Purplegoo
Joined: Mar 23, 2006
|
 Posted:
Jan 07, 2011 - 11:34 |
 
|
Good ideas on the forums, and Mac, I agreed with Fouly, much better now.
I'm in a bit of a sticky period timewise atm; playing BB at an event all weekend, moving house Tuesday (which will also be my last day in my job, much to tidy), then in the new house without internet until Feb. 4th*. I'll see what I can do about V2 of my QS on Monday, but as for putting it in the Wiki / the other stuff, we might need some volunteers!
*This is semi true; I have a bluetooth pay as you go dongle thing, but it only has 3GB on it, and I'll likely be rationing this for job hunting / e-mail checking. Whilst I'll be about on FUMBBL, I doubt I'll be able to commit much. As an aside - is playing Java BB much more bandwidth consuming than browsing? Anyone know? I'd love to sneak the odd game in... |
|
|
mubo
Joined: Dec 30, 2008
|
| Posted:
Jan 07, 2011 - 14:51 |
|
My experience is download limits won't be a problem at all. With the new client, connection speed might be an issue, as takes a while to initially load the game. Your dongle may be better than mine though  . Once underway it's fine. JavaBB should have no problems though. |
|
|
uzkulak
Joined: Mar 30, 2004
|
| Posted:
Jan 07, 2011 - 17:08 |
|
I came to fumbbl from a tabletop background and having had the experience of 2 earlier online leagues under my belt and I still found the site a little complex to get to work. I dont really know why when I think back, probably just me being a bit dim. However the new client will make things considerably easier in this regard, its pretty much just click to play which is ideal for new players, so how much this user (un)friendly thing will continue to be an issue by the middle of January Im not sure.
But you do need to keep all these introduction things simple and very easy to understand. The less words the better, people switch-off if they are in a hurry to do something and need to read more than about 100 words. IMO, use bullet points and "click here for more help/info" links if its taking more than a sentence to get your point across. Once newbies are set-up with a team it might be better to have a video tutorial or "bloodbowl for newbies walkthrough" than try to arrange training/teaching games. New players will feel let down if these dont happen quickly. People can be directed to a well-organised forum for detailed tactical information, but when you first join its all just about learning what to click and when. A quick explanation of the game basics on youtube would be very welcoming and perhaps even bring in some new members on its own merit.
And yes I know this post is more than 100 words  |
|
|
Purplegoo
Joined: Mar 23, 2006
|
| Posted:
Jan 10, 2011 - 11:38 |
|
I agree entirely in an ideal World, uzkulak. I don't think I have the means personally to create a good video or indeed, not to waffle a fair bit. It seems I'm a volume kind of guy! Perhaps someone better than me will have a go in time.
I was asked a couple of times this weekend by TT chaps when the new client is going live, how it'll work, etc, etc, so I do believe there is some interest out there for new and lapsed FUMBBLists, and as such, I'm ever more convinced that a good Quick Start / User Guide / all of the other great ideas we've seen in this thread can only help smooth these guys into the FUMBBL experience and retain them longer term. One of the guys I know has tried a couple of times to get the site going, but is an ideal example of an impatient sort who probably won't spend long trying to work around issues or delve too deeply into forums or user guides; perhaps he'll be a good guinea pig for whatever we end up with and we'll snag him on his third attempt!
I'll go back to my attempt later and revise it with the comments made here in mind. As I said above; after today it's basically game over for me until the weekend, and even then my net is going to be questionable (although, thanks for that above, Nick), so if someone wants to take what is produced and Wiki it into the User Guide, then that'd be ace. |
|
|
Nightbird
Joined: Aug 02, 2003
|
| Posted:
Jan 10, 2011 - 13:47 |
|
First off the re-write is much better Mac, I wanted to punch you too, lol! One thing that came to my mind, after reading this thread, is that some of what is being written, to me, sounds like we are, in a way, trying to defend the phantom 'bad rep' that we supposedly get. Anyone else sense this? Do we really need to do that? I mean you could say the same about TFF, as far as bad reps go. Just ask shadow, lol. Every community has it's bad elements, but I'm all for making things more friendly to pull in new coaches.
The BB rulebook does a good job, w/ pictures & grids, of explaining the basic game mechanics. Maybe a guide that is similar would be best for newbies to learn the basics? Maybe the quick start guide could work similarly? In regards to ease of use, I've been around since Fumbbl began & I still find things a bit confusing around here, at times, as far as site navigation goes. I agree w/ the points of making any type of QS guide very simple & straight forward. I think the need to convey points about the community & our philosophy probably isn't really needed or could be put elsewhere. The imperative is that we lay out, quickly & simply, how to create an account, game basics & how to play a match. I don't think the average new user is looking to read about our history or what nice people we are or aren't. I think they want to sign up & play ASAP. As one poster said, this is the limited attention span world these days. Everyone wants what they want yesterday. Maybe I'm misunderstanding some of this though, so if I'm off base apologies. I guess what I'm saying is that the site introduction (philosophy, community info, difficulty warnings, etc.) should be on the home page, replacing what's there now, & that the quick start guide should be separate from it, but very prominently linked on the home page as well. A home page should be something that describes the community. If we think we need to do that as in-depth as is being done currently within the QS guide, then the home page should be where it goes IMO. Hmm, maybe this is what you ARE doing? The quick start guide needs to stand on it's own though.
