Allright, I think we're ready to kick this off. Hopefully folks who are interested in helping (via whatever means) have had enough time to review the posts on these boards by now. If not, no worries, there's plenty of room to help!

What I'd like to do to kick this off is provide a better "landing page" for the folks we already currently "market" to: people clicking through to our website from TMC, TMS, mudlists and MudMagic.

With that in mind, and taking the suggestions on these boards (thanks to everyone who threw their ideas out there!), I've got this much done:

http://www.carrionfields.com/welcome/welcome1.html

The link at the bottom of the page will take you to the 'summary' page, which is pretty rough right now.

Here's the input I need:

1. I'm open to suggestions from our resident marketing gurus for the welcome page. Intended audience for the page is people who are coming from a MUD related page, so they're probably browsing for a new MUD to try out. We need to explain why we're better than every other MUD out there. I took a stab at it, but it could use refining.

2. With the target audience in mind, I'm interested in everyone's thoughts as to what information the summary page should contain. Enough to give a person familiar with MUDs a quick overview of the best features of Carrion Fields. As you can see, I've got tabs for Connecting, Naming, Race, Sex and Class. I was thinking tabs for stats, alignment, ethos and hometown, to finish walking them through the character creation process, then...what? What other information is important to get out to them? A PK primer? An exploration primer?

I don't want to throw too much information out there - after all, this page should be designed to a) get them to want to play, b) help them roll up a viable character and c) get into the game.

3. I'd love suggestions. What I'd love even more is some sort of finished product that can be posted here for review, then stuck up on the website. I'll add a 'credits' tab as well, just to make sure everyone who contributes get a mention.

4. What we come up with here will form the nucleus of additional "landing pages" for the other target audiences that we're in the process of identifying. I envision four or five different landing pages, with an accompanying summary page, each designed to get a different type of person interested in the game, then up and running.

Kastellyn the Devourer of Magic, Lord of Legends

*** Email me your testimonials or two-line blurbs. Help our marketing efforts! ***

asfasf

The "How to play" link should be both in the sidebar and in the home page that works as some kind of an introductory page. This page should be very easy to find for someone who doesn't know what a MUD is. We had client-specific installation help guide somewhere in the site, but a newbie should be able to get to the how to play part with a one decisive click.

So, put the link to How to Play page in the sidebar along with the other easily spotted links like News, Home and Forums. The links in the sidebar are sort of an eyecatcher and with the how to play link there, people should be able to find their way to the game.

The "How to play" link should be both in the sidebar and in the home page that works as some kind of an introductory page. This page should be very easy to find for someone who doesn't know what a MUD is. We had client-specific installation help guide somewhere in the site, but a newbie should be able to get to the how to play part with a one decisive click.

Right now, the intro stuff is all in the HELP section. I agree we need a 'how to play' link of some kind...that's kind of what we're working on here...

So, put the link to How to Play page in the sidebar along with the other easily spotted links like News, Home and Forums.

This is well beyond the scope of what I can do.

Kastellyn the Devourer of Magic, Lord of Legends

*** Email me your testimonials or two-line blurbs. Help our marketing efforts! ***

I haven't read all the threads in this forum, but I thought I'd suggest something like the world of time MUD has implemented:

http://www.wotmud.org/


If you check it out, they have a new interface for very new players with hotkeys of commonly used commands. I think one of the main problems with recruiting new players to the game is overcoming the initial learning hump... once people are rolling they enjoy the game, but that first hour (or more) is pretty painful.

I experience this every time I play a new MUD. Honestly, if I can't navigate and perform simple tasks within a few minutes I stop playing that MUD forever. And I come back to Carrion Fields

So I really think we need a way to ease newbies past that initial barrier... I have no programming skills whatsoever, so I can't even imagine how WOT figured out their new interface, but I have faith in our immmortal staff. I know you guys could replicate it.

A few thoughts on the welcome/landing pages:

- I think they contain too much text, too many paragraphs, etc. The bullet lists are great, and maybe the page should emphasize on lists more than block paragraphs. Maybe style them a little too. It's very possible that potential players from search engines and/or TMC/TMS/whatever will be glancing over a handful of MUDs and wont be up for reading that amount of text. Likewise, those unfamiliar with MUDs in general might not understand what they're reading about.



- Maybe include some of the testimonials on the page? Perhaps use PHP to pick one randomly.



- The links to the helpfiles are great.



- The version with the (blood) red text has a really 1995 look.



- Instead of having a page that reads like a page from a book, perhaps lay it out more like a magazine or something like that. Categorize information into boxes or sections. Something a little more modern. This might make the content easier to digest before people get bored and stop reading.



- The guides and info people have created regarding the "nanny" process is great. Perhaps expand on this, either on the website or via the MUD, with some basic information on how to essentially survive levels 1-10 without screwing up too much. Some basics tips on what to do, where to go, things to buy, stats to train, etc that set a complete newbie on the path of a not-so-crappy low level character. A very basic walk through of the NEWBIE levels for the average Galadonian. This will help complete newbies avoid some of the common frustrations of learning a game that, no matter what you say, has a steep learning curve (at least compared to any graphical RPG and/or MUD that is much less restrictive on OOC chatter). Like I said though, people have posted an excellent start to this, and combined with the Wiki (on Qhcf) it's almost already done, and just needs to be compiled and polished.



- The tabs are a dark gray on black and impossible to read. Likewise, the links are purple, which doesn't match the site. This is still a work in progress, I assume. Otherwise, great idea. Being a usability freak and a big fan of NoScript, I'm also going to suggest adding links with a POST/GET option in noscript tags so that the tabs work with Javascript off. Trivial? Quite possibly.



Overall site suggestions:



- Wrap the search results in pre tags or use the css white-space property along with a fixed width font. Things like the ranger terrain/expertise don't display correctly unless you view the source.



- I think this has been said before, but standardize the font family, size, etc across the site.



- I understand this is difficult as it requires time, but one of the big problems with the CF website is that the Help information often gets outdated and/or not updated when new changes go in. With a fairly minimal amount of work, some of these pages could probably be made dynamic with PHP and all but forgotten about.



