1) Veterans have a lot less time to play the game and hate ranking.

2) Veterans really want to get stuck in as soon as possible.

3) Newbies are usually still learning the game after three to four years playing.

4) Most newbies have a hard time with that kind of learning curve in todays society of instant gratification.

Solution!

I Newbie

a) Extend newbie PK free status to 15. ie pk starts at 16

b) Keep the academy available to newbies to level 15.

c) Have gear sold in the academy have huge movement bonuses.(no one likes sleeping to get from point a to point b as a newbie. Trust me on this. You might as well add a defecate and urinate command that if not used regularily causes you to lag periodically.)

d) Encourage newbies to use the arena, possibly a bonus to skill learning upto 80% max if using it.

e) Have arena victories for newbies give them hints at where to find newbie quests. Trust me there are so many damn great quests that are simply impossible to find for the first month or two you play CF!

add more as necessary


II Veteran

a) Offer at character creation instant PK engagement.
- this gives a 10% increase in XP earned.

b) Offer at character creation open PK.
- this gives an additional 15% increase in XP earned.

c) Offer an option of "enter yes if bg and desc ready" that notifies the staff to check the characters' bg & desc asap.
- if decent enough, should be with a vet, offer an additional 5% increase in XP earned along with whatever bonus is available.

d) If a or b is chosen allow them to petition to be accepted into a cabal instantly. No damn level barriers or PK crud.


III Everyone!

Post logs, lots of logs, advertise in forum signatures and to your friends. Imms more IMM logs.


PS Neppy, remove that large stick you have .. never mind, you and I are like oil and vinegar. Sadly I am the vinegar.. old sour wine that tastes bad! :P

I suggested a permenant change to options for learning with my original post.

Many veterans have posted that they will return
and play out a character to fruition. However that is a single
character after which there is little guarantee they will be
willing to develop another. I believe that because many of them
have mentioned in their posts that XP demands and leveling in
combination are what keeps them away.

I am curious as to what other players and immortals think of
what is needed to lure players back?

Veterans want a challenge but this can not be at the expense of
new players.

New players want to be able to feel a part of something bigger
but this can not be at the expense of the veteran's enjoyment.

So what is needed? If not my ideas, how about some others? I am
seriously curious. I think CF has too much to offer to be left
as is and that a solution that is simple and addresses both new
and veteran players is needed.


Cheers,
UnkArzzra

>1) Veterans have a lot less time to play the game and hate
>ranking.
>

I still consider myself a newbie, only been playing about 4 years now, but I agree completely with having alot less time to play.

>2) Veterans really want to get stuck in as soon as possible.
>
>3) Newbies are usually still learning the game after three to
>four years playing.
>

Yep, this is me...

>4) Most newbies have a hard time with that kind of learning
>curve in todays society of instant gratification.
>

That is because most newbies are young and haven't realized that instant gratification in the long run means no gratification... but maybe that is just me...

>Solution!
>
>I Newbie
>
>a) Extend newbie PK free status to 15. ie pk starts at 16
>

Only problem I see with this is that means warriors will then have bash... Not newbie friendly.

>b) Keep the academy available to newbies to level 15.
>

I'm not sure what this would do as there is really nothing to do within the academy past level 5 as it is.


>c) Have gear sold in the academy have huge movement
>bonuses.(no one likes sleeping to get from point a to point b
>as a newbie. Trust me on this. You might as well add a
>defecate and urinate command that if not used regularily
>causes you to lag periodically.)
>

I will agree that this was the strangest thing for me when I first started on CF. I was always like "I need to sleep again?!?" Having equipment to buy would not really help this though, a true newbie would not know that that particular cape for sale in the academy would help you walk farther. Perhaps a bump in the fine leathers?

>d) Encourage newbies to use the arena, possibly a bonus to
>skill learning upto 80% max if using it.
>

I like this idea. Perhaps have simon or someone else have a quest to introduce people to the arena. Maybe the healer?

>e) Have arena victories for newbies give them hints at where
>to find newbie quests. Trust me there are so many damn great
>quests that are simply impossible to find for the first month
>or two you play CF!
>

Interesting idea. When I first started, I did not even know there were quests available (other than the simon one). Then someone, IC, asked me if I ever visited a certain place and I was like, "why would I want to go there?" Then I learned about other quests that were possible to find. That was not until level 25 or something.

>add more as necessary
>
>
>II Veteran
>
>a) Offer at character creation instant PK engagement.
> - this gives a 10% increase in XP earned.
>

The idea of being PKed at level 1, as soon as I pop into being... I see players just sitting there and waiting for new characters to pop in. Maybe make it level 2?

