Home page love

[Bear76]

nah, i'm blaming the richie rich upper crust knob gobblers who sit around their big houses with their nannies and maids thinking up stupid ways to mess things up and then get some dipstick politician to agree with them. it will be so nice when the end comes...those knob gobblers will be among the first littering the gutters at the hands of all the low lifes they forced the rest of society to coddle.

Love the optimism 

[Arlo]

nah, i'm blaming the richie rich upper crust knob gobblers who sit around their big houses with their nannies and maids thinking up stupid ways to mess things up and then get some dipstick politician to agree with them. it will be so nice when the end comes...those knob gobblers will be among the first littering the gutters at the hands of all the low lifes they forced the rest of society to coddle.

Holy chit. That's revolutionary talk, man!   

[The Fugitive]

Personally, I figure if you can't spot these highlights on the main page you are most likely not going to be able to figure out how to fly either!



On top of that, Skuzzy takes take of the web page I think and at this time I'm sure a "rebuild" of the page isn't high on his list. Players can't edit it, and anything they submit has to be approved and THEN added by Skuzzy. Again being added to the list of things he has to do.

[Arlo]

Personally, I figure if you can't spot these highlights on the main page you are most likely not going to be able to figure out how to fly either!



On top of that, Skuzzy takes take of the web page I think and at this time I'm sure a "rebuild" of the page isn't high on his list. Players can't edit it, and anything they submit has to be approved and THEN added by Skuzzy. Again being added to the list of things he has to do.

Rather good point.

[bustr]

My wife has worked HR Training for corporations and written online training universities and taught for them. Even she sees the lost opportunity generational wise on the front page with the 11-35 year olds. The front page is fine for an older demographic information wise like me and Fugi.

AH already has the Films and Screenshots forum. Many of those players are accomplished at game video content. As with skins and maps. Training films and the help file translated into video would only take an HTC set of standards for our forum film buffs.

A repeated story in our forum is the newbie who spent 30 minutes with a vet showing and telling. From that point on the newbie's ability to interact with the game was assured. The game is not that complicated, especially if someone shows and tells many of the simple things that make no sense from reading the help file or even the wiki in their static context. Sorry Trainers, not everyone wants to look you up. They want to piu, piu, piu. Most gamers are kinesthetic visual learners and not interested in jumping through hoops in the beginning like looking up a Trainer or a DA partner or reading the manual.

Todays streaming content is a match made in heaven for them. They don't have to make friends with anyone just to learn the basics to putter around in a game. They can rerun the How To films ad nauseam to their hearts content. But, if these films are not showcased on the front page just like access to those player films. Very few will make it into the forum and dig down to them in what ever repository Skuzzy labels "How To Films". Right there you are telling them what generation demographic you cater to and loosing many who video is de facto content to Fugi's and my generation reads text.

If this is a biker bar just off an interstate. How To and Help File Films in big neon is how you get eyes, then feet through your doors spending money. HTC and the film content creators can influence the message of who we are visa the medium.   

[Babalonian]

More video type options if your friend based everything off the front page videos. How to do x, y, x videos. We don't read anymore as much as we watch and listen to video. Your friend keyed off the large "video by players" block because that's how he is oriented instead of valuing the top menu to find anything. So on the left use the "video by" concept to put in a stack of video options for help, training, etc. The top menu is relevant to the Internet generation from before You Tube and WEB Casts.

Many things like key mapping, controller and button mapping, scaling. Sound and VOX setup. The hanger options, load outs, convergence, gunsights and on and on.

Consider who really uses the forum and it's decade of the finest info for the game possible. You need to hook them at the door and feed them easy to get at, here is everything from a-z videos. Watching how to videos will make the game look a lot simpler than digging through text explanations with a few static pictures. Most young game players just want to look at someone doing it, then do it themselves. Gamers are visual kinesthetic learners. Let them watch it being done, then let them get their hands on it so they can own the process.

I'm meeting young people these days who don't know what RTFM means anymore. And get insulted when I explain what it means. There is a bit of an expectation now to have some kind of streaming media how to. Even Ikea has caught on.

You have a point.  Heard of that new social media site that only does 6-sec clips?  Sounds silly to me, but by all accounts it's aparently working...

[deadstikmac]

Ok I will jump back into this mess which was civil right up untill all the Nay Sayers chimed in.


How does my suggestion affect you in such a manner that you feel posting something non productive?


On top of that how can we even talk about change with open minds if this is what comes of an honest attempt to make something which is great, better?

Now what I'm typing is not directed at any one individual.



However, my friend IS a new player. Also a PERSON, meaning we do not know everything right from the start of an endeavor we are taught. I was simply suggesting what if any changes would have a proactive impact with helping those who did just like my friend with the Main Page.








Thanks for everyone's suggestions thus far. 

[Spikes]

You have a point.  Heard of that new social media site that only does 6-sec clips?  Sounds silly to me, but by all accounts it's aparently working...

That is to compensate for the fact that kids today have the attention span of a gnat.

The site is definitely gear toward information and less on interactive.

[bustr]

When a newbie asks a question on range it's generally in the vein of: How do I change weapons and drop them. Everyone answers on text or in short direct verbal comments. In each case information exchanged was about 6 to 15 seconds.

Six to 15 seconds has to do with short term memory retention and direct usability. A long film that covered the Help file in total would be as bad as forcing them to read the file.

1. - A Help file film collection of very short answers to the basic technical and game setup skills. At the end of the film tag in the offer to contact the Trainers, ask in the Forum, call HTC and so forth, like all well made help videos today.

How To: Map Keys
How To: Calibrate Stick
How To: Select gunsight and set convergence.
How To: Use offline target
How To: Setup and test VOX
How To: Setup Graphics
How To:....etc, etc, etc, and so forth.

2. - A Collection of specific videos for each ride(air,ground,sea) or manned guns. Charts are nice, show and tell is better.

If you want to make revenue from a demographic. You have to show them what they expect and are comfortable with. If their common help file is a video. Give them a video and stop punishing them with reading. You are driving away potential revenue because they won't feel like you are in business for them. The majority of new players should be able to get into the air and perform the basics in the first couple of game sessions with some offline work and the Help videos. After that, it's a small pond with big hungry sharks.

[The Fugitive]

There was talk of redoing the trainers site. The main idea was to have a bunch of videos explaining the different functions and setting of the game. Unfortunately the rebuild has been put on hold, but the ideas were there. It was just to the point of getting the lay out together and of course make the videos  

Using FRAPS I made a quick dirty "mapping the controllers" video and it took only a few minutes to get something useable. A script and a bit of practice to get the "ummms" and such out  would get a video on mapping the buttons on a controller of about 1 minute in length and take maybe 5 minutes to make. A bunch of these videos could go a long way in getting the newbies over the hump in the early stages.

[FLOOB]

This is the best AH video I could find on youtube. No stupid music, no external views. Just shows what the game is all about.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=F_lpWrjql5U