When someone with a newbie flag under lvl 10 removes a light, have a warning echo, "Humans, storm giants (etc) will need a light to see in dark areas or after sunset."

Also, it would be player-friendly for those with a noob flag should to detect invis while a ghost.

Sell potions with a short shelflife to newbs that have l_desc like "Cures blindness and constipation." and "Good for avoiding ex-wives and angry lawyers."

When teleporting using a noob_potion, have it echo the area the noob has landed. "You sense that you have transported to what some call the Ashes of Nowhere. Now look at your damn map."

Consider giving noobs a teleport potion (that rots over time) with their standard outfit gear.

That timing you suggest is irrelevant. The problem is you don't have a client with triggers to immediately respond to what's on your screen or you haven't figured out how to set them up yet. But, if you ask the IMMS, triggers and such on CF are a no-no. Reality: don't try to play CF without them.

You see, I've been thinking about noob friendliness too. I just came back to CF from a 5 year absence. It was nice to see things hadn't changed much. It was disappointing to see that things hadn't changed much.

5 mob deaths, 1 PK death, and one near PK death (nearly one-shotted by a thief BS) all before lvl 17 on one character has convinced me that:

a. If you don't know how to scrounge gear as a noob (I still mostly don't), you'll die horribly , inexplicably and ceaselessly. Mob looted gear sucks IMMENSELY compared to what you can steal off a lvl 40's corpse. Trying to pvp at lvl 11 in Aldervari gear is like having a sign on your back saying, "Kick my ass please." If you are NOT in at least a set of midnight dragon gear by lvl 11... you suck. Period.

b. If you don't know where tons of prep items are as a noob (I still mostly don't), you'll die horribly, inexplicably and ceaselessly. I managed to grab a high lvl's bag from the pit and it was comprised of nothing but food, water and over 100 (yes, over 100) prep items and I was clueless as to where any (except the seaweed) came from. That tells me that preps have become more important than skills and perhaps second only to gear.

c. I still hate that client triggers rule. Any noob with anything less than a good mud client and some programming skills is destined to die horribly, inexplicably and ceaselessly. I know this because I had a thief backstab me, miss, flee and run back in and backstab me again in a matter of about 2 seconds. Nobody types that fast. It's still more of a game of, "how good is your client" rather than "how good are your skills." Of that, not much can be done though.

d. I still hate a fight that only lasts 5 seconds before I'm dead (see a and b above). Being ***DEMOLISHED*** by a lvl 15 is still not fun. That fraction of a second extra timing just to see your imminent death coming because you've just been bash-spammed is not going to help.

e. I still hate that I can't even come close to being, at the very least, even a flicker of a challenge to the older players on their new characters(see a and b above).

f. I still hate that I don't have a chance to learn a and b above because I'm always too busy trying to hide from older players on their new characters and what little I do know is woefully inadequate.

Solutions?

If you want first time noobs to stick around, give them some hope. And DON'T tell them, "Oh, go play a human assassin, explore and ignore how often you get your ass handed to you in your hat." They shouldn't be forced into a race/class in order have even a hope of surviving long enough to learn even a fraction of the intricacies of CF. The first 20 levels are a critical time for anyone first coming to CF. They're not going to stick around if they spend the time to lvl their characters up and then die perpetually in PVP as soon as they hit lvl 11. Going out and seeing hits, and grazes fighting mobs in gear you 'earned' and then getting ===OBLITERATED=== in PVP... well, it's demoralizing and humiliating and neither of those are 'fun.'

Dare I say it???? Level based gear and preps???? (*quaffs a potion of flame retardant*)

Conclusion:

Those reasons above... are why in all my time playing CF most of my characters are deleted before I even hit lvl 20 and have ONLY succeeded in getting to lvl 35... once. (A Gnome Transmuter that lvl'd in groups but sucked horribly solo because I still didn't know where preps and gear could be found). I think it would be very revealing to know how many first time players either abandon or delete their character before lvl 20 and never return and now many PK deaths they endured.

Am I sticking around?

Depends on how many more times I have to endure the humiliation of having my ass pounded into the dirt due to my own ignorace.

So, odds are no.

