Posted by Ophiuchi on November 3, 2000 at 09:51:57:
Be that I've quit CF and don't plan to come back any time soon, I still would like to share my thoughts on CF since I still read the forum from time to time and laugh at some of the idiotic posts. 1. CF was fun when I first started playing. RP was required, but imms checking up on it wasn't as strict. All you have to do was put up some kind of a pretense of RP while being interviewed and you get tattooed or inducted for a cabal. Now a days, (at least a year ago) applying for a cabal or a tattoo you have to wait either days (if you are an experienced player), or weeks, which by that time you'd no longer be under consideration because nobody would give a crap about you. The excitement was that there were so many avenues you could pursue (cabal wise & tattoo wise), and you could get them all relatively easily. Even a newbie having no clue could get into a cabal and be tattooed. I'm not complaining that RP is now being checked more rigorously, but the information and time necessary to get inducted/tattooed has increased, while newbies today are no different than the idiotic newbie back at maple.can.net Right now, CF went from a good game, to a great game that requires so much from the player (versus before, both learning wise and time needed to get "familiar" with the flow of the game system has increased) that people misses the nostalgic days of how simple it was to get right into the thick of things. 2. The people. I've played the game in '94, '95. Quit for '96, '97, '98. Came back briefly in '99. I can honestly say (unlike most mudders) that I am not addicted to the game. I like the idea of it, but I don't find myself compulsively drawn to play it and putting other things in my life on hold. But every time I come back, I invariably meet some of the same people that have stuck with the mud year after year after year after year.... Invariably, these people are immediately recognized by both newbies & imm staffs as players of experience. They know what to do, what to say, what to get, etc., and because of it, they are the ones with special titles, leadership positions in a cabal or a religion, and by process of elimination, the "elites" are the ones making lich characters. Shokai & the imm staffs, don't play the color game by diluting the term "elite" with other ideas such as "why you play the game" which you refered. The power distribution coming from knowledge and experience of previous characters makes the player an "elite". (dont ask me why they use the term 'elite'. I find it as infantile as calling oneself a 'master' for knowing where the mushrooms are to make super mario grow) As far as "Why you play the game", I can't say for anybody else since everyone have their own reasons. But I can tell you what turns people away from the game. Unless you're a newbie dedicated to play CF, you will get turned off by 3. The Imms. Some (not all)of the imms suffer from what I call "immortal ego syndrome". They really think they are imms in real life. They can't take criticism. Everything becomes a "flame", and the "flamer" gets flamed, eventually the whole imm staff is now exempt from self reflection. Their own supreme highness, coupled with some knowledge of words (more so than the average braindead teen) makes them (at least on text) come across as nothing more than an egotistical pomp wearing "celestial" robes. I know I will get flamed by saying the above, all I have to say is, go look at yourself in the mirror, forget CF, forget you're an imm, a player, and say to yourself, are you a good, fair, honest person. When stripped of all the ranks, medals, positions, the only thing left are the values and beliefs of the person. Some recommendations: 1. Either make more communication channels like [NEWBIE], or classify some communication modes (such as tell) to be completely OOC (exempt from RP judgements from imms). Log them to catch cheaters, but don't judge a char by what is said across the channel. Part of learning how to play comes from talking with more experienced players. I know for a fact, I wouldn't have learned how to play CF if some of the "elites" of the day hadn't take the time to show me the ropes. the communication systems (as of last year) makes everything IC, god forbid you should gt Guys I have to take a dump, I'll brb in 10 minutes. Instead people have to come up with some stupid phrase like, gt The other worlds calls, I shall return in 10 moons. 2. Lessen the requirement for tattoos, induction for cabals, etc. A newbie will learn MORE about what it means to be a rager by hanging out with more experienced players already a rager. There's no point in withholding cabal/tattoo from a newbie simply because s/he "doesn't know as much as the elites". As long as the person shows inclination to learn, and is willing to obey the rules/laws, why not. The "elites" quit crinkle your noses at the thought of a flood of newbie masters asking where to buy blowfishes, and instead, teach. Rager elders, teach. Arbiter elders, teach. Part of the reason why CF is so newbie harsh is because cabals stick together, and non-cabals and applicants are left hanging out by themselves. Induct the newbies with inclination. Why? They'll learn interaction with other cabals, belief systems, etc. much faster just by hanging out with the "elites" than they would by themselves reading through the tons of help newbie files nobody reads anyway. 3. Separation of programming, administrative, and in game god duties. I would open the programming of areas to players, and let them work on it with the administrative imms to decide whether it's good to put in. In game god duties such as quests, religions should be separated from administrative duties such as catching cheaters and deciding whether or not an area is to be implemented. The programming of new features, like new cabals, new skills, new spells, should be separaed from writing new areas. The idea, is to get as many player base to participate in the immortal duties as possible. The more players play, the more they will want to contribute, and the more they should be able to participate in administrating, programming, and doing in game quests. Every player before, (and probably now) have to go through the red tape of being able to RP, imm by judgement from a "higher up", then kiss their ass in order to write an area or what not, and kiss more ass to get promoted to higher imm levels. Don't even try to tell me such system don't promote "immortal ego syndrome". If I'm a lvl 58 imm and every lvl 51 imm have to kiss my ass to be able to do something, I'd get a bloated ego the size of Texas. not to say inefficient. just how much time do you want a high lvl imm to supervise low lvl imms? I don't see any reason why a computer literate, lvl 1 who's never mudded before can't write an area or a feature for CF so long as they can stick to the themes, be willing to work with someone who were there before them.
(Since, when's the last time we saw a bumbling lich wondering where Udgaard was? And I can tell you from maple.can.net some cabal leader couldn't find Udgaard from Galadon)
a. the demands (to be able to RP right off the bat, to get into a cabal, a tattoo, etc.)
b. lack of a proper tutorial environment
c. because of #2, newbies die like newbies do -- idioticly, without proper information to guide them, and nobody likes to die.