TMC Player Reviews: StormHunters

(The following review comment is the opinion of the comment's author [Crystalis] and in no way represents the opinions of this website or its staff).

Apparently being able to read is not one of 'J's strong points as
the character creation process directs you through itself in a simple
fashion, with rooms that direct you to read helpfiles and then provide
the exact syntax for the command you need in order to set your
character up the way you want it. As an added bonus, you are
considered logged into the mud at that point and can ask for help on
the public channels.

Perhaps it isn't the BEST creation process I've ever encountered on
a mud, but it is far from the worst. The immortal staff has stated
that they feel the process is not perfect and plans are in the works
to redo it in a fashion that is more interactive than the current one.

As to getting around, 'J' again demonstrates his illiteracy by
missing the FREAKING HUGE models of mud school that sit at each racial
recall. Perhaps he did actually read the line that stated they were
there, and was just used to muds that held his hand for everything, or
didn't have the object functions this mud has. If he had bothered to
EXAMINE the model, he would have found himself transported right back
to mud school, where he came from, and one room up from the central
hub city.

As to the PURPOSE of the racial recalls being spread out like that,
without being near zones that would then be helpful to the players at
the level they start recalling to those zones, I've asked an immortal
and they have stated that the racial recall ideas weren't fully
fleshed out, so I hope to see them start to get completed. As there
have been multiple additions to the mud in the past couple of months,
I am confident this will take place in a reasonable time frame.

'J' is accurate in that the playerbase is sparse and many of the
players idle for long periods of time. The only way to resolve this is
to make positive changes on the mud (which the immortal staff is
doing) and then find more people that want to play and are willing to
bear with the mud until it goes from a diamond in the rough to a well
polished gem.

As to areas, there is an ahelp command (mentioned during the creation
process, again with the not reading) that gives general directional
information. No, it doesn't hold your hand and say '2n13e2nwsenn'
or anything of that nature. It encourages exploration and paired with
the 'warning' feature that starts toggled on (and alerts players
whey they are going to hit a zone above their level) should be
sufficient.

Helpfiles - this is the one area 'J' hits the nail on the head, and
is an area I constantly harass the immortal staff on resolving. Given
the limited staff and the constant updates/fixes to the mud world
itself, this is one area that has suffered as a result.

In short - while far from perfect the only reason someone should have
problems playing on this mud would be if they weren't keen on reading
(and it is a text based game) and weren't patient on getting a reply
if they had a question. Perhaps I suffer from 'veteran player
syndrome', but as we have picked up several other new players that
have NOT had the same issues 'J' did, I believe that the real
problem may not lie in the mud but the player here.

(The following review comment is the opinion of the comment's author [Mograth] and in no way represents the opinions of this website or its staff).

Obviously this kid does not know the first thing about mudding.

-Creation-  There is an advanced creation system, that will guide you 
step by step through the process ASSUMING you can read.

-Getting Around- Ahelp will tell you where to find ANY area in the 
game. P.S. All recall areas have a statue in the room, that if you 
read, you'd know transports you back to the starting point in the 
game.

-Players- Just like anything in life, if you are an idiot no one is 
going to talk to you. 99% of our players will help with most every 
question.

-Areas- This is a mud not an MMO.  Plus you sound like you don't read 
ANYTHING.

-Help- Our helpfiles are quite extensive, there's Ahelp, Shelp, and 
just plain Help. Again if you'd read the helpfiles you'd know this.

(The following review comment is the opinion of the comment's author [Koron] and in no way represents the opinions of this website or its staff).

-Creation- 
There is a step-by-step instruction guide--each room tells
you about one or more commands for creating your character. The way
creation works also allows you to ask anyone online if you need help
with anything.

-Getting Around- 
We have a command ('ahelp'--the mud school talks about it briefly)
you can use to locate any area. Combining that with the 'areas' 
command, which shows you a list of all areas your level, affords 
you great mobility. At the time of my writing this, recall has
already been tweaked to make it easier to get back to a 'reasonable
point.'

-Players- 
I'm very thankful that we have a playerbase which is
fairly benevolent. Most of the people who log on do so during the
daytime (in the States), so you're likely to get a response from
someone at most hours of the day. Admittedly, it's hit or miss if you
ask at night. If no one responds, you can use the board system to
leave a message and (provided you do so on a public board) someone
will get back to you.

-Areas- 
As I mentioned earlier, using 'areas' and 'ahelp' allows
you to find most areas. The 'where' command can be used find out
which area you are in and its approximate level range.

-Help- 
Although I'm not sure you can ever have enough detail in the
helpfiles, we do have a fair amount of them and most of the ones
we've added are fairly thorough. Also, know what do you consider to
be the most obvious helpfiles that are missing? Feel free to contact
me (either by email or through the mud) and I will add them.

I'm sorry your experience wasn't as enjoyable as it could have
been. We are always working toward improving the mud, and I'm
certainly willing to listen to serious suggestions anyone has to that
end. If you get the urge, you're always welcome to come back and
speak with me about any other issues you ran into.