egreir Posted January 12, 2021 Report Share Posted January 12, 2021 So, I wanted to propose a monthly thread where staff can give some feedback to the community on what's going on behind the scenes. I wanted to put forth a format for it to be done in to make it easy and consistent. This can help serve to not only keep current players interested but to attract new players as they see the game still actively being developed and get a feel for what may be in the pipes. There is an obvious disclaimer that goes along with this, and no staff should feel pressured to answer or give up anything that isn't ready to be made public. That being said, if this is received well, I could make this a monthly post.... January 2021 - The State of Aabahran Address Building: The KTF was a massive success, in my opinion. What takeaways did the staff come away with and will we be seeing future seasonal/temporary areas like this? What went wrong, what went well? Are there any plans to replace more stock areas in the game? Coding: Shield Lore has been a hot button item in the community and lots of changes are going into the code. How far out of balance does the staff feel this is, if at all, and are more changes still on the table? What are some of the priorities for the mud right now from a coding perspective? Global RP: What is the current state of the global RP plot? Can someone please write a brief synopsis of what has happened so far, where it is now, and what may or may not be happening next? This will allow new players/characters to get involved a bit easier. Staff: Abrogast and Gifnab have been an amazing addition to the staff, I think all players can agree to that. The MUD as a whole has been taking great steps towards the right direction in the context of keeping player excitement at and all-time high and continuing its commitment to transparency. What is the mood in the staff lounge, so to speak? What is the vision for FL as we move into 2021 and beyond? DISCLAIMER: No staff should feel forced to answer here, and neither is any answer given a promise or commitment of any kind. Things change, priorities shift, etc. This is a non-profit volunteer staff and what they choose to do with their time is solely their decision. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
egreir Posted January 12, 2021 Author Report Share Posted January 12, 2021 A monthly discord AMA would also be very cool Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
'tarako Posted January 12, 2021 Report Share Posted January 12, 2021 Active plots created by imms with no scripted end would be neat. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
egreir Posted January 12, 2021 Author Report Share Posted January 12, 2021 We’ve tried that. Players never really take over and always wait for the imms to do stuff. I’d like to avoid that, but some of it is inevitable because imms have to move the plot along somehow, typically. Having these kind of monthly updates should help plot stagnation. It will help by reminding and making transparent where the plot is, that way when someone comes back from a 2-3 month hiatus, or someone just lost track, it's evident what is happening and gives them a place to jump in at. I could not tell you where the current plot is and so I have a hard time even knowing what I should/could be doing. This would fix that. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gifnab Posted January 14, 2021 Report Share Posted January 14, 2021 On 1/12/2021 at 2:49 PM, egreir said: January 2021 - The State of Aabahran Address Building: The KTF was a massive success, in my opinion. What takeaways did the staff come away with and will we be seeing future seasonal/temporary areas like this? What went wrong, what went well? Are there any plans to replace more stock areas in the game? Yes. On 1/12/2021 at 2:49 PM, egreir said: Coding: Shield Lore has been a hot button item in the community and lots of changes are going into the code. How far out of balance does the staff feel this is, if at all, and are more changes still on the table? What are some of the priorities for the mud right now from a coding perspective? The current code priorities that I am aware of, in no particular order, include: 1) Bug and balance fixes. 2) Cleric/Shaman/Healer class rework. 3) Thief class rework. 4) Other small changes/ideas as they pop up and are discussed. We also just introduced seasonal races on a preliminary basis. Depending on how this little pilot goes, there may be additional seasonal race opportunities in the future. On 1/12/2021 at 2:49 PM, egreir said: Global RP: What is the current state of the global RP plot? Can someone please write a brief synopsis of what has happened so far, where it is now, and what may or may not be happening next? This will allow new players/characters to get involved a bit easier. Synopsis: Torments and wraiths are attacking the Great Wall of Aabahran. The reason is unknown. The current defenders of the wall are not sufficient to hold back the attacks, nor are the uncoordinated occasional infusions of guild, clan, and racial bannermen. The Wall is at risk of being overrun, allowing torments and wraiths to escape into the West. There will be an announcement made on this topic soon. On 1/12/2021 at 2:49 PM, egreir said: Staff: Abrogast and Gifnab have been an amazing addition to the staff, I think all players can agree to that. The MUD as a whole has been taking great steps towards the right direction in the context of keeping player excitement at and all-time high and continuing its commitment to transparency. What is the mood in the staff lounge, so to speak? What is the vision for FL as we move into 2021 and beyond? Staff Lounge mood varies from excited to gassy, with the occasional "Don't touch that, Gifnab" sprinkled in. The vision, from where I'm sitting, is to... Complete the equipment rebalance and assess the overall impact of the final result Evaluate the post-gear dependency balance status of various races/classes Make additional changes to gear and/or said races/classes as needed Deliver new and exciting content to the best of our available time and ability Continue to advance a more engaging, informative, and productive newbie experience Develop new opportunities for solo/off-peak players to engage in the game world Investigate ways to bolster the size of the playerbase, through both encouraging new players and returning veterans With that said, I'll add a new category to your post. What