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Seraphina · 10-09-2002, 03:07 PM

Quotes are from the thread on adding pricing information to the listings.

Just to set the stage I will give you a bit of my background. I learned some programming on an IBM360 mainframe. A bit of JCL, Cobol, in an environment using card hoppers to input one's program. I enjoyed it but ended up in semi-conductor sales. Years went by and personal computers became commonplace in offices but most used dedicated data-entry software. Then came Windows and the internet explosion.

My parents each just got their first computers. My sister and I have them using solitaire to learn how to use a mouse which my daughter finds it hilariously funny, as if anyone needs to "learn" how to use a mouse!

Most of the people I know would look at me blankly and ask me what gibberish I am speaking if I said the above. Port? Host? What are you babbling about. Why can't I just go to the home page and play? Can't they use cookies? What's a port number for?

I have heard that it can be done, I have no idea how to do it even though I have now used another Client to enter a game. Even if I did manage to get it going, I have no idea how I would make the four colored boxes at the bottom of the screen in the game I tried to appear in the new client, either Wizard or the other one I tried. From what I have read Wizard is a very limited client in comparison to zMud and other clients out there. I never bothered switching because the wizard is tailored to the game I have always played.

My point is the majority of people on the internet today are not computer science students or hobbiests. Many have even less exposure and understanding than I do. They have been introduced to computers and the internet through interfaces that demand no technical expertise to use beyond handling a mouse. They buy computers fully loaded with Windows and Internet Explorer or buy Macs.

Favorites even has some links listed and most ISPs that are preloaded with a free trial have a home page designed to fill every possible need they can foresee. MSN grabs everyone fast and leads them into their game sites and chat, and every thing is very intuitive and easy to use. MSN mainstream ISPs attempt to provide links to every possible interest a user might have.

Maybe they played D&D in the past, or their parents did, or they hear about roleplaying games in a chat room or on a message board and decide to check it out. Do you really think they will somehow automatically know what telnet means and what clients are?

Some of the free muds don't assume that so explain that the entry is telnet and that clients are available. Some even provide a link to sites where free clients are available for download. I followed such a link and landed on sites that offer all kinds of software. Even though I am experienced in one game I had no idea which one to choose. What is the criteria? Which is most popular? This is important because if I need help getting started I will want the client that the majority of other gamers are using. I gathered that that is zMud, a client many users in my game use too, but it is not free. Someone mentions that there is a free version but on the site I see that I must pay after 30 uses.

I decide, okay, I chose a game, I will find message boards for that game. There I discover that there is a "cracked" version of zMud available but not where to find it. In the meantime I have tried free client recommended by several people and had a look at it. I can't figure out how to duplicate the four little boxes on the screen in the game I have tried using a Java entry. I read about the available commands and see a word I have seen a few times, aliases. I have figured out that is the same as the short scripts I use in the wizard. I can see how to log, and that is it. I realize that I can master all the client commands once I know how to play the game but until then there is little I can do.

I saw mobiles mentioned numerous times on this site before I figured out you were all referring to NPCs and critters. I don't think that I am stupid, and I am not a complete novice to computers or to roleplaying or to a multi-user gaming environment and yet I am having trouble making the transition because I am used to ease of entry. Trying to get into the free muds is like going back to using a wringer washing machine, I could master it that isn't the issue. Why would I want to when automatic washers are available? It seems archaic to me.

If you want to put it that way, sure. Attention spans are shorter today. I found it very amusing that my daughter could ask "when's supper" three times in the five minutes it took to microwave supper. When I was a kid supper took at least a half hour to an hour to get on the table. When she sees a telnet entry she doesn't think, "Oh wow this is really advanced stuff I want to sink my teeth into!" She thinks "Oh wow this is really ancient old technology, how quaint."

She loves the idea of roleplaying and finds it very cool. She is at the age where playing make-believe is childish yet still very appealing. Roleplaying is an excuse to get to play a more sophisticated form of make-believe within a more complex environment and with many other people.

Yes it will. If you only want the kind of player that is not only interested in roleplaying but is also interested in researching telnet clients and configuring one before even knowing if they like the game they are about to try, or players who are already experienced with roleplaying games in general, then by all means don't change a thing.

I mean that seriously. There are negatives to providing ease of entry to all because you will get many more novices that really don't have a clue and some of them will be disruptive and even those who are well meaning will introduce a lot more OOC into the game as they try to figure out the mechanics of how to play the game. Many of them will only stay for a day or a week or a month and then quit so the effort put into showing them the ropes will have been a waste of time.

This could wear thin very fast in a game with 40 to 100 players who are there to play not spend hours showing the ropes to new players especially in the games where roleplaying is required not optional.

I am not pointing out the greater ease of entry provided by the commercial muds in order to criticize the free muds. I am pointing it out because it presents a barrier to many potential players. If text mudding is to survive over the long term it will need new blood. Not just the same players already familiar with the format going from game to game possibly pulling in a friend or two along the way.

I saw very quickly that the easiest entry was provided by the games requiring payment, the next easiest by the free game that sells in game benefits, and by far the hardest entry by the free muds.

It's easy to say, "oh, what's the use, we can't compete with the p2p because they advertise". There is some truth to that, and some truth to the fact that their systems can be significantly more advanced. You could still make it a lot easier for new players by providing a configured client. Taking some of the mechanics issues out of the way new players could concentrate more on the fun part. Learning about the IC world, roleplaying, and the commands needed to for their character to function within the game environment.

