My perspective on the game... *Long Post*

[rorktor1]

Hey guys and gals, I am writing this with sincere love for this game. I recently came back from a year long retirement; before that I had played for roughly 4 years. I've leveled up a lot of characters and have done a lot questing. I'm going to cut to the chase...my ideas are put together from other games I've played and games that are not out yet. Here goes...

Keeping people interested in the game and having something to do at all times is important. There are so many ways to do this and some have been implemented, and some have not. There are things you have to do to make the progression of the game enthralling and addictive.

First off, a pwipe is mission critical. The game is flooded right now with equipment and more equipment (and more equipment) and its really important to getting this whole campaign underway. The game as a core is very well built, and with some work should a yield a very, very playable game for years to come.

Questing should yield experience, cash and, of course, an item. To really get people moving around the world you've created, putting a cap on how many times you can do a quest per character is important. You can still have farming quests where you can do them an infinite amount of times to gain money, but experience should slowly dwindle down to nothing. This would require a lot of quests to be put in for a wide range of levels. The good thing about this? Getting to 50 will take a very long time. This will give you time to fill in content as the player base progresses through the levels. Put in your normal collection quests (i.e. get 40 of these and bring them back to me). You'd get some money and some experience while your at it. Put in the quests that take a lot more exploration of the immediate area (for low levels) that yield a nice bit of exp/money/and a good item. These type of quests could only be done once. This propels people to either zone or to do more exploring/questing. Even creating class specific quests would be nice. Main thing would be that they are soloable, at least finding the information of which mob to kill or which area to infilitrate to get said item be soloable. Getting the item or killing the mob could very well be a group type activity.

Zoning as always is great, and adding more zones to an already impressive list of zones would be necessary. Give more meaning to zones. Instead of just having aggressive skeletons in front of a black gate with a key. Make things a little more meaningful. Why is the zone being done? Is it to smite the region of a certain group of monsters, or maybe to acquire something for a NPC. Basically, just having triggered zones. Where you have to talk to a NPC with a group and get some background details before heading out to conquer said zone. I know there are zones like that in the game, but they have to be geared toward RP almost.

Leveling your character should feel natural. It should be a combination of questing, zoning and grinding. I know its hard to visualize, but just think about the longevity that the game would inherit. Even if it took 8 to 12 months to get to level 50, at least you know you accomplished something amazing, and along the way you really had a great time doing everything the game had to offer. Not just sitting in one zone over and over and over until you hit 50 and then started asking people how to do a quest and going zoning to increase the size of your tinker bag.

I have a ton of other ideas to propose, including trade skills that any class, but some race-restricted, could obtain at a certain level to give more personality to your character. Spell quests would be soloable. Every single one. Yes, they will be hard, and may take a couple of weeks or more to do, but its all part of the experience. Some of the more rewarding quests would require an item from a certain zone that would require a group. So you can't solo everything, but you will be able to gain the information on how to get the item on your own. This all can be tweeked to really offer a more diverse collection of quests and experiences.

Picture your character just starting off as a young adult and journeying through life and experiencing everything the world he/she lives in and gains friends and memories to really bare meaning to his/her life.

Equipment would be level-based, and quests will be level-based. If you ask a quest mob about something and your level 5 and you have to be level 10 to get it, then he would say that he had something for you to do, but he wasn't sure if you were ready. Come back at a later time.

This would not allow 50th lvl characters to transfer equipment to their 1st lvl char. Really concentrating on class specific quests and items. Even race specific quest/items would really pan the game out where everybody felt they were getting something to do, and that there was always something around the corner for them to experience. Doing a zone at lvl 20 would be just as exciting as doing a zone at lvl 50. Yea it would be more involved and more difficult, but the entire process of getting to 50 would be extremely fun.

You get level 50 and each main class could branch off to 2 or 3 different sub-classes giving even more personality to your character. You could then venture forth for an additional 10 levels to a 60 lvl cap.

Creating a new character would be a whole new experience. Yea you would see all the same zones and monsters, but with the class and race specific quests that would be available, you would have a lot of stuff to do in between.

Because questing yields experience, the casual gamer could really progress without feeling like grinding was the only option.

It's really going over the edge as far as the way the game is now. MMORPGS are designed to keep players interested in engaging them with constant challenges. This would do just that.

This is all just a major brainstorm, and it probably will go way past all the ideas on here, but I know its something that would work if it were given a lot of thought and planned out. Pacing the game the way I mentioned would give the developers a chance to really put good content in as the player base increased in levels.

