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Old 08-18-2008, 12:22 AM   #1
svarnmarn
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Join Date: Aug 2008
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Avoiding mistakes in char gen/early game

Hello there, I'd like to talk about a problem I've seen when starting play on an unfamiliar mud. There's nothing quite as frustrating as rolling up a character, playing for several hours, and then discovering that a choice made at char gen (such as an attribute choice or race/class combination) is far less than optimal. Equally discomfitting is learning (after the fact) about unwritten rules that experience players know; for example, an experience player might know that maxing wisdom is very important in the early levels to maximise your skill practices; to not do so would leave a character at a mechanical disadvantage.

Let's take the above examples as examples - I'm aware they are pretty system specific but the message remains clear - some MUDs have a learning curve that can really screw over new players. When I join a new MUD I don't want to have to reroll after several hours having learnt the intricacies of the system - I want my new character to have a fair chance.

Two ways this could be achieved are better documentation (if a high wis is important for my fighter - let me know about it) and better systems (allow players to retrain or simply not have a system that can penalize lack of knowledge - have skill points based on level, not on attributes - train through usage as opposed to practices, etc).

Have you experienced this problem before?
Have you seen MUDs that suffer from these problems or perhaps MUDs that avoid them well?

Let me know.
Svarn.
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