Player retention and you: brainstorming

[seidhr]

The builder program is in a pilot mode.  There have been, and continue to be, little discoveries along the way that are making us adjust how things work for builders.  This is because of how the game security works for builders as well as from a process standpoint.

I believe the expectation is that we eventually will have more builders - once we feel like these kinks are worked out, but I fear we'll never get to the point where everyone who wants to can make a builder character and just crank out stuff.  I do agree that some web-based building tools would be awesome.  That might be a way to bridge the gap where we could approve submissions and map them to empty objects/rooms/npcs in the game.  The transition from web-page output to the game would be the hardest part to manage.

Comparing us to Minecraft isn't really fair, since Minecraft was designed from the ground-up for people to be able to build stuff, collaborate, crowdsource, whatever (and isn't 20+ years old, too).  The game's architecture (Diku at its heart, not just Arm) doesn't really lend itself to that because of how vnums are assigned, zone ranges, and so on.

[Norcal]

Zone Ranges?

Zone Ranger?

ZOAN RANGER!  That is it! Zoan is an Illuminati agent! And so is Seidhr!

[Malken]

The builder program is in a pilot mode.  There have been, and continue to be, little discoveries along the way that are making us adjust how things work for builders.  This is because of how the game security works for builders as well as from a process standpoint.

I believe the expectation is that we eventually will have more builders - once we feel like these kinks are worked out, but I fear we'll never get to the point where everyone who wants to can make a builder character and just crank out stuff.  I do agree that some web-based building tools would be awesome.  That might be a way to bridge the gap where we could approve submissions and map them to empty objects/rooms/npcs in the game.  The transition from web-page output to the game would be the hardest part to manage.

Comparing us to Minecraft isn't really fair, since Minecraft was designed from the ground-up for people to be able to build stuff, collaborate, crowdsource, whatever (and isn't 20+ years old, too).  The game's architecture (Diku at its heart, not just Arm) doesn't really lend itself to that because of how vnums are assigned, zone ranges, and so on.

Start with the "simple" stuff.

Allow us to write descs for stuff that you want to create but don't have the time for, like 50 bone dagger descs, Nakki rooftops descs or whatever.

So much wasted opportunity for both sides in not implementing such a simple system.

Someone who is bored in game could just go on that web app page and write a few descs while they wait for some rp.

Even though I don't play I could go and write a couple of descs as well instead of writing dumb posts on the GDB (see, we're all winners!)

It's nothing that anyone can abuse, unless the fact that there's a need for 50 descs of bone daggers in the 'rinth could be considered an issue.

[Narf]

I don't trust this community much more than any other online community, so I'm leery of crowdsourcing direct access to "Fix" whatever.

There's no need for "direct access".

Here's a simple idea - Staff creates a new webpage with a little web app (easiest thing in the world to code/find) and sometime they post stuff that they need.

Hey guys, we need descs for pair of boots that would fit in the 'rinth.

(players have this little square thingie where they can enter a desc and then they hit Send! and it transfer that desc into a pretty format that Staff have access to - like a web form of sort)

They take the descs they like and use them and they ditch the ones they don't like. Bored players sitting at the Gaj now have something to do, write descs for things Staff need and Staff have something less they need to do, to write descs for 300 objects.

Need a new room? Don't even have to post it on the GDB and ask specific builders for it, just post what you need on that page and let the players do their magic.

We're all winners!

You know you could just do this, right now. Think about it? What's stopping you? You need to procrastinate some school related task, I'm sure. Just put together a crowd sourced description website that lets people list requests and others to submit responses.

Maybe Arm staff decides to use it, maybe they don't and you can pawn it off to some other game.

do it do it do it do it DO IT DO IT DO IT DO IT

[Malken]

do it do it do it do it DO IT DO IT DO IT DO IT

Do you know how much textually described penises I would have to read through before I'd get one decent desc? 

You would need to be logged on from your Armageddon account to access it, of course.

But seriously, if you have minimal web experience (ask Delirium), this is like the easiest thing ever to implement.

[Riev]

I just want to say I havn't heard as much "whinging" (sic) in the past few pages, as much as some might think there is. I don't know how much we're working on "retaining" at this point, but there are good ideas.

