Interesting Analytics

[Ender]

I saw a couple weeks ago we had 291 unique accounts logged in, so I was curious to see how that week compared to other weeks, and one thing led to another:



The trend line seems fairly consistent with last year, so from a data perspective I think it's neat that Arm's retention rate more or less matches its turnover rate.  Looking over the new accounts statistic I'm shocked just how many new accounts are made each week which makes me think we either have a really high turnover rate, or a really low retention rate.  The answer is probably somewhere in the middle-ish.

[Jeshin]

Dramatic Re-enactment

Oh cool an... RPI mud. Guess that means they really appreciate roleplay.

*login to mud*
*create account*

Oh I have to wait for approval and read a whole bunch of docs? Bleh.

*muddles through 1st application*
*gets rejected and is offered pointers on fixes* or *gets approved and enters a world where commands may be unfamiliar and distinguishing npcs from pcs is difficult at first*

End!

These are problems every mud and especially every application mud will face. As a rule of thumb, the more streamlined a newbies experience is the more likely they are to stay around. The more delays involved the more likely they are to be discouraged or simply go back to something they're more comfortable with.

1. Introduction documentation: Armageddon has a great wealth of documentation that can be sifted through and it has beginner guides and the like. However, a newer set of documentation for newbies focusing on streamlining things that are most likely to lose a new player could go a long way. I kind of bet someone on staff has been or is planning on working on this at some point or has already finished it and it's waiting for the new website. In any case the current documentation is certainly fine and with the helper chat it's not something the MUD is lacking.

2. Rejection of initial apps: Armageddon provides quality RP and a consistent world. The cost of such is review of character backgrounds, mdesc, sdesc, and concept upon creation. The people most likely to be rejected are the newest players. Rejection can often lead to frustration or simply loss of motivation. Luckily the staff have always been good, to me at least, about providing guidance and even encouragement on both rejected and approved apps.

3. New commands / New setting: One of the biggest causes of player loss is a lack of familiarity with the MUD commands. There is almost nothing you can do to ease this besides having good help files and the helper chat. This is one of those issues that you just have to accept some newbies won't overcome unless they happen to use the helper chat or bump into a kindly player IG.

A few other statistics that would help gauge player retention would be # of hours played on inactive accounts, # of character approved / rejected, and whether they link-dead or quit out last. These would allow the staff to get a better idea of where and when they're losing players. On the flip side some battles just can't be won and it's often better to accept that players whom don't have the interest or drive to stick around despite all of Armageddons tools would probably not have been the bestest.

[Maso]

Dramatic Re-enactment

Oh cool an... RPI mud. Guess that means they really appreciate roleplay.

*login to mud*
*create account*

Oh I have to wait for approval and read a whole bunch of docs? Bleh.

*muddles through 1st application*
*gets rejected and is offered pointers on fixes* or *gets approved and enters a world where commands may be unfamiliar and distinguishing npcs from pcs is difficult at first*

End!

These are problems every mud and especially every application mud will face. As a rule of thumb, the more streamlined a newbies experience is the more likely they are to stay around. The more delays involved the more likely they are to be discouraged or simply go back to something they're more comfortable with.

1. Introduction documentation: Armageddon has a great wealth of documentation that can be sifted through and it has beginner guides and the like. However, a newer set of documentation for newbies focusing on streamlining things that are most likely to lose a new player could go a long way. I kind of bet someone on staff has been or is planning on working on this at some point or has already finished it and it's waiting for the new website. In any case the current documentation is certainly fine and with the helper chat it's not something the MUD is lacking.

2. Rejection of initial apps: Armageddon provides quality RP and a consistent world. The cost of such is review of character backgrounds, mdesc, sdesc, and concept upon creation. The people most likely to be rejected are the newest players. Rejection can often lead to frustration or simply loss of motivation. Luckily the staff have always been good, to me at least, about providing guidance and even encouragement on both rejected and approved apps.

3. New commands / New setting: One of the biggest causes of player loss is a lack of familiarity with the MUD commands. There is almost nothing you can do to ease this besides having good help files and the helper chat. This is one of those issues that you just have to accept some newbies won't overcome unless they happen to use the helper chat or bump into a kindly player IG.

