TOPIC: Feedback for the TD Staff

Feedback for the staff and newer players regarding virtual TD. Although many parts of TD were fun, overall our party did not have a great time, and with a few simple steps this could have been remedied. We also felt rushed and were hesitant to be honest at the end of the Zoom call to provide further feedback.

Five newer players joined by a returning player upon entering the Zoom call. Natasha seemed very welcoming and gave a short introduction, however quickly the returning player immediately became overbearing and chit-chat with the staff for around 10 minutes. This resulted in most of us not receiving adequate instruction how to actually play the game. The returning person also coerced the party and the DM into playing on a high difficulty which dramatically changed the game.

Positive feedback:
1) Really liked the emotive acting from the staff.
2) Getting the occasional ambiguous answer from the staff made things more fun and mysterious.
3) The puzzles are well done.
4) The TD theme music definitely enhances the experience, but the audio did cut out once or twice.

Negative:
1) For new players: Questions must be asked from the offset! The staff do their best but they need to know how to help.
2) The difficulty for new players needs to be set to the easiest level. This should not be negotiable.
3) Be wary joining with solo veteran players who can intentionally or unintentionally dominate and spoil the content, the mechanics, and the overall game for the party. If unavoidable then at least have the staff ask the veterans not to become as involved.

Will definitely not be joining a game with "Daelin", a wizard but also has multiple characters, and a lack of voice chat and social graces. Clearly players who spend hundreds of hours at TD are valuable to the business, but they should not be able to impact the game as much.

Definitely still excited to return to a live TD event but unfortunately this virtual one was tainted.

The difficulty is always set to normal unless ALL players agree to a higher one. If your party was forced to play at a higher difficulty, that is a serious issue.

D wrote: Feedback for the staff and newer players regarding virtual TD. Although many parts of TD were fun, overall our party did not have a great time, and with a few simple steps this could have been remedied. We also felt rushed and were hesitant to be honest at the end of the Zoom call to provide further feedback.

Five newer players joined by a returning player upon entering the Zoom call. Natasha seemed very welcoming and gave a short introduction, however quickly the returning player immediately became overbearing and chit-chat with the staff for around 10 minutes. This resulted in most of us not receiving adequate instruction how to actually play the game. The returning person also coerced the party and the DM into playing on a high difficulty which dramatically changed the game.

Positive feedback:
1) Really liked the emotive acting from the staff.
2) Getting the occasional ambiguous answer from the staff made things more fun and mysterious.
3) The puzzles are well done.
4) The TD theme music definitely enhances the experience, but the audio did cut out once or twice.

Negative:
1) For new players: Questions must be asked from the offset! The staff do their best but they need to know how to help.
2) The difficulty for new players needs to be set to the easiest level. This should not be negotiable.
3) Be wary joining with solo veteran players who can intentionally or unintentionally dominate and spoil the content, the mechanics, and the overall game for the party. If unavoidable then at least have the staff ask the veterans not to become as involved.

Will definitely not be joining a game with "Daelin", a wizard but also has multiple characters, and a lack of voice chat and social graces. Clearly players who spend hundreds of hours at TD are valuable to the business, but they should not be able to impact the game as much.

Definitely still excited to return to a live TD event but unfortunately this virtual one was tainted.

Hello D,

It's great to see new people giving TD a try - I am sorry some elements were spoiled for you. Thank you for trying to help the dungeon get better with your feedback.

If you and your friends will continue to play, consider visiting my token giveaway page:

truedungeon.com/forum?view=topic&defaultmenu=141&catid=5&id=251876&start=0#384720

Matthew Hayward wrote:

D wrote: Feedback for the staff and newer players regarding virtual TD. Although many parts of TD were fun, overall our party did not have a great time, and with a few simple steps this could have been remedied. We also felt rushed and were hesitant to be honest at the end of the Zoom call to provide further feedback.

Five newer players joined by a returning player upon entering the Zoom call. Natasha seemed very welcoming and gave a short introduction, however quickly the returning player immediately became overbearing and chit-chat with the staff for around 10 minutes. This resulted in most of us not receiving adequate instruction how to actually play the game. The returning person also coerced the party and the DM into playing on a high difficulty which dramatically changed the game.

Positive feedback:
1) Really liked the emotive acting from the staff.
2) Getting the occasional ambiguous answer from the staff made things more fun and mysterious.
3) The puzzles are well done.
4) The TD theme music definitely enhances the experience, but the audio did cut out once or twice.

Negative:
1) For new players: Questions must be asked from the offset! The staff do their best but they need to know how to help.
2) The difficulty for new players needs to be set to the easiest level. This should not be negotiable.
3) Be wary joining with solo veteran players who can intentionally or unintentionally dominate and spoil the content, the mechanics, and the overall game for the party. If unavoidable then at least have the staff ask the veterans not to become as involved.

Will definitely not be joining a game with "Daelin", a wizard but also has multiple characters, and a lack of voice chat and social graces. Clearly players who spend hundreds of hours at TD are valuable to the business, but they should not be able to impact the game as much.