Concurrent with the builders/etc... I'm assuming Raesanos' RMBT or whatever it was wouldn't work with Arm's current code at all? Or could be modified by an enterprising player with some coding skills to "do most of the work" for staff so its more copy and paste, and less typing and mistakes?

[Dresan]

I agree with Riev. While some ideas have been passionate, they are still just suggestions not demands. This is just a brainstorming thread, after all and I think people are just being honest about whats bothered them or caused them to think about leaving in the past.  And no one, well not many have gone the 'do this and I leave route' of arguments.

Ultimately communication with staff has improved greatly from what it used to be in the past, which is why people here are so passionate about their ideas and thoughts.

I honestly think this thread has been somewhat therapeutic for this community.  

[Narf]

do it do it do it do it DO IT DO IT DO IT DO IT

Do you know how much textually described penises I would have to read through before I'd get one decent desc? 

According to my data the real desc/penis ratio is about 5.3.

You'll get a few butts in there too, but you can take it.

[Jihelu]

If we get the crowd source thing I hope we don't get punished.
Because half of my entries will be dicks.
Half of them will not be.
And a small infinitesimal amount will be dick related objects.

[Taven]

If you want to get philosophical, light a bowl and have a seat: 

People frequently say, "staff are players too," but what's the difference between players and staff?  Staff are... what?  More knowledgeable?  More mature?  More creative?  Better writers?  Better administrators?  Better players?  (And what would that entail, to be a better player?)  Or are they simply volunteers who have been chosen, and granted access to the game's secrets and authorities?

The simple truth is that staff members don't have a uniquely defining trait beyond the access and authority they've been granted, and I don't think many staff members would claim otherwise.  But this gets tricky now, because staff try and wield power - benevolently OR maliciously - over other players, without any intrinsic authority.  They're just players, after all.

Yes, staff members are people who have been granted--entrusted--with authority and powers that your standard player doesn't have, so that they can help run the game, help administrate and facilitate, help tell stories and breathe life into the world. Sometimes they're not the most knowledgeable, or the most mature, or the most creative. But players expect them to be above and beyond your standard player.

For example, if staffers aren't the most mature, you see players complain about it--Why? Because they should be. Player expectations are often that staff is mature and polite, even if they aren't themselves. I don't think it's wrong to set high expectations for staff, because they are entrusted with all this authority and power, and they should use it in a way that is responsible and respectful. I also think oftentimes players can be more polite (which I think you also agree with, based on previous posts).

So why do people say "staff are players too"? It's because of this idea that when you become staff you somehow transform into a horrible brain-eating monster out to ruin all player fun and rain shit down from on high. They're countering that idea. They're saying "we play this game too, we love this game, and we know what it's like to have been in your shoes".

That was sort of a ramble. I guess what I'm saying is that I agree that I think the idea of a black/white player/staff divide should change. But I also think that staff has been working to take steps to try and help with this, and there's been a lot of movement in the right direction. I'm not saying it's perfect, but I think that instead of complaining about what hasn't been done, we as players can appreciate what has been done, even if we have further suggestions for how to yet improve things.

Staff get into rocky territory when they try and judge people.  Some people just don't like being judged.  Some people don't like not being judged.  It's often a lose-lose position to be in, and once you put yourself in that position, you have dig deeper to defend it. I think staff should get out of the business of being judges.

[GDB moderating example]

I guess my take on this is that when there's a rule, someone has to have the authority to act when it's broken. If you don't have someone with that authority, and there aren't any consequences, why have rules at all?

Staff has power to moderate the forums. We also have player moderators, as well, who are also enabled to moderate the forums. Why does it matter who moderates the forums, be it staff or player moderator, if a rule has been broken? Honestly, if someone's being a jerk on the GDB, I just think it should be handled by whoever can at the time. That's not something I'm going to get in a huff about.

Moving away from authority, let's talk contributions.  Currently, staff seem to micro-manage player contributions.  Why?  The administrative response is probably, "We need to restrict these things for quality control and/or time management purposes," but that is so short-sighted.  Think about players as staff-in-training, or volunteers without story secrets, and then we can have an entirely different set of conversations.  Instead of players asking, "Staff, can you do this or that," players can start stepping up to the plate themselves.

