What almost turned you off the game WHEN YOU WERE NEW

[Kismetic]

The first time I played, back in '98 or '99, I had only played less serious MUDs, like DragonRealms, GuildWars, Faerun, etc., and they all used names instead of sdescs.  The first time I played Armageddon, there was so much idling and non-interaction in the Sanctuary, that I didn't realize any of them were PCs.  So I wandered around Tuluk for a couple hours, and quit.  Didn't come back for awhile.

For a long time, I perceived that Armageddon was full of elitist buttholes.  Not sure how I got that impression, probably from the GDB.

[LauraMars]

I actually was turned off this game the first time I tried it in 2002.   My first character (whose name I can't even remember) followed someone into the rinth and was killed.  This wasn't what turned me off, though.  What turned me off was being so incredibly confused by the complicated commands and opaque (at the time) documentation that the idea of creating another character was discouraging to me.  Speaking to other characters was like trying to speak another language.  What's a Barani?

Obviously, I didn't stay discouraged forever - just three years or so.  I came back to Armageddon in 2005 for another attempt.  Why'd I stay that time?  A player noticed I was new and took me aside to help me out, teaching me basic commands via OOC.  I never forgot that - I never would have stuck with it if I hadn't been helped.  It's the reason I became a helper later on.  Taking a few minutes to help a new player could be the difference between them being too confused to make a new character and them sticking around for years.

[Molten Heart]

The movement delays between the rooms.  At first I thought it was lag, but the friend that recruited me explained it was intentional.  I got used to it eventually.

[Gunnerblaster]

Why'd I stay that time?  A player noticed I was new and took me aside to help me out, teaching me basic commands via OOC.  I never forgot that - I never would have stuck with it if I hadn't been helped.  It's the reason I became a helper later on.  Taking a few minutes to help a new player could be the difference between them being too confused to make a new character and them sticking around for years.

LauraMars was this person for me

[Fujikoma]

Character app rejections, time taken for character app acceptances... Honestly drives me nuts, though it's my fault for not writing descs and backgrounds and such properly, I just want to throw my character out there, then figure out what he is...

Hate waiting a day to see if I got accepted, but I can see how it's much better than seeing superheroes wandering the streets in capes.

It frustrates me to no end when I feel like I'm already being punished by losing my character, then feel like I'm being punished further by not being able to play again for another day. Imagine there's a really good reason behind that, but it makes me want to punch something, because what the hell else am I going to do?

Still, I can see all kinds of problems arising from the process being sped along, even with a very limited amount of time spent playing the game and next to no RP experience beforehand.

[Gunnerblaster]

Honestly, the rate at which character applications are processed are fucking incredible in comparison to when I first started playing back in '06 where you had a 1-2 day wait. Now? Shit, give it less than several hours and you're good to go. We have awesome, dedicated Staff to thank for that.

[Fredd]

Honestly, the rate at which character applications are processed are fucking incredible in comparison to when I first started playing back in '06 where you had a 1-2 day wait. Now? Shit, give it less than several hours and you're good to go. We have awesome, dedicated Staff to thank for that.

Agreed. I remember those waits. Now if my guy isn't aproved in like 7 hours I'm pacing! LOL.

[Narf]

Character app rejections, time taken for character app acceptances... Honestly drives me nuts, though it's my fault for not writing descs and backgrounds and such properly, I just want to throw my character out there, then figure out what he is...

Hate waiting a day to see if I got accepted, but I can see how it's much better than seeing superheroes wandering the streets in capes.

I first started playing Arm in 1996. I was in high school and I was pretty well hooked and played as much as I could on my old dial up modem (get off my lawn! *cough wheeze*). I ended up dieing just before winter break and put in a character application.

It was approved the day before the end of winter break.

On topic now, I've taken a few several year long breaks from this game since I started and most all of them are precipitated by the sense that there's nothing going on and I'm not involved in anything.

There was one exception though. Back in '97 the policy on acceptable posts on the Message Boards were somewhat more lax, and internet etiquette in general was equally lax. There was an IMM that got the bright idea of posting an amusing parody explaining staff policy on multi-accounting. His bright idea was to make a 'humorous' parallel to the Don't Ask Don't Tell policy in the military (you can multi-account, just don't do it so brazenly we catch you). This post ended up being a two page long slur against homosexuals, capping the entire 'joke' with the statement "and don't do, because it's gross."