Definitely still excited to return to a live TD event but unfortunately this virtual one was tainted.

Hello D,

It's great to see new people giving TD a try - I am sorry some elements were spoiled for you. Thank you for trying to help the dungeon get better with your feedback.

If you and your friends will continue to play, consider visiting my token giveaway page:

truedungeon.com/forum?view=topic&defaultmenu=141&catid=5&id=251876&start=0#384720

Stay classy San Diego

D, I'm really sorry you had a run like that. It absolutely sucks that your DM didn't intervene - A single vocal player shouldn't be able to override the difficulty for the rest of the group.

I'm sorry that happened to you.

If you're willing to give it another shot, perhaps you'll be able to find a group that would be welcoming to newer players on these forums.

Let me echo everyone else in saying I'm really sorry that was you and your group's first experience with True Dungeon. Most veteran players are great with her players, but there are a few who get pretty pushy.

If you and your group are willing to give it a second shot I have a group of newish players that would love to run with you guys. They play with just the tokens they've earned playing virtual true dungeon, and I depower myself to their power level. They only run each dungeon once so they won't spoil anything. I do run dungeons a few times, but if I've played already I mute myself during puzzles and don't say a word. PM me if you'd be interested in that.

I'll also happily come along on run(s) at normal difficulty while nerfing myself down and sitting back during puzzle rooms

I'm going to echo what's been said above - it's totally wrong that you guys got pressured into running a higher difficulty level. That should not have happened.

It's also totally understandable if you guys felt your voices were being drowned out by a vet who is buddy-buddy with the staff. It can be hard to speak up in a situation like that. Hopefully the (super friendly, btw) staff can review procedures on how to make sure that all 10 players' concerns are addressed.

Maybe the AC could be asked for earlier in this process to assure an appropriate difficulty level is settled upon. That has flaws obviously, but anything that helps should at least be considered.

Hopefully you guys find the right time to try again, whether that be in-person or another VTD. If you return for VTD, maybe the private messaging option could be helpful in getting your concerns across without having to feel pressured by anyone else in the Zoom session.

Coordinating on the forums in the weeks ahead of the run could also be helpful. Hopefully you guys would feel comfortable enough (whether it be a run at a Con or VTD) to seek out the thread for your run on the forums and set the difficulty level ahead of time. As others have stated, it's supposed to be normal difficulty unless all 10 agree to run something higher.

And definitely check out Matthew Heyward's wishing well! Not sure how geared up you guys are, but free tokens are always great.

Going to add my echo to the others here: I'm so sorry to hear that you ended up in a situation like that.

I hope that this bad experience doesn't turn you away from the VTD experience completely, and I would encourage you to give the January game a chance. For VTD 7 it's a brand new game, as opposed to this weekend where it was the third time this particular adventure had been run, so I think it drew in a lot more long term players over newer ones. That isnt an excuse, of course. You and your party should never have had one person force your into a difficulty not suited for you, and things shouldn't have gone the way they did regardless. I just think you may have more luck avoiding those issues in January.

I know you've gotten some offers already, but my husband and I both would love to run with you and your group if you decide to try VTD again. Our group is very casual and we usually nerf our builds down to match theirs (and usually they prefer to go puzzle routes, which if my husband and I have already played we mute ourselves and step back).

A bad experience can really ruin what should be a fun time, and you will run in to people like unfortunately, but there are far more kind and considerate people in this community in my experience. Coordinating in advance, best you can, here on the forums should help you find events and people who are more aligned with your play style.

D

I agree with the other folks, such behavior is unacceptable. Please know that such behavior is not common place.

I would urge you to consider giving VTD another go, and know that raising your hand in zoom can go a long way. Physically, the zoom reaction can be missed.

Something similar happened to me, and in the epilogue room (which I officially think should be 24 minutes now for those that want it) you can message the volunteer on the side and get their attention in zoom. This isn’t something that is shared for new VTDers for this specific situation, and might be obvious for some, though should be in your quiver of options for future epilogue battles! I truely hope you have future epilogue battles, I have died the most in the epilogue room, losing my survivor badge so many times to Andrew

We are trying something for the January event. There will be 12 full slots that are marked Normal Difficulty level. These runs are Saturday and Sunday (10:00, 11:00, 1:00, 2:00, 3:00, and 4:00). These are set up and visible now at td.events. If a veteran player is in one of these groups, the difficulty level will be normal. Hopefully these tickets will be purchased by newer players that want to experience the adventure without an increased difficulty level.

I will personally be monitoring these groups to make sure our intention is carried out and that our DMs know to watch for the situation that you experienced. I am always available to pop into a Zoom and deal with any inappropriate behavior.

I hope you will give us another try! Know that feedback is much appreciated, as it is what helps us get better and provide a better experience for all players, new and veteran.

Lori

Lori Martin
True Adventures - Boss Lady