All chat in new players the past 10 hours: (in General)

Well duh Bart, its past the little newbies' bedtimes :p

The sudden drop in new player activity is rather strange. Seriously, even when not much people join in a given week there is more newbie activity.

I can't provide the entertainment every night, you know.

No kidding, bart. I went in there the other day because I noticed there was a total of 2 new players + bartjan in there...tried to strike up a conversation...sat for 2 hours...watched one leave...and decided it was fruitless and left m'self. We need to recruit some new players!

I got a link posted last week than brought in about 30 new sign ups...one finished the tutorial.

I've just been through the latest new sign ups in the link in community. 36 in the last twenty four hours. Most of them haven't even fought a battle after setting up a char. Sign on, set up char, log out. Bye bye.

Thing is, we can do nothing about that, right? They see there are no graphics, lots of text...and quit right away. The problem lies not in the game, but in the new player's mindset.

Only a MASS arrival of new people would guarantee some of them stay, because I frankly think nothing can be done to change the mind of those who, from the start, can't cope with the lack of graphics, and the complexity of it all. (Even if, heck, the game ain't that complicated at all.)

I'm wondering where those particular new players are coming from. Maybe whatever links to CB that are out there are in the wrong places? Dunno what the right places would be though..... :/

Game Ogre has Alienfb's link, I am almost certain of that. It still is the major entry point for newbies, I think.

I know that's where I find almost all or the MMOGs I play/played.

I just took a sample of the 10 most recent users to see where they came from.

2 are a (accidental) multi
2 found CB from http://www.normandcompany.com/stickman/rpg_games.html
1 came from http://www.mpogd.com/games/game.asp?id=994
1 Googled for "better than runescape"
1 "downloaded" CB from http://www.freefunfiles.com/software/videogames/rpg/carnage-blender-2-download.html
1 received a link to CB in their hotmail
And finally 1 found CB when Googling for "carnage blender" in their Safari browser.

This sample is too small to draw any conclusions from. I do know that *a lot* CB players come from the stickman page...

Lol at ''better than Runescape'' :)

Carnage chat isn't much better. Mostly just people entering and leaving, with the occasional hello and goodbye. It wasn't always this way...

Presumably the reason why carnage chat is so dead is that it is just downright boring sitting and waiting for more BA. I am guessing that many other people, like me, just leave and come back after a few hours, rather than waiting for a refresh. At least with the refresh every 10 minutes you would still have people hanging around for their next refresh.

For some people, chat is very unpleasant given the attitude of certain admins. I, for one, will not be returning (much to the joy of certain people).

merge carnage and new players

Delete the wiki ! people will talk then.

Can blind people play CB ?Graphics wouldn't matter to them EH?Stumble lead me here by the by .

Merge the chat rooms, redo the entire tutorial / introduction to the game

carnage has seemed lively of late to me...

We tried discussing redoing the tutorial, I don't think anything really came from it.

Miandrital said Carnage chat is dead! I am having a revolt!!!! *grabs up a pitchfork*


...fyi, this is in remembrance of yesterday, when Carnage chat was so active that chat was flying up the page and I said that if anyone called Carnage chat "dead" in forums again within the month I'd revolt. Didn't even take 24 hours.


Carnage is NOT going to be jumping 24/7. Accept it.

"Carnage is NOT going to be jumping 24/7. Accept it."

Hear, hear. Or Here, here?

I've also thought that Carnage has been more lively lately.

And I do think we should merge Carnage and NP. It only makes sense given the lack of chatting in both.

Perhaps Carnage has been "lively" as of late, but it's not quite as I remembered it. I guess the six months I spent CB-free was enough to redefine the term "lively".

...Back when I was a kid Carnage was only silent between the hours of 2am and 6am server time!

Chat hasn't changed since I started going into chat, which was more than a year ago.

*Remembers the times NP attendance dwarfed carnage to a point where players had to be migrated by minimal force*
Also remember the occasional "carnage is dead" visitations.

The numbers of carnage afk haven't changed in so many years. Yet np went from 62 to 2 as we have seen in recent log ins.

Eviscerated NP!

Oh, Mem, maybe it was because certain people left, certain people that always spoke to other people.

Have you noticed that when *you* come into chat there is almost always conversation floating about?

Imagine what would happen if novice, JW, GL and Sutekh (Forum heavyweights) all frequented chat, I doubt it'd still be "dead".