Of course, I do have a 'final' solution. A naked Gnome Tranny who runs around screaming, "I'M FREE... I'M FREE". Lots of group invites from Orcs, tons of gain converts to keep your con up from getting ceaselessly PK'd and, best of all, not a damn thing to lose except your humility (provided, of course, losing that doesn't bother you). I might even get my very first edge for being creative... or insane.

>That timing you suggest is irrelevant. The problem is you
>don't have a client with triggers to immediately respond to
>what's on your screen or you haven't figured out how to set
>them up yet. But, if you ask the IMMS, triggers and such on
>CF are a no-no. Reality: don't try to play CF without them.

>
>c. I still hate that client triggers rule. Any noob with
>anything less than a good mud client and some programming
>skills is destined to die horribly, inexplicably and
>ceaselessly. I know this because I had a thief backstab me,
>miss, flee and run back in and backstab me again in a matter
>of about 2 seconds. Nobody types that fast. It's still more
>of a game of, "how good is your client" rather than "how good
>are your skills." Of that, not much can be done though.
>

I would replace "triggers" in your post with "aliases" and a lot of what you said is right on.

I would bet that most folks on cf don't use triggers much (if at all), but most decent pk'ers certainly are making heavy use of aliases/hightlights.

It took me about 15 minutes to retrieve my 10 year old registration for ZMud (Shameless plug for Zuggsoft. Money well spent.), another 10 minutes to figure out how to make it work on Windows 7, and another 20 minutes of grabbing 4 pages of CF specific aliases off the web and refining them and I was back in business.

Now, you can't tell me that if I can find that many 'code' chunks for CF, including instructions on setting up buttons, etc. for a Mud client that supposedly died with XP still floating around that people haven't stepped WELL beyond that alias boundary into triggers. Don't try, I won't believe you for a second.

And I'm not talking about a simple trigger to fill your canteen every time you run past a fountain either.

Why am I so certain? Because we live in the midst of the ME ME ME generation.

"If my skills at making triggers are better than yours and I can completely automate my targeting system with them then I win. That's what counts. It's not how you play the game, it's about not losing and protecting your fragile ego. Screw honor and kick their ass any way you can."

Trust me, I'm old and see these exact thought patterns every single day. Add to that the fact you're essentially anonymous on CF and nobody really knows you, you can allow your inner jackass to roam free without besmirching your real name. Don't believe me? Buy a CB radio and listen to it a while. Anonymity allows people to say and do as they please and they take full advantage of it.

Triggers... big, bad, kick-your-ass-when-they-walk-in-the-room triggers DO exist in CF. Don't doubt it for a second.

Deaths you can imagine. And that's even with the most innocent looking triggers you can image.

Smart alias/hotkey creation is where its at.

Add aliases and even bad triggers to the other items I listed, combined with the older players knowledge of the zones and how to track runners, and you can stack up dead noobs like fire-wood.

I saw a lvl 20 necro the other day still wearing academy gear pieces.

I don't use aliases/triggers. I do alright. Basically just learn how to abbreviate pretty much everything.

I know some use triggers, but its not really that big of an advantage imo. The closest thing I do to aliasing is copying a combat starter and hit ctrl+v to use it as I chase.

As far as having to hide all the time? Do you really? It seems pretty rare that I even get attacked, let alone put in a position where I can't just simply walk away. Unless of course, I'm looking for a fight.

I don't use preps, which is what tends to kill me at higher levels, so I can see your point there. Honestly though, it sounds like you haven't even been to the level where that amount of prepping comes into play. Some lowbies manage to, but that seems pretty rare too.

If you have been playing for very long, and still die every five minutes (especially in CF's PK climate as it is now), then it is an issue with your ability rather than the game I think.

>>I don't use aliases/triggers. I do alright. Basically just learn how to abbreviate pretty much everything.

I use aliases to accomplish this. I'm old and my 'twitch' skills are fading fast.

>>I know some use triggers, but its not really that big of an advantage imo. The closest thing I do to aliasing is copying a combat starter and hit ctrl+v to use it as I chase.

Many of the triggers I've seen used do exactly this except without the copy/paste. They're automatic.

>>As far as having to hide all the time? Do you really? It seems pretty rare that I even get attacked, let alone put in a position where I can't just simply walk away. Unless of course, I'm looking for a fight.

When trying to rank, damn straight I do. I try to find the most out-of-the-way place I know and stay there till the exp sucks. Even then, I'm spamming where/who pk.