you can do to help: Hit up that old friend/roommate/ex lover/drinking buddy/colleague that used to play the game and sow the seeds of a glorious return If half of our current active players get ONE person to play the game, it will make a tremendous difference. If ALL of our current active players get ONE person to play the game, it will feel like the early- to mid-2000s again. Post a review at www.reddit.com/r/mud about the FL experience A single player could volunteer to write a monthly update, to be posted to the same board. If you write it, I'll fill in the gaps with upcoming events/activities and post it. And the biggest thing you can do to help? Play the game. Engage in some RP Nothing going on in your cabal? Start something. We have a great, highly dedicated staff that WANTS to see stuff happening. But our creativity and time have limits -- so start an RP plot and most importantly, commit (to yourself, above anyone else) to see it all the way through. Engage in high quality PK Nobody cares about your KDR except you. Get out there and actually fight your cabal enemies. Start a new war. Give me something fun to watch. Don't just log in, wait for your noquit timer to fall off, and quit out again Find your "one or two things" that you're going to do every play session, and try to stick to doing them. I can't tell you how funny/sad it is as an imm to see "So and so connected" then five minutes goes by and see "So and so disconnected," followed two minutes later by "Such and such connected." You guys have no idea how often you are ships passing in the night. Finally, I'll add one more thing. What's one new thing I'm willing to do to help: Pick one hour a week. Decide amongst yourselves. Start a poll or something, I don't care how you do it. But pick one hour a week during the hours of 5PM - 12AM EST. During that time I will... Guarantee that I will be on my immortal and visible. Offer some kind of global riddle/scavenger hunt/contest/activity. Facilitate some cool IMM-led RP or interaction, with a finale in the form of a reward (RP points, Kreyis, a heaping plate of muffins, I dunno yet) for those involved. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
egreir Posted January 14, 2021 Author Report Share Posted January 14, 2021 If no one else wants to take the monthly reddit post under their wings, I will do it. I think that's a good idea to stay current and visible. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
egreir Posted January 14, 2021 Author Report Share Posted January 14, 2021 When do we want to get Gifbagged? - Polls - Aabahran: the Forsaken Lands Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
egreir Posted January 22, 2021 Author Report Share Posted January 22, 2021 Here's a very rough idea of what a monthly update would look like on r/mud. I'm looking for feedback on what we could add, take away, etc. I'd like some monthly stats from the MUD on player count, unique IP connections, Pdeaths, etc Aabahran: The Forsaken Lands Aabahran was founded over 20 years ago by a group of like-minded MUDders who wanted to branch out from their original home and build something new and exciting. Their focus was on a competitive Player-Killing world that still had enriching RP with overarching themes that bound the world together and made the PK mean that much more. 20+ years, staff changes, and many additions later we are still here. You can find us on our Discord at https://discordapp.com/invite/rguUVSP Or you can leap right into the action at https://grapevine.haus/games/ForsakenLands Our goal with this ongoing post is to highlight what’s going on in Aabahran every month. If you’re looking to try a new MUD, you can’t go wrong with the Forsaken Lands. We feel as though we have some of the best Roleplayers and PlayerKillers around! Whatever you are looking for, you’re sure to find some of it here. We now have an ongoing global RP plot cycle that attempts to bring allies and enemies into the conflict so that the players can further shape the world. We had our initial launch of seasonal content and plan to do more of these events that are only available for a limited time. Our community is active in the Discord and eager to take on new players and help them fall in love with the game that most of us have been playing for more than half our lives. You are rewarded for your Roleplaying with tangible in-game rewards and unlockable character boosts (think extra health regen, etc) Our end-game content is both challenging and rewarding if PvE interests you as well! Thanks for reading and stay tuned for our monthly updates! January 2021 Current Global RP Plot: Torments and wraiths are attacking the Great Wall of Aabahran. The reason is unknown. The current defenders of the wall are not sufficient to hold back the attacks, nor are the uncoordinated occasional infusions of guild, clan, and racial bannermen. The Wall is at risk of being overrun, allowing torments and wraiths to escape into the West. There will be an announcement made on this topic soon as these plots are moved along by the staff. Game Development: Some of the current code priorities, in no particular order, include: Bug and balance fixes. Cleric/Shaman/Healer class rework. Thief class rework. Other small changes/ideas as they pop up and are discussed. We also just introduced seasonal races on a preliminary basis. Depending on how this little pilot goes, there may be additional seasonal race opportunities in the future. Staff Plans: Complete the equipment rebalance and assess the overall impact of the final result Evaluate the post-gear dependency balance status of various races/classes Make additional changes to gear and/or said races/classes as needed Deliver new and exciting content to the best of our available time and ability Continue to advance a more engaging, informative, and productive newbie experience Develop new opportunities for solo/off-peak players to engage in the game world Investigate ways to bolster the size of the playerbase, through both encouraging new players and returning veterans Cabal Numbers: Total/Active/Inactive [SYNDICATE] | 8 5 3 [NEXUS] | 6 3 3 [WARMASTER] | 5 4 1 [TRIBUNAL] | 3 3 0 [SAVANT] | 3 2 1 [KNIGHT] | 3 2 1 [WATCHER] | 2 1 1 [CHURCH] | 2 2 0 [HERALD] | 1 0 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
