Shattered Kingdoms

Having returned to the game from a few years back, I'm glad to see that the newbie training areas are updated and more "newbie-friendly".

That being said, here's a few things that bother me.

In the Ayamao academy:

-You're first told to search out Feanorn... he's the 5th npc I found... told me to go get equipment after I already did. (why don't you just start near to him)
-You can teleport yourself to any of the main kingdoms stones. But how do you get back? That seems like a ridiculous feature for a newbie training ground.
-If you don't do the envelope quest before you're kicked out, then you have no idea where the academy is to finish it. (if you can go back inside)

In the Uxmaln Arena:

-The disheveled griffon's action says he's a boy, when you kill it, it's referred to as a girl. (maybe I'm anal, but typos drops the quality of the game to me)
-Kicked out to the stones at Novice.

I think being kicked out to the stones with no guidance what-so-ever at novice level is a pretty bad design for the true newbies. A message about contacting the mentors in the land if you need help would go well after the "You don't belong here anymore message".

I also think it would be better if you are escorted out of the newbie area to it's exit(which I'm assuming are still in the main cities) and a nice big sign to point you toward the inn or other main places.

I hate harping on details but the beginning of the game just feels more fragmented than it used too.

I agree in the sense that I miss the old Ayamao newb school and how it was essentially part of the inside of the "tree". When you walked out, you were one room from the weapon master, a couple rooms from the fountain and not far from the inn/shops/trainers. The teleporting feature to the stones was a bad idea for newbies, mostly because you really take a new player out of their comfort zone and drop them right into unfamiliar, shark-infested waters (like the Northern Wastes and Teron, where a few steps could mean dying before you have a chance to find a city again).

The teleport feature really should drop you in a city inn, considering that's where most players spend a great deal of time and mentoring occurs. You could even have a trigger with an NPC in the inn that offers some semblance of guidance/direction to shops and other necessary utilities. This would give new players immediate access to instigate RP that would allow them to progress, rather than being "cold dropped" in potentially unsafe territory.

Edit: I also forgot that recalling takes you to the inns now, rather than the stones. Most especially the same should occur for people teleported out of the new character schools.

recall

Yeah, I'm glad I remembered that... I'm also glad that Ayamao was the first one on the list. I just fail to see a good reason why a new newbie would need to teleport to another kingdom.

Right, but I'm not certain that's spelled out in all the newbie schools. If it's not, it should be included in the "You don't belong here." message. Possibly a follow-up of something like, "To get back to the inn, simply recall." I just figured updating the coding would be much easier and more friendly.

Low level characters of experienced players also go through those areas. And to an experienced player, a teleport to the Empire can really save some serious time.

Empire and nerina is very important on every one of my amateur characters.

Teron and exile are very helpful as well.

Yeah, why can't all newbie school trainers be as cool as the Kytar trainers.

The recall "feature" definitely needs to be changed. You hit level 6 so you're suddenly thrown out of both the newbie area and the city entirely when recalling takes you to the inn. Aside from not making any real sense you're thrusting newbies out into an area where they may meet with aggro NPCs, get stuck in darkness, get lost in general (Nerina stones anyone?), etc. Not to mention that in Uxmal the trainers (especially for sorcerers) look like they'll be able to train your skills and spells well into initiate which implies you can get back into the area when you can't. Depending on how you handle yourself you can find yourself locked out of the newbie area with barely any gear because you leveled faster than the money came in.

The areas are definitely improved, but still in need of work.