- The connect page is nice. Maybe include example MUD clients for Windows, Mac, and Linux. A Java client might not hurt, but probably isn't necessary.



- Update the poll more or get rid of it. Maybe use that space for the vote links instead of putting them on top so the main graphic can be centered.



- More functionality in the helpfile search. Maybe an alphabetical listing. The links from within the site (Kasty's welcome pages, for example) are great too. With a little PHP/Perl/whatever helpfiles could be converted in such a way that the "See also" keywords are converted to links. Probably not worth the effort, but that'd be kinda fancy and neat.



- Cabals page says Nexus is defunct. It also says: See also: STORY PHILOSOPHY ARBITER BATTLE ENTROPY MASTER HERALD SYLVAN EMPIRE DAWN SCARAB -- Maybe update that list?





Forums:



- This is probably a lot more work than it's worth, but RSS feeds?





Permanent Death:



- Most of the MUDs that don't have a permanent death system tend to be the ones that don't enforce such strict standards of RP, many of them to the point where a lot of the time spent on one's only character is used chatting with other players about whatever. Very rarely do people age die on Carrionfields and say, "Damn, if only I'd had another 500 hours." Most of the players thrive on new roles, different cabals, etc. Somewhat unique to CF is the fact that in many ways, a character can impact the game in permanent ways. BattleRagers have their pillar, Heralds can contribute to the Lyceum, epic battles are displayed on the homepage (as stories), etc. A character that age-dies, and some that con die (not the Shamanman way) often quite literally go down in CF history as heroes and legends, some to the point where guildmasters and other mobs are named after them. Maybe advertising the fact that your epic, legendary warrior will die at the height of his Imperial reign isn't the way to phrase it, but permanent death is definitely a feature, and one worth advertising. The way the page describes it now seems fine. It might be worthwhile to mention the whole PBF right after that so people know that once they die, they have the opportunity to check out a ton of awesome stats which they can brag about forever.

Thanks for the feedback!

I think they contain too much text, too many paragraphs, etc.

Studies have shown that if you get folks interested enough to start reading, they'll read the whole thing, whether it's one paragraph or ten pages. If you can't generate that interest, doesn't matter how you organize or present the data. The bold statement at the top is supposed to hook them.

The bullet lists are great, and maybe the page should emphasize on lists more than block paragraphs. Maybe style them a little too. It's very possible that potential players from search engines and/or TMC/TMS/whatever will be glancing over a handful of MUDs and wont be up for reading that amount of text.

These folks are the target for the page (welcome1.html).

Likewise, those unfamiliar with MUDs in general might not understand what they're reading about.

These folks will get a separate welcome page, unless we can write one page that hits every audience. I have my doubts that we can do this effectively; not a big deal, different welcome pages are pretty easy to do.

- Maybe include some of the testimonials on the page? Perhaps use PHP to pick one randomly.

I've talked about this with Yean, and I think it's something we can do.

- The version with the (blood) red text has a really 1995 look.

You talking about welcome2.html? Yeah, still in progress. Not sure if a 1995 look is bad or not...

- Instead of having a page that reads like a page from a book, perhaps lay it out more like a magazine or something like that. Categorize information into boxes or sections. Something a little more modern. This might make the content easier to digest before people get bored and stop reading.

You'll have to give me an example of what you mean.

- The guides and info people have created regarding the "nanny" process is great. Perhaps expand on this, either on the website or via the MUD, with some basic information on how to essentially survive levels 1-10 without screwing up too much. Some basics tips on what to do, where to go, things to buy, stats to train, etc that set a complete newbie on the path of a not-so-crappy low level character. A very basic walk through of the NEWBIE levels for the average Galadonian. This will help complete newbies avoid some of the common frustrations of learning a game that, no matter what you say, has a steep learning curve (at least compared to any graphical RPG and/or MUD that is much less restrictive on OOC chatter). Like I said though, people have posted an excellent start to this, and combined with the Wiki (on Qhcf) it's almost already done, and just needs to be compiled and polished.

Literally any of our players can generate this content. I'm more then willing to polish it and put it on a website for folks to comment on. And I'll work on it, but I can't do all the content generation myself. Little help here, folks!

- The tabs are a dark gray on black and impossible to read.

I can read them fine...?

Likewise, the links are purple, which doesn't match the site.

I think I can fix this.

This is still a work in progress, I assume. Otherwise, great idea.

Thanks!

Overall site suggestions:

All of these are pretty much beyond the scope of what I can do.

Kastellyn the Devourer of Magic, Lord of Legends

*** Email me your testimonials or two-line blurbs. Help our marketing efforts! ***

I counted the age deaths in 50-100..950-100 range and your estimate of 650-900 hours was way too high. The # of age deaths peaked in the hour range of 500-550. Personally, I'd recommend using range of 400-700 hours as an estimate as it is closer to the truth and the approximately 74% of age deaths happen in those hours. Approximately 9% of age deaths took place after these hours and 17% before these hours. Necromancers are included in the data. Two characters got accidentally recorded twice in the data (the data totals 136 age dead characters from Graveyard in Dio's).

Graphical display of the data:

>

""

It might also be worth mentioning (dunno if it is) that only 1% of character permadeaths are age deaths, 5% con deaths and the rest deletions because the player wanted to play some other character instead.

Updated with the better numbers. Thanks!

I didn't mention the %s you talk about...I think the point we're trying to get across is that characters aren't permanent, not so much how people choose to enact that impermanence, if that makes sense.

Kastellyn the Devourer of Magic, Lord of Legends

*** Email me your testimonials or two-line blurbs. Help our marketing efforts! ***

Same link as above: http://www.carrionfields.com/welcome/welcome1.html

I incorporated a lot of the comments below. Take a look and tell me what you think.

What I need now are suggestions for how the Class page should look. What are we trying to tell new MUDders about our classes? What are the "key points" we should put in the summary tabs that will help them choose their class, or get a feel for the class before they start to play?

Next step will be another page that, basically, talks them through the Academy process, and gives them advice for how to proceed with the first ten levels. Once we get that on the web, I think we're ready to go live.

