Difficulties for a Returning Player

[Vesperas]

If this sort of information already exists, disregard and direct me to it. 

I kind of wish that there was an actively-updated page that lists the "common knowledge" events and recent history of the game world, for the purpose of creating new characters.  I think it would be helpful for new players, who have absolutely no idea what's going on, and for returning players, such as myself.  In fact, this is the single most difficult hurdle in my return:  I can't "get in touch" with the game world anymore.

I think to myself, "Gee, I really want to experience Armageddon again!"

And then, I open my client, stare at character creation (I don't want to play a character that's aged 15 years since I last played and would be completely oblivious to what's going on), and realize.. holy crap, what if Allanak's been leveled?  Should I go with the generic orphan farmhand background approach?  What if my entire elite plan for a character is completely non-viable in the changed world of Armageddon?

By the time I do get in, I'm completely unhappy with my blah templated "empty" character and I just can't seem to grasp anything exciting going on around me.  Nothing pops, grabs at me, encourages me to stay. 

It's completely different from being a NEW player, where I'd be enthralled by exploring commands, reading help files, and going through all of the site's general information.  When I was a new player, there was so much to discover, while I creeped around mapping things in my head, reading descriptions.  When I discovered plants, it was this whole entire ordeal of awesome to me.  But now I already know these things, or at least I know enough that picking through the "old" in hopes of grasping something "new" isn't going to cut it.

Am I the only one suffering from these ailments? :O

Help me get back into things.

[Marauder Moe]

Search the Staff Announcements for "HRPT".

Most recently: http://www.zalanthas.org/gdb/index.php/topic,37225.0.html

Also, the in-game boards usually keep the big world-changing rumors around for a while.

[Vesperas]

That thread was last updated in December.  :O  It's August.

Hmmm..

[Marauder Moe]

Well, world-changing HRPTs don't come all that often.  The one before the flood/volcano/black moon HRPT was a little under a RL year and a half prior.

[spawnloser]

Check out the history:  http://www.armageddon.org/cgi-bin/help_index/timeline.cgi

If the problem is more psychological, play a tribal of any sort.  I don't know about human tribals, because sometimes they're dead, but desert elves usually have at least a couple people to help ease you back into things.

[Mazy]

Check out the history:  http://www.armageddon.org/cgi-bin/help_index/timeline.cgi

If the problem is more psychological, play a tribal of any sort.  I don't know about human tribal, because sometimes they're dead, but desert elves usually have at least a couple people to help ease you back into things.

I agree with SL wholeheartedly in that you should find a consistent tribe to play around. I might be reading you wrong. From the post, you like you are very familiar with the game world, lore, and etc. but you are looking for a "new car" fresh new smell on a very old mud. I think applying for a role in an active tribe that you've never experienced before might fulfill this.

The staff here have always been helpful to me. You might want to consider sending an Ask the Staff request in via the request tool and seek their guidance a bit, because they'd probably be helpful in guiding you in a good direction. You might be looking to start plot lines, sparking up some roleplay in a dwindling tribe, or you might be wanting to play with a group that has really good activity. Either way, I know the staff could give you better insight than I can.

My problem is jumping into roles too quickly. I jump into the game abruptly, wanting to experience more of it. My second problem is thoroughly enjoying tiny mundane and trivial plots I have then dying in the most retarded way imaginable.

The best tip I can give is just to do what makes you happy. Plan something that might make your heart pump with excitement or eyes fill with tears. Perhaps search your soul and create a character you can empathize with and understand. We all have a right to pursue happiness, and when you are truly not enjoying the character or experience for any reason, you might want to play in a different area of this very diverse mud.

Also, welcome BACK to Armageddon. ^.^

[Salt Merchant]

I kind of wish that there was an actively-updated page that lists the "common knowledge" events and recent history of the game world, for the purpose of creating new characters.  I think it would be helpful for new players, who have absolutely no idea what's going on, and for returning players, such as myself.

