Player loss and some suggestions for solutions

[Whistler]

Recently, there has been some discussion about why players leave. (cf. http://forums.tfcmud.com/showthread....about-Newbies? )
Well, we just lost another one, one that had taken me quite a bit of cajoling to bring back. I was told (in game) that she quit because she was PKed, and this didn’t sound at all like her, so I decided to ask her directly via Email. This was her response:

>I didn’t quit because Ruin Pked me, I quit because he and everyone else was
>IGNORING me.

>With the broom and all that dragonscale you had given me, I had a fighting
>chance to make the bard character work, even though without access to the vortex
>from my hometown it was virtually impossible to level my skill class without a
>bunch of fly potions.

>You know I haven’t had a problem with PK with my other characters. I’d get PKed,
>I’d just go reequip. The difference with the bard is that without help it is virtually
>impossible to reequip on your own. Yes, I had a little bit of stuff in storage, but I
>didn’t want to take stuff from storage and then get some of my stuff returned and
>have to spend what little gold I had putting the stuff I’d taken out of storage back
>into storage.

>I had made it known that I was looking to join a following, but nobody seemed to
>care enough to help me make it happen. If I had been accepted into one, I wouldn’t
>have wasted time hoping for anything to be returned and could’ve expected the
>following to help me reequip. Instead, just like by Ruin, I was IGNORED.

>For the most part, I do like the game. It’s a great vent for me to let off steam from
>work, but I have better things to do with my time than sit around for an hour and
>wait for other players to decide whether or not they want to be civil enough to
>interact with me.

>I’m not going to say that I’ll never play again. Some day I may be so bored that I
>may log on. Right now though, I’m still pissed about the way I was treated.



Ok….well, I think this reiterates the point that lower level characters need attention. (I’m pretty sure that she’s never had a character that made it to lvl 25.)

So…suggestion 1: any time a player mentions they are interested in a following, tell them to put it in their title and send a note to the god. (or send the note to the god yourself.)

Suggestion 2: although she claims it wasn’t the pk, it she proceeds to describe the difficulty in reequipping. Had Tynians idea at http://forums.tfcmud.com/showthread....Ks-and-Corpses
Been instituted already, this would not have been an issue. My suggestion: institute it.

Suggestion 3: Limit the characters (less than level 30) which can be attacked to those who have attacked someone else, or are in a following—because they have backup.

Suggestion 4: Boost the pk debt by a multiplier based on attacks equal to [attackers’s # of attacks/(defenders # of attacks +1)] this would discourage people from attacking the noobs and encourage them to attack people closer to their own aggressiveness. Perhaps this could lead to bounties of 0 gold. “Heck, I’ll haul them in for Free!”

Suggestion 5: any time you see someone less than level 30 just standing around in the guild, check and see if they’re ok and/or need any help.

Anybody else have any suggestions?

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[Corri]

I think it is a mistake to make lower level pking harder and more restrictive. The issues she cites are not pking and losing gear - its re equipping and interaction. I would therefore be against suggestion 2, 3 and 4. If the individual you emailed with had managed to form a support group, I believe she would still be playing.

One difficulty from 'the day' regarding re equip is that people no longer can carry a large amount of spare items. This has helped with 'hoarding', but limited the amount available to share for newer players. Perhaps there are some additional modification that can be made to how many randoms can be carried which could help with this.

[Tynian]

Suggestion 2: although she claims it wasn’t the pk, it she proceeds to describe the difficulty in reequipping. Had Tynians idea at http://forums.tfcmud.com/showthread....Ks-and-Corpses
Been instituted already, this would not have been an issue. My suggestion: institute it.

It proved to be a somewhat polarizing idea, and I'm still mulling it over. Part of me really likes it. The thrill of the PK and the possibility of improving one's gear (for the winner), while avoiding the pain of having to re-gear completely from scratch (for the loser). On the other hand, it adds complexity, and is perhaps abusable.

[Eathor]

I second Corri's point that people's inability to carry more randoms makes it harder to help people equip. Recommend we increase the amount of randoms people can carry.

[boromir]

Greetings,

Speaking of myself and my following, I am probably one of the most visible if not the most visible FLI altho I think Lycron and I swap 1st and 2nd.

Based upon the excerpt from her email, she was expecting followings to smother her with invitations? Waiting for other players to talk to her?

Perhaps I am not aware of all the circumstances surrounding this lack of communication. However the impression I have gotten from the email excerpt is one of an 'you owe me eq' and/or 'I will talk to you when you talk to me' and/or 'dont you KNOW who I am!?!??!' and/or a general overloaded Whining attitude. If that were an attitude coming across while I am talking to someone about the Nexus, my interest in them as a follower drops to somewhere just below 0. My followers (like the followers of the other FLI's) are strongly encouraged to talk to and help newbies as well as UA players. If that attitude came across in a conversation, its not surprising no one talked to her.

As a mortal, if I was helping someone after a PK or CR and that attitude (you owe me!)cropped up, the help stopped as soon as I could walk away.

Those of you who knew me as a mortal would probably agree that I would help as much as possible. (I wont even mention IDing for people)

Bards are the toughest class to level and excel at. Period.

Bards like everyone else, will get pk'ed. Bards like everyone else, have to figure out ways to eq and survive.

If people can level thief/ranger or thief/ warrior combos (totally non-magical as opposed to a Bard), then a bard is doable. Easy ? not even close. Frustrating? Totally.

Obviously, she has left TFC. If she were to return, one thing needing a change would be the attitude. If the perceived attitude doesnt change, neither will how everyone reacts to her.

I await your considered opinions!

[Otak]

I second Corri's point that people's inability to carry more randoms makes it harder to help people equip. Recommend we increase the amount of randoms people can carry.

That's why we have Mish storage. 10 items is totally enough to get someone started, especially with pit gear to fill in the rest of the slots.. there's never a shortage in pit gear.

[Thor]

I'm going to have to go with Boromir on this one. I know who Whistler is talking about, but since he didn't mention names in the original post I won't either.

This bard had expressed interest in joining my following, but I hadn't had a chance to visit with her about it yet. She wasn't being ignored because I had been told by at least one of my followers that she wished to join so they were talking to her. There was a note posted to me asking to join and then less than two hours later there was another note posted to me that said nevermind, I quit.

Some people's response to newbies may not be perfect, but in this case at least, I'd say it was a lot more the attitude of the player. If you're going to play a bard...there's a reason it's labeled HARD!

I realize that, according to some, goods are supposed to be doormats for everyone, but even in my following one should not join just expecting to be showered with EQ in hopes that you stick around. I expect you to put forth effort. Sitting at pit hoping for EQ to be handed to you (even after a PK) is not my definition of effort. Also, like Otak stated, 99% of the time, the pit is loaded. And "pit gear" gets better all the time.

[Whistler]

i appreciate everyones responses here. I'm gonna send her this link.


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[Kylor]

I posted again in that other board and I just wanted to reitterate that I feel my solution works for all, including the noobs. Making worn limiteds pop like crazy would assure a well stocked pit, also corri's idea of getting rid of fined items would be ok in the sense that it's a complication that makes the game harder to learn, but at the same time I think it would mean alot of people NOT pitting eq that would normally get pitted. Please check out my latest post on the subject.

http://forums.tfcmud.com/showthread....-about-Newbies