>>I don't use preps, which is what tends to kill me at higher levels, so I can see your point there. Honestly though, it sounds like you haven't even been to the level where that amount of prepping comes into play. Some lowbies manage to, but that seems pretty rare too.

I've seen low lvls gnawing on fillet's and roots, quaffing dim potions etc. It's common enough.

>>If you have been playing for very long, and still die every five minutes (especially in CF's PK climate as it is now), then it is an issue with your ability rather than the game I think.

I played years ago and just came back so no, not a very long time. Every 5 minutes is an exaggeration. Every time I get attacked in PK is less of an exaggeration, which is often enough. In all of my previous and current play time I can count on one hand the number of times I intended to kill someone and succeeded. My PK deaths have become about as common as fleas on a stray dog and I loathe to count them. In virtually every low lvl death I can say that I was either out-geared or out prepped.

And no, nobody NEEDS gear if you intend to run every time someone in PK range enters the zone. But CF isn't about running, it's about PVP. And gear and preps makes that completely unbalanced for low levels. Noobs without a clue are without a prayer. A lvl 20 necro may be able to sleep, weaken, poison, etc. provided they get in the first shot and the sleep doesn't fail. I can guarantee you that if that necro is the one being attacked and they're in academy gear, they'll be dead before their wimpy even knows what's going on.

I know this sounds like I'm whining, "I suck and it's unfair." but I'm not. Again, my point is... if you want to make CF more noob friendly the low lvl balance of gear and preps will have to be addressed. The advantage old players playing new characters should have is the knowledge of CF zones. It should not be from the fact that they're lvl 11 and beating the #### outta some lvl 15 noob because they've vultured a set of lvl 40 gear and have 10 lines of affects. CF has a HUGE learning curve. The depth of CF is astounding, but that alone isn't enough to make most noobs stick around. Only the most determined of noobs coming to CF are going to accept repeated ass beatings until they experience that depth and decide to stick around. Most however, will quickly become discouraged and go elsewhere.

If CF is only looking for noobs who have huge amounts of tenacity, then no change is needed. I can understand the need to keep CF unique. Personally though, tenacity is exactly what I'm trying to decide if I have enough of to make a new character and try yet again.

On the necro, if they get the first attack thing... It seems to me low level pk winner is often decided by the agressor. So be the agressor or run (at least until you think of a snazzy way to turn the tide). That is what I do and it works pretty well.

You are right, newbies will not have any easy time with this. I think the gauntlet newbies have to go through is good. They will either have the patience, learn, etc. Or not have the patience and leave.

We could try to keep around the second ones by making it easier, but they are the same ones who will not have patience for lots of what makes CF, CF.

EDIT: Piece of advice. Get a character to hero. Do nothing but focus on that one goal for a character. Once you are there you realize it doesn't change anything. It's the same game, your just a bigger fish. Frankly, I like prehero far more than hero. Once I did finally hero, I realized my level doesnt matter. What matters to me is just playing the game. No need to focus on being the ultimate badass or highest level, or any of that.

Your approach to pk seems to be that two people start duking it out.

As a necro, you shouldn't be putting yourself in this position because that's not where the classes strengths lie. You cannot play each class with the same mindset (well, most can't).

You can kill lowbie warriors with lowbie necros without using preps. I've done it myself with only chill touch. However, you aren't likely to manage it if you just walk up to a healthy warrior and start doing it, whereas a lowbie warrior is unlikely to lose to a necro if he walks up and attacks them when he's healthy. A necro need to make use of stuff like the invis spell and jump them when they are already hurt. A good way to tell this without them hearing you walk around is to wait until you can see they are sleeping. Then walk in, take a look at them, and if they are badly hurt, try your luck.

Since they are lowbies, warrior bash skill is much less effective (if they even have it), and you have the chance of landing a mean chill touch (because sometimes it does more damage).

Both of these changes are things imms put in to make magi more viable at low levels, based on player feedback.

Quite frankly, putting someone to sleep as a lowbie necro is counterproductive. None of your spells will last long enough to run them down, and your maladictions are not going to achieve much either until level 23 where you get crimson scourge.

Just because sleep is the ultimate spell for a higher level necro does not make it a good one at lower level.

Most don't.

