How often do new players characters' die?

[Merdin]

I have a very little experience playing at muds as most of the ones I've tried before (including the so-called RP encouraged/enforced) were still nothing that caught my attention (grinding/H&S). So I understand that I kinda suck and am slow. I started Arma just in the past week, and am now waiting...no make that just got approved for my fifth character. I am more of a loner type-which I know is a dangerous way to play in any mud, but I am wondering if my death rate is abnormal? I have great ideas for RP (to me at least) but can't seem to have a character last for more than 24Hrs RLT.

[Marauder Moe]

No, that's pretty normal for a new player who sends their character off into the wilds alone.

[Armaddict]

The learning curve is pretty steep.  Don't be discouraged by that, at all, it just means you're likely an explorer type who keeps getting yourself into bad spots due to a general lack of exposure to the hazards of the game.  Over time, that's exactly what makes you into someone who has built good reflexes on how to stay alive.  Yes, that's odd, but there are keyboard reflexes, I promise.

Biggest suggestion I can make really -is- to be patient.  Pretend your character is real.  You see a creature where you don't know how dangerous it is?  Try to get a look at it.  Is it running from you?  Running at you?  Things that run towards you probably want to eat you.

On the other side, where it's not hunting or npc's that are killing you.  Likewise, there is a learning curve to politics.  What kind of moves are going to get you dead, and which ones make you friends.  It really is just...practice.  And on the bright side, that's what makes Arm players -really good- at making characters quickly.  I think everyone learns to visualize new faces pretty well here, just because of having to do it upon death.

[Inks]

You haven't had a single Byn character? Even one Byn experience will teach you more than going out and dying to a gortok every five mins. That being said do whatever you want!

Falling mechanics!

Combat!

Getting killed by other runners!

[hyzhenhok]

When I started playing, I lost two characters in a row within the first couple days the same way: getting punched to death by hobos. So yeah, perfectly normal.

[hopeandsorrow]

Sound a lot like me. Solo Loner, Ranger type.

To survive past what I call day Zero (a dreaded time for anyone starting a new pc)  take it slow, real slow.  In fact don't even bother with the 'skill' command for now, think like you if you your self was dropped in a harsh environment.   Allanak, which is where you should be trying to get your first successful PC foot hold, the animals surrounding it immediate area aren't terribly dangerous, they can sustain you a while, help you get your bearings.  The desire to explore the wonderfully written world is hard to resist but it's something to be savored.  

My account is very silly, it's 11 years old.  I played back in 2005 some, got discouraged, stop playing.

I think I started playing 2013? 2014? Again, finally got into it.

Before I had a character that lived past 1 day played (24 hours logged in) I had gone through I wanna say, 20ish characters?  I remember 2005 things were much harder.  You're lucky, things are now much easier.

The game's curve is steep, but it is rewarding and part of exploring the world is exploring the PC's you create.  I recommend, if it suits you, start generic, keep your exceptions low (soften disappointment when they die in silly ways) and do not get discouraged.  Progression is slow, approach your play with slow pace, make use of the think command, reflect on the type of character you wanna play while you're making that slow steady progress.  You'll get it.

[solera]

If you are going out the gate as a hunter, and dying, try the grebbing life first, until you've lived a little in your PC's skin. Try apping for a coded tribe if you want to see different parts of the known without risky travel. Try all the starting locations available.
Yeah, to learn combat and how to survive, join the Byn and be swept into the non solo dimension.

[CodeMaster]

Welcome to the community.

Byn is a great idea.

The other piece of advice I have is to be aware of the wildlife in each region.  If you see something you haven't seen before, don't approach it -- ask around town about it.

Be aware of the wide variance in combat outcomes.  If you're hunting, look for the easiest fights you can.  Even a scrab, which is described in the helpfiles as common game, can fluke out and kill highly experienced characters.

[Merdin]

Thank you, all of you. So far-so good with the current character. Might even make it past 24 hours with this one. Tried something new, so we shall see.

[Asmoth]

Things to do that will help you not die:

Do not think the critter that walked in the room wants to be pet, it wants to eat you, RUN!

Every room you walk in the outdoors (Say you're moving east) do E, L N, L S, L E.  This will give you a better chance of seeing things that are of interest or potentially dangerous and give you that split second to run or prepare.  If you see a hostile creature in the NEAR area, it's gonna charge you.