I for one would volunteer my extra time to solidifying this in the hopes that it would be widely accepted. It would take several months to get underway, but afterwards it would be a steady stream of content added. Running RP campaigns is a must, and how it effects the world people live in is even more important.

I got a ton of ideas still in my head and I'd be glad to share them if people get the gist of my post. I just dont want to keep typing for no reason.

[kiryan]

I'm 95% sure i will quit if there is a pwipe or go play homelands.

[Gormal]

How soon can we pwipe?

[ssar]

How soon can we pwipe?

Not anytime in the forseeable future.
There's so much more the staff need to do and then let the game run for a long time - incl. tiamat, tweak bc/magma, implement and tweak the new zones almost completed, general balance incl. melee & rangers etc, before even considering it.

[Disoputlip]

How many players have the best set of eq they can get? 1 in 100? max.

Im not talking about Tia eq, just spob, bc etc. eq.

As I see it then most people still have things to do. Many players don't need eq from zones like TF etc. but noone is at the top max level.

[Grizz]

I love these ideas. I feel you have the right idea for the most part, but I know that it will really rub the hard core people wrong. The problem is that we don't have that large of a player base to be considering a Pwipe at this time. This isn't like the early days when we had 400+ people on before Ultima Online came out.

The changes you put forth would almost be easier if you were starting a whole new mud. The coding alone would be forever to do.

I was thinking that instead of level based EQ (weapons anyway) that the weapon can be wielded by anyone only the power of the weapon varies depending on the level of the wielder. Clear as mud? So if I have a weapon which at its peak effectiveness is a 6D6 5/5 at level 40, at level 1 it could be a simple 2D2 2/2. It would progressively get stronger as you level.

The same could be done with items that give stat bonus'. It give a +9 Dex at level 35 but only a +1 Dex at level 1. Different items could have different effectiveness at different levels.

Just some thoughts.

*edit* I don't think it is wrong to take the best ideas from other games and incorperate them here. Some people don't want things because they have them in EQ or DAOC or some other mud, but I say if the stuff works and is cool and is good then why not have it.

So our trade skills are like that in DAOC or some of our quests are like that in EverQuest, or spells are the same thing as such n such but named differently. Who Cares. Immatation is the highest form of flattery. I say take the best, toss the rest, and let us have a damn great game.

[Demuladon]

Torilmud has:

No pwipe.
No level restrictions on equipment (other than a few instruments and procs).
No restrictions on swapping equipment between chars.
No rent.

I play here because of these reasons, the relaxed atmosphere and freedom is part of the fun for me. There are plenty of other muds out there that have regular pwipes, level restrictions on eq, no eq swapping, rent.. I play none of them.

[Sesexe]

Rorktor1,

I just wanted to express my thanks in sharing your thoughts about the MUD with the rest of us, and doing it in a very friendly way. Thanks. :D

Don't really agree with it, but hey, there's nothing wrong in expressing yourself in such a way.

If you would like to talk more indepthly about it, catch me online. :D

Toodles!

Sesexe/Llaaldara

[Delmair Aamoren]

Not trying to hijack, and this is at least related to the original topic.

Pwipe at this point in time would be worthless. period.

For those of you that don't agree, here is my .02.
The time for pwipe will be:
a) when melee balance is in, and considered "balanced"
b) tia is back in, flaws worked out.
c) other things are balanced.
d) reasonable playerbase

Once we have these items, i think we can have a successful wipe. until then, wiping would be stupid at best.

[rorktor1]

No I totally agree with the fact that things have to be put into place, balance issues, quests/zones/etc for levels 1-20. With the slower progression to 50, it wouldn't be too difficult to keep adding content slowly.

The whole plan is to create a fresh approach to text based gaming. It's not all about equipment. Enjoying the experience that RP based quests and challenges have to offer are really important in immersing somebody in a world full of text.

Planning and deploying a strategy to really market the new approach and getting it out there to MUD websites would really help overall. It's not difficult to even pay some of the major MUD websites $5 a month to have an email sign-up for people interested in a "fresh approach to text based gaming" that wouldn't be used for solicitation. Then you just send out monthly newsletters detailing the progress and really cracking down on getting the groundwork layed out and then expanding on the low-level content before really getting deep into the high level stuff. It would take a lot of time and a careful thought process, but in the end I guarantee you that the player base would increase dramatically. The game would start competing with graphical mmorpgs for sure considering you dont have to pay to play.

