Whatcha think?

Players. Haha.

We've got players. Anything else?

What do you mean, "We've got players."?

Maybe Riffe meant to be more specific and could have said "We need MORE players." Granted, we have an abundant supply of accounts but most of them have run off. The reason why is somewhat a mystery to me, being that Tempus is so unique. However, this is the way I see it:

It starts off as Tempus being rather difficult for half of the mud and rather easy for the other half. (Players who start early tend to get the benefits and leave little to none for the rest. Quests, player killing, leveling places, powerful friends and tricks of the trade, as a result, all tend to stick with the early half.) This power deviation splits the mud in half, those who want to have fun in quests and player killing and those who just want to learn more about the mud. The more powerful get bored and start killing the less powerful; the penalties for dying are far too great and so the receiving end run away. (I know, I've been on both sides.) Player base starts dwindling and then the more powerful start leaving too. Some players come back and become the more powerful and repeat the same process and so we're stuck with only a few players at one time.

In the end, I'd like to think the fact that being buff is based mainly on equipment is the only reason why we're missing players, new and old. Unfortunately, there are other problems too such as: jobs, school and relationships that players rather do, the grind that it takes to get to gen 10, the end of the line after gen 10, the lack of quests, the lack of player killing. However, I think it all starts with equipment.

Before he quit, Nothing shared with some of us his dream of a new Tempus. He wanted us to like our characters more and our equipment less. It sounded promising. What if having ' behead (very good)' would invoke a "good, that should inflict a lot of damage to them" from an ally. Or a 'combo (extraordinary)' would call attention to the whole mud.

Before I start ranting more, I'd just like to say that something drastic needs to happen. Whatever we've been doing in the past doesn't seem to be working. What worse can it get anyway? (Just save the data base if it actually does get worse. :P)

If y'all think I'm wrong, please enlighten me.

I think that the letting people remort past gen 10 was a good thing. A lot of people didn't like it because there wasn't really a point. I never did it myself but from what I was told your maxhit didn't go up so it was basically like remorting gen 10 again. Maybe bring back gen 11 and up and raise the maxhit/mana/move so that it gets higher with each gen past gen 10. Also put in something that gives players reason to continue to remort past gen 10. I had posted before that maybe like gen 13 or higher that a player could be able to learn their secondary classes remort skills.

Another point to make is the eq that new players start with could be revamped a bit. The eq is pretty shoddy in my opinion. Maybe give them a couple of decent pieces of eq and a middle tier weapon when they start. Of all the new players I've helped with eq when they start all of them always ask me for a weapon. Also maybe the eq that they receive outta the replicator could be different for each class. So if your a mage the eq could have mostly + wis and int eq and so on. Make it give out what is most important to the class.

As far as quests go I think that right now due to the lack of players being on it's really hard to run a quest. If I'm on and there is 10-11 people on I try to run a quest but most of the time 3 to 4 people are afk or don't want to quest. I do what I can to bring back older quests that people seem to want to do again. I brought back the Panda Cup which was a success, and will be back in a month for another installment. The Assassin's quest has also been good when I run it. I have added a few of my own quests in there also. Eclipse also tries to run quests whenever I'm not running one or a lot of times right after I finish running one. I could agree that Tempus could use at least 1 more questor to do stuff when I'm not around or when another imm isn't trying to run one.

Anyway as far as the player base Tempus has been through ruts like this before. Normally a semi-big group of new players will join and keep playing and a few old players will come back. I was gone for around 2 years and when I came back there were alot of new faces. And a few old faces who had come back. Some people just need time off for a while or decide that Tempus just isn't for them. Also I know that most of the time newbs aren't greeted with the friendliness that they need to see when they first enter the game. Mostly it's 2 or 3 players outta the group that say hi or welcome to the new arrival. Then if Wish asks if someone will help them only a few people will offer. I personally will always help a new player if they need it. But there are some players that are down right asses to new players if they ask questions. I know what it was like when i first started not knowing anything and people being like that. I was pk'd right after I hit level 25 when I started. A normal person would have quit right then. Just in general I think that most of the new players are treated bad by the "powerful players" as deneb puts it and decide not to continue to play.

