[SteveStevenson]

I would like to play Dawn of the Ages, but I have never played a MUD, and have not been able to get started. I assume I need to download something, but don't know what, exactly. Could anyone help me? What an idiot!

[SteveStevenson]

several views, no replies...even if you can help in regards to MUDs in general, not Dawn specifically that would be great. please?

[SteveStevenson]

please, for the love of God! its all so confusing!

[Brody]

1) This is a forum, not a chat room. Don't expect immediate replies.

2) Google is your friend. Perhaps if you visit the Dawn of Ages website, you'll find helpful connection info.

[SteveStevenson]

Does anyone have anything that might be HELPFUL?

[Brody]

Originally Posted by SteveStevenson Does anyone have anything that might be HELPFUL?

I was trying to be helpful. Since you're unfortunately unable to follow even the simplest advice to find something on your own, I'll spare the forums any further embarrassment for yourself:

Dawn of the Ages

That's the Dawn of Ages website. Use it

[SteveStevenson]

So to play the game, I should go to the website for the game? oh, now I get it. Thanks, jerkoff

[Brody]

Originally Posted by SteveStevenson So to play the game, I should go to the website for the game? oh, now I get it. Thanks, jerkoff

You're quite welcome. And, yes, that'd be a good start. I did. What I found when I got there is that the website appears to be broken in places, and attempting to connect leads to an error page, which suggests that one cannot connect to Dawn of Ages at this time - noobiest noob that ever noobed or not.

[cratylus]

Impressive.

Noob guy, you're the one asking for help. Getting hostile
tends to make people pause before helping. If you
find someone's advice unhelpful, the best way to
show them they're wrong is following it, and reporting
what happened.

Tell you what. Let's start back from zero. Wipe the slate.

You want to play that game. Fine. Find out its ip address
and port number. To do this, visit their page.

As Brody helpfully pointed out, their web page seems to
lack this information, therefore it may be that the
game cannot yet be played.

Perhaps later they will provide this information. If they
do, you can then follow their instructions to connect to
their game.

In the meantime, I recommend you read this:

How To Ask Questions The Smart Way

-Crat
LPMuds.net - Index

[Aeran]

Originally Posted by SteveStevenson I would like to play Dawn of the Ages, but I have never played a MUD, and have not been able to get started. I assume I need to download something, but don't know what, exactly. Could anyone help me?

The first step to play a MUD is usually taken by downloading a MUD client. For example zMUD(commercial), or MUSHclient(freeware).

I recommend zMUD for the beginner MUDder as it is a quite newbie friendly application. Once you have downloaded zMUD and started it you simply:

1. Press New button.
2. Locate the MUD you want to play in the left listbox and click it so it is selected.
3. Press Connect button.

If all went fine you would be connected to the MUD and get the login screen shown to you.

[cratylus]

Hmm...their java client seems to fail to connect, but
examining its config reveals this for connection info:

dawn.netcologne.de 8000

Which confirms my suspicion that the mud is down, since
I can't connect to it with plain telnet, either.

Noobster, when their game is up, you should be able to
access it with their java client. Search their web page
for a link that uses this text: following link

-Crat
LPMuds.net - Index

[Aeran]

Originally Posted by cratylus Hmm...their java client seems to fail to connect, but examining its config reveals this for connection info: dawn.netcologne.de 8000 Which confirms my suspicion that the mud is down, since I can't connect to it with plain telnet, either. Noobster, when their game is up, you should be able to access it with their java client. Search their web page for a link that uses this text: following link -Crat LPMuds.net - Index

It is on rplay.net port 8000 and it is online.

[Jazuela]

It sounds from what others have said - by doing your work for you and checking out the website, that the game is down. Either that, or the website is so poorly written and/or updated that I would question whether or not it's even a game you would find enjoyment from.

I suggest you check the main page of this forum, which is www.topmudsites.com and run a search through their data base for the -type- of game you're looking for, and check the list that comes up to see if the corresponding websites are working, the games are running, and there are actually people playing.

