Hi,

I've been looking for a good MUD to play lately, and this one seems rather different and interesting. However, I haven't had a chance to log on for a significant period of time as yet, and I can't seem to grasp the basic gameplay from reading the website and forum posts.

It appears as if characters are universally somewhat short-lived (which I find interesting); exactly how short is this living? I notice that characters appear on the "Battlefield" forum with a certain number of hours listed as their lifespan; does this mean hours logged-on, or real-world hours since creation?

Aside from that subject of characters' longevity, what is the gameplay itself like? It seems as if more of an urgent and action-oriented playstyle exists here, based on the game's PK-filled nature. Is playing this game equivalent to playing a text-based, role-playing version of Counterstrike, or is there a large amount of long-term building-up of one's character as in other MUDs?

Sorry for the newbishness and, particularly, vagueness of my question; I will obtain some first-hand experience with the game as soon as possible, but as of now I'm just trying to understand what it's all about. Any general insight is appreciated.

Regards,
keriostar

Thanks so much to everyone who's replied. I didn't expect such promptness, and was afraid I'd appear stupid, but the community proves robust. I'll definitely be checking this out.

One of the reasons I took an interest in this game was because of the presumably more-level playing field that you folks have alluded to--I was a little sick of the insurmountable dominance of veteran players in other games, so it seems like this might be the game for me.

Thanks again for your helpfulness.

>Thanks so much to everyone who's replied. I didn't expect
>such promptness, and was afraid I'd appear stupid, but the
>community proves robust. I'll definitely be checking this
>out.

It's a community that's equally willing to answer questions in a forum like this and show no unwarranted mercy in character. You've been warned.

>One of the reasons I took an interest in this game was because
>of the presumably more-level playing field that you folks have
>alluded to--I was a little sick of the insurmountable
>dominance of veteran players in other games, so it seems like
>this might be the game for me.

Don't get me wrong -- this is a game with a decently steep learning curve. If you're a new player playing a storm giant paladin and you run up against a human necromancer whose last character was a storm paladin, odds are you're trying to fight someone who not only knows a lot more about what their character can or can't do, but also knows a lot more about what your character can or can't do. That's a tough advantage to surmount. Add in area knowledge they'll have that you won't, etc., and it's a lot to pick up.

But all that being said, veteran players have advantages because they're veteran players, not because their character is older than sin or spent more time grinding than you did. Equally, there's no shortage of examples of people who were cabal leaders, tattooed members of a religion, awarded unique skills, etc. on their first or one of their first characters on CF.

Most of this has been answered well already; I just wanted to tack one comment on about the whole lifespan thing.

There's genuinely a lot of character variety to CF versus any game of the kind I've personally seen, both in terms of character builds and viable RP choices, and because this isn't the kind of game where a player keeps one character or even a main character for the duration of their stay, the players tend to feel free to exercise those options. I've seen very advancement/achievement-oriented games where some players will have decided they're pretty bored or otherwise in a rut with their character, but the thought of "throwing away" all of the time to get to where they are in order to try something else is just too daunting. In CF, if you're playing dumb, unsavory, and brutish fire giant Imperial soldier who has build choices all picked around offense and big damage vs. finesse, and decide one day that you'd really like to try out an elven thief with skills based around poisons and traps, you probably aren't going to think that you can't do it because you're throwing too much work away. Because none of the characters in the game are thousands of hours old, the gulf between a character a month or two into play and one nearing age death is typically pretty small, and those two characters would play so differently that a lot of the game would suddenly be extra fresh and new to you.

That's not to say there isn't always room for improvement in terms of your skills, or more edges or special awards your character can gain by exploring, demonstrating great RP, etc., but you would pretty much never say, "That character is a RL year of play older than mine. I can't go head to head with that guy and compete."

That being said, there are some good examples of character longevity within the bounds of our system. The current Empress, for example, is a character over a RL year old, having been played pretty regularly all that time. There's definitely time to RP a character and make your mark on the world, but you equally know that, one way or another, someone else will be Emperor this time in 2008, so if you want to make an Imperial character and gun for the throne, sheer character longevity isn't going to beat you down.

