Monster Hunter: World Players Started A Program To Help Series Newcomers

Monster Hunter is a series with an intimidating reputation. That's why it's great that even before the game launched on consoles last week, series veterans have started a group to help out the inevitable newcomers experiencing the series for the first time through Monster Hunter: World.

The program is called 'Adopt-A-Hunter' and is made up of a community of players who want to invite more people into the series. The goal is to provide players with personalized help in navigating the Monster Hunter: World's copious systems and the overwhelming number of staple mechanics such as crafting and weaponology. 

“Historically, Monster Hunter is a franchise that has had a strangely high and somewhat prohibitive barrier of entry tacked onto a fairly steep learning curve,” said Woulfe Condra, the website’s co-founder, in an email to Polygon. “Many people start the game and then end up giving up due to frustration over lack of information, seemingly ‘clunky’ controls, or other traditional Monster Hunter obstacles — hitting what can feel like a ridiculously thick brick wall."

Condra added that in their experience, lifelong fans of the series are created are born when they have somebody with experience helping them through such initial frustrations. "Nobody remembers how they learned to ride a bike,” Condra told Rolling Stone. “They just know how easy it was once they learned how and we’re trying to land a similar feeling.”

Players can sign up on the Adopt-A-Hunter website to receive or get help in Monster Hunter: World. The program's staff will pair up individual players, in the hopes that people will have a direct contact, and new friend, to reach out to for guidance. Home country and native language is a criteria, so that players can communicate with a fellow local without a language barrier.

Although several changes and additions to Monster Hunter: World are intended to make the game more open to first-timers, reviews have indicated that the game retains much of the series' hallmark complexities. That means players will probably welcome all the help they can get. 

"If we can keep a hundred angry players from quitting out of frustration and telling their friends that Monster Hunter sucks, then that’s a win for us,”