10-09-2002, 03:07 PM	#1
Seraphina Member Join Date: Sep 2002 Posts: 49	Quotes are from the thread on adding pricing information to the listings. Just to set the stage I will give you a bit of my background. I learned some programming on an IBM360 mainframe. A bit of JCL, Cobol, in an environment using card hoppers to input one's program. I enjoyed it but ended up in semi-conductor sales. Years went by and personal computers became commonplace in offices but most used dedicated data-entry software. Then came Windows and the internet explosion. My parents each just got their first computers. My sister and I have them using solitaire to learn how to use a mouse which my daughter finds it hilariously funny, as if anyone needs to "learn" how to use a mouse! Most of the people I know would look at me blankly and ask me what gibberish I am speaking if I said the above. Port? Host? What are you babbling about. Why can't I just go to the home page and play? Can't they use cookies? What's a port number for? I have heard that it can be done, I have no idea how to do it even though I have now used another Client to enter a game. Even if I did manage to get it going, I have no idea how I would make the four colored boxes at the bottom of the screen in the game I tried to appear in the new client, either Wizard or the other one I tried. From what I have read Wizard is a very limited client in comparison to zMud and other clients out there. I never bothered switching because the wizard is tailored to the game I have always played. My point is the majority of people on the internet today are not computer science students or hobbiests. Many have even less exposure and understanding than I do. They have been introduced to computers and the internet through interfaces that demand no technical expertise to use beyond handling a mouse. They buy computers fully loaded with Windows and Internet Explorer or buy Macs. Favorites even has some links listed and most ISPs that are preloaded with a free trial have a home page designed to fill every possible need they can foresee. MSN grabs everyone fast and leads them into their game sites and chat, and every thing is very intuitive and easy to use. MSN mainstream ISPs attempt to provide links to every possible interest a user might have. Maybe they played D&D in the past, or their parents did, or they hear about roleplaying games in a chat room or on a message board and decide to check it out. Do you really think they will somehow automatically know what telnet means and what clients are? Some of the free muds don't assume that so explain that the entry is telnet and that clients are available. Some even provide a link to sites where free clients are available for download. I followed such a link and landed on sites that offer all kinds of software. Even though I am experienced in one game I had no idea which one to choose. What is the criteria? Which is most popular? This is important because if I need help getting started I will want the client that the majority of other gamers are using. I gathered that that is zMud, a client many users in my game use too, but it is not free. Someone mentions that there is a free version but on the site I see that I must pay after 30 uses. I decide, okay, I chose a game, I will find message boards for that game. There I discover that there is a "cracked" version of zMud available but not where to find it. In the meantime I have tried free client recommended by several people and had a look at it. I can't figure out how to duplicate the four little boxes on the screen in the game I have tried using a Java entry. I read about the available commands and see a word I have seen a few times, aliases. I have figured out that is the same as the short scripts I use in the wizard. I can see how to log, and that is it. I realize that I can master all the client commands once I know how to play the game but until then there is little I can do. I saw mobiles mentioned numerous times on this site before I figured out you were all referring to NPCs and critters. I don't think that I am stupid, and I am not a complete novice to computers or to roleplaying or to a multi-user gaming environment and yet I am having trouble making the transition because I am used to ease of entry. Trying to get into the free muds is like going back to using a wringer washing machine, I could master it that isn't the issue. Why would I want to when automatic washers are available? It seems archaic to me. If you want to put it that way, sure. Attention spans are shorter today. I found it very amusing that my daughter could ask "when's supper" three times in the five minutes it took to microwave supper. When I was a kid supper took at least a half hour to an hour to get on the table. When she sees a telnet entry she doesn't think, "Oh wow this is really advanced stuff I want to sink my teeth into!" She thinks "Oh wow this is really ancient old technology, how quaint." She loves the idea of roleplaying and finds it very cool. She is at the age where playing make-believe is childish yet still very appealing. Roleplaying is an excuse to get to play a more sophisticated form of make-believe within a more complex environment and with many other people. Yes it will. If you only want the kind of player that is not only interested in roleplaying but is also interested in researching telnet clients and configuring one before even knowing if they like the game they are about to try, or players who are already experienced with roleplaying games in general, then by all means don't change a thing. I mean that seriously. There are negatives to providing ease of entry to all because you will get many more novices that really don't have a clue and some of them will be disruptive and even those who are well meaning will introduce a lot more OOC into the game as they try to figure out the mechanics of how to play the game. Many of them will only stay for a day or a week or a month and then quit so the effort put into showing them the ropes will have been a waste of time. This could wear thin very fast in a game with 40 to 100 players who are there to play not spend hours showing the ropes to new players especially in the games where roleplaying is required not optional. I am not pointing out the greater ease of entry provided by the commercial muds in order to criticize the free muds. I am pointing it out because it presents a barrier to many potential players. If text mudding is to survive over the long term it will need new blood. Not just the same players already familiar with the format going from game to game possibly pulling in a friend or two along the way. I saw very quickly that the easiest entry was provided by the games requiring payment, the next easiest by the free game that sells in game benefits, and by far the hardest entry by the free muds. It's easy to say, "oh, what's the use, we can't compete with the p2p because they advertise". There is some truth to that, and some truth to the fact that their systems can be significantly more advanced. You could still make it a lot easier for new players by providing a configured client. Taking some of the mechanics issues out of the way new players could concentrate more on the fun part. Learning about the IC world, roleplaying, and the commands needed to for their character to function within the game environment.