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Igabod
Wizard
Group: Members
Posts: 1,084
Joined: Jul 23, 2008
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#2 id:12394 Posted Sep 20, 2008, 2:44 am
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might be a little more useful if you told us what codebase you're running and any special features if any. you're not likely to interest anybody with such a brief advertisement.
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.........................
Every man has his follies, and often they are the most interesting thing he has got - Josh Billings
Two things are infinite: the universe and human stupidity; and I'm not sure about the universe. - Albert Einstein
I have a love interest in every one of my films... a gun. - Arnold Schwarzenegger
Recession is when a neighbor loses his job. Depression is when you lose yours. - Ronald Reagan
I like long walks, especially when they are taken by people who annoy me. - Fred Allen
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Conner
Wizard
Group: Members
Posts: 1,250
Joined: May 14, 2006
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#3 id:12412 Posted Sep 20, 2008, 6:39 pm
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Igabod said:might be a little more useful if you told us what codebase you're running and any special features if any. you're not likely to interest anybody with such a brief advertisement.
Gee, and I had been thinking that, for an advertisement to attract players, it was pretty good. Not too long to hold someone's attention and still covers what he wanted to say. It happens to be a Smaug as far as the codebase goes, I know this because he posted as much on Top Smaug Muds. As for features, he did mention "multiclassing, professions, [...] and an all original world", was he supposed to also include his changelog from day one? Personally, I really like his banner and have seen plenty of ads that only included a banner.. haven't you?
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tphegley
Sorcerer
Group: Moderators
Posts: 363
Joined: Aug 13, 2007
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#4 id:12418 Posted Sep 20, 2008, 9:36 pm
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This place is actually a really fun mud with a relaxed atmosphere. The imms are nice and the areas can be pretty well done. The profession system is good as well. It really enhances the game play.
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......................... Admin of Legends of Old
Currently still in testing and design stage.
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Igabod
Wizard
Group: Members
Posts: 1,084
Joined: Jul 23, 2008
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#5 id:12424 Posted Sep 21, 2008, 12:36 am
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Conner said:Igabod said:might be a little more useful if you told us what codebase you're running and any special features if any. you're not likely to interest anybody with such a brief advertisement.
Gee, and I had been thinking that, for an advertisement to attract players, it was pretty good. Not too long to hold someone's attention and still covers what he wanted to say. It happens to be a Smaug as far as the codebase goes, I know this because he posted as much on Top Smaug Muds. As for features, he did mention "multiclassing, professions, [...] and an all original world", was he supposed to also include his changelog from day one? Personally, I really like his banner and have seen plenty of ads that only included a banner.. haven't you?
i have seen those that have only the banner too, but i didn't ever think those were entirely well done either. i guess what i meant by special features is something that makes it unique from most other muds, and classes and races just doesn't count due to the fact that the majority of all the muds most players see have those. the original worlds bit is the only thing in that advert that struck me as unique among muds. the profession system is probably unique too but for some reason that didn't stick out in the advert when i read it the first time. all in all it just looked like an advert that you could pin on any of a dozen and a half muds out there. i'm not saying the advert should be 15 pages long or anything, just needed a few more words here and there. nice banner though.
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.........................
Every man has his follies, and often they are the most interesting thing he has got - Josh Billings
Two things are infinite: the universe and human stupidity; and I'm not sure about the universe. - Albert Einstein
I have a love interest in every one of my films... a gun. - Arnold Schwarzenegger
Recession is when a neighbor loses his job. Depression is when you lose yours. - Ronald Reagan
I like long walks, especially when they are taken by people who annoy me. - Fred Allen
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Conner
Wizard
Group: Members
Posts: 1,250
Joined: May 14, 2006
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#6 id:12451 Posted Sep 21, 2008, 4:49 pm
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Igabod said:i have seen those that have only the banner too, but i didn't ever think those were entirely well done either. i guess what i meant by special features is something that makes it unique from most other muds, and classes and races just doesn't count due to the fact that the majority of all the muds most players see have those. the original worlds bit is the only thing in that advert that struck me as unique among muds. the profession system is probably unique too but for some reason that didn't stick out in the advert when i read it the first time. all in all it just looked like an advert that you could pin on any of a dozen and a half muds out there. i'm not saying the advert should be 15 pages long or anything, just needed a few more words here and there. nice banner though.
Fair enough, and you're probably right. Certainly there are more than a handful of muds that also offer a unique world (even more that claim to do so) and professions and even multiclassing (even my mud has finally gone that route), but I thought your initial response to his post seemed more harsh than it needed to. No offense intended.
While a little more verbosity would have probably improved this ad, I figure most player advertisements are sort of like the advertisements one sees on TV and in print, or hears on the radio, the advertiser is going to point out what they feel are their products highlights and, unless they're mandated by law like drug companies, they're not likely to point out anything that can be seen negatively if they can help it.
But I do have to say that I wish I knew how to make banners like that, I usually have to stick with what I can get from CoolText because I truly suck at graphics. 
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Last edited Sep 21, 2008, 4:49 pm by Conner
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Conner
Wizard
Group: Members
Posts: 1,250
Joined: May 14, 2006
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#8 id:12456 Posted Sep 21, 2008, 5:18 pm
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Kayle said:I might have to start selling my services making banners for people.. >.>
While I might consider taking you up on such a prospective offer, Kayle, I have to confess that we've done quite the bang up job of derailing Myra's player advertisement thread here and thus offer my apologies to Myra for my contributions to that. Tphegley sounds like (s)he's visited Escape from Destiny and posted a nice, if somewhat brief, review though, maybe someone else should help further make up to Myra for this by doing likewise?
