I think it's time to speak about something different than priests this time. The priest project is temporarily delayed, because I'm putting some more effort together with Heidel into something else for now. Heidel has done a lot already, while my biggest contribution is probably writing this devblog Like you probably know, we are always trying to get new players to play BatMUD for obvious reasons. To make it short: we manage to get certain amount of new players into the game, but many choose to leave the game immediately when they realize this isn't the kind of place they were looking for, but also people who really want to find a new game to play.

I think it's difficult to say exactly what kind of people we attract the most but I would think that the BatClient has probably made it easier to start playing BatMUD since installation of Java Client is probably a little bit easier connection protocol rather than basic telnet. If we consider that there are many who haven't even heard of MUDs before, we might be attracting people who are more accustomed to some graphical MMOs.

With this comes a need to attempt to enhance our tutorial system. For someone who hasn't played BatMUD before, or even MUD before, the beginning is really difficult and confusing. I did some testing in some other mud that was completely different from BatMUD and despite its well planned tutorial, I found the game quite bewildering and I have over 15 years of experience about muds which is only five years less than 20 years would be!

While I think that the current tutorial in BatMUD is better than in some other MUDs, I think that it could be better. The current tutorial which takes place in Pleasantville is quite quick and it isn't as interactive as it could be. Many commercial games also have a linear plot to follow. On occasion I have seen discussions on newbie channel where the new player asks what he should do and is told that he is free to decide to do whatever he wants to. Now, while true, imagine yourself jumping into a completely new environment, seeing from your score that there are over 17000 rooms to explore and a quest room which lists hundreds of quests you can do. It's not exactly easy to figure out where to go and what to do.

While sometimes taking a look at the (mis)adventures of new players, you can sometimes see amazing things. Some people grasp the game idea quite quickly but for others it takes longer. Some people seem to read help files a long time before even budging an inch. I think there are many ways to learn the ropes. In the beginning it's more important than rapid advancement. I think a new player shouldn't worry too much about how quickly his character advances levels, skills, spells or anything of that sort. I think it's far more important to take some time, learn pieces of information and enjoy the ride. In the past the amount of experience gained for exploring was increased and it accelerated the pace that the new players advance levels. It had its good sides, but I think it didn't come without a price. Sometimes I've seen players with 20 levels, no guild levels, no racial guild levels, not even knowledge of the existence of these. When we have this kind of player, who could have found use for his experience already 10 levels ago, I think we can say that to certain extent, we have failed to teach this person the basics. The worst thing isn't that the player missed an opportunity to improve his character, but the fact that joining guilds opens more content to be enjoyed and makes the game more interesting. Usually joining a guild is newbie's first contact to people, other than the guys on newbie channel even if some guild channels tend to be sometimes quiet. In the future, I see it likely that we would be limiting newbie's development (through explore experience for example) a bit until we have verified that the newbie has learned the basics and is ready to take the next step. Nobody should be too overwhelmed with a lot of content being thrown into one's face, but new stuff should be introduced periodically at suitable pace.

Between levels 1-10 the new player doesn't have many responsibilities. What he can do is learn some basic commands, find new places, advance levels and complete level quests. Talking of level quests, some beginning quests can be a little bit "dorky" and probably won't give the best picture of this game so maybe that's something to take a look at as well. Basically the first 10 levels should be used in teaching the newbie concepts of the game and most importantly what happens after these 10 levels: guilds and free levels. At the moment the players may join the racial guild on level 11. Some people find the free level concept a little bit odd, but usually the difficult location of the race guild is the biggest problem. Some make the mistake of leaving the race guild and do not realize how to return and then get lost in wilds. This is something that we are looking to correct for newbies by making the non-reborn players automatically take their race guild levels.

In the new tutorial system we are looking to expand the range of covered topics and also looking to combine it with interactive story that the player may follow. That should be a more interesting way for a newbie to find things to do, learn the basics and also enhance his/her character and maybe get a few items in the process. It's looking likely that a new place will replace Pleasantville as the new starting spot, which would mean that we would have to figure out some new purpose for Pleasantville.

There's also one thing that we see very important when attracting new players to the game. That one thing, although mentioned last, is not the least. That is the community. BatMUD is a multiplayer game. Its richness is that you may interact with other players, create parties and slay monsters together or discuss about weather on channels when you feel like the old Rolf deserves a brief break from you beating him. Making new friends in the game is very important. The new players don't necessarily need you to lead them experience or don't need you to give them equipment (besides doing those would make the game less challenging for them. Let them earn their own achievements!), but they would need someone to answer their questions and make them welcome to the community. I know there already many who make the new players feel welcome on newbie channel and there are even newbie-friendly societies in the game. I would like to thank especially Legion-society which has set an exemplary standard by taking new players under their wing. I have a few ideas which might promote interaction with new players, but let's be honest: Making a working community isn't something you can code. It's something YOU can start to build today. Someday each new person you have managed to feel at home in BatMUD might be the person who next year makes you a plastic surgery, repairs your armours, buys the Sable axe you're selling or is the unidle mage that your party is lacking. While it pleases us developers to have a big community enjoying our work, it's not just something for us but for you as well. That is why we hope you will vote for us on the Internet or when you cheer when a new player is passionately explaining about the lion he killed for the first time.