INN

[Wllly]

I'm getting tired of answering "where is my companion?" "I purchased Endar but I cannot find it."
We need some solution for "cannot find companion" issue.
I have these questions at least once a day.

[Coda]

Stop everything else from annoyingly glowing and pulsating. If someone buys a companion / minion, make the door of the inn glow and pulsate until they enter the inn.

[lama75]

I didn't have any problem finding this stuff during the open beta, when no one knew anything about the hometown layout. So it's a bit mystifying to me that so many people are having this problem. I guess people don't understand the need to explore the hometown a bit?

I suppose one answer might be to make the Inn a more prominent building so that people would naturally "touch" or click it to explore. Another might be to make the text for the Inn more prominent, again so that people would be more apt to go there to see what's going on.

That said, there are people that can't kill kara in story mode because they don't take the time to read the dialog boxes that pop up before descending the path to fight her. So, perhaps it's just the way of things.

UPDATE :
Another option might be some kind of 1st use tutorial...

[Nhat]

Unfortunately, the game's old UI pretty much give you everything right there, people don't even need to think - just press all the buttons on the one screen and you'll get to what you want eventually. All your companions are running after you where ever you're going, carrying all the items in the stash for you... hehe. (yes, I know, it's a game, but it's funny thinking about it)

The Hometown concept is a dramatic change, in the UI sense, now you need to explore and "remember" a map - yes, it's a small one, but people need to think a bit now, so... Also, the initial beta's naming of "Adventurer Inn" makes it stand out a bit more, the revised "Inn" is very short, and can blend into the colour of the building itself - as many have commented on.

[Coda]

Another option might be some kind of 1st use tutorial...

...yes. We have newb "quests" which encourage you to tap on things, etc. and even give you arrows pointing to that thing. Do one of those silly newb quests and call it "Where the ____ are your minions?"

[Nhat]

...yes. We have newb "quests" which encourage you to tap on things, etc. and even give you arrows pointing to that thing. Do one of those silly newb quests and call it "Where the ____ are your minions?"

Or better yet - on first entry, make your companions say: "You go do your things, we're resting in the Inn." and go there... Only do the pop-up once, but make them go to the Inn all the time.

More coding, but don't see a point in having companions following you in town. (hehe, don't think this will ever happen, just saying...)


Edit:
Travis - as a "work around" for the current issue, I vote that you make a sticky post: "YOUR COMPANIONS ARE AT THE INN - between Alice and the mail box"

Or, maybe this is the new way to get people to come to the forum, which is what the whole Secret Code things was doing before, right?

[Coda]

If you only have one minion slot open, but rescue Eileen or Robin, they will still follow you around until the next map you start, and then magically they disappear and go to the Inn.

[Buppy]

I didn't have any problem finding this stuff during the open beta, when no one knew anything about the hometown layout. So it's a bit mystifying to me that so many people are having this problem. I guess people don't understand the need to explore the hometown a bit?

I suppose one answer might be to make the Inn a more prominent building so that people would naturally "touch" or click it to explore. Another might be to make the text for the Inn more prominent, again so that people would be more apt to go there to see what's going on.

That said, there are people that can't kill kara in story mode because they don't take the time to read the dialog boxes that pop up before descending the path to fight her. So, perhaps it's just the way of things.

UPDATE :
Another option might be some kind of 1st use tutorial...

I'm sure your parents are very proud of your accomplishment. However, insinuating that people are idiots because they happened to miss clicking on some random thing is a bit much.

I too managed to stumble across the inn, but only because I happened to walk close enough to get the door to start glowing. It's a dumb design. Most other former UI elements are accessed through an NPC, and there's a "Companions" NPC right there which seems to be the logical place you'd find your companions. None of the other building are "clickable", anywhere in the entire game as far as I know. You have to get pretty close to the door to make it start glowing and the name to show, and it's not in an area that you naturally walk near like the stash or friends billboard. Nothing even on the mini-map that suggests anything is there. Unless you happen to check your mail at the mailbox, or you're just randomly clicking on things, you might never get close enough. Very easy to miss.

All in all I'm pretty disappointed in the home town. I like the idea, and it's a step toward making the game feel like more of a "world". But as it is it's lifeless and feels like just a much more annoying to use character sheet. I could see jewelcrafting being even more of a pain now, since it seems you have to go to a different vendor to sell off the unwanted items. Nothing that can't be tolerated of course, but I hope the next step is much better and quicker to arrive.

[lama75]

I could see jewelcrafting being even more of a pain now, since it seems you have to go to a different vendor to sell off the unwanted items. Nothing that can't be tolerated of course, but I hope the next step is much better and quicker to arrive.

Jewelry crafting and gear crafting are both getting revamped and supposedly it will fit in with the new hometown better. Less fumbling around creating and selling items, supposedly. Right now though, you are correct that jewelry crafting is more of a pain. Overall, time will tell there. I heard they hired a new developer to begin the item crafting, so hopefully that means sooner than later.

[Coda]

Playing v1.3 on PC for the first time, it became even more glaring on the big screen that the INN looks like any other building -- and with all of the others there is zero interaction, so why would that one be any different. The word "Inn" does not even appear until you walk close, and even then, a little hard to see because of the font color and size.

Wouldn't a more realistic Inn, have a big sign on the building or a sign-post out front, advertising itself?

At a minimum, the door should glow each time one rescues or buys a new companion.

There should be a newb-quest about this too. Perhaps it activates once you rescue Marcus, or maybe better, when you rescue Eileen -- since she is the first one for whom you do not have a free slot to have her join your party, and that's the first time you really do need to go to the Inn to deal with that. Returning players with heros that already have Eileen, this same quest should also activate immediately.