If you want to retain new players, you really need to make the game playable for those just starting out. By playable, I mean a person shouldn't have to bot for 5 years to catch up with older players and join pk/crafting/training skills to ridiculous percentages.
Nodeka direly needs a player cap at lower levels (pools,practices,etc.) for a new player to enjoy the pk aspect of the "pk mud". Ideally, you should have to play hardcore for maybe 10-12 months before being able to come within at least a threat range of any character on the mud.
I know players who have been playing for 10 years don't want to lose their hard-earned power. To circumvent this, why not create a new class attainable by those players of exceptional size, i.e., demi-god. Demi-god classed characters could be allowed to pk within their own sphere, and not bother other players new to the mud and subject to constraints allowing a player to "play" Nodeka without ancticipating spending a good number of years catching up to the older players.
I think the biggest problem at the moment is the near limitless pools players are allowed to have. Training skills and stats a bit higher is one thing, but a new player starting at a few thousand hp's can't put a dent in a 50-100k character, which makes pk seem pretty futile. The pool cap should be around 20-25k. This would also create incentive to use healers more in group runs.
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