Development of a m3e player

[4thstringer]

So, I've been teaching a bunch of new players malifaux in our grow league. I was wondering 1. What you think the stages of a learning player are and 2. How long those stages last?

[Ludvig]

I think that varies wildly. Some people read a lot before committing to a demo and some dive in. Some have previous war gaming experiences that can both help and hinder. We also have the confused returning players who make mistakes that would have been correct in previous editions. I know the previous warmahordes players and the MtG players had very different approaches to learning the game. 

A rough attempt to answer the question would be something along the lines of:

1. Whaaat, you play with cards instead of dice? What the hell did I just do? - Probably lasts a couple of games at most. 

2. Knows card anatomy and the frequently used general actions but confused by schemes and the wordings of abilities. - maybe ten games? 

3. Starts learning basics of crews they've played a lot. Still missing a lot of finer points. 

4. Starts to realize they want some other models to do certain schemes better or try filthy combos that look great in theory. 

5. No idea, I've been stuck at number 4 since m1e. 😅 

[4thstringer]

Reading yours, I came up with my version, but the time frames I have no idea of: 

I think it would be

1. Basic card anatomy, general actions, understanding fate+/Fate-

 

2. learning all the soulstone uses and their first crew models, probably still makes lots of rule mistakes

 

3. Feels comfortable with their first crew, starts branching out to different models.

 

4. starts to get good at evaluating enemy models, has rules down pretty well

 

5. starts understanding the schemes/strats from a strategic point of view, starts understanding counterpicks.

 

6. Starts seeing the interactions between the models without playing them.

 

7. threat ranges and board control become a larger part of their play, positioning becomes a thing.

 

And of course I think there are more that I haven't really gotten past, I'm still working on smart positioning.

[muraki]

Depends if it's a reluctant player or not most of my buddies are a bit reluctant so I'm still waiting for them to hit the pt where they want to play / buy models / etc ... Which I put as a prereq for stage 1, haha.

That said I think there's a few general stages

1) player basically needs you to demo the crew + build it for them. You feel bad if you bring new crews against em and stick to a small subset of schemes / strats.  You try not to scare em off Figure it's 2- 4ish games there.

2) player can build a basic crew on the schemes + plan out a mental plan on a random gen pool. Figure it's 2-6 games here.... Less if they own fewer models.

3) players remember more difficult interactions (stones, focus, activation order tricks for their crew, etc) for their crew.  This starts in the middle of step 2 and again depends on how difficult a crew is.  This one is hard to track cause in some ways it's an ongoing process as you introduce more models to your pool / gg changes.

4) player can think more about the meta / wants to introduce new masters for fun / sees scheme opportunities they may not be optimized for.  This is more of a 'wow. I'm not overwhelmed anymore' point than a physical number of games (tho it'll prolly take 2-3 months).  I put it at step 4 cause if someone is super invested with one master and only sees a couple across the table they may sit at 'sure I can play, but if you tossed me a new master we'd be back at step 1)' for a while.  Other people who have collection addictions may be on their 4th faction by month 3, and while they aren't masters of any, they're not worried about getting tossed into something new.

5) they want to be involved with the community.  Whether that's posting advice, teaching, henching, etc.  They like the game enough to want to give back. Figure this usually hits around 3-6 months of semi regular gaming, but is prolly faster for those who were/are involved in gaming communities and slower for those without them (where I fall tbh). This is a bit different than the 'i just bought my first crew! I wanna get a malifaux tattoo!' stage, cause we all know most of those guys disappear a week later and are never seen again ha.

6) (semi joking) they're disgruntled. Still posting but now it's all about how x model is broken and how wyrds new sculpts are trash. For some this starts day 1 :).  (Less joking) people will eventually hit burnout and either drop or get negative. May be stuff with life, or a run of bad games.  I'm not sure the best way to handle people in this stage (cause it's different for everyone) but people should think about how to help people here + prevent a community from getting toxic.

Aside note. Since im a fraternity advisor (in my other life) I feel playing a game like this hits people a lot like joining a fraternity.  It's not something you grab once a blue moon with your family, but more of a community you get indoctrinated into (with all the pros / cons of that). As such new players will prolly hit all the 'new member' milestones I see with college kids. Separated out there's:

1) initial excitement. friend says game is amazing. Got their first crew just heard about the game. Can't wait. Got a shitty tattoo saying 'ours'

2) confusion/learning process. Yeah they got the crew, but now realize they have no idea what they got into. 

3) experienced. Got some time, aren't worried but also aren't taking the lead. 

4) gets lead positions + starts helping new people.

5) burn out. Turns toxic or starts to ghost.

6) either took a break and are back, or are just playing occasionally with a few close buddies. Usually aren't at the pt they were at 4.

Sure these aren't as important as the technical skills steps... But as people go through these their attitudes will change and the experience for those around will be changed accordingly, I think it's something to think about for anyone building / involved in a community.  Cause we all know those players / stores / henchman that we just don't like / aren't involved anymore but still around / are bitter... And it changes the way you look at the hobby.