Perspective from a new player

... sit down, kick back and relax, and talk about anything that doesn't belong on one of the other forums.
Salle
Posts: 7
Joined: Sat Feb 04, 2023 8:15 pm

Perspective from a new player

Post by Salle » Wed Feb 15, 2023 8:46 am

Hi y'all!

I started playing this game about 2 weeks ago and have since played a ton (logging >12 hours a day). It was very enjoyable and the folks have been very supportive and kind. I've learned a ton and a lot of people have spent significant time helping me learn.

I want to specifically call out Elhokar, Vhalerie, Relena, Draz, Hadis, and Zygoat. There are others, and I apologize if you aren't included. These folks were amazing and continuously made the game fun and helped me learn. However, there are aspects of the game that are not fun at all. After an incident last night and how upset it made me, I realized I don't have a desire to continue playing this game. I play because I want to relax and unwind when gaming, not to get upset - so this clearly isn't the right game for me.

The game has been around for a long time and has a loyal fan base. However, it seems like almost everyone I met has played for a very long time. I would strongly urge you to consider a way for someone minding their own business (and not fleeing active PK) to opt to be safe in a major city without renting. There are plenty of reasons for this - learning from someone, chatting with someone, reading the wiki but being logged on to ask questions to folks, etc.

Thanks for the opportunity to try out your community and I wish you all the best. Those that I called out by name - I'll log on on this Sunday around noon ET for about an hour. If you're around, I have some goodies for all of you from my storage that I've collected from my 8+ hours of smobbing a day.

Cheers!
Salle

Loret
Posts: 78
Joined: Thu Dec 30, 2021 10:37 am

Re: Perspective from a new player

Post by Loret » Wed Feb 15, 2023 10:51 am

We'd love to but I guarantee you we'd have people abusing it. It's a PVP based mud and it's part of the culture but, lucky for you.. who seems to have caught on at incredible speeds to the point where it's suspiciously fast - getting gear is easier than ever, and it's not unusual these days to start in some junk equipment and a basic weapon and rent that night in a full set and a rare. Like life, it comes in waves. sometimes you're Ta'veren, sometimes you're dying 5 times a night because you just can't catch a break, but that's what drives the majority to keep coming back and plugging away. It's a system that's REALLY hard to do well, consistently but it's rewarding when you get the hang of things.

In most games, traditionally dying means Game Over. Here at Wotmud, it's not like that at all, even if sometimes it can feel like a gut punch specially if you were attached to anything you were wearing, but I promise those things come and go. You've ironically not been in your greatest or probably worst kit yet so that's a fun way to think about things too. Don't let dying get you down in this game, just take it as another function of the game like smobbing or meeting folks you think are fun to hang around with. It's all just a wad of text at the end of the day and I promise it's really fun the more you get the hang of it, whether it's just running away like a champ (talk to porka about this!) or standing your ground and fighting (maybe zarth for this one, for better or for worse :lol: ).

I would recommend doing anything but quitting! Start a new alt, hang out in new areas, meet new friends, but it's a real shame to get that far and take to the game as quickly as you have to just write a farewell and sail off into the sunsets. C'mon, don't leave us like that, you're a great addition ;) just take a break, don't let it bother you because it's just inevitable (even the best player in the game dies!) and get back in the saddle! Ask for help if you're struggling to get back up there. I know myself and plenty of others are waiting in the wings to lend a hand when possible. Hopefully we'll see you out there again, I believe in ya.
Last edited by Loret on Wed Feb 15, 2023 12:40 pm, edited 1 time in total.

Axxye
Posts: 32
Joined: Sat Dec 22, 2018 11:27 pm

Re: Perspective from a new player

Post by Axxye » Wed Feb 15, 2023 12:00 pm

Hi Salle, I recommend not quitting.

As was said, it is a pretty heavily pvp based game. While dying sucks, a lot, the best way to get better is to learn from your deaths. That means dying, a lot. I still die constantly across alts. I think changing your mindset or taking a small break is perhaps the most encouraging thing to hear at the moment. I’m almost certain your 8+ hours of smobbing/farming/+ the countless other hours you played far outweighs one or two frustrating deaths in that time.

Hadis
Posts: 135
Joined: Thu Sep 27, 2018 6:13 am

Re: Perspective from a new player

Post by Hadis » Wed Feb 15, 2023 1:44 pm

Salle wrote:
Wed Feb 15, 2023 8:46 am
I realized I don't have a desire to continue playing this game.
I'm sorry to hear that you feel that way. I hope you can rationalize that it's just a game, and the risk is something to be enjoyed, and that risk is hard to find anywhere else. Equipment comes and goes. It's nothing more than tools to complete tasks. I'll do my best to be around Sunday to see you off should you still be adamant in leaving.

