Recommendations to make OPR more accessible to new players
Dec 10, 2019 21:29:11 GMT
spencer and felixdetale like this
Post by snarlynarwhal on Dec 10, 2019 21:29:11 GMT
Hello, I am new to the OPR community and to tabletop wargaming in general. I wanted to make a couple of recommendations that might lower the barrier to entry to newcomers like myself.
Quickstart Armies
I think each army should have a quickstart army. I know there's a lot of armies and that this might take some time, but I think you could just start off with a handful of Quickstart Armies for each game and then add more over time. I imagine clicking on a game I want to play from the home page, then scrolling down to the list of armies, then clicking on a "Quickstart Army" link.
Someone did link me to this: onepagerules.com/category/quickplay-armies/ but it's not easy to find since it's in the footer. Putting this link in a more prominent place on the website might be a good temporary solution, but even scrolling through it is a bit annoying and time consuming. Ideally, I'd be like "I want to try so-and-so army" and click the "Quickstart Army" link and be good to go.
DIY Miniatures
I also think it might be helpful to have a "DIY Miniatures" page for people like myself that do not have any models to use, and do not want to spend money on models before even knowing if I enjoy the game. This page could just include a couple of links like so:
www.youtube.com/watch?v=VWWu9Ny8cW8
www.youtube.com/watch?v=foQj8PDNF9w
Print-And-Play Miniatures
This one would require a lot of work to do for every single unit type for every army of every game, so maybe only do it for a handful of the quickstart armies. But it'd be super cool for me to just print out a sheet of paper with top-down images that I can cut out and use (and optionally glue to cardboard). No need to purchase models, or or make my own (which can take a lot of time). For a newcomer that wants to try the game, this is perfect.
Terrain Pack
Of course, the print and play can easily be done for terrain too. The 9th Age has a terrain pack: www.the-ninth-age.com/IMG/pdf/t9a_terrain-pack_v-1-2.pdf
Map Pack
Another idea is to include a Map Pack (that makes use of the Terrain Pack) like The 9th Age also does: www.the-ninth-age.com/IMG/pdf/t9a-fb_official_map_pack_2-0_en.pdf
Recommended Miniatures
Lastly, it'd be cool to have a "Recommended Miniatures" page for each army too. Again, I know this would take awhile, but it'd be nice. The 9th Age also does this. So first you go an army's page (www.the-ninth-age.com/fraktionen/highborn-elves/) then click a link called "Army Miniatures" (www.the-ninth-age.com/community/lexicon/index.php?lexicon/468-highborn-elves-he/) then click a unit type (www.the-ninth-age.com/community/lexicon/index.php?entry/2136-miniatures-citizen-spears/) and this takes you to a page that lists a bunch of models and links to where you can buy that model. It even includes a preview of the model. That way, once I make my roster, I can easily find models for my units. I'm not sure if this is legal in regards to copyright, but if not, maybe there can be an unofficial community built list in a wiki or the forums. I'm no legal expert, but if it's legal, this would be nice.
I know these ideas might take time, but I wanted to share them because I think they would be helpful for beginners like myself. It would let new players print the rules, terrain, paper miniatures, and set up a map all in a matter of minutes.
Quickstart Armies
I think each army should have a quickstart army. I know there's a lot of armies and that this might take some time, but I think you could just start off with a handful of Quickstart Armies for each game and then add more over time. I imagine clicking on a game I want to play from the home page, then scrolling down to the list of armies, then clicking on a "Quickstart Army" link.
Someone did link me to this: onepagerules.com/category/quickplay-armies/ but it's not easy to find since it's in the footer. Putting this link in a more prominent place on the website might be a good temporary solution, but even scrolling through it is a bit annoying and time consuming. Ideally, I'd be like "I want to try so-and-so army" and click the "Quickstart Army" link and be good to go.
DIY Miniatures
I also think it might be helpful to have a "DIY Miniatures" page for people like myself that do not have any models to use, and do not want to spend money on models before even knowing if I enjoy the game. This page could just include a couple of links like so:
www.youtube.com/watch?v=VWWu9Ny8cW8
www.youtube.com/watch?v=foQj8PDNF9w
Print-And-Play Miniatures
This one would require a lot of work to do for every single unit type for every army of every game, so maybe only do it for a handful of the quickstart armies. But it'd be super cool for me to just print out a sheet of paper with top-down images that I can cut out and use (and optionally glue to cardboard). No need to purchase models, or or make my own (which can take a lot of time). For a newcomer that wants to try the game, this is perfect.
Terrain Pack
Of course, the print and play can easily be done for terrain too. The 9th Age has a terrain pack: www.the-ninth-age.com/IMG/pdf/t9a_terrain-pack_v-1-2.pdf
Map Pack
Another idea is to include a Map Pack (that makes use of the Terrain Pack) like The 9th Age also does: www.the-ninth-age.com/IMG/pdf/t9a-fb_official_map_pack_2-0_en.pdf
Recommended Miniatures
Lastly, it'd be cool to have a "Recommended Miniatures" page for each army too. Again, I know this would take awhile, but it'd be nice. The 9th Age also does this. So first you go an army's page (www.the-ninth-age.com/fraktionen/highborn-elves/) then click a link called "Army Miniatures" (www.the-ninth-age.com/community/lexicon/index.php?lexicon/468-highborn-elves-he/) then click a unit type (www.the-ninth-age.com/community/lexicon/index.php?entry/2136-miniatures-citizen-spears/) and this takes you to a page that lists a bunch of models and links to where you can buy that model. It even includes a preview of the model. That way, once I make my roster, I can easily find models for my units. I'm not sure if this is legal in regards to copyright, but if not, maybe there can be an unofficial community built list in a wiki or the forums. I'm no legal expert, but if it's legal, this would be nice.
I know these ideas might take time, but I wanted to share them because I think they would be helpful for beginners like myself. It would let new players print the rules, terrain, paper miniatures, and set up a map all in a matter of minutes.