I kind of feel like I already touched on this in my last post.


Final Thoughts: When we talk about the staff-player divide and current black/white philosophy, let's stop and consider how we're contributing to it as well, instead of attributing it all to staff. Let's agree that staff should be polite and respectful, but also that we as players should do the same. Let's step back and take a look at how staff is already doing some of what we want, see what they're worked on and accomplished for us, and thank them for that as we make new suggestions and offer feedback. Remember that while staff do have authority, they're also players and love the game.

[Inks]

That idea is actually pretty awesome Malken.

[Brytta Léofa]

I think the mechanical difficulty of building on Arm is at the root of much player discontent - almost all the complaints of the "static world" faction.  Not writing descriptions (not everybody's strong suit, but hardly anybody on staff totally sucks at it), but dealing with all the commands, the limited object-list-searching (since objects aren't in a Real Database), the beloved in-game text editor, the room linking, all the unknowable gotchas.

A lot of the staff's caution with taking on big world-changing plots--or anything at all that's building-related--comes from the fact that it's very slow to bust out a 200-room change and very hard to get everything right.  (Imagine the Diku-wizard-fu it must have taken to pull off the gith invasion of Allanak.) Malken's idea doesn't seem terrible, but, on the other hand, you're outsourcing the fun/creative part of building without alleviating any of the rotten button-pushing.

When building is done with a web app pointed at an SQL database, I think we'll see some surprising changes across the board.

Until then, well, seriously: http://gdb.armageddon.org/index.php/topic,50062.0.html

[LauraMars]

I think the mechanical difficulty of building on Arm is at the root of much player discontent - almost all the complaints of the "static world" faction.  Not writing descriptions (not everybody's strong suit, but hardly anybody on staff totally sucks at it), but dealing with all the commands, the limited object-list-searching (since objects aren't in a Real Database), the beloved in-game text editor, the room linking, all the unknowable gotchas.

A lot of the staff's caution with taking on big world-changing plots--or anything at all that's building-related--comes from the fact that it's very slow to bust out a 200-room change and very hard to get everything right.  (Imagine the Diku-wizard-fu it must have taken to pull off the gith invasion of Allanak.) Malken's idea doesn't seem terrible, but, on the other hand, you're outsourcing the fun/creative part of building without alleviating any of the rotten button-pushing.

When building is done with a web app pointed at an SQL database, I think we'll see some surprising changes across the board.

Until then, well, seriously: http://gdb.armageddon.org/index.php/topic,50062.0.html

this all of this

[Taven]

[stuff]

this all of this

Yep. +1

[Riev]

[stuff]

this all of this

Yep. +1

I'm wishy washy about this game, and I'm thinking about donating when my check clears tomorrow.

[Adhira]

Yes. We'd love to have a web based building tool.

No Raesanos tool doesn't work with our current code base at all. This is why we were going to move to a different code base.

The ultimate goal would be to have a web tool that players can submit their master crafts, room changes, NPCs etc and it will feed directly to the game, saving all the manual entry and button pushing.

Also, just to speak up for the builders we have, they aren't churning out a rooftop description in 5 minutes because our rooftops have scents, echo's, night time descriptions, weather pertinent descriptions and so on. These are real labours of love and I hope people get to experience the awesomeness of them, and other projects that will follow.

As to the question of more builders - yes, I plan to recruit more builders, we've been in testing phase with this. There was a lot to work through in order to make the job functional without setting people to 'full staff member' level (which was what people who were interested in the builder role specifically wanted, limited access).  We also had to work on documentation (and still have a lot more to do!), and other tools to help builders out.

[Fujikoma]

I'm glad for the attention to detail and certainly appreciate it, personally. Scents, time of day, these all add to the setting, ideally, every room would have these, particularly the Gaj (Eugh), but I can see the effort being put forth and support it, wholeheartedly.

