A case for mudmail

[stoicreader]

(The following is anecdotal and may be subject to confirmation bias.)

Before you read, please know there are many wonderful solutions to this problem out there proposed by decades old veterans of this game. This post is NOT an attempt to brainstorm a solution. It is however a case as to why a solution of some sort is a necessary, probably for survival. Also, the people on these boards do not represent the category of players who this problem effects, because the people willing to log onto the forums usually have a higher level of dedication and involvement than the casual player like myself.

You have been playing for 0 days and 5 hours.

This is the amount of time that passed before I had an interaction with another player. The interaction was me finding a stranger through the way, and attempting to connect to another stranger. This was the total extent of the RP I reached after 5 hours. In a major city. Again, this is anecdotal and I'm often off peak, but not always.

/////This is NOT a complaint, this is just a case study example. Please don't try and fix my perspective.///////

Now, I'm not some newbie. I'm experienced. In that 5 hours I looked at the Rumor boards and attempted to regularly reach five different people who are also trying to connect with others like my character. I daily visit two bars, idle a bit, and move on. The character is enjoyable, I'm able to Solo RP, and I know eventually the character will develop. This isn't a deal breaker for me with this character.

But think about it... 5 hours before my first interaction with another player! And ONLY through the way because I understood rumor boards and how to hunt people down. Imagine I'm a newbie, and I don't understand Psionics, or the Boards, or anything.... logging into a role playing game to get an opportunity to role play.

You will think "Is this game dead like the hundreds of others out there? The other's have a "who" list but.... most of the time, they are AFK. Is that the case here too?"
______

Adding in the next flavor of classes, subclasses, crafting overhaul etc... is wonderful and exciting! But it doesn't fix the fundamental play ability of the game for players who can only play casually or at odd hours.

[LindseyBalboa]

not sure if mud mail would really help a new player meet anyone, that's more to contact people you know.

if we can't do 'who' by region, maybe just a simple RP flag you can set that lets people know when you're in a tavern, or some other 'safe' RP area.

'who rp' in Allanak might show:

There are people in the Gaj and Gladiator.
There are people in Red's Retreat.

[X-D]

I miss mudmail.

I have had staff contact me in game to check my email/request tool. Why, I don't check email, I am not controled by the phone etc.

Mudmail was so much better,

log in, You have mudmail from Sanvean....Ooh, lets look at it.

Not
A staffer contacts you, Oh hey, could you check your email?

Checks email, scrolls back two weeks.....

[stoicreader]

Just to clarify. This example isn't for new players. It is all casual and off peak players. This doesn't effect everyone, but it has effected me for the last several years of play.

not sure if mud mail would really help a new player meet anyone, that's more to contact people you know.

if we can't do 'who' by region, maybe just a simple RP flag you can set that lets people know when you're in a tavern, or some other 'safe' RP area.

'who rp' in Allanak might show:

There are people in the Gaj and Gladiator.
There are people in Red's Retreat.

[Fragmented]

Just to clarify. This example isn't for new players. It is all casual and off peak players. This doesn't effect everyone, but it has effected me for the last several years of play.

Not saying I disagree with you.. but I will point out that nearly half of your OP discussed imagining the new player experience and (I'm assuming) was suggesting that mudmail could potentially positively impact this.

That said, I do agree with you (and I also think it may help the new player experience, and probably couldn't hurt it) I think that in a game with declining numbers, steps should be taken wherever possible to help players come together and that the perceived risk of RP through mudmail shouldn't be a limiting factor. Innocent until proven guilty. I also think a simple, small character cap, could mitigate some of that risk. Maybe allow just 100 characters - enough to say "Trying to connect IG - what times work for you next Tuesday, Friday or Sunday?"

[stoicreader]

I also think a simple, small character cap, could mitigate some of that risk. Maybe allow just 100 characters - enough to say "Trying to connect IG - what times work for you next Tuesday, Friday or Sunday?"

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