This is a good idea.

[Vesperas]

I think I'm going to try and make this first character work, but if it flops, I promise to make a earnest effort at doing a tribal next time before giving up. 

[IntuitiveApathy]

In fact, this is the single most difficult hurdle in my return:  I can't "get in touch" with the game world anymore.

I think to myself, "Gee, I really want to experience Armageddon again!"

I seem to have to leave and return now and again, sometimes for months, sometimes for longer.

While I think it'd be handy to have a general 'What you know' for each major location of the game updated regularly by staff, a potential problem with that would be how much information should be divulged.  How much is enough for a player to feel connected to recent happenings, and how much is too much?  The way it is now, we have a history page with only the major, world-changing events listed, which I see as the staff erring on the safest end of that scale, and even some of those major history events might not be common knowledge to your everyday Zalanthian.

Until something finer grained is implemented (if at all), I have a few coping mechanisms.

I don't necessarily mind jumping back into an aged character, if I can (eventually) tailor a suitable story to fill in the years past.  But I think the easiest way to get back into the swing of things, is to make a character that doesn't have a background highly dependent on non-virtual specifics of the gameworld (I often ramble on about virtual family, for instance) and/or something completely open (ie. the character is suffering from amnesia, which essentially gives you a blank slate), and just jump right back into the game in a major location where you can find other players.  The first thing I check in my starting location is the in-game rumour bulletin board.  While again, you encounter the problem of how much, not enough info, it at least gives you some taste of the general happenings around your area.  The next thing to do is to start talking to other characters - if you don't like bar sitting to do this, join an active, friendly neighbourhood clan, and start chatting your clannies up.

I find that just by playing, I'm re-acclimated to the happenings of the world very quickly, and feel like I can fit my character and play right in once more.

[Lizzie]

Some of the problem is with intentional suppression of information - i.e. Tuluk politics. For example:

Citizens and visitors, including PCs, NPCs, and VNPCs witnessed first-hand various nasty things occurring in Freil's Rest a few months ago. They not only would've witnessed it, but anyone in close proximity to the specific location would've seen and heard templars and soldiers all gathering, armed and at the ready, to do battle. They also would've seen at least one of the templars leaving the vicinity, badly injured.

And yet - there wasn't a single post on the tavern board, and the PC leaders made sure to tell everyone that nothing happened, everything is fine, and everyone is safe.

Which is great, except, the people who DID see it..including people who don't have any particular loyalty to Tuluk or the Sun King or templars or nobles in Tuluk - would have not believed that everything was fine, nothing happened, and everyone is safe. In fact, the moment these visitors/tribals/interlopers/spies left Tuluk, anyone with even a remote interest in what horrors occur in Tuluk, would've heard one variation or another of the story.

So yeah that's all great, part of Tuluk culture to suppress info, however not everyone -in- Tuluk, is -from- Tuluk, and not everyone present within the walls at any given moment, adheres to Tuluki culture. There are plenty of visitors, interlopers, spies, outsiders of all sorts, expatriots, rebels, and haters, any of whom (and many of whom) would ensure that news travels as fast and as unpleasantly as possible.

It's pretty sad to show up in Tuluk out of chargen, check out the tavern board, see only a couple of parties planned, ask some of the other locals what's new, be told "nothing," and take a step to the left and fall in a ditch because everyone is pretending it isn't there.

[wizturbo]

I'm having the same feeling here.  I return to the game after a several years and I feel like so much has changed, and there's no real IC way of asking what's happened unless I made a character who literally lived under a rock for the last 10 in-game years.

[HavokBlue]

Technically this all applies to new players too...

But since we don't have any clue what it was like beforehand... ignorance is bliss!