A few other statistics that would help gauge player retention would be # of hours played on inactive accounts, # of character approved / rejected, and whether they link-dead or quit out last. These would allow the staff to get a better idea of where and when they're losing players. On the flip side some battles just can't be won and it's often better to accept that players whom don't have the interest or drive to stick around despite all of Armageddons tools would probably not have been the bestest.

Yeah, with completely new players to Arm, it's probably a bit softer and more encouraging to fix up their app for them and just approve it?

I thought maybe having a list of some ideas for good 'newb' character concepts might help. Like....various ideas for the types of characters that are easier to play at the outset, that helps with the jarring nature of not knowing what you are doing and needing to ask a ton of questions to other players.

[Eriad]

Dramatic Re-enactment

Oh cool an... RPI mud. Guess that means they really appreciate roleplay.

*login to mud*
*create account*

Oh I have to wait for approval and read a whole bunch of docs? Bleh.

*muddles through 1st application*
*gets rejected and is offered pointers on fixes* or *gets approved and enters a world where commands may be unfamiliar and distinguishing npcs from pcs is difficult at first*

End!

These are problems every mud and especially every application mud will face. As a rule of thumb, the more streamlined a newbies experience is the more likely they are to stay around. The more delays involved the more likely they are to be discouraged or simply go back to something they're more comfortable with.

1. Introduction documentation: Armageddon has a great wealth of documentation that can be sifted through and it has beginner guides and the like. However, a newer set of documentation for newbies focusing on streamlining things that are most likely to lose a new player could go a long way. I kind of bet someone on staff has been or is planning on working on this at some point or has already finished it and it's waiting for the new website. In any case the current documentation is certainly fine and with the helper chat it's not something the MUD is lacking.

2. Rejection of initial apps: Armageddon provides quality RP and a consistent world. The cost of such is review of character backgrounds, mdesc, sdesc, and concept upon creation. The people most likely to be rejected are the newest players. Rejection can often lead to frustration or simply loss of motivation. Luckily the staff have always been good, to me at least, about providing guidance and even encouragement on both rejected and approved apps.

3. New commands / New setting: One of the biggest causes of player loss is a lack of familiarity with the MUD commands. There is almost nothing you can do to ease this besides having good help files and the helper chat. This is one of those issues that you just have to accept some newbies won't overcome unless they happen to use the helper chat or bump into a kindly player IG.

A few other statistics that would help gauge player retention would be # of hours played on inactive accounts, # of character approved / rejected, and whether they link-dead or quit out last. These would allow the staff to get a better idea of where and when they're losing players. On the flip side some battles just can't be won and it's often better to accept that players whom don't have the interest or drive to stick around despite all of Armageddons tools would probably not have been the bestest.

Yes, I had played around on a few Hack n' Slash MUDs, then I played SoI (Shadows of Isildur) for a bit. The above happened to me when I played SoI, then I played Arm and things just fit in. RPI takes a bit to get used to.

[Ender]

Yeah, with completely new players to Arm, it's probably a bit softer and more encouraging to fix up their app for them and just approve it?

I thought maybe having a list of some ideas for good 'newb' character concepts might help. Like....various ideas for the types of characters that are easier to play at the outset, that helps with the jarring nature of not knowing what you are doing and needing to ask a ton of questions to other players.

Ehhh...  the only way I would like to see this is if a staffer or a player actually walks the new player through a pre-approved app.

I've always felt making a PC on your own that genuinely fits into the world is a good litmus test to see if a new player truly gets it.  

I know it may seem harsh, but Arm has a super high standard of roleplay, and it'll be frustrating and painful for both the newbie and the established players if newbies just jump into the game with no real concept of what the game world demands of them RP-wise.

What we really need is just more helpers and a better and easier way to connect those helpers to newer players to answer questions on the fly and guide them like little baby birds.  How well is the Livechat app currently working?  I know I'm a helper, but somehow I never got a login to it , probably my own fault.

[Maso]

I suppose that's a good way of looking at it. Although, I also think Arm is 'good enough' that it can encourage and inspire players to become better.

I was turned on to Arm by a friend (I can't even remember who now! I don't know if they are still out there, and I never saw them in game). But I spent a ton of time reading through the docs before I even app'd my first character...and then through that characters life and before my next...spent even more time literally just...reading it all. There's a lot. It can be overwhelming...but I reaaally wanted to play Arm, so I was determined to get it right!

