On Wed, 26 Apr 2000, Mud Imp wrote:
> [Re: troubles attracting players]
> I forgot to mention that the mud has been up online for 5 years.
That's a pretty fair amount of time. Can you tell us what the demographics
have been like? Have there been surges of players here and there, or has
it been continuously low?
> And what
> I see frequently happen when I get any newbies at all is they log in, do a
> who and drop link or they log in, gossip something igorning the starting
> room's message that there are no mud wide channels other than ooc and that
> they are in a quiet room, then drop link. They never even look at the mud
> to see what it has. Its on cyberwizards.com 9000 if anyone wants to take a
> look.
Okay, I'm going to give you a quick critique from the standpoint of someone
logging on for the first time. I think this is of general interest to the list
- and in fact, I would be very interested to see breakdowns of other muds done
this same way (especially mine!) if anyone had the inclination to do so.
Perhaps it would allow us to focus on some concrete cases, rather than the
abstract adventures of Bubba and Buffy that we so often refer to.
I'm going to be (excessively) critical here, since you did ask for potential
reasons that newbies get turned off quickly. In other words, if it seems
like I'm nitpicking, then you're right.
I logged the session, but it's long, so I'll just cut out the relevant
bits. My comments are inside #'s.
dusk:~> telnet cyberwizards.com 9000
Trying 63.64.250.174...
Connected to cyberwizards.com.
Escape character is '^]'.
Original DikuMUD by Hans Staerfeldt, Katja Nyboe, Tom Madsen, Michael
Seifert, and Sebastian Hammer. Based on MERC 2.1 code by Hatchet, Furey,
and Kahn. ROM2.3 written by Russ Taylor.
__ __ _ _ ______ _
\ \ / / | | | | | ____| | |
\ \ /\ / /__ _ __| | __| |___ | |__ _ __ __| |
\ \/ \/ / _ \| '__| |/ _` / __| | __| | '_ \ / _` |
\ /\ / (_) | | | | (_| \__ \ | |____| | | | (_| |
\/ \/ \___/|_| |_|\__,_|___/ |______|_| |_|\__,_|
[Enter the name of your character.]
####
# Nice login screen. Based on ROM, which I am not fond of; I've been known
# to disconnect upon seeing any mention of it. Nice looking logo, though;
# I'll give it a chance. :)
# I enter 'Uvatha' as my name.
####
All names CAN and probably WILL be reviewed by staff and you may be
asked to change the name if it is felt not to fit the race you have picked.
Names of WELL KNOWN characters from books, movies, and other publications
are ONLY allowed if you are going to role play the well known character
exactly as the original author wrote it. If you dont feel like doing this,
dont use a well known name. (example: Gandalf is a well known name, if you
dont want to play Gandalf exactly as he was designed by Tolkien, don't use
the name).
NAMES OF FAMOUS AND SIMI-FAMOUS PEOPLE, LIVING OR DEAD, ARE NOT ALLOWED.
NAMES OF GODS AND GODDESSES OF DIFFERENT MYTHOLOGIES ARE NOT ALLOWED.
Are you sure you wanted to use Uvatha for a name? (Y/N)?
####
# Hmmm - not very friendly! I've barely been online five seconds and already
# the system is shouting at me and telling me about limitations on names.
# While I'm used to this, I must say that I always prefer a nice cheesey
# "Welcome to WhateverMUD, where fantasy becomes reality!" greeting.
# In fact, as soon as this block of text was present with me, I read the
# first sentence, and then just hit "y".
####
New character.
Give me a password for Uvatha:
Password must be at least eight characters long.
####
# Damn, I hate that. It's just a mud, I'm not really concerned about
# security. I can understand requiring at least, say, 3 characters, but
# more than that?
####
Password:
Please retype password:
If you are going to take the name of a character from a book, movie, or
some other published work, you MUST play that character as it was written
by the author. This includes choosing a race that is as close to what the
character was designed by the author as you can.
Characters that are the wrong race (Spock as an elf let's say)
will be required to remake as what they were designed as.
COMIC BOOK AND CARTOON CHARACTERS ARE NOT ALLOWED!!!!!!!