I don't, and I do better than average in pk. I use a copy of jmc that I'm not even sure can do triggers. (I know jmc can, but this partiicular copy is not a good one for some reason.)

Using triggers will often get you killed, and no one I know uses them because we consider it to be poor sportsmanship.

Aliases, yes. But I would recommend that all newbies use aliases. Particularly as it will help them overcome the problem of the poor typing that adrenaline can cause when you aren't used to pk.

Generally, I see the fight I want, or I know the guy I'm after, or the guy that I think will be after me, and I do the following:

#alias qwe {c sleep fred)

or something like that, and

#alias asd {tri pete}

Then I can just type asd or qwe and hit enter when I want to do the relevant attack. And those combos are easy to type on an English keyboard. Although if some guy steps out of the shadows next to you and sniffs that's probably me trying to type "asd" and typing "sad" instead.

In nearly every instance where triggers are blamed, aliases are being used. When actual triggers are caught, they are dealt with which makes them unusable. And those instances are extremely rare nowadays.

For example, I still see people using triggers (from their logs) when disarmed to instantly enter the command to get their weapon. Now I know that can work against someone, but it shows that triggers are still in use.

Left a bad taste in my mouth. Not THAT big of a deal I know, just kinda meh.

Triggers don't override commands already entered. He could just as easily sac'd your weapon without them than with them. You are guessing.

Triggers that are considered bleh are the ones that cause multiple commands to cause an imbalance. Not ones that act on a single command or help you to eat food when you are hungry. Of course, there have been times where I have caused someone not watching the screen to eat all of their food by making them think they were hungry too.

It's the multiple command ones which are more likely to be hurtful to you than the single command ones also, so not sure why an idiot spamming himself with triggers is worse than someone using a single trigger. Your example about the food would have been hilarious to see.

You can tell from how the command displays in the log whether it is a trigger or an actively entered command.

I've submitted the same solution on a post (Marketing CF from Naeshuk on game play forum) few weeks ago. What disapointed me most was there's been no reply from any of the Imms on an idea that could probably really help playerbase and make the game more enjoyable for old and new newbies.

I totally agree with a.,b.,c.,d.,e. and f. On solutions of previous post:

>If you want first time noobs to stick around, give them some
>hope. And DON'T tell them, "Oh, go play a human assassin,
>explore and ignore how often you get your ass handed to you in
>your hat." They shouldn't be forced into a race/class in
>order have even a hope of surviving long enough to learn even
>a fraction of the intricacies of CF. The first 20 levels are
>a critical time for anyone first coming to CF. They're not
>going to stick around if they spend the time to lvl their
>characters up and then die perpetually in PVP as soon as they
>hit lvl 11. Going out and seeing hits, and grazes fighting
>mobs in gear you 'earned' and then getting ===OBLITERATED===
>in PVP... well, it's demoralizing and humiliating and neither
>of those are 'fun.'

Other disadvantages of being stuck playing hidden classes is, because they don't see you, you have less interactions with players that could show you the fun of RPing and where to find things (gear & preps) that could help you. Another thing is having your ass kicked when you try a different 'cool class' is so discouraging. The possibilty to play different kind of classes is one of the things that makes the game nice. So basically it's not possible for newbie to do so. One point less for CF Marketing here.


>Dare I say it???? Level based gear and preps????


Why Imms are silent to discuss it? Would it be too much work (programming) to do? I know you guys are doing a lot of free work to keep this game up and it is much appreciated but I would really like to see your point of view on this idea.

It's been brought up repeatedly brought up, and repeatedly turned down. No level based gear is one thing the Imms have intentionally decided. I suppose there's only so many times you feel like rehashing the same comment, even if it's a new question to everyone who asks.

Ultimately, level-based gear vs. no level-based gear each has ups and downsides. Imms prefer no level-based gear for the feel of the game.

If it's been brought up repeatedly, maybe it's because there's something in this idea. It would be nice to add a link to a post that explain why this decision has been taken because from the point of view of a newbie, I don't see the up side. The ups are mostly for the vet.

The no answer just make me feel like the Imms are not very interested in the point of view of the new player.

But after all, it's their game and they do want they want with it. If they prefer to make themselves and vets happier than newbies, I'm fine with this. Again, I'm not the one who gives my time freely to keep CF up. I can simply not bother when another 'Marketing CF' post will eventually come up.

