The New Player experience in SWC has not been amazing over the last... forever. A tiny menu that mentions rules and forums are overshadowed by a blinking yellow mail icon where newbies are encouraged to join a group. A ton of the staff support tickets are helping new players spawn, find a group, figure out the game, and so forth. Tutorials are long overdue and should not be ONLY from the faction they might join.

We are happy to announce a complete change to how new players will join the game. Once a character is created, the player is instantly spawned on the Newbie Tutorial Planet. No more awkward "Choose but Don't Choose Starting Location". They will get a DM from a Quest Handler NPC that welcomes them to the game, gives them links to Discord/Question Forum/Newbie Forum, and tells them how to proceed to do the new player quests. These quests will walk a player through SWC's game style, basics of play, and more. Expect new players to know how to walk around, equip themselves, shoot stuff, board entities, pilot entities, chat on forums/discord, and manage NPC quests. This will expand over time but we will announce new features. A full list of features will be released alongside the system later this month via rules pages.

This new generation of newbies will be better equipped and have more wealth than current new players and will be able to choose from a large list of Darkness worlds to start at (after the tutorial) with their starter ship and gear on hand. This wealth is earned via the quest and those who choose to skip the quest will not receive the same rewards. Starter ships will range from scrappy fighters and hefty gunships all the way to small freighters depending on player choices. Hunting equipment won't just be hide armor and a knife either. Depending on preference, new players may be kitted out with passable hunting equipment as well.

Current hope is to release it by the end of the month. It is undergoing final testing and tweaks by the teams, but it is technically completed already (hence this announcement). 

There will no longer be reason to mass recruit via Darkness Messages. Newbies will join the discord and forums looking for help on their tutorial, or to find a group at the prompting of said tutorial. Make sure you have a good forum post or keep an eye on the seeking work forum once this is live. This does not replace faction academies. Your own rules for your group, how to do more complex jobs, and more will still be needed. The Newbie Quests will expand over time but will never replace the advanced stages of working with other players.

I foresee a lot of people will want to do the quest despite not being new. Darkness/Quest worlds will have a way for you to opt-in. It might not be there at release, but it is something we are working to include.

This huge accomplishment was only possible thanks to efforts by the NPC/Quest Team. After Galaxy Fest there was a big recruitment drive for the team (Which is still open for more). This is the first visible results of the new team post-galaxy fest.

On the note of fun gifts from the NPC team... A few NPCs out in the wild might have updated scripts as well for you to discover. I silently add them to the game as they get approved. Never know when a Physical Datacard or Pile of Credits will find its way to you. Keep an eye out for these hidden updates.

If you have any questions/concerns feel free to send me (Baugrems) a message here or on Discord. Whether it be about the Newbie World or Quest team.