korovev wrote:
Perhaps a hint guide could be made with a markers game, structured like the
UHS guides.
I think that's an excellent idea. The only problem I can forsee at this point, is where to place the markers in the ages, in order that the explorer understands every new marker will reveal more of the puzzles solution. Distancing them far enough apart whilst remaining obviously seqeuntial may address that issue.
Alien wrote:
I have seen a new player try to figure out Eder Tsogal all on their own, and even though lots of us were there, we were not allowed to spoil anything. The new player could not work it out without major hints, bordering on spoilers.
This is why I'm now thinking that without multiple approaches to offering help, some explorers may have these ages truely spoiled for them. The sense of achievement someone gets from completing an age/level is part of the overall experiece of video games in general.
Segatendo wrote:
I did this puzzle with only two other people. :3
As it was our first time there, we were all puzzled by what was going on at first, though we figured it out in the end by ourselves.
Quite often new explorers will find themselves there all alone. Having others with you certainly increases your chances of at least discovering the solution, if not opening the door.
Segatendo wrote:
I love/hate guides. I love them because it tells me what to do if I'm stuck, but hate because I didn't figure out the puzzle by myself in the end, and sometimes it can be a go-to source for laziness if I don't want to spend too long on something.

Whilst I share the same sentiment to some degree, I also recognise the value of walkthroughs and hints. I have played video games for almost 40 years and in that time I have played a wide variety. The level of complexity of many modern games is truely astounding. Whilst this increases the appeal, sense of accomplishment and even skills of the player, there are times when enjoyment of the game can rapidly decrease due to difficulty beyond the players means to control or fathom, at the time.
As storyline is an important part of game playing for me, I can begin to lose interest if a stage is too demanding and causes me to repeat it excessively. This is of course dependent on my current patience threshold. Having said that, most times I will avoid using walkthroughs or hints because like many others, I would prefer to complete the challenge myself.
tommyap wrote:
You could create a secondary avatar for storage, incoming has practically no limit.
I apologise, if I wasn't very clear about this. I wasn't referring to the amount of mail that can be stored in the KI. I was meaning the number of characters that can be written in the journal.
Deck 15 wrote:
...It's unrealistic to expect everyone to complete the gardens the same way you do...
If you read more of the thread you'll see I addressed this point in a later post here:
SmilingOne wrote:
I don't know how it's coming accross. I don't mean it to be the only way to do it...
Deck 15 wrote:
I witnessed an incident a week ago where a person was very bluntly called a "bad caller". Unsurprisingly they left the garden and didn't finish the run....
Actually that was me. Although, I think your memory of it is somewhat jaded. Firstly, after a somewhat frustrating start to the door run (from my perspective, at that moment) and a comment from me about how it was long winded, I was asked a blunt question: "Do you think I'm a bad caller". I gave a rather blunt and biased answer: "Yes". My bias existed mostly due to the fact that almost every door run I've been involved in since playing MOULa has been along the lines of my guide. I didn't invent this method, it's simply the one I've become acustomed to and IMO one of the top two for efficiancy.
Secondly, you didn't see the private message I sent to the caller after they left. It was something along the lines of: "Why did you leave? Nobody wanted you to go!" I won't reveal what the caller replied with, other than to say that I agreed with their assertion that I had become accustomed to one style of calling. Which was, in part, one of the reasons for this thread and especially the poll it contains.
Deck 15 wrote:
If it's going to be fun for everyone, it should be a collaborative effort, and my opinion is that the caller should have last say.
If you again read through the thread past my initial post you will see I had already considered this:
SmilingOne wrote:
...Ulitimately the whole process is callers discretion.
Deck 15 wrote:
...if you are trying to explain what needs to be done to a newbie there aren't as many people giving conflicting instructions.

That was one of my other reasons for this thread. and the walkthrough/guide.
I'd just like to take this moment to thank everyone that has responded to this thread. I appreciate all the different points of view
I'm now very heavily leaning towards doing multiple versions of the walkthrough/checklist (there are 3, I'm aware of so far), also a marker game for hints and something akin to hints but in a poetic style. Don't expect me to be much good at the latter but I'm willing to give it a go.