Shattered Kingdoms

It is my impression that this has been done a lot over the years, that a decent number of our players were originally referred by another player. Despite this, we are where we are right now, with a player count that could use a boost. If the SK product is good enough, word of mouth will continue to happen organically (and I'm sure it does). I don't think encouraging players to go out and recruit their friends is going to produce different results than it always has.

What you say about having to "stick with them until they learn the game" is also pertinent. Some of us may not have the time to handhold a string of newbies through SK, as much as we'd like to. If there were more in-game ways for them to learn the mechanics (going back to the subject of newbie areas), then we might see better retention of the new players who don't have the luxury of an OOC veteran friend to oversee their development.

This could be done on a curve such that, at mentor and above, nothing changes, but for low levels the area familiarity creeps up more slowly. I would say that I don't have a problem with it as it is right now, though. It gets people to learn more areas, and it's really not that hard to level up. I don't think anyone ever gets to the point that all of his potential leveling areas are maxed out.


I have always wondered what fraction of true newbies we retain based on their selected starting area. Does the Wastes retain a higher fraction of newbies than, say, Uxmal? I don't know, and I have no way of knowing. But, that kind of information could be useful in assessing exactly what works and what doesn't in terms of newbie retention. I have to admit I was a bit distracted by some of the color schemes in the Wastes newbie zone, but that could just be me. I also found it more challenging to interact with other players while in the Wastes newbie zone. But the theme here is right; there are definitely some ways SK could engineer newbie zones to be more engaging and instructive, to make newbies want to reach the next level. I have gotten turned off of so many MUDs over the years just based on how annoying their newbie zones were, either with no clue what I'm supposed to do, or information overload about commands.


More choice would be better for vets but actually worse for newbies. Some more "advanced classes" could be added. I've always thought illusionists would be cool. What would be a good new race? Try to be specific with these ideas so that they are something actionable. What is the best new race we could implement, and why? And do you think it would really increase player count?


I'm not sure what you're suggesting with that last part about fountain RP. I think character homes and vehicles are ideas with potential, but I'm not sure they would result in higher player counts. I would put those pretty far down the priority list.

I just asked my husband why he won't play SK with me, and he said it wasn't fun, it wasn't his style of game, he felt out of the loop and excluded in many of his interactions, and he didn't feel like he was a great RPer, even when he had some cool concepts.

When asked how he thought SK could be improved, he said - more quests, less grinding. If you want to keep base with today's type of gamer, grinding has got to go, especially for busy people like us! He said he literally feels tired and worn out after any sort of leveling because it is so dull and boring. After leveling/grinding, he doesn't feel like interacting with anyone or doing anything because it sucks all the creativity and fun out of the game.

Seriously though, I know the vets can level a character in 15 hours and Dulrik doesn't like that. But it's still dreadfully boring. He even asked if it would be possible to level a pacifist character without killing anyone. I asked him why he'd need a GM pacifist character and he said "so I could mentor people and learn all my spells and skills."

He also says the quest logs need to be updated and he thinks the quests are impossible unless you already know how to do them.

That last bit is especially true.

This is VERY true.




Don

So far, I can see... somewhat agreeing to these except the exemplary rp part. Once you've joined a cabunal, you should lose your protection. Period.



Seriously disagree with the second half of this. Do not exclude sacred armors. They are unique sets of armor already enchanted to the brim. Keeping them on a Non-PK Character is removing an essential part of the game from the pvp arena. Owning a set of sacred armor should have its own risks.



Completely agree with this.

PK is a part of this game, it shouldn't be made into an optional flag. Having players flagged as immune to PK would also lead to characters who have to purpose but to run around opening rifts or gates in whatever locations they want with no fear of anything happening to them.

I'm also on the more quests bandwagon, even the likes of the quests in the Krychire temple gave a sense of purpose to what would otherwise be killing however many npcs it takes to become too familiar with the area.

Players have rolled characters in the hopes of abstaining from PK. It should be a part of the game if someone chooses it to be a part of the game. Or we could just keep sending players off because they are griefed by dooshes like syndith.

Steps 1-4 would actually be fundamentally changing the nature of SK. It would also require new changes to the group code, the law code, and who knows what else. Besides which, if you only have EQ of 25th level or less and you aren't in a faction and you don't antagonize people, can't you largely avoid PK anyway? There are just way too many flaws this idea, and it is replete with unintended consequences. I I have no comment on Step 5. Step 6 is plausible, but I don't see how that will improve player counts. It would just lead to more grinding (gold farming) so as to be on equal footing in PvP with other players who are rich and can buy off spirit disorientation. I think taking the grind out of PvP would help keep players more interested; introducing new grind isn't going to get it done.

You would think.