Don't get me wrong, I've beta tested several MMO's and also been involved in one or two Alphas so I'm used to lag spikes, roll-backs and whatnot.

I actually appreciate the idea of a server wipe so we all start of on even ground again when the game officially releases. This is something I've gotten used to in Beta testing.

First of all, I was under the impression that this game was much farther along than it apparently is. I mean, they're pre-selling the game for release in March - note that it even says there is no Beta test only early access. This would make me think the testing was done and they're ready to release, but so far I don't see it.

So here's the problem I've having since this is my first full, official day. I don't know anything about the game other than what I've read online and in the forum. 90% of my learning, though happens through experience, so if I want to really get to know what to do, I need to be in the game.

This isn't easy...

1. There's no "introduction" to the game. I don't mean a hand-holding 5 hour long tutorial process, but I mean a basic, "this is you, this is grass, this is how you harvest grass." kind of explanation. Something similar to Wurm's tutorial.

2. No warning the server is going down other than a minute of non-responsive actions. I don't know what the hell I'm doing half the time in the game since I don't have any clear cut explanation to guide me along. This means I'm testing A with B to see what happens.

Half the time I test, nothing happens because I didn't do it right, the other half I test and nothing happens because the server is in one of those "limbo periods" between crashes. Frustrating doesn't begin to describe this... half the time I'm ready to throw my keyboard through the wall while shouting "I just did that a second ago and it worked... what the hell is going...?!?!" before I end up staring at the login screen.

3. No floating tool-tips, no descriptions for anything, no explanations for anything. I read the manual file and then logged in and had to alt-tab back and forth to figure out what stats I wanted to start with. The tools I start with don't exactly offer much assistance in figuring out what they are or how they work either.

I went to start a campfire and had to figure out what was meant by "rocks" in the recipe screen before I gave in and just started throwing random stones (limestone and granite) in the recipe and suddenly it worked (providing the server wasn't either lagging or crashing on me).

4. General "fuzziness"... Thanks to some tutorials and forums posts I was able to figure out some basics of crafting, but there's still a whole lot that's fuzzy. For instance, I had to read through a bunch of forum posts before figuring out how to gain recipes (scavenge and crafting what you already know).

Back to that campfire, it took some hunting around to figure out that flint can be discovered under Resources. Which also highlights the usefulness of that "Resources" tab that is severely underplayed in the pdf manual.

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If I can offer some advice, might I recommend, even just a simple in-game "Help" file that people can read through at the start? It can give some basic starter tips and advice like "how to place a totem" or "build a camp" or the usefulness of certain tools and items (baskets for instance).

If I had something to go by that told me what to do and I knew I was doing it right, then having lag spikes and server crashes aren't that big of a deal since I'd know at least I was doing what I was supposed to be.

I know there's a chat as well, but when the server's up and down, it gets hard to ask questions. It's also easy to blend in and get ignored without being a total schmuck about spamming your question... at which point one person might respond and then the server goes down again.

I do appreciate the helpfulness of the players and the openness of the Devs. Which is why, despite still obviously being in a testing phase, I'm willing to stick with the game and don't begin to regret the money I spent.

What this game is in need of though is some "Accessibly Tools". Tools that will explain how things work to the newcomers without destroying the freedom the game offers. People like to know how to play the game they're playing in order to have fun... so make it easy for them to learn!

I come from a rather bland Adult Training and HR background, so seeing some of this is just an occupational hazard of mine.