Lots of replies and I would like to add my opinions as well to this important topic.
I feel I have to agree more with Wolverine and Makfly than Gorboth on this one.
In my opinion, a newbie who is a second is not a newbie. Regardless of if older players understand that a player is not a newbie or not, it is irrelevant. Even if nobody would give this second anything, he/she already knows where to go to advance. Sure it might take a little longer to get the cash or the good stuff but not much.
Also, unless we reduce the in-game possibility to hand over materials (coins/weapons/armours) from big players to small players these false newbies will also have friends who help them (especially with the xp part most likely).
So if we ignore these fake newbies and talk about real newbies the questions comes to why does someone stay in Genesis? Also, at what level is a new persons presence in Genesis a success? Is it that they complete the newbie area? Is it when they become 5 days old? 20? Play on and off for 10 years?
I think one can group real newbies to Genesis into the below groups:
- 1) Never heard of/played MUDs, stumble onto Genesis.
2) Heard of/played MUDs, stumble onto Genesis.
3) Have friends who play Genesis, never played MUDs, are brought in to Genesis
4) Have friends who play Genesis, has played MUDs, are brought in to Genesis
Of the above, the last two groups will have, thanks to their friends, the incentive to play the game. They might not get the coins/weapons/armours if their friends set up their gaming experience based on the exploration of the game (which still feels like the basis of playing a text based game if you are not just into crunching monsters and trying to optimize your xp/minute), but they will at least know beforehand that this game (and the players who play it) is awesome.
For people like this to leave the game it would probably require something major, like they are not suited to this kind of gaming to begin with. Or that they play only because their friends do and if their friends leave so does the new player. Or (if they are very unlucky) that they get player killed lots or have other kinds of bad experiences and simply quit the game.
The first two however are trickier. Number 2 has at least a sporting chance. He knows (and hopefully enjoys) the text based interface and all that it brings. He understands the syntax and can guess some of the not so easy ones.
Someone (I think) posted above a question if anyone experienced had tried the newbie area. I for one have done so, and fairly critically at that, and I thought it was very good. But even so, I have played before. Without thinking, I know the syntax so I never get stuck on those things. But I thought there was a lot of help to be had even though I also missed one quest my first try from the newbie area. And I was pretty thorough.
But if we go back to the person who has played other MUDs, I think he will stay if he simply appreciates what Genesis has to offer in terms of roleplay, quests, exploration or perhaps having met and befriended some other players. In terms of other people, the newbie line really is good. Without physically meeting them in game he can still ask questions and get help (and most importantly talk to others) which means that one problem, which is the size of the game, is reduced somewhat.
If the player sticks with it, when he becomes big enough not to need the newbie line, he already knows about the mail system, messengers and the odd spells to communicate.
If all works well, this player will also stick with it.
And again, those who would not be inclined to like the game to begin with will not stay anyway, as well as those who happen to have a very bad experience.
Number 1 is the hardest to keep, mainly due to text based games not being the latest, coolest thing. If graphical multi-player games did not exist I think it would be easier to get them intrested and this is a fact that, despite being stated often, really is true. Not much we can do about it. There are huge amounts of games out there that appeal more to people than does a text based game. What Gorboth (and others) have said regarding exploration and the adventure of "the new" I totally agree with, however due to today's society and the breakthroughs in various form of technology (graphics but also media) not all are as interested as we might have been when we first played Genesis.
Speaking for myself I still recall immensly fondly how I on paper made my maps of the lands and spent five-ten minutes in each room looking at things (still do when I come to new areas). But we have to face facts, not everyone is as intersted in that.
Does this then mean we do not want them in the game? Should we not do all we can to keep them in the game?
Very long post so I will end here and perhaps pose some questions/suggestions in follow-up posts to be able to keep them in-scope.
Archie