Ntell

[Alorrana]

I dont think so... but again.. if nothing happens.. more will leave than join the game.. and we cant afford to say.. well then we dont need em... cause we need all we can get..

[Ashur]

I have to say, I have RL friends that play this (as some, if not most, do). I've been chatting with them over Skype, come across something I needed help with, and casually say "Hey can you help me with <this>." The response to such questions, even between very close RL friends, is "Sure, send me a message in game."

It is not hard to find post offices. The are on the Magic Map for one thing, and there are plenty "Go find the Post Office (and 4 other buildings" quests out there. Messengers cost some money and are a bit more difficult to find ... but there's also plenty of Racial guilds that provide a free messenger.

I'm not against change, but a global chat-line where everyone was encouraged to talk about whatever would be awful for Genesis.

[Makfly]

I'm not against change, but a global chat-line where everyone was encouraged to talk about whatever would be awful for Genesis.

It's certainly good that you have real life friends that play the game, with whom you can talk to over Skype while playing.
Most don't, would be my guess. Certainly not newbies drawn in by the promotion, and not by another current player.
Personally I don't have any real life friends playing anymore, and I wouldn't mind a global chat function.
Maybe I wouldn't use it much, even if it did exist, but it certainly wouldn't hurt my roleplaying experience, as I could just turn it off.
So if it doesn't hurt me, and it would benefit others, then why not allow it?

What's the worst that can happen? Really?
You can always just remove it again, if it turns out that enabling it implodes the game.

[Ashur]

...as I could just turn it off.
So if it doesn't hurt me, and it would benefit others, then why not allow it?

I missed that part. Though, if turning it off was an option, it basically becomes the newbie line anyway ... which we have. I suppose I would be fine with more relaxed rules for the newbie line ... truthfully, I don't have a pin so I don't even know what the rules are, but I guess people get yelled at for talking to much. /shrug

You can always just remove it again, if it turns out that enabling it implodes the game.

The Global Chat Line has been enabled, enjoy!
A vision of Armageddon appears to you and says: "I will be shutting down the game, indefinitely, in 10 minutes. Remove that chat line now, fool."

[Recoba]

It's certainly good that you have real life friends that play the game, with whom you can talk to over Skype while playing.
Most don't, would be my guess. Certainly not newbies drawn in by the promotion, and not by another current player.
Personally I don't have any real life friends playing anymore, and I wouldn't mind a global chat function.

Excuse me, but how hard is it to just give people your Skype name if you want to chat with them?

Also please drop the "you say WoW is satan" hyperbole. No one said anything negative about that or other online games, we're just saying that Genesis has its own niche and if it loses its "unique selling points" then it won't be interesting anymore.

[Makfly]

Excuse me, but how hard is it to just give people your Skype name if you want to chat with them?

Did you read my note?
I don't have any real life friends playing Genesis anymore, so I don't have anyone to send my Skype name to.
As I also wrote, that I might not use a general chat much, but I do not think that it will hurt my gaming experience, as long as I can just turn it off. Why will it hurt yours, and why will Genesis seize to be interesting for you?

Also please drop the "you say WoW is satan" hyperbole. No one said anything negative about that or other online games, we're just saying that Genesis has its own niche and if it loses its "unique selling points" then it won't be interesting anymore.

If you go back and read many of the threads on suggestions for improvements to Genesis, you will see that "Its like WoW, it will kill the game" arguments have been used many times over. So yes, "some one" is saying negative things about it, and have used it to try and hammer away at suggestions they did not approve of.

I have nothing against people disapproving any suggestion made to improve Genesis, but just use WoW as some kind of "monster beneath our beds" is just getting tiresome, and it's counterproductive to otherwise healthy discussions.

[Alorrana]

Well I see it this way.


unique selling points.. Thats good.. we have those.. Just.. NO ONE BUYS EM !!!

So we need serious changes.. we cant rely on the old and glory days here.. we need to follow the main stream in this case.. without loosing the Genesis spirit.

[Cherek]

Alorrana:
Not saying you are wrong, or right. But how do we know this is a problem for new players? How do we know they dont leave the game because there IS a chat channel? How do we know they will leave because there is none?

The problem as I see it, is to begin with we are not reaching out to enough new players yet. And when we do we need to ask them about their experiences, by an in-game poll perhaps, or on the webpage. Or simply talk to them face to face. Then we might get a better grasp on what is working and what is not. You claim a chat channel will give us more players? Okay, I'll claim a chat channel will give us less players. (I dont, but lets say I do). Who's right? I dont have any proof? If you have I'll be the first to say I am wrong and you are right.

So instead of adding a chat channel I think we should begin with actually trying to attract players to the existing game we have.

Who can honestly say they personally have done anything to bring in new players? If you want to help, I think that is the place to start.

Introduce Genesis to whatever forums you participate in, find new forums with people you think might be interested, and suggest they try it. Mail those who handle web-pages with people you think might be interested, ask them if they perhaps can write something about Genesis, perhaps a free or very cheap banner? Check out blogs and online magazines, ask them to perhaps try genesis, to write about it. Vote on the mud-pages. Spread the word on Facebook. Anything you can think of helps.

A chat channel or not? Well I dont know, but to begin with I think we need to figure out if we need it. I am not so certain myself that this is a core problem when it comes to keeping new players.

[Alorrana]

Ill basic agree to anything that keeps the player in the game..

just feel talking and seeing there is life on the mud, on a chat/nline isnt a bad thing at all.

[Amberlee]

Here are some facts for you Cherek.
The average genesis newbie that we MIGHT recruit is not a hardcore gamer.
And most likely wants something to play around with when he's got nothing better to do.. Like running the game in the background when at work.
Which is actually a way many people in genesis play now.

Oh and.. We wont ruin our "unique selling points" if there are some modern updates.