Let me first say that though there may be ways to get around the problems Ive seen, do not know them and as I have played Carrionfields for a good amount of time, I think I know at least what the typical newbie knows.

First, there are a lot of ways to get stuck.
In Galadon, where newbies are encourages to start, the sewers have these cliffs which will let you move in any direction, but if you move in one or two of those directions you will find yourself in empty space with no available exits to you. From what I recall my character starved to death not being able to teleport or recall.
In the Grove there is a pool of water that when entered is too murky to have any exits. Fortunately I had just died so I was able to recall.
Then theres the possible combination of running out of food or water and either money or movement that will leave you stuck and starving. Id like to take this opportunity to thank a heroic dwarf that saved me by handing me a jug of water instead of killing me as I lay dying of thirst. His name started with an H.
Currently I am held within the imperial lands, with insufficiant funds to pay the toll. I can find no one there to kill besides a lizard with no money and no items, nor anyone to sell items to. There is no bank and none of my current items sell for enough to pay the toll (though combined my items are worth enough if I could sell them). Also there is no guild for conjurers in the area so I cant learn teleport as a last resort and I cant quit either. I imagine i can get someone to kill me. The Arkham trainer sent me in and warned me of the toll but not how impossible it was to pay on the way out.
By the way, the arkham trainer quest will reset if you reenter his room and say "yes".

Second- It seems like other players have maps of the world that will let them move automatically to the most obscure of places. Im sure this is the same with most other MUDs but it sure is irritating when someone hunting you can find out where you are more quickly than you yourself can. I dont know what MUD clients people use but as a mac user (G3) theres nothing that can let me do that.

Another thing I find frustrating is trying to team up with people and not knowing how to get to where they are. Teaming up of course is almost required in the game because having three people for some reason gives you more experience per kill and having three people means that things are three times as easy to kill. Killing by oneself seems rather pointless, and having a introverted roll is incredibly inconvenient. I try to get by on quests...and havent had much luck.

Yes Im bitter. I actually started playing carrion fields again because I wanted to be frustrated, but not like this. I had the urge to summon elementals and then lose control of them, because they were to powerful to control, Id not dismissed them before my control wore off, or Id try to dismiss them and fail, all resulting in the elementals hunting me down and killing me while I futily try to run (n n n n n e e s, aww *#%^! ).

Point being, I think Carrionfield could be made less hazardous and discouraging to newbies.

First, there are a lot of ways to get stuck.

Yeah, though I would argue that this is a very effective way to teach you to look before you move when exploring. Most of the 'stuck' rooms you'll end up in at lower levels can be recalled out of; a lot of the 'stuck' rooms you'll end up in at higher levels will kill you.

In the Grove there is a pool of water that when entered is too murky to have any exits. Fortunately I had just died so I was able to recall.

I'll take a look at this room; I'm not familiar enough with it to say up front whether it needs to be changed or not.

Then theres the possible combination of running out of food or water and either money or movement that will leave you stuck and starving.

Suggestion: if you only eat one type of food (which most people do), carry a few 'back up' foods in your container. That way, when you get hungry and find your are out of your primary food, you'll still have an emergency stash that will keep you fed long enough to get to a place where you can buy more. Same for a water container.

By the way, the arkham trainer quest will reset if you reenter his room and say "yes".

Not familiar with that quest, but I've seen this on the bug board, so it will get fixed eventually.

Yes Im bitter. I actually started playing carrion fields again because I wanted to be frustrated, but not like this.

Odd reason to start to play again...:P

IMHO, low level conjurers are an exercise in frustration if you don't like to die - which is one reason we don't recommend them for new players. Lots of fun if you don't let that get you down, though!

Point being, I think Carrionfield could be made less hazardous and discouraging to newbies.

One of our highest priorities, and one area that we are almost constantly active in, is trying to improve the gaming experience for new players. Feedback like yours is excellent, excellent stuff for us, so I appreciate you taking the time to post it here. I sincerely hope that you take just a bit of the advice posted here, don't let your frustration get the better of you, and stick with it. The feeling you get once you've improved even just a little bit at the game is pretty tremendous, and well worth the effort!

Kastellyn the Devourer of Magic, Lord of Legends

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

I feel your pain! When I first started I hit every single one of those darn deathtraps, had the same hard time meeting ranking groups, etc etc.

