I've been watching these forums for years, but have been largely silent because I felt that speaking up on any matter wouldn't matter at all. I first played SK nearly 17 years ago, and have played off and on, here and there since. I wanted to chime in because I feel I can contribute something to this conversation and share some food for thought. I happen to work in marketing for my company, thus I also feel I have some unique perspectives to add.
Trosis wrote: Offer them a free boost to mentor to try to get them to come back.
Trosis, you have some good ideas, however offering free boosts and goodies might entice some back in the short term, however long term the game may lose them again if the reasons they left in the first place haven't been addressed or are still persisting.
In essence, by offering goodies to get people to return all you're doing is addressing the symptom, not the underlying problem. One thing I can share, and I feel would help reveal the core of the problem is asking some of questions (no, I'm not expecting anyone to post answers to them):
1) WHY do people stop playing? WHAT was the catalyst behind that decision? Since players can answer a quick question at PC deletion (if they delete their PC and it's not auto deleted due to inactivity) the answers provided to that can help answer those questions, and provide that insight.
2) WHY do people decide to try out or return to the MUD? WHAT was the catalyst that encouraged them to give SK a try or return? Answering this will help understand player motives for playing and determine if the motives that the game is touting complement the motives of the players who come play. If a player leaves then it might help uncover a trending disconnect between player expectations vs. what the game turned out to be.
I think once it's understood why people are leaving and what's making them depart, AND why people try or return to the game and what was the factor was that affected that choice, then strategies and changes can be looked at to improve the playerbase, and the game, because then you're addressing the problem and not just the symptoms.
Trosis wrote: I think it would benefit the game if you reached out on somewhere other than the main forums.
I agree, wholeheartedly. Matter of fact if there isn't an Imm who is supposed to see to advertising/marketing/promoting the MUD and building the player community, I think that such should be considered as a part of an Imm's role, or a new Imm or Angel position created whose sole job is to see to advertising/marketing/promoting the game. All the other MU* I've played (and in one case actually helped with) in the not-so-distant-past (less than 3 years ago) have had at least one staff member whose job was to take care of promoting the game. Many of those games are still going strong and have decent playerbases because someone is getting the word out about what's going on with the game, and encouraging people to come try it.
The other thing these games have in common is an out of game culture and playerbase that are respectful to each other, realizing that the character they see on screen is played by another person behind another keyboard. This doesn't mean that everyone always agrees, but the staff have also sought to foster a healthy out-of-game community.
However there's a bigger problem here and that is that SK has an image issue that it needs to resolve. Why do I feel that it does? I'd like to share the following that I dug up in less than a 1/2 hour of searching (including some thoughts on each link):
Top MUD Sites Player Reviews (you'll need to do a search for "Shattered Kingdoms" to bring up the SK related reviews): The latest reviews are from 2006. A lot has changed since then, and while it's nice to see how people felt about the game back then, there's nothing giving me an idea of what people think of the game 11 years since the last review was written. There isn't a single SK review on the Mud Reviews section of the forum, which contains current reviews.
Top MUD Sites details about SK: The general description is still good, but some of the details are obviously out of date. It's clear no one has taken the time to look at updating the MUD listing here.
MUD Connect Player Reviews: A few reviews, including one from last year. Looking at the review left last year the game sounds interesting, however the points made about the out-of-game issues paint a less-than-desirable picture. If I had never played the game prior and read that, it would make me have second thoughts about trying the game. The review from 2011, it's clearly a rant and not a review, and at least the SK staff answer from Dulrik was polite so that's a good sign. The other reviews are upwards of 10+ years old, so I'm not going to look them over because a lot has changed since then. While it's nice to see how people felt about the game back then, there's nothing beyond those two reviews giving me an idea of what people think of the game today.
MUD Connect details about SK: Much like Top Mud Sites, the general description is still good, but some of the details are obviously out of date. It's clear no one has taken the time to look at updating the MUD listing here.
MudStats SK Entry: This has been the most accurate of the sites with details on the game. Granted it's pulling in some reviews and details from Top Mud Sites, Mud Connect and some other sites, however its player count is far more accurate and the charts and graphs paint an interesting picture about player activity.