"Class necessity" is a missing element of this game, in my opinion.

It's easy to create your own niche characters, all by yourself. I.e. the "tank," the "zone runner," the "money maker," etc.

Ironically, certain classes take many of the roles of others, biasing the treatment of a majority of the vast roles that one can play on Tempus. Creating a character of an uncommon class is often out of novelty and not necessarily practicality.

Once a person jumps over the hurdle of the first gen 10, it's easier to create other niches on their own. This removes the need for other players, groups etc. I.e. "Oh, I don't need to take Jim for his set of skills, because I can just log on my other character and finish the zone up on my own."

Achieving gen 10 is a long, arduous task, for those of us who choose not to binge play. However, many can attest that once that main character is established, especially a cleric, monk or mage class, much of the game's equipment and items are "unlocked" for that person, making their newer characters much easier to equip and level.

With so many players with Class-Jacks-of-All-trades mentalities out there, it's easy to deny grouping outside of spam-leveling. The line between class roles has also blurred awfully, where a few classes are all you need to really enjoy the mud…and most of the time solo.

To bring back a sense of "Class Necessity" would be a hard thing to do, however I really think that infusing the mud with a feeling of "being needed" would help improve the player base, but also grouping as well.

R

I don't quite agree with your self leveling rationale Riffe, the way the Tempus experience system is setup, you get more experience leveling with someone than you would by yourself, especially if the two grouping are the same gen/level/hits the same amount. Even when it isn't, grouping is the most efficient way to level as long as you places to go to. Really exp is maximized when there are two people. Past 3, the split gets sort of ridiculous so its really not worth bringing that many people along. As for what Tempus needs most, the Holodeck newbie level currently does not spawn a weapon at all for newbies. This leads to a frustrating process of almost killing something and have it heal back to full on tick. The sharp stick was obviously overpowered, but I thought the way the old one was (I think 20 ave dam? Could even be 10 ave dam, with a boost of 10 hitroll or something like that would be more than enough.) Also, make sure the weapons are class specific, as newbie good aligned clerics got shafted b/c they didn't have a wieldable weapon.

Also what Deneb said, penalties for dying are way too steep for this game. It's realistic, but it also keeps normal people from wanting to continue once they've lost everything they worked so hard for over the past few months.

Tempus needs a new attribute system! My tiny, girly mage having herculean strength is kinda cool, but weird when I compare it to my barbarian.

The penalties for dying are realistic?

Hah, hah. Ho, ho. Hee, hee. Oh, man.

Demandred:

I agree that the newbie area needs rethunking. That's right, thUnking. It's on the to-do list.

Riffe:

More class-specific/unique endeavors are a good idea. Noted.

Heya… how are ya anyway?

Time for a shot-gun style post aimed at this thread?

I think tempus really needs a hookah bar.. and maybe add in some Syrian kids who are speaking really really loud, because they're trying to call back home on calling cards and their relatives connection sucks.

I seem to get the feeling that one gets having had a "ranger rick" subscription for 20 years, while reading these forums, where it starts repeating again.

Yes, the first time you try and get a char to 10th, there's a lot of learning to do, afterwards it gets easier because you know a lot more. I've started over from scratch after many FoDs/player wipes. It really is easier because I know what works.. It helps a little to have a char to fetch eq for a multi, but anyone that knows me, will state the obvious, I usually wear just enough eq to get by.. It's the player that makes the character… I don't believe in owning a "super-uber-oedited xzibit pimp my char" set of eq. I learned to do without, and I still hear from time to time that something one of my chars does is, "cheap".

