Im not new to mudding but I am new to this mud. I've been on for about 10 hours all up, and have got Randiir to level 10. So far, I think CF has got alot going for it as far as zones, skills and the diversification of playing styles amongst races, classes, etc. In fact CF is probably the best thought out and well planned mud on the net.

However, with all the different skills, spells, weapontypes, races, religions, spheres, paths, alignments, ethos, etc, etc, it is a bit daunting to new players trying to get along here.

In the short time I've been on CF. I've seen more newbs get flamed for being ooc than actually offered any help. I just saw a newb get rebuked on the newbie channel for saying 'OK', instead of 'Okay' because apparently 'We take our mud seriously.'
Heres the dialogue. (I've changed the names)

Player1: Newb to ask out of character questions use the newbie channel. newbie <text>
Newb: k thanks
Player1: Do not use shorthand here okay?
Newb: ok
Player1: Okay rather.
Newb: rofl
Newb: i can't even say OK
Newb: xxxxxxxxxx
Player1: We take our mud seriously. Just try it before you judge it.
Newb: mudding is a game, im not going to take it seriously
Newb: im out
Newb: xxxx
Player1: Good.

RP is important to a good mud and should be enforced...to an extent. But I do feel that it can go a bit far. Flaming a player for saying OK!! What's so wrong with 'OK' whether in char or out of char. I know that this is an extreme example, but the only thing really putting me off this mud is that it is very hard to ask for help or express yourself without getting jumped on for being OOC. I've never seen a mud with a newbie channel (or any channel) sooooo quiet. People are too scared to speak.

Perhaps, Carrion Fields would have a bigger player base, which generally means more interesting and dynamic game play, if we could all relax and loosen up a bit and stop pretending that there aren't real people behind the characters we are interacting with.

The more I'm inclined to think the two had a history.

Player1: Newb to ask out of character questions use the newbie channel. newbie <text>

Seems to me they are face to face here.

Newb: k thanks
Player1: Do not use shorthand here okay?

No problem here.

Newb: ok
Player1: Okay rather.

Still no problem, he just explained it to him and is just pointing out a common usage.

Newb: rofl
Newb: i can't even say OK
Newb: xxxxxxxxxx

The guy still is using shorthand and i'm guessing he's cussing on the newbie channel by all the xxxxxxxxx

Player1: We take our mud seriously. Just try it before you judge it.

Seems resonable.

Newb: mudding is a game, im not going to take it seriously
Newb: im out
Newb: xxxx

Again childish.

Player1: Good.

Cosign

A mud survives because of new players coming aboard. If you are a vet and see someone making mistakes on the channel. Don't scorn them. Teach them. There is a huge difference to a new player between the two. If you feel that you don't want to help, that is fine as well, you can turn off your newbie channel to keep from saying anything harsh.

Shoot me an email with the edited name. If it's someone on staff, they were incorrect and I'll speak with them.

If it's a player, for some reason they're often overzealous about enforcing the guidelines on the newbie channel. They're not an official word on it, and often we'll send (private) tells to them telling them to knock it off if they are being rude.

The main things we see on the newbie channel that we will discourage are:

1) Asking things OOC that should be learned IC. How to do a quest, finding a groupmate, etc.
2) People who are chatting about random stuff with no question behind it. There's often 20+ people on the channel, and we don't want people turning it off because it's spammy. We want people to keep it on because there's a high quality of content on it.

valguarnera@carrionfields.com

or player one is an ass. (Here is where I shoot myself in the foot because Player1 is an imm or something.)

Player one could have been making two points about what your character said ic.

One: Don't talk ooc using an ic channel. Use the newbie channel if necessary.

I personally totally agree with this. I hate ooc stuff being used ic. I don't mind someone saying "how do I tell the group something" and will respond (to them only) with "type gt hello", because it is clearly similar to reading a helpfile. However, I do hate "My dad's calling me. I have to go and eat. brb".

Two: Don't use shorthand when on an ic channel. (i.e. he might not have been referring to you saying "k" on the newbie channel.)

If he was referring to you using shorthand on the newbie channel he is just being an ass (imho). You can use whatever typing convention you want on the newbie channel as long as others understand your query. I can remember some idiot on the newbie channel lecturing me on using the newbie channel for ic speech, because I explicitly quoted something from the NEWBIE2 helpfile. Some people are asses. Ignore them.

However, ic, I don't think you should be saying stuff like "roflmao". It may be that Player1 was referring to something you said in character.

That said, I think if you genuinely wanted your character to say "k", you might want to actually use the apostrophe and say 'k. (Might want to consider saying something a bit less modern though.)

If he was referring to you using shorthand on the newbie channel he is just being an ass (imho).

It's a great place to start, and it's easier to explain it on the newbie channel.

I don't read that post as a flame at all.

It seems to me Player1 is being helpful. Not until the newbie gets childish does he act defensive or angry.

>However, with all the different skills, spells, weapontypes,
>races, religions, spheres, paths, alignments, ethos, etc, etc,
>it is a bit daunting to new players trying to get along here.

I hear you. We do have an extensive helpfile system which we
constantly work on to clarify issues as much as we feel is
appropriate without 'spelling it out', but some things we feel
are best left to experimentation and learning for yourself. If
you have any helpfile suggestions, we/I would love to hear them.

The newbie channel also offers a nice resource for new players,
but as it is out of character and open to all newbies, sometimes
you get people who may be a little harsh in trying to inform
about some of the things we hold dear, or at least encourage.

The three things newbies are likely to get flamed for are asking
about quests OOC, using internet slang (like 'lol'), or trying to
look for groups (or similar) on the newbie channel. If newbies
read the helpfiles they're supposed to *nudge nudge* these would
not be problem. Perhaps we'll look at a way of making it crystal
clear without the aid of helpfiles.

Personally, I'm OK with OK, especially in an out of character
discussion, but 'k', 'lol' and 'rofl' are never OK. Okay is
longhand for OK which is itself an anagram, so I think OK is
OK. 'I understand' is better. ;)

>In the short time I've been on CF. I've seen more newbs get
>flamed for being ooc than actually offered any help.

I'd like to think what you've seen is not the norm, and say that
in the last day I have several examples where people asked a
question and had half a dozen people step in with friendly
advice.

>I've never seen a mud with a newbie channel (or any channel)
>sooooo quiet. People are too scared to speak.

I don't know about scared. A lot of our newbies are experienced
CF (or MUD in general) players and they read the helpfiles or
puzzle things out on their own or with the first people they
bump into. I attribute most of the quiet to the fact that the
newbie channel is Q&A based, so if their is no question there
are no answers.

>Perhaps, Carrion Fields would have a bigger player base, which
>generally means more interesting and dynamic game play, if we
>could all relax and loosen up a bit and stop pretending that
>there aren't real people behind the characters we are
>interacting with.

True, but we also need to understand that the people behind
those players expect certain standards in the behaviour of
the new characters around them. What you've seen is people
not expressing that very well, but what they want is new
players to adapt to the CF culture and thrive.

Sevarecan
sevarecan@carrionfields.com

OK stands for KO?

Maybe its an acronym. I could tell you if I knew what OK actually stands for.

This message has been brought to you by the Pedantic Society TM.

Curse those handsome devils!

It's an entirely American term coined during the 1830s that is actually an abbreviation for Oll Korrect (the humor of course being that neither all, nor correct are spelled right)