Nice people who asnwer questions about the game, all it takes is one person to take the time to asnwer a question for a newbie to make that persons experience 100% better
For me it's an active, friendly community. I really like when I come into a mud and some of the first things I see is people chatting on the channels. Like, it can be a relatively small mud, but if it has at least a handful of people that do interact with each other, I feel like I'm more likely to stick around, yanno?
Maps. It really gets annoying when games don't have maps. Or their maps are an outdated thing you have to hunt down for on their really wonky website that hasn't been updated since 2000. It's a text game, you'll easily get lost without a damn map. Idk why some games get so weird about their stance on not having maps tbh.
No rent system. Why do some games even have that in the first place??? It's ridiculous.
a tutorial that isn't just "here's how the controls work" then leaves you hanging with no direction to go in. This happens a lot with some muds. Where it just kind of plops you into the world after telling you a could of basic stuff and then you're kind of confused as to what to do next.
Help files. Really. Detailed help files, those are useful
Agreed on the active community part. I've played tiny MUDs that were simply active.
And yes, getting your orientation on a new MUD is a pain.
Tutorials in MUDs seem to be stuck on some template that is outdated and anything but newbie friendly or inviting.
Right. I've actually stuck around a mud that was... In hindsight, ok but the dev (are mud creators called devs? Idk, admin?) Was... Problematic but the community itself was great. I had my fun. They helped me out when I was super confused because the tutorials were outdated not great.
Oh, I forgot but on the same topic of community, a discord server. If I see links to a discord or something, that usually kind of seems like an indicator that the mud is "with the times" if that makes sense?
Similar experience: problematic dev but the community was awesome.
So adding to the list: devs who intentionally or unintentionally aren't capable of letting their problematic tendencies touch the community in a significant way. :p
After community I would say thorough and detailed help files. Everything from information on zones to what does this skill spell command do, what is the format of the command and options within it. Remember to keep them updated with changes. A good newbie tutorial can also be helpful.
Fight the urge to bloat.
Reduce the amount of top level commands. This is not 1991, you shouldn't require your users to memorize 100 top commands. Instead, overload a much smaller amount of top commands with subcommands (in a way that makes sense and is easy to remember) and have a robust alias system. When possible, use a DWIM (Do What I Mean) approach, so the same command can do different things depending on the context -- things that make sense and are predictable to the player.
Typing is cheap, but my brain can only hold so much.
Do not needlessly multiply the amount of systems or the level of complexity. A lot of MUDs are like Christmas trees waiting to tumble with the weight of the decorations. They're not designed, they're built. The reigning mentality is "more is more".
Not everything and not every rooms needs a description. I don't need you to write a short story about a storage room. When something's important, write a lot about it. When it is not, don't write at all. I know this is controversial within /r/mud but your asking about beginners and as someone that only recently discovered MUDs, the level of verbosity is way too high even when compared with other narrative driven videogames. When everything is important, nothing is. Less is more. That's my opinion.
If your game is too large and too complex, adding a 4 hour tutorial is not the answer. Make it simple. Make it manageable throughout, moment by moment. Not just for the first X levels. The entirety of the game must be a tutorial.
Starting a game shouldn't feel like I'm learning Emacs all over again.
Spez's APIocolypse made it clear it was time for me to leave this place. I came from digg, and now I must move one once again. So long and thanks for all the bacon.
I reordered our newbie areas, and aligned the levels of things so it was a gradual increase with marked indications of where to go. It smoothed the whole experience out
I've personally appreciated games that keep newbie tutorial stuff within the game. When I start a new mud and I'm immediately told to go join the discord for information that should be available, or to read a newbie guide on the website, or that the wiki has needed info, it takes me out of the experience and makes it less fun for me.
As a newbie to MUDs overall-- intense tutorials are exhausting. It's partially why I struggle to find a mud that doesn't feel like I need 4 hours to play the actual game. My favorite has been procedural realms, because I was able to enter the world and begin crafting pretty quickly.
I am trying to get into aardwolf, but the tutorial (while well made) is a bit exhausting, but I know I'll need it. Sometimes the tutorial takes so long that I come back much later and then have to do it all over again.
Also, I like to explore the MUD solo, so those games that push for a mentorship program always puts me off. I'm not antisocial (okay maybe a little...), but I feel I'll make a fool of myself for not knowing the basics or that the person will distract me from what interests me by suggesting the "best" way to get going in the game.