[Delirium]

The Livechat app works great from a Helper standpoint... but I'm surprised at how little traffic it gets.

Maybe it's just the hours I log in (workdays EST).

As far as numbers, to me, Armageddon's playerbase seems to be trending very slowly upward while maintaining a steady rotation of old/new players.

[Ender]

The Livechat app works great from a Helper standpoint... but I'm surprised at how little traffic it gets.

Maybe it's just the hours I log in (workdays EST).

As far as numbers, to me, Armageddon's playerbase seems to be trending very slowly upward while maintaining a steady rotation of old/new players.

Yea, that's pretty much what I noticed from the trend.  the player base is healthy and growing, though slowly.  The last few weeks have had really high number of new accounts, but I'll have to look at more data to see if it's an anomaly or just normal seasonality.

Or maybe FW's newbie drive is really working!

The next couple weeks will be really telling to see how much the back to school slump will affect the active playerbase.

[Ender]

I pulled the new accounts data from the weekly update:



Interesting averages!

Average amount of unique weekly logins

• 2011(up to end of Aug): 261
  
• 2011(full year): 258
  
• 2012(so far): 262

Average weekly amount of new accounts

• 2011(up to end of Aug): 27
  
• 2011(full year): 25
• 2012(so far): 34

These totals just boggle my mind.  Over thirty people making accounts each week?  That's over 100 new accounts every month.  It's insane to me.

Here's my dream list of other metrics if any imms wanna hook a brother up:

Weekly number of accounts:

• Went dormant (logged in last week, didn't log in this week)
• Logged in only once
• New Accounts that didn't make a character or only logged in once (whatever is easier to track)
• Rejected applications that didn't reapply
• Became active again (didn't log in last week, but logged in this week)

[My 2 sids]

The the games Candy Land and Chess are very different - and probably will draw different audiences.  But, at the end of the day people who want to play the game will take the time to learn the basic rules of play.  Even if they're not very good at it -- the love for the game will keep them.  I don't think Arm should ever downplay having high standards -- so long as there is commitment to provide motivation and clear steps to achieve those high standards.


As far as this specific topic, I think there are two learning curves:  the OOC and the IC.  OOCly, I think the staff and players do a great job of being supportive and keeping information organized and available. (although, I will always point out that knit-picking can and does come across as unfriendly)

ICly, Arm can be pretty isolating.  Even after reading the Docs, developing your PC, and getting approved -- you're dropped into a world and told "you're PC has no relationships and no reason to trust anyone."  

And we say the answer to this are Clans-- but are they?  

Warrior type?  After you've spent the majority of your sids on full price starting gear and tavern sitting you'll be directed to a clan that has the fewest number of leadership PCs and the highest death rate.  When you're done RPing mucking out the latrines you'll go on outings which take you around the world you know nothing about and into battles so spam-heavy they'll make your eyes bleed.

Ranger?  choose the harsh desert learning curve or the how-does-one-understand-sublties-when the only thing you get to see is what the others around you emote  or take your chances going into an area where there isn't another PC for miles.

City-dweller?  Welcome to the "we're going to say your character can do/ be anyone but really you'll be excluded or killed because there is no such thing as an aide/bard/grubber PCs"

Bad guy?  Well, you're just strait up on your own to figure that out.  But, don't do it wrong or you'll be crucified on the GDB and start your playerhood with poor notes against your account.


The point:
Having more IC families or apprenticeships could, I think, greatly improve the isolation feeling.  And I think older players wouldn't mind teaching one newbie -- instead of going in a clan which may not fit their own PC's point of view or trying to take responsibly to entertain/teach an entire gaggle of new player PCs.

[Maso]

Personally, I don't see the current clans like that at all.

If you go for a warrior/ranger type role initially then I think the Byn, so long as it is fairly active when you are around, is a great environment for learning, and the leader PC's are generally quite understand of new players. The schedule has a good balance between RP-related tasks and skill-related tasks to give the player some inspiration and guidance as well as gearing their PC up to have a better chance of survival. They get shown the world that they would otherwise die very quickly trying to explore initially.

