新規プレイヤーが離脱しないか心配

Improvements
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1

Suggestion

Right from the start of the game, I would like the monster variety to be just like it is after unlocking everything. Wouldn’t the gameplay experience be much better if players could see a wide variety of monsters and think, “I want to hunt that one, and that one too”?

With the current bland spawns of only starter monsters, I feel players will quit before reaching the best part of Now—the opportunity to hunt so many different monsters.

I would also like better starter armor to be provided, with Lock On and similar skills available right from the beginning. I don’t think quests requiring players to upgrade Kulu-Ya-Ku armor just to be able to use Lock On are necessary.
If they are necessary, wouldn’t it be better to provide the materials needed for them?
Having to hunt Kulu-Ya-Ku over and over so early on just makes me worry that players will get bored.

All monsters should be unlocked and the Monster Tracker available right from the start, bringing the exciting experience of eagerly choosing from many different monsters to the very beginning of the game.
With that excitement, I think players would be motivated to stick with the game.

Current Status

Some people around me started playing because of the G10 gift. They showed me their initial game screens and more, and I felt the experience is extremely bland until you reach the fun parts of the game.

① Right after starting the game, only Great Jagras, Kulu-Ya-Ku, Pukei-Pukei, Barroth, etc. appear, making the whole screen look desaturated and sparse with very few monsters.
② Weapons and armor are all from starter monsters, so none of them feel exciting.
③ It takes too long to forge the Kulu Headpiece and unlock Lock On. I’m worried players will get bored in the meantime.
④ It takes way too long to unlock each feature. Things like the Monster Tracker should be available much earlier.

Even though the game has so many monsters and plenty of unique skills on weapons and armor, I question how the prologue is balanced, as it risks driving new players away before any of that comes across.
While many people are likely starting because of the G10 gift, shouldn’t the prologue be improved first?

2

From a veteran player’s perspective, the early game might feel a bit underwhelming right now.

That said, I’m a bit curious about how your friend—the one who inspired this suggestion—actually feels.

You mentioned being “worried they might drop out,” but I think it changes the conversation depending on whether that was just how you felt, or if your friend actually gave feedback like “the early game is boring” or “I might lose interest.”

3

Thank you for sharing your thoughts.

That’s very true. My friend finished unlocking all the various features and is really enjoying the game now. (Which makes me happy!)

That said, I think a big reason they got hooked was because I was physically right there next to them—forming a party to support them through hunts, giving them a brief idea of what opens up once they unlock things, and showing them various monsters and skills as we played together.

Once you reach that point, Now is plenty of fun, so there’s nothing to worry about.

I made this post because I was really concerned about whether someone who starts fresh after seeing info about Now on X, with zero real-life friends playing Now, can actually get to that stage on their own.

With buy-to-play games, people will usually put up with a bit of friction and keep going since they already paid for it. But since this is a free-to-play game, I think a lot of players will just quit right away if they don’t find it appealing early on. It’s such a waste, because Now really is a great game…

4

I deliberately avoid doing the unlock quests to keep the variety of monsters on the field low so that more event featured monsters spawn, so having them all automatically unlocked is a huge problem for me.

5

That’s certainly a welcome feature for veteran players, and I use it from time to time myself, but isn’t it more important not to lose new players?

A game that doesn’t bring in new players will only decline.

Even if having all field monsters unlocked isn’t an option, wouldn’t it be fine to have the Monster Tracker fully unlocked right from the start?

6

I don’t really think unlocking everything is necessary.

Plus, Black Diablos and Brute Tigrex are way too tough for beginners.

Then again, having that choice is part of it, so maybe unlocking everything is better after all.

7

Perhaps a big part of why your friend got into the game wasn’t just making progress with unlocks, but also having someone right by their side to support them.

Because of that, I wonder if simply speeding up unlocks for new players without that support would really lead to improved retention.

On the other hand, there’s definitely demand from people who want to catch up with friends or play efficiently, so even setting aside unlocking everything, having an option to speed up the unlock pace might be a good idea.

8

That might be true.

Still, I think “choosing what you like” is one of the things that makes a game fun.

I think it’s more fun when you can hunt the monsters you like or are interested in.

Maybe having only the tracker fully unlocked rather than the field would be just right.

9

That might be true for my friend.

True. I wonder if the current prologue is actually just right for someone completely new?

Hmm, I guess I wouldn’t really know for myself unless I wiped my memory and started over :sob:

Yeah… I hope they keep continuously providing support for new players like the upcoming Guardian going forward.

10

I think we could do more to support the new players but not “power-level” them and skip the grind, especially when they are expected to hunt by themselves at least half the time when the “veteran friends” are not around to play with them.