Are we digging too deeply by wanting to create pre-made rosters? Learning to create a team is an essential function of the game after all. Why not learn to do it right off? If there were to be pre-made rosters I would suggest that there are simply two. An orc & human roster solely for the purpose of learning. No accumulated spp's or ownership of the teams, just two pre-set community rosters for beginners to play a quick match or be taught by a helpful vet. These are, after all, the teams the boxed set comes with. Anyhow, dunno if this helps, but it's my two cents if it's even worth that!
~B |
_________________
"If most of us remain ignorant of ourselves, it's because self-knowledge is painful
& we prefer the pleasures of illusion." ~Aldous Huxley |
|
Kalimar
Joined: Sep 22, 2006
|
| Posted:
Jan 10, 2011 - 13:55 |
|
I do seriously like Macavity's intro #2. Great job, really! |
|
|
Purplegoo
Joined: Mar 23, 2006
|
| Posted:
Jan 10, 2011 - 15:37 |
|
I've had a tinker and tried to cut this back as far as possible, taking on the ideas of the thread as I've gone... Any better? It's still long, but I'm hopeing whomever Wiki's it up will make each point a seperate, linked page. I think breaking it up like this will make it at least look shorter and snappier?
*****
2011 - New coaches Quick Start guide
Greetings, and welcome to FUMBBL.
FUMBBL is a site dedicated to playing and discussing Games Workshop's board game, Blood Bowl (BB). Whether you're a veteran or a total newcomer; FUMBBL caters for coaches of all experience levels; the site is free, all you need is Java (link) installed on your PC. If you are a BB newcomer; please note the additional text in italics as you progress through the guide, hopefully it should help you along!
We are currently experiencing a period of change, hence this temporary short introduction to help you navigate yourself to your first game. We are steadily changing the rule set onsite from Living Rulebook (LRB) 4 to the most up to date rules for the game that we call Fantasy Football (FFB). These rules can be found easily on the internet. The remainder of this guide is written on the assumption that you're interested in FFB, but an LRB4 quick start can be found here (link old quick start). The following five quick points are designed to get you playing BB in no time, but once you're successfully playing, we strongly recommend that you take the time to read the remainder of the User Guide and drop into the forums to join our community (Link Mac guide) fully.
If you're a total rookie to BB - bear in mind to use FUMBBL you're required to own the board game. Assuming you do, please refresh yourself on the rules of play before you get going, since the Astrogranite pitches of your youth, things have changed!
1. Getting an account
Click here (link) to get an account creation form. When complete, a password will be sent to your e-mail account to complete your activation. Upon returning, log-in on the front page with your Username and Password. You will be asked to read and agree to accept the rules of the site. It is important you only ever create one FUMBBL account; if you have forgotten a Password or have any other issues, contact a member of staff (link support ticket).
(Picture of form)
2. Team Creation
Click HOME from the menu at the top of the front page, this takes you to your coach overview. Click 'Create a new team' (linked). At this point, you will be asked to select a division for your team, as a FFB coach, your team currently belongs in the Blackbox division (Update as switchover progresses). You will be prompted to select one of the 24 races in the game, and enter a team name.
(Steal current pictures and intersperse)
3. Getting ready for a game
From your overview, click on your newly created team name in order to access the team screen. Click on 'Buy New Player' to launch a window with a list of the players available to purchase.
As you build a team, be sure that your team members have individual names, 'Amazon 1' etc. won't cut it! When you have a minimum of 11 players, close the 'Buy New Player' window and refresh the team page. You should see the team you've just built. Add Assistant Coaches, Fan Factor, Re Rolls or Cheerleaders as desired. Click 'submit for approval' to complete the process.
(Again, steal and intersperse current pictures)
Here is a guide (linked) on team creation. It can be tricky at first, but you'll soon get the hang of it! Re-Rolls, for example, are very important since they only cost half as much to begin with, a common rookie error is not buying enough. Orcs are a great rookie team, try a line up of 4 Black Orcs, 4 Blitzers, 2 Linemen, a Thrower and 3 Re-Rolls if you're struggling to decide.
4. Getting a game
[B]lackbox is FUMBBL's matchmaking system. Once every 15 minutes (on the hour, and then thereafter), the system ('BowlBot') takes all teams that apply for a round of games, pairs them according to a formula that produces the fairest games possible (link), and makes games. If enough teams are applied for a round and the matches are fair enough, your team will be paired against someone else. When you are ready to play, click 'Activate' next to your team, and you'll be entered into the next round. If you get a game, this will come up on your coach homepage, and will show your team scheduled against your opponent as below;
(picture)
If there were not enough teams that round, or there wasn't a fair enough game, your team won't be paired.