I've got some ideas for ways to make more information available in-game (I like the idea of a "tutor" type mob that you can hire to follow you around and give you advice, but that's a more long-term project that's beyond my ability to roll with solo). So shelve those ideas for now, and let's press on with this initial marketing effort.

Thanks to everyone who has provided inputs so far!

Kastellyn the Devourer of Magic, Lord of Legends

*** Email me your testimonials or two-line blurbs. Help our marketing efforts! ***

I think it's ready to be aired as the mudlist starting page as soon as the buttons find their final form.

The tabs I think don't need to cover classes in an awesome depth, since there are already good class helps on the page, with skill helpfiles and all. What I think is more important, is a step by step walkthrough of the character generation process.

To be more specific, let's go through the character generation process, especially targetted at new mudders (people used to playing muds will in general have a good grasp on what the character generation process is all about). I will go through the generation process bit by bit.

#Connecting to remote host.
#Remote hosts address: 207.44.136.67
#Trying to connect..
Connected to remote host
** SKULL
By what name do you wish to be mourned?


This is the first point of potential confusion. First off, it needs to be explained that the ascii graphics portrayed is just the opening page, and that the game itself is not similar. Second (and more important), it makes no difference between rolling a new character, or logging on an old one. So the user could face these problems:


By what name do you wish to be mourned? Kastellyn
Password: Idontknow

Wrong password.
#Connection lost

By what name do you wish to be mourned? Victoria
You are denied access.
#Connection lost

(Don't worry, the login attempt was me)

and be hopelessly confused, especially in the latter case. So, either the name generation code needs to be clarified to be more self explanatory, or we need to clearly spell out what is expected and what the above mentioned feedbacks mean.

Ok, now that we have crossed the first hurdle, we continue with naming of our character:

By what name do you wish to be mourned? yugwen
Did I get that right, Yugwen?

yes


Would be nice if it said, new character, do you wish to name him yugwen or somesuch.


Here at The Carrion Fields we promote a roleplaying environment. Because of
this atmosphere, we do not allow just any name you may want. The names must
meet a certain criteria and if they do not, they will be denied. The following
questions are good guidelines for determining if you have chosen an appropriate
name.

Is this name an original name as far as you know?

yes
Is this name a combination of two other names (e.g. Maryjane)?

no
Is this name found in any dictionary or a common slang term?

no

By answering as you have to the previous questions you have claimed that your
name is completely legitimate in our fantasy world. If you have lied in the
previous questions and we deem your name unfit you will be denied without
warning. This is your last chance.

Are you sure this name is acceptable?

yes


Please choose a password for Yugwen: password

Please retype password: password


This part is very self explanatory, thumbs up.

Are you new to the realm of CarrionFields or to mudding in general?

yes


Answering yes/no gives no feedback. This is bad. When a user is prompted for input, he needs to know what, if anything is done with the input.


RACE

*** List of races

For more information, type "help <race>".

NOTE: The minotaur population is currently at its max, none can be rolled now.
What is your race?



Here our getting started guide comes very handy. It needs to outline what kind of things race affects, not necessarily specs of different races.
Important things to clarify
- Show as certain race in who list (discerned by other players)
- Alignment (and thus your roleplay, more help in helpfiles)
- Max stats (also should be notes that all characters tend to reach max stats, as opposed to many paper and pencil rpgs)
- Resists/vulns (affects combat, more help in helpfiles)
- Class choice (more help in individual helpfiles)



gnome

What is your sex?

male

CLASS
Here are the classes and their extra cost per level.
For more information, type "help <class>".

Class Description Experience Penalties
-------------------------------------------------------------
Warrior weapons specialist 0 exp extra per level.
Thief standard class 0 exp extra per level.
Ranger forest warrior 200 exp extra per level.
Bard musician 300 exp extra per level.
Assassin thief/martial artist 300 exp extra per level.
Anti-Paladin unholy warrior/mage 300 exp extra per level.

********************************************************
THE ABOVE ARE SUGGESTED FOR PLAYERS NEW TO CF, WHILE
JUST AS POWERFUL, THE LEARNING CURVE IS LOWER THAN THE
FOLLOWING CLASSES. YOU HAVE BEEN WARNED.
********************************************************

Shaman offensive cleric 0 exp extra per level.
Healer defensive cleric 0 exp extra per level.
Druid nature cleric 0 exp extra per level.
Transmuter alteration mage 0 exp extra per level.
Shapeshifter shapeshifter mage 0 exp extra per level.
Necromancer undead-master mage 0 exp extra per level.
Invoker elemental mage 0 exp extra per level.
Conjurer extraplanar mage 0 exp extra per level.
Paladin holy warrior/cleric 400 exp extra per level.

Anyone new to Carrion Fields, especially if you are new to mudding, is
advised not to pick paladins, shamans, healers, or druids. Each class
has its own unique benefits and challenges to surmount.
What is your class?



So, here I think is some repetition, but still doing good. Our newbie guide again has to outline the meaning of picking a class in general, specs for different classes can be found elsewhere on the page/helpfiles.
Important notes:

- Can also be seen in who list
- Affects alignment in some cases
- Roleplay archetypes (not necessary to be cookie-cutter, but still)
- Skillset
- hp/mana gains

Also things of note
- Can not change class (could outline benfits)
- No multi-classing either
- Many classes have sub-classes (warrior, paladin, thief, ranger and invoker to lesser extent)




warrior

STATS
Strength: A combat stat. Affects to a small degree how often you hit,
how hard you hit, how heavy of weapon(s) you may wield, and
how much gear you may carry.
Intelligence: Affects how much mana per level you gain, how effectively
you practice, how much mana you regenerate per tick, and to
a certain extent, how quickly you learn your skills, spells,
or songs with each use.
Wisdom: Determines how many practices you gain per level. Also affects
mana gain per level to a small degree.
Dexterity: Affects how many items you may carry, how hard you are to hit
to a certain degree, and your dodging potential.
Constitution: Affects your health, and how quickly you regenerate it. For more
information on Con, see HELP DEATH.
Charisma: Affects how well you relate with others. Also influences the
the morale of a group you lead.