There are a large number of races on Worlds End. They are as follows:
Birdman, Brownie, Dwarf, Goblin, Half-elf, Halfling, Hobgoblin,
Human, Ogre, Centaur, Antman, Faerie, Felar, Gnome, Kobold,
Leprachaun, Quickling, Troll, Cloudgiant, Firegiant, Frostgiant,
Hillgiant, Stonegiant, Stormgiant, Vargr, Faeriedragon,
Fathaigh, Minotaur, Sprite, Pixie, Dryad, Nymph, Drow, Elf
Fauns, Crystals, Kender and different kinds of Dragons are also available
but only to those players who have been part of the mud for at least 6
months, have attained a good rp raiting or higher and have sent in an
application that has been accepted for the particular race.
What is your race?
####
# Ack! Big screens of text scare me! I quickly ignore everything but
# the race list. Hmmmm. WAY too many choices, so I'll just pick one more
# or less at random. It doesn't say that I can access help, but on a
# whim I type "help stormgiant".
####
CLOUDGIANT FIREGIANT FROSTGIANT HILLGIANT STONEGIANT STORMGIANT
Giants are huge. Some are only as tall as a house (the young ones) while
others tower over the tops of trees. They have fairly small brains, which
means that a giant can be very badly hurt and not know it. This makes
taking a giant out in a fight hard indeed.
Cloudgiants aren't easy to suprise, and in fact, they can see invisible
and hidden things.
Firegiants are immune to fire.
Frostgiants are immune to cold.
Stormgiants are immune to lightning.
Giants as a rule develop romances only with other giants. They can be
attracted romanticaly to humans, elves, drow, hobgoblins, trolls, ogres,
in fact most humanoid races but their size makes unions with such
creatures incredibly unlikely and in no case is it possible for a giant
to mate and produce offspring with a member of another race unless the
non-giant is the male. In those cases it's possible but very very very
very unlikely.
All giants, except for Stormgiants take extra damage from lightning, and
their racial ability is STOMP. Just simply type 'stomp <name>' to flatten
your enemy.
Stormgiants' racial ability is HURL. Type 'hurl <name>' to toss bolts of
lightning at them and hopefully fry them where they stand.
What is your race
####
# Hmmm, pretty much everything here is not very relevant to me, the newbie.
# What difference does being immune to lightning make? I can think of some
# muds I have played where this would be an incredible ability, and others
# where it would be almost pointless.
# The only thing interesting to me on this screen is the first paragraph,
# and the description of "hurt" and "stomp" at the bottom.
# I enter 'stormgiant'.
####
What is your sex (M/F)? m
Alignment is important. In fact, it's just about as important as the
character's name. This is what will determine how you will act in most
circumstances. You can choose to be good, evil, or neutral. Some races,
however, are prohibited from being good or evil or neutral.
Also, some races are required to be either good or evil. If
you try to take an alignment that doesn't work with the race you
have chosen, your alignment will be set to that of what the race requires.
You may choose Good, Evil or Neutral (G/E/N).
What is your choice?
####
# Uhhhh...what? Alignment is 'important', but I'm not told anything about
# how or why it affects the game. I'm also told that I might be restricted
# to a certain alignment...can't it tell me for sure? (eg: You have chosen
# storm giant, and so you may only be neutral or evil.)
# I enter 'evil'.
####
NOTE: Felar can't use weapons
(creation points)spell or skill
(2)acid puddle (2)acid touch (4)armor1 (3)aurora borealis
(5)arclight (7)backstab (2)bash (5)bedazzle
(8)blood drain1 (3)burning hands (8)butterfly cloud (3)call lightning
(2)calm1 (2)cancellation (1)cause light (2)cold lava
(2)colour spray (4)chills (3)chill touch (6)create food
(1)create water (4)cure blindness (1)cure light (4)dancing shadows
(2)deep freeze (6)demishadow food (8)detect evil (4)detect hidden
(1)detect magic (2)dirt clod (5)dirt kicking (3)dodge
(6)dust storm (3)dwarven strength(3)electrical display(3)explosive sound1
(9)fast healing (3)faerie fire (2)fear (6)fertile soil
(6)foggy armor (8)frosty air (2)fumble (6)guns
(5)haggle (3)haste1 (8)hide (8)invis1
(4)kick (2)knife (5)know surroundings(4)lend health
(2)lend mana (3)lore (2)club (1)magic torch
(4)meditation (8)mental fog (3)nexus (10)nosummon
(4)parry (3)pass door (10)pick lock (6)plague
(2)preserve (4)protection1 (4)psidagger (8)psibuckler
(8)pursue (5)random sound (5)rescue (7)rob health
(5)rob mana (3)rot object (3)sanctuary1 (2)scrolls
(5)second attack (4)shield block (4)shield1 (3)shocking grasp
(2)snowball (2)staves (6)starry sky (6)sneak
(6)stone shield (4)tainted food (2)teleport (4)thaw
(8)third attack (2)trip (2)venom (2)wands
(6)water shield (3)water sphere
Creation points: 15
Choices are: list,learned,premise,add,drop,info,help, and done.
