[MUD-Dev] Re: mudschools

[Robert Woods]

On Sun, 24 May 1998, Marian Griffith wrote:

> Depends on how new you are to mudding and how the mudschool was designed
> does it not?  First time players certainly would not agree with you. And
> highly changed games usually make you realise that that mudschool (if it
> is rewritten) was probably a good idea.
> Forcing somebody through it is not a good idea however.

I agree.  We have our mudschool available to those who wish to use it.  It
has been a great relief to our more experienced players who get tired of
answering the same age-old question over and over.  They just say "Have
you gone through the tutorial?" and if not, they direct the clueless
newbie to the tutorial.
 
> > Here's an idea: why not use the age-old apprenticeship program?  Just as
> > many (esp older) muds have quest requirements for getting to high levels,
> > why not introduce a requirement that says that you must help <n> newbies
> > get to a certain percentage in your primary skill area before you can
> > advance?  This would give higher-level people an incentive to find newbies
> > and help them out, including equipping them, helping them learn the ropes,
> > etc.
> 
> The big problem with this is that it creates 'oldbies' players who are
> fairly high level but are basically clueless.  They have been taken by
> the hand by a couple of high level players,  grouped while their guide
> took out some pretty tough monsters and have not learned nothing about
> the game itself.  By the time they are on their own  they are clueless
> still and revert to either newbie behaviour  or give up after they are
> killed a couple of times.
> 
You are so right.  What's really bad is that on the MUD I used to work
for, we had a person who was the highest level of any mortal playing, but
who couldn't find his way anywhere except for a couple areas that he had
followed other people to.  He abused features of the game (which are no
longer there because of abuse), and got himself up to be very powerful.
Finally, when people started figuring out ways to kill him and otherwise
make his life miserable, he started whining and went into "retirement".

Newbies must eventually be "thrown out of the nest" and forced to fend
for themselves, explore, get lost, die, etc., and not be dependent on a
higher-level player.  It makes the game less fun for all involved, even
the terminal newbie.

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I'm not insane, I'm just irrational.

-Bob