I found that Genesis doesn't seem to be mentioned in that many places, which is strange to me, since Genesis is the original LPMUD after all, and LPC is one of the major MUD foundations (second behind DIKU perhaps?). The places where I did find Genesis mentioned, the information is way outdated and these days directly false.
Genesis really needs to get "out there" and get mentioned, get up on search results, have a website that the game can be proud of with all the information that current-day gamers expect to find, when starting out on a new game.
I know that some of this has been mentioned before, and that the Administration is working on it, in some way or another, but I think the issue should warrant alot more discussion, than the usual PvP-drama that get plenty of activity but does nothing to build a better community for the game.
One question, I'd really, really like to know the answer to is:
What is the status on the website remake, Tapakah?
Also, I posted about this a year ago, but I still think the idea warrants a thorough attempt.
We need to bring back older players, by composing an nice email that highlights all the great things about the game that have been added / changed over the last few years, and make sure we send it out to all the ex-players we, the current players, still keep in touch with, or have the email of.
Anyone that might volunteer to compose such an email?
Additionally, could we add suggestions to where a promotion drive should focus on, as in sites and things to do.
For instance, I think getting a better browser based client would be a HUGE boon for the game, so we can have people play instantly without having to download old telnet clients, and have the game be tied to Facebook, iPhones etc.
The client we have now are workable, but it could be SO much better.
I looked for a better client than the one used on the Genesis site but didn't find one, though a more thorough search is certainly warranted on this important issue.
http://www.topmudsites.com/forums/
The website seems fair slow, but it does have alot of interesting (old) posts, that still holds alot of interesting ideas that Genesis could benefit from.
A post I found particularly interesting from the Topmud sites forums:
That's my stray-thoughts for now.As a player, what aspects, features, qualities of a "MUD"(or other online game) encourage you to continue playing, while which other aspects drive you to leave?
As a developer, knowing your limited time-frame, what aspects and features of your game do you try to show-off to the player within the first five minutes? In depth Character Creation? Well written zones? Original Features?
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As a Player:
Extending Game Time:
* Neat, Organized, Informative Character Creation
* Atleast 1-2 players or immortals online
* Well written room, mob, and object descriptions
* "Easter Eggs", if a room descriptions mentions something in brief, like "tracks through the mud" or something, and a "look tracks" brings up another quality description, I consider that gold.
* Courteous welcome by the staff... not a big thing, but a "Hello *name*, welcome to *MUD Name*, I hope you enjoy your time here and if you have any questions or comments just use the *command name* and send us a message... good luck." Something like that shows the MUD is actively worked on, and that they feel confident enough in their work not to try and babysit you.
* News page, something that has been recently updated with the latest MUD updates.
Shortening Game Time:
* Over Complicated Character Creation, especially in original, semi-original IPs. It's one thing to have a long list of generic classes, (warrior, thief, shaman, necromancer, warlock etc...), where the general skills and perks are common knowledge among fantasy gamers but when there are 40 classes with names like (Dragon Slayer, Air Bender, Corpse Walker, T'sul'Kerak etc...) where I would have to spend an hour or two researching each one, drives me insane.
* Over use of Color
* MUD Flood, too much stuff coming up on the screen at once really hurts my game play experience especially when it's trivial things like "EXP BONUS TIME!!!!!", or "WHO WANTS A COOKIE?!?!?!?".
* Over active Immortals... "Here, I'll teleport you to the mobs you can kill....", "Here have the greatest weapon in the game..."..."Here, *POOF*, now you're level 5 million..."
* "Newbie" Equipment... can't we come up with a more original idea for starting equipment then "a pair of newbie shoes", "a newbie sword."
* Lacking Help-files... It's a given that a MUD isn't going to have a help-file for every help request it gets but there should be a help-file for all of the muds key features like combat, healing, moving etc... or atleast a web address to a web based game manual.
* No direction... drop me into a pac-man game and I'll have no problem figuring out what to do, but in a large interactive world some direction would be nice. Within the first five minutes I should know how to earn some money, strengthen my character, and equip myself at the least.
As a Developer:
With my MUD nearing beta, I've been putting a lot of resources into the first five minutes of game play. The trouble is, the amount achieved within the first 5 minutes is a lot shorter for a "non-mudder", then it is for a seasoned vetern. Thus I'm going with an web-based mud school, so new MUDders can have a second window open to help them along.
With an always available online web tutorial, I feel it will allow me to skip the player ahead to the meat of the game more quickly. Which in my case, is a small quest zone which will hopefully run the player through some of the key features of my MUD, while granting them some experience and some equipment. The "Hook", hopefully, is that there is numerous ways to complete the quest zone, all of which are remembered my various NPCs within the actual world, which is my attempt to showcase the base idea for the MUD, "What you do matters..."
Hopefully enough to spark a discussion on how the community might come together and revitalize the game we all love and cherish.
Will add more as I sift through the net and hopefully find useful stuff.