>b) Offer at character creation open PK.
> - this gives an additional 15% increase in XP earned.
>

What do you mean by "open PK"? No level restrictions? I'm not sure you could do that easily. But I do not know for sure.


>c) Offer an option of "enter yes if bg and desc ready" that
>notifies the staff to check the characters' bg & desc asap.
> - if decent enough, should be with a vet, offer an
>additional 5% increase in XP earned along with whatever bonus
>is available.
>

While I like this idea, I think the quality level would have to be high. Problem being it is very subjective based on who the Imm is reading the role and description.

>d) If a or b is chosen allow them to petition to be accepted
>into a cabal instantly. No damn level barriers or PK crud.
>

Not sure I like this idea. Only because it would mean the mortal leadership wouldn't have a say in whether to induct you or not. Basically because only the Imms would know if these criteria were met.

>
>III Everyone!
>
>Post logs, lots of logs, advertise in forum signatures and to
>your friends. Imms more IMM logs.
>

Agreed on all levels with this!

>
>PS Neppy, remove that large stick you have .. never mind, you
>and I are like oil and vinegar. Sadly I am the vinegar.. old
>sour wine that tastes bad! :P

No comment on this part. Nep makes me laugh when he gets all pissed off at people on the forums and yells at them. :)

>d) If a or b is chosen allow them to petition to be accepted
>into a cabal instantly. No damn level barriers or PK crud.
>

Not sure I like this idea. Only because it would mean the mortal leadership wouldn't have a say in whether to induct you or not. Basically because only the Imms would know if these criteria were met

True, but if a cabal is low on the population totem pole why not let the current leader interview the applicant at level 1? If they pass the test rp and knowledge wise then let 'em in!



>b) Keep the academy available to newbies to level 15.
>

I'm not sure what this would do as there is really nothing to do within the academy past level 5 as it is.

i) I die and some idjit steals my fine leathers? I ned to head back into the academy and get my stuff. Also a true newbie can be sent back in to reread or read for the first time the hints in the academy.

ii) The academy can be scaled a bit towards higher levels but more importantly is the ability to get around using the academy until you hit level 16. It saves a lot of time and I would even go so far as to encourage the healer's spot near the Inn be made into an academy access point.

iii) Have more clues available in the academy to quests. Also there are a lot of maps there too. Great place to direct a newbie to if they are in need of direction.


) Offer at character creation instant PK engagement.
> - this gives a 10% increase in XP earned.
>

The idea of being PKed at level 1, as soon as I pop into being... I see players just sitting there and waiting for new characters to pop in. Maybe make it level 2?

Someone sitting there to PK you as you start? Not likely you start in the academy. If they are in PK and able to get into the academy, well then let the games commence! Maybe make the academy a true no PK zone. There has to be some pain for the gain of increased XP.


Offer at character creation open PK.
> - this gives an additional 15% increase in XP earned.
>

What do you mean by "open PK"? No level restrictions? I'm not sure you could do that easily. But I do not know for sure.

Imms already have an open PK area in the arena it probably would not be too hard for them to make a flag for a character that simply sets them as PKable by anyone from the get go. Also they have distention as well for altering PKability. I think it can be done. After all they are all bright and intelligent men and women and.. well assorted others. :P

Again since the bonuses are cumulative that would be a 25% increase in experience. Very useful if you are in open PK at level 1. Add into the 5% bonus if they do a damned good desc, background, et al. They are earning XP quickly. Of course they are running into the big boys in a hurry too but thems the breaks.

I have played many different muds with differents abilities. I liked open PK because it makes you RP from the get go. You really WANT to be a squeaky little nobody at level 1 in open PK. And you think four or five times before looting that higher level's big old axe.

Rewarding level 1 desc and bgs is really cool. It increases player involvement in a character and shows the Imms that they respect what they have built enough to start RPing asap.


Oh! As for the bash problem, when is bash NOT a problem for a newbie? I am level 11 X.. usually not a human because to newbies humans are boring. That means that level 15 human has bash/trip on me already when I turn level 11 and most likely I will be in his/her/its PK range. Worse than that! Orcs get trip a lot earlier and tend to have seriously large pk ranges. And they scare me. Cause well.. they are all ORCKY! Darned Orcs.

And finally for a newbie dying to a warrior is okay because you can sort of see what the heck happened to you. Dying as a level 11 newbie to an AP, Shaman, Necro, etc is simply mind-boggling. ;)

Also if a newbie is silly, Gods know I was...am..anyhoo, and choses a mage type they get teleport by level 15. A nice option when suddenly thrust into PKdom. Do shifters get their first forms by 15?

Cheers,
Arzzra