Force new players to play tutorial?

Question

We have released our new game to a closed alpha group. It's a browser-based MMO RTS, however some aspects of the game are slightly different from the "standards" you'd expect to see in traditional RTS' due to it being persistent, browser-based etc. For this reason, we have a new player tutorial which helps players through some aspects of the game that differ from the "norm", such as the way you acquire territory and the way you move large groups of units.

I think that every game I've played has had a "skip tutorial" option during the tutorial, so we put that option in as well. However, this has now caused us a dilemma: looking at the player stats in our database, there is an almost perfect correlation between those players who have played through the tutorial and have progressed through the game, and those who haven't. Basically, if you don't play the tutorial, you pretty much don't know what to do next and stop playing the game after not doing anything meaningful for a few minutes.

I'm really torn here between "best practice" / user experience (which probably dictates that players should have an option to not play the tutorial), and clear evidence which shows that if players don't play the tutorial, they likely will quit the game early.

Is it reasonable in this situation to "force" players to play the tutorial? I.e., don't give them a "skip tutorial" option? Could we dress it up as "missions", where the first 10 or so missions are compulsory to progress, but actually those "missions" are simply the current tutorial steps?

Answer 1

I feel like you should force players to take the tutorial, especially if it isn't a long one. It's better to make people stay longer with the game (by making them understand how to play it) than acually making it daunting for them to play it (by adding that skip button). Also I would advice against making the tutorials into missions, as they would be simple. (because they are tutorials) Talking from a player perspective I wouldn't like the first few levels/missions to be basic moves. They should be interesting and entertaining beacause the first few levels/missions are always the ones that will captivate the user or make them hate your game.

Hope this helps:)

Answer 2

A good tutorial is one where the player doesn't realize it's one.

Work on your new user experience to introduce the complexity of the game gradually. After giving the player access to a new game element, give them a trivial and intuitive problem based in that new mechanic. Only let them progress to the next layer of complexity when they solved that problem.

Answer 3

Although I think @Philipp's answer is the way to go, a "quick fix" for your situation could be to still give your player the option to skip the tutorial, or keep on following the tutorial for a reward. As they progress through it, make the reward bigger.

And it has to be a meaningful reward, like something that could usually only be obtained through the cash shop, or make it an achievement. Or a hat for their avatar.

Answer 4

The problem I see by forcing the player to go through the tutorial is:

how do you actually know you‘re dealing with a new player?

In singleplayer games it is basicly impossible to tell if someone someone is starting a new game or already played through the entire thing before. In Multiplayer/MMO games someone with a fresh account is very likely to be a new player but it‘s not guaranteed. People start new accounts for various reasons. And you need to ask yourself, when you confront a player with a skip option, how likely is it he‘s going to use it if he has no clue about the game yet?

There should always be a skip button for tutorials that just explain the core mechanics of the game.

The best way is to allow skipping and offer a "repeat the tutorial" option for the players that decided to skip it and noticed that it would have been a good idea to play through the tutorial afterwards.

Answer 5

For players who replay your game, being forced to go through the tutorial again can be frustrating.

You could find a smart way to propose the tutorial again for users who skipped and don't manage to accomplish anything in the game.