Changes after the Hall of Kings

[Seeker]

I can think of a few things that change after exiting the Hall of Kings into the actual gameworld, but I'm not sure about all the points.

Your accent is set after leaving the Hall.
Your starting gear is set after leaving the Hall.
In some cases, I think a skill or two might even be added or adjusted.

Are your stats "fixed" in the Hall, or are they kinda like wheels in a slot machine.... still spinning?

Does your "hours played" timer run?  If you spent four hours in the Hall, and then stepped out into the world, would you have lost your chance for the newbie resurrection?

I know the Hall is an OOC concept, but it is an -interesting- concept.

Seeker

[Rhyden]

I can think of a few things that change after exiting the Hall of Kings into the actual gameworld, but I'm not sure about all the points.

Your accent is set after leaving the Hall.
Your starting gear is set after leaving the Hall.
In some cases, I think a skill or two might even be added or adjusted.

Are your stats "fixed" in the Hall, or are they kinda like wheels in a slot machine.... still spinning?

Not sure, probably something for the imms to respond to.

Does your "hours played" timer run?  If you spent four hours in the Hall, and then stepped out into the world, would you have lost your chance for the newbie resurrection?

Ya, actually they do. I had to spend a while in the Hall of Kings in order to get my character in contact with immortals. The time adds up but I'd see no reason for an immortal to turn back the clock once you begin.

[Sanvean]

Code Select Expand

Your accent is set after leaving the Hall.
Your starting gear is set after leaving the Hall.
In some cases, I think a skill or two might even be added or adjusted.

Yep.  This is dependent on what city or location you point to.

Are your stats "fixed" in the Hall, or are they kinda like wheels in a slot machine.... still spinning?

When you first log on (at least this used to be the cause and I believe it to still be), your stats are all 1s.  At the time you point, your stats are rolled.

Does your "hours played" timer run? If you spent four hours in the Hall, and then stepped out into the world, would you have lost your chance for the newbie resurrection?

The timer does indeed run.  We don't really have a way to reset the timer manually, other than editing the character's file in a complicated and somewhat fraught with peril way.

That said - one of the things we've been tossing around in immland for a while is the idea of modifying the Hall of Kings to a) make the experience easier for players who are new to the game and b) maybe throw in some stuff experienced players would appreciate, such as a way to get Tuluki caste tattoos before entering the world, for example.  So - what would you guys like to see in such a revamp?  What would have made your initial experience easier or more enjoyable?

[Larrath]

A mini bazaar for newbie clothes, so that people won't be able to spot new characters and know to target them this way.

Definitely a place for tattoos, Tuluki caste and other general ones.

The ability to see summaries of the locations.  This is helpful for new players that want to remember the exact difference between Allanak and Tuluk, or why they shouldn't point at Red Storm Village unless they want to spend two days tavern-sitting only to finally go out to explore and then be devoured by something hungry.

[Tamarin]

- caste tattoos, scars (which we already have)
- the ability to pick a homeland, yet start somewhere else in the world
- the ability to customize starting gear according to your homeland (ie a store where you can buy crappy gear for 0 sids).  This would be a nice change, as opposed to the standard pants, shirt, and backpack.  Or whatever.
-the ability to pick where in a given city you're going to start.  I would much rather start somewhere in a market than in a tavern.

[wizturbo]

A mini bazaar for newbie clothes, so that people won't be able to spot new characters and know to target them this way.

Definitely a place for tattoos, Tuluki caste and other general ones.

The ability to see summaries of the locations.  This is helpful for new players that want to remember the exact difference between Allanak and Tuluk, or why they shouldn't point at Red Storm Village unless they want to spend two days tavern-sitting only to finally go out to explore and then be devoured by something hungry.

Newbie Bazaar is a big thumbs up.  Having a description of the cities before you point would be good too, so newbies can have it right up in their face "This is an advanced starting location."  Or "This is the most newbie friendly starting location."  Etc.

[Praetorian]

Perhaps combine them all into a multi-tiered pointing process.  Point Tuluk, would take you to a Tuluk starting room, where you could buy Tuluk-themed starting clothes, appropriate tattoos (with a sign explaining the caste markings and meanings), and a general review of Tuluk-important helpfiles such as the noble houses, templarate system, and general knowledge any Tuluk citizen should know.  Also, stats could be rolled/rerolled at this point.

Then, typing point tuluk, or just 'enter game' would put the prepared pc into the city to begin play.

I have always felt it awkward entering the game looking like a newbie, and everyone knowing you are a newbie, and then having to scamper for clothes to wear and to find/purchase the tattooes that you should have had since you were a little tyke.

- Prae

[Seeker]

As an undiapered n00b, I spent a bit of time in the Hall before I had the guts to step out into the world.

I tried to learn how to use the commands and work through a few emotes, with my browser window open to the help files.

There have been good ideas already mentioned, but one possibly impractical thing additionally that I would favor:

- characters in the Hall of Kings should have no descriptions:  seeing another new character's sdesc in the Hall as you pass each other on the roads to your disparate destinies is OOC knowledge that I don't want.  But if I were still a n00b, it would be cool to be able to interact in an anonymous fashion with an anonymous stranger, if they were willing.