The -reason- people point you to a game's website, is because games are written in different languages, using different codebases, and requiring different commands to play them. Each game will have on its website, IF it's a decent game with a decent website, a list of commands and what they do.

You won't find that HERE. You will find that on the website of the game you are trying to play.

[Brody]

Originally Posted by Aeran It is on rplay.net port 8000 and it is online.

They need to update their website - and MU*Wiki page too

[Milawe]

Originally Posted by SteveStevenson So to play the game, I should go to the website for the game? oh, now I get it. Thanks, jerkoff

I've got another little helpful tidbit for you! It's not polite to call people "jerkoff", especially if they're trying to help you.

[Ide]

I know you're all experienced mud developers and everything, and I respect what you have to say in the TMS forums at large.

But this is called 'The Newbie Help' forum for a reason. I think Brody's OP was out of line. For all the talk people make about growing playerbase and what-all, that was not a constructive reply. If you don't want to make the investment of time and effort to help a newbie, don't reply to the OP.

[Brody]

Originally Posted by Ide I know you're all experienced mud developers and everything, and I respect what you have to say in the TMS forums at large. But this is called 'The Newbie Help' forum for a reason. I think Brody's OP was out of line. For all the talk people make about growing playerbase and what-all, that was not a constructive reply. If you don't want to make the investment of time and effort to help a newbie, don't reply to the OP.

It wasn't out of line. Check his posts. He'd made three posts in the span of an hour or so, as if he thought this was a chat room that should yield immediate responses. I tried to correct this misperception. I certainly didn't call him names.

I then told him to use Google (which I did myself a bit later) to try and track down the website, because most game websites have specific info about how to connect to them. They don't all use the same code base and don't all use the same client.

I may have been terse and I might not have exuded sweetness, but that's not the same thing as being rude or unhelpful.

[cratylus]

I think Brody's OP was out of line.

I think you are utterly mistaken.

The noob was not harshed out. It was pointed
out to him that his expectations were unreasonable, and
he was given instructions that, if followed, would have
helped him.

Googling for his mud is exactly what I did, and how I
found the connection info (helpfully labeled "Connecting").

Respecting the conventions of a site that is new to you
should not be some alien concept.

Making an effort to listen to advice given to you when you
ask for it is not a process that requires technical sophistication.

Brody was every bit as helpful as the noob's plea
warranted, and vastly more indulgent of the noob's
petulance than he deserved.

I found his original post fully adequate and his subsequent
reaction impressive in its restraint.

-Crat
LPMuds.net - Index

[Milawe]

Originally Posted by Ide I think Brody's OP was out of line.

Text doesn't convey emotions well sometimes, and I've honestly never seen Brody be nasty to someone. The best help to get someone started on a game really is to help them find the webpage. Most games have a step-by-step process on how to get started.

I went back to read the posts, and I really don't think anything Brody said warranted a "jerkoff".

[Threshold]

Originally Posted by Ide But this is called 'The Newbie Help' forum for a reason. I think Brody's OP was out of line. For all the talk people make about growing playerbase and what-all, that was not a constructive reply. If you don't want to make the investment of time and effort to help a newbie, don't reply to the OP.

It is called "Newbie Help", not "Oldbie Slave Labor Forum" or "Newbie Hand Holding Forum." People have to be willing to put forth SOME effort or else they aren't worth the time to help them. If people like that get "run off" when they are expected to make a little effort, then the mud community actually benefits.

Brody's advice was exactly the advice he used himself when he eventually looked the mud up for the OP. The OP was being obnoxious, and the "jerkoff" comment was the icing on the cake.

[Xerihae]

I have deleted the posts that have nothing to do with the original question or seemed to cause contention. Please remember that people visiting here may be completely new to the MUD universe and maybe even the internet (it does still happen) and things you take for granted or that might be common knowlegde may be unknown to them. Three posts in an hour is a bit excessive, but when you're excited about trying a new game and can't connect you want help as fast as possible.

