[MUD-Dev] Separating newbies and oldbies

[Ola Fosheim Grøstad]

Hypothesis: Oldbies ruin the game for the newbies.

  - Newbie proudly announces what he has found. Oldbie says "old
  hat, you want the-coolest-item-in-the-world".

  - Oldbie drags newbie around the world. Burning discovery
  potential.

  - Oldbie tells newbie what is not worth doing. Burning content.

  - Oldbie tells newbie what the game is about. Limiting sub
  cultures.

  - Oldbie kills easy monsters. Limiting gameplay.

  - Oldbie rerolls, plays up new character. Limits Peerage.

  - Oldbie chats on private channels. Newbie experience a silent
  world.

Main problem: How do you keep oldbies out of the way?

Sub problem: How do you aggregate newbies?

Sub problem: How to get rid of structures that tie oldbies to
newbies?

Sub problem: Lack of control over communication.

  - Guild chat

  - Fansites/Forums (can't be helped)

Proposed solution:

  - Tie subscription to server-cluster, not game. Allocate new
  accounts to a newbie-cluster.

  - Make the server populations large enough to prevent incompatible
  global cultures. Allow players to move between severs outside the
  newbie cluster.

  - Focused marketing each time you open a new server. Expansion
  etc.

--
Ola - http://folk.uio.no/olag/
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