Reddit Thread #1 on SK: Looks like some people's first impressions are positive, however there's a comment there from someone who has played the game before and for some time (bottom comment): decent IC, but OOC it's horrible. Like above, if I had never played the game prior and read that, it would make me have second thoughts about trying the game because of the fact that the OOC community looks to be unhealthy.
Reddit Thread #2 on SK: Nothing really of value here. Only thing of real substance is the comment about a NPC bandit killing a lowbie on the road and them losing their equipment, and the pile of corpses also backstabbed to death while trying to get said equipment back. While the comment really isn't giving me any review material to base an opinion off of, it is still valuable information as it does express a pain point that some players have with the game, and that is valuable information that the Imms can use.
MUD Subreddit SK posts: Nothing of real value there beyond the two reviews noted above as anything else is 5+ years old and a lot can change in that time, though this subreddit would be a good spot to post regular promotions to.
Reddit SK posts: Nothing of real value there beyond what's been shared above as anything else is 5+ years old and a lot can change in that time.
SK Game Search: Outside of the links that point to the SK site, the links on the first few pages largely go to really old reviews and pages with details that haven't been updated in a very long time.
SK Logs Search: Because MUDs are text based, and the output from MUDs are easy to post online it's not hard to dig up game logs, and game logs can be a good way to get a feel for the game itself, and the playerbase. When I do a search for logs, amidst the various reviews that pop up (and in the top positions) is The-Log-Site-That-Shall-Not-Be-Named. If one looks at some of the logs in said site, including the commentary included at the top of the entry, it doesn't paint the prettiest of pictures about the player community. If you are able to look at the comments to the some of the postings they're just as bad as the SK forums use to be: unpleasant, toxic, and not the kind of thing that would attract me to try the game if that was my first impression of the SK community. In short the toxicity that used to permeate the forums here has migrated to the log site.
Reading what I've read, and seeing the lack of up to date details tells me that while the staff might be working on the game, nothing is being done to work on SK's public image and reputation. While it's great that the game is being improved, that's not going to mean much if what's being said about the game by others paints it in a less than pretty, and rather dated, light.
Algorab wrote: I think even more so than banned veterans is the number of lapsed veterans who left for one of dozens of reasons, many of which have been alleviated, changed, or removed.
Algorab/Imm staff, since you seem to have identified a part of the issue, what is being done by the Imm staff to encourage people to return or try the game? Does the Imm staff plan on doing any MUD promotion on forums and sites to help drive traffic to the game, convince people to give it a try, and improve SK's image?
I feel that the staff shouldn't rely on players to do this promotion work for them, particularly with the image that SK has. This is something that I feel the staff need to address and get in front of.
Trosis wrote: Honestly, Thuban's ban-crusade has caused a lot of tension.
I wasn't active during Thuban's ban-crusade as I decided to step away from the game about 4 years ago and only just decided to pop back in, however I will say that the out-of-game/out-of-character atmosphere here on the forums is much improved and far, far, far less toxic (a significant part of why I stopped playing several years back). If Thuban's ban-crusade is responsible for this much improved atmosphere, then I see it as a positive thing.
I'm reminded of a quote:
"The culture of any organization is shaped by the worst behavior the leader is willing to tolerate."
-- Steve Gruenert and Todd Whitaker, School Culture Rewired, ch. 3 (2015)
To me it sounds like the staff finally realized that the out-of-game culture was toxic, unhealthy, and driving players away (causing former players to relapse into inactivity and driving possible new ones away), and so sweeping changes were made by those who had the power to make them to better the game's community. It may not seem that way right now with the small playerbase, however before a festering wound can be healed, it needs to be cleaned of what's causing the issue. That ban-crusade, to me, looks to have cleared out players who were toxic members of the community and chronic cheaters even if they were well liked, veterans, and the cheating was a bunch of recurring minor infractions (cheating is cheating, just as toxic is toxic).
Is it comfortable or pleasant to watch? Not always, and yes it does hurt to see players you've played with for years be told that unless they change their ways that they're no longer welcome here. In the end though, it will be for the better of the game. What needs to happen now is the work to promote the game and change SK's image.
Keep in mind that after a "reboot" of the playerbase it's going to take time to win people back or convince people to try, even more so if the image the game has isn't the most positive to begin with. I think the MUD can gain some players, both new and returning, however there's a lot of work to get players to return or try the game.
My two coppers.
Edited: Fixed some typos.
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