Suggestion On Attracting New (role)Players

[Jeanne]

If the point of FK (As I think it is, and as I think it should be) is roleplay as an alternative to hack n slash MUDs, and if the goal is to attract new roleplayers (as opposed to new players who may not care about RP) then I would suggest that the easiest way to do this is not to change/enhance/modify any rules/policies/etc, but for everyone who reads this to concentrate on roleplaying their character, in whatever manner is appropriate to their character.

Improved game mechanics, attractive graphics, helpful-to-newbies things...all are nice, but noone who likes to roleplay (and who roleplays well) is going to stay if, after all of this, they encounter mediocre RP.

[Jeanne]

Real Example: Armageddon

The world is harsh and death is almost inevitable. Why is it number one on TMC? Because roleplay is uniformly excellent and mandated, and everyone that goes there knows that anyone else there is willing to spend time and effort on RP in a deadly, harsh environment. Everyone roleplays, because if you don't, you get killed.

I'm not suggesting FK should be Armageddon (I think some people play Armageddon because they're masochists) but I think there's a lesson there in attracting good, reliable, new roleplayers.

[Tandria]

A point I would make is that if we were all 100% about roleplay and not about combat, FK would be a MUSH, not a MUD. That being said, a MUD needs working mechanics and sometimes they need to be tweaked. Some people (myself included) feel that game mechanics help enhance the way we roleplay our characters.

I'm not saying that new roleplayers aren't what we need, but I don't think negating game suggestions is the answer here. Everyone needs feedback, coders included. To add, if there is something people perceive to be broken about this game, will it be that attractive to new roleplayers?

[Jeanne]

A point I would make is that if we were all 100% about roleplay and not about combat, FK would be a MUSH, not a MUD. That being said, a MUD needs working mechanics and sometimes they need to be tweaked. Some people (myself included) feel that game mechanics help enhance the way we roleplay our characters.

I'm not saying that new roleplayers aren't what we need, but I don't think negating game suggestions is the answer here. Everyone needs feedback, coders included. To add, if there is something people perceive to be broken about this game, will it be that attractive to new roleplayers?

Good Points, and well made.

Agreed on all you said, and obviously I appreciate all the other things besides RP and the people that make them possible. I just meant to say that, while those things are good, roleplay is the essential ingredient that really draws roleplayers as opposed to just players.

[Jeanne]

Also, regarding Armageddon, I clearly prefer FK (since I'm here), and it is, in my opinion, inferior to FK in almost every area (graphics, helpfiles, newbie-friendliness, code...). But despite all of that, it is perpetually first.

My suggestion was just that, since FK is better in almost every area, if you take away the masochists/sadists that play Armageddon, everyone else must go there for the RP.

[Mele]

Can we leave the reviews of another mud to the approipriate review venues, please? We do not need to be the mud negatively advertising another on our forums - no matter what the pure intentions of it are.

[Jeanne]

Understood.