Just sharing my thoughts about tutorials

[Cannon_Jackal]

It's not a critique and I am not pushing anything, but I just wanted to share some of my experience/thoughts - please dismiss if you find those no applicable

1) There is a huge segment of players who prefer video tutorials. WiS has it covered - I think that @BananaConvention videos will be a blast

2) But there are a lot of people who don't like sitting idle and watching videos (like myself, and I know there are many like me). I actually got into wargaming because of the WDS "Getting started" manuals where you are walked through your first turns and get the basics (then you look up the manual proper for advanced rules). Some complex wargames have even several of such - the GMT boardgame Fields of Fire Deluxe has 2 playbooks (Basic Training and Advanced) with half a dozen tutorials in each. In fact, this became a standard practice in more complex boardgames, and it's very enjoyable. Just think of it - you open your 3-killograms box with literally hundreds of components, and you are awed and terrified at the same time. Instead of reading hundreds of pages of manuals or watching dozens of hours of videos to start playing it (or forgetting about it), you just open your playbook and start moving the pieces on your board.

The problem with the 2nd option is that you need dedicated and talented people for such tutorials, because "don't allow the game designer to write the manual". Therefore it's expensive, but it pays off by making your complex game approachable, enjoyable, and popular (within your niche playerbase). FoF did this for the Deluxe Edition, and now it's No. 1 topseller among GMT games.

I think that your publishers should think about that. Maybe they should try buying the good examples, trying them, and then giving you some extra money to do that.

Good luck with WiS! I personally am very excited about the game!

[btd64]

It's not a critique and I am not pushing anything, but I just wanted to share some of my experience/thoughts - please dismiss if you find those no applicable

1) There is a huge segment of players who prefer video tutorials. WiS has it covered - I think that @BananaConvention videos will be a blast

2) But there are a lot of people who don't like sitting idle and watching videos (like myself, and I know there are many like me). I actually got into wargaming because of the WDS "Getting started" manuals where you are walked through your first turns and get the basics (then you look up the manual proper for advanced rules). Some complex wargames have even several of such - the GMT boardgame Fields of Fire Deluxe has 2 playbooks (Basic Training and Advanced) with half a dozen tutorials in each. In fact, this became a standard practice in more complex boardgames, and it's very enjoyable. Just think of it - you open your 3-killograms box with literally hundreds of components, and you are awed and terrified at the same time. Instead of reading hundreds of pages of manuals or watching dozens of hours of videos to start playing it (or forgetting about it), you just open your playbook and start moving the pieces on your board.

The problem with the 2nd option is that you need dedicated and talented people for such tutorials, because "don't allow the game designer to write the manual". Therefore it's expensive, but it pays off by making your complex game approachable, enjoyable, and popular (within your niche playerbase). FoF did this for the Deluxe Edition, and now it's No. 1 topseller among GMT games.

I think that your publishers should think about that. Maybe they should try buying the good examples, trying them, and then giving you some extra money to do that.

Good luck with WiS! I personally am very excited about the game!

Thank you for your input. I'm not sure if we will put out a writen tutorial in the future, But anything is possible....GP

[jwilkerson]

Look at the two excellent AARs that are posted above in the AAR thread. They provide good "informal" "tutorialish" material. Not key stroke by key stroke, but certainly how to "think about what you are doing" when playing WIS. In general "How to proceed".

Based on this input, I think I'll do a written version of the "Riverine Operations" video I posted this morning in the video thread above. Its a niche topic, but one a lot of players might not even realize exists unless informed of such!

[RangerJoe]

I was planning on doing an AAR and i might include pictures of how I do certain things. If someone asked for something specific, then I would probably show them how to do it - that is, if I knew how to do it myself!

[Cannon_Jackal]

I was planning on doing an AAR and i might include pictures of how I do certain things. If someone asked for something specific, then I would probably show them how to do it - that is, if I knew how to do it myself!

Sounds great! And it looks like a good start for a full play-through!