Now rolling for your stats. Charisma is assigned later.
You don't get many trains, so choose well.
18str 20int 23wis 19dex 16con. Accept these stats?


Individual stats are explained briefly and well, but the stat generation process might still be unclear for a player new to muds.
Things that need clarification:

- Difference between max rollable and max
- All characters roll 2 less than max rollable

18str 20int 23wis 19dex 16con. Accept these stats? yes

Your character has neutral tendencies.

HOMETOWN HOMETOWNS
You can pick one of many cities as your hometown: Hamsah Mu'tazz, Galadon,
Arial City, Seantryn Modan, Balator, and Bryn Shandar are all alignments,
Voralian City, Akan, and Tir-Talath are good and neutral only, Darsylon is
good only, and Arkham, Udgaard and Barovia are evil and neutral
only. Your hometown is where you will recall to (unless it is one of the
smaller cities and you have been fighting too recently) and is where the
pit is to which your corpse will decay.

Everyone starts at the Academy, which is connected to most of the hometowns.
If you wish to change your hometown, visit the registry in Galadon. There is
fee for this service.

Some of these hometowns are race-specific as well.

Directions to reach the Registry in Galadon from the Market Square are:
4north, 2east, 2north, 2west, 1north, 1east, 1south and then you are there.

Where were you born?
Galadon, Hamsah Mu'tazZ, Arkham, Udgaard, Hillcrest
g
What is your ethos?

o

What is your preferred weapon?

sword




Alignment, ethos and hometown might need to be clarified, a simple reference to helpfiles on all occasions will be good.


The Great Portal
You have decided to become a hero of Thera. A legend, as it were. You will
become one of the greats, one of the adventurers. Warrior, shadow, cleric,
musician or mage, you know the world has more to offer you than the average
life you lived before this. You cast away your old life and embrace a new
destiny of greatness. Bags packed and ready for the destiny before you, the
first step is to learn how to do it. You arrive at the Great Academy of
Thera. Every legend, every great mortal of both good and evil made their
start here, and you could be the next one emblazoned on the history books.
A portal swirls beneath your feet, leading into the fabled Academy.


The Academy Prefect is here, welcoming and directing new students.

You have 19 new notes waiting.
The Academy Prefect says 'Welcome to Thera!'
The Academy Prefect says 'If you need help, just say the word. Help, that is.'
The Academy Prefect says 'Why don't you say hello?'
The Academy Prefect pokes you in the ribs.

<100%hp 100%m 100%mv 1800tnl (50.00%)> say hello
You say 'hello'
The Academy Prefect smiles happily.
The Academy Prefect says 'Hello to you too! Glad to have you here. It's my job to welcome you to Thera.'
The Academy Prefect says 'I can provide you with a little help, but most of what you need can be found in our extensive help
system.'
The Academy Prefect says 'I would recommend reading 'help newbie1', 'help newbie2' and 'help newbie channel' at a bare minimu
m...'
The Academy Prefect says '... but all of the help files listed in 'help starters' are also very useful.'


CONGRATULATIONS, YOU HAVE WON YOURSELF A NEW PLAYER

So, the advatages of making the beginners guide a step-by-step guide to getting hooked, over an information source:

- They learn to use the help already available on site and in game
- Getting started becomes real easy.

Next tab on the newbie help should imo concern the first few steps of rolling around Thera, much in the way of your movement help, getting through academy help, etc. This part ends here, but I will continue the adventures of Yugwen (Newguy) tomorrow, and see what obstacles he faces on his path out of the academy.

I can write most of the content for our current tabs based on this, really, really nice work. Obviously still in progress, but I like the direction you're taking - keep it up, and thanks!

Kastellyn the Devourer of Magic, Lord of Legends

*** Email me your testimonials or two-line blurbs. Help our marketing efforts! ***

I have this idea for a newbie academy guide, which would first explain the movement process and room-area layout of muds, then proceed to encourage the player to try out walking around in the academy, look at the signs and all. Then first encourage him to kick some fleshy creature ass, and mayby lead him off to the Simon quest, give a quick outline of how time consuming the quest will be, and encourage them to take it and even should they get lost on the way, not to worry. Recall command is available, and should they need to quit before they are finnished, their progress will be saved (I hope it is saved )!

Sleepy time now, I'll see what comes up.

The next tab after character generation could be perhaps First steps in Thera, or whatever might be appropriate

First I think a rudimentary explanation of how muds work would be cool. Something about moving, ability to shorten various keywords, and the layout of various prompts. Like:

Room name
Room description
Exits: exits

Another thing that could be quickly explained is the combat system, pulses, rounds, ticks and lag.

Then the academy guide.

Some things I noticed:

l sign
Welcome, young warrior. The Guildmaster is here to teach you. You begin
your adventuring career here with several PRACTICE sessions so that you may
learn your skills with him. Concentrate now on 'PRACTICE' so that you may
see the skills you have available to learn. Also think well on what the
Academy has to teach you in your HELPful memories about PRACTICE. While
you're at it, also concentrate on 'TRAIN,' and ponder your HELPful memories
about TRAINing. You'll need to learn TRAINing well so that you can improve
your raw physical and mental abilities. STRENGTH, WISDOM, INTELLIGENCE,
DEXTERITY, CONSTITTION and CHARISMA are examples of these attributes. This
Guildmaster will offer you both the ability to TRAIN and PRACTICE with him.
Outside of the Academy, however, sometimes you will need to TRAIN and
PRACTICE with different people as not all have the ability to do both.

The Guildmaster will answer some simple questions about the things that
can be trained within the Academy, but you must speak to the Guildmaster
directly (example: SAYTO Guildmaster What should I train?).

Please LOOK at or EXAMINE the inscribed plague and sword next as they
will teach you more on the art of war.

<100%hp 100%m 100%mv 1800tnl (50.00%)> exa sword
This practice sword has been carved out of a simple shaft of wood. The
blade has been firmly wrapped in padded cloth and the pommel has been
wrapped in leathers. This weapon is clearly not meant for true battle.

A practice sword is a sword, made of wood, and weighs 2 pounds 15 ounces.

