TOPIC: First time TD players feedback

By DM you mean coach.

The coach is scheduled to come to your room at the official start time. When your coach arrives, it means the last group being coached concluded about 15 seconds earlier.

If your coach arrives any earlier it means they are in break time and ended their break early.

You are not obligated to take offers of loaned tokens. That is your choice. Most do, but not all.
And stick to your guns on playing normal if that is what you want. It only takes one player to force a normal run.

To play devils advocate for a moment as an experienced player I rolled into a couple of pugs this year where new players were very insisant about playing their prefered class because other games and they had tokens.

I could have raised a stink because I'd spent way more on my build and it would be better for the party to have a stronger rogue/cleric/whatever or because I was over lv3 and technically had first pick but I ended up playing something else and having less fun personally because its better for the game to be supportive of new players.

During that same run I decided to hold back and skip some rounds sliding because the group had decided to run normal and my damage bonus would have made it less fun for them. The one round I did slide and hit with a low number there were grumbles. I kind of felt like a chump for having built up a gearset beyond red if all it was going to do was make me sit out of combat for fear of killing the monsters to fast and spoiling others fun.

What Im getting at is that while I understand TD can be intimidating and that we need new blood everyone becomes a vet sooner or later if they stick around and it kind of sucks to have to restrict your play experience ( that you also paid for ) strictly to the benifit of a more important customer class.

None of us (new or old) can or should get everything we want out of a group experience like TD. The important thing is that we all try to have fun and work as a team.

Again this was mostly a devils advocate scenario. Most of the people on the forums aren't the take over a run fun ruining type. Most will bend over backwards to make sure new players feel welcome. But something is also up if well prepared, well meaning returning players instantly feel they have to walk on egg shells around newbies for fear of ruining their fun.

Anyway welcome, and sorry for being a downer.

Harlax wrote: Think about creating flexible builds. A fighter build can do either fighter, Paladin, and Cleric with minor tweaking. Barbarian is within reach with some armor and weapon tweaking. Gear is the same for either wizard. At normal level monks almost don't need any gear.

This... this... this. I can play the majority of classes due to having a flexible build and very few class specific items. It really does help in the long run.

Like others have stated, finding a group on the Forum is probably the easiest way of guaranteeing your favored class.

Welcome to TD... glad you enjoyed it and hope you enjoy it even more in the future.

Three last bits of advice for players of all stripes.

1. Be willing to try something other than your preferred class. You might find you like it.

2. Think of the good of the party. If another player has a stronger build refer to item 1.

3. Work it out like adults. A party that goes into the dungeon at odds with itself is setting itself up for failure.

Harlax wrote: Three last bits of advice for players of all stripes.

1. Be willing to try something other than your preferred class. You might find you like it.

2. Think of the good of the party. If another player has a stronger build refer to item 1.

3. Work it out like adults. A party that goes into the dungeon at odds with itself is setting itself up for failure.

+1 to this.

#1 is what lead me to Elf Wizard and I've never looked back.

Ash wrote:

Jared wrote: Thanks everyone, to be clear we really enjoyed the TD itself!

We were the first 2 people there, 30 minutes before start time. The coach didn't show up for 15 minutes or so, and we were just sitting there as the other players came in, all of whom were 3rd level or higher.

This.

As another first time player this year, a similar situation became a huge barrier for myself and my partner. Our experience was pretty close: I coordinated with an incredible forumite for tickets, went to the 101 class, learned that I should prepare for a class of my preference (but bought tokens enough for two, to try to be accommodating), arrived first to the training room and laid out my character sheet. We felt pretty good. Nervous, but pretty good.

Then a group of 7-year-players came in. They asked if I had a preference of classes, and I suggested the two for which I had prepared. I was then told that other participants, who had not yet arrived, would be playing those classes before being handed a spec sheet (but no tokens?) for a different class, that none of my tokens were now applicable, and to set them aside.

Oh, uh, okay.

At this point, no DM is in the room. Everyone is frantically putting their tokens in slots, with ten minutes left before we ship off to training, and I'm staring at a sheet of paper listing a bunch of tokens I guess I'm supposed to have, but clearly don't. Cool.

The other group announces they plan to run Hardcore. I remind them that the two of us are new, now not-appropriately spec'd, and would prefer Normal. We get eyerolls and grumbles.

I get that this is a player-synergy thing and ideally, I should roll in here with six friends or coordinated forumites to have the best experience, sure, but something is up if two excited, somewhat-prepared, and ready-to-look-like-noobs players feel instantly uncomfortable and confused before the game even begins.

This could have been prevented if a DM was in the room. At the very least, it would have been a neutralizing presence, and at the very best, I could have comfortably asked questions about my assigned class and token selection. I don't think newbie players should get pick priority or that tokens should be limited, but more accessible (and mitigating) resources could make a massive difference.

First, let me state that I believe that the experienced groups in both of these situations could have handled things better. It sounds like if the experienced players had taken the time to explain to things better to the new players, then the newer players would have been willing to follow their lead.

With that being said, I will try to explain some of their behavior and explain a few things that as newer players you may not know.

First, time in the coaching room is always too short. Even if you get there 30 minutes ahead of time, its never enough time to get everything worked out fully. If you show up late, the pressure to get everything correct can weigh on you, which can make you short with other players. On top of that, this is happening in the middle of GenCon where many people are gaming for too many hours, not sleeping enough, and probably not eating correctly either (those Snickers commercials about being "Hangry" are based in truth.)

I organize a couple runs a year, and its always stressful. I'm trying to make sure that my build it correct (and this is with using an iPad App to build my character ahead of time), help my buddy to make sure his build is correct, possibly loan out some other tokens, meet with people to give them their tickets for the run (and possibly for the next run)... and when that is all complete run out to the bag check so I don't have to lug around big Zuca bag through the dungeon. The 30 minutes before the runs starts plus 24 minutes of Coaching time is never enough.

Once we get into the Training room, I can finally relax and start getting ready to enjoy the dungeon.

An important thing to remember about True Dungeon, and most of GenCon really, is that most of the people you encounter are volunteers. They get a couple of hours of training on Wednesday, and then work for the rest of the weekend. I'm not saying this as an excuse, because TD certainly wants its volunteers to be top-notch, but I'm mostly asking for some empathy for the volunteers. It also explains why the Coach doesn't show up before they actual start time of your event. They simply don't have enough volunteers to have someone in the room before that point because your Coach was helping another group right before they walked in to help you.

Jared & Ash: Sorry to hear that this soured your experience. More experienced players pulling rank on class choice does happen, but just know that it doesn't happen in all groups.