As staff, we have a lot of plans in that direction, including new advertising, website upgrades, and more. As a player, there are several ways you can contribute:

1) Voting helps. That little button in the upper right takes seconds to click, but delivers free publicity.

2) Several MUD sites allow player reviews. TMS (upper right) is one. MudConnector (http://www.mudconnect.com/content.html) is another. MudMagic (Formerly Kyndig, http://www.mudmagic.com/articles/Reviews/) is a third. The Mud Slide (http://www.themudslide.com/read_review.html?user_id=&session=) is a new site that looks to be trying to build. MUD Companion (http://www.mudcompanion.com/guidelines.php#reviews) may accept player reviews. We always appreciate accurate, informative reviews of our game.

3) Several MUD-related sites have forums, and appropriately mentioning CF there can help. Please do not cross over into spamming or threadjacking, however.

4) Donations help, especially as we consider our own advertising options. Consider the number of hours you get out of CF, and compare it to what you'd pay for (and get from) an off-the-shelf game. Sending in a check (or just unlocking a bunch of people on the Premium Battlefield) helps free up some money to invest in long-term advertising, which will bring in more players.


valguarnera@carrionfields.com

Theres 2 or 3 posts re newbies the newbie channels etc, I thought I would just offer my view.

There are heaps of very good help text in cf - however, when a newbie comes on, if they are not helped in the early stages or perhaps feel disgruntled in the way people are helping... ie
"help xxxx" and "dont ask that here" or "find out in game" (note these responses come as much from other players as anything) this is likely to turn players away. From the survey conducted it looks like cf has a lot of players that have been here for a long time - and we all know that the restrictions on what you could and couldnt say have become much more strict.

recently someone asked on the newbie channel what websites could be checked to help with the game. The imms at the time said check the official site, and that they couldnt mention others. I would suggest Dikus map and Dioxides sites are mammoth help to newbies both to find out about the game and become part of the community of players (which obviously benefits the game itself).

Also - for the players as much as anything - consider helping the newbies. eg I was playing a necromancer and a newbie couldnt find a few places such as the ranger guild and then the trainer - yes there are maps etc but it can be an effort. Now if I had just been a goodie I would have shown him - but as a necro I offered him directions for money (not much but enough to keep the roleplay aspect ok). You could tell the newbie was immensly happy with this after obviously been frustrated with the newbie channel.

My 2c

They can't mention other sites because, by the wishes of the Imms, such sites aren't supposed to *exist*. And here's why:

Dioxides is only tolerated because nobody can really do anything about shutting it down, but the VIP staff is very good about respecting the wishes of Imms about what info to show, and to an extent, other players wishes. It has a wealth of decent information regarding an intermediate/advanced gameplay level of discussion but the information in posts aren't always correct save for the policing via extensive flaming and modding that the players do to one another. Quite frankly in many cases they will discuss number crunching that isn't really very helpful to the new guy's success. For example, you only need to know that more weight and a larger size causes you to bash harder for more lag, more accurately etc. and that less weight and a smaller size makes dodge better, but there is no point in trying to find a medium ground for both because you just end up doing poorly at both. Just pick one to be good at for a given situation. Also a newbie doesn't need to know the difference between an average 18 and average 22 weapon, he'll notice the difference in the increasing damage nouns and it doesn't really matter all *that* much whether he's doing an extra 20 points of damage or not that isn't being shown in changes to the damage nouns. If a newbie needs to know whether a flaming bite attack type is all that special compared to a cleave attack type, they should just ask veterans in-game what it's useful for, likely Good/Neutral Tribunal types or Acolytes of the Sun would be most willing to chat about it for a brief time if they aren't busy.

The Diku clan site hands newbies on a silver platter everything and then they forget it a day later and come to rely on the site, and then furthermore end up getting booted off when they don't contribute. Whereas someone who stuck it out, (and admittedly was shown what questions to ask on the newbie channel and enough helpfiles to read that they became reliant on them instead) they would remember practically forever. It cheapens the game experience and the work that has been put into the areas in general to use pre-made maps and item searches. Nowadays nobody ever really finds out everything in the game with other players and their own experimentation and using the spells like 'contact other planes' and such, but what the Imms are trying to say is that anyone who does without these sites is going to end up a much better player for it in general. Better roleplayer, more lethal in PK, etc. It takes a whole lot of time, six months to one or two years in fact, depending on what kind of learner you are and what your talents are in the game for this transformation to happen, but you're better for it in the long run.

I'm sure there's more, but I have to work, and maybe someone can pick up where I left off.

Its not the number crunching type stuff that Im refering to as useful.

Simply the ability to informally chat with other players, ask advice that cant be asked in game etc.

The maps are great simply because it assists the new players in finding their way around. They dont have to use it and I dont believe they will forget as you still need to move around in game and you learn.

Can I have a perfected set of skills for $5?!

A number of our competitors sell in-game advantages for RL cash. One of the more common setups is to sell gear, added storage of gear, private rooms, and the like.

It's a central point of our advertising that we put a level playing field above that.

valguarnera@carrionfields.com

Most of the muds on TMS have an icon, but CF doesn't. Why not throw on the dude with the flag in the upper left?