Some advice:

Conjurer is hard to start with. I always suggest good ol' human assassin or warrior to start on. You'll be able to hold your own.

Play good, or neutral to start. Evil doesn't have a lot of friends.

Always - ALWAYS carry a potion of return and teleportation in your inventory. Always!

If a ranking group asks you to join them and asks you to meet in an obscure location you don't know of, just try in a very IC manner to let them know you don't know how to get there. "I'm afraid I've only recently come to these realms and I do not know where the Crypts of Arkham are. Could we meet in Hamsah instead because I do know how to get there?" You'll find a large chunk of the player base will see that you're a newbie and want to help you find areas. Some will even give directions.

If you're in an area you don't know make sure you LOOK in a direction before you go in it. Pretty much all death traps SHOULD be marked with some sort of warning ala "You see footsteps leading this way but none leading back".

Make use of the who list. If you see a hero level paladin on and you're trapped behind centurions, TELL them! You'll find a lot of goods will come help with that problem. Outlander, Battle, etc. Look for people with special titles. These special titles often designate people who's RP is above the bar. In many cases, these are the kinds of people who will help.

Lastly, use 'help newbie3' to learn low level ranking areas. It often comes with directions. The areas command in general is handy - you can type 'areas 5 10' to see what areas are recommended for players ranked 5-10. It makes the areas list less unwieldy.

Good luck, the learning curve is steep but you'll get there!

You can recall at level 9, and as a conjurer teleport at level 13. That's a VERY small gap in which you have no transportation means, and you can buy potions of recall at any level.

The room you got stuck in, in Galadon sewers, can be teleported and recalled from. It's a fun place to drive/trap people. You'll find that terrain can be as harsh a weapon as any spell/skill if you use it correctly. This no-exit room is one of them.

That room in the ponds, I have no idea why that still exists. It is simply annoying and slightly pointless :P But see above about using terrain. Fleeing can become an extremely dangerous command if you're 1 room away from a death trap, killer mob (Gay Lich!) or a no-exit room.

Enjoy!

Yhorian - www.qhcf.net

Since I'm at work and can't do anything about it from here (but forget it), if someone could go there and typo it, I'll take a look this evening and see if it doesn't make sense to tweak it.

Kastellyn the Devourer of Magic, Lord of Legends

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

>First, there are a lot of ways to get stuck.

http://diku.qhcf.net/cgi-bin/wiki.pl?DikuClan
I dont know if I would have ever come back a year after dieing of thirst and starvation on the market square at lvl 5 if there were not these massively helpful diku maps. They are not complete so there is still a lot of stuff to explore but they are an enormous help to get around if you dont know your way...

Addendum: The maps you can get ingame are often superior if you look for a certain service inside a city. (e.g. buying food)



>Second- It seems like other players have maps of the world
>that will let them move automatically to the most obscure of
>places. Im sure this is the same with most other MUDs but it
>sure is irritating when someone hunting you can find out where
>you are more quickly than you yourself can. I dont know what
>MUD clients people use but as a mac user (G3) theres nothing
>that can let me do that.

I fear most, if not all of these people dont use any maps at all...
They just know the areas very well and some could probably run blind from Darsylon to Arkham if they had to.



>Another thing I find frustrating is trying to team up with
>people and not knowing how to get to where they are.

As mentioned before: Log everything and try to get to the ranking area yourself the next time.


>Point being, I think Carrionfield could be made less hazardous
>and discouraging to newbies.

On the other hand its very satisfactory once you manage to survive this hazardous landscape, thats something not many games can claim...

Almost all those things you mention could be "fixed" by you asking for help, unless you are playing an evil character.

Get stuck in the sewers? Ask for help. You just need someone to bring you a potion of recall, or cast recall on you. (Alternatively ALWAYS buy one yourself.)

As far as maps go, I don't have maps (although I don't deny that a lot of players access them). I know my way around because I've taught myself. There are a fair number of maps in game (many available from the outfit command) that help you find your way to different areas. I would recommend that when you are not travelling, you pick an area on a map, check the helpfile for it to make sure that it isn't too dangerous, and then go find your way to it.

Get a client and ALWAYS log everything. Then after a group leads you somewhere at high speed, you can look at the log and figure out the path they actually took.

I'm not sure why you are complaining about things you choose to lose control of killing you! Don't keep choosing to lose control! You will probably still lose control occasionally (don't conjure without a circle) but it will be far less frequent.