Aye! GL visited Chat the other day and we had a grand time. =)

See, supported evidence :)

Flamey, June 24 8:44 PM EDT
We tried discussing redoing the tutorial, I don't think anything really came from it.


I got a friend to play that I talk to in MSN all the time and he was constantly asking me questions because the tutorial didn't make sense. He barely made it past that with my help and then he didn't know how to play the game and quit. So I think that would make for a real good way to improve new player experiences.

But...the tutorial is easy?

I really don't see what could be made simpler, it basically WALKS you through itself...

I don't particularly feel that the constant Hellos and Goodbyes in carnage constitute an active chat room. Occasionally there is an interesting topic and I join in with that discussion but I'd say 75% of chat traffic is directly related to people leaving/entering chat.

I say ease up on the "PG" censorship just a little bit. I had to turn chat off because I typed a few words that ARE in PG movies, episodes of the Simpsons, but for some reason... not considered to be PG in the chat rooms. I was then bombarded by several people 'screaming' "PG!", which I thought was amusing because I said nothing that isn't PG movies or TV. I respect all the admins of this game for keeping it clean, but what is the average age of the community? I really think the censorship should be upgraded to PG-13. Also, not being able to use a bunch of symbols to express emotion is silly. It's a habit I have with too many other forums, so I really have to check myself here. Not all people use symbols for swear words, for me it's more like "raaaazlefrazzleeeeeeeshmazzleeee" ;)
Anyways, I'm but one person, glad to find a game that is safe to share with my nephew, but amused that he has more freedom watching his TV than I do typing here in the forums.

I'd have to agree with Ash, the tutorial is straight forward and easy. It tells you what to do at each step. Usually after the tutorial players are still confused, obviously this happens with every game, you're not going to know how to play a game, if you just started.

Chat is there for a reason, your mentor is there for a reason, they help you.

sooka: Sometimes you simply have to adjust to the rules of a different community. Different places have differing standards. After all, there are some things that are said on television that you simply would NOT say in a kindergarten class, even if you would consider them PG. =)

I suppose my point is that you didn't *have* to turn Chat off, and I'm sorry you felt obligated to: but our Chat rules are simply there as a set of standards that this particular community has set, and as far as I have seen, they work VERY well. This is by far the most intelligent and/or cleanest Chat I've ever seen on an online community/game.

It depends on your definition of "work", OB. If that means only that nothing bad is said, then cool. But if that means that there is instead a lot of good conversation.... well, the point of this thread is that chat is dead. The attitude of the chat is such that it ostracizes people regularly for the wrong reasons. I, for one, am fed up with it and will not return -- and it has nothing to do with PG rules. It's the attitude in general.

If the way chat was running was so wonderfully great, do you not think that more people would be in there regularly? Wouldn't more people allow the chat applet to run, or take advantage of the million dollar applet I commissioned? Maybe it needs an adjustment. That's all sooka is saying -- it needs to be tweaked. The "shoot to kill" trigger happy mentality is definitely an area that needs tweaking.

" well, the point of this thread is that chat is dead"

I thought it was that new players was dead?

Maybe I've missed something, but I fail to see the "shoot to kill" trigger happy mentality.

*shrugs* And I enjoy the crowd that is in there. If anyone chooses not to participate, that's their loss.

OB - that's actually a good example of how to NOT encourage new people. "If you don't like it, tough.." That's great when you've got all the cards, but when your attrition rate is giving you a net loss of people, then maybe that's not the best approach.

Sometimes it's better to say "Why don't you like it? How can we improve? Where can we compromise between our paradigms and the shifting trends?" CB as a whole doesn't do that, and it shows. CB takes the attitude that you just displayed -- "Don't like it? Get out."

i for one will miss NS =\ yep

I do not understand why some people think chat is being restrictive and...hostile. I have yet to get into any sort of trouble with anyone in the administration, and exept for the occasional trouble seeker (Read: Those newbies that get banned three days after joining because they are just blatantly socially challenged and like to shoot line after line of hateful/non-pg stuff.), I have yet to see ANYONE getting into any sort of trouble with the staff.

In general, I'd say the staff is pretty cool. They are even fun to talk with, most of the time.

And I talk in chat very naturally, without ever feeling that I am being restricted in any way.

I just don't get it. Not saying you people are wrong, just stating I do not understand.

I'd say nothing is wrong with chat, only the activity is...bleh.

Some of the staff are quite good at what they do. It only takes one or two bad seeds, however...

It might be worthwhile to try starting a second chat server using a real protocol (read: irc) on a network that caters to mmorpgs.