I'd love to be a part of the process, and again I would love to offer my help in realizing this with as much time as I can. I also believe others would really want to get involved to make sure things are balanced as far as items/quests/monters/zones/etc.

It's more or less taking a game where the race to 50 and getting great gear is replaced with a slower paced progression (eventually leading to 50 and possibly sub-classing to 60) and really experiencing what the mud has to offer overall.

I firmly believe that word of mouth and a small extremely low-budget marketing plan would help a ton and really get the word out that toril is revamping into an overall gaming experience that won't end with just adding another piece of equipment to an already large pile. Equipment would naturally be a part of the game and would come into play to really get things done.

Anyways, I keep thinking of more stuff that would really make this something to think about.

Talk to ya guys later.

[Ambar]

*innocent whistle*

any reason why Evercrack is so much like Toril?

*innocent whistle*

[chandigar]

I think I agree with some of what you're saying, but I can also see what you're striving for. I did betatesting for DAOC, WoW and that microsoft MMORPG that I got tired of real fast, as well as playing EQ for quite a while.

EQ, being the first out of the box and actually built with a Toril/Sojourn framework had many Soj elements but expanded with tradeskills and faction ratings and, well, a ginormous player base.

The rest of them evolved from EQ and in doing so tried to eliminate what many thought were the 'boring' aspects of gameplay. IE the exp grind and the grouping requirements. IMO this is pretty much been catering to the younger group with 0 patience that gets bored if they don't have level 50 chars in week.

I can agree with having quests to get you from level 1 to 11 or so, so long as the quests are designed to teach you about the game, but after that it just seems pointless.

For example, WoW is heavily quest based, you gain 50% of all your exp from quest completion, but this is doable because WoW is very much a solo game for a long time, or for duo's. Plus, when you kill a mob to loot a quest item, everyone in the group can loot it. Soj is very much a grouping game with various methods for splitting quest items that, well, works and I think extends the life of the game rather than reduces it.

(Granted, some extreme rarities for quest items could be looked at, IE Shinjin, Werewolf, etc.)

As for the exp grind, back when I was a young sorc, I think the exp grind actually taught something about how to play the game (Ie Jot grid exp anyone?). The problem with lack of knowledge now is just due to the fact of these "exp zones" and that they offer tons of bonus exp with much reduced risk.

Wow, I totally started rambling there. My $0.02

Summary: Lets keep this mud true to its roots rather than dumbing it down for the 12 yr old gamer who wants a break from fragging people in Quake.

[Grizz]

*innocent whistle*

any reason why Evercrack is so much like Toril?

*innocent whistle*

I was there that day that Aradune asked if anyone wanted to move to San Diego to build a Graphic Mud. He asked me and I turned him down due to college and gf and such.

EQ is born and I start playing. I even joined Outriders of Karana with Aradune, Tagad, Nepenthia, Sark, Bravn, Deward and many other torilites.

The thing about EQ that wasn't like Toril that I really missed was the seperation of Goodies and Evils. It really went against the grain when I, as a Dwarf, grouped with Trolls and Ogres.

Enough of that though.

I'd like to see a number of quests geared towards teaching new people the mud. Something that shows them the areas with little risk. For those who know EQ they had the mail quests where you deliver scrolls to different mail mobs in other zones that give you some cash and some exp. That would work great here. The farther away the post the more exp or reward you should get.

Nothing irked me more in EQ and even on Toril than a person who didn't know their home town. On EQ so many people couldn't run from point A to point B because there were no Wizard/Druid ports. On Toril I believe that if you are a Dwarf then by god you had better know the ins and outs of Mithril Hall. Just a pet peeve of mine.

There can be no denying that we need to increase our player base. I think many of us have computer skills of some sort. Those of us with websites should put a link to Toril on it and talk up the game. I plan on having a few sites up soon dealing things non gamerish (I know its a sin) but I will put a link to our site here. We need to get more people involved. With more people that means more people can contribute to code, zones, quests, and things like that.

I started here back just before the "Dream" and I know there are other players who have been on here as long if not longer than I have. I left to play other games and do real life stuff and have been gone for a long time. Well now I am back because this is my drug of choice. I'd like to see it thrive.

*steps off soap box*

[Ihazim]

hey that mail mob thing is a rip off of gemstone 3 :p which has been around since like 86

[Grizz]

Well if it works then why not use it?

[Corth]

Torilmud has:

No pwipe.
No level restrictions on equipment (other than a few instruments and procs).
No restrictions on swapping equipment between chars.
No rent.

