Newbie Friendly- for the Player's Consideration

[amoeba]

Amoeba, you misunderstood (or didn't read the rest of the post).

You market to the lowest common denominator of the market you are attempting to attract.

Yes I read the post, I read all the posts before replying.  I still disagree with you, but this is not a business discussion.

[bloodfromstone]

I find it to be in poor taste to exploit someone's newbieness and justify it as being IC to do so. Of course a newbie is easy pickings to lead out into the sands, tell them how to mine, and then kill them when their stamina runs out. It's also tasteless and poor show, in my opinion. For one thing, most of the time that people do this, they wouldn't even attempt the same scam on someone who is obviously a more adept player, even if they're ICly gullible.

That said, I don't have problems with people doing nasty things IC to newbies. Mug them, brawl them, cuss them out, whatever. Just make it interesting. You're completely in control of the scene and situation when a newb is involved, after all. Make it something that gives a feel of the game world, rather than just pickpocketing their newb 'sids and sneaking off.

[Anonymous]

I'll say this.  What attracted me and kept me at this RPI versus all others is that everyone isn't all buddy-buddy in-game.  So while players shouldn't completely take advantage of newbie mistakes part of what makes this game fun is realizing quickly what the risks are through pain and suffering.

The first character I had that learned how to make enough money on his own to keep himself fed was a very rewarding experience.  Obviously it's different strokes for different folks but having everyone in-game pouncing to help the obviously new PC can be a negative.

[Anonymous]

Nah.  If I sense someone is ICly gullible, I'll peck them, too.

I see no reason to ICly -not- pick on someone just because OOC I sense they are new.  That's just as bad RP as the people you accuse of singling them out specifically.

[spawnloser]

Davien, I know where you're coming from...I've used the arguement that DOING something and NOT DOING something for OOC reasons are no different when you are rating it as good RP vs bad RP.  _However_, the game needs new players, and if you just give the newbie a chance to get into the game a bit before raping them?  Good for you.  I mean, don't do the, "I'll show you where to buy food and water!" and lead them into an alley and kill them bit.  Actually lead them to get the food and water, suggest what they should do for armor and clothing, saving some money for the bank, give them advice on how to find a job...and then, after you got the person situated and they think you're his/her best friend, that's when you take him/her for everything, now that they've doubled their worth, also giving them that ultimate lesson for Arm: Life sucks here, deal with it.

[LoD]

There have been a lot of good points made in this discussion.

It is important to note that while newbie-friendly and user-friendly are similar, they are not synonymous.  They both apply to the ease of integration into the gameworld syntax, vocabulary and concept.  However, newbie-friendly can also describe the reception a new player can expect by the game's player characters and/or the players themselves in discussion forums like the General Discussion Board.

The problem is that you really have three kinds of new players; those who have never played a MUD, those who have never played an RPI MUD, and those who have never played Armageddon.  The learning curve, expectations, speed of assimilation and progress are different for each type of person because they must overcome different challenges.

:arrow: Players who have never played a MUD before might learn the syntax more slowly, but more swiftly adhere to the concepts and spirit of the game because they have no other point of comparison.  

:arrow: Players who haven't played an RPI MUD will find many similarities and quickly grasp the different game mechanics, but will struggle with the concepts of focusing on the character, maintaining a role consistent with the gameworld, and developing unselfish play that focuses less on testing limits and more on developing opportunities.

:arrow: Players who haven't played Armageddon before will probably adapt quickly to both the gameworld and syntax equally.

Throw age and levels of maturity into the mix and you have a wide spectrum of challenges for how to handle new players.  The very same response that is helpful to a player new to MUD's may seem patronizing to a long time player of an RPI MUD who is trying Armageddon for the first time.  Responses such as "Find out IC." are given as if the audience is the same, but they aren't.

So what's the point of all this?  The point is that there's no easy solution.  That being careful in the length, tone and wording of your responses to new players is extremely important.  No one can persuade you to change, only you can do that, but being aware of the different situations people may be coming from is an important step to providing a more newbie-friendly atmosphere for the game's new players.

-LoD

[Aldiel]

Like I said in another post, the community should be newbie friendly...and sometimes, we're not.

The documentation could be a bit more diverse, but that's a growing thing.

The in-game mechanics?  Not really, and they don't need to be.

Amen to these three poinst, sawny.

[Anonymous]

I usually just rob them, or send them on a suicidal mission... "go tell that guy with the signet ring that you think he's a putz" or whatever.

Normally I aim for comedy rather than tragedy.  I can't give actual examples, of course, but I lost... three characters before I got one that worked, and each tragedy just compelled me further.