egreir Posted January 25, 2021 Author Report Share Posted January 25, 2021 I’m gonna start our “month in review” on Feb 1 in r/mud @Erelei Are there any statistics the mud can pull such as new character creation, player kills, or unique connections for the last X amount of days? That would be really nice to show. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Implementor Kassieti Posted January 25, 2021 Implementor Report Share Posted January 25, 2021 They've been downvoting your posts lately. You may want to go easy on the hocking the FL name there else you'll do more harm than good. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
egreir Posted January 25, 2021 Author Report Share Posted January 25, 2021 I have a following of haters then because I haven’t posted more than once or twice. Just checked my history. I made one reply to two posts in r/mud in the past like 4 months. Gotta love reddit Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
egreir Posted January 25, 2021 Author Report Share Posted January 25, 2021 1 hour ago, Kassieti said: They've been downvoting your posts lately. You may want to go easy on the hocking the FL name there else you'll do more harm than good. Then someone else could post if they care to. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
egreir Posted January 25, 2021 Author Report Share Posted January 25, 2021 Seems it paid off. xxxxx NEWBIE chats: 'Are you new to Aabahran? If so, can I ask how you found us and why you decided to try? We're on a mission to acquire more players.' Lyari NEWBIE chats: 'Reddit' Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
egreir Posted January 26, 2021 Author Report Share Posted January 26, 2021 7 players on this morning. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Trick Posted January 26, 2021 Report Share Posted January 26, 2021 Nice! Good work man! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dale Posted January 27, 2021 Report Share Posted January 27, 2021 Can't wait to get home and help them all get decked😈 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
egreir Posted January 27, 2021 Author Report Share Posted January 27, 2021 Players matched: 10 There are 10 characters on, the most on since startup was 22. The title of Master Questor of Aabahran is currently held by Korangar. thats what im talkin about Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
egreir Posted February 1, 2021 Author Report Share Posted February 1, 2021 @Gifnab @Erelei This is going up tonight around 7pm EST on r/mud and various FB groups if either of you would like to have any suggestions/input into the content or format. I've asked and have not heard back from either of you regarding MUD stats like total Pkills, total new character creation, etc for the last 30 days, if something like that was possible? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gifnab Posted February 1, 2021 Report Share Posted February 1, 2021 2 hours ago, egreir said: @Gifnab @Erelei This is going up tonight around 7pm EST on r/mud and various FB groups if either of you would like to have any suggestions/input into the content or format. I've asked and have not heard back from either of you regarding MUD stats like total Pkills, total new character creation, etc for the last 30 days, if something like that was possible? I don't have access to this information. If it exists in any kind of compact format, it's something E would have to pull. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
egreir Posted February 1, 2021 Author Report Share Posted February 1, 2021 I figured as much, just wasn't sure if you'd inquired about it or not. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
egreir Posted February 1, 2021 Author Report Share Posted February 1, 2021 Aabahran: The Forsaken Lands - A Monthly Update and Promotion Thread : MUD (reddit.com) go and upvote, comment, whatever. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
egreir Posted February 2, 2021 Author Report Share Posted February 2, 2021 updated the post w/ a better discord link to track traffic from reddit Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Quicksilver Posted February 2, 2021 Report Share Posted February 2, 2021 Maybe someone who has permissions in the discord can add a channel to funnel new people for both introductions and questions. fl-discussion can move too quickly, while the-source and items-and-ids are too specific. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Implementor Kassieti Posted February 2, 2021 Implementor Report Share Posted February 2, 2021 I understand where you're coming from, but I largely disagree with doing this. We live in the era of social media. People are used to scrolling through places with multiple people chatting and missing bits of conversation in active rooms if they step away too long. So the speed of conversation shouldn't really be an issue. If it is, it's not hard to simply re-ask. If you're active in chat and asking questions, you're unlikely to miss information given to you. If you are having trouble keeping up, Discord allows you to scroll back a bit and read things at your leisure. As you're already there and again, active, there's little to no loss. I fully believe that shunting a new player into their own little corner creates a sense of alienation. I mean, FL discussion is meant to be where people talk about the game and forcing them into yet another channel to ask these specific questions about the game is counter-intuitive. By that, I mean do you think it would be fair to anyone to be forced into a separate channel to ask your question when people are doing the same thing in the main game discussion channel, all because you're a guest and haven't made a forum account yet? As it stands, guest are limited currently to two channels, FL discussion and off topic, which is where the bulk of the conversation is anyway. I wouldn't be opposed to opening up more channels to the guest role, but to funnel their questions specifically into another channel is a no from me. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Quicksilver Posted February 2, 2021 Report Share Posted February 2, 2021 I see your point. I have just always been a fan of how the forums have been setup and think it would also work well in the Discord channel. I believe being new already has a built-in feeling of alienation. It's a new game world and new community. Also hats off to egreir and anyone else helping get the word out. Glad to see the effort paying off and getting new blood into FL. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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