I get a good long laugh every time I hear people complaining about how insensitive and/or unfair IMMs are being these days.

[zarkov]

Hey guys! What almost turned me off, though I've only been here for a weeks were mostly due to my own mistakes and misconceptions....

- I couldn't understand ('cause of past games) why I couldn't spam craft or steal everything in sight.

- I actually didn't realize that elves, magickers and the like were looked down on, so I'd talk to them all the same, then not understand all the weird looks and hate!

- The first time I logged on was in a downtime, I thought a MUD with only 10 players on would bore me, luckily I logged on a few hours later to see I was wrong.

- Sorry to say it, but what most put me off was reading the GDB, or, most of it I enjoyed reading. But reading the thread about Tuluk made me wonder about the playerbase and whether I wanted to stay. (It was hard to understand most of the arguements as a new player).

That said, I'm still here, and have no plans to leave yet! Every time I die...I think I can roleplay the next even better, me more creative and imaginative within the confines of the game, I have a long way to go yet.

[musashi]

- Sorry to say it, but what most put me off was reading the GDB, or, most of it I enjoyed reading. But reading the thread about Tuluk made me wonder about the playerbase and whether I wanted to stay. (It was hard to understand most of the arguements as a new player).

I forget where it got written, but there was another newbie once who made a comment on the GDB to the effect of, "Jeez you guys really go at it when you argue! Did you all kill each other's puppies or something?"

Some long time player wrote back, "Worse, we've been killing each other's long lived, cherished characters for years."

[Scarecrow]

I ignore 90 percent of stuff on the GBD. Every topic is essentially people stating their view, with no intention of having it changed no matter what anyone else says. Like the Tuluk thing, everyone talked, then they stopped, and it was like the conversation never mattered.

What almost turned me off? I really wanted to be a magicker at first. A few years later...still hoping for my first karma point. I suppose one day I'll get there, but Karma seems to be allergic to me. I was almost turned off again after a year or so of playing, when my lack of getting Karma made me think I was a terrible RPer or doing something wrong.

[Hitsuchi]

As a new player...
    * The greatest issue for me was the off-peak-ness. When I logged on, there would be 5 players online...and as a new character, new player, I didn't know what I could do, or how I would do it. I had some kind of a goal for my PC, but I had no idea how to get there. I quit logging in because I had no idea what I was doing. Then, I decided to try again half a year later - got lucky, found a leader PC and joined a clan. Thankfully, we've got a lot more people around nowadays (where there were 5, now there are 30), but I don't see that many leader characters around during early afternoons and other semi-off peak times even now. Someone to give you water, food and the basic information on how the world works. I could do without the food and water, but as a new player I couldn't have gone without someone teaching me how I was supposed to act and where I should go. Just knowing what you were supposed to be doing meant a lot for me staying.
    * I might remember this wrong - it's been a while - but the character creation process was kind of annoying iirc. Not the writing-a-character (that was the fun part), but the actual interface.
    * Also, the code is hard to grasp when you're new. Was that an emote, or a coded skill? What command did that? Why can't I do that here? Though by the time I needed to use that much code, I was already hooked.

[Caiden]

Definitely the lack of a color coded world. Not only is it easier on the eyes, a lot of player use it to keep track of things. that and the amount of time it took for character creation. Otherwise this game is the shit. definitely best mud I've played

[Ben Arie]

Even compared to other people who consider themselves "beginners", my playing time seems like a drop of water in the ocean; but I've learned that to make ambitious plots come to life I have to be patient and think it through, compared to how, when first reading the documentation, my only thoughts were "make a sorcerer and become really powerful!".

I wouldn't say that finding the huge ladder I have to climb to get there was a turn-off, rather it makes me cherish the game and its theme even more, and makes both the characters of my dreams and my lowly Amos the Merchant all the more desirable and interesting!

The only real turn off I see is off-peakness. We need more people from outside the Americas, but I don't know anyone here in Europe who's willing to try -and- stick to a game without colorful 3D graphics and easy point-and-click gameplay. Let alone be willing to role-play properly and get involved in non-linear plots.

