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#1123 - 01/25/08 02:49 PM Re: Thoughts on why the low numbers? [Re: Kim]
Cerberus Administrator Offline
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Registered: 11/28/07
Posts: 608
Loc: Arlee, MT, USA
Pursuant to the posts above, I will be posting my project updates as monthly news. The first of these can be found here. Comments are welcome, and suggestions are appreciated.

Was there enough information provided? Too much?
Is this useful for players to see? Useless?
Should there be news more often? Less?
Have we missed the point entirely? Nailed it?

We're hoping to get more players back, and new players too, so please voice your opinions (we really do want and need to hear them), start a dialogue (otherwise the programmers lose touch with the game's state), and otherwise get involved (everyday you don't, a kitten will die. Not just any kitten either. A cute kitten. With lucky wiskers. Dead!)
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Please mail your views on balance to:
cerberus@darkemud.com

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#1126 - 01/25/08 07:09 PM Re: Thoughts on why the low numbers? [Re: Cerberus]
Ganelon
Unregistered



It would be nice if news were posted/lined off darkes main page so people see the mud admins are active. And the main page needs a facelift. Boasting about it running on PII is a bit old.
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#1129 - 01/25/08 08:43 PM Re: Thoughts on why the low numbers? [Re: Cerberus]
carmy Offline
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Registered: 10/14/07
Posts: 164
Loc: South Korea
Here's what I think about the post you did, and I'll answer the questions you asked 1 by 1.

- Was there enough information provided? Too much?

I thought it was fine. There was a good amount of information provided, much more than I really would have expected. I don't know if giving ETA for project completion is a good idea, because things do happen to slow down projects...

- Is this useful for players to see? Useless?

Well, useful in what way? Was it useful in making people feel like their involved and informing the playerbase that things are going on from the other side of the game. Yes.

- Should there be news more often? Less?

Well, this is really the first news post of this size and with this much detail. It's definitely nice to see, maybe once a month, or every 2 months would be fine? Just an update to say "Here's the progression on this project... Undertaking this project... etc." The old news posts of bug fixes etc are good for day to day, but an update summary was appreciated by me at least.

- Have we missed the point entirely? Nailed it?

I think this was a great start, and in a way, it keeps on the players on level ground. It's not going to be only the people who talk to wizards or admin that will know what's happening, everyone can feel involved in some way, and if there are any concerns, it will help to let people know that things are progressing well or aren't progressing well at all. Either way, I think people like to know what's happening in a game they devote much time to playing, and something of this sort every so often is a great way to keep players interested and make them feel anticipation for the new projects etc...

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#1130 - 01/26/08 01:03 PM Re: Thoughts on why the low numbers? [Re: carmy]
Charon Offline
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Registered: 10/24/07
Posts: 368
Loc: Toronto, ON
What if we just had a page with the current status of projects?

I.E.

New areas #1:
- backend : barely started
- descriptions: about half done
- mobs: barely begun
- concept: completed

And then just update that page.

Monk Guild:
- Review completed
- Bug fixes: halfway completed
- New spells: conceptualized.

Then if people would like to see what is up and coming in the nearish future they can see it.
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If you say plz because it is shorter than please, then I will say no because it is shorter then yes.

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#1131 - 01/26/08 06:48 PM Re: Thoughts on why the low numbers? [Re: Charon]
carmy Offline
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Registered: 10/14/07
Posts: 164
Loc: South Korea
Nod, I don't think the original idea here was to present the exact nature of each project, and then tell us who's assigned to it and how long they have to complete it or anything at all like that. I was more expecting something like what Charon wrote.

That's not to say that what Harold wrote was too long or inapropriate or any of those things. I think it's more akin to one parent buying their child a bicycle for their birthday and the other buying them a motorcycle. They're both great, but a motorcycle is just better, not needed, but better :P

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#1134 - 01/28/08 01:27 PM Re: Thoughts on why the low numbers? [Re: Shadowraith]
Cerberus Administrator Offline
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Registered: 11/28/07
Posts: 608
Loc: Arlee, MT, USA
This seemed like a logical extension of this thread. My apologies if it isn't.

We all know that muds have been in decline for years, MMORPGs are surging in popularity and the old vanguard has moved on to children and other venues for their fun. What we don't know is how we can gain a larger share of those who do still mud.

Obviously we will be keeping Darke's distinct flavor, but we'd like to get the word out to old Darke players, or even gather new steam somewhere. What can we do to help this?

Ideas I've gathered to this point include:
  • Periodical newsletters - sent out to all the emails we've had registered to players at some point during Darke's history
  • Social networking site groups - facebook is probably more likely to have our sort of people than myspace
  • Mudconnector reviews - We used to do this, but I have no information on its viability
  • Word of Mouth - Tell your friends!
Do any of these sound like they're worth pursuing? Is there anything you would add to this list? How did you get involved on Darke, and have you turned anyone on to the place yourself?

I think our numbers have picked up to pre-holiday levels again, but I'd like to see them pick up well beyond that. Wouldn't you?
_________________________
Please mail your views on balance to:
cerberus@darkemud.com

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#1140 - 01/28/08 04:23 PM Re: Thoughts on why the low numbers? [Re: Cerberus]
carmy Offline
member
****

Registered: 10/14/07
Posts: 164
Loc: South Korea
Here's how I got started.

Zeav got Shags started, then Shags got me started, so it was entirely word of mouth. A couple of the questions I had at the time though were "How do you find out about a game like this?" and "How am I supposed to know what to do?" because it was my very first time on a MUD and my very first time playing a textbased game of the sort.

I've gotten a couple of people to start playing, but they quickly lost interest at the time and found it too hard and too time consuming to play. I'm not saying the idea here is to make the MUD easier, I'm just explaining their reasons.

Darke is a game that requires a lot of time and energy, it's also a game with a pretty steep learning curve, especially when you're new to MUDs. If we are going to be recriuting new players, easing their transition into the MUD would be a good start. I'm not saying once again, that we coddle them or anything like that, but just something where they walk through and learn the basic commands. Maybe have something at creation that asks if you're a true newbie, and clean up creation so that it's actually readable. If you're a true newbie, you could have messages come up randomly, like after the newbie area, something that could direct you to a list of guilds and their locations, or where to find armour, weapons, basic things a newbie player needs.

I think if we're gonna start advertising places, it might not be a bad idea to be ready for new people first, any 1 person who starts, once again, can use word of mouth to get more people. If we lose even 1 person, we could be losing many more potential players.

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#1141 - 01/28/08 05:51 PM Re: Thoughts on why the low numbers? [Re: carmy]
Ganelon
Unregistered



I think I found Darke through mudconnector while looking for a PK mud. The one I played before had limited number of lives and once dead you lost ability to max out certain skills so everyone was very much afraid to die there. I showed it to 2 other people, but that happened couple months before the equipment loss event and they did not come back after Darke was restored. At least that's how I remember it all happened ;\)

I think that a refreshed newbie guide and a list of currently "problematic" guilds would help to gain some players. And better reviews on mudconnector. The last one that we have there is not favorable at all.

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#1142 - 01/28/08 05:53 PM Re: Thoughts on why the low numbers? [Re: Charon]
Ganelon
Unregistered



 Originally Posted By: Charon
What if we just had a page with the current status of projects?


Too dry and tends to not get updated. What I like about Harolds format that there is soul in the post, you get some flavor, just a hint that admins care \:\)

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