I'm curious. I have a question for those of you who still truly enjoy playing this game.

How would you convince someone to give Lusternia a try if they had never played anything like it before?

Now as you think about the answer to that question, ask yourself this question as well.

How would your argument change if the intended audience was someone who used to play but became bored?

I have been trying to find a good argument since I started playing in high school. The moment I say text game, they immediately roll their eyes at me! I have been trying to get my best friend to play since then and we are well beyond college. I just can't seem to convey to them that text games are a completely different experience than a visual game.

Something I've been paying attention to lately has been the richness and depth of world. MUDs (And Lusternia in particular) have an incredible quantity of depth that other games cannot match. Walk around an area with VERBOSE on, take time to actually read the descriptions, probe things, hypothesize about what has happened, or will happen next. Particularly if you're lazy like me and don't want to bother getting re-equipped for combat (Where, let's face it, you don't actually read any of the text that's flying across the screen at near-light speeds), paying closer attention to the world (history, books, denizens, etc) yields a completely different game.

Plus, it's cheap and easy.

I find those who enjoy 'games like this' tend to enjoy games like Oblivion/Skyrim -- open-ended MMORPGs. Except that Lusternia, rather than those NPC-ruled worlds, allows you(r character) to have a real and lasting impact on the world, and by extension, affect the game experience of others who play.

Lusternia appeals to the bookworm, the completionist, and the competitor.

It's a game of imagination -- really, where the only true limitation is your ability to come up with a way to contribute to the world.

So how do I convince people to give it a try: so many possibilities. What is not to love? Graphic games are beautiful, and are definitely fun, but Lusternia is so much more rich and interesting.

And to convince those who used to play to come back?

It is easy to become burned out -- I've hit the wall a few times. Taken on too much, felt like the only one caring about such and such a thing... eventually the game becomes a chore rather than something interesting and exciting. It's okay to step back. You can do whatever you want! It's important to realise Lusternia is a game -- refocus on what you really enjoy in the game every so often.

People leave because of bad experiences with other players -- so do something about it! There is always something you can do, despite protests I've heard over the forums. Alliances gridlocked? Get into intrigue! Talk to people. Being griefed to the ground? Fight back! If you can't, learn, if you won't, well games require effort of some kind. I find talking to my enemy to be a far more interesting and lasting conflict resolution process, but each to their own. Slowly, but surely, with persistence, you'll cause something to happen. And for good or bad - that's an effect on the world, and you'll end up feeling like you achieved something. ;)

If someone left the game because they became bored -- I'd ask why! Boredom isn't a magical switch hanging over everyone's head. It was flicked because of something. Discover why, answer it, and I'll see you in game!

It's fun to kill people.

Text games have no rubberbanding, only gods who throw you to other deadly places.

I got a friend to play oddly enough by lamenting about the bad things in the game. I don't suggest this strategy however. Especially not when you are talking to someone who used to play.

Usually though, when people ask me what Lusternia is about, I just tell them the bits they'd probably like the most, and answer their questions. To get someone to return, I'd probably try and figure out why they quit, and see if that reason may have changed for them.

Hi Daevos, late reply I know but you might remember Jelaludin, Valek's son? That was me :) Also, Iriaen from Imperian.

I still play but I don't make "winning" Lusternia my priority (though I certainly do try). Sometimes things are more fun if you avoid becoming too invested in them. I can chat with people here and there, pvp here and there and am trying to collect a list of sudoku and physical puzzle quests.

The addition of in-game mappers has changed the game a lot, people still use planes and portals to speed travel but you can walk to any location you know of automatically thanks to in-game mappers which makes certain aspects of play less tedious.

Otherwise, it's still the same old Lusternia. Magnagora's been failing for awhile now and would like to see you back though I wouldn't turn it into a cross to bear or anything if I were you.

Wow. I haven't been back here in.. maybe 7 years, and the first name I see is Daevos! My warlord!

Thinking about playing again, actually, but worried about getting addicted again.

Hello to all the old folks.

On topic, I don't really know, but "kinda like WoW but all text" doesn't really work. I guess finding out what made them interested in the first place, and playing into that would help.

I used to all it my "alternate life".

Jadryga:

Wow. I haven't been back here in.. maybe 7 years, and the first name I see is Daevos! My warlord!

Thinking about playing again, actually, but worried about getting addicted again.

Hello to all the old folks.

On topic, I don't really know, but "kinda like WoW but all text" doesn't really work. I guess finding out what made them interested in the first place, and playing into that would help.

I used to all it my "alternate life".

Hey, come back.

Bit late to this topic, but here goes nothing...


For killing the boredom:

• make a new character with a new class from scratch. If you've been primarily mage, try a warrior. If you'd been primarily wiccan/guardian, try monk. If you've been primarily bard, try mage or wiccan/guardian.
  
• take on skillsets you haven't in the past, for tertiary or tradeskills
  
• on your new character, don't talk to people in game that you used to play with. On that note, pick a new org and stick to it.
  
• if you've been the hack-and-slash type, try to get to GR10 without the hacking-and-slashing. If you've been the political/guild-advancement type, try to PVE your way up. If you're used to influencing, don't influence. If you're used to bashing, don't bash. If you were one of those people who were both of both types... pick a side.
  
• don't use your old system for your newly made character. Yeah, that's right. Start it over from scratch.
  
• limit your playtime to half of what it used to be a day. You used to play 10 hours a day? 5. 1 hour a day? Thirty minutes.
  
• write an in-game book.
  
• write an in-game play.
  

As for convincing others to join, there's a number of things to consider...

1. Do they enjoy reading? If the answer is no, give up now.
   
2. If the answer to the above was "yes", the next is, do they like fantasy in any of its forms, especially high fantasy? If the answer is no, you should probably give up.
   
3. If the answer to the two above are "yes", then find out what their real-world interests are if you don't know them already. Lusternia likely has an in-game equivalent.
   


1. Stock market? Credits, dingbats, tradeskills, and commodities.
   
2. Reading? Library and the whole game.
   
3. Writing? Plays, books, and the whole game.
   
4. Dogs and cats? Pets and beastmastery.
   
5. Partying, drugs, and rock-and-roll? Gaudiguch.
   
6. Good vs Evil? Celest vs Magnagora.
   
7. Order vs Chaos? Hallifax vs Gaudiguch.
   
8. Astrology? ... astrology.
   
9. Classical Elements? Pyromancers, Geomancers, Aeromancers, Aquamancers.
   
10. Competing? The various rankings in game, from guild to political to experience to explorer.
    
11. Clothing? Tailoring. Jewelry? Jewelry!
    
12. Helping others? Nation aides, Org aides, healing skillset, and quests.
    
13. Know their personality type(s) and play off of it as well. This outdated article may be of use. This article may be of use as well. Here's this other old article that targets MUDs specifically.
    
14. Realize that if you get a friend to join the game, they likely will feel you're responsible for them, and your failure to help them may cause a rift in the friendship.
    


$0.02

Rakor:

Hey, come back.

Just logged in... am a little lost.

I hate this client. Gimme my zmud back.