[MUD-Dev2] [DESIGN] Newbie Player Retention

[Matt Chatterley]

On 29/11/06, Nicholas Koranda <nkk at eml.cc> wrote:
>
> Based on my own experiences and what I have read others say, I have a
> theory that a player is much more likely to stick with an online game if
> that player has one of the following:
>
> 1) A fellow friend who shows them the ropes of the game and/or gives
> them stuff to start out
> 2) Meets someone in the game shortly after starting who does the what a
> friend does in #1


Also from my own experiences, I'd say you were dead on the money. Every
multi-user game I've played (pretty much ever - accross all genres, with the
possible exception of CounterStrike), I have been introduced to by a friend
(either a friend from another Mud/Game, or a "real life" friend - if that
distinction really exists, these days!)

In the olden days, err, well, middish 90s anyway, whenever I started on a
new Mud (not that often, admittedly, as I tended to stick with games for a
lot longer back then), there would generally be a group of players who
dedicated some of their time to helping out newbies - at the worst, this
would be a reasonably well established player who would give you a few gifts
and/or some hints and tips - at the best, an organised form of "newbie
corps" who make sure you're taken care of, and act as your mentor for a
little while.

On some very rare occasions, I did find a Mud through other means (e.g.
MudConnector) and visit it without a referral from a friend - but generally
in these cases, I would do so WITH a friend, so that we could learn the
ropes together!

Does anyone know of statistics or studies on player retention for those
> that have a friend in game already or meet someone that helps them
> shortly after starting versus going it alone?  I would be real
> interested to see that information.


[Snip]

I don't know of any, but this ties into another of the ideas at the back of
my mind. I've been contemplating doing some market research (in the form of
online surveys, mainly) into various aspects of Muds from both several
perspectives (administrator, designer/developer and player), and making the
results available online - therefore I'm going to take this opportunity to
ask the community here, if there is anybody else who would be interested in
such a venture? Between my "real job" and trying to start a small business
up, I'm left with a pitiful amount of spare time, so some help would give me
the potential to realise this idea!


Anyway, ta for now,

-- 

Matt Chatterley