Let's talk about the in-game welcome screen!

I'd like to see a breaking news/headline that is current and highly relavent to players. Not a Marketing Ad but for example

Coming Soon - Plane of War
Patch Scheduled for April 5th

The list of announcements, SOE posts, less important events is fine, but I'd like to see currently actionable news in normal type and old news/no longer actionable news to be grayed.

"Mixed":
70% howling derision
20% death threats
10% suggestions for the marketing people to do anatomically unlikely things with a nest of fire ants

i only looked at it when it listed friends ... after that info was gone, i disabled it.

Please share how you disabled it.

Although It is always going to show us something to buy, In addtion to that i would like It to show the last 2 weeks(and last large update) and next 2. And any limited time missions currently active if not included in the listed updates.

Seriously? They can't post the time for a scheduled patch more than 8 hours in advance. 2 weeks is the distant unknowable future.

I'd like to see:
-Relevant updates on stuff being changed that has only been mentioned in the forums. Casuals/forum ignorers won't get so blindsided by big changes coming up then.
-Start and end dates for current events.
-Upcoming patches and their estimated downtimes.

I'd like for the busy cursor problem to be fixed

The Welcome Screen is about as useful as your gallbladder. Sure it "says it does something", but in reality, we could all live without it.

Give Gold Members a way to disable it; keep it up for Silver and Bronze players. You'll probably even get a few more subscriptions.

Since you are asking, my preference is GET RID OF THE DANG BANDWIDTH CLIENT BLOAT THING. It is nothing more then a bandwidth hog during the log in process that introduced interface bugs in the past.

The essential information that is passed on that screen can accessed via the EQ button. If there is critical information that every player needs to know or that you want to pass to all on line players, the broadcast capability works well. If something can not be compressed into an MOTD single sentence that can not be communicated to the player base, it belongs on the forms or the web site. During the log in process I only look at the status bar on the bottom when I can shut that bandwidth client bloat thing down without introducing the flickering cursor bug to the interface.

Now I will address the questions, as they are presented but using the critical analytical skills acquired with one of my previous professions.

The first question, "How would you like to see it updated?" This question is loaded with the assumption that reader likes to see the dang bandwidth waste of time up dated. A question I would like answered is, "Why even update a waste of band width of time?" How can anyone call themselves a respectful sensible intelligent world citizen, while indiscriminately wasting everyone's time. The crippled web browser within the EQ client can be classified as a PUP (Potentially Unwanted Program), of the type that is developed by hackers, the very same ones that wrote code that wormed its way into corporate computer systems to steal client data. I hope that Sony does not want to be associated as a hacker / publisher of a PUPs and other malware. I can name many corporations that were at the affect, of such malware, and it cost them billions. I remember one such corporation that had multiple divisions of their money making operations shut down for about three weeks Why put your customers at risk for that?

The second question, "Do you read this in-game?" is the only real non-loaded question, and as such deserves a real answer of, "No, and thank you for asking."

The final question, "What type of content would be most useful to you on the welcome screen?" is similar to the first question, which assumes that what is erroneously referred to as the welcome screen is useful. The truth is that the welcome screen is a bandwidth hog which slows the log in process, and takes over the screen which inhibits control of the avatar, even when there is agro on the avatar during the log in process. How many have died, with a trip to bind due to not being able to control their avatar or see what is attacking them due that bandwidth screen?

I visit the forms on a regular basis. I do see value in the having access to such information, but not in game. It is easier to tab out, open a browser and pull it up. I would like to see such information on the forms, in a sticky thread, with the MOTD directing us to the thread with a one sentence explanation of the announcement. The web site https://www.everquest.com/home is good option for that, for those clients that like to see that information in a multi-media rich environment.

An example of MOTD could be, "Visit station, bags discounted until 11-13 April. LoN tournament this weekend with flying baby dragon familiar for all participants this weekend. Please continue to follow ELUA!"

how about a ticker that shows top 5 hot quest of the game top 5 for 1-85, top 5 for 86 to 90 then 91 to 95 and 96-100.

or maybe showing the top5 static hunting zones with how many characters (excluding pok or lobby or any other buff suspended zone.

mechanically it would be nice if the welcome screen was just another button like the eq and sc button and an in game e mail can be sent when its updated.

Make a disable option. It causes nothing but irritation. Put useful information on motds. Disabling the welcome screen will mean I won't have to waste valuable seconds closing it when I log in.

I would like it to display amusing messeges that change each day, as well as a link to intresting forum topics, marketplace sales, news, and a tip of the day...also perhaps it could be ocassionaly graced by the image of a pretty female drakkin, I know friona vie is iconic everquest but you could switch it around a bit.

I will go along with those that would like to be able to just disable it.

Personally, I would think that marketing to people NOT currently playing the game, i.e. potential new players, would be a much better option that trying to squeeze yet more cash out of those of us currently playing.

But this has been suggested for probably the last ten years and SOE seem to be dead set against trying to get new players (at least for EQ. They seem quite happy to try to poach EQ players off to every other game they have.)

Ang.

I think the welcome screen should be customizable based on each person's needs/wants.

First time log-in after a significant revamp of the welcome screen/system would go something like this in my mind:

• Blank welcome box pops up, about the size of a chat window that can be re-sized/scrolled through.
  • Here is a list of things to include in your welcome window: choose any/all that you want.
    • Friends List.
    • Latest Patch Notes.
    • Next Patch Date.
    • etc, up to dozens of choices - whatever exists now plus all of the ideas from this thread.
    • None.
  • If you choose "None," then the window won't pop up again unless you manually choose to open it.

Att SOE marketing thought: to get people to stop complaining about the needed welcome screen/notice board/advertisment, and offer suggestions: just include a fanart picture of a scantaly clad member of each charater race and gender, that changes each calander day, with the last day being the standard friona vie picture.

Keep adding new fanart each month, people will start to subconsiously look forward to seeing it, and they will better notice special sells promotions, ane news items.

They wont be so quick to click it down like its in the way, though I always read it anyway and on the thing that starts the game, for news and matainence notices as well as new items, but as you can see from this thread many toss it down too quick.

Perhaps the character could be pointing to or indicating the marketplace permotions like she/he wants you to buy it. This works in tv ads. There could even be a speach buble.

People will subconsiously assocate the image with items offered and the implication, but to make it not seem that way you could make them be saying something cute about staying in the know about eq, but still basicly indecating the marketplace items.

We all want eq to profit and stay around dont we?

Rift used a similar techique, well as for as images, in marketing storm legion with the crucia ads. Besides there is really not much eq fanart out there, more than rift has but maybe thats not saying much as rift is comparativly newer and less of a cultural treasure than eq.

As a few others have said the ability to add guide/gm events to the calendar would be helpful for both the guides running the events and the players who want to attend them.