New Vocabulary Word: The Funnel

[ibusoe]

Armageddon MUD is amongst the most sophisticated games that I've ever played.  This game tends to inspire some very nuanced discussions on the GDB.  In part, these discussions are sometimes limited by the vocabulary of some of the players.

Think of some of the useful vocabulary that has emerged over the years to describe various game concepts:
reel-lock, the grind, insta-gibbed... These words have emerged and evolved to facilitate the discussions about the game. 

I would like to introduce a word to describe a game phenomenon, one that has been present for the entirety of my tenure with the MUD.  The phenomenon is somewhat exclusive to the MUD, is ubiquitous, and tends to dominate many aspects of play.  In a sense it's related to the grind, but if anything the grind is part of the Funnel at times.

I ask for those kind enough to read this to consider responding if you're interested.  When responding, please be as (politely) critical as you want - no part of my opinion is sacrosanct here even to me.  But what I would ask, is for you to restrict your criticism to whether or not you feel as if I'm accurately describing the phenomenon that I'm attempting to describe, rather than your feelings about the Funnel.  If truly needed, please create a separate thread if you need to decry the Funnel.

The Funnel is the social expectation that a player, particularly a new player, will join a game Clan in order to skill up their character, develop in-game connections, rise to social prominence, get promotions, gain staff interaction, develop a right to impact the game, learn the game world and get karma. 

[Alesan]

I prefer The Toilet.

No matter how far you get, it's all going to the same place: into the shitter.

[James de Monet]

I see what you're getting at, but I think I need a little more explanation.  What is it people are being funneled into, or through?

There is definitely a gap that exists between new players or people interested in the game, and veteran, contributing players who understand the game world, and can bring it to life with their characters (and who know how to make things fun and sustainable for themselves).

I think it is easy to get interested in the game, thanks to the setting, the awesome new website, and player word-of-mouth.  And it is largely possible to kind of make the game world do what you want it to do (ala Neo) once you've been around a few years.  But I think it's players really eating it on those first couple characters and transitioning between areas / themes after that, where people get tripped up and discouraged, and lose interest.

I would probably think of the clan model as more of a bridge across this chasm than as a funnel (you can cross it without using the bridge, but it's hard), but that probably varies by player.  What makes it a funnel for you?

[Jingo]

Life itself is a funnel of sorts.

[Clearsighted]

Life itself is a funnel of sorts.

And it's all like...man. We're made of stars, y'know?

To the OP: You definitely seem to be describing a familiar phenomena. That's typically how it goes for new players that end up sticking with Armageddon. A good clan experience that hooks them in.

[ibusoe]

I prefer The Toilet.

No matter how far you get, it's all going to the same place: into the shitter.

Hah!  Yes.  But I didn't want to be the one to say it, LOL

I see what you're getting at, but I think I need a little more explanation.  What is it people are being funneled into, or through?

I actually like the funnel model for several reasons.  Like Charybdis of ancient lore, the Funnel can suck people in unwittingly.  But a funnel can also have positive connotations.  Imagine for a second that you wanted to get to the bottom of a funnel.  OMG, how do you even do that?  But with a funnel one needn't worry excessively aim or power - simply throw yourself in and you can expect to arrive safely at the bottom. 

But this isn't always positive.  If you're sliding down a funnel, try changing directions.  Effectively you can't.  And funnels do potentially create bottlenecks.  And sometimes you land at the bottom of a funnel and decide that it wasn't really where you wanted to be.  Additionally, exit order and entrance order are nondeterministic.

Do you disagree that's a reasonable analogy?  Perhaps the most important component of the analogy is that the Funnel is a reasonable tool for certain types of jobs.  Case in point, most people that sink energy in sliding down the Funnel end up having a good enough experience that they will later recommend it to someone else. 

But all of that is not what the Funnel is.  The Funnel is the expectation that you're meant to go along with this.  It's the way that business is done on the MUD.  In Thailand, you pay a bribe to get something done.  This isn't wrong per se - it's how you get things done.  If you want to be a famous golfer, you practice.  Merit is what gets you to the top.  I won't say this is a better system.  Merit systems are good for people who enjoy earning success based on merit.  Achaea - a rival MUD, operates largely on a bribe based system.  I happen to like Achaea, although I don't think it's too much of a stretch to suppose that most of us here think Arm is better.  I'm kind of biased.

To the OP: You definitely seem to be describing a familiar phenomena. That's typically how it goes for new players that end up sticking with Armageddon. A good clan experience that hooks them in.

Yeah, agreed.  As mentioned, I chose the funnel analogy for the Funnel because it's functional, amongst other reasons. 

Thanks to those who have provided feedback.  Please provide additional criticism if you think we have missed something.

[Case]

I don't agree that social expectation exists fullstop.

I think some of the conditions are expectations of an RPG, especially skilling up.

There might be something to be said for an expectation that social prominence and impact equates to karma, similar to the phenomenon of detailed RP appearing outta the blue when an animation happens.

Not sure any of it requires any differentiated specialised language though, we already use enough language around it. Grind/skilling, getting karma, the word 'clan' and politics/social/intrigue cover everything raised.

[Clearsighted]

There might be something to be said for an expectation that social prominence and impact equates to karma, similar to the phenomenon of detailed RP appearing outta the blue when an animation happens.

It's hard to go full throttle, 24/7, and approach every situation with the same creative intensity, when on your own. If that were the expectation, you'd never log on after a long day of work. You'd relax doing something else and only log onto Armageddon when primed and alert.

When I see an animation, I respond it to the same as I would if another player character were to show up. I do put in extra effort to entertain, when I'm with someone else, as opposed to by myself. That's just how humans are wired.

What I agree is a bit more silly is when people act totally differently, vs how they are normally around PCs, and how they are when the staff animates someone or something. It's a bit silly because for every time that staff animates during a scene, they've watched you RP with other people at least 10 times without making their presence felt at all.

Of course, the other reason that players seem to 'perk' up when an animation happens, is that they are suddenly paying much more attention to the scene in the interest of self preservation. In case a riot suddenly happens, or a silt horror tries to eat them, or a volcano is about to get thrown at them. That rarely happens, (I think a volcano has been used as a tactical weapon, only about two or three times!), but it's certainly far more likely than when bitching about Sarge with Runner Amos. That causes more action simply as a side-effect of a more intense engagement.

[ShaLeah]

Newbs. 

[CodeMaster]

I think "join a clan" is a common piece of advice [given] to new players, so I'd agree overall there is a "funnelling" of players through certain established groups.

But I wouldn't stretch this metaphor too far.  Most specialized activities have some kind of recommended way to learn how to do them.  Documentation, courses, support groups, whatever.  Arm has decided to have [some] clans serve in a tutorial capacity, and I think this is way better than (e.g.) relying on even more documentation, or having a godawful global newbie channel, or building a ludicrously humongous MUD school.

In fact, I think directing new players into clans is a great idea.  Clans have staff-vetted backgrounds and routines, and so the experience newbies will get with them is going to be "on brand".  Just imagine if an insular group of friends from a hack/slash came over to Arm and didn't join a clan of some sort.  I'd be shocked if they adjusted their habits to fit with Armageddon's gameplay norms on their own...

Also, clans will ideally have other players and of varying skill levels.  Guys who are relatively new to Arm (comraderie), roleplay veterans who can generate atmosphere through description and dialogue, and skilled characters with the coded ability to show newbies action that doesn't end in a

[edits]