[Patuk]

Even compared to other people who consider themselves "beginners", my playing time seems like a drop of water in the ocean; but I've learned that to make ambitious plots come to life I have to be patient and think it through, compared to how, when first reading the documentation, my only thoughts were "make a sorcerer and become really powerful!".

I wouldn't say that finding the huge ladder I have to climb to get there was a turn-off, rather it makes me cherish the game and its theme even more, and makes both the characters of my dreams and my lowly Amos the Merchant all the more desirable and interesting!

The only real turn off I see is off-peakness. We need more people from outside the Americas, but I don't know anyone here in Europe who's willing to try -and- stick to a game without colorful 3D graphics and easy point-and-click gameplay. Let alone be willing to role-play properly and get involved in non-linear plots.

Goooooooooood afternoon there.

[spicemustflow]

Sup. We have a decent amount of offpeakers, more than some games have players.

(btw, the proper time to play arm is late night anway)

[brytta.leofa]

Stepping out of the Gaj and getting lost in a sandstorm and not remembering which direction I'd come from. Sad but true. No idea what account that was. On the other hand, this may have saved my actual life because I was in school at the time.

Also, negative reactions to my character for the stupid mistakes I'd put him through, because I was a noob. They always felt somewhat personal to me.

Definitely a "problem" for me, too, but not something I came close to quitting over.

[Is Friday]

I found out playing a pickpocket as my first PC was probably not a good idea. Still, some noble back in '06 took my PC aside, hired her, and showed my PC how to sweep up sawdust. That was amazing to me at the time. I didn't play that PC again after that session because I wasn't sure what to do with that PC, but I did come back a year later. (That same PC being mugged out in the desert and left to beg for food is what led up to meeting the noble.)

I think the fact that I was still into IRE MUDs at the time is what kept me away originally. I tried to go back there and recreate the RP I saw here. LOL. Yeah.... That didn't work out.

[AreteX]

I was turned off by the fact that I could read about the vague mysteries of magick and other races, but I was not able to actually create one.  I read about the Karma system and I understood it, but I resented it.  I felt like I could learn the lore, the game, and I would be able to properly play one of these many races/guilds that are not(and most still aren't, lol) available to me.

I was lucky to have an awesome experience on my first newbie pickpocket moron character who tried to steal in the middle of whatever city I started in at the time years ago and that made me come back even though I stopped playing for several months after my character died in a hole someplace.

Interaction is the key factor, I think.

[Adhira]

Forgive the offtopicness but:

Staff are back to guiding and nurturing plots now. Sort of a blend between what it was before, and what it was supposed to be afterwards, with player driven plots. At least that's what I got out of that "april fools thread"

Yes RogueGunslinger.  Yes we are. 

I posted it before, and I'm willing to derail this thread to post it again.  GET PLAYING.  Join organizations. Do things. Things will happen. But realize.  If you want the BIG STUFF then you need to be where the big hitters are. 

[lordcooper]

I ignore 90 percent of stuff on the GBD. Every topic is essentially people stating their view, with no intention of having it changed no matter what anyone else says. Like the Tuluk thing, everyone talked, then they stopped, and it was like the conversation never mattered.

What almost turned me off? I really wanted to be a magicker at first. A few years later...still hoping for my first karma point. I suppose one day I'll get there, but Karma seems to be allergic to me. I was almost turned off again after a year or so of playing, when my lack of getting Karma made me think I was a terrible RPer or doing something wrong.

Do you send in character reports?

[Narf]

What almost turned me off? I really wanted to be a magicker at first. A few years later...still hoping for my first karma point. I suppose one day I'll get there, but Karma seems to be allergic to me. I was almost turned off again after a year or so of playing, when my lack of getting Karma made me think I was a terrible RPer or doing something wrong.

I played this game for 17 years on and off and never got a karma point (though sometimes I would forget my account name and have to make a new one).

Then I asked for some karma and got it.

[The Silence of the Erdlus]

I entered the game and asked a tavern of npcs for a job.

I waited five minutes and left, right into a blinding sandstorm and apparently without direction sense if I remember correctly. Stumbled around. Its funny now looking back.

Somebody I couldn't see came up to me in the storm and expressed their annoyance at the fact that I hadn't waited longer. I didn't know how to 'ooc sorry' and disconnected.