####
# AGGGHH! More text, this time filling MORE than my screen! (Good thing for
# scrollback, or I wouldn't know that Fellar can't use weapons. Who's Fellar,
# and why do I care about him?)
# Anyhow...most of this is meaningless to me. I've played enough muds to
# know that most of the spells listed (shocking grasp, etc) are probably
# really lame once you get past level 3.
# However, I see that I have 15 creation points to use up, so I might as
# well pick a few at random.
# I type 'help nexus'.
####
This is a psionic skill that allows the user to rip open the fabric of
space and step through to parts unknown. Unknown to the user as well
generaly but usualy safe. There are of course some places where psionics
do not function, and the user has to have at least 1 point of psipower to
make use of the skill but it's a good defense when in a tight spot, or
just simply in search of adventure with out caring where one might end up.
####
# Since I have no idea whether my character has "1 point of psipower" or
# not, I guess I'll steer clear of this one.
# I type, "help shield use".
####
No help on that word.
####
# Hmmm. Okay...'help shield'
####
SYNTAX: c shield <target>
Increases targets armor class.
####
# Wait...what does that have to do with shield use?
# Alright, I'll go for the basics.
####
backstab group added
bash group added
Creation points: 24
Choices are: list,learned,premise,add,drop,info,help, and done.
####
# Hey, what's going on? I added some skills (what's a group, anyways?) and
# it tells me that my creation points are *higher* than when I started.
# Must be a bug. Well, I'll just enter 'done' then.
####
Danyel says,
'Roy, there's nothing to be afraid of here.'
Roy says,
'Ugh... easy for you to say... You didn't just meet a guy who
should be dead who's slave to a guy who can do these amazing
things I never knew possible with psionics.'
Raynor comments,
'Well... there was yesterday... the vampires... and
shades... but
they're all gone.'
Danyel says,
'Those were not me, that was some stupid wizard.'
Raynor comments,
'And a few zombies, the usual, they dont hurt you usually, just
run...'
Roy says,
'Vampires? Shades? What!?!?'
Raynor chuckles.
Raynor comments,
'Welcome to Windhaven.'
Hit RETURN to continue
Hit return to continue.
####
# Uh...I don't get it. Are they trying to tell me that there are vampires,
# shades, and zombies on this mud? Oh well, I hit enter a few times.
####
Exits will now be displayed.
Welcome New Characterm---------------------------------------------
If you have NEVER played on World's End before, please type autoexit to
turn on exits then go north into the newbie area.
####
# I'm pretty sure that exits were enabled automatically given that I saw
# a message about them above. Either way, why bother me about them?
# If you need them, turn them on automatically without even sending me
# a message.
####
If you have played on World's End before, please go south.
THERE ARE NO MUD WIDE CHANNELS EXCEPT OOC. No one will hear
you if you try chatting or gossiping or yelling. If you
need assistance try sending a tell to someone on the who
list
for more information type help who
help tell
help ooc
####
# This is good information. It's formated in a way that will cause me to
# actually read it, isn't too long, and contains very important data.
####
Visible Objects and People---------------------------------------------
Visible Exits----------------------------------------------------------
north south
You are in perfect condition.
(Your action is: needs to be told to fix the action field.)
You have 42 new notes waiting.
####
# Hmmmm... no prompt. I find that a little bit annoying.
# Takes me a second to figure out that I'm actually in the game now,
# as the room display is quite nonstandard and hardly very descriptive.
# And why do I need to be told to fix things?! I'm new here, gimmie a break!
# Anyhow, I type 'n'.
####
Training Room---------------------------------------------
This small room has a trainer. You can train your stats and practice your
skills here.
