[KaVir]

Personally I consider (2) a pretty serious issue.

Last year someone posted their experiences as a new player on various muds, and really struck a chord with me: "I have no idea what to do from here. Interest lost, it was great up until this point, but there is no obvious direction to continue."

I've found myself in the same position on numerous occasions - I'm sitting on some mud, with no idea what I'm supposed to do next. I get bored. I quit. And so many times, I've heard newbies asking "What do I do now?" - or simply quit after reaching a point where they obviously didn't know what they were supposed to do next.

Muds are supposed to be fun, but having no idea what you're supposed to be doing is not fun. It's frustrating, and rapidly becomes boring. It's no coincidence that most muds have some sort of newbie school or tutorial, but if you're not careful those can also become boring - and if you just dump the player out of a guided experience and into a completely freeform one, all you've really done is postpone the problem.

Personally I prefer having some sort of that can be used whenever the player wishes. They can ignore it if they already know what they want to do, but if they ever get stuck they can use it to find out what to do next. In effect, it's an automation of the response given to newbies when they ask "What should I do now?", tailored to their specific situation.