If you are city based you have both merchant houses and noble houses (as well as the Templarate) depending on which way you go...Personally I feel the aide route is great (and really helped me in the early days). As you tend to get a lot of one on one interaction with someone who has been selected for a leadership role and is often a great role model.

The clans in game serve brilliantly to help new players....the biggest problem I see is activity and playtimes. I imagine a lot of the new players that don't hang around...are probably off-peakers. Which is sad, because with the rate of the new accounts being made...I bet it could be really well populated if some folk hung around.

Maybe a few SUPER OFFPEAK RPT'S, to sleep-deprive the hardcore players and lure them into the off-peak, would serve to make that time of day seem more populated, and this encourage some players to hang around...resulting in making it actually more populated?

I dunno. Clutching at straws.

[Eurynomos]

We already go through first-time Apps and review/edit/sometimes even write up a whole new description, instead of rejecting them.

[Ender]

We already go through first-time Apps and review/edit/sometimes even write up a whole new description, instead of rejecting them.

Awesome!  I did not know that.

[solaruin]

Yeah, with completely new players to Arm, it's probably a bit softer and more encouraging to fix up their app for them and just approve it?

That's basically what happened to me. I'll admit, even going from para-posting to arm was a bit of a leap, mostly because of the code.
It was impossible for me to understand where i was at, but making my own maps really helped me with this. i think the biggest issue was trying to figure out emotes. i still don't have that great of a grasp on them, but at least I'm at a passable level. what i really need is to find somewhere alone and play with them a bit. Stand alone emotes are easy, putting them around actions is whats hard.
I did use the helper chat to the extent that i thought i was probably annoying them, and eventually read most of the documentations, but i feel like there are still things missing...
i would REALLY like to see a list of idioms. Just a collection of slang and sayings. what do people from 'nak say for goodbye for example? do they say 'his light' like in tuluk? i heard someone say 'shade and profit' as a goodbye the other day, where does this come from? i figure a lot of the reason for this not being around is because you want people to 'find out in game', but i think that anyone with the capacity to play ARM has the capacity to keep ooc info out of their PCs head.
Just a thought

[Maso]

We already go through first-time Apps and review/edit/sometimes even write up a whole new description, instead of rejecting them.

I think I might have already known this...it may have been what occurred with my first app...though not a complete rewrite...because I'm awesome obviously.

[Maso]

Yeah, with completely new players to Arm, it's probably a bit softer and more encouraging to fix up their app for them and just approve it?

That's basically what happened to me. I'll admit, even going from para-posting to arm was a bit of a leap, mostly because of the code.
It was impossible for me to understand where i was at, but making my own maps really helped me with this. i think the biggest issue was trying to figure out emotes. i still don't have that great of a grasp on them, but at least I'm at a passable level. what i really need is to find somewhere alone and play with them a bit. Stand alone emotes are easy, putting them around actions is whats hard.
I did use the helper chat to the extent that i thought i was probably annoying them, and eventually read most of the documentations, but i feel like there are still things missing...
i would REALLY like to see a list of idioms. Just a collection of slang and sayings. what do people from 'nak say for goodbye for example? do they say 'his light' like in tuluk? i heard someone say 'shade and profit' as a goodbye the other day, where does this come from? i figure a lot of the reason for this not being around is because you want people to 'find out in game', but i think that anyone with the capacity to play ARM has the capacity to keep ooc info out of their PCs head.
Just a thought

Oof! In Allanak it is "His Shadow" and in Tuluk it is "His Light" - just so you know! Big difference.

I think the main thing...and there is nothing anyone can do to change this....is how long it takes Arm to *click* in the mind of the player and whether they can hold out long enough to let this happen. It's the same with pretty much any mud...For a while...it's all just text...it's overwhelming...you can't visualize it...and there's so much you need to read. After a while, your imagination kicks in and it starts to get easier...and a lot more fun.

I agree, making maps really helped me. I mapped out Allanak and the bazaar and that was super beneficial (no offense, but the in game maps are harddddd to follow!)

[My 2 sids]

Except that if people didn't have creativity or imagination, they wouldn't be drawn to Arm in the first place.  "suck it up & stick it out" is not a good test of a player's potential and is certainly not a great advertising slogan.


