Shattered Kingdoms

Yeah, I really wish I had seen this before now. It would have been a great help. I like to read the damn manual and it's been extremely frustrating for me at times, especially coming from a background of mudding. I mean, you play these types of games for more than ten years and you should be able to pick things up easily.

Not so the case if the mud is completely different from all the other muds you've played previously.

Is there a reason why isn't there an OOC in game channel for newbies? I mean, the mentor command is great, but sometimes its hard to know how to ask IC how to train a level when you aren't sure if it is acceptable to even say 'level' (on most muds I've been on it hasn't).

This has probably been one of the least newbie friendly muds I've been on. If I hadn't played a mud before, I don't think I would have stuck it out for very long. (Luckily for all of you, I have played before!)

I'm not saying this to put down your game, so please don't get all defensive. I'm not one of those people who barges in to a new mud and immediately starts suggesting things that make the new mud exactly like the mud they just left. But some sort of OOC channel would be extremely helpful in making the statement that you guys are 'newbie friendly' (one of the reasons I chose to try this mud, btw) actually factual.

Firstly, understand I'm no diplomat. I don't really know how to couch my thoughts in "safe" terms, so just pretend I did, okay? The game has a strong IC philosophy and adding an OOC global channel would deter from that philosophy and, while minimal at first, would likely start a slippery-slope descent for the mud as a whole.

My suggestion for those lacking understanding in this game would be to search the who list for likely candidates as your game instructor. Finding a title that appears to fit your alignment, if not your class and alignment, you could then send a tell explaining you're very youthful and needing guidance. If your target can't or won't help you, chances are you might be given a short list of names to try. At some point, likely early in the instruction process, you can briefly slip into OOC for a more clear understanding of mechanics and such or for a better understanding of how to ask things ICly.

I have, on extremely rare occasions, spent time with newbies in an out-of-the-way place to remain OOC and go through a whole question-and-answer session. I don't advise this as a general practice. Trying to do things ICly is always best. If you have a good instructor, he or she will see you're struggling with your IC and will supply you with spoon-fed IC terminology for OOC mechanics.

I hear what you're saying and I understand where you're coming from. I don't like OOC channels myself, in general. When I'm on muds with OOC tells, I tend to turn them off. I know the dangers they present.

But I do fail to see how some sort of OOC question channel for newbies who have not reached the rank of novice would be detrimental to the mud. It would help ease new players who maybe haven't experienced a roleplay mud before into the swing of things.

Without new players, muds grow stagnant and die. And in a world where games like WoW and D&D online have begun to dominate, new players are going to be few and far in between. If you want to keep those new players from logging out after a few minutes of not being able to figure things out, you're going to need to make some sort of compromise.

Now, maybe I am completely wrong here. Maybe you are getting hoards of new players every week. I don't know. I'm only speaking from past experience.

I myself am getting along just fine now. But I am an experienced player of these kinds of games. And even with all my experience, I still had a great deal of trouble. You have a fairly unique training system. You have a large original world with a lot of history. It is a lot for a newbie to take in all at once.

I'm not talking about going to the extreme. If I logged into the mud and got jumped by every player in the game offering to help me, I would probably feel even more overwhelmed. I'm talking about letting me be able to ask a question and get a prompt reply while I'm in the middle of training, rather than having to register for the forums, log in, post a message on the newbie board and wait however long it takes to receive an answer.

Hi Ashokia. I understand and agree with what you are saying. I can always wish that we were more newbie friendly. However there are also competing goals at work.

We actually advertise the fact that we don't have any OOC channels to show our dedication to maintaining a RP environment. There are absolutely some players who are looking for that and it is a draw, not only because of the RP-focus but because OOC channels drive them crazy. Unfortunately it does make it harder for newbies.

Despite this, we have been trying different things to encourage our more experienced players to want to help newbies. This includes the mentor command and the fact that mentors can earn benefits for helping newbies. And of course on the website here, we have the FAQ plus maps of all the newbie areas and starting cities.

I'd certainly appreciate it if you have more suggestions for entries to the FAQ or anything else that we can do to make things easier to learn. It is hard to get new players and even harder to retain them, so anything we can do that doesn't interfere with the theme of the game will be seriously considered.