Fermin
Posts: 453
Joined: Sat Sep 10, 2016 12:16 pm

Re: Perspective from a new player

Post by Fermin » Wed Feb 15, 2023 2:13 pm

Should there be places on LS that are easy and safe for AFKing / defending as keep or TKD?

Athroc
Posts: 3
Joined: Fri Jul 01, 2022 7:39 pm

Re: Perspective from a new player

Post by Athroc » Wed Feb 15, 2023 3:23 pm

The advice that was easy to hear but tough to internalize is viewing dying as fun. It's a complete game changer, though!

Coulin is probably the safest you can be or perhaps the room outside the Amyrlin with the Keeper. The throne room in Caemlyn and Agelmar's Chambers are nowhere near safe. It's pretty rare for DS to raid Tar Valon, much less the White Tower itself. Axxye will, but he'll just get his weapon disarmed to the ground and leave.

Wenry
Posts: 4
Joined: Thu Jan 05, 2023 10:42 am

Re: Perspective from a new player

Post by Wenry » Wed Feb 15, 2023 5:08 pm

Salle, you picked up and mastered the basics of this game incredibly fast. I was truly impressed by your progression. The last time I pk’d with you, you stabbed two people! Heck, I rarely stab anyone on my rogue alts. However, I understand that it can be frustrating to die, especially when you’re not actively looking for pk. But like many have said, dying happens to everyone — and sometimes you just need a bit of time away to forget it. That being said, I hope you change your mind. If not, best of luck in whatever you do.

isabel
Posts: 1713
Joined: Wed Aug 31, 2016 5:19 am

Re: Perspective from a new player

Post by isabel » Wed Feb 15, 2023 9:15 pm

You have something no one else has - new eyes. Everything is shiny, everything is more immersive.

And you're right of course. Clanned characters have clan rooms to afk in. Rank 8s have their own rooms and no one else can get in there without an invitation. Imms are up to the dark one knows what in rooms they refuse to let us mortals know about ;)

But total safety is boring.

You get to carve your own story. What I did when I was new and unclanned (thanks to good advice) was to learn a little bit of a big city, even a small area in it works. Then afk in a random out of the way room. You'll be surprised not only at how fun it is, but how safe it is.

Take Cairihien palace. No one ever goes there. If i remember there's even a random no hide or two. Every now and then you can wander up to a city tower and watch outside.

Why does this work so well? Because you get some agency. People have earned their clan rooms and Rank 8 rooms. You can also earn your (relatively) safe space - you get to relax but also be vigilant every now and then. And it's your room - you found it, you scouted it, you learned it well.

And if you tell someone about it (don't - just allude to it mysteriously) and a short while later trollocs show up, or worse, a dreadlord..it's time to start discreetly shadowing Them, and finding out if their allegiance truly is what they claim.

This, my friend, is the Slytherin way.

Oh wait, wrong fandom.

Aria
Posts: 218
Joined: Sun Mar 22, 2015 12:11 am

Re: Perspective from a new player

Post by Aria » Thu Feb 23, 2023 9:54 am

Unfortunately, this is a perspective that is brought up by new players very often and simply ignored. A lot of the prevailing attitude has always been "If you want to be safe or afk (or not 100% focused at all times), just log off." It's a philosophy that barely works when the population is at its height, but it becomes absolute ridiculous and self fullfily prophecy where the numbers have dwindled due to lack of new players. If your philosphy is that people should just log off, then they will log off. We have basically exported a huge part of social interaction to Discord.
If you pander exclusively to the 100% PVP 100% of the time, you will be excluding a large swathe of new players that are used to a different style of play than what we grow up with. The goal of a MMO is interactions. There is zero interactions with players that are behind clanned doors or hidden in city heads, or logged off and just hanging out in Discord.
At some point, you have to look at perspectives like this and think, do we try to evolve the MUD and make it more friendly to the average video game player and grow the player base, and convert some of them to the hardcore aspect? Or just continue with what is likely more of an unsustainable path?

Kryyg
Posts: 334
Joined: Mon Jul 03, 2017 9:52 am

Re: Perspective from a new player

Post by Kryyg » Thu Feb 23, 2023 11:51 pm

Did someone kill you AFK or LD? Just post the log and name and shame. The game draws a lot of trash people but for the most part it’s a solid group who understand the atmosphere of the game is important.

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