I love desert and ancient Roman-related stuff so I ended up coming back when I remembered this game existed, about two years after that.

I started then with a merchant, a logger type based out of Tuluk. I bought an axe which I thought was for logging but was a weapon, left Tuluk, wielded it, got a tingling spine feeling from a staff, removed the axe. I think I died almost immediately anyway.

[Fable]

There are two things, really, and each sits at its own opposing side of the spectrum, although they do overlap in one significant regard:

1. The karma system in general, and how elusive those karma points are in particular. It is a bit demotivating to play your characters to the hilt and have some experiences that (at least you think) are totally awesome, then, when it inevitably comes time to create a new character because you made a silly and/or awesome mistake, learn that you still have zero karma, and no idea where you went wrong.

2. No clear direction on how to survive. Not in the meaning of not dying to player-driven plots or to angry monsters deciding that you look tasty, but rather in the lack of information on how to make enough coin for your characters to get the necessary food and water and not keel over dead from malnutrition after a couple weeks. Sure the Byn will provide, but you can't play all your characters there. And outside that group, all my characters' survival needs have been provided by freak chance encounters that I would most certainly not expect to be, in any real sense, repeatable.

Clearly these two are, to some extent, diametrically opposed, but (as I mentioned before) they overlap in that each is, in a sense, a lack of direction. And no, I still haven't found answers to these quandaries.

[RogueGunslinger]

There are two things, really, and each sits at its own opposing side of the spectrum, although they do overlap in one significant regard:

1. The karma system in general, and how elusive those karma points are in particular. It is a bit demotivating to play your characters to the hilt and have some experiences that (at least you think) are totally awesome, then, when it inevitably comes time to create a new character because you made a silly and/or awesome mistake, learn that you still have zero karma, and no idea where you went wrong.

2. No clear direction on how to survive. Not in the meaning of not dying to player-driven plots or to angry monsters deciding that you look tasty, but rather in the lack of information on how to make enough coin for your characters to get the necessary food and water and not keel over dead from malnutrition after a couple weeks. Sure the Byn will provide, but you can't play all your characters there. And outside that group, all my characters' survival needs have been provided by freak chance encounters that I would most certainly not expect to be, in any real sense, repeatable.

Clearly these two are, to some extent, diametrically opposed, but (as I mentioned before) they overlap in that each is, in a sense, a lack of direction. And no, I still haven't found answers to these quandaries.

Let me try to help you with number one, at least. You haven't made a mistake. Not getting karma doesn't mean you're doing things wrong, it just means you're not doing all of the right things. Most of those things usually involve character reports, and special apping for karma restrictions higher than what you have, and asking for your account notes/karma review, and time. When you ask for your account notes they review your situation and determine whether you should have more or not. IF you never ask for your notes who's to say staff don't always simply overlook you. There are a lot of players to keep track of, after all.

Here are the things they look for specifically when giving out Karma stolen from Taven here: Karma is awarded on a mix of the following categories:

Longevity - This is how long you've been playing the game, without doing something bad. If you've been playing ages, you get points!
Good communication - This is being clear and polite when communicating with staff, and making an effort to do so as needed or regularly
Ability to roleplay - This is more then just emoting, but is taking the game world into account. It may also mean playing in more then one location, and having a variety of character types (IE, not all your characters have the same personality and guild)
Proven understanding of magick and its place in the game world - You do NOT need to play a magicker for this. This means rather that you understand how magick is viewed in society. You don't go around treating gemmers like normal people for no reason, and you don't talk about how awesome magick is in Tuluk (more complex, but you get the basic idea)
Proven understanding of cultural and racial structures - This could be about understanding how Tuluk is subtle, or how elves and breeds are perceived in the world. It might be also playing a good character of a specific race or in a specific culture (for example, an elf doing tests of trust, etc)
Contributes to the game - This could be a variety of things. Does your character add to the game, either by making plots or by providing people with interesting RP? Are you as a player contributing (for example when staff has calls for submissions)? That sort of thing.
Leadership - This is for leadership in general, not clan leadership. If you are a low level nobody but plan a lot of events for your clan, or an indie who works to lead and coordinate, that would count