[Aaron Goulet]

Some of the problem is with intentional suppression of information - i.e. Tuluk politics. For example:

Citizens and visitors, including PCs, NPCs, and VNPCs witnessed first-hand various nasty things occurring in Freil's Rest a few months ago. They not only would've witnessed it, but anyone in close proximity to the specific location would've seen and heard templars and soldiers all gathering, armed and at the ready, to do battle. They also would've seen at least one of the templars leaving the vicinity, badly injured.

And yet - there wasn't a single post on the tavern board, and the PC leaders made sure to tell everyone that nothing happened, everything is fine, and everyone is safe.

Which is great, except, the people who DID see it..including people who don't have any particular loyalty to Tuluk or the Sun King or templars or nobles in Tuluk - would have not believed that everything was fine, nothing happened, and everyone is safe. In fact, the moment these visitors/tribals/interlopers/spies left Tuluk, anyone with even a remote interest in what horrors occur in Tuluk, would've heard one variation or another of the story.

So yeah that's all great, part of Tuluk culture to suppress info, however not everyone -in- Tuluk, is -from- Tuluk, and not everyone present within the walls at any given moment, adheres to Tuluki culture. There are plenty of visitors, interlopers, spies, outsiders of all sorts, expatriots, rebels, and haters, any of whom (and many of whom) would ensure that news travels as fast and as unpleasantly as possible.

It's pretty sad to show up in Tuluk out of chargen, check out the tavern board, see only a couple of parties planned, ask some of the other locals what's new, be told "nothing," and take a step to the left and fall in a ditch because everyone is pretending it isn't there.

I think you make a good point here.  The same could be said of both city states.

I've already suggested to the staff that a brief summary of the most recent RPT should be put up on the history timeline, since it's pretty much common knowledge.  That was shortly after the HRPT.

[Malifaxis]

Welcome back!

When all else fails, jump in head first and bluff your way through it!  As a tribal, you have a perfect reason to not know about X, and if you have active tribal players in your group, they can brief you on WTF happened.  "Yeah, I've been hunting in the mountains east of the flats for the last, er, five years.  What's been goin on, dude?"  Most people will take the queue and help you out.  Those that don't are dicks... which kinda narrows it down to me and (GDB ident deleted because I'm on this whole "try not to overtly offend fucking everyone" kick), though I think both of us would still help you out with the knowledge and then kill you for your chalton hide boots because you're obviously some sort of a mind bender who's taken over the body of a beloved tribemember who's spirit needs to be returned to the (superstition deleted due to IC knowledge.)

Depending on what tribal faction you are a part of, you may wish to check out the TOTALLY WICKED new request feature thingy, that allows you to automagickally request entry to a particular faction's GDB sub-forum.  This will help you link up with your nearest blood relatives and hit the ground running.

[AreteX]

I understand your pain.

I keep trying to play Arm but RL messes with me as it's incredibly busy and changing all the time..

So I have a character, play it, enjoy it, RL demands...

A few months later its hard to even picture what my character was anymore.  I think I'm going to have the character come back a bit crazy, make a story up about something, and lose some memory :0

You could always make an alcoholic, who spent the last remaining money on booze, beg until begging doesn't work and has to go through withdrawals in some cesspit someplace in the city, when he's returned to society he barely remembers his last five years.

And go from there?

I think the majority of characters created never really stick to their envisioned futures.  Everyone thinks they'll be some ranger hunter type or something, and ends up in an entirely different role.  This game is so dynamic nothing is for certain.

Just roll with the punches.

[FiveDisgruntledMonkeysWit]

Yeesh. Tell me about, man. I know exactly how you feel. I find it's best to just muscle through it. It might also help if the History page was updated a little more often... I'm amazed that the events of the most recent HRPT haven't been summarized there, for instance.

Also, the in-game boards usually keep the big world-changing rumors around for a while.

Eh, I wouldn't count on that. If you've been gone for any significant amount of time, it's not long before "Kurac is hiring!" and "New bardic competition!" pushes away the rumors of new laws, notorious defilers, or city-changing political maneuvers.