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

[Andrew Paul Selle <aselle@cae.wisc.edu>]

> 
>  Maybe the idea of a basic server would be worth a try.  I'd like to further
> suggest that it have no rank.  In Myth there was a concept of ranked and
> unranked games.  The unranked games were generally played by those who just
> wanted to have fun.  The ranked games were played by the elitist jerks.

I think it is worth a try.  Probably no rank may help, but there are
netrek players who are clueful who enjoy beating up on newbies.  
This is a well documented and endorsed technique in fact.  Gray elf
describes newbie scumming as "cheap, easy, dirty, it works" in his planet
taking guide.  My primary concern would be these kinds of people
destroying the learning experience for the new players.  

> 
>  Just make everyone an Admiral to start with, and be done with it, or if it
> does have rank make the basis for it by hours only.
> 
Or everybody Cadet :)...

In any case, I think the primary problem with netrek now is not the loss
of clue-full players.  People will always stop playing the game.  That is
a constant in the universe... What netrek needs is a major effort to
improve it's player base...  Netrek, in this regard, faces many more
challenges than other games.  It doesn't have great graphics and the
learning curve it pretty darn high.  These obstacles can be lowered
through educating web sites and tutorials, but there is no substitute for
practice.  When new players come on and face yet another hump on their way
to learning the game (the negative clueful players), they aren't going to
learn anything.  They are going to leave.  Personally, I would rather see
all the clue stop playing and have 10+ servers full of free beer, because
I know that if that kind of interest is generated, soon there will be
enough clue to fill up 20 advanced servers.

-Andy