Finishing up my 12th year of playing, and having had well over 250+ times of remorting under my belt, I'd be lying if I said someone with their first gen 10 character (mage), was equal to any 10th gen mage controlled by me.. not just PvP, but in a tough zone with mobs… There is something to be said for buff-ness being more than gen, eq, or class.

When I first started playing, it was very slow, there was horribly violent PvP around every corner, my eq was rat-S, I usually got ignored when I asked questions, and people did have a sense of, "I don't know this kid, F him".. and yes, I didn't know much (You gossip, 'Hey what does this "toughguy yes" mean?'. I was by no means was the first to start playing Tempus.. Naz/Noob were already 10th as well as a host of others (sorry if I left a lot of others/you out :P ), and the only friends I started out with were the other Herndonites (Guerrand, Ragnar, Lester, Nocte, ect {not to mention I think Lester killed me a few times :P}). I was away for some months after the last wipe, used pretty much all new names, since most of the old ones were camped on by ppl (some wanted money, others for spite, a few because they liked what the name stood for, and some other random reasons I may never understand), but I rolled up my sleeves and had a blast. Yes, I had a lot of new things to learn, but that's the fun part. It doesn't matter when you start/ed playing, anyone can get to the top, if they're willing to put in the time. Figuring out what worked well in certain areas, and what didn't work well in others, was a fun part of the game. Yes, learning was fun for me!

Things seem to be a lot easier to get rolling now-a-days for newer players. I don't know if easier equates into more fun, you don't have to look over your shoulder as you used to after level 6, you have a whole gen of mort to get situated. Normally people wouldn't kill a level 7, since they would be labeled as a "newbie killer" and usually would draw the ire of the community at large, but only if they found out. It used to make me laugh (before the last wipe) when I'd get called a "newbie killer" by newer players for going after a gen 3+, almost as if they had fallen out of touch with reality of what a "newbie" was..

I can't fathom that someone who gets enjoyment out of tempus can be chased off so easily. I wasn't chased off the game because Mordecai and his lower flunkies would clean me out.. it was a reason to roll up my sleeves, be smarter, and to learn from it. More often than not, "these uber buff people are chasing all the new players off" became an excuse to change things, and more often for the worse.. it always seemed like a lot of non-sense to me.

I don't much care for pking anymore, for a multitude of reasons.., call me old, call me a fogie, call me late for dinner.. I do think about coming out of retirement when I see a friend get tagged for reasons I don't agree with, sure..

I liked the older-older pk system better, that's what tempus needs as a unique endeavor. :P

I wouldn't mind seeing a new class, and new things get put in (or old like oddy :), but then I might come across as sel-fish (Hey, it's shark-week on the discovery channel!)

:P

Good day,

-C

How about a quest with a grand prize of having one of our characters featured in one of the Quixen Tred journal entries?

I'll second that.

Yeah but I want my character to behead Quixen Tred and make a steak out of his corpse. That or charm him and force him to get eaten by the tarrasque so I can collect his bones and make a nice soup.

Maybe make the prize of being featured in the entry a rotating one? The journal is entertaining reading.

I have to agree with the post citing "players". I met some really cool people in tempus over the years, and it saddens me to see most of them gone. What I'm wondering is, when did the mud seem to die out? I took a break due to some problems I was having, and having a family definitely limited my availability. Now I own a ps3, an xbox, etc, but honestly none of that stuff has anything as unique as Tempus. Granted there are some great games, they don't touch a certain area of gaming that this does. I was around when pk and pstealing were rampant. You would goup for the purpose of leveling and having someone watch your back. Quests ran almost nightly, and you had the option to grind or just hang in hs and bs with people. Items were auctioned off every minute. you had to hit "m" about three times to see the complete wholist. Now it seems every zone should have an insant where you see " A tumbleweed drifts across the road, kicking up a trail of dust," I hope the MUD comes back to life and old players and new return. I've tried to promote it to some people so we will see.

Tempus needs Santa.