[MUD-Dev] Addressing newbies

[Chris Lloyd]

> -----Original Message-----
> From: mud-dev-admin at kanga.nu [mailto:mud-dev-admin at kanga.nu]On Behalf Of
> adam at treyarch.com
> Sent: 19 May 2000 19:08
> To: mud-dev at kanga.nu
> Subject: RE: [MUD-Dev] Addressing newbies
>
> > although I
> > quite agree with Warren Powell's idea of having aggressive monsters
leave
> > newbies alone.
>
> Potential for abuse is high.  Large group of high-level characters die on
> really tough NPC in the midst of a dangerous area.  Rather than retrieving
> their equipment "the hard way", they create a few newbies and run
> through the
> area unmolested.

If that happened in any game I was running, I would come down on that player
like a ton of heavy things. I am not a big fan of players with more than one
character, anyway. But that's a separate issue.

> What is "obvious"?  I have a slaver ship off one of the docks which has
> numerous foreboding room descriptions, making it very clear that you
should
> not proceed unless you know what you're doing.  Even once on the ship
itself,
> it's still quite possible to retreat back to safety, seeing what dangers
> await.
>
> Even so, (relative) newbies get captured by the slavers ALL the time.  I
> rather like this effect (it gives a chance for player interaction as a
mid-rank
> character can rush to the newbies' rescue), but you see my point.

Which is why every newbie needs a guild/city/clan/player-helper to ask about
it:

 (Sunnydale City) Newbie: "Hi, I'm new. Can I go inside this scary ship?"

 (Sunnydale City) Bubba: "Best not. The slavers will capture you."

 (Sunnydale City) Newbie: "Oh. Thanks, anyway."

 (Sunnydale City) Bubba: "But just around the corner from where you are is a
special newbie area."

 (Sunnydale City) Bubbba: "Go there, there are plenty of easy things to
kill."

> As I am coming to appreciate more and more, newbies NEED things to be
blatant.
> Even if they are experienced mudders.  The overload of data when they come
> into the world, coupled with the desire to "get to the action", means that
> they will most certainly ignore any "subtle" clues, and even most of your
> blatant ones.

This especially happens when a mud uses a different system to stock muds.
With newer and more complex worlds that use improved skill/character
systems, even experienced mudders can get thrown. Hence the need for a
_really_ good academy/introduction course and people to give advise to the
newbies to.

> > A map of the world - This is important, and can either be on a website
or in
> > inside the game itself. It allows the young player to get at least a
vague
> > idea of where he is.

...

> I agree, but most newbies don't have the patience to figure out where they
> are on a map.

Sadly, yes. A map should be available, even it just so it shows off the
scale of your world. (This can be large or small, depending on the size of
you world. Looking at a map of a huge continent can be daunting if the two
main cities are on opposite sides of it. At the same time, a small map makes
the newbie think the world is not very developed).

> There's no reason that newbies should get stuck with the "boring" areas.

Balance the regeneration time, too. There are few things worse than arriving
in a new game, and finding the newbie area has been cleared out (and is
being continuously clearing out) the easy areas.

Opinions?

C.

--Chris Lloyd
--Mailto:crl199 at soton.ac.uk




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