>Ultimately, level-based gear vs. no level-based gear each has
>ups and downsides. Imms prefer no level-based gear for the
>feel of the game.

If the aggravation and humiliation of complete failure to the point that only masochists noobs stick around is the 'FEEL' they're shooting for... they've succeeded.

>Why Imms are silent to discuss it?

It's come up a lot of times over the years, it's not something that would work out the way you think it would, and it's not something we're interested in doing.

If you're curious, I'm sure the whys of it can be dug up somewhere in the forum archive. My CF time is super limited right now and I'm not spending it on another rehash, sorry.

If you make every class playable by a newb to good effect, vets are going to be overpowered and slaughter newbs with them even more than before.

IF people took the advice and tried assassins etc while they learn the ropes, they wouldn't be getting shafted in pk quite as much.

People don't start their racing careers in formula 1 cars.

Being a hidden class won't be a disadvantage in terms of preps, because YOU can still speak to other people and YOU can still choose to be visible when somewhere safe. And if you can tank (as assassins can, and rangers can) people will WANT to travel with you.

I completely understand why someone wants to be drow necro as their first character, but if you made drow necro work for a newb, a vet would take them and newbs playing other classes would be slaughtered.

Also, do you realise that gear and preps are already largely level based? For example:

Some preps can't be bought unless you are above a certain level.
Wands can't be used unless you are above a certain level (in particular, sleek wands can't be found until certain levels). High level weapons do less damage when a low level uses them than when a high level character uses them, etc.

And, just to plug assassins again, they are not gear dependant. Bannolic geared almost exclusively to keep the weight he carried down. His gear was otherwise very poor. Whenever I had a good weapon I lost it soon after by attempting overly risky.

What you seem to want is for gear not to make a difference, and that would kill off the mud for a lot of other people. It's not a "free win". It's also been shown that people stop valuing stuff if it is laid on a plate for them.

>Being a hidden class won't be a disadvantage in terms of
>preps, because YOU can still speak to other people and YOU can
>still choose to be visible when somewhere safe. And if you
>can tank (as assassins can, and rangers can) people will WANT
>to travel with you.
>
I agree.

>Also, do you realise that gear and preps are already largely
>level based? For example:
>
>Some preps can't be bought unless you are above a certain
>level.
>Wands can't be used unless you are above a certain level (in
>particular, sleek wands can't be found until certain levels).
>High level weapons do less damage when a low level uses them
>than when a high level character uses them, etc.
>
I know that. What I say is not having the same for armor & weapons
makes the game unbalanced (advantaging melee classes) making it more
difficult for a newbie's first wizard.

>What you seem to want is for gear not to make a difference,
>and that would kill off the mud for a lot of other people.
>It's not a "free win". It's also been shown that people stop
>valuing stuff if it is laid on a plate for them.
>
I do not want gear to make no differences. I think it would be better
to reduce the advantages of high level weapon and balance the game
between wizards and melee classes. I agree with OldNewb when he says:

"Going out and seeing hits, and grazes fighting mobs in gear you 'earned'
and then getting ===OBLITERATED=== in PVP... well, it's demoralizing and
humiliating and neither of those are 'fun.'"

I know high level weapons are supposed to do less damage when used by low
level player, but obviously they're still much more powerfull than what you
can get by yourself.

I don't think people would get away if the game was gear level based. Vets
would still be able to use their gear knowledge for having the best set for
the required level. And I doubt it would make them invincible when playing a
necro (or other wizard). My guess is vets and Imms likes to run around and kick
newbies asses without being really challenged. If this is the "feel of the game"
they enjoy, I'm fine with it for the Imms: again, I'm not the one giving freely
my time to keep CF up. But what is the result on long term? Personnaly, most of
the time, I gave up PvP when I cannot cheap kill and just flee when someone comes
for a fight. I avoid being cabaled (even if it makes me underpowered against any
caballed char) to avoid PvP. I do multi-char hidden classes (because I enjoy exploring)
to avoid situations too hot for me and when multi-char is not working, I simply go
play other games. Slowly, my CF playing time is going down and I hope that, eventually,
I'll find a better (more balance) game than CF where I will be able to experiment what
looks like a cool classe.