I am leaving this open in case the original poster needs any clarification. Please remember, everyone, to keep things civil. Continued argument in this thread will lead to it being locked. If you would like to discuss why this thread was edited then please keep it to PMs.

[cratylus]

If a community is not permitted to discuss the propriety of the
behavior of its members, then no community standards can arise.

If disagreement is so scary, then I think it's more responsible
to have a separate topic, perhaps called "the toilet" or somesuch,
where scary posts are moved to.

But simply deleting people's good-faith postings without giving
them a public means to discuss their sanction is incredibly
oppressive and frankly offensive.

I understand that this posting is itself in violation of your arbitrary
decision to crush dissent and may not long survive. Please
know that your decision to delete it, if you do, will say much much
more about you and the future of this site that it does about
the post itself.

-Crat
LPMuds.net - Index

[Threshold]

Originally Posted by Xerihae I have deleted the posts that have nothing to do with the original question or seemed to cause contention.

Of all the threads that need moderation, the moderators choose THIS ONE to moderate?

LOL. Unbelievable.

Originally Posted by cratylus If a community is not permitted to discuss the propriety of the behavior of its members, then no community standards can arise. If disagreement is so scary, then I think it's more responsible to have a separate topic, perhaps called "the toilet" or somesuch, where scary posts are moved to. But simply deleting people's good-faith postings without giving them a public means to discuss their sanction is incredibly oppressive and frankly offensive. I understand that this posting is itself in violation of your arbitrary decision to crush dissent and may not long survive. Please know that your decision to delete it, if you do, will say much much more about you and the future of this site that it does about the post itself.

Well said.

[Ide]

I completely agree with Threshold and Crat. While I didn't agree with Brody's reply to the OP, the editing of this thread has left it almost nonsensical.

I would argue that part of the purpose of archived threads is to leave a reference of good practice, or at least a precedent of dialogue, for the community in the future.

[Brody]

Whether I agree with Ide or not on the original point doesn't really matter. But I do feel that if you're going to edit 90 percent of the thread, you might as well *delete* the thread so at least it's not incomprehensible.

I also agree with the suggestion that threads that get "too hot to handle" get locked, moved, or just otherwise disabled. Selective editing is a very slippery slope.

[Xerihae]

Very well. Posts undeleted.

Now a brief reply, since you're all so insistent that everyone air their opinions in the open.

First off, Threshold, I only have moderator status in this and the Mud Humour forum. If you want threads in other topics moderated, I suggest you contact the relevant mod for that topic.

I'm all for discussing community behaviour and etiquette, but this particular topic is not the place for it. It is better left to other, more intuitive places where people might actually stumble across the issue than some thread by a new forum member that's unlikely to be read by many of the forum members who don't venture into this topic. As for those of you of the opinion that the thread became nonsensical, would you have felt that way if there wasn't a remnant of each posted reply that just said "Deleted"? I felt that the posts which did remain didn't refer to any previous one except in tiny details and so, taken with no prior knowledge of what had gone before, read well enough. I could find no way of removing the replies altogether and I admit the other way looks somewhat messy. However, I have also yet to come across any options for splitting or moving a thread, but I haven't really much experience with this particular board style yet.

For those of you claiming I'm trying to stifle discussion, I'm not. This simply isn't the place for it. If you want to continue to discuss moderation and so forth you can do so in another part of the forum where it's more suited. I've seen the kind of flame-fests some other topics in parts of this forum descend into, and I'd prefer to keep that sort of thing out of the one that has a good chance of being read by new visitors to this forum. Some of the snide back-biting and veiled insults that fly around between community members on here is childish and very tiresome.

Since I also feel that this will no doubt spur you all on to reply to me, please feel free to start a topic in a relevant part of the board and I'll be happy to continue the discussion. As far as this thread goes, I believe it has run it's course and the OPs question has been answered so I will lock it.