l2p noob! Well why hasn't Blizzard helped me?

First off, let me say I think many players enjoy the higher difficulty in Cataclysm. It certainly makes me feel more accomplished. But what frustrates many of us when we pug is that certain players just don't seem to understand the game mechanics. So why hasn't Blizzard done ANYTHING to help players learn how to play the game? Leveling 1-85 doesn't teach you a darn thing about your class and though I appreciate that mystery of learning a new class I whole heatedly believe that if Blizzard offered an in game tutorial EVERY level 85 player had to complete before they could queue for heroics as their role the quality of players would increase dramatically. Let me outline how I imagine the level 85 paladin tank would ding 85 and learn the basics of tanking.

As soon as the player dings 85 a quest appears on the side of the screen. It seems Varian/Garrosh has a quest for you... (For this example the player will be Ally)

Quest Name: "That Was Only the Beginning..."

Text dialogue summoning the player to talk to Varian would be written here. After talking to Varian and completing the quest, he would have another quest for you. This quest would be the tutorial.

Quest Name: "Learning the Ropes"

Upon accepting this quest the player would be teleported into an instanced zone. Varian would be waiting for you. The player would talk to Varian and the tutorial would begin. First, for hybrids, the player would select their desired max level role. I'll choose tank.

"Welcome <name>. As a veteran soldier of the Alliance, you will find yourself in a number of a challenging fights with other Alliance soldiers. We can't risk the safety of our soldiers and release fresh meat out there can we? So you want to learn how to tank, to be the primary line of defense between the enemy and your allies? Well before we will let you do that, we'll have to train you."

Go over the basics of gearing. It would be even better if Blizzard kept the tutorial up to date and told the players the best way to gear. For example, explain that mastery is a tanks best stat.

Next, a training dummy would spawn. Varian would teach basic threat rotation for the tank.

"Now that we have gone over the easy parts, lets cover more complicated situations..."

A group of 5 humanoid mobs spawn. The player takes a step forward...

"Hold it! It is unwise to engage all 5 of those enemies at once, at least on equal footing. Let's cover the basics of marking a pull and crowd control."

3 NPCs spawn behind the player. A rogue, a mage, and hunter. Varian then covers what types of mobs each of the three classes can CC and what each CC does. He then describes the typical marking patterns.

"Typically a skull means that target will die first. An X means that target will die 2nd. Mark the two enemies you want your allys to kill first."

Player marks 2 enemies.

"Good work. Now typically a moon means the mage will take care of controlling that enemy. A square is typically the hunters job. And a diamond is typically the rogues job. Mark the rest of the enemies that you want your allys to control."

The player marks the other 3 targets.

"Good work. Because rogues can not control in combat the rogue will go first, followed by the mage and the hunter. Now watch."

The NPCs CC their targets.

"Incoming! The enemies have been altered to your presence. Quickly, throw your Avenger's Shield to get their attention!"

Player uses Avengers Shield

"Because crowd control effects break on damage you will want to make sure you and your allies aren't close enough to break your crowd controls with aoe of effect attacks. Pull the enemies away from the crowd controls"

Player moves the enemies back.

"Congratulations, you have done your first successful max level pull. There are many other crowd control effects and many different types of enemies out there. With practice and quick wits, you and your group should be able to do any pull. Here a list of all the crowd controls each class has." *A book listing all the CCs in the game is put in the players backpack*

The tutorial could go on, talking about the importance of boss positioning. Things like moving enemies away from fire or acid so that your melee dps can hit them. Also a rundown on your tank cooldowns explaining that they should be used liberally but make sure to save them for any major attacks (like dragon breaths)

Though the tutorial would be insulting to some, it would be beyond helpful to many others. A dps tutorial would explain the importance of interrupts, their basic rotation (so we don't see any sub 3k hunter dps anymore), their crowd controls, and any other basics I'm forgetting. The healer tutorial would go over the basics of triage, explain that every ally (besides the tank) does not need to be at 100% health, the basics of spirit, etc etc.