I'll let you guess how many newbies are doing what I do...

You like running after newbies who simply quaff 99% of the times and eventually are
playing less because they feel they have no chances to win a PvP? Well, keep CF as it
is because it's perfectly design for it (betting on old blood rather than newbie's).
But this doesn't make sense for me: when I read graveyard comments, I see that players
enjoy those who do not flee. And those fearless are, I'm sure of it, always char being
played by vets.

I do not care anymore about what CF becomes because i have the feeling it's a game design
for a little bunch of people. I hope you'll find a way to enlarge playerbase (even if I think
that it won't happen unless CF becomes more newbie friendly) because I enjoy my IC interactions
with some players and my exploration time. When it's not enjoyable I simply go away and play
something else.

>
>>Being a hidden class won't be a disadvantage in terms of
>>preps, because YOU can still speak to other people and YOU
>can
>>still choose to be visible when somewhere safe. And if you
>>can tank (as assassins can, and rangers can) people will
>WANT
>>to travel with you.
>>
>I agree.
>
>>Also, do you realise that gear and preps are already largely
>>level based? For example:
>>
>>Some preps can't be bought unless you are above a certain
>>level.
>>Wands can't be used unless you are above a certain level (in
>>particular, sleek wands can't be found until certain levels).
>
>>High level weapons do less damage when a low level uses them
>>than when a high level character uses them, etc.
>>
>I know that. What I say is not having the same for armor &
>weapons
>makes the game unbalanced (advantaging melee classes) making
>it more
>difficult for a newbie's first wizard.
>
>>What you seem to want is for gear not to make a difference,
>>and that would kill off the mud for a lot of other people.
>>It's not a "free win". It's also been shown that people
>stop
>>valuing stuff if it is laid on a plate for them.
>>
>I do not want gear to make no differences. I think it would be
>better
>to reduce the advantages of high level weapon and balance the
>game
>between wizards and melee classes. I agree with OldNewb when
>he says:
>
>"Going out and seeing hits, and grazes fighting mobs in gear
>you 'earned'
>and then getting ===OBLITERATED=== in PVP... well, it's
>demoralizing and
>humiliating and neither of those are 'fun.'"
>
>I know high level weapons are supposed to do less damage when
>used by low
>level player, but obviously they're still much more powerfull
>than what you
>can get by yourself.
>
>I don't think people would get away if the game was gear level
>based. Vets
>would still be able to use their gear knowledge for having the
>best set for
>the required level. And I doubt it would make them invincible
>when playing a
>necro (or other wizard). My guess is vets and Imms likes to
>run around and kick
>newbies asses without being really challenged. If this is the
>"feel of the game"
>they enjoy, I'm fine with it for the Imms: again, I'm not the
>one giving freely
>my time to keep CF up. But what is the result on long term?
>Personnaly, most of
>the time, I gave up PvP when I cannot cheap kill and just flee
>when someone comes
>for a fight. I avoid being cabaled (even if it makes me
>underpowered against any
>caballed char) to avoid PvP. I do multi-char hidden classes
> because I enjoy exploring)
>to avoid situations too hot for me and when multi-char is not
>working, I simply go
>play other games. Slowly, my CF playing time is going down and
>I hope that, eventually,
>I'll find a better (more balance) game than CF where I will be
>able to experiment what
>looks like a cool classe.
>
>I'll let you guess how many newbies are doing what I do...
>
>You like running after newbies who simply quaff 99% of the
>times and eventually are
>playing less because they feel they have no chances to win a
>PvP? Well, keep CF as it
>is because it's perfectly design for it (betting on old blood
>rather than newbie's).
>But this doesn't make sense for me: when I read graveyard
>comments, I see that players
>enjoy those who do not flee. And those fearless are, I'm sure
>of it, always char being
>played by vets.
>
>I do not care anymore about what CF becomes because i have the
>feeling it's a game design
>for a little bunch of people. I hope you'll find a way to
>enlarge playerbase (even if I think
>that it won't happen unless CF becomes more newbie friendly)
>because I enjoy my IC interactions
>with some players and my exploration time. When it's not
>enjoyable I simply go away and play
>something else.
>

Once I realise someone is a newbie, I don't kill them again unless they specifically invite me to have another go. And that includes with aps and the like who might stand to gain from the newbie's death. It's the main reason I don't rack up massive pk numbers, even though I can fight against the toughest characters in the mud and do fine.