<100%hp 100%m 100%mv 1800tnl (50.00%)> l here sword
In raw combat power, you as a warrior are the most able to inflict
damage on your foes. You are the true weapon's master of Thera and
your weapon and skills are the assets you sell. Yours is rarely the
way of peace, although you can choose a path of honor, and the field
of war is where you can best make your mark on Thera. You will fight
for personal gain, and your friends will look to you to lead them into
combat, for that is where you excel. Blood, sweat, and pain are your
path to glory...just make sure that your foes bleed, sweat, and hurt
more than you.


This sign needs to spell out the look here command. As you might notice, look or examine sword might target a wielded sword.

Right in the same room, initial practicing. This needs more step by step guidance I think. The important things for a mud newbie, or in some cases cf newbie:
- important things to practice:
primary weapon
all available defenses
hand to hand if available
enhanced damage if available

This will greatly reduce the frustration of people not being able to kill anything, or be unusefull groupmates.

I think other than that, the academy does a very good work on being self explanatory. Perhaps the portion of the guide aimed at academy first steps (pre massive cavern) should only include the initial introduction to mud mechanics, practice/train help (this is not absolutely necessary, but might save some frustration when your enhanced damage is unpracticed and your groupmates hit 2 times as hard as you). It should also be noted that I took roughly 20 minutes browsing through the academy while writing this post. So, it's important to encourage a new user to also take some 20 minutes to read through the initial helps and study the signs and plaques on the way.

Comming up next... the massive cavern of many wonders.

Many ones (and I am as well) just never read any manuals/helps/guides before something (or someone) will force to do this. I remember when I started my first invoker (that was my third char in CF and I was almost experienced vet, since two first chars had been made to lvl 15!) and I did not know about affinites. And I practiced hell a lot with 35 undistributed points.

That is why I think more interactive help is better. Pages of plain text are simply boring to read. Especially for those like me who are not English/USA.

The help your advice is wonderful for those who've played some (a few hours perhaps) and got very basic understanding of things and wish to know more about defences and lags.

What I am hoping for, is like one page max for rolling, few paragraphs for the initial part of academy, and a bit for whatever lies beyond. Definately not a full coverage of cf mechanics.

I understood your idea as like you propose to show some info from helpfiles right in the process of char creation. Like what certain stat does and such. I think idea is good but the way of its achieving could be better.

As a new player in MUDs at all or new player for some certain MUD I never had troubles with login (everyone, who is familiar with PC should not as well) or creating some name.

Process of char creation does not need help so much since it does not matter much what char to create.

Let me clarify. Help need in those points/things, which are hard for new player and ruin fun for him.

Unfamiliarity with race/classes/subclasses system it is not the thing which ruins fun. It is fun by itself. Player can always repick/recreate his char and he wont loss anything, because his current char is just made.

In new MUDs and when I was new in MUD games at all I always pick what I like from first glance, then after some time I repick new combo.

What really ruins fun for every newb player (even if he is vet from other MUD) is unfamiliarity with:
1. Atmosphere of MUD. In our case its heavily PK and RP MUD. No things like "lol" or ":p" in your speakings (I saw them from some players).

2. Basical commands (newbie academy does its work pretty well here)

3. Area and general game familiarity. Where I am? What should I do? Where to buy food? Bah, its costs huge money, where get coins? Damn, I am dying! Dont laugh, that was my real problem when I played first char in CF and I had experience in other MUD before and had knew basics of mudding. I asked healers/paladins to feed me. Where is my guild? Where to learn? And 100+ other questions.

And no guide/mentor to answer them. Yes, I know that I should look at the map, try to explore hometown, and all such things. But I am quite experienced in mudding and still these things are not really fun for me.

I agree totally that specific class information is not necessary. A player new to muds however will be interested in what the hell your race/class means in general. So, what I would not like to see is a detailed help information about what specific races are like. What I would like to see is information on what implications picking a class has on your playing.

If we tell a total newbie that fire giants get 25 str, and arials get 25 dex, and that a fire giant will pincer really good, it will be of 0 help. On the other hand, what a player new to mudding will be interested in, is how different races will affect his playing experience. How will he know what race others are? Remember, this can be new territory, in WoW it's really easy to tell an elf since he obviously looks like an elf. In our on-site manual, it will be useful to spell out things like:
<45 Elf Pal> Laelliana the Hand of Justice - you will be able to tell the race of other players by checking the who list.

I think we're entirely on the same page.

dsf

Then when folks download it, they can just change the file type to .doc. That should work.

Kastellyn the Devourer of Magic, Lord of Legends

*** Email me your testimonials or two-line blurbs. Help our marketing efforts! ***

what file type should i use?

I attached an example as a .txt file. Click on the link, choose to save it, then change the extention to .doc. You can double click on it and it opens in Word like a champ!

Kastellyn the Devourer of Magic, Lord of Legends

*** Email me your testimonials or two-line blurbs. Help our marketing efforts! ***

Attachment #1, (txt file)

sdf

Opened fine for me. Just be sure to open it in word, or open office writer as I did. Not notepad.

When you researched your tabs, did you see anything about making the box's a fixed size? Rather than having them bounce around and play with the eyes. Also, CF color combinations for the tabs. Their background can be like the maroon background of the forum boxes with white text that are inverted when you click on them (just like it does already just with different colors). I'll see if I can pull up something with google about the fixed sized boxes for the tab boxes.

I don't know if the box needs to be a fixed size, but I would *love* it if it were somehow anchored at the top of the page. Let the size expand and contract from the bottom. But it is annoying that the first box pops up with all that blank space between it and the page's header.

Same goes for the colors; if you can dig up how to do that, I can (hopefully) figure out how to stick it in there.