If your character has scan, make sure it's always up outdoors (if you're a ranger) or indoors if you're a city bound scan enabled class.  Then when you do a few days of looking around like a crazy person to survive and not be surprised (much) you will start to see things you didn't even know where there.

addendum to last, some shadows and blurs are dangerous, treat them with apprehension. You can look shadow, kill shadow etc, but it's not always wise.

Do not gamble for one kill.  This was my problem starting out, I would go out, newbie geared up and kill scrabs, but go from 100/100 to 20/100 by the death blow.  This leaves you in the position of needing to sleep to regain your health and in a bad position overall.  There is no hard feelings in trying a critter, getting your ass beat and fleeing to survive and come back a few days later and try again.

Acquire a set of basic cures, nothing is worse then ending up poisoned by a monster or whatever and then watching yourself slowly die for twenty minutes until a mantis head, when one cure would have saved your life.

More to come if you wish, just PM me.

[Merdin]

Merdin's foci- Become the best new character maker EVER. #5 lasted about 12 hours, I'm halfway to a character that lives through 24 hours of RL play-time....Go me. Kinda fun and sucks at the same time. Least I was able to make a bio entry for this last one lol.

[RogueGunslinger]

Tips for day-1 solo players:

Get a mount. It's so important to have a mount.

Don't fight mounted if your ride skill is low. Probably best to avoid anything that hits hard(scrabs or bigger) until your ride is good enough that you don't fall off, or until you know these things won't fuck you up.

Scrabs will kill you if you're not a warrior. Some will kill you even if you are. Avoid scrabs for a while when starting out.

Do not venture far in any direction without a guide, or someone who knows the area.

Don't keep heading north from the eastern-gates of Allanak. If you do beware of falling.

Flee way before you HP stops regenrating. this is around 60%. So flee around 75% if not higher. Beware if your flee skill is not high you will take more damage when you run so take that into account.

Don't try to travel to different cities until you're at leas competent enough to kill scrabs, and have red and yellow cures.

Golden rule of surviving combat: Never... Never ever ever say to yourself "This mob just got a couple lucky hits in, I can tough it out a bit longer." Just fucking flee.


Lastly, try to have fun, and don't be put-off by dying. I've played over 150 characters(or so) Dying is part of the fun(for some of us masochists)

There's a million more specific things I probably shouldn't say, as it's mostly IC info. This is why it's always best to find a mentor in-game. In general treat your PC like they are living, breathing, sane people. Taking a risk will almost always get a nooby killed.

[manipura]

Golden rule of surviving combat: Never... Never ever ever say to yourself "This mob just got a couple lucky hits in, I can tough it out a bit longer." Just fucking flee.

I can't double-bold something...so it gets it's own colour and some underlining and some italics instead, to show my absolute agreement.

[RogueGunslinger]

One more: Not every mob is the same strength. They get rolls on stats every time they spawn. So that scrab you beat to a pulp last week? It can now hand you your ass on a platter.

[Asmoth]

If you see a message that says "Someone does something creepy" (paraphrasing).

RUN like you've never run before!  Don't stop when you think you're safe ten rooms away, just keep running!

[IAmJacksOpinion]

(Wrote this on my phone. Excuse the typos.)

I probably went through 20 characters before I got one who made it to a full 24 hours played. After 11 or 12 years I've played over 200 characters. My average longevity is still probably under 3 days (though that's due more to getting bored easily at this point.)

I wouldn't worry too much about a high turn over early on. You're still learning. Honestly, most new players Ive seen recently have had the opposite problem; they take no risks, and miss out in a lot.

My advice would be:

1) Don't let your health get below 70-75%. Your opponent gets an attack of opportunity when you flee, and it's often a big hit, so plan ahead for that. You need at least 60% health to regen without sleeping, and sleeping has its own dangers...

2) Learn how to gauge the fight, if you're getting hit twice for every hit you land, you're not going to win, so don't hang around and try. Even if you manage to win, you'll be at low health which is also dangerous.

3) Reread 1 & 2. Learning to accept that you'll lose most of your fights in Arm was a huge turning point in my survivability. This isn't most games. Winning isn't the point. So take your ego out of it.

