Getting and Keeping new players

[Molly]

What's wrong with the newbie area? Please be more specific.

[Kvetch]

I liked the mudschool - it was one of the reasons I decided to stay.  Even though I did have a few bugs that attacked me while I was there.  They caused me to meet Molly and Mordecai like the second day I played.  *heh*  I was impressed by the interest those two (both IMPS) took when I (a newbie) asked about a problem I had there (erm.. why is it when I leave the stagecoach I go to bluebird's hottub - or something like that - and where is that?) and I couldn't even get the stagecoach to work because of that bug.  *heh*  Was a fun time.  Bug was fixed like the next day.    Anyway, enough nostalga I'm sure.

[Asmodeus]

yeah, didnt you get the memo?  all nostalgia is going in the wipe :p

I actually started playing here because of Octavius and Kansas (if you remember those guys)... one of my good irl friends and his brother.

[Natalya B.]

What's wrong with the newbie area? Please be more specific.

It's been so long since I was there, I'm totally useless in this department.

There's nothing wrong with it, I just remember thinking it wasn't very.. hmm.. enticing? Again this probably actually has more to do with the playerbase than anything else, just for me the newbie area wasn't a huge depiction of the crazy amount of awesome zones and such that this mud has to offer. I also don't remember it teaching the basics, like about remorts, or suggesting to type nobat, or where to practice skills. I know a lot of new players don't pay attention to newbie areas, I for one certainly hate them, but can't help but notice some of the questions new players start asking right away, that maybe we could answer for them in the school.

I know for me at least, the first areas I see when I enter a game is what is going to make or break it to some extent. We've got all these awesome zones (Egypt, VE, Punt, Enchanted Lands, Midlands just to name some of my favorites) that are incredibly well designed and rich with imagination, and noobie school is just.. i dont know... does anyone understand what I'm trying to say here? I've only had one coffee and I think I'm failing at trying to say what I'm thinking. =S

Newbie school as it is is a fine depiction of the fact we have multiple dimensions, and we have a lot of stuff here, but a part of me thinks it would be better off with one general theme built to the crazyness of something lile Midlands or Punt, totally insane with awesomeness. Right now from what I remember, theres some small quests, some rats, some bears, and brief explanations of commands.

Again though. It's been a long time since I was in there. I usually just skip through it because I can't stand newbie areas, I always want to rush out and see what the -actual- mud looks like. I think maybe this is my main point. People have short attention spans, especially with graphical MMORPGS around. I think to a large extent, if we don't seriously grab someones attention in the first half hour with the awesome stuff we have here, we lose them.

I also remember a few others saying newbie school could be redone, but they never came up with any ideas either.

I fail. Sorry =p

[Kvetch]

The mudschool does teach about tiers (medieval mudschool - Joe, Pete and erm.. 2 other brothers I can't remember off the top of my head).  As for where to practice skills/spells - at the time I went through you learned it through Lionel who was like the 2nd room in the school - if the skills/spells are spread all over, not sure how you can teach that other than to say "For now, you can learn your skills at lionel, but after mudschool you will have to find your skills and spells as you adventuer" or some such.

Mudschool is only there to teach you how the mud is different (the first few rooms after you make a character are there to teach you how to move and whatnot - the very, very basics but those are outside of the mudschool) and a few of the basic - commonly used commands/ideas.  It teaches about the 4 different zones of the mud (future, prehistoric, medieval, old west) as well as things like how to use vehicles (stagecoach in old west) and how to greet people (Medieval area).  Of course, throughout the mudschool there are various quests (like the helper flag quest and the new-ish find the items quest that I've not done since it went in after I was new).

It would be very difficult to come up with an area like Punt, Midlands, etc and teach the very things we need to teach people - at the level new players would understand.  As for teaching people nobat?  Yeah, erm.. it would seem odd to tell people - by the way hunger and thirst matter and play havoc with your regeneration ability... and just so you don't want to see the messages all the type, go type nobat and when you ask why you're not regenerating quickly enough you'll be told you're probalby hungry thirsty, but with nobat on you never saw the messages.  Kinda messed up, I think.  Players need to know that hunger/thirst is important - not the way around it.  And yes, remorts isn't really touched (except when talking about tiers and that's only generally) and yes, every newbies question is "waht the heck is remort and how do I do it) but that won't be stopped until/unless we get rid of the remort system.  I can explain remort until I'm blue in the face, but until someone does it, there will be questions.  BTW: Midlands and Punt are basically hard questing zones... really want to turn players away that don't really like to quest that fast?

[Virisin]

Mud school rocks.

[isis]

yea 4d mud school rocked as much as i can remember it....

[spelk]

As a newbie who has only recently discovered 4D, I thought the Mudschool was one of the more interesting and gentler approaches to teaching the MUD and its features. Usually these schooling areas are quite bland, with lots and lots of rules being thrown at new players. So either they have you slaying endless reams of small wildlife, or they make you read a 100 point international charter on the rules and regs. 4D's school had a pleasing writing style, that actually had me wanting to read the next descriptions and looking at the signs etc. Each room had something different to look at and do, and guiding the player through the different time zones was inspirational. Showing different aspects of the game in a potted and enjoyable manner.

I've been assessing a number of MUD's recently, trying to find one where I'll feel comfortable, but where there is some interesting Lore and some decent written stuff. I like the more involved puzzles and what not, although I must say I'm either not seeing it, or I'm over analysing the problem too much, but I like that solo involvement. I'd like to see more narrative, and have more people come together to take part in it, in a way thats more explore the Lore idea, than tool up and make a lot of character progress and gain status. But perhaps my roleplaying background is trying to find a MUD to squeeze into. When many MUD's take a purely gaming-the-system character progression attitude. I think some of the bigger MUD's on offer pander to the ego-centric loot grabbing ladder climbing 'power gamers' for want of a better expression for them. And so you have more of a playing population - but I'd argue you haven't got a better playing population.

4D is different because it has a lot of flavour within its four dimensions, and they can cater for all sorts of tastes. I'm hoping to convince some of my roleplaying friends from a community I'm in to try out 4D, as a place to come, enjoy the questing and combat on offer, and perhaps join in with roleplaying in the different dimensions.

Anyway, I just wanted to throw in some encouragement from a newbie's perspective here, that 4D is doing some things right, for at least some of the newcomers style of playing. I think the key to attracting and keeping new players, is to provide a place for them to express themselves, but with consideration for others, and respect for the community itself.

[Tocharaeh]

I think the key to attracting and keeping new players, is to provide a place for them to express themselves, but with consideration for others, and respect for the community itself.

I think Spelk spelled out as clearly as any could want. This is exactly right, and it is this that certain people have forgotten over the years.

Also. Yeah, we need more RPers. We are a huge minority in 4D.

[Prometheus]

I agree with Kitolani on not including newbies in current mud drama's. And I also agree with Kitolani that everyone should help not just helper. Sometimes helper's are afk and can't answer and sometimes we are busy leveling ourselves so sometimes we might miss an newbie channel question.

Prometheus