Shattered Kingdoms

This is my guess as to the most effective way to bring in new players: Invite them. I would surmise that the second most effective would be a high TMS/TMC ranking combined with a very newbie friendly environment, both from the game and from players who see a "new to pyrathia" character and send them a tell. In this regard the colored titles would be a huge benefit.

I also agree with whomever said that the quest system needs some work. At a basic level, all quest logs need to have the proper keyword to be used when you return to the quest giver highlighted. At a more involved level, there's a lot of quests that are just too out of place or boring to be enjoyable. On the downside, any change involving making the quest log/quests more engaging is going to require a decent amount of IMM work.

I also just had to quote this because it's strikingly true. SK can't guarantee what a lot of other MMOs grant, and while we should strive our best to be attractive, we should also not expect to bring in numbers like other more approachable games.

Finally, I think that a lot of posters could really use some work on treating the community with some respect. I'm not sure of a way for the staff to enforce that point besides more hardline forum temp bans/full bans.

I'm relatively new to SK, just made my forumID today though I've been playing a few players now for awhile and finally settled on MY main one. As being a relative newbie, let me share with you what I saw as newbie problems and why I got frustrated...

As for the starting areas... Sith'a'niel needs help! Exile and Kytar are great areas in the way they are set up, particularly with Kytar's quests for newbs. Still, you are in a school so you would EXPECT to have a teacher around that explains things. The drill sergeants of Kytar do a decent job, but I think the newbie should actually have an NPC that follows them, answers questions and even makes suggestions as to where they might go next. As the newbie levels up, the teacher encourages them but also backs off from the suggestions and then finally gives them a 'graduation' from newbie academy upon receiving their novice status. Finally, the NPC should then escort them to the city's inn or some other location and encourage the player to 'greet' the others at the inn, then leave... not just throw the player out of town like some unwanted trash like Sith'a'niel and Exile do and I imagine others do as well. This would ease the player into the game while not putting such a heavy burden on the active vet players.

Second, the RP needs to be explained a little more. Not just HELP files on socials, but again the teacher in the beginning could explain how to get those help files and some 'basic' RP socials (ie laugh, frown, greet, shake, etc). Getting to understand how to effectively RP in the game is difficult... there's quite a learning curve I felt.

Having the map of Pyrathia online is definitely helpful though not TOO revealing of everything. Perhaps there should be also a 'newspaper' location where the current events of Pyrathia can be reported such as a war breaking out between two kingdoms, a tournament scheduled, etc. I also feel that many of the classes you have mentioned could be put into 'advanced' levels with additional classes added. IE You start as more of a basic class until you hit initiate or apprentice, at which point you can choose a career available from the basics (ie a mage class might choose either sorcerer, witch (more candle, moon type magic perhaps), warlock, or necromancer) to then specialize in... and the rest of the groups would be similarly adjusted. That way ALL mage classes would start out equal before specialization began at around initiate or apprentice levels.

I have other ideas as well, but I don't want to make it sound like I'm tearing down the game. I think it's great... and I enjoy it quite a bit now that I've gotten over the newbie learning curve. Just I think some of these things could help other newbies/relative newbies learn the game quicker and become more indoctrinated to it quicker, thereby holding the retention rate better.

Is there any real downside to making them advanced? I think the change has potential benefits with no downside and, as Dulrik has said, it would be an easy change.

I'm just trying to double the player count, not try to rack up the same player counts as MMOs. Though there are surely people out there playing WoW right now who would rather be playing SK; they just don't know it yet. There is also the set of people who could get away with playing SK at work who can't get away with playing MMOs at work.

Meaningful quests would also help.

I'm not judging and saying that SK does not already have meaningful quests, i'm talking more about 'up to modern expectation' quests.

Honestly I usually just ignore most quests in SK. They hardly provide me anything other than a bit of exp that only really becomes useful around the very last levels, and i've observed a new player get a few quests early on, only to be disappointed by a) They were not working, b) The rewards were weird, c) there was no clear indication for them, who do not know SK like the back of their hands, as to where they need to go.

Here are some examples of meaningful quests:
a) A class-specific quest that unlocks a skill. If you do not do the quest for riposte, for instance, you can;t learn riposte.
b) A quest that leads a player to the next leveling area.
c) A repeatable quest that grants substantial exp/gp
d) A chain of quests that has an engaging story progression.

and most importantly:

f) A series of tutorial quests that reward you for finishing them. And when I say rewarding, I mean rewarding enough for even veteran players to want to go through those quests again to reap the benefits, be it XP, gp or loot, or a combination of the aforementioned.
Remember a successful tutorial is one that does not feel like a tutorial.

If we're talking about having meaningful quests however, first we would need a quest journal, that contains active quests, finished quests, and a description of each quest that tells you what you have done, and what the next step is. There's a number of games you can look to see examples of this, from baldur's gate to witcher.

That's a lot of work, though, and it may go unrewarded, if not done 'right', and there's no way to know if it was done 'right' until players have a go at it...

Yes, there would be a downside. I personally know of at least three new players who were attracted to try the game because of seeing the paladin class available, did so, and proved to be some of the better RPers of the game. It is also a steep, but very effective, way for them to come to know that mechanics are an essential part of gameplay as well, and to have a pretty solid set of abilities to get them through that.

A warning would be fair; making them advanced would be a detriment to the niche's access to a front door to the game.

Also, new website, and some artwork might help.

Hm..

Game development, although may facilitate keeping new players, won't bring them in. So really there are 2 discussions, how to keep new players, and how to get new players.

Think about the type of people who want to play muds in this day and age of MMORPG's and instant eye candy, and think about ways to reach them.

My advice is this:

> Face lift of the web page.
> Face lift to the help files (start a thread about help files that need reviewing, and/or are missing. Experienced players can draft help file texts to help the imm staff out.)
> Ensure there are good, well written reviews on the mud connection type sites, that emphasise the mud's strengths and selling points. (RP Mandatory, PK allowed, Lots of Quests, Active Playerbase, etc.)
> Players need to keep voting the mud up that list
> Investigate the costs of getting an add on those sites and consider making one (perhaps offering players a chance to donate to the cause if there is a cost associated)

The key here is identifying your audience. Making them curious enough to try the game. And only then keeping them here when they have.

This couldn't be more true. It's also why companies have sales and marketing departments that are seperate from their customer service departments.

You should note that quests rewards are keyed to the level of the area they are in. If you try to save easy quests for later so that you can get the XP at GM, you will find yourself not getting any XP.


Apparently it is not done right, since we already have this feature but you didn't know about it.


Yes, it was realized that such a quest log was very important. And yes, it was indeed a lot of work. The only thing that is missing from your list is what the next step is. But how much hand holding should we really provide?