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I didn't make your point. I negated 3/4 of your post and agreed with the last 1/4. Thanks for regurgitating my post. MOST games, as I stated, arrive fully-developed. However, the other title I alluded to is a similar in that some development is ongoing and they don't bother with a manual - and they are a much larger operation.
Anyway, I'm excited by this newspost and am confident that GS is able to judge its own resources and make the best of them.
Anyway, I'm excited by this newspost and am confident that GS is able to judge its own resources and make the best of them.
The manual could definitely use an overhaul but for the purposes of actually playing the game I get the feeling that no one reads it anyway; seems like everyone prefers to jump right into the game and get directed to the wiki or the faq when they get stuck (both being more current and easier to update). I've never seen anyone get told to read the manual.
The manual is probably more important as a marketing/PR tool and as such needn't necessarily be constantly current. On the other hand, a more polished and professional presentation couldn't hurt either.
A suggestion is to make the manual a wiki. This would be different from the user-generated wiki in that it would only be open to edits by Guild Software and their representatives and the contents would focus on how to play and general concepts rather than extensive coverage of content. Full texts of the tutorials could be listed with the advantage that they could more easily be localized for different languages.
The manual is probably more important as a marketing/PR tool and as such needn't necessarily be constantly current. On the other hand, a more polished and professional presentation couldn't hurt either.
A suggestion is to make the manual a wiki. This would be different from the user-generated wiki in that it would only be open to edits by Guild Software and their representatives and the contents would focus on how to play and general concepts rather than extensive coverage of content. Full texts of the tutorials could be listed with the advantage that they could more easily be localized for different languages.
Bah! Manuals. REAL MEN DONT NEED DIRECTIONS!!!
Hi, there seems to be a fundamental suggestion that we open up the manual to user contribution. We did: there's been a PCC project for several months now, but I have no idea what the status is on that (it doesn't seem to be moving very quickly). If anyone would like to contribute to that, they're welcome to join the PCC and volunteer.
Aside from that, my focus is on making the game intuitive and friendly enough that people give it a fair shake without ever needing to read the manual. Yes, it'll always be there for more involved topics, and it does need to be updated (and I have no particular issue with working on it).. but it isn't nearly as critical to the "new user experience" as reworking our tutorials and newbie sectors and so on.
Aside from that, my focus is on making the game intuitive and friendly enough that people give it a fair shake without ever needing to read the manual. Yes, it'll always be there for more involved topics, and it does need to be updated (and I have no particular issue with working on it).. but it isn't nearly as critical to the "new user experience" as reworking our tutorials and newbie sectors and so on.