[Fujikoma]

I'd put, in order of importance of having scents, the Gaj, the corpsepile, Red's, the butcher's, that place with all the dying thirsty echos, the cuddler. then, well, assuming the rooftops are done, expand scents to the marketplace, then to the rinth, like, the whole rinth. Stables smell like poo, so do latrines, then slowly flesh out all of Allanak. If a blind man could smell his way down the streets, this would be my dream come true. Hit the heaviest areas first, and expand outwards into the bubbles of competing smells.

[Doublepalli]

I think the mechanical difficulty of building on Arm is at the root of much player discontent - almost all the complaints of the "static world" faction.  Not writing descriptions (not everybody's strong suit, but hardly anybody on staff totally sucks at it), but dealing with all the commands, the limited object-list-searching (since objects aren't in a Real Database), the beloved in-game text editor, the room linking, all the unknowable gotchas.

A lot of the staff's caution with taking on big world-changing plots--or anything at all that's building-related--comes from the fact that it's very slow to bust out a 200-room change and very hard to get everything right.  (Imagine the Diku-wizard-fu it must have taken to pull off the gith invasion of Allanak.) Malken's idea doesn't seem terrible, but, on the other hand, you're outsourcing the fun/creative part of building without alleviating any of the rotten button-pushing.

When building is done with a web app pointed at an SQL database, I think we'll see some surprising changes across the board.

Until then, well, seriously: http://gdb.armageddon.org/index.php/topic,50062.0.html

This isn't invented to be mean, but the staff of 3 on EoE , (one being in a hospital) created over 500 rooms in one weekend, and an additional 500 the following weekend, with new mines, monsters, forage locations, plots, etc. So there is no excuse for a 200 room change to take so long, with armageddons VASTLY larger staff. VASTLY. I personally believe that staff are working hard to do right, but they need to open their minds.

I've only been playing arm for a handful of years, but when I came, we were peaking at 70-80. Now it's 50 peak - ON A GOOD DAY! More and more of the game world is closed and shut off. Why? We have the staff to do it. I believe in you.
People come to one of the highest ranking mud rpi's - key word RPI, and are told no, you can't learn a sword. No you can't build a wagon. No you can't get stronger if you work out for years, no you can't do this, no you can't do that, even if you put in all this role play, screw your shack you just built. The sole reason I started playing RPIS was because it reminded me of DND. And now I question if this is an rpi or a hack and slash. Players will come play, find out half the world is closed or inaccessible, find out they aren't allowed to role play out half of what they want to do for their characters, and then told to die a few times and find out. Well some people who invest a lot of interest in their concepts. You may not know you just told a new player to throw away their gold nugget, and only connection to the game. Characters are -ties- to the game for some. Then we have player/staff conflict, and we lose more amazing roleplayers and vets. And now we are beginning to notice the effects - because each player that leaves adds up. Then they go to new rpi muds, and find out they can achieve RESULTS through their role play. That it isn't just a hack and slash, where you are told no at every turn. And truth be told, arm can no longer compete with that. Why play arm, and be unable to do anything other than what staff wants you to play,.when you can literally do any thing in muds like SO I, harshlands, and eoe like an RPI should?
I understand this is your game, (directed to staff) but also understand People are taking time out of THEIR day to make this game theirs too. This isn't meant to bash, but I'm trying to put out a different perspective, that I know players have mutual feelings with. And a new player coming from another rpi or completely new, will say screw this when they realize they can't go to half the places they want, or do what they want to do.

So my suggestions?

Open the world back up. Make it real.
Provide players with staff support for bigger plots.
Minimize the glass ceiling plots where we can't do crap but watch.
Allow our ROLE PLAY to ACCOUNT for something. If I take time to role play doing something, I expect the finished result of said role play.
Staff are.Players too. Animate more. I haven't seen an animation in well over a RL year. That's sad.
Offer a hint feature, and an in game helper feature.
Try to sympathize with player discontent, rather arguing, or banning. We are people too. When a.player expresses his.or her discontent, it's because he or she CARES for the game.
Unban vets, let them return. With the game world dieng and super quiet, players are leaving.
Both players and staff have been wrong in the past. Let's be adults and accept what we've done wrong. Stop lingering in past. Let people return.
For all the storytellers, I don't see animations, or stories happening. Animate more. Higher up staff - let the storytellers add stories.
Let's all be nice to each other. If a stores employees all quit, the store closes. Same with arm.
Let players play what they want to play if they have the karma. Let players do what they want to. Who cares? THAT'S WHAT ITS ALL ABOUT! The murder, the betrayal, the love, the labor, the wars, the conflicts, the parties, the hunting crews, the new fort being built by a group of pcs - all the good and bad is part of the game. It's time to let players contribute staff. This is an rpi mud. Hello!
A lot of players I've tried to recruit from other muds don't play because there is no color, hurting their eyes, or making it impossible for them to read fast enough. Maybe we can incorporate color. That by itself would bring new players, some thing I know for a FACT.

