[MUD-Dev] Stranger in a Strange Land (was Usability and interface and who the hell is supposed to be playing, anyway? (Was: PK

[Ola Fosheim Grøstad <olag@ifi.uio.no>]

Maddy <maddy at fysh.org> wrote:
>> >It wandered into the topic of newbie areas, 
>> >training wheels, and the like, and basically ended up, i think, at
>> >the  opinion that ifyou can provide such an experience to people
>> >crafted  well enough that they do not feel they are being channeled,
>> >it can be  successful. But if they start to sense channeling and
>> >restrictions,  they rebel...
>> 
>> I'd question if the rebellion really matters if the players know that they
>> can always retreat back to the guide whenever they want.  The key then
>> would seem to be able to pick up on a guide at any point on his tour.  The
>> guides then really become randomly tappable references rather than a fixed
>> tour.
>
>Hmm.  The problem with newbie area, is that all the ones I've seen are
>linear.  A guide (see my comment above) is probably a good idea.  The thing
>is, is that you don't want the newbies thinking that the guide is a guide,
>more like a very friendly person who is offering to show them around. 
>Rather than the guide saying "Ok - lets go this way" the guide could also
>follow the newbie around, pointing out places of interest.

The discussion on the list covered guides as well as force-functions
(like missing keys/id-cards).  The main point with the newbie-safe
area was to make the world "browsable". To present the basic
attractions in the world to the user in the first few sessions and let
him have some hands on experience as well as a feeling of success, and
eventually learn to master a "complex" interface bit by bit. All this
without annoying the more experienced users too much.

My guide example was to have a little bird follow the newbie, give him
hints about the implications of his actions and soforth.  As Robert
Goemans (on the mudlist) pointed out, users can become very fond of
their npc-pets, so I guess this solution could have some synergetic
effects...

Anyway, the discussion seem to end in an apparently common agreement
that closed newbieareas is rather difficult to design without making
them feel like a cage.  So perhaps a more translucent boundary on the
newbie area should be pursued, possibly achieved through clever
artistic design?

I've also got this idea of user-encapsulation, but I think I'll let
that idea grow in solitude for a while... :)

Ola.