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 Developer
Chat: Volume 10
The New Player Experience
By - Michael "Ignatz" Farone
An interview with Uzeraan, a mage and conjurer who has
decided to dedicate his life to aiding newcomers to the
lands of UO.
Interviewer: Well, I'll get right to it… what have
you done to the island and city of Haven?
Uzeraan: I began giving quests to young (new) players in
UO, but Haven kept proving itself inadequate for my needs.
Actually… and more to the point… inadequate to
the needs of these newcomers. The island was mostly made
up of repetitive clumps of forest on uneven terrain with
a small, undistinguished town. Little was offered in the
way of exploration or adventure, and the whole island lacked
any general aesthetic appeal. I decided to change that.
Interviewer: So I've seen. Tell me about the changes to
the city.
Uzeraan: The city of Haven has the basic compliment of
shops and services, but is somewhat lacking in character
or focal points. A newcomer to UO, I decided, needs an easily
recognizable location to serve as their epicenter. To that
end, I had a local architect build a huge mansion near the
lake on the west side of the city. When a new player completes
their quest or perhaps needs some more direction, the mansion
is easy to find. Not only will they find me at the mansion,
but it also becomes a good place to find other new players
with whom to adventure or to share tales of their achievements.
In front of the mansion, I cleared space for a city square.
I surrounded this square with the most commonly desired
shops that a new player might seek. The purpose of this
was to make these shops readily accessible by virtue of
their close proximity to the mansion.
Interviewer: Tell me about the strange markings on the
ground near the mansion and leading out of town.
Uzeraan: A common stumbling block presented itself in one
of the early quests in which I ask new players to help defeat
some monsters on the island. The problem was that it was
difficult to describe the location at which they'll find
these monsters. To solve that, I hired some stone workers
to mark a path from my mansion to a mountain valley where
the monsters could be found. Those strange markings you
mention were devised to clearly identify the path without
being overly intrusive.
Interviewer: The mountain valley you mention… that's
new as well.
Uzeraan: *grins* The mountain valley and the new islands
are part of an effort to make the island more interesting.
Previously, the island was uniformly covered with small
clumps of forest surrounded by empty grasslands. In and
of itself, not necessarily a bad thing, but I wanted to
add some sparkle.
The mountain valley provides a place for miners to gather
ore. It is also a natural barrier that creates a separate
adventure area for new players for when more experienced
players are invited to Haven.
As for the new islands and the rest, I simply wanted to
create a more appealing aesthetic for Haven. This is the
first a new player will see of Britannia, and I wanted them
to be excited. As they journey across the island, I wanted
new players to stumble across something new rather than
just another forest grove. These "points of interest"
can also be used as meeting points as new players make new
friends in UO.
Interviewer: If definitely shows. Any final words?
Uzeraan: Yes actually. I want to thank Orbeus and Hanse
for their assistance. Both of these two kind citizens helped
me reshape Haven into its new and improved form. I want
to extend an invitation to all new citizens to come visit
Haven and the mansion.
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