Shattered Kingdoms

Thread for ideas on how to make SK more newb friendly. Currently there is a huge learning curve in the game that drives players away because the information isn't readily available. SK just plops you in and says READ ALL THE HELP FILES.

Two of the most glaring examples are that the "commands" and "socials" commands are not immediately pointed to.

I'd like to encourage other players to list things they think are wrong with newbie areas that could help pull more players into playing the game.

My biggest idea would be in the hall of creation. Instead of changing 6 training areas, change 1. When it asks you if you are new to SK and you say yes, you should be side carried off to a tutorial program designed to teach socials and commands, in a series of short based quests. Then once you get through that tutorial you begin your race and class selection.


Examples.
You are whisked away to a to a blank area.
A disembodied voice says to you hello I am Bob will be your teacher in this area. First, please greet me so I know who you are.
Someone tells you ooc simply type greet bob if you are unsure what to do next. Help greet will explain more on the greet command and other introduction socials.

You greet Bob
Bob greets you

The voice continues with other commands like say and tell.
Etc etc.

Bob says let's work on movement. There are many different ways to move in this world. Let's start with the basics. I am going to open a path for you and I will direct you around.

A door forms and opens to the north

Bob tells you now simply walk (N)north.

Etcetc

Ayamao does it right with the starting armor, and the interaction thereof to get it.

The North does the best to get used to many of the beginning necessary commands.

The Empire does it right with their weapon shop (needs to have a smithy nearby though)

Put those three concepts together, and most people will understand the game. Two other things would help also. First, is a tutorial (not a readme) on how to interact to get many different quests. Second, another tutorial (once again NOT a readme) on combat.

There is a smithy nearby. You just need to read room descs. Good idea Ardith. I think a NOpk flag should be on until journeyman.

This is not so much a newbie SCHOOL issue, but it's relevant to the tutorial idea. When I first started playing--and from what I understand this is not an uncommon experience--I had absolutely no idea how to differentiate a PC from an NPC. This resulted in several incidents that are absolutely hilarious in hindsight but that I would have appreciated knowing how to avoid at the time.

Would it take any code changes what so ever? I mean its more or less a building job right?

I could be wrong, but I think the only code change would be in the beginning to get the new person out of the normal line of creation and into the tutorial and then again at the end of the tutorial and back into the creation sequence.

I like this idea though.

Now that I am not trying to set this up on a smart phone, let me expand a little on my idea...everyone gets the jist of it, but I can go into more detail.


Are you new to Shattered Kingdoms? [Y/N]
y



I suggest.

Welcome to the Shattered Kingdoms. This is a roleplaying MUD but we do not
necessarily shy away from player killing. The world is divided up into
several kingdoms. Players pick a kingdom to live in and they will be
expected to defend their homeland. Those that do not become outcasts.
Join a cabal to become more powerful and gain some special allies. You
must roleplay a character, not just yourself. (same up until the last line for newbies)
We have developed a tutorial to show you basic commands and movement
functions used in the game. More advanced functions can be learned from their
related -HELP-files. TYPE HELP AT ANY TIME TO SEE A LIST OF ALL THE FILES.

Tutorial area

You find yourself floating in empty space. All around you is only
grayness as far as the eye can see.
Exits:

A disembodied voice speaks out: Greetings mortal and welcome to Shattered Kingdoms.
My name is Bob, I will mentor you and show you the basics on interactin with the world
you are about to live in. But first I would like to know your name.

A disembodied voice greets you.

Bob says, Simply *greet bob* to introduce yourself, you will find other adventurers along
the way that you may want to get to know. What better way to start out with a
simple introduction.

you greet bob.
bob greets you.

bob says, great work! Now there are other ways to interact with people, if you want to
know how someone looks simply look at them and it will show you their descriptors and
other tidbits of information.

Bob says Simply *look bob* and you will see what I look like.

you look at bob

Floating before you is a misty apperation, no face or body structure is present,
however you see the formation of eyes peering at you with kindness. The formation
of a mouth is your only real way of seeing that he is actually talking to you.

Bob is wearing <supernatural hide>
bob is in excellent condition.

bob says Good work. Now lets continue on with talking. I am sitting here running my
mouth at you without giving you a chance to talk back. Now would you please say Hello.
bob says the *say* command is preceeded by anything you wish to speak. so *say hello*
would say hello.

you say, Hello.

bob says to you Wonderful work, mortal. However who were you speaking to? There is only me here,
not like an audience around the room is there? So lets work on directing your speech to someone.
Now I would like you to say hello to me.

bob says *sayto person* is how you direct your speech towards a specific person. There are adjectives
that people use to make it easier to talk to them. so simply *sayto bob hello*

you say to bob Hello.

bob says Thats it, we are off to a great start. Now lets work on one other form of communication.

Bob tells you, I am speaking to you through telepathy. All people in this world have an innate ability
to talk to anyone else in the world at anytime that they wish. I am not speaking this outloud, but simply
in the back of your mind somewhere.

bob tells you Now I want you to tell me hello

bob says Simply *tell person hello* and it will tell them what you want them to hear. However sometimes
people are sleeping to recover their energies and won't be able to hear you. Simply try again later when they
are awake. There is also the Quiet option which makes it so that person doesn't recieve tells at all.

You tell bob Hello.

Bob says Marvelous. You are proceeding quite nicely.

Bob says Now lets work on gestures.

bob says There are a multitude of gestures that you can do with other people. Including
emoting and pemoting, but thats more advanced and you can practice with those later.
But for now I would simply like for you to wave to me.

bob says *wave person* is a simple gesture to signify a greeting or to attract their attention.
the *comand* function will give you a list of the many different types of gestures you can preform.

bob waves to you.

you wave to bob.

bob says Great work. Now that we have covered the basics of speech and gestures, lets move on to
movement.

Bob says There are many different exits you will see around the world, the most basic are your cardinal directions:
North, South, East, and West. And the ordinal directions, Northeast, Northwest, Southeast, and Southwest.
So lets try moving around a bit to get your legs moving. I will open a portal for you and we will proceed onward!

you see bob open a doorway in the mists facing northward.

Bob says Now before we move, you can now look around the room and see the exits that are availiable, so Lets *look*

Tutorial area

You find yourself floating in empty space. All around you is only
grayness as far as the eye can see.
Exits: N(closed)

Bob says Notice now how there is the exit to the north, but its closed! Try and *open* it.

you open the door.

bob says Excellent, lets get moving. Lets go (N)orth.

you walk north.
Tutorial area

You find yourself floating in empty space. All around you is only
grayness as far as the eye can see.
Exits:E(closed) s

Bob says Notice there is a door to the east, and a door to the south. We came through the
south entrance to here. Lets continue east.

you open the door

you walk east

Tutorial area

You find yourself floating in empty space. All around you is only
grayness as far as the eye can see.
Exits: N(closed) W

Bob says I will let you walk around a bit, when you get to the end of the pathway, we will discuss more.

.......and so on and so forth.


What do you guys think?

This could be handled via script. However, due to area security, it would take specific builder(s) to accomplish.

This is dumb.