Rookie coaches are historically encouraged to begin life on FUMBBL in the Academy division. Here you can learn the ropes against vets that help you through, or play fellow newcomers. Sadly with all that is going on onsite currently, volume here has dropped off somewhat, so it's best to dive straight into the active divisions. The learning curve here can be steep, be prepared to lose a few games and a few players! However, with practice, it'll come.
***Insert getting games in other divisions as they become FFB***
5. Playing a game, and the post-game sequence
You can join the game scheduled for you with one click, press 'Play' next next to your team, and the FFB client will launch via the following pop-up;
(picture)
Fill in the game name, your password and your Username, and press accept.
The FFB client will then launch from the server. The client is pretty intuitive, so so long as you're aware of the rules of the game, you should get along fine. Below is a brief diagram of the game screen.
(Picture of client, arrows pointing to areas of the interface).
When you have crushed your opponent (or been crushed!), return to the team screen. Here you can buy new things, select skills, hire Journeymen and make your team ready for their next encounter. When you are ready, click the 'Ready to play' button, and you're ready to go again!
(Pictures of post-game)
Now you've played game one, you'll realise how much fun online BB can be. We recommend that you digest other areas of this User Guide and engage yourself in our community. An extremely useful tool for interacting with the coaches onsite and scheduling games both in and out of [B]lackbox is IRC chat. You'll find this extremely useful in the long run, a good guide for installation can be found here (link). FUMBBL is what you make it - the more you immerse yourself, the better your experience will be! See you on the pitch! |
|
|
Astarael
Joined: Aug 14, 2005
|
| Posted:
Jan 10, 2011 - 15:56 |
|
I approve of what you're doing, and looking good so far.
One thing I'd point out that is the requirement to own the actual boardgame. It was actually only a stated requirement for JavaBB, not for the site itself. With going over to FFB it's most likely not a requirement anymore. |
_________________
Oh my. |
|
zakatan
Joined: May 17, 2008
|
| Posted:
Jan 10, 2011 - 16:02 |
|
maybe some mention of how to change the skin of the website, as i believe there is a wide agreement the default look is the ugliest. |
_________________
 |
|
Garion
Joined: Aug 19, 2009
|
| Posted:
Jan 10, 2011 - 16:09 |
|
| zakatan wrote: | | maybe some mention of how to change the skin of the website, as i believe there is a wide agreement the default look is the ugliest. |
Although get what you are saying I do not think Pgoos guide needs that sort of info in it. It should be as short as possible to get people interested then things like changing the skink of the site can be left in the further help guides for people to look through once they have already got a game under their belt. |
_________________
 |
|
Purplegoo
Joined: Mar 23, 2006
|
| Posted:
Jan 10, 2011 - 16:10 |
|
I must admit - I'm sort of into Root now. Perhaps with the Whatball solution, it'll not be standard soon!
Astarael - I'm unaware of why it was to begin with, but I guess with the recent GW IP stuff, it can't hurt to at least leave the sentence in for now? No-one has to follow the advice, after all. |
|
|
zakatan
Joined: May 17, 2008
|
| Posted:
Jan 10, 2011 - 16:15 |
|
| Garion wrote: | | zakatan wrote: | | maybe some mention of how to change the skin of the website, as i believe there is a wide agreement the default look is the ugliest. |
Although get what you are saying I do not think Pgoos guide needs that sort of info in it. It should be as short as possible to get people interested then things like changing the skink of the site can be left in the further help guides for people to look through once they have already got a game under their belt. |
it'd be just a small sentence like
"You can visit your account page to configure your accout (personal information, site skin, etc)" |
|
|
WhatBall
Joined: Aug 21, 2008
|
| Posted:
Jan 10, 2011 - 16:27 |
|
Great work Goo.
I think the length is fine, the way you might break it up is stop after step 1, registering, Then, when they return with the confirmation code the remaining steps would appear and guide them along. This would be more work though and may not be worth it.
Otherwise, great job.
Great job on your guide too Macavity. |
|
|
Astarael
Joined: Aug 14, 2005
|
| Posted:
Jan 10, 2011 - 16:41 |
|
| Purplegoo wrote: | | Astarael - I'm unaware of why it was to begin with, but I guess with the recent GW IP stuff, it can't hurt to at least leave the sentence in for now? No-one has to follow the advice, after all. |
That's just the thing, there's been a general purge of all things related to GW from official site documents so I'd actually avoid mentioning it. Personally I'm all for people buying the boardgame, it's good fun to play face to face as opposed to just online, but I'm unsure on the official site stance on it. Could also put it in and see if it gets removed 
PS: v3 skin ftw |
_________________
Oh my. |
|
Mr_Foulscumm
Joined: Mar 05, 2005
|
| Posted:
Jan 12, 2011 - 12:43 |
|
I would like to begin by apologizing to Macavity for my critique of his Newcomers guide.
It was wrong of me to say that the tone was harsh. In fact I now believe it wasn't harsh enough. Can you change it again? Start by telling new players to shut their mouths or just bugger off.
I'm sorry Mac  |
_________________
Everybody's favorite coach on FUMBBL |
|
|
|
| |
FUMBBL HAIKU'S
Search