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The_Fury
Sorcerer
Group: Banned
Posts: 485
Joined: Jun 1, 2008
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#9 id:12464 Posted Sep 21, 2008, 6:22 pm
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I actually liked the OP's advert. It is concise and to the point, it outlines various elements of the game that they feel are its selling points. I think there is a tendency for player adverts to become dissertations and I beleive this stems from the fact that when advertising for staff, we tend to include all sorts of somewhat relevant information in the hopes of catching the eye of a prospective team member.
A player advert should be short and sweet and quickly catch the attention of the reader. IMO the above ad does that well, about the only addition that i could see improving on it would be to have a brief paragraph that introduces some aspect of the games story/world or theme. The link to the website allows those interested to investigate the game further before taking the plunge and playing it for a few hours. The website, while looking a little dated, contains a wealth of information about the game for those wanting to know more.
Someone mentioned codebase earlier in this discussion. I think that these days, codebase is such a non issue and hardly worth mentioning. Players do not get hooked on a game because of the codebase it started from, they get hooked because you offer an experience that they enjoy. About the only people who care about codebases would be those who develop games and then its mostly about arguing the superiority of various features in the stock release. I usually steer clear of games that advertise themselves as "We are an EldhaMUD" unless your attempting to be a clone of X, then i would really prefer to play the original.
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......................... bMUD: Custom server written in Ruby.
The Oriental Dojo Mud
The_Fury: Coder and Designer.
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Myra
Fledgling
Group: Members
Posts: 3
Joined: Nov 21, 2006
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#10 id:12482 Posted Sep 22, 2008, 4:49 am
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Well, I'm actually glad to see some replies, if they are of a varied sort. :) I have to admit I was going for the very short and sweet. Sometimes I get tired of writing the same type of advertisements every few months. Though I try to check back in and write responses (if I can remember where I have posted... but this place seems to have alot of readers and posters which is great for any message board) I do appreciate the discussion as it helps me learn what people want to hear/see in an advertisement. I tend to try to go for the quick catch phrase but am never sure how much to put below that.
Our website is pretty detailed on the types of races/classes/professions offered but we are a modified Smaug MUD which tries to use DnD 2nd edition as our basis for many things. I think our strengths lie in the originality of our world and the attention to detail that we are trying for. People seem to like our atmosphere and the fact that our Imms are pretty helpful and try to at least reply to what the players request or find as they are playing. We have 100 levels and over 5000 rooms that continues to grow every week. We are also free and have been open for at least 8 + years. I think you'll find that we have an extensive help system, and try to be newbie friendly without overdoing it. There are original hometowns for all the races and as you gain levels and explore, you'll find that you can level just by exploring and without having to sit down and kill the same mob over and over and over for experience (although thats not to say that people don't do that sometimes but there are built in kill histories that discourage that behaviour eventually) We do encourage roleplaying, that is to say a evil goblin heretic should not be grouping with a good pixie paladin... you can choose to do this, but your inner self will eventually go crazy from the conflict within.. We also have built-in bonuses to experience and such for having a complete bio and description of yourself. So without giving away too much, I hope that this sounds interesting enough to at least give us a try. Our biggest downfall is our lack of a huge playerbase, although it seems to be getting bigger all the time. We have had more players in the past two weeks than in awhile so that is encouraging. It all can start with just a few! :) Any questions, I would be glad to answer them here, or in the game if you stop by. (I am Myra there too)
Glad to hear you like the banner. The fun of messing with Photoshop! :)
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Fizban
Wizard
Group: Members
Posts: 619
Joined: Jan 8, 2007
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#11 id:12483 Posted Sep 22, 2008, 10:10 am
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"Igabod" said:might be a little more useful if you told us what codebase you're running[...]
Why would codebase matter? I definitely think it matters if you're looking for staff because using OLC you're familiar with is like a safety blanket for many builders and coders having previous experience with the codebase means they don't have to lookup every macro they see when reading through code to be able to grasp what everything does. As a player though I don't much care myself what codebase a MUD is. And as an administrator I feel the goal should be to have it be actually difficult for your players to know what codebase you were when you started. Not literally of course, I'm not actually suggesting you strip credits and the like, simply that you vary enough off the 'stock' path that they don't log on and go yep this feels just like a stock <codebase>.
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Chris Bailey
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#12 id:12487 Posted Sep 22, 2008, 12:44 pm
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Codebase certainly matters to me. I don't play muds very often but when I do I tend to stay away from Rom/Rot and LP not to mention any moo/mush/mux's.
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.........................
If what Proust says is true, that happiness is the absence of fever, then I will never know happiness. For I am possessed by a fever for knowledge, experience, and creation.
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Fizban
Wizard
Group: Members
Posts: 619
Joined: Jan 8, 2007
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#15 id:12490 Posted Sep 22, 2008, 1:12 pm
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Quote:"heavily modified SMAUG", which can mean pretty much anything you want it to mean and therefore provides very little information.
Agreed. AFKMUD is heavily modified SMAUG, yet so is an old MUD running 1.4 that's got very little stock code left. I have more respect for the latter, by far. I'm not insinuating 1.4 is better than AFKMUD, far from it, I just have more respect for the person who coded their own modifications than the one that is using a mostly stock codebase that just happens to be a heavily modified codebase.
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