With more people around, I do not see why not start a chat room elsewhere. Of course though, right now it is impossible.

The hard part with starting anything is getting others to buy into it. It's easy enough to set up a new room on the CB server, or to set up a new channel on a different IRC server. But chatting with one person isn't too healthy, according to my psych textbooks. Since the default client doesn't allow being in multiple rooms, it presents quite a challenge indeed.

well when i joined last year i quickly got bored. CB is to 1 sided i think for most. in alot of games there are more than 1 way to play. in CB you hit c enter or down arrow enter all day. not very fun.... least thats why i'm quitting...

"there are some things that are said on television that you simply would NOT say in a kindergarten class"

^that is my point OB, wouldn't you consider such things to be rated G, not PG? ;) I do get your point, and I am getting used to it. I have read a few other comments in other threads about the chat, and thought I would share mine, since they are similar.

I personally like chat here on CB, it's what keeps me coming back. I've played a few other online games and CB is about the only one where chat isn't a constant barrage of profanity and racial slurs.

"CB is to 1 sided i think for most. in alot of games there are more than 1 way to play."

Yeah, lets forget about forging.

Hmm, other MMOs, I wonder, hack and slash, much? That's mainly what you do. You can forge and fight here, there's choice. Quests are still hack and slash, "Kill 20 monsters to collect their fur" hack and slash, just makes it more interesting, or go half around the world to talk to NPCs.

Great, NS is suggesting we change to an IRC, what next, Smoke signals?

Zog, your comment is confusing. Are you at all familiar with IRC?

I think this game is unique in that you can chat right when you start the game. I don't think that should change. It might help if the tutorial explained about how chat worked, and why you start in "new players" and how you graduate to "carnage".

quick sample intro:

"Congratulations on finishing the tutorial! You will be now be sent to the game's unique in-game chat channel where you can meet, greet, and get involved with the game on a whole new level. After your initial training you will then be advanced to room "carnage" where your fellow CBers hang out and have a good time. Please read up on the rules of the chat rooms found at the following link <> , they are enforced 24/7 to make this game good clean fun for just about anyone!" Welcome to Carnage Blender II!

I will say my initial experience of the game was greatly influenced by Bartjan, and slayer133. They were both fantastic, and helped me through some rough spots starting out.

See, I think sooka's intro should find it's place at the end of the tutorial.

I didn't read all these posts, but the reason new players isn't as lively is because new players cant play anymore, as my cousin found out you get an error when fighting, can an admin make a new account and see if this is what is happening to everybody?

"OB - that's actually a good example of how to NOT encourage new people. "If you don't like it, tough.." That's great when you've got all the cards, but when your attrition rate is giving you a net loss of people, then maybe that's not the best approach.

Sometimes it's better to say "Why don't you like it? How can we improve? Where can we compromise between our paradigms and the shifting trends?" CB as a whole doesn't do that, and it shows. CB takes the attitude that you just displayed -- "Don't like it? Get out.""

Putting words in my mouth, NS? I simply said it was the loss of those who aren't in Chat that they are not there. I never said "if you don't like it, tough" - I said we have rules there for a reason and that I believe they work rather well, and that it is good to adjust.

Perhaps your negative feelings towards Chat are causing you to pull a connotation from my words that simply is NOT there.

When someone says "Hey, it's your loss.." It's the same as "Too bad...", "Tough," etc. It's a subtly condescending way of saying that that's the way it is, and nothing's going to change, so either you accept it or move on. As I said before, there is a big difference between that and trying to actually *cultivate* new people.

There is none of that happening.

"When someone says "Hey, it's your loss.." It's the same as "Too bad...", "Tough," etc. It's a subtly condescending way of saying that that's the way it is, and nothing's going to change, so either you accept it or move on."

That or they're saying that we have fun in chat and by you choosing not to be there you are missing out.

Minor: it looks like everything works now since I got three new students only today.

ahh ok can they fight or do they get an aol server error?

They seem to be able to fight, some of them have amassed a bit of score and MPR.

Someting has certainly changed because yesterday I got 300% more students than in all of past week.

Minor is right about there being a problem. Hearing move about this error each week and don't have an answer other than log out, delete temps & cookies, come right back. Which does not work. IE, FF, and java updates didn't help. This problem does need to be investigated and could be if the players would stay.

As for the tutorial it has Always needed a major overhaul. The program should be telling them to train HP instead of me.

It was. It has been. It has been reported as fixed. As noted above.