Poll: Tutorials

[Jfswift]

So I wanted to ask all of you what you thought about in-game tutorials. Do you feel that the player must use them first or that they should be optional (or some blend of the two like Gran Turismo's licensing system). Do you feel they're often adequate enough or not really. Do you have any other feelings or thoughts on them?

I'm bringing this up after trying out a few new games lately.

MAG (PS3): I just bought this and the learning curve isn't too bad really. It starts you with a single player area giving you a fast walkthrough with the controls. Then it dumps you into a live game with a small group of players. After you gain experiene (from netting kills) you can progress to larger games. Overall I feel this isn't a bad way to do it although I would have liked maybe a little longer of an initial training session myself (then again I don't always pick up games as fast as everyone else).

Heroes of New Earth: This is a RTS type game I picked up today. It's pretty fun although, the training session in my opinion was just too damn short. It fired the controls at me in five minutes and then was like, there ya go, have fun, ignore other frustrated players (it said that too). I feel like they threw me to the wolves after I finally got a match started. I wasn't at all comfortable with the controls and people were bitching at me since I didn't have a clear idea of where to start. (I mean it's not super hard to figure out but still.. I don't like feeling stupid and unprepared when I go into a live match with other players).

Anyway, my thoughts on this are that games should make this feature optional but lengthly. I say this because if you go to reinstall it and you already know what you're doing it's frustrating to have to rewatch something again. If you're new you're likely going to select it anyway. If you force the player to learn the system like with Gran Turismo's licensing setup you might alienate the player or prevent them from trying harder tracks out.

My argument for this too is that sometimes the training courses are kind of useless and harder than the actual game, such as with MW2's initial shooting range where you fire at the targets. I actually do pretty well in maingame and multiplayer but for some reason I struggle with that training center section.

 

[FinalDream]

I don't mind them, better than reading a manual! It feels a more natural way of learning the buttons/keys. Still, I would not force them upon everyone so I'd include an option to skip them.

 

[tombman888]

i believe they should be optional, because if you've already played and finished the game, and wanna have another go at a run through, you already know what to do, thus you dont need to play tutorials. and if you have forgotten anything since your last playing experience, you can choose to DO the tutorials.

 

[Vitor Goncalves]

They should be optional, most games that I know allow to turn them on or off.

 

[Stoic raptor]

They are nice, but you should be able to skip them for those who know how to play or are impatient.

 

[Layz92]

I say make each type of training it's own tutorial. So if say, everyone knows how to walk around on a console you could skip that but if you wanted to know how to say, use magic spells in the same game you could opt to do that single PART of the grand set of tutorials.

 

[Absimilliard]

They can be very useful, but when they're mandatory it can thoroughly ruin the replay-value of a game.

 

[GundamSentinel]

I like them to be optional but extensive. Tutorials are there to teach you the game, so just explaining the three options you would learn by yourself in the first 5 minutes of play is counterproductive. Make 'em optional, but have them teach useful things you wouldn't figure out by yourself.
Integrating them into the storyline can be a good idea, but often that just fucks with the pacing of the game (GTAIV, FFXIII).

 

[Hurr Durr Derp]

A good tutorial is:

Optional: Nothing is more annoying than starting a new game and being forced to go through a tutorial even if you already know the game.
Detailed: A tutorial doesn't have to cover advanced strategies or anything, but it should at least give a detailed explanation of all gameplay aspects.
Modular: A very detailed tutorial is good, but can get extremely annoying if you have to sit through it all. A good tutorial is broken up in parts that each cover a specific aspect of the gameplay. Each part should be accessible independently (no being forced to do them all in order) and relatively short, so you can pick and choose what you want to know more about.
Interactive: A tutorial that's just a movie with a voice-over telling you what's going on, or that just gives you a list of controls and calls it a day, is a bad tutorial. Tutorials should tell you what's going on, what you're supposed to do and why you're supposed to do it, and then let you do it before moving on.

 

[Jfswift]

A good tutorial is:

Optional: Nothing is more annoying than starting a new game and being forced to go through a tutorial even if you already know the game.
Detailed: A tutorial doesn't have to cover advanced strategies or anything, but it should at least give a detailed explanation of all gameplay aspects.
Modular: A very detailed tutorial is good, but can get extremely annoying if you have to sit through it all. A good tutorial is broken up in parts that each cover a specific aspect of the gameplay. Each part should be accessible independently (no being forced to do them all in order) and relatively short, so you can pick and choose what you want to know more about.
Interactive: A tutorial that's just a movie with a voice-over telling you what's going on, or that just gives you a list of controls and calls it a day, is a bad tutorial. Tutorials should tell you what's going on, what you're supposed to do and why you're supposed to do it, and then let you do it before moving on.

I agree and Layz92 above said the same thing pretty much that they should strictly be modular. I wish more games would do this instead of forcing you through a one time generic run.

I'm not the best writer and yea Heroes of New Earth did have what you described as an interactive tutorial although it was way too short. I could have used a few practice rounds followed by live interactive suggestions for new players during actual gameplay (more extensive than your conventional "hintbox" anyway)

 

[Tharwen]

I like the way Rome - Total War does it. The first time you install the game, it puts you into a tutorial. If you don't want to play the tutorial, you can leave the game and start your own. What this does is it makes people who would otherwise skip it feel that they might as well carry on with it and lets them know how to play better in general.

 

[Kajt]

Tutorials should never, ever be mandatory. When they are, they just end up being incredibly annoying.