Hi all, I looked around the newbie forum and I realised newbies like Tan and others have asked a lot of questions (Tan had three posts) but I think in a way they really haven't recieved much help. I am a newbie in CF as well, but I used to do well in other MUDs. So after I got four characters going past level 25-30 (followed by delete to try other classes and races) I got some ideas for survival in CF. Please note I am still a newbie and I always will be for the next year or so playing CF (a lot of learning), I do feel the pain of being a newbie and I want to write something to help Tan and others. I also want to see some feedbacks to my current experience, it would help my gameplay as well.

CF is different than popular muds in the TMS site because it has a buttload of PK, and amazingly, RP comes with PK (this is perhaps debatable). So the environment in CF is very intense. (being evil does mean something in this mud)

Most newbs face 3 things at beginning:
1.money
2.equipment
3.PK (and the above two things after being pKed)

Leveling is not much of an issue in CF, I think people level too fast (faster than any other MUDS) But you have to watch out for Pkers in leveling.

Firstly, Let's talk about a good class/race for newbs. I believe Tan has tried all of them and most of them being neutral, but I think I understand his problem, this I will come back to later.

I think the best class/race for a newb is assassin/human. People more experienced than me have more to say, but from experience I think this is good combo, and I willing to accept feedbacks on this. Why this combo? for one thing, newbs can hide from a majority of the playerbase. secondly, assassin can detect hidden and invis, which is helpful. Thirdly, assassin can to ranking on a solo basis. Fourthly in group ranking, assassin can tank with endure on. My character got good items (not common and not uber just above the average which is all you need to survive in this game) and with endure on, my character is divinely armored, this makes him a good blocker.

Align: I beleive newbs have to make a neutral character. This will REALLY improve their suvival. Here is why and this answers Tan's question. If you are good aligned newbie, you are guaranteed to face PKers. If you are neutral newbie, you are still guaranteed to face PKers. Tan thought that by selecting a neutral character, eg. human/assassin will not face PKers, he is obviously wrong. WHat he missed out on is interaction and RP. People will not know that your human is neutral, altho some of them can detect align, not everybody will know. Here is what I propose to do and that is...................................................................TALK TO PEOPLE,by people I mean EVERYBODY. If you are neutral then I think you should really build up your relationship with ALL THE PLAYERS especially evil characters. You can still talk to good people, but merely grouping with goodies is enough. Goodies do not pk people, not as often, but evil characters do. At times, one should do WHO PK, and because human/assassin can see the necros and APs, you try to chat them up: 'Greetings, o the dark one, I see that you are out causing bloodshed in the elven city, mind I join you?' or simply ask them questions, but always be the first one to talk to them. As a neutral (and this I checked with the imms) you can talk to APs and group with them, no probs. I have learnt that as a newb, you have to learn from the veterans of the game. Guess what, most of the evil characters are veterans, that's why they can PK because they know the game inside and out. THis is no secret, if you want to be strong, talk to them, group with them and LEARN THE GAME. That's what I always do. You treat any AP with respect, and he will show you the game.

THere are few benefits to my long passage above. 1. YOu may/will recieve less pk, but not guaranteed. I find that I have a higher chance of being pked when group with goodies and spellcasters. But people hardly touch me when I am with evil people. Evil people do not pk evil people right? 2. People will know you, both the goodies and the evil, good for RP and grouping 3. YOU WILL LEARN THE GAME FASTER. Therefore as newbs, sadly, we do not have anything of an advantage in this game. The only thing we do have is our ability to talk. (you can call this sucking up to evil ppl, I call this the fastest way to learn)

Money issues and equipment issues: Newbs have no money why? because some of them do not treat the newb school seriously(they don't do the newbie quest) If you have done the newb quest, you would have got 1 gold. In fact even if you do not complete the newb quest you still get 1 gold. Then newbie areas such as lumberyard is very good for making money. In such areas, by killing one mob, you get 10-20 coins or around 1 silver. So build it up, level 1-10 is for solo, kill to build up your bank roll. I believe someone mentioned that you should have 5 gold by lev 5, that is possible. By doing what I have said above, I had 3 gold by lev 5. THe rest is by selling items. You really need to know all the weapon/armor shops in Galadon, Hamsah, Udgaard, Voralian, Akan (I found that Evermoon hollow is good spot too). Treat this as a real life business. You buy sacks and fill them with items found on the floor. When you are not leveling, do world trips to sell at each city. THis is business, and good money comes with business, just remeber good money comes from places where people rarely visit, hence don't expect to be able to sell staff in Galadon, seek elsewhere. YOu can learn thera better that way. Merchants have no money on them? THis is a problem, that's why you need to travel around the globe. If business is not for you, then you should found an area where you can quietly kill mobs and stockpile the most money. eg, if you kill everybody in lumberyard, I would say you can probably get more than 1 gold. Then wait for 3 min for everybody to come out, kill again for 1 gold. I learnt this from other muds. From this, you got an RL hourly wage of at least 4-5 gold. So money is not an issue. keep them in bank. buy potion of return and have 500 copper with you. That's enough for a newb. I also play at an odd time, I found that the system normally reboot in my playing time, so the merchants have their pockets refilled by then. But do not this strategy seriously as this might be illegal.

I really don't see the problem with eq and how you miss eq after pk death. Always know the source of the eq, learn that from the veterans. In contrast, this is a easy mud than others because most adequate items are found on the floor. Read up on all the areas in newbie3, do help <area name> and the description of the newbie areas contain whether this area has good items. They are the source of your starting equipments. Later on, learn from veterans. I've learnt that good mithril eqs can be found in akan. Some on the ground of the entrance, some near the castle. They are all good for newbs. If you learn the source of equipment, that is, where they come from, you can easily obtain them once you got pked. The upshot of this is that being pked is not an issue. Furthermore, you can always ask veterans, if you know them well enough, to help you get equipments you cannot obtain, of course you may have to pay 1 gold or two, but it helps you.

From my experience, for someone's first time in CF, the key for survival is not about avoiding pk, or try to level past lev 30. The key is to talk to veterans, learn from them, and go on from there. My favourite place in the game is the inn where I do most of my learning, what about you newbs?

This is my first post on the forum, the rules said that you can not talk about areas extensively, so I am not sure whether I have done the right thing by talking about some areas above, if not edit my post. I am still not that good in CF, hope this post helps the very new players, and I welcome all criticisms.