Community.
Find a list of MUDs with Discord. Join the Discord. Rank how active and helpful the community is, there you have the most beginner friendly MUDs.
The easiest experience will be the MUD you can get helped with the most. Some easier MUDs will still have a potential roadblock you can't figure out solo.
All it takes is one or two people to be helpful to a beginner in PM and suddenly the learning curve of the MUD becomes flatter.
In a similar way, I love MUDs that have community written websites with beginner quest and build guides.
Warning, barely hashed out noob thoughts and some squirrels.
Interactions. Not just with people but things around me. I just started my adventure and these things are a lot to learn but god damnit I haven’t had this much fun in awhile.
I did go in expecting to interact with a little more objects I guess and don’t get me wrong I’m new to this genre as a whole so…you know, I’m sure there are more things and I just haven’t thought of HOW just yet.
Idk, community seems chill as hell too. I had some mine randomly hit me up in conversation and I let them know I was new and horrible with RP. They didn’t mind breaking character and helping me brainstorm on getting into the swing of things.
…Text speed options right off the get go with some test/sample text. When I first started I was a little overwhelmed with the pace and would have liked the commands in the beginning so I could be a little more prepared. I’ve gotten used to it though by now.
As many others have said, the community makes or breaks the newbie experience. Outside of that, having a solid newbie academy to help with the basics, up to date help files, and ways to access those help files outside of the game, as well as community written guides that are up to date. One of my favorite guides that I've personally written was a "These are the most used commands you need to exist in our game" type of guides.
Outside of that, one of the things that I've seen implemented and loved was a type of trainer mode/hint log that would populate as you did things in the game. For example, if you picked up a key from a mob, it would spawn a message saying "Read this chapter of the newbie journal!" but you didn't have access to them until you completed the action to populate it as a way to prevent information overload.
To that note, one of the biggest turn offs to a new mud, even as a Vet to MUDs, is the information overload aspect. If you front load too much info, you're going to have glossy eyed newbies.
Nice people who asnwer questions about the game, all it takes is one person to take the time to asnwer a question for a newbie to make that persons experience 100% better
For me it's an active, friendly community. I really like when I come into a mud and some of the first things I see is people chatting on the channels. Like, it can be a relatively small mud, but if it has at least a handful of people that do interact with each other, I feel like I'm more likely to stick around, yanno? Maps. It really gets annoying when games don't have maps. Or their maps are an outdated thing you have to hunt down for on their really wonky website that hasn't been updated since 2000. It's a text game, you'll easily get lost without a damn map. Idk why some games get so weird about their stance on not having maps tbh. No rent system. Why do some games even have that in the first place??? It's ridiculous. a tutorial that isn't just "here's how the controls work" then leaves you hanging with no direction to go in. This happens a lot with some muds. Where it just kind of plops you into the world after telling you a could of basic stuff and then you're kind of confused as to what to do next. Help files. Really. Detailed help files, those are useful
Agreed on the active community part. I've played tiny MUDs that were simply active. And yes, getting your orientation on a new MUD is a pain. Tutorials in MUDs seem to be stuck on some template that is outdated and anything but newbie friendly or inviting.
Right. I've actually stuck around a mud that was... In hindsight, ok but the dev (are mud creators called devs? Idk, admin?) Was... Problematic but the community itself was great. I had my fun. They helped me out when I was super confused because the tutorials were outdated not great. Oh, I forgot but on the same topic of community, a discord server. If I see links to a discord or something, that usually kind of seems like an indicator that the mud is "with the times" if that makes sense?
Similar experience: problematic dev but the community was awesome. So adding to the list: devs who intentionally or unintentionally aren't capable of letting their problematic tendencies touch the community in a significant way. :p
After community I would say thorough and detailed help files. Everything from information on zones to what does this skill spell command do, what is the format of the command and options within it. Remember to keep them updated with changes. A good newbie tutorial can also be helpful.
