[plamzi]

Hmm no, actually, I'm assuming that when confronted with something they have never seen before, users need a visual cue. Not only teenagers, but anyone. Even I, who know what MXP is and how it works, would need a cue that *this particular part* of the text is clickable. If there's no such cue then this functionality will be discovered only accidentally, or if someone reads the help files. Of course, if you're aiming your UI at people who read help files in order to find hidden functionality, then you should by no means provide any visual cues. Or, you could just make those numbers look like buttons or links.

It's pretty obvious to me that you're not really big on mobile or social playing yourself. When I play on the cell phone, I definitely fall into your category 1) without ever leaving category 2). I'm not a teenager, but I suspect that most teenagers in your category 2) are also category 1). They want to play a game with an "intuitive" interface, not learn about obscure protocols. Their attention span will always be shorter than you'd like it to be, simply because your game is one of thousands out there and you only get 30 seconds to make an impression.

If you mean my mobile app, it enables a person to experience the game in its fullness. The first person to have max-level characters in all 14 classes used the app 100%. But the UI looks like nothing anyone has seen before, and the complexity is simply too great for most mobile players. There are also many unique challenges stemming from the fact that the screen is so small.

There are 'MMO's' in the app store that look like Bedlam mini-games and have more players than all MUDs combined, then multiplied by 10. I'm trying to tap into those audiences by providing something that looks like those mini-games, but that goes on to deliver surprises long after the first 15 minutes.