Just for a little balancing opinion here. I've been playing Alter for 10 years now. I have phases where I go play other things, or get busy rl, but I usually come back.
I've found the easiest two ways for me to get re-interested in playing are to either a. start a new character from scratch with new classes or old classes with new abilities or b. find a few friends who'd be willing to play at the level of the character I want to develop. Both of these help to kill the I've not gotten anywhere bug. At higher levels, if you have limited time or are not interested in the sort of high tension high angst player interaction, Alter can be grinding. The need for fame, better eq, and more exp can feel like a never ending cycle. Jobs have helped somewhat with this, as have a number of other changes. One thing to keep in mind about Alter it has two coders: Dentin who does what he can when he can (He's had an eventful rl year, and so hasn't been able to contribute as much) and Shadowfax who is still learning how the code works (he also has had an eventful year). This limits how fast changes can be made. In Terms of world builders there are essentially three full time builders and a number of part timers. All of the staff are volunteers and have things that interfere so the game doesn't always get the sort of attention all players would like. That said, the game improved from 2005 to 2010 immensely, and since 2010 it's hardly the same game. There's been a number of issues with the newbie experience cleared up, the classes have been given many more abilities and over all are well balanced. I take issue with the accusation that classes are not balanced, and I'll attribute that to the opiner's lack of experience. One can be successful on Alter with almost any class combo depending on how you approach it. Some combos take much more work or preparation to make effective, but they're all valid and all work. As to the rp issue. If you want rp on Alter there's a very simple solution: collect a bunch of friends and strangers who want rp. Found an rp only clan. Within your clan in your clan groups and clan runs rp as much as you like. That way you get what you want from the game, but you don't bother the rest of the player base. When I first began the game I roleplayed being female for a number of years so that I could indulge in rp, but not bother other players. It worked well. I've known at least one woman who has done the reverse. I know one blind player who has rped as a sighted player. Alter will never be a PVP paradise. It will never be a RP paradise. However, of all the muds I've tried, it has the best help system, the best support from staff, and the best support from higher level players who genuinely try to help new players. The multi class system works well, and if a player truly catastrophically feels they aren't getting anywhere they can reset, build a new char, or work at releveling an existing char to correct such issues. Ok, i'm climbing down off my soap box. I was just seeing a lot of criticism, some of which is fair if you accept the person's premises, and some of which I felt was somewhat negative without sufficient reason. Alter is not perfect by any means, but given its limitations, I think it's one of the better options around. Take care, Jeremy -- In the fight between you and the world--back the world! Frank Zapa --- Gamers mailing list __ Gamers@audyssey.org If you want to leave the list, send E-mail to gamers-unsubscr...@audyssey.org. You can make changes or update your subscription via the web, at http://audyssey.org/mailman/listinfo/gamers_audyssey.org. All messages are archived and can be searched and read at http://www.mail-archive.com/gamers@audyssey.org. If you have any questions or concerns regarding the management of the list, please send E-mail to gamers-ow...@audyssey.org.