Kastellyn the Devourer of Magic, Lord of Legends

*** Email me your testimonials or two-line blurbs. Help our marketing efforts! ***

1) in example.css, there's a fixed height commented out:

=======
/* If you don't want the tab size changing whenever a tab is changed
you can set a fixed height */
/* height:200px; */
=======

uncomment the height and make it:
height:100%;

2) Close out the table at the end of your html. And you can put another row/cell in there at the bottom to "force" your box up top (hoaky but it looks better). So the end of your html will look something like:

....
	<div class="tabbertab">
          <h2>Spare Tab</h2>
          <p>Content for another Tab</p>
     </div>

</div>

</td>
</tr>
<tr height="100%"><td height="200"> </td></tr>
</table>

</body>
</html>

>1) in example.css, there's a fixed height commented out:
>
>=======
> /* If you don't want the tab size changing whenever a tab is
>changed
> you can set a fixed height */
> /* height:200px; */
>=======
>
>uncomment the height and make it:
> height:100%;

This didn't seem to change anything.

>2) Close out the table at the end of your html. And you can
>put another row/cell in there at the bottom to "force" your
>box up top (hoaky but it looks better). So the end of your
>html will look something like:
>
>

>....
>	<div class="tabbertab">
>          <h2>Spare Tab</h2>
>          <p>Content for another Tab</p>
>     </div>
>
></div>
>
></td>
></tr>
><tr height="100%"><td height="200"> </td></tr>
></table>
>
></body>
></html>
>
>

1. What we all can post here are just suggestions. Make it facts! PUT the MONITORING SYSTEM eventually *grumbles*. Its free. It does not requires knowledge or time more than several minutes and ability to copy-paste html code.

2. Okay, here is my list.
"Tired of "Free to Play" MUDs that really aren't?" Do you think this is the main problem making them searching for a new MUD? I doubt it. Generally, I would remove this and here is why. A question (or two) in headings is using when we define main "needs" of customers (and main questions therefore) and rephrasing them to establish "feel of understanding" and lead via our scenarios. Here we do not know their main problems/questions. They seek more PK and RP? Or 100% free MUD? Or just something new? Or many classes/races/items combo? Or all this + good playerbase?

That is.

The third phrase is that one, which describes the main feature of CF - deadly PK and 100% RP. Put it first. Stability and 100% free should follow.

So I think it should be something like this:
CF: 100% Free MUD, operating 13+ years with captivating and deep RP atmosphere and challenging PK.

Sorry, my English is terrible for this.
Its average heading, and I would like to polish and make it more brilliant but it does what it should do - inform visitors "what we are".

"Welcome to the Carrion Fields!" - its just gives nothing. remove it.

About further text. I would propose one of the two schemas to create it.

1. Make it like the list of features (preferrably benefits). Something like:
1. Deep and captivating RP atmosphere, which helps you to dive deeper in the world of Thera blah blah

2. Huge selection of unique combos from race/class/subclass. You never meet same opponent, each warrior differs from others

3. Large world, which you can explore alone or with friends. Ancient ruins with hidden artifacts and crowded cities blah blah blah. All rooms are carefully describen - you wont see boring "nothing speacial here"!

this reads awfully even for me, but I hope you got the idea.

Second scheme is more like simple text (like you did) but put here and there some words creating emotions. Well, its all about emotions (fun, challenge and such) so describe them. Describe adrenalin and tremoring fingers in PK, fun from RP moments and such.

Where? Here: Our Immortal staff has more than 30 members, all of whom are volunteers, donating our time and talents to making Carrion Fields a fun and unique experience for all of our players...

This words are just words, they dont create image or feelings inside brains.
No need to make it big, just few phrases.

"We have an average of about 45 characters on at any given time, with peaks around 80 and lows around 30."
It is false. Lets be honest. 15-60 is closer to truth.

Then about classes. Again, describe not with simply digits, but describe benefits - you can build combo which differs from others, not all the same warriors or shifters (lets keep silence about shamans or assassins though ). You will meet unique combos as well. This leads to different tactics, we try to develop CF so you wont be one trick pony.

Is permadeath feature so important to put it here?

>1. What we all can post here are just suggestions. Make it
>facts! PUT the MONITORING SYSTEM eventually *grumbles*. Its
>free. It does not requires knowledge or time more than several
>minutes and ability to copy-paste html code.
>

I am sure you are more web-savy than kasty, post the code, he can copy/paste.

>2. Okay, here is my list.
>"Tired of "Free to Play" MUDs that really aren't?" Do you
>think this is the main problem making them searching for a new
>MUD? I doubt it. Generally, I would remove this and here is
>why. A question (or two) in headings is using when we define
>main "needs" of customers (and main questions therefore) and
>rephrasing them to establish "feel of understanding" and lead
>via our scenarios. Here we do not know their main
>problems/questions. They seek more PK and RP? Or 100% free
>MUD? Or just something new? Or many classes/races/items combo?
>Or all this + good playerbase?
>
>That is.

I agree here in a sence. I think 100% free is a good call, since on TMS we rank #3 (usually), and the 2 muds above us are commercial. So being free is a competitive advantage. It needs to be spelled out. Whether it needs to be first, second or third dunno.
>
>The third phrase is that one, which describes the main feature
>of CF - deadly PK and 100% RP. Put it first. Stability and
>100% free should follow.
>

Yep.

>So I think it should be something like this:
>CF: 100% Free MUD, operating 13+ years with captivating and
>deep RP atmosphere and challenging PK.
>
>Sorry, my English is terrible for this.
>Its average heading, and I would like to polish and make it
>more brilliant but it does what it should do - inform visitors
>"what we are".
>
>"Welcome to the Carrion Fields!" - its just gives nothing.
>remove it.
>

It's advertising talk!

>About further text. I would propose one of the two schemas to
>create it.
>
>1. Make it like the list of features (preferrably benefits).
>Something like:
>1. Deep and captivating RP atmosphere, which helps you to dive
>deeper in the world of Thera blah blah
>
>2. Huge selection of unique combos from race/class/subclass.
>You never meet same opponent, each warrior differs from others
>
>
>3. Large world, which you can explore alone or with friends.
>Ancient ruins with hidden artifacts and crowded cities blah
>blah blah. All rooms are carefully describen - you wont see
>boring "nothing speacial here"!
>
>this reads awfully even for me, but I hope you got the idea.
>
>Second scheme is more like simple text (like you did) but put
>here and there some words creating emotions. Well, its all
>about emotions (fun, challenge and such) so describe them.
>Describe adrenalin and tremoring fingers in PK, fun from RP
>moments and such.
>
>Where? Here: Our Immortal staff has more than 30 members, all
>of whom are volunteers, donating our time and talents to
>making Carrion Fields a fun and unique experience for all of
>our players...
>
>This words are just words, they dont create image or feelings
>inside brains.
>No need to make it big, just few phrases.
>

Good pointers, and I'm sure some of our quality writers like Kasty or others out there can really breathe life into the text.