I still believe that the Prologue and the pre-season story is useful for guiding players in learning the hunting skills needed to perform competently in the game so that when they need to hunt monsters by themselves, such as during Urgent Quests, they will not feel stumped or incompetent.

In my side of the community, I see new players from local communities and from other places around the world making decisions that I feel are questionable and arose because of the lack of the “learning process”. I understand that we want to have fun, but this game is not something that you can just tap tap and extract fun. The veteran hunters know that the only way to extract “fun” from a Monster Hunter game is to get really skilful with the game, and that always involves a lot of learning and practice.

Some people also stay for the “social” aspects of the game, and I am one of such people who value the social aspects. I started playing Monster Hunter many years ago because of this, and I stayed because of this as well. But getting together to play a game that demands skill and spending minutes and hours to play just to lose and not get any reward is not excactly “fun”, especially when life pulls us in different directions and we cannot simply afford the same amount of time to play games as we used to before.

So, in summary, I think that:

  1. We should not remove or reduce the learning journey for the new players. We can revise them and enhance them, but the skill- and equipment-checks should still be there. This is to get players to invest in themselves so that they don’t get a “culture shock” when the game later demands higher levels of skill from them and they don’t have the foundation and cannot be self-sufficient. When the game becomes playable only with other players and they cannot do that for solo content or when they can’t meet with other players to play, players will lose interest just as fast.
  2. We should have more ways for established players to help new players more easily and without additional cost to both parties. I appreciate the Friend Link feature, and I feel that this is already very helpful, but I hope to see more done for players who live in places that have a low presence of MHNow players and thus lower opportunities to enjoy social-centric features like Exploration Bases or even local group hunts. Asking players to pay just to play remotely with other friends in an online game when you can do the same with local nearby friends but without additional cost is just a slap in the face for an online game that is marketed to be enjoyed with friends. We can’t possibly have only friends who live next door, right?
11

Thank you for your thoughts.

Reading your post, I feel like I’ve been able to process and digest the issue better in my own mind.

Please forgive any awkward phrasing due to translation.

1.

Regarding point 1, even after hearing your opinion, I still personally think the quests around the prologue should be shortened. *I’m not saying the tutorial should be removed entirely. I just think it should be shortened.

I feel it’s just far too long.

In this game, once the Tracker is unlocked in Chapter 3, the number of monsters you can hunt expands drastically, and I think the fun really picks up from there.

The root of my argument might simply be that the stretch from the prologue to Chapter 3 is too long.

Up to that point, you have to progress by hunting early World monsters. Even Friend Links only become available around Chapter 2.

I completely agree that improving your skills and learning to hunt monsters you couldn’t beat before is one of the greatest thrills of a Monster Hunter game.

I also agree that you need to hone your skills before you can jump into multiplayer.

However, in today’s environment with such an overwhelming number of games available, any game deemed uninteresting is quickly abandoned.

I at least want the game to reassure players by saying, “This game is fun, so don’t worry and keep playing.” For example, by giving them a sneak peek at monsters they’ll be able to hunt later on.

I don’t think players who have already hunted tons of monsters in the mainline Monster Hunter series will find hunting multiple early-game World monsters all that exciting at this point.

(Though if the target audience is people who have never played Monster Hunter before, this might be the right approach.)

Something like “The Rustling Forest” in the mainline Monster Hunter games (where Zinogre or Glavenus suddenly appears during a gathering quest) might be a good comparison.

To sum it up:

From the very start up to around Chapter 3, it’s nothing but starter monsters, and the weapons and armor are pretty plain without any interesting skills. If players drop out before reaching that point, I don’t think the real appeal of Now will ever reach them.

Also, for some reason, the colors feel muted (with Kulu-Ya-Ku, Pukei-Pukei, Great Girros, Barroth, etc., there’s no red, making the screen look rather drab).

So personally, I think it would be much more exciting if measures were taken such as shortening just the early chapters, or unlocking the Tracker earlier so players can preview monsters they’ll be able to hunt down the line.

What do you think?

Regarding point 2, you are absolutely right. I completely agree.

That’s exactly how I feel.

12

I think the new translation service works very well! Much better than Google Translate www

I’m not sure about the prologue itself. It’s been so long since I last saw the prologue. How long does it take to complete it these days?

For me, I’m willing to take a few hours just to go through the prologue for a location-based game. This is my expectation for Niantic’s games, because I have to factor in the walking time and possible interruptions. I expect that it can be cleared within the evening after a day’s work and launching the game for the first time. I don’t expect to be able to unlock the Season Story by the end of the evening, but with active playing, I guess that a new player can at least finish half the pre-Season Story before they sleep? (Wait, is there still a Pre-Season Story, where the final boss is Rathalos at Chapter 13?)