To find out more type
help train
help practice
when you are done go north.
Visible Objects and People---------------------------------------------
The foodNwater salesguy tells you 'type list and type help buy '
A beefy trainer crosses his arms and grins at you.
Visible Exits----------------------------------------------------------
north
####
# Room display is really minimal. I like nice descriptions, maybe some
# color, organized in a way that doesn't take up a ton of space.
# It's just an aesthetic, I know, but I gauge the detail that has gone into
# a mud based on how much mood the room descriptions convey to me.
# "foodNwater salesguy"? I'm not exactly swept away by the ambiance.
####
You are in perfect condition.
(Your action is: needs to be told to fix the action field.)
[Price Qty Size] Item
[ 2 -- 2] water
[ 1 -- 2] food
####
# Hmmmm, somehow, I'm just not too excited yet. When do we get to battle
# a mighty dragon or rescue a princess?
# I decide to go back to the previous room, and type 's'.
####
You don't see an opening that way.
####
# Something I hate: not being able to go back the way you came. Did I jump
# through a wormhole that closed behind me in order to get into this room?
# I type, 'n'.
####
The Newbie Arena---------------------------------------------
This large room is filled with all sorts of really wimpy critters where
newbies can practice killing stuff. Over head is an escape hatch. If you
want to leave the arena at any time just type up .
Visible Objects and People---------------------------------------------
A really wimpy mob stands here.
The shirt salesguy tells you 'type list and type help buy '
Visible Exits----------------------------------------------------------
north east south west up
You are in perfect condition.
(Your action is: needs to be told to fix the action field.)
####
# Standard fare. Nothing wrong with it, but I'm quickly loosing any
# interest that may have been piqued. So far the only thing that has
# gotten me mildly excited was the prospect of playing a storm giant.
# I guess I was hoping that I would start off in the Storm Giant Keep
# surrounded by my brothers, or something.
# Well, time to check the who list and see if there really is something
# I'm missing.
####
Type | Who
++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
>>S<< Uvatha <ERROR: NO TITLE ENTERED>
>>S<< Oskar M.
>>G<< Huntsbynight.
Visible players found: 3
####
# Hey, why am I an "error"? Should I be "Uvatha the Stormgiant" or something?
# Well, at any rate, it doesn't look too popular. Just two S's and a G,
# whatever that means.
# I wander around a bit more (logs cut).
####
Visible Objects and People---------------------------------------------
A really wimpy mob stands here.
A really wimpy mob stands here.
A really wimpy mob stands here.
A really wimpy mob stands here.
A really wimpy mob stands here.
A really wimpy mob stands here.
Visible Exits----------------------------------------------------------[0;37m
north east west up
You are in perfect condition.
(Your action is: needs to be told to fix the action field.)
####
# Hmmm. A "mob", huh? Is that a bunch of people wielding pitchforks and
# torches, getting riled up over something or other?
# Either way, I think that even killer squirrels would be preferable to
# this level of utilitarianism.
# 'l mob'
####
This mob is really wimpy and will be easy to kill.
A mob shouldn't be too difficult, never know though.
She has no apparent injuries.
####
# Well, an unarmed mob versus me. I'm a stormgiant, so I must be wielding
# a mighty thunderbolt, and wearing a suit of cloudmail. Actually I'm
# a newbie, so they probably just gave me a huge club and some leather
# armor, but certainly something still fitting of a storm giant.
# 'eq' and 'i'
####
You are using:
Nothing.
You are carrying:
Nothing.
####
# *sigh*
# 'kill mob'
####
A mob parries your attack.
A mob looks very healthy.
You are in perfect condition.
You scratch a mob!
A mob has lost the battle!
A mob spills her blood all over the ground!
####
# Hmmm, I killed them with a scratch?
# I'm afraid I've lost interest at this point. I haven't seen anything
# of interest; nothing to indicate the mood of the world, what my purpose
# there is, or what I can expect to be fun about this mud. I suppose I
# should have poked around the helpfiles more, but I was trying to emulate
# a typical newbie, after all............
####
Hope that helps.
Adam