I play here because of these reasons, the relaxed atmosphere and freedom is part of the fun for me. There are plenty of other muds out there that have regular pwipes, level restrictions on eq, no eq swapping, rent.. I play none of them.

So it comes to this. People prefer sojourn/toril because of its relaxed atmosphere. If mystra were dead she would be turning in her grave. :)

[Corth]

The time for pwipe will be:
a) when melee balance is in, and considered "balanced"
b) tia is back in, flaws worked out.
c) other things are balanced.
d) reasonable playerbase

Rofl. So essentially you are saying that you never want a pwipe. Cause after all, we have made SO much progress in those areas... :)

Corth

[Mitharx]

Would a pwipe fix any of those problems? Probably not. It might piss off a bunch of players here tho.

I know I'd play less.

Not sure how the pwipe will help anything. Personal wipe is always an option. I'm yet to meet the person who says "I like Toril and would really like to play here except that you have good eq and have some high level characters. That really annoys me and I'm off to a graphics mud."

Is grouping for xp for some lower level new players more difficult because the experienced players have the eq to xp alone? In some cases yes, but I'm not sure that it's a major cause of pbase problems. Further, there will always be classes that need at least one other person to do some xp. As long as someone is playing them, groups are always possible.

Anyway, I'm not sure what a pwipe would accomplish except make me (and many others) do hours and hours of xp to get back to what I've already accomplished. Some people are crazy enough to level multiple rogue or chanter or cleric alts, but I don't wanna xp the classes I've already xp'ed unless it meant the mud would be much better off than it currently is.

[Grizz]

Ok then let's for the simple sake of simplicity say there is never going to be a pwipe. You are right, this would piss off the playerbase we are trying to keep so we don't want to do that. Then the question is, what does a player do when all their alts are level 50, they have explored nearly the entire game, and there is nothing left for them to truly accomplish?

Could we make weapons break and equipment rot so that it needs replacing? We could institute whetstones and sewing kits to sharpen or mend items. This would encourage players to upkeep their items or have someone with the skills upkeep them for them. How about equipment aging with your character as they stay rented for long periods of time.

Before you flame me hardcore, I am just tossing out ideas for debate. Trying to think of ways to revitalize other than a pwipe.

[Nelis]

You are flamed! Gri:P I am wondering why are people giving ideas that would shrink a mud base? pwipe? making weapons/eq rot/age? (after you have spent like 1 year learning and 12 hours getting an eq?) I would be the first to quit all my chars :P

[Corth]

I'm starting to think that you have a choice of losing some players (and perhaps gaining some) in a wipe, or letting the mud continue to stagnate endlessly until the pbase reaches 40 during prime time, then 30, then 20, etc etc... I really would like to see the gods do something similar to the beginning of Sojourn 3. Take the mud down for an undetermined amount of time with the promise of major improvements. Build up the anticipation, then bring it up with much fanfare. That would be a way to bring back a lot of the players that have left long ago...

Corth

[Grizz]

You are flamed! Gri:P I am wondering why are people giving ideas that would shrink a mud base? pwipe? making weapons/eq rot/age? (after you have spent like 1 year learning and 12 hours getting an eq?) I would be the first to quit all my chars :P

Well the idea of a pwipe is more for even'ing the playing field. I can see where it would be discouraging for a new player to come in and see that 90% of the players on are all over level 40 and have amazing equipment.

The idea of eq rot is mainly to give the old folks something to do. I am not saying that your sword is going to rot in a month or 3 months but think on how many battles you have used it in. It should at least be sharpened. Maybe after time you lose some + to hit or dam but they are restored after you sharpen and oil it. Maybe it is too real for a fantasy game.

[Sesexe]

I'm starting to think that you have a choice of losing some players (and perhaps gaining some) in a wipe, or letting the mud continue to stagnate endlessly until the pbase reaches 40 during prime time, then 30, then 20, etc etc... I really would like to see the gods do something similar to the beginning of Sojourn 3. Take the mud down for an undetermined amount of time with the promise of major improvements. Build up the anticipation, then bring it up with much fanfare. That would be a way to bring back a lot of the players that have left long ago...

Corth

Sorry this got long. Please bear with me.

Two things:
1) Don't you think that perhaps a large number of players would either just give up mudding entirely then? Or become addicted to a different mud? When I moved recently, I couldn't mud for a week. It was a good thing it was only a week, because I wasn't missing it and was finding all kinds of other things to do in my spare time that weren't mud-related. If it had been much longer then that, I'm not sure I'd be here at all anymore.