>"We have an average of about 45 characters on at any given
>time, with peaks around 80 and lows around 30."
>It is false. Lets be honest. 15-60 is closer to truth.
>

45 might not be the average, but it's not far off. Most people play peek hours anyways, and while the quiet times are quiet, also very few play then. Perhaps a more truthfull way to put it would be:
We have an average of 60 (mayby 65) people online during European or American peak hours. I am also no writer, but I'm sure you catch the drift.


>Then about classes. Again, describe not with simply digits,
>but describe benefits - you can build combo which differs from
>others, not all the same warriors or shifters (lets keep
>silence about shamans or assassins though ). You will meet
>unique combos as well. This leads to different tactics, we try
>to develop CF so you wont be one trick pony.
>

Excellent point

>Is permadeath feature so important to put it here?
>
Permadeath is an awesome feature, but perhaps it's advantages need to be spelled out a better.
1) Less time based leverage and thus more level playing field
2) Continuous change in the roleplay environment
3) Ability to try out new combos

A 45 average is almost dead on from what I've seen by using the command users. It also uses the word "about" for the variable. Also, on our heaviest days we do peak close to 80, rarely 80+. For some reason or another, (without documenting it just glancing it over while logged in) Mondays seem to be a consistent heavy day. So the 80 peak would also be correct.

There is a long dead period, which most players likely do not see at all (hence, it being dead) during daytime in Europe. It reaches from around noon to 6pm in Finland, which is six hours. I frequently see less than 20 players on during these hours. Only if the game averaged 60 players all the other hours we'd see average of 45. I think something distorts the users command, perhaps it counts immortals logged on, or mayby it somehow counts someone who logs on one char for 30 mins and another for 30 mins as 2 players on for an hour, I don't know. Anyways, I don't think the range of 30-80 with an average of 45 is correct. I would say 15-80 with average of 35 is closer to the truth.
It's not something to make a fuss about, but I think it might be reasonable to consider delivering the message we want in a prettier package without it being outright false. This is far from the most important thing to fuss over, though.

It does count immortals, but we probably average 3 to 5 on at any given time. I think the key part of your statement is the word "see" - there are very, very few characters out there who can see every other character who is on the game at a given time. I think this tends to distort your perception of the actual count.

So I wouldn't say an average of 45 is outright false...I didn't sit there and count everyone over a period of a day and work the average myself, then "pad" my results. I just used the 'users' command a bunch over the course of a week and pulled it off of there. I don't think it sends the wrong message - anyone playing the game can use that command and see that my statement is correct, and we've been averaging in the mid-40s for at least six months now (I know because I check it frequently).

Regardless, I asked Santa Zulg to come up with more long term counts - average for the week and month - because I want to use those numbers to try and measure our success.

Kastellyn the Devourer of Magic, Lord of Legends

*** Email me your testimonials or two-line blurbs. Help our marketing efforts! ***

My other thoughts still stand.

Personally, I've counted the average number of players online by using users logon, multiplying the # of logons by average session length and then dividing it with the uptime. This has given me an average of 30-40 users for the couple of times I've used it.

I built on Kastellyn's test page and Dervish's suggestions to come up with the following text. Formatting is off, and I can't come up with a good finishing line, so I'll pass this off and see what you guys can add.....



Are you looking for an immersive, medieval fantasy multiplayer roleplaying game? How about one with that perfect blend of adrenaline-pumping, finger-trembling PlayerKilling and mind-bending, awe-inspiring RolePlaying? You’re standing at the gates of The Carrion Fields.

By what name do you wish to be mourned?

Developed, maintained, and played by avid gamers and roleplayers since 1994, the Carrion Fields has evolved into a virtual world unlike any other. From the heart-pounding chase of the deathfull PlayerKill to the palm-sweatying anticipation of the deepest Exploration - as long as you enjoy in-depth, interactive RolePlaying with players worldwide, there’s a place for you here.

And, it’s completely free.

Roll up a new character and choose one of sixteen completely different, tightly balanced adventure classes. Pick your race from seventeen options – some standard fantasy fare, and some very unique to our world. With the morality, ethos, religion, and cabal choices available, you’ll have almost infinite replayability, with a new gaming experience every time.

You need not worry about stagnation – most characters will die permanently when they have sustained too many deaths to mobs and other players (around 250 hours is typical). Though, if you’re crafty or hearty enough to survive the brutal warfare of Carrion Fields, your character will eventually die of old age (650-900 hours, depending on race). Thanks to the turnover of permanent death, you’ll find players of all skill levels playing characters throughout the 51 level progression to Hero.

Follow one of a dozen active religions and strive for the mark of an immortal. Explore hundreds of areas, all of which are unique to Carrion Fields. Join one of eight cabals – for protection, or to further conflict. Make friends. Make enemies. Then make your friends make your enemies dead. The possibilities are only as limited as your imagination.

New players are always welcome at Carrion Fields. The vast majority of our playerbase is mature, highly competitive – and dedicated to making Carrion Fields an enjoyable experience. Our immortal staff has more than 30 members, all of whom are volunteers, donating their time and talents to making Carrion Fields a fun and unique experience for all of our players. We have an average of about 45 players on at any given time, with strict rules against multi-charring and botting – every player you find online is active.

So connect to the Carrion Fields and get started today. Feed your inner Killer, Achiever, Socialite, or Explorer at the Carrion Fields, and the voices will stop. We promise.

Still not convinced? See what some of our current players have to say about the game, in their own words!

Some things to think about:

1. Do you plan to SEO? Then optimize the page.

2. Though I think this copy is better and more on the right way, I would propose to make some small poll to ask players and forum readers about two copies - which one is better?
And I think it needs some "polish"

"adrenaline-pumping, finger-trembling" two complex descriptive words, each from two words...maybe its worthy to leave only one or change second word on more simple to shorten it slightly.