Probably not a move that will garner several million newbies. Still, it would make CF look more important and jump out more on the list.

>Most of the muds on TMS have an icon, but CF doesn't. Why not
>throw on the dude with the flag in the upper left?
>
>Probably not a move that will garner several million newbies.
>Still, it would make CF look more important and jump out more
>on the list.

Those little icons cost money or we would. If any CF-loving
players felt like writing a review over there, that's free and
we would probably get more mileage out of it.

nt

But we do our best to keep all our costs down. When you consider that the combined cost of the game server and the forums are less than $150 per month, $5 would increase our monthly costs by more than 3%. Other advertising options on TMS are much more - $25 per month for getting your banner in the rotation, for example.

We're focusing on the ways we can get free advertising and also trying to pick which paid advertising will be most effective. Having the logo next to our name on the TMS site is not going to be nearly as effective as just having a high rank, after all. And there are several other websites and advertising venues besides TMS that we have to consider.

Yanoreth

pay to get your banner up there in the rotation? Or would this money have to be donated to CF and then used for that purpose?

valguarnera@carrionfields.com

nt

I was never inspired to vote (or even post) until I read Val's post. Hell, I even donated some $. This game has saved me ALOT of money over the years that would have been otherwise spent on booze and wimmmin.

Then again ... can I get a refund?

Seriously, a larger player base would be good for the mud but CF is about as newbie friendly as the Boogum. Its one thing attracting them to try the game, its another to keep them.

Humble suggestions:

1. Know who your target audience is. Its not fly-by-nighters. Its those who take their gaming a little more seriously than others. Someone said "This is chess, not checkers". Very apt. Make it clear in game listings, reviews etc that the game is NOT easy but fulfilling in the long run. Don't kid yourself telling others there's a "slight" learning curve. Use descriptions like "challenging".

2. Stop being so anal in the newbie channel. Sure, we can't discuss quests etc. But there are nice ways to say things and ways that just put people off.

3. Experienced players should try to be a little nicer to newbies who its within (or a promotion of) their characters to be nice to. These small gestures or taking time to explain things (when fighting isn't so heated) can go a long way.

4. Ranking is hard for newbies. Maybe cut down on the xp discrepancies between groups of 2 or 4 and the ideal 3. Sure, keep 3 as the optimal size but don't make the difference so marked. Maybe just for groups of 2? Its finding the numbers that's difficult. Alternatively, add more XP quests available to all levels. I'm sure I don't know ALL the xp quests but thats just it, I'm NOT newbie (although I die like one) and have no idea of them all. Make them more accessible.

Nothing that hasn't been said before so I'll stop ... there's more and there may or may not be the resources or inclination to implement things.

Be nice.

2. Stop being so anal in the newbie channel. Sure, we can't discuss quests etc. But there are nice ways to say things and ways that just put people off.

3. Experienced players should try to be a little nicer to newbies who its within (or a promotion of) their characters to be nice to. These small gestures or taking time to explain things (when fighting isn't so heated) can go a long way.

As far as the newbie channel, the players tend to be a lot rougher than the staff on newbies. I've developed a pretty quick trigger-finger for de-newbie-channeling players who do this, and i'm starting to think I should go a little further in more blatant cases.

Alternatively, add more XP quests available to all levels.

The number of such quests has gone up very consistently over the past few years. Before I immed, I kept note on what quests I was aware of. While I was aware of around 30, only 7 or so of those gave experience as part of the reward. I could probably name 25 like that now.

One of the side effects of rotating in new areas is that they nearly always come in with more (and more varied) quests than older ones. A lot of older areas have no custom code at all. Most newer areas have a fair bit. Also, as Qaledus alluded to in his recent profile on the History forum, we frequently go through older areas and freshen them up with new surprises.

valguarnera@carrionfields.com

>2. Stop being so anal in the newbie channel. Sure, we can't
>discuss quests etc. But there are nice ways to say things and
>ways that just put people off.

i concur. you're just trying to be friendly and then some immortal tells you to 'shut the #### up'. whats up with that yo?

>3. Experienced players should try to be a little nicer to
>newbies who its within (or a promotion of) their characters to
>be nice to. These small gestures or taking time to explain
>things (when fighting isn't so heated) can go a long way.

it's a little hard to explain stuff without breaking role, and most newbies just don't get it anyway. i know i learned alot faster by doing stuff myself than having someone give me directions and blah.

>4. Ranking is hard for newbies. Maybe cut down on the xp

ranking is hard for newbies because they don't know how to gear, and end up sucking ass in a group.

I really think that CF needs a MSG somewhere about the newbie channel.
A lot of newbies seem to think that the newbie channel is for chatting away about whatever.

SOme message needs to be displayed to the newbie players that say something like "THE NEWBIE CHANNEL IS NOT A CHAT CHANNEL."

I dont know how they could really help with newbie gearing. Its difficult but i guess people will just have to ask around IC.