That's my two sids. And I recognize how hard you all are working and I thank you for that. I thank you for going out of your way for feedback from the community. But sometimes blind ambition and loyalty makes you miss details. You are the parents of Arm, and arm is your baby. Parents often dismiss or do not understand their childs wants and needs. So an open mind really helps.

[whitt]

You are the parents of Arm, and arm is your baby. Parents often dismiss or do not understand their childs wants and needs. So an open mind really helps.

This is very apt.  Reminds me of a poster I recently saw.  "Teenagers, move out now while you still know everything."

Unless someone has been on Arm staff, then there is no way to know how "easy" it is to get things done.

Open the world back up. Make it real.

They re-opened the Atrium.  Now folks complain no one is in Reds and complain that the Atrium should be closed.  How is re-opening an entire City not going to reduce player mass in the playable area.

Provide players with staff support for bigger plots.

Assumes this isn't already happening. 

Minimize the glass ceiling plots where we can't do crap but watch.

Given there are complaints there is nothing going on, not sure how much minimized this could get.

Allow our ROLE PLAY to ACCOUNT for something. If I take time to role play doing something, I expect the finished result of said role play.

If by this, you mean "I submitted logs, now let me have the Skills my Guild/Sub-guild choice is lacking", I've seen the impact that has on a long-lived character?  Master Merchants able to beat down Guard Sergeants simply because the PC wanted something new to advance, then picked up something else and something else...  While I am not a fan of the inability to learn new skills myself, I see the downside.

If you just want to crank your stats, and I'm betting you don't mean wisdom, then who sets the standard for how much RP is sufficient? who reads through the logs?  Or who writes the code? to advance stats in a way that doesn't allow for favoritism to sneak into stat advances. 

Also, while I haven't tried it myself.  Are you sure that both of the above are impossible?  There is a request type for adding skills and stat bumps.
 

Staff are.Players too. Animate more. I haven't seen an animation in well over a RL year. That's sad.

Not sure where you're playing or when.  I wander the city, I've seen more than a few.

Try to sympathize with player discontent, rather arguing, or banning. We are people too. When a.player expresses his.or her discontent, it's because he or she CARES for the game.

Back to your child example.  I try to sympathize with my child, I really do.  But after a 10-hour work day, going to the store to make them dinner, making said dinner, and setting the table when they stare at the dinner that's been put on the table through my time and effort and every day, every day, there are complaints after complaints after complaints?  Eventually you tell the kids to eat their damn dinner and the sympathy is gone.  Because they don't get that there's about a thousand other things going on and it's just not always possible to give them what they want.

Unban vets, let them return. With the game world dieng and super quiet, players are leaving.

Stated, several times.  This is done.

Both players and staff have been wrong in the past. Let's be adults and accept what we've done wrong. Stop lingering in past. Let people return.

Seems some players are more guilty of this then staff.

For all the storytellers, I don't see animations, or stories happening. Animate more. Higher up staff - let the storytellers add stories.

Again, not sure where you are playing.

Let players play what they want to play if they have the karma. Let players do what they want to. Who cares? THAT'S WHAT ITS ALL ABOUT!

Part one, sure.  Part Two?  No... that's anarchy.  Because "Who cares" is the very epitomy of the failure of your argument.  It is the child crying "But I want to eat all the candy... NOW!!!  Queue Veruca Salt and the Oompa-Loompas.