2) If there is even a person in charge of the advertising/fanfare/image for this mud currently, they are in need of serious help. Where are all the fancy banners? Where's all the gossip going on about us mudding forums? Where's the new player welcome commity? Where or who are the people going to other muds and spreading the good word to bring folks here? There is so much you can do to promote a mud, I see very little of it being done. So I'm not sure if that's on purpose or not. Maybe the mud isn't ready? Maybe they have all this building up in the works for some tremendous moment. I honestly don't know. I can only comment on the current situation, and apply it to any forseeable future circumstance. Because of that, I feel taking the mud down would have a terrible effect on it.


Now Corth, let me run something else by you. I hear this talk about pwipes every now and then, and how it destroys pbases and such, but I'd like to think there is something that's always been equally damaging. Spin-off muds. They don't just take away players, they take away builders and people who would otherwise contribute to the current mud's growth. (They are building a whole mud aren't they? Think of what they could have contributed here instead.) Over the course of this mud's span, there has been far more then 1 mud spin-off. There's been a LOT, and some are very successful.

Currently, I do see the mud more receptive to new ideas then every before, but I don't feel it's still up to snuff. You're right. It's stagnating, and this stagnation is killing it more then anything else.

Toril needs to spread it's roots out, break the pot holding it, and grow, really grow for once. Grow and become more receptive to different types of players, not continue to become smaller and smaller and more specialized.

[Corth]

The mud was down for what.. almost a year? And when it came back up we had a regular pbase of around 125-150. And I remember a few people who had said on toril that they would never come back should there be a pwipe, who ended up coming back.

Fact of the matter is that when the mud is in its infancy its the most exciting time. The race to be among the first level 50s for instance. The different groups competing with each other to get to zones first. Building up your group of friends over the course of several weeks so that they are strong enough to *attempt* zones like jot. As opposed to steamrolling jot for the 100923840th time without any thought whatsoever.

On the other hand, I am speaking from the perspective of someone who believes that gameplay is what defines a mud. I suspect that many of those who actually are in a position to make decisions enjoy the mud more for its social aspects.

[Sesexe]

On the other hand, I am speaking from the perspective of someone who believes that gameplay is what defines a mud. I suspect that many of those who actually are in a position to make decisions enjoy the mud more for its social aspects.

You're not the only one, but I don't feel a game should only be defined on the experience of playing it thru once. I feel re-playability is a significant factor with all games.

[Ahxeriden Aethorcyn]

The mud was down for what.. almost a year? And when it came back up we had a regular pbase of around 125-150. And I remember a few people who had said on toril that they would never come back should there be a pwipe, who ended up coming back.

Fact of the matter is that when the mud is in its infancy its the most exciting time. The race to be among the first level 50s for instance. The different groups competing with each other to get to zones first. Building up your group of friends over the course of several weeks so that they are strong enough to *attempt* zones like jot. As opposed to steamrolling jot for the 100923840th time without any thought whatsoever.

On the other hand, I am speaking from the perspective of someone who believes that gameplay is what defines a mud. I suspect that many of those who actually are in a position to make decisions enjoy the mud more for its social aspects.

Man, I agree with all of that. We need a shutdown, and reopen bigger and better than before.

[teflor the ranger]

How soon can we pwipe?

general balance incl. melee & rangers etc, before even considering it.

OMFG. To quote Amolol: "I have a feeling we're about to get upgraded with another major downgrade."

And just because you are stupid, it does not mean that you are wrong.

[Jurdex]

The mud was down for what.. almost a year? And when it came back up we had a regular pbase of around 125-150. And I remember a few people who had said on toril that they would never come back should there be a pwipe, who ended up coming back.

Fact of the matter is that when the mud is in its infancy its the most exciting time. The race to be among the first level 50s for instance. The different groups competing with each other to get to zones first. Building up your group of friends over the course of several weeks so that they are strong enough to *attempt* zones like jot. As opposed to steamrolling jot for the 100923840th time without any thought whatsoever.

On the other hand, I am speaking from the perspective of someone who believes that gameplay is what defines a mud. I suspect that many of those who actually are in a position to make decisions enjoy the mud more for its social aspects.

Corth, I tend to agree. I think one of the most damaging effects to the mud was when we lost monks and the specialty classes started seeping in.

Back in the day you had standard class types.. you didn't need 1 of everyone to go do a zone.. and the zoning was much more flexible.