Addendum: Okay, the Pre-Season Story is still there: Story Quests — Monster Hunter Now Help Center

13

That’s great! Thanks for the reply!

I don’t remember the exact amount of time the prologue took, but when I helped that friend get started, I think it took about an hour.

By the way, unlike when the game first launched, the timing for unlocking all weapon types is a bit earlier now, so it was good that they actually improved the prologue at least once.

The problem is Chapter 2.

Early in Chapter 2, there’s a quest where you have to use Lock On from the Kulu-Ya-Ku headpiece, and that’s the real issue.

As you know, this game requires a ton of materials to forge, upgrade, and raise grades. That means you end up having to fight nearly 10 Kulu-Ya-Ku just to unlock Lock On.

After that comes Chapter 3 and beyond, where the Monster Tracker unlocks and more monsters appear, which is where the game really gets fun, so it’s such a shame to get stalled in Chapter 2.

To be sure, having plenty of content for a location-based game is a great thing.

However, I feel that running around gathering materials for the equipment you actually want to make is what Monster Hunter is all about.

Don’t you think the game would be much more fun if it got you excited to go after monsters you’re interested in, rather than having you hunt 10 Kulu-Ya-Ku for materials for gear you aren’t even sure you want to make?

To spark that kind of excitement, I think giving players glimpses of various monsters (which is basically the same as shortening chapters to increase the number of monsters you can hunt), or even just unlocking the Monster Tracker from the very start, would make things a lot more thrilling for newcomers.

14

Hmm. Maybe the game designer is focusing on the “discovery” aspect of the game and getting the player familiar with the idea of going around to hunt for the monsters. But 1 hour is very fast to me, I feel.

But I am the kind who enjoy the hunt itself, so I do not mind practising against the large monsters. It gives me time and opportunity to make mistakes and learn from it along the way. I would be frustrated to be presented with monsters that I cannot hunt effectively and have an overwhelming selection of choices to make while starting a new game. Personally, I don’t mind this curated experience for Monster Hunter. I don’t think 1 hour is too long. I can’t even play the first Dark Souls game for more than 30 minutes before giving up :joy:

I think as long as your friends are enjoying the game, it’s just a one-time effort anyway. We’ll just encourage them and guide them along. It’s not something that we players have to revisit every time like a roguelike game. If this were a roguelike game, then yes, I don’t want to spend 1 hour repeating basic stuff on every run. 1 hour for a game that’s meant to be played for years is just a blink of the eye. Most of the players who played since day 1 can’t even remember how long it took us :joy:

In fact, I will be worried about how long your friends can last in this game if they give up just after an hour of playing. Instant gratification is not something we should strive for. It will not be a healthy relationship with the game and in the things we do in the long run.

15

Simply put, if your friend isn’t complaining or grumbling, I don’t think you need to worry about it.

16

Sorry for the lack of explanation.

My friend has me to play with, so I’m not worried about that.

What I’m concerned about are players who start the game completely on their own.

17

The Trial Quests were so good.

18

It’s definitely true that having too many options thrown at you can be overwhelming.

In terms of easing into things gradually, maybe it’s actually in a surprisingly good spot? I thought this game was targeted at people who were already hunters, but maybe that’s not quite the case. For people who have never played a mainline Monster Hunter game, it really feels like the current state might be just right.

That being said, a feature where you can select a tutorial based on something like “Have you played Monster Hunter before?” could be a good idea.

Like how many games have “Choose tutorial → Intermediate and above or Standard.”

Thanks to you, a lot of ideas have come to mind. I’ll organize my thoughts and make a better community forum post.

Thanks!

19

I’m not really sure how Trial Quests relate to this topic, but I really liked Trial Quests themselves.

I wonder if they’re available right from the very beginning?

20

I started after the 2nd Anniversary, but I think you’ll enjoy it if you like taking things slow and steady.

Naturally, during the Deviljho outbreak, I could only shave about 2 mm off its health and couldn’t even get a medal, but I feel like I was having fun without really knowing what was going on. I used to play other Niantic games, but right now I’m somehow hooked on this one.

It’s probably a game that gets pretty exhausting if you try too hard to catch up←Nowadays with Dimensional Links you can at least challenge higher tiers, though you kind of feel like dead weight (I think that part is pretty great if you play with friends, though.

Next season, we get a Grade 10 weapon right from the start (?), so if you’re the steady type, it’ll be a weapon you’re really grateful to have.

And even from the perspective of someone who joined post-2nd Anniversary, it’s gotten a lot easier to play now, so I think anyone prone to getting hooked will definitely get into it.