[nauta]

A lot of fingers have been pointing towards staff, and I'll freely admit that there's always room for improvement. But c'mon, in game I can safely assume that >95% of your interactions are with other players.  When I could sit down and play a character of my own (it's been a little while), player-to-player interactions were what I kept coming for. Staff attention wasn't even icing on the cake for me - at best, it was a cherry on top.  For me, that was never a bad thing. I enjoy a little staff attention from time to time, but I have a lot more fun with other players.  Voting is great for bringing in new people, but fun is going to keep them here.

So what do you find fun?  How can you share that with others?

This is also a good question, but I'm not sure how to really answer it without coming off as a turd or vagueposting, but here's a stab.  (Please don't think I'm being a turd or vagueposting.  Also, I think we're all doing all of these, but... you know, here's my stab at some things that players can do.)

o Help newbies IG.  Sometimes we'll have to break character a little bit to help newbies.  I remember a recent case where two gemmed tried to help a newbie understand that they should be afraid of gemmed, while at the same time not just ignoring that new player.  This can be really hard, but a lot of players do this really well.

o Be a little less (codedly / socially) cautious.  The rough idea here is to put yourself out there and make your character vulnerable:

a. socially -- let a few secrets slip out; don't just use the way or whisper things behind compound doors; let new players in a clan get involved in those plots, even if they might betray you, etc.

b. codedly -- don't wear your armour everywhere; go to places -- public places -- where you might well get pickpocketed or even ganked.  Dying generates a lot of plots.  I had a recent PC that used to do a certain activity in a public spot, and in the course of a month or two I was randomly attacked twice, almost abducted, had shit thrown on me, and, well, the list goes on.  Kudos to all of you for those moments.  (ETA: I mean - play the victim now and then, or someone that could be a victim.)

o Keep the mystery alive!  Don't just teach people about magick, make it seem mysterious.  Don't just tell people how to get somewhere, e.g., Cenyr, make it seem like a really far-away place.  Make things that aren't mysterious any more to you, or aren't mysterious because code, mysterious.  I remember when I first started playing and I met the Kuraci for the first time, and someone made this big deal about how scary and mean those dudes were.  It was well done.

o Take a stab at leading now and then.  A lot of players are follower types, I get that, and this can give one the impression that the Gaj, for instance, is filled with a bunch of barsitters.  But give it a try: slap your fist down on the bar, and go: Oi, imma go grab some jozhals, who is in?

o Let things go.  If you got burnt once because you made fun of a breed and all the breed's (potentially OOC, but definitely IC) friends did something terrible to you that you thought was just stupid, jarring, immersion breaking, etc... just let it go.  Trust your fellow players to grow and develop into model citizens or something.  If someone jumped to code without an emote and ruined your character -- let it go, don't assume the next PC will do the same.  (File a complaint, for sure.  But then let it go.)

o Send kudos.  What kept me going were all them yummy kudos I received, and still receive even after I hung up my hat and quit.  That shit is important.

o Go easy on your leaders.  It's hard to keep people entertained.  Give them the benefit of the doubt, etc.  Share plot secrets of your own with them.

o Play the bad guy.  Nobody knows what it's like to be the bad guy.  It's tough, you will die a dubious and brutal death, almost every time.  But you generated a lot of plots just by being 'out there'.  When I first joined there was this fellow named 'Hawk', we may all remember him.  I never met him, at all, but the amount of plots that guy generated were unbelievable - it created chatter, it created fear, it created a lot of good things.

o Talk to each other.  Think/feel are pretty neat, but try to put your character out there for interaction, through visible emotes and language.

o Make your own fun.  Badskeelz said this eloquently (I know, right?  Behind every good troll, there's a little eloquent child...) a while ago, but roughly the idea is: don't wait for staff to give you a nudge, get out there and do stuff -- set your expectations to a level where you can accomplish those tasks, or most of them without staff involvement.  A lot of what we do in this sandbox is make-believe, and, yes, this is a MUD, but sometimes we just have to MUSH it up.  Staff won't give you that hole?  Just drop a coin, arrange it, and do some emotes.  (I have this sneaky suspicion that big staff plots transform all of us a little into more passive players than we probably should be, but I can't really articulate that right now.)

o Don't assume staff favoritism.

