, the better the help becomes! :-)
- The lookup tool may not work everywhere. Again, solved as soon as the modders add proper Help support

Remember, if you include the Help modpack in your subgame, you should also always keep in mind that the player must be able to access it. Because all subgames are different in their GUI, the modpack made no attempt to add it in the GUI so it relies on subgames.

Other things:
- The day/night cycle should be disabled and set to day permanently (/set time_speed 0)

Bugs:
- Textures of the mailer are missing.
- The example mine is useless because it is protected by ADMIN! xD
- Vending machines look like item frames. VERY confusing!
- One of the spawn signs says that trees and dry grass are straight ahead. I see tress, but no dry grass

Suggestions summary
- Rework the inventory menu, it is very ugly
- Remove armor (it also makes inventory menu confusing)
- Rework the spawn point, it has information overload and is pretty incoherent. It is not clear where to begin
- Give lookup tool for free
- Add button in inventory to teleport player back to start
- Rework the Tutor mod or request a modder to improve the Tutor mod (that would be thest bets for everyone)
- SIGNIFICANTLY thin out the number of mods to keep it simple
- Remove chat2
- Less agressive protection near spawn
- Disable night (/set time_speed 0)
- Make the tutorial mine more obvious
- Remember, chat commands do not exist for newbies!


Apart from all that, I think the server *as such* is acceptable, maybe for creative building or stuff like that. Just not for newbies.

[BBmine]

Thanks for your input Wuzzy.

I am currently reworking the inventory, so that's why help is useless.
I think I will remove armor, and also remove PvP capabillities, or at least limit it.
I'm constantly working on spawn. Should I make spawn 200x200 blocks?
I actually don't know what lookup tool is. I think I put it in here because it looked like it might be helpful. I think lookup should be one of the default items for new visitors.
I used unified inventory until I noticed that I couldn't access the skins for some reason.
I think it has a craft guide, but I'm trying to use sfinv for the inventory buttons, so there is no craft guide for now.
Well, the tutor I have is from March of 2016, so it's a year old. There might be a better one.
I did have maikerumine's extreme survival mod, but I decided that's too hard/overkill.
ADMIN's example mine should be protected. It's just an example :)
I'll ask 843jdc about the colored chat. He uses it on his server, and I think he might could help. Oh wait! Not 843jdc, GoldFireUn! :P Sorry Gold and 843!
What do you mean by "Less agressive protection near spawn"?
Why disable night?
Making the tutorial mine more obvious will be part of the spawn rework.
Which chat commands are you referring to about n00bs?

[Wuzzy]

Which chat commands are you referring to about n00bs?

Ugh, forget it. Not important. I just wanted to say the the server should be playable without any chat commands. ;-) But it pretty much is, so forget my comment.

What do you mean by "Less agressive protection near spawn"?

Maybe too much stuff (like the mine) is protected. The example mine could be confusing because mining doesn't work there, while the real mine is somewhere else.

I actually don't know what lookup tool is

It is the item from the mod doc_identifier found in the Help modpack. Punch anything to open a help entry about it. Easy. :-)

Why disable night?

Because the darkness makes it hard to see sometimes.

[BBmine]

I got rid of several mods on this server. Some mods will have to wait until I can come up with aliases for the items.
I've heard smartshop is buggy, but vendors has its own problems.

[BBmine]

Hey all. I would like for anybody with a mobile device to try out this server. Please let me know if it works or not. And remember, you don't need to be a noob to play here :D