I tend to think that had the same efforts put into branching the sorc class into several different subtypes and making the game spell-based instead of melee-based had been put into improving the atmosphere of the mud (guildhalls, castle code, trade, things you can do not involving exp/zoning), then it would still retain quite a larger playerbase.

A lot of people loved big elementals, huge hit/dams as warriors, ridiculous amounts of attacks as monks, and having the versatility of one sorc class doing damage while protecting..

Most of that is gone, and so are a lot of those players. Sometimes more complex or intricate does not always translate to more fun or better.

Just my two cents.

Dornax
Jurdex

[Jhorr]

Every time this MUD had a pwipe, the player base has decreased.

I think new features, new classes, new races, and general expansion of the MUD is the way to go to attract new players and hold onto old players. Without graphics, we need other bells and whistles to make up for it (i.e., a more complex economy, guild halls, class kits including multiclassing that could be quest-based, more zones *cough* Tiamat, etc.).

[Sesexe]

It would be interesting to see how many people would play on another copy of Toril online at the same time as this one, but on the 2nd one there would be a complete pwipe.

[Sservis]

On the other hand, I am speaking from the perspective of someone who believes that gameplay is what defines a mud. I suspect that many of those who actually are in a position to make decisions enjoy the mud more for its social aspects.

Amen.

As far as I can tell the stagnation/pbase issues involved with sojourn don't relate to pwipe much.

The mud has stagnated in a lot of ways, why? Try getting some Cyric or Shevarash time. It's virtually impossible to do in any kind of reasonible timeframe. Even Shar can be hard to find. They are incredibly busy in real life I suspect. I joked with Shevarash that OOC is really Shevaradar when I finally broke through.

I'm still waiting for the code/areas spheres to show real progress. No offense to either, I blame rl, not the imms. The other major issue [other than rl] is that when the mud split a number of imms were no longer welcome for whatever reason. This caused the workload of the existing imms to increase. When was the last time that a new imm was welcomed into the fold? Gorm I think, a long long time ago. [and as an admin, not coder/areas. I'm probably forgetting some obvious imm that was created recently, aplogies in advance]

It's not players that we should be recruiting, but imms. Help Shev/Cyric/Shar lighten their workloads so they can work on increasing the rate of progress on the mud, making this mud seem like it's not stagnated but actually living and breathing.

[moritheil]

No I totally agree with the fact that things have to be put into place, balance issues, quests/zones/etc for levels 1-20. With the slower progression to 50, it wouldn't be too difficult to keep adding content slowly.

The whole plan is to create a fresh approach to text based gaming. It's not all about equipment. Enjoying the experience that RP based quests and challenges have to offer are really important in immersing somebody in a world full of text.

Planning and deploying a strategy to really market the new approach and getting it out there to MUD websites would really help overall. It's not difficult to even pay some of the major MUD websites $5 a month to have an email sign-up for people interested in a "fresh approach to text based gaming" that wouldn't be used for solicitation. Then you just send out monthly newsletters detailing the progress and really cracking down on getting the groundwork layed out and then expanding on the low-level content before really getting deep into the high level stuff. It would take a lot of time and a careful thought process, but in the end I guarantee you that the player base would increase dramatically. The game would start competing with graphical mmorpgs for sure considering you dont have to pay to play.

I'd love to be a part of the process, and again I would love to offer my help in realizing this with as much time as I can. I also believe others would really want to get involved to make sure things are balanced as far as items/quests/monters/zones/etc.

It's more or less taking a game where the race to 50 and getting great gear is replaced with a slower paced progression (eventually leading to 50 and possibly sub-classing to 60) and really experiencing what the mud has to offer overall.

I firmly believe that word of mouth and a small extremely low-budget marketing plan would help a ton and really get the word out that toril is revamping into an overall gaming experience that won't end with just adding another piece of equipment to an already large pile. Equipment would naturally be a part of the game and would come into play to really get things done.

Anyways, I keep thinking of more stuff that would really make this something to think about.

Talk to ya guys later.

I think it's important that we're thinking about all these things . . . but at the same time, it's important to discuss what we feel might help.

I don't see how eq level restrictions and nontransferable eq are "a fresh approach," since the vast majority of MUDs feature those. Nor do I see how more of a focus on RP, dare I say, approaching forced RP, will help. Again, most MUDS have some elements of that, and they are woefully small. This is not to say that there should be no eq with restrictions, or no RP - just that in making this mud focused on those things we run the risk of losing what makes Sojourn unique.