Seeker

[Bardex]

Agreed with the suggestions mentioned: A 1 or 2 line summary about the location you pointed to, with a "Are you sure you want to start here?" prompt so they can change their mind. A mini market specific to their chosen starting location -or- a single room buffer between the HoK and the location with a single merchant in it offering all the appropriate clothing/caste tattooes. And I like the idea of being "A wandering traveller" in the HoK with no desc so that people who bump into each other when they show up at the same time can interact OOCly. New players would have more chance to get syntax help and apply it immediately without feeling like a noob since they're not "really" in the game yet.

[Praetorian]

But if I were still a n00b, it would be cool to be able to interact in an anonymous fashion with an anonymous stranger, if they were willing.

Seeker

This concept actually makes me cringe.  I can just envision new players meeting each other in the hall of kings with a following discussion:

Newbie1: Hey are you new here?
Newbie2: Yeah I am!  I'm going to roxxor this mud!
Newbie1: If we work together, I bet we can get some kewl lewt!
Newbie2: Yeah!  Lets both pick the same place and hook up!
Newbie1: Should we make it look like a coincidence?
Newbie2: Hey, I have a brother in my background...you want to be it?
Newbie1: Sure!  I'll be your brother, whats your name?
Newbie2: Names Smackaroo!  My IM handle is Smacksalot, add me!
Newbie1: Ok!
*both newbies point to their chosen city*

I think talking should be removed from the hall of kings - shouldn't be chatting there anyways unless with an imm, and then you can just use wish

[Agent_137]

Definitely a newbie bazaar. Some way for me to step in the world not screaming that I'm a new character.

people talk of not liking to see Sdescs in hall of kings because it's OOC knowledge on the age of the character. . . but everyone who looks at you and sees newbie clothes has to deal with that OOC knowledge also.

Definitely caste tattoos. Maybe regular tats?

One needs to strike a balance between gear and clothing provided in Hall of Kings with having people buy afterwards.

I mean, do we want nearly a full bazaar where you can walk into the world with everything but a kank? (waterskin, armor, basic crafting materials, etc.) Or do we want something where we can just mix and match clothing choices so that we don't scream NOOB?

I don't know if I like the "homeland" and "different starting location" idea. If you want to be from 'nak but live in Tuluk, goddamnit, make that trip ICly, and don't leave it in the nice safe and already-happened background. That's just my personal opinion. At the very least, such an instance should be cleared with the mud account before happening. Further discussion on this merits a new thread so we don't clutter this suggestion thread.

Also, i  wouldn't mind the hall of kings being more OOC so as to be more newbie friendly. I mean, an experienced Armer is going to understand the difference between OOC and IC, so more OOC in an already OOC HoK won't be a problem. But some more help files and explanations for the newbies would be great. Or maybe you could have two options when creating a character:
1. The help-filled route
2. The experienced route.

One gives you How To's and What To Expects while the other is bare bones business, no frills because we already know.

[Angela Christine]

I don't think a newbie bazaar would hide your newbie shame.  Suppose there are 100 items available in the newbie bazzar for your town.  That means that for most visible items like cloaks, boots, and backpacks there are probably only going to be 5 choices (or fewer).  Very quickly most players will learn to recognise the newbie packs and newbie cloaks.  Untill a few years ago (a little before my time) every newbie got the same clothes regardless of starting location: I think it was black trousers with pockets, and a sandcloth shirt.  The regionalized newbie cloathing is cool, but it didn't take long for players to learn to recognise all the new newbie outfits, even the ones from exotic places like Red Storm and the Blackwing Outpost.  

People will recognise newbies.  That isn't a bad thing.  If I see someone in full newbie gear and nothing else, then I usually ignore them unless they seem to be lost or confused like a true newbie, they come right out and ask for help, or they initiate interaction.  Newbie gear tells me that this person is probably still getting their bearings, so ICly I treat them like the thousands of other people in the city, and pretty much ignore them.  I don't look for a reason to pick them out of the thousands of NPCs and VNPCs around them.  Likewise if they are in newbie gear and acting weird, then I am more likely to assume that the player is a newbie and perhaps be a little more patient or helpfull, or at least as much as I can while staying true to my PCs personality.


Rather than a bazzar, I wouldn't mind if the newbie outfits were periodically changed by some clever and generous imm, the way that some Kadian shops periodically change their inventory.  This year Allanak newbies are wearing a sandcloth shirt, trousers and boots.  Next year maybe they wear an aba (torso edition) leggings and sandals.  Or perhaps a script where each starting location would have, say, 5 outfits and each newbie would randomly be assigned one of the outfits.  It wouldn't have to be hard to assemble the location outfits, basically whatever the commoner NPCs of that city are wearing would be appropriate.  The only restriction would be that all of the outfits should have approximately the same resale value.  That would add a little variety, without messing with the starting cash or needing extra rooms.


