Redoing our web page (contentwise more than stylewise) and/or marketing is one of those things I think about now and again and generally end up finding something else more interesting to do. My talents, such as they are, lie in other directions.

But I'm thinking about it again right now, so, what the hell, let's talk about it if anyone's interested. A list of questions to ponder and discuss:


How do you explain CF to someone with no background in any form of RPG?

How do you convey the appeal of it? How might you discern someone out of a crowd who would enjoy a game like this?

If a friend of yours along these lines saw you playing and asked, "Hey, what's that?", how would you answer? How would you persuade them to sit down and give it a try?

Do these answers change at all if they have, say, a pen and paper RPG (D&D, etc.) background?

Or, do these answers change at all if they have a mainstream MMORPG background?

What first made you, personally, realize this was a game you wanted to play?

"How do you convey the appeal of it? How might you discern someone out of a crowd who would enjoy a game like this?"

"Do these answers change at all if they have, say, a pen and paper RPG (D&D, etc.) background? Or, do these answers
change at all if they have a mainstream MMORPG background?"



I think CF might have a lot of appeal to people who play the Yu-Gi-Oh type card games. The process/strategy of
building a deck to compete with, the more or less real-time competition and tactics involved in actually playing,
and the general fantasy nature of the cards all vaguely translate to the things people enjoy about CF: character
building, PK, roleplay.

There isn't a prejudice for graphics that some MMORPG gamers might have. Most kids have probably played each
other for the right to take a card from the loser's deck, so there's some appreciation for the tangible gains/losses that
make CF combat so exciting but which occasionally turn off people who play other RPG games.

It's probably a younger crowd than our playerbase averages right now, but I've worked with some mid/late teenage
kids who played those card games and left thinking 'Man, that kid has the maturity/competitiveness/creativity to
be a pretty good CFer.' We're a diverse community so it's tough to claim some other group will be a pefrect fit but
I think there a lot of parallels between the games and the reasons people find them appealing.

>Redoing our web page (contentwise more than stylewise) and/or
>marketing is one of those things I think about now and again
>and generally end up finding something else more interesting
>to do. My talents, such as they are, lie in other
>directions.
>
>But I'm thinking about it again right now, so, what the hell,
>let's talk about it if anyone's interested. A list of
>questions to ponder and discuss:
>
>
>How do you explain CF to someone with no background in any
>form of RPG?
>
>How do you convey the appeal of it? How might you discern
>someone out of a crowd who would enjoy a game like this?

I'm generally embarrassed to admit I play a text-based game. I have a few old D&D friends that I got playing for a short while, but they weren't able to read the screen fast enough and got bored of it. I got my brother to play for a bit, but he didn't really enjoy it and quit shortly thereafter.

I tend to think there's two aspects of CF that people will enjoy: Veteran D&D style roleplaying or PK. PK being a complicated and satisfying challenge, roleplaying being storyesque type of thing that some people really dig (including me, occassionally).

This doesn't translate well to a lot of people who can't handle losing. In MMORPG's you don't really *lose* like you do in CF. In CF, you just straight up lose sometimes. Often even. Multiple times a day if you're a newbie.

Some people are egotistical pricks like me who can't stand losing and want to get better simply for that reason. Other people are like "Screw this, this is hard, I'm going to go play Madden/WoW/whatever."

>If a friend of yours along these lines saw you playing and
>asked, "Hey, what's that?", how would you answer? How would
>you persuade them to sit down and give it a try?

I don't have many friends over the house and I can't imagine playing CF in the middle of a dinner party or something. I tried explaining it to my GF but she's not the remotest bit interested.

>Do these answers change at all if they have, say, a pen and
>paper RPG (D&D, etc.) background?

D&D players tend to be easier to get to play CF, but, D&D players also tend to be old and not have 10 hours a day to play like most CF'ers. I don't think I could've achieved the meager amount of competetancy I possess playing 4 hours a week when I first started. I think, instead, I'd just wind up frustrated and bored.

>Or, do these answers change at all if they have a mainstream
>MMORPG background?

When I mention it to WoW players I say, "Its like WoW, only it doesn't suck."

*shrug*

>What first made you, personally, realize this was a game you
>wanted to play?
>

I was really big into roleplaying, D&D and etc when I first started playing (I was also like...14 or so). So, it was an easy match. Now, PK & exploration keeps me around.

I've been wanting to write a CF-based book for quite some time. What are the odds the staff would back me on such a venture if undertaken in a serious manner?

Was playing another mud some years back when I started. Was me and two other friends that got me started, all of my other friends and I do men ALL though it to be stupid. Then one day after tree years of playing I finally convinced two to start and after a month boy where they hooked. I was getting question about gear/areas/spells/skills all the time.

So only trouble is getting people to start, I find that if you get someone to stick it out a month they will not leave.

As for WoW and other graphic games. I have always said that all though the graphics of games and computers has become so much better it still sucks. (this is why if some game has gotten "GRATE GRAPHICS" I don't buy it) It's about the feel of the game for me. But if you need something to convince your friends about the graphics or lack there of.
Just let them try it and afterwards discuss with them. The human brain is the best graphics motor I have ever heard of. And I always find mudding to be a lot more fun when you can discuss it with friends. (trouble is everyone imaginings chars and places differently )

>How do you explain CF to someone with no background in any
>form of RPG?