What about this rephrase:
"How about to taste the perfect blend of adrenaline-pumping, finger-trembling PlayerKilling and mind-bending, awe-inspiring RolePlaying?"

All digits write as...eh...as digits. So, 16 not "sixteen" and such. It makes easier reading.

Make some links for those, who are interested to dig in

for example:
"sixteen completely different, tightly balanced adventure classes"
word classes should be hyperlink to "Classes" part of the site.

Then you are talking about classes-picking, exploring, religion...all those CF's features. Maybe its worthy to split them as list?

"Worship one of a 12 active religions and strive for the mark of an immortal.

Explore hundreds of unique areas: from ancient hidden ruins to crowded life-pumping cities.

Join one of 8 cabals – for protection, power, or to further conflict.

Kill. Be killed. Make friends. Make enemies. Then make your friends make your enemies dead.

...The possibilities are only as limited as your imagination. Try them now "big button to play now"

Its easier to read when the text is split as list and most important words are bolded.

And generally I think its would be good copy. Any opinions?

Rev 2. I've incorporated some of the changes suggested by Dervish. Added the word "MUD" for seo (I don't know what other words/phrases to use as search engine flags). Bold words/phrases throughout the normal text would be linked to helpfiles...immortals link to "wizlist", artifacts to "items", areas to "areas", etc. Changed some wording. I didn't intend for this to be a replacement for Kastellyn's front page. Instead I was shooting for a pick-apart-able group of paragraphs that we can collectively dig through and maybe find some combination that works.

I have the html skills of a spider monkey and don't have the time/desire/care to edit formatting any better right now.

Are you looking for an immersive, medieval fantasy multiplayer roleplaying game? How about one with that perfect blend of adrenaline-pumping PlayerKilling and awe-inspiring RolePlaying? You’re standing at the gates of The Carrion Fields.

By what name do you wish to be mourned?

• Follow one of a dozen active religions and strive for the mark of an immortal.



• Explore hundreds of unique areas, from bustling cities to ancient undersea ruins.



• Join one of eight cabals – for protection, power, or to further conflict.



• Make friends. Make enemies. Then make your friends make your enemies dead.



• Discover powerful artifacts and use them against your foes.

For someone from the mud crowd, (which I assume this first landing page will be targeted at) the character generation process is familiar. For others from outside the mud community, teh oh so awesome ascii skull might not give rise to all the emotions it does to us. That's why I think it needs to be considered whether we want a link that connects to the game directly, or instead redirects to the tab like page, which will advice the player to connect to the mud, and give step by step instructions through the character creation process. And the first few steps of playing.

Some newbie tutor would be nice. I saw mob who follows and advices the player, saw something like interactive movie/guide and other versions.

I think a combination would work:

1. On the welcome1 page, there's a big shiny button that connects you right to the game.

2. There's also a link to the tab-page, on which there's another big shiny button that connects you to the game, but also text that talks you through the character generation process.

I think this approach would appeal to the "dive right in and play" type of person, as well as the "well, I'm interested, tell me more" type of person.

Ultimately, it'll be whatever we want it to be... We can only hope what we decide to go with will be effective.

Kastellyn the Devourer of Magic, Lord of Legends

*** Email me your testimonials or two-line blurbs. Help our marketing efforts! ***

1. Bold not only word but exact feature:
8 cabals
hundreds of unique areas, (to add: from bustling cities to ancient undersea ruins. you never will be the one who knows everything.)
12 active religions

2. What if we make this awesome phrase "by what name do you wish to be mourned" as exact link/button to start playing?
Like:

….The possibilities are only limited by your imagination. Dare to put it to the test? Then, by what name do you wish to be mourned...

it leads to right feeling "uh oh, I should except death and challenge right now"

And can you make some poll between other players so we know their opinions? It would be very useful...and lets try?

Overall, this looks good.

The text can be wider than my browser depending on how small I make it. Arguably this is something we could fix. I assume Mrs. Kasty knows how!

I think we may need to massage the talk of perma-death a bit more, though honestly this is already a pretty good stab and I'm not sure how to improve it. I just keep thinking about how every month or so we get a new player on newbie channel who's used to games where you play the same character for your entire tenure at a game, and decides they need to play a lich so they'll never have to die. I think we could do more there to sell why our system isn't worse than that, just different, and point out its good points... like being able to level up with veteran players, or having a chance at leadership spots because there's turnover, or the whole game not being a huge grind-fest.

It's so good to see something happen, keep up the good pace everyone and I'm sure we will see cf full by spring .

A few comments.

Tired of "Free to Play" MUDs that really aren't? Looking for a stable, long-lived MUD that won't be shutting down as soon as you've learned the ropes? Sick of the endless search for that perfect blend of PlayerKilling and RolePlaying?

Immo, this really nails it. It's compact and outlines the advantages of cf briefly and clearly. Free, it's going to last, and there's heavy rp/pk.

The text itself is very compact, and lays out the essentials well. And it's able to hold the interest of the reader all the way to the Summary. Which brings up my only gripe with it.

Want to see a summary of your next MUD home?

When skimming through the page, I skipped this part. Summary sounds bland and unexciting. Only went back for it when I read your post again and saw you write something about tabs. Instead of offering a summary, it should read in big bold letters, 'Getting started', or perhaps even, 'Let's Get Started!' It does not need to immediately connect to the mud, but after a player clicks a let's get started button, he will get the connecting tab, with instructions to connect, and various help tabs to get him through character creation.

Well, time is out, I will need to continue the post later.

Needs a big shiny "Play now" button.

What would help is if that page was the first "tab" and the second "tab" was PLAY NOW! and would launch the java client right inside that tab, which info on other ways to connect either below that or on another tab.

Design one for me, and I'll stick it in there.

Kastellyn the Devourer of Magic, Lord of Legends

*** Email me your testimonials or two-line blurbs. Help our marketing efforts! ***

I suck at design to be honest. So I would not be the best guy for this.