Re: [VANILLA-LIST:2847] The r.g.n ejection debate

[Tom Holub <doosh@best.com>]

On Sat, Jan 29, 2000 at 10:50:37AM -0500, Jeffrey Nowakowski wrote:
> Tom Holub <doosh@best.com> wrote:
> 
> > Actual reality: strong players (of any game or sport) don't find it
> > interesting playing with weak players.  Pretty much all successful games and
> > sports therefore find ways to match players of similar abilities.
> 
> Actual reality: netrek does not have enough players to do this on the
> pickup level.

Sure we do.  The games won't always be full; so what?  

Here's a good corollary.  I play a lot of a game called Wordox on won.net.
It's a Scrabble-like game with a small but growing population.  It started
with five undifferentiated servers, and it was infuriating, because
like most other games, it is completely boring for a good player to
play with idiots.  The playerbase was static and maybe even shrinking.
They went to social/intermediate/advanced servers and added ratings to
the latter two and the game is more fun to play for everyone involved,
and--here's the kicker--you grow your playerbase by making the game more
fun to play.  

> > How many strong players have dropped out of pickup because it's "full
> > of twinks"?
> 
> Players who drop out of pickup can still play INL or clue games.  The
> fact that so many who leave don't play in either tells me they've
> dropped netrek altogether for reasons like making lots of money,
> disinterest, or lack of a good connection.

Netrek is driven by pickup.  There are lots of people on the GB roster
who have dropped out of pickup but still ostensibly play in INL games.
The reality of that is that once you're no longer playing pickup, netrek
no longer becomes something you prioritize, and your attendance at INL
games drops, eventually to zero in most cases.

> > How can we afford to lose people who are dedicated to
> > the game in the misguided attempt to make them play with complete newbies
> > if they don't want to?
> 
> I'm not talking about complete newbies; I'm talking about people who
> don't understand what space control is.  These players will have NO
> place to play.

Why can they not play on the social server?

> > Hypothesis: Making strong players who are interested in a good game play
> > with idiots will lose more strong players than newbies.
> 
> Counter-argument: What netrek really needs is a constant influx of new
> players, not a few elitist jerks.  There is a place for strong players
> to get quality games. 

No, there really isn't.  If you're on an INL team you play about one
game every two weeks.  There's an active vs. the World game at about
the same frequency, if you're lucky enough to be one of the first 8 
people to show up for it and if it's at a convenient time.  That's no
substitute for being able to go onto a server at any time and play a
game.

Let me put it another way; how many pro/college basketball players
play ball only in their "official" games?

This proposal will HELP the new players, not hurt them.  You're just being
a moron.
 -Tom