"Clicking" is really all about figuring out how a person's IC experience really fits into the Big Picture of what's going on in game.  But, again, I go back to the chess analogy:  it may take a years to master, but the general understanding and ability to play should really only take an afternoon or so to learn.



**going back to clans.  There are the way the clans are supposed to work and then the way they actually work.   

[Maso]

No, clicking has nothing to do with a personal IC experience or the game world....It just has everything to do with how quickly a players mind can take in and process all the information. It's more like when you are learning to drive...and every action requires thought...and then one day it just clicks and a lot of it becomes instinctual. Up until that point...it is still difficult.

[Delusion]

The GDB's hive mind often seems to turn out the notion that the Byn is a superb place for new players to play their first character. Thing is, it sucks if you're off-peak and new, unless there's some large amount of off-peak players in the Byn at the time. My first character joined the Byn, and my playtimes were off-peak. A lot of my with that character was spent idling with no other PCs around at all. If I hadn't RPed and MUDed before that, and was instead brand new to the genre, I would probably have given up within a few days - it was boring. I actually got to about 15 days logged on that character before I just got fed up and pretty much forgot all about Arm - I did return a few months later, at least.

I think that a guide to how to survive alone, including simple things like the routes between major settlements, where to purchase basic food and affordable water in each settlement, what areas the average vNPC hunter frequents and so on would be great for player retention, particularly for the off-peak crowd.

[kayza]

I got sucked into this game very quickly as I was always an RPer even on other games.  I don't know what I would do if I logged on here and was use to hack and slash.

Regardless this game is terrible on new players.  I have no real solutions in how to fix this but I think it is something that is very important to address.   The only thing I can come out is try to make the game seem less elitist.  Karma and applications should be done perhaps a little softer in terms of how they introduced to a new player.  Obviously applications you can't much, but having a screen of a bunch of blank races and guilds you can't play is very daunting.     

Is it a terrible idea to have your first character have some pre-gen options?  Or at least make examples more in your face.  If there already are, I haven't noticed them so they aren't really being advertised much.

Honestly, I can search the board and find this problem come up zillions of times.  In the end it seems the end response is "working as intended."

[Jeshin]

I think that a guide to how to survive alone, including simple things like the routes between major settlements, where to purchase basic food and affordable water in each settlement, what areas the average vNPC hunter frequents and so on would be great for player retention, particularly for the off-peak crowd.

I would point out that if this information needs to be learned IC. We have this really cool discuss <topic> with npc command. You could seed NPCs that just blabbed this stuff at people, maybe even for coin.

[RogueGunslinger]

I got sucked into this game very quickly as I was always an RPer even on other games.  I don't know what I would do if I logged on here and was use to hack and slash.

Regardless this game is terrible on new players.  I have no real solutions in how to fix this but I think it is something that is very important to address.   The only thing I can come out is try to make the game seem less elitist.  Karma and applications should be done perhaps a little softer in terms of how they introduced to a new player.  Obviously applications you can't much, but having a screen of a bunch of blank races and guilds you play seems very daunting.

Is it a terrible idea to have your first character have some pre-gen options?  Or at least make examples more in your face.  If there already are, I haven't noticed them so they aren't really being advertised much.

Honestly, I can search the board and find this problem come up zillions of times.  In the end it seems the end response is "working as intended."

When addressing problems it's probably best to be clear what those problems are, and what ideas you might have to fix it. Reading your post a few times and I'm really not sure what the problem is you're seeing. I never found the list of races and hguilds particularly "daunting" And when I was a nooby I didn't really suspect anythign elitist about the game either.

Can you be a little more descriptive with what you mean? Because I also think player retention is important. But it always seems like peoples issues are incredibly vague and never really in agreement with each-other.

[Maso]

There is a 'Newbie Hall' now, that you can point to? That should help! I haven't tried it...but...I assume....

And the Byn IS good...on peak. Maybe an off-peak Byn Sarge would help? I dunnoooo.

[Maso]

And when I was a nooby I didn't really suspect anythign elitist about the game either.

Because you were an elitist noooob.

Kidding.

[Delusion]

There is a 'Newbie Hall' now, that you can point to? That should help! I haven't tried it...but...I assume....

And the Byn IS good...on peak. Maybe an off-peak Byn Sarge would help? I dunnoooo.

It would still require a critical mass of off-peak players willing to join the Byn.