Angela Christine

[Anonymous]

Bazaar might be handy. I don't care if players perceive a new character. But I'd like to enter the world armed and dressed instead of wandering through the city half naked to pick up my background stuff.
Actually your generic Salarri, Kadian and Kuraci shops would suffice I guess.
Besides, with most of their money spent, new character becomes less appealing target for any possible newbie-hunting abuse.

[Elgiva]

Bazaar sounds cool. One would not think how hard is to get a nice pile of rags in North.  :twisted:

[creeper386]

I'd personally prefer some sort of random generation of outfits such as AC suggested. Except not set outfits. But say, five shirts, five pants, five footwear and randomly pick between the three for each individual character. Alot wide range that way.

A way to buy items and such before in the game COULD be nice. But from my experience. If I'm heading through the bazaar in newbie gear and buying new clothing/armor/weapons/whatnot ... People tend to not pay too much attention. They ussually understand that I'm outfitting my character to start playing, abit of an OOC snip here and there to allow for the problem we have. If we put in some sort of 'bazaar' in the HoK there'd have to be some way to restrict using skills in that area and everything as it's still an OOC enviroment. So people can't just barter and such in the HoKs.

Randomized starting equipment based on location would be nice. At least class tatoos would be nice. The ability to start in one place but have the accent from another would be nice. I don't believe it's something that would need Staff approval, and it'd be nice to make that choice. If I want to play a dirty southerner that stayed north after hitching a ride on some merchant caravan I'd like to have that choice. It'd also be useful for playing a nomad or something similar.

Yeap, hmm... Shrug


Creeper

[Rhyden]

I'm up for it, but honestly, I don't think it's a neccessity that irritates the ooze out of my brain.

So what? You spend like an hour or so gearing up. Apart from losing your first 3 non-permadeath hours and being watched, knowing others are assigning the status 'newbie' to you, I don't really see much conflict with the present system.

Either way works for me.

[halfhuman]

I definately would go for the newb bazaar.  I, for one, am tempted to the point of explosion to pickpocket/ assassinate someone wearing the newb clothing.  I realise that sometimes, after having to wait a WHOLE day without a character (Krath-forbid!) you just want to jump on in there and play, rather than having to go through all these places, grabbing eq, before you can enter the world.

I don't FULLY agree with the newbie bazaar, because there are market availability factors involved.  Like, say you intend to start in Allanak, but you buy a whole butt-load of wooden stuff.  You spent 300 sid on all this stuff, but, with the high price of wood in Allanak, it's more like 13,123,408,975,091,823,987,123,409,871 sid worth of stuff!!  Having access to some basic items would be nice.  Like, it'd be nice to be able to buy some light armor that would be available at basically the same price no matter your starting point (plain leather jerkins and some leather/bone bracers) or a weapon (a plain bone or chitin dagger or sword).  

In any case, I think you should at least be able to pick different starting EQ with the same basic value.  Instead of a brown sandcloth shirt, maybe you could get a white sandcloth robe? Instead of brown sandcloth pants, you could get a plain skirt?

Then again, while you're in the Hall of Kings, you're wearing completely different cloths then when you leave.  

For this to work, in my mind, you'd have to be naked to begin with, and if you choose to simply slap on a scar or two, point, and go, you'll be given them default cloths. But, if you want to start with something else, you could walk into the next room and there'd be a merchant that sells basic cloths for 0 sid.

As for the weapons, you'd prolly need to have those AFTER you choose a location, for the market difference reason.  

On the whole, I think this is a GREAT idea that should be implemented. (As long as you split the merchants up so that you're not looking for an angular scar, but accidently get an "Ace of Vase" tattoo on your butt)

[Hexxaex]

How it might work, is you would point to a starting place, and then you get to choose your newb eq.  So if you started in Allanak, you'd be introduced to a list of Allanaki style clothing, and if you pointed to Tuluk, you'd be introduced to a list of Tuluki style clothing and so on and so forth...

[halfhuman]

Yeah. That'd work well.  You point and it takes you to another room with all Allanak stuff in it. (assuming you started in Allanak) And it'd roll up all your random stuff in there, then you could spend it on common stuff.

Of coarse, with one room it could be complicated. You could have a few different catagories; weapons, armor, clothing, jewelry.  ANd it'd be like
list weapons
1) A curved obsidian sword for 90 obsidian coins
2) A crude bone club for 20 obsidian coins
3) A rubber chicken of wanton destruction for 106 obsidian coins

Then be like, "weapon view #3" or "view weapon #3" and "weapon buy #3" or "buy weapon #3"

same for Armor, jewelry, clothing, and so forth. that's as many catagories I could think of.

And, after you're done customising, (or don't want to customise,) You could "point continue" to start playing.
You could "point allanak" to continue, but I forsee this as being a problem if you accidently hit up and enter or something, or if you're lagged out and you use "point allanak" again, but then you skip right through it!!  I dunno. All speculation. Great idea!

[Dreamcatcher]

I started speaking sirihish....then i changed my language to bendune and when I tried to change it back to sirihish it wont let me......Now nobody can understand me.... :roll: my skillset says i have Bendune and Benduneaccent whatever taht is....how do I change it back?

[John]

I'd suggest e-mailing the mud (or if you really don't want to, during peak-time wishing up once). Looks like a bug