As I said, to many of us this will be a 5-10 minute chore so that I can queue for heroics on my alts but I like to think a feature like this would be best for the general WoW population. fully voice acted, unskippable tutorial outlining the basics of play and what they need to learn to be a decent player. With a good foundation the rest of the mechanics should come easy but Blizzard offers no in game help on how to learn to play the game. Though players should do outside research that clearly isn't happening so Blizzard needs to step in.

After trying the recently added League of Legends in game tutorial that walks a new player through the basics of the game, safe play, etc I can comfortably say requiring a player to do that would only make the community of players better.

Thoughts on a tutorial system? Should it be more/less specific? Will it really help? etc



AND NOW A SECOND IDEA

Anyway on to a second idea I had. The Beastiary

After hitting 85 on my 3rd character I decided it was time to take a break from this game. So I booted up my old copy of Metroid Prime. I have a save file right next to Meta Ridley, it's one of my favorite boss fights in any video game. So I walk into combat, watch the cinema, and immediately whip out my scan visor. And then it hits me...

What if new players could use an item to scan a boss before they fight it? 'WTF Ipity? Why wouldn't they just ask their group members?" I wish they could. If a player asks me I'll do my best to help, but more often then not as I'm trying to type a response to help, someone makes a snide remark. I foresee this driving the social aspect of the game down further also being a negative people see in my idea but I disagree. With players being more knowledgeable this opens up the option for people to have more casual conversation.

Anyway, here is the scan data for the Meta Ridley boss fights.

"Reborn and evolved through Pirate technology, Meta Ridley is a fearsome enforcer. Its armored hide is extremely resilient, save for the chest, which has thinner plating. The Pirates have fused a number of potent weapons to the creature, including a Multi-Missile System, a Kinetic Breath Weapon, a Meson Bomb Launcher, and an Ultrathermal Flamestrike Projector. Meta Ridley is also a formidable melee combatant, making any sort of engagement a risky proposition."

And from Metroid Prime 3...

"Target's body is covered with incredibly durable armorskin, making it difficult to damage. All parts of the body are protected except for the mouth, where Meta Ridley fires his plasma-powered weaponry. Observing target may reveal additional target points. Target will use powerful plasma-based ranged attacks, along with potent melee strikes."

From these scans the first time I fought Ridley in Metroid Prime 1 I knew I was going to try and aim for the chest when the opportunity arose and to also stay out of melee range. In Metroid Prime 3 I knew I was aiming for the mouth.

I don't want the World of Warcraft equivalent to say to be as detailed as a Tankspot video, but a scan that details any major mechanics and how to deal with them would be nice. I'll try and whip one up for Slabhide.

An ancient stone dragon, Slabhide is a formidable foe. With devastating melee attacks and breath attacks it is best to stay clear of Slabhide whenever possible. Slabhide also has the ability to summon crystals that shoot out from his body. It is best to use any cover you can find to avoid this damage.

Bam, the player now knows not stand in front of Slabhide and to try and find cover during crystal storm. Sure, it could be a better description. Maybe mention the stalagmites or the lava patches, but we aren't looking to give players a free pass, just some information so they don't go in blind. "Well why wouldn't they just google the boss?" And I ask, why should they have to? When such a simple item could be added to the game to further educate the player base and to drive the importance of out of game materials down then I fail to see any negatives.

If designed properly the scanning could not only help give players knowledge about an upcoming fight. You could provide a new tab to access your Beastiary which you could reread old information, have a 3D model view of the boss, and a list of the drops of the boss (also removing the need for Atlasloot/Wowhead research.) It could also expand the lore. As a brief aside, who is Slabhide? WTF is he doing down there? Well now the scan system could provide curious players like me with a way to further explore some of the lore. I have no idea why I'm killing some of the stuff in Cata and Blizzard could give me the reasons. You could also add an achievement like 'Gotta Scan 'em All: Scanned all Cataclysm Heroic Boss.'