Hey Dulrik, thanks for taking the time to explain the motivation behind keeping everything IC. I hadn't realized you guys specifically advertised the lack of OOC channels, because it isn't one of the things that I look for in a mud. Generally, if there are OOC channels, I know I can always turn them off. I'm more concerned that a mud be roleplay enforced and newbie friendly because I know no matter how much experience I have with muds, there is almost always something different no matter where you go. This is understandable because you guys want to be able to offer a unique experience. It's what sets you apart from the other muds and draws the more serious players to you.

I think I read through most of the helpfiles that were pointed out to me when I first logged into the game. It would have been really helpful if one of the first things I got to see explained was that there aren't any OOC channels. Because the first thing I did when I got stuck and couldn't figure out how to do something was type help communication to figure out how I could ask an OOC question. It could also be useful to have some examples of how you could pose an OOC question in an IC manner and some IC terminology. I know some muds don't like when you use the word level. What would be acceptable to use in its place?
And so on, and so forth...

Another thing I could have used more help with is the training system. I'm still not entirely sure if I am practicing correctly. Is it better to train your level and ignore your skills or the opposite? Does chosing one way over the other have any benefits/drawbacks. Is there any way to tell how much experience it will cost to train certain things so that it is easier to decide if you would rather train a skill now or wait until later?

I think the biggest problem is the assumption that if a player has a problem and needs OOC assistance, they will think to log on to the forums. If you have someone like myself who is looking to find a new mud, often they will try out several before chosing one they like. It doesn't make sense for me to create a forum account for every single game I try. That is probably one of the things that almost made me decide to try somewhere else, despite the fact that you have a good-sized player base online at all times. (Probably the reason I decided to give you guys a chance despite the hassle it presented.)

I'm a fairly decisive person. When I see something I like, I go after it. I am also a very devoted person when it comes to muds. I like to vote. I like to review. I often donate my services as a builder if they are needed. You guys will probably be wishing you could get rid of me after awhile. I can be that annoying. Seriously. But usually I'm only trying to help.

I really like SK. I've been here less than a week and I know that this is a place I could be completely comfortable with. My first instinct is to tackle all of the things that I think could be made better, and I really am trying to not do that. I know what it's like to have some newb come in to your mud and immediately focus on everything they think is bad or could use work. Having seen my last two muds shut down, I really wouldn't want to see another shut down, at least for a good long while. And bringing in new players is a good way to see that doesn't happen.

So I am sorry if I seem a little overzealous at times. If it gets to be too much, feel free to tell me to shut the hell up. I promise not to take it too personally.

First of all, welcome, I haven't had a chance to say that up to this point. In regards to all of your comments, I completely agree that our mud isn't exactly noob friendly, although we try our best to make it so it's still fairly difficult to learn your way around. Once you get going though, it's a blast.

Your question regarding learning skills/levels. No, there's no way to see how much it will cost to learn a skill, but what you have to keep in mind is, the higher your intelligence the less XP it will cost to learn a skill, and the higher your level, the less XP it will cost (relatively). So what you generally should do is once you reach a new status, go learn the skills that are vital for leveling, then level up some more, and if you feel you want the other skills right away, go learn them then. So for example as a warrior, you'd start off by learning all your skills in the noob area at level 5 besides the essential ones, then when you leave you go and learn second attack at level 6, get to level 10 before learning anything non-essential and so forth. Skills that you need to keep an eye out for are things like second attack, third attack, fourth attack, dual wield and so forth. Skills like rescue, self defense, disarm and the like, those can wait.

This is even more 'vital' for spellcasters. For instance on a sorcerer and necromancer, you really only have a couple of VITAL spells that you need for leveling, the rest you can pick up at your leisure later on. Key spells are things like...Fly, invis, magic missile, meditation, trance, cause light, color spray. These are basically the best leveling spells in the game, past that are more utility and are there for more in-depths play, outside of leveling. Priest...you'll want meditation, trance, second attack, shield block, flamestrike, spear of faith anything past that is again, utility.

Thanks Konrin that's a big help!

I don't know what you're trying out atm, but if you ever roll a character in the northern wastes, toss up a mentor command from an inn in the afternoon/evening EST and I'll get to ya in game, generally try to help out anyone who asks.

You find Ashokia, that 99% of the player base is MORE then willing to help a new player once they find out.
Konrin hit it right on the nail on the levelling and learning of skills.

Keep playing, have fun.
SK really is a blast once you get into the swing of things.

Aww. She isn't rolling a Northern Wastes character anytime soon. It's been shut down by the guhvument, maaan!