I'm not sure if that helps you out at all... if not, ask more questions and we'll field 'em!

It appears as if characters are universally somewhat short-lived (which I find interesting); exactly how short is this living?

At the low end, a character will live roughly 500 RL hours before expiring due to old age. (700 is more common, but we'll stick with the low end.) Most characters 'die' to deletion-- not many people stick with one character for 500+ hours. As a new player, age-death should be at the very back of your mind.

I notice that characters appear on the "Battlefield" forum with a certain number of hours listed as their lifespan; does this mean hours logged-on, or real-world hours since creation?

Hours logged on. So you'll get 500+ hours of actual gameplay for that character. One of the perks of this system is that it guarantees a certain rate of turnover-- depending on what other MUDs you've played, you may have seen games where the 'cool' jobs belong to characters that been entrenched for RL years, and there is very little chance you'll be able to work into those positions. Here, leadership positions often open up every couple of months.

Aside from that subject of characters' longevity, what is the gameplay itself like? It seems as if more of an urgent and action-oriented playstyle exists here, based on the game's PK-filled nature. Is playing this game equivalent to playing a text-based, role-playing version of Counterstrike, or is there a large amount of long-term building-up of one's character as in other MUDs?

All of the above. Roleplaying is our first and most important rule, and part of roleplay is conflict. Experience is most often earned through conflict, but characters also amass appreciable piles from roleplay rewards, quest completion, business savvy, exploration and observation, conducting successful battles against rival cabals, and more. Characters are expected to develop and mature, and the reward structures are designed to encourage that-- exceptional characters find themselves in the possession of extra abilities, custom powers (a mage might shapeshift into a griffon or other unique beast, someone might gain an ability possessed by no one else in the entire game, etc.), roleplay rewards (being known by a special title, being able to bring people in or out of a cabal, being in a custom-made quest designed by our staff, etc.), etc.

Sorry for the newbishness and, particularly, vagueness of my question; I will obtain some first-hand experience with the game as soon as possible, but as of now I'm just trying to understand what it's all about. Any general insight is appreciated.

All to be expected! We've been active for 13 years, and new tweaks large and small are made literally daily, so there's a lot that has accumulated over our existence. It's a large world with a lot of nooks and crannies, so you shouldn't feel expected to be an expert in a week, or even six months.

valguarnera@carrionfields.com

>Hi,
>
>I've been looking for a good MUD to play lately, and this one
>seems rather different and interesting. However, I haven't had
>a chance to log on for a significant period of time as yet,
>and I can't seem to grasp the basic gameplay from reading the
>website and forum posts.
>
>It appears as if characters are universally somewhat
>short-lived (which I find interesting); exactly how short is
>this living?

I believe minimum is about 450 hours before age death, with some factors like race (arial being shortest lived, elf being longest) and cabal leadership in play. An elf cabal leader might live to 1000 hours old, but very few choose to live that long.

>I notice that characters appear on the
>"Battlefield" forum with a certain number of hours listed as
>their lifespan; does this mean hours logged-on, or real-world
>hours since creation?

Real-world hours logged-on. If you play 2 hours today, tomorrow your character will still be two hours old.

>Aside from that subject of characters' longevity, what is the
>gameplay itself like? It seems as if more of an urgent and
>action-oriented playstyle exists here, based on the game's
>PK-filled nature.

This is pretty accurate.

>Is playing this game equivalent to playing a
>text-based, role-playing version of Counterstrike, or is there
>a large amount of long-term building-up of one's character as
>in other MUDs?

A mixture of both. There is longish-term build up. For instance it will take anywhere from 50 to 200 hours to hero a character. Hero is the maximum level (51) so after that, only build up would be in terms of equipment and skills. These are capped as well, so while your character has some build-up, there is also a cap to pretty much every area that prevents a continuous grind.

>Sorry for the newbishness and, particularly, vagueness of my
>question; I will obtain some first-hand experience with the
>game as soon as possible, but as of now I'm just trying to
>understand what it's all about. Any general insight is
>appreciated.
>
>Regards,
>keriostar

Hope you do, and hope you enjoy the experience. One thing to mention, in CF paranoia isn't a character trait, it's a survival requirement.