4) Joining a clan is a good way to learn. Most people recommend the Ben mercenaries, because they'll basically take anybody. Other clans are less newb friendly because theyre employers and they want experienced employees. The Ben is the opposite. They're mercenaries, and you have to pay 300 to join (plan for that with your starting coin). Note, this doesn't make the Byn a "newbie clan". Honestly, they're my favorite because they're hired by EVERYONE, so you'll have a front row seat to all the RPTs, and work for every guild and House in the game.  Whichever clan you go with, you'll get food, shelter, allies, mentors, and sparring. Sparring is a way to safely learn the combat system.

5) Skills raise REALLY slowly. It takes at least 5 days played (120 hours) to master most non-combat skill (sneak, scan, crafting, etc.) Combat skills (two handed, chopping, kick) take FOREVER! In all my years I can count how many combat skills I've mastered on my fingers. It's that hard. So don't worry too much about it.

6) Try non combat characters from time to time. As the saying goes, "I'm just here to pretend to hit mother fuckers with bone swords." But trying a crafter, aid, or merchant can be fun. (You can always try a non-violent criminal too. It can be a fun challenge.)

Edited to add one more:
7) You're not a badass. I remember when I was new, I would roll up endless numbers of assassins with backgrounds suggesting he was some kind of badass. But of course with my starting skill and newbie lack of game experience, I could in no way, shape, or form back up my claims. But I would let that stupid background drive my ego and get me into all kinds of trouble with players who were way stronger than me. This isn't Skyrim or Fallout or something where you can survive that type of ego. PKs seem to be a lot less common than they used to be, so you might not get your ass whooped, but at the very least no one will take you seriously if you run around behaving that way.

[Kol]

I believe I managed to get a personal note from Talia once after apping for my FOURTH PC in a day that if I died again, she'd make me wait a week before I got another approved, I've been playing a while....9-10 years now and I'm almost at 120 pc's played. I know of people who've been playing longer than me with almost half or less of that number.

It's all about play-style, experience, and in most cases, Luck. Took me nearly a year and a few awesome players to get anyone past a few days played, my usual limit even now between 5-10 days. But I'll get there....and you will to.

[IAmJacksOpinion]

...after apping for my FOURTH PC in a day...

Nice. That's gotta be a record! The most I ever saw was 3. It was when I was an atrocious newb (now I'm an atrocious vet). A couple of my friends from school and I came up with a three brothers concept, so we apped them all around the same time one night. The next morning we wake up to our approvals. Well, one of my friends died pretty much instantly. So he re-apped the same character under a slightly different name. He died again that afternoon. Tried once more, and got approved that evening. Don't know if he died that evening, or the sometime after, but the dude got the exact same sdesc, mdesc, background approved 3 times in one day, under slightly different names; Will, William, and Wilhelm, or something similar. And this was back in the days when you had to basically die twice to die that fast...

Took me nearly a year and a few awesome players to get anyone past a few days played, my usual limit even now between 5-10 days. But I'll get there....and you will to.

Long lived characters aren't always GOOD characters. For every one character I've seen live for an RL year or two while managing to stay interesting, fun to play with, and just generally good for the game , I've seen two that got bored, stopped emoting, sat around the bar topping every story they overheard, and just otherwise wasted/occupied space. You could tell they were bored, but didn't want to throw away their pile of stats & skills, so they sat around and became unbearable. Clans frequently fall stagnant when people like that occupy the leadership. It's a game, not a job. If you're not having fun, do something different.

[Synthesis]

Took me nearly a year and a few awesome players to get anyone past a few days played, my usual limit even now between 5-10 days. But I'll get there....and you will to.

Long lived characters aren't always GOOD characters. For every one character I've seen live for an RL year or two while managing to stay interesting, fun to play with, and just generally good for the game , I've seen two that got bored, stopped emoting, sat around the bar topping every story they overheard, and just otherwise wasted/occupied space. You could tell they were bored, but didn't want to throw away their pile of stats & skills, so they sat around and became unbearable. Clans frequently fall stagnant when people like that occupy the leadership. It's a game, not a job. If you're not having fun, do something different.

LOL.

That's good roleplay.

That's exactly what veterans do in real life, too.