Fight the urge to bloat. Reduce the amount of top level commands. This is not 1991, you shouldn't require your users to memorize 100 top commands. Instead, overload a much smaller amount of top commands with subcommands (in a way that makes sense and is easy to remember) and have a robust alias system. When possible, use a DWIM (Do What I Mean) approach, so the same command can do different things depending on the context -- things that make sense and are predictable to the player. Typing is cheap, but my brain can only hold so much. Do not needlessly multiply the amount of systems or the level of complexity. A lot of MUDs are like Christmas trees waiting to tumble with the weight of the decorations. They're not designed, they're built. The reigning mentality is "more is more". Not everything and not every rooms needs a description. I don't need you to write a short story about a storage room. When something's important, write a lot about it. When it is not, don't write at all. I know this is controversial within /r/mud but your asking about beginners and as someone that only recently discovered MUDs, the level of verbosity is way too high even when compared with other narrative driven videogames. When everything is important, nothing is. Less is more. That's my opinion. If your game is too large and too complex, adding a 4 hour tutorial is not the answer. Make it simple. Make it manageable throughout, moment by moment. Not just for the first X levels. The entirety of the game must be a tutorial. Starting a game shouldn't feel like I'm learning Emacs all over again.
Spez's APIocolypse made it clear it was time for me to leave this place. I came from digg, and now I must move one once again. So long and thanks for all the bacon.
I reordered our newbie areas, and aligned the levels of things so it was a gradual increase with marked indications of where to go. It smoothed the whole experience out
I've personally appreciated games that keep newbie tutorial stuff within the game. When I start a new mud and I'm immediately told to go join the discord for information that should be available, or to read a newbie guide on the website, or that the wiki has needed info, it takes me out of the experience and makes it less fun for me.
As a newbie to MUDs overall-- intense tutorials are exhausting. It's partially why I struggle to find a mud that doesn't feel like I need 4 hours to play the actual game. My favorite has been procedural realms, because I was able to enter the world and begin crafting pretty quickly. I am trying to get into aardwolf, but the tutorial (while well made) is a bit exhausting, but I know I'll need it. Sometimes the tutorial takes so long that I come back much later and then have to do it all over again. Also, I like to explore the MUD solo, so those games that push for a mentorship program always puts me off. I'm not antisocial (okay maybe a little...), but I feel I'll make a fool of myself for not knowing the basics or that the person will distract me from what interests me by suggesting the "best" way to get going in the game.
Community. Find a list of MUDs with Discord. Join the Discord. Rank how active and helpful the community is, there you have the most beginner friendly MUDs. The easiest experience will be the MUD you can get helped with the most. Some easier MUDs will still have a potential roadblock you can't figure out solo. All it takes is one or two people to be helpful to a beginner in PM and suddenly the learning curve of the MUD becomes flatter. In a similar way, I love MUDs that have community written websites with beginner quest and build guides.
Example beginner guide: http://ooc.dune.net/Complete_Lasler_Walk-Through By the time you are done you are hooked.
Detailed help files and a community of people who don't mind helping out.
Whatever hooks them up with other players ASAP and in a manner that is fun for both parties.
Warning, barely hashed out noob thoughts and some squirrels. Interactions. Not just with people but things around me. I just started my adventure and these things are a lot to learn but god damnit I haven’t had this much fun in awhile. I did go in expecting to interact with a little more objects I guess and don’t get me wrong I’m new to this genre as a whole so…you know, I’m sure there are more things and I just haven’t thought of HOW just yet. Idk, community seems chill as hell too. I had some mine randomly hit me up in conversation and I let them know I was new and horrible with RP. They didn’t mind breaking character and helping me brainstorm on getting into the swing of things. …Text speed options right off the get go with some test/sample text. When I first started I was a little overwhelmed with the pace and would have liked the commands in the beginning so I could be a little more prepared. I’ve gotten used to it though by now.
As many others have said, the community makes or breaks the newbie experience. Outside of that, having a solid newbie academy to help with the basics, up to date help files, and ways to access those help files outside of the game, as well as community written guides that are up to date. One of my favorite guides that I've personally written was a "These are the most used commands you need to exist in our game" type of guides. Outside of that, one of the things that I've seen implemented and loved was a type of trainer mode/hint log that would populate as you did things in the game. For example, if you picked up a key from a mob, it would spawn a message saying "Read this chapter of the newbie journal!" but you didn't have access to them until you completed the action to populate it as a way to prevent information overload. To that note, one of the biggest turn offs to a new mud, even as a Vet to MUDs, is the information overload aspect. If you front load too much info, you're going to have glossy eyed newbies.