However, there are stages to learning everything in life. You don't become a formula 1 driver by having your first driving lesson in a formula 1 car. In cf, the early stages then to be learning how to avoid dying, and then once you've got that sorted out, then you start turning the tables. Even as a newbie, if you know an area well, you aren't all that likely to die in it. I basically learnt a few areas well, and then ran to those if I was under attack. Gradually expanded what I knew, and in the process learnt how to pk.

Area knowledge is really valuable in pk. Probably as valuable if not more valuable than gear for about 50% of the classes out there.

>There has been a lot of progress towards making the mud more
>newbie friendly. No more xp holes, better academy, and lots
>of other little thing throughout the game. One idea hit me
>today though. Slightly increasing the time between rounds of
>combat.. even 1/8 or 1/16 of a second would give new players
>that extra moment to read and react to what's going on during
>combat.

I really don't think 1/8 or 1/16 is going to make that much of a difference to your reaction time.

>I'm still not very good at it, but that was one of
>the hardest things for me to do, consume all the information
>coming in during PK.

And that's why I highlight specific things so I can focus on the few interesting pieces to me.

>The question I guess would be is it
>possible to do this during PK but not during regular NPC
>combat. That extra time would really add up during ranking.

No, you're basically asking to change the pulse size of the game (which in turn affects how long combat takes, which in turn affects how long a tick is, which means you're slowing the ENTIRE game down).

>Is this game mechanics too far out in left field?

Personally, I think so, but more because of the overall implications of the change.

So long, and thanks for all the fish!

I try to figure out how to do that.

I'm using GMUD32 and I can't figure out how to highlight certain words in a different color.

For now I use trigger to show messages in capital letters (ex: ++ I'VE BEEN TRIPPED) but I wonder if it lags me when fighting PvP and if it's possible to have the message, coming directly from the mud, highlighted ?

Most clients have something like #highlight to set certain texts in the color you want.

Also, make sure you have all coloring options on, many things are highlighted by the mud itself.

COLOR ANSI COLORS COLORALL AUTOCOLOR
Syntax: color
color
color

Basic : Basic set of highlights (Damage, speech, etc)
Affects : Highlight when affects drop
Exits : Highlight room exits
Improves : Highlight skill & spell improvements
Objects : Highlight flags on objects
Roomnames : Highlight room names based on terrain

Color all will allow you to turn on all options at once, while color off will
turn them all off.

See also: AUTO CHANNELS

But I'd only like to see it in place for PK below level 15.

Also, picking up a blue vest marked with a white circle and getting
one rounded before you can look at it is a big part of being
welcomed to CF.

Ok i've been around for only a few weeks, and I just wrote a massive post to talk about the experience, but my post didnt go through and i lost it all so i'll truncate to a few points.

A) It really sucks the big one when people tell you to play XXX class with YYY race or you'll never get the hang of anything. That's just truly a really bad mentality to have.

B) That being said, the community is superawesome and supportive of newbies in my own experiences, its really encouraging when a level 51 gives you some kind of equipment you've never seen before.

C) What's not cool and doesn't encourage me to play is when I have my ass handed to me ten minutes later and my awesome piece of equipment is taken. This is NOT encouraging as a newbie.

C)a. It's fine to die every half an hour to SuperOldbie, I can deal with that, part of the game etc etc, but it makes it really hard to learn the game etc when they take all your #### too.


My suggestion would be to make it unable to have your corpse looted till a higher level, about 20 or 25, trust me, your newbie retention will skyrocket.

EDIT: Clearing up some semantics

>C) What's not cool and doesn't encourage me to play is when I
>have my ass handed to me ten minutes later and my awesome
>piece of equipment is taken. This is NOT encouraging as a
>newbie.

Check where at all times. If they are in your PK range and you don't know them, they are dangerous.

>C)a. It's fine to die every half an hour to SuperOldbie, I can
>deal with that, part of the game etc etc, but it makes it
>really hard to learn the game etc when they take all your ####
>too.

Learning how to regear is part of learning the game. Following list might help you to dress up your character.

http://diku.qhcf.net/cgi-bin/wiki.pl?RankingEquipmentEvil