Anyway, those are my thoughts meant for the storm of brainz.

[Doublepalli]

You are the parents of Arm, and arm is your baby. Parents often dismiss or do not understand their childs wants and needs. So an open mind really helps.

This is very apt.  Reminds me of a poster I recently saw.  "Teenagers, move out now while you still know everything."

Unless someone has been on Arm staff, then there is no way to know how "easy" it is to get things done.

Open the world back up. Make it real.

They re-opened the Atrium.  Now folks complain no one is in Reds and complain that the Atrium should be closed.  How is re-opening an entire City not going to reduce player mass in the playable area.

Provide players with staff support for bigger plots.

Assumes this isn't already happening. 

Minimize the glass ceiling plots where we can't do crap but watch.

Given there are complaints there is nothing going on, not sure how much minimized this could get.

Allow our ROLE PLAY to ACCOUNT for something. If I take time to role play doing something, I expect the finished result of said role play.

If by this, you mean "I submitted logs, now let me have the Skills my Guild/Sub-guild choice is lacking", I've seen the impact that has on a long-lived character?  Master Merchants able to beat down Guard Sergeants simply because the PC wanted something new to advance, then picked up something else and something else...  While I am not a fan of the inability to learn new skills myself, I see the downside.

If you just want to crank your stats, and I'm betting you don't mean wisdom, then who sets the standard for how much RP is sufficient? who reads through the logs?  Or who writes the code? to advance stats in a way that doesn't allow for favoritism to sneak into stat advances. 

Also, while I haven't tried it myself.  Are you sure that both of the above are impossible?  There is a request type for adding skills and stat bumps.
 

Staff are.Players too. Animate more. I haven't seen an animation in well over a RL year. That's sad.

Not sure where you're playing or when.  I wander the city, I've seen more than a few.

Try to sympathize with player discontent, rather arguing, or banning. We are people too. When a.player expresses his.or her discontent, it's because he or she CARES for the game.

Back to your child example.  I try to sympathize with my child, I really do.  But after a 10-hour work day, going to the store to make them dinner, making said dinner, and setting the table when they stare at the dinner that's been put on the table through my time and effort and every day, every day, there are complaints after complaints after complaints?  Eventually you tell the kids to eat their damn dinner and the sympathy is gone.  Because they don't get that there's about a thousand other things going on and it's just not always possible to give them what they want.

Unban vets, let them return. With the game world dieng and super quiet, players are leaving.

Stated, several times.  This is done.

Both players and staff have been wrong in the past. Let's be adults and accept what we've done wrong. Stop lingering in past. Let people return.

Seems some players are more guilty of this then staff.

For all the storytellers, I don't see animations, or stories happening. Animate more. Higher up staff - let the storytellers add stories.

Again, not sure where you are playing.

Let players play what they want to play if they have the karma. Let players do what they want to. Who cares? THAT'S WHAT ITS ALL ABOUT!

Part one, sure.  Part Two?  No... that's anarchy.  Because "Who cares" is the very epitomy of the failure of your argument.  It is the child crying "But I want to eat all the candy... NOW!!!  Queue Veruca Salt and the Oompa-Loompas.

Buddy I'm throwing out suggestions and examples.

[seidhr]

The world is pretty huge as it stands.  The focus of the mud is roleplay and interaction/plots between players.  If we're adding 1000 rooms to the mud there needs to be a reason to do it - otherwise the only result will be reducing population density and making that interaction more rare.  The world isn't supposed to be constantly expanding and getting bigger.  It's a sandbox for all of us to play in.  It has boundaries, by design.  

[seidhr]

Doublepalli, there are animations every.single.day. and I personally witnessed one for three PCs in your clan last night.

[Alesan]

I'm a relatively new player. I play because I have nothing better to do. Mostly I log on and hope for inspiration that never really comes. There's a lot of great roleplayers in the game but it's rare to see many of them gather in one place. I've seen peak hours top out at 40 players and the world seems empty and desolate of PCs. And then you guys want more places added to the game so there's even less PCs to be found. I have a feeling that even if the game world was restricted to Allanak, people would still be spread out in clans and apartments and it'd look very much the same as it does now.

Just idle thoughts.