I think this should also be put somewhere on this site for newbie HELP. Somewhere in the menu on the left, there needs to be a newbie section with basic advice on how to gear and how to rank. About how to gear, meaning, ask IC a lot. I do not mean specific locations of armor. Also some advice on how to get around would help.

Give those traveling boots some extra juice sub 11. No point in limiting them so much, its really really annoying and such a pain in the @ss for newbies. Boost pathfinding somewhere in the 80% range.

1. Know who your target audience is. Its not fly-by-nighters. Its those who take their gaming a little more seriously than others. Someone said "This is chess, not checkers". Very apt. Make it clear in game listings, reviews etc that the game is NOT easy but fulfilling in the long run. Don't kid yourself telling others there's a "slight" learning curve. Use descriptions like "challenging".

Below is an excerpt from the last ad we ran. Do you think it fits those criteria?

- We're tough. Not tough as in "It takes 500 hours of mashing the same two kinds of goblins to build a character who is any good at anything." Tough as in our areas and rules encourage fierce competition. Many items exist in finite numbers, and if you want that shiny sword over there, you might just have to rip it out of another player's cold, dead hands. Tough as in the mind-hurting twists and puzzles of Kteng's Laboratory or Nyathl Ikalith, the Silent Tower, some of which have been in for years without any player fully unlocking the innermost secrets. Tough as in you won't be fighting NPCs who are just skill-less tackling dummies outside of the first few newbie areas. Tough as in we show cheaters the door. Tough as in you'll look up from your screen, realize you've been with us for a year, and still be baffled at all the facets of the game you haven't experienced or mastered yet. Tough as in two seconds to think is often one more than you had.

- We welcome new players. We have a specific newbie channel for helping you learn the ropes, and a custom Academy area with dozens of small quests to help teach you the game. 1400+ help files and a staff that knows exactly which one to point you to when you're having trouble. A website with tons of frequently updated information and a forum specifically for helping new players get over the initial hurdles. You'll still die a lot (see "We're tough.", above), and we won't spoon-feed you, but you'll learn a little more each time until you're the one they're running from. If it was easy, it'd be boring, you know.

valguarnera@carrionfields.com

Personally I've almost given up voting on TMS at all.

Why? Because the number of votes other muds have is ridiculously high. I can remember when a few hundred votes would have cf in the top 5. Now a few hundred doesn't tend to get you in the top 10, bearing in mind that few hundred has to be generated fast.

I don't know if other muds have come up with some wierd voting system or whether it is alright, but they seem to have all upped their votes by a large factor.

1) Several other MUDs use a combination of:
- In-game pestering. Everything from timed global echoes, to having their vote link record IPs so they can "remind" people who aren't voting. This is legal by TMS.
- In-game incentives. These are not legal by TMS, but difficult to police. An example would be "If we get 100 votes in the next hour, we'll hand out free kewl eq!"
- Flat-out cheating. One of the MUDs in the top 10 was recently investigated because they had several hundred votes/week, and a playerbase of roughly 2.

We don't do any of that.

2) While the top two spots consistently have a huge number of votes, CF would consistently finish much higher with even 50% more voting. Given that voting consists of clicking two buttons, and new players frequently tell us they found us on TMS, I still think it's worth it.

valguarnera@carrionfields.com

There is also a MUD out there who is making players vote before accessing the game or the forum. Thank god CF hasn't stooped to these levels.

Would it be legal, and feasible, to have something on the cf loging screen where you enter "name" then "password" as normal, but before it connects you to the game it asks if you are happy to have a vote placed with TMS, supporting cf.

If you say "yes" can it place the vote without you having to go through the web interface? It's the time of the web interface and the shutting down of the windows afterwards that I object to. I know it is pretty quick, but in all honesty it isn't something that jumps into my head every time I use the internet or visit this forum.

If you say "no" then you just log into the game as normal.

Clearly there would be certain obligations on the part of the imms if this could be implemented. . e.g. whilst you might want to record number of people per log-in that selected "yes", that would be fine, but there should be no linking of votes to IP nor votes to char.

If linking through the mud is problematic, then what about a thing on this website that asks you if you wish a TMS vote logged on your behalf when you enter your handle details here. Would that be feasible?

What we need, is to design a cookie, that votes for you!
Thats right.. you wake up, turn on the computer, and BAM!
Windows pop up, and you are voted for! yay!

Note: the preceeding was a joke. Valg is not in a secret
lab somewhere, piecing together code to make this happen.
Maybe not. Probably not.


Anyways..

Two clicks guys! Two.. It's worse for me cause I have to
click off my pop-up blocker! Whew.


Good idea about the voting linked to responses in-game.
I'm not sure it's doable though.. I'm not very web smart.


Grurk

>Note: the preceeding was a joke. Valg is not in a secret
>lab somewhere, piecing together code to make this happen.
>Maybe not. Probably not.

I investigated it, but never got around to finishing. I may pick it up again when time permits.

Like link advertising via email, set up @carrionfields.com accnts to have a "Have you voted today" type like that takes two clicks
to vote for the site at the bottom of all the emails you send out
to friends and what not.

Goes without saying of course, not to be abused in a spam mail, just another easy option for someone to vote.