I usually emphasize the coolness of playing a game with people from all over the world. "See all those red letter? That's me and I think some dude from Russia killing some other chumps. Watch me eat his fingers....". People trip out on that if they've never heard of MUDs before.

>How do you convey the appeal of it? How might you discern
>someone out of a crowd who would enjoy a game like this?

I don't know.. usually people that would try CF are folks who can type and read well. I.e., not most of my friends . To be honest, I find it difficult to tell most people about what this game thing is that I'm playing all the time. If someone else explained it to me and I had no idea I'd probably laugh my ass off and think they were weird.

Generally, if they are someome who is into fantasy books and such, then I go for that angle, or MMORPG people, then I'll describe more of the similarities there (and why CF is better!).

>If a friend of yours along these lines saw you playing and
>asked, "Hey, what's that?", how would you answer? How would
>you persuade them to sit down and give it a try?

Well I'd really want to be careful bringing any friends into this thing for so many reasons . Last time I told a buddy of mine to go ahead and try it, he ended up rolling a wood-elf named "Todd". So...

Ideally though I'd probably let them watch me play for a bit and then probably logout and guide them through rolling up a new character and such. However, because of the rules of CF, I must admit that it is very difficult to go about getting a friend to play, as you can't really help them out in-game too easily. This is a significant roadblock for me wanting to start anyone on CF, really. Because they'd expect me to "hook them up" with stuff, and probably wouldn't get why I wouldn't help their character- without having been immersed in CF for a while. But it is what it is. Not that there's anything wrong with that.

>Do these answers change at all if they have, say, a pen and
>paper RPG (D&D, etc.) background?

I don't know too many people who ever played paper RPG's, but I'd assume they'd be a perfect fit for CF without much persuading.

>Or, do these answers change at all if they have a mainstream
>MMORPG background?

Yep! I have some friends who play Battlefield and the like, and they are generally way easier to describe CF to. "Oh, so you have to take those other guy's item, I get it.." That sort of thing.

>What first made you, personally, realize this was a game you
>wanted to play?

I started playing CF in like 95-96 when MUDs and the internet in general were brand new things. The ability to interact with others in real time was like the coolest thing ever. That and you could kill them and take their sword . A couple years ago I was curious to see if CF was still around and much to my demise, am pretty hooked again.

>How do you explain CF to someone with no background in any
>form of RPG?

To be honest, I find it incredibly difficult to explain that I'm 31 years old, have a kid, and play a text-based fantasy role-playing game, without someone thinking I'm a total freak. It's my experience that people who "get" Carrion Fields have already dabbled in some form of pen-and-paper or video game RPG in the past. If they haven't, then they're probably not the type of person who would be interested. (For example, my wife, who can't understand how I can even stand to ready fantasy books.)

>How do you convey the appeal of it?

Depends on what the person's "into". Some people are all about the role-play. A game like Carrion Fields is more "free-form" than a WoW or Guild Wars. Also the stakes are higher, since death is so much more of a bummer. Plus it's free.

>How might you discern
>someone out of a crowd who would enjoy a game like this?

Someone who has played pen-and-paper RPGs in the past would be a good candidate. Someone who plays Wow/GuildWars and likes the PvP aspect, but finds it somehow "lacking". Or cannibalize people from other MUDs who're tired of the pay-for-benefits thing, or some other aspect of their MUD where CF is superior.

>If a friend of yours along these lines saw you playing and
>asked, "Hey, what's that?", how would you answer?

If he had no past experience with MUDs I'd have to put it in terms he could understand: "It's like WoW, but text-based, free, and everywhere's a kill zone."

>How would
>you persuade them to sit down and give it a try?

Hrm. I guess I could quit, let them have the keyboard, then walk them through the process of rolling a character.

>Do these answers change at all if they have, say, a pen and
>paper RPG (D&D, etc.) background?

To some extent. Then you can basically say it's like D&D but online and in real-time instead of being turn-based.

>Or, do these answers change at all if they have a mainstream
>MMORPG background?

In that case I'd emphasize how CF is different from most mainstream MMORPGs and talk about how I prefer those differences. Enough to give up the graphics.

>What first made you, personally, realize this was a game you
>wanted to play?

Like alot of people I started before there *were* MMORPGs per se. Hell, even the internet was new and different. The idea of interacting with (and competing against) a bunch of people from all over the world in an online arena was just too cool to pass up. Plus I just got stomped the first few times I played, which was incredibly frustrating and made me want to get better.

The fact that there was so much "new" stuff every time I played was also a motivator. There was alot of secret, arcane knowledge out there for me to figure out. Like the answers I needed to get into Masters. Man, I was so excited when I finally got inducted. I had zero contact with any other players, including websites, so it took me *forever* to figure out all the technical magic stuff the various leaders kept quizzing me about. I'm not sure how it would have gone if Dio's had existed, or if I'd had a bunch of other CFers on IM.

Not one of my friends has ever been even remotely interested in playing (nor anyone I've ever met IRL really)...

I will take this opportunity to plug my devious plan to addict the OLPC kids. Seriously, Zulg or Nep, volunteer some open source goodness and plug plug plug away. This game is perfect for them on so many levels... Mostly the ones where I take their newbie breadz.