Terrible experience.

[whiskeybravo]

Man, I wish I had a nickel for every one of these threads I've seen

It's effectively a rite of passage for players at this point.

Yes. Yes, it is. xD

[Kindread]

I always let the group know at the beginnng that I am new and will be watching the cut scenes. Also to let me know if I mess up. It may help that I play a tank though.

[Vineas]

I always let the group know at the beginnng that I am new and will be watching the cut scenes. Also to let me know if I mess up. It may help that I play a tank though.

Tank role does help when you do light party dun, because the pace depends on tank. I don't see it helps in anyway for full party dungeon (which is the original case - main story scenario dungeon)..

[Kindread]

Tank role does help when you do light party dun, because the pace depends on tank. I don't see it helps in anyway for full party dungeon (which is the original case - main story scenario dungeon)..

I am sure you are correct. I have never done a full party dungeon as this is my highest level character right now.

I actually made a macro for light party dungeons saying that I am new and apologizing for any mistakes I may make. So far I have done maybe 20-25 dungeons with mostly random people and only one person was actually rude/pushy.

[Vineas]

I am sure you are correct. I have never done a full party dungeon as this is my highest level character right now.

I actually made a macro for light party dungeons saying that I am new and apologizing for any mistakes I may make. So far I have done maybe 20-25 dungeons with mostly random people and only one person was actually rude/pushy.

It's a actually a great move for saying that you are new (I appreciate this kind of new player), so other player can explain certain mechanic when you don't understand..
Another tips is to learn the dungeon in advance from watching youtube guide (there are plenty of them)..

I think new players need to also understand that older players (especially random) are not playing old dungeon for the sake of learning or fun, it's pure grind that they may not even like either..

[worldofneil]

From the Live Letter today it sounds like they might finally be "fixing" this in 4.2:

We'll be making adjustments to the main scenario dungeons, so that new players can enjoy them without worrying. It may extend the duration of the dungeon; however, we have increased the rewards as well.

The way I personally read that though is that they'll be forcing cutscenes on everyone (extend the duration of the dungeon) so I have to wonder if it'll just stop people wanting to run it at all unless the rewards are insanely good... the cutscenes are so long...

[Akor]

ppl starting kicking ppl out of the dungeon thats for sure or ppl stoping que up for it and +1hour que time on msd is coming. Doing Alliance raid worth more than MSD as DPS anyway.

[Rufalus]

The way I personally read that though is that they'll be forcing cutscenes on everyone (extend the duration of the dungeon) so I have to wonder if it'll just stop people wanting to run it at all unless the rewards are insanely good... the cutscenes are so long...

Better late than never, glad it's being fixed. I'm not reading it as forced cutscenes necessarily because they said 'may' extend duration but that definitely would extend it, so I'm thinking possible battle adjustments that make it less of a joke / mad dash. That's one of the ideas I was pushing, change the flow but increase reward so people can still feel ok about doing it again.

[AncientMariner]

I can only speak for myself, but I made two macros that simply tells the group that "it's my first time in the dungeon", and "it's my first time in the dungeon, but I looked it up on youtube". I like going in blind the first time, and most people I meet are quite fine with it. All I have to do is click a macro, then I won't have to type in the whole sentence. It's very convenient, especially if the others charge ahead. Just click a button, and they know it's my first time here.

I also have the "but I looked it up on youtube", to let them know that I haven't done the dungeon before, but I do know at least some of the mechanics. It makes it easier for everyone to run through it, and they don't have to explain everyhting to me along the way. But at the same time, they know I haven't done the dungeon before, so if I screw up, there's a reason for it.

[Iscah]

Castrum/Praetorium stories are amazing if you get to experience them properly. I tried my best to do that, asking a group from my FC to do it with me, so I got to watch the cutscenes - until we got hit with massive server disconnect issues throughout our Praetorium run and I missed a lot of it, including the epic finale after you defeat the last boss.

(Interestingly, when I went to the inn afterwards to see what I'd missed, the only cutscenes available were the ones I'd been present for - eg. if I'd disconnected halfway through a fight and re-entered the game after it finished, I would not have that post-fight cutscene included in the viewer. I didn't know what I was missing until I played it a second time through the roulette and 'discovered' all the extra scenes. I wonder if you'd have the same issue as a new player being so far behind the group that you don't get to participate in the battles - does that prevent you from seeing the cutscene afterwards?)

Re-designing at least the Praetorium for solo play would be wonderful - perhaps with some of the Scions as NPC companions? (I forget who is available at that point - did the story deliberately send everyone else to other missions so they're 'not available to help you'?) Still keep the party version as well, so you can choose whether to experience it solo or with a group.