Before I Try this Game

[viktor]

awesome game, it fills the void of the type of game i've looked for for ages, been playing since april 2004. one thing to keep in mind, if for some reason you are displeased at the start with your first 2 chars, do not get discouraged, the game can be quite different from region to region, my first 2 chars... 1 got killed within minutes, the other died within a week from lions, but i kept playing and can't imagine life without cantr... yes i have a slightly geekish side....

[SekoETC]

How did you get killed within minutes? Did you steal something? My first character picked something up, tried to bury a corpse, chatted with some sleeper, got bored when the burial didn't advance in real time and took down a road, spend ages before meeting anyone else. While my second character was more cautious, just watched people for a couple of days, established a pre-spawning background story, watched a mud fight and I figured if there are mud fights then this must be a pretty cool rp environment. Then he went exploring and had two people run after him, trying to give him a shield, but then they ran into a crazy McGregor who was threatening to take over their location so the others had to turn back. And third character picked up a shovel, got asked is that your shovel, he said I don't know and dropped it. He lived to be very old although he was never very social.

[viktor]

killed within minutes cuz i came i joined and with my first char, i saw things and thought i better hold onto them for the owner/leader, picked something up, then someone told me to drop em but i was like "how do i know you don;t just want them for yourself, i'm holding onto these for the owner so they don't get stolen" i was... not really thinking about rp and being a different society, i was thinking of it more as an avatar(not the movie) than a char and when she hit me i ran for my life and the whole army cut me down

[gejyspa]

Seems like a strange thing to ask.. It's akin to walking int o a Scrabble club and saying, "so, what do you think of Scrabble?". Umm.. we wouldn't be here if we didn't like Cantr. So how can you expect to get a report that's not a little biased?

It is not a strange thing to ask at all. He asked for our experiences, and I am sure we have all had good and bad experiences while playing. Considering he is trying to get an opinion of the game, your answer certainly doesn't help to give a good one.

Maybe I wasn't expressing my self clearly enough. I love this game. I just wouldn't expect anybody here to give a different opinion than just that. If you ask members of political party X, "which party should I join?" What do you think they are going to tell you? They wanted a simple yes or no answer to "should I play this game?". Not "tell me about its flaws" that would be a completely different question, and more nuanced.

[Cdls]

He asked us to also share our experiences with the game.

can you all share some of your experiences

If you ask members of political party X, "which party should I join?"

1: I would like to believe that Cantr members are far more logical than any political party.
2: With a political party, there are many many many many (did I mention many?) valid resources a person can use to make an educated decision. With Cantr, there is only really the forums. There is a huge difference between the two.

I just wouldn't expect anybody here to give a different opinion than just that.

There are plenty of people on the forums who have, and still do, debate the flaws in the game. There are also many people who explain what type of game Cantr is and to let those that ask know if they expect anything else that this isn't the game for them.

[gejyspa]

*shrug* If I was considering becoming a scientologist, I wouldn't just go to http://www.scientology.org, I'd go to http://www.xenu.net . If I wanted to hear opinions about Latter Days Saints, I wouldn't just go to http://www.lds.org, I'd also read http://www.exmormon.org If I'm seeking pros and cons about an organization like cantr, I wouldn't just go to the side that is "pro". Do I know of any place called http://www.cantr-sucks.org? No, but that doesn't mean it doesn't exist. And if it doesn't, all I'm suggesting that you have to understand that anybody, anywhere, on any topic, has a bias. If you can understand what the biases are, and cut through them, all well and good for you. To use American examples, watch both Fox News and MSNBC. Listen to both NPR and Glenn Beck. Maybe between all opinions masquerading as objective facts, you'll be able to form your own opinions. But listening to just one side or the other makes it very difficult to hear different voices. That's all I was getting at.

[curious]

I would imagine that, as you have got as far as asking what the game is like, it is a small step to venture into it.
I am of the 'what's the worst that can happen' school of thought... and at the end of the day... it IS a game... and once i it... you will also note the 'big green cross'... which also means you can leave it.
But... before you it that... you will pick up the nature and mechanics of the game pretty swiftly.

I love it... mostly... I am sure there will always be things in it to piss you off... and I am pretty sure I have pissed people off too... but generally... people help... either 'in-game' with good role play... or 'out-of-game' with good advice.

Enjoy.

[FrankieLeonie]

I always tell new people I get to play to hit everyone in town and spout some crazy stuff so you get to see what Cantr justice is. And then beg for your life and see if you can stay alive saying you didn't know. It is very educational and will show you why that is a bad idea.

[MelloYell]

well, the responses are interesting here. and even though i don't see a lot of negative here, i do in other threads. so perhaps my questions aren't all so unfounded?

anyways...question:
i rarely have access on weekends, and would mainly be on occassionally while on campus. how big of a problem would that be, and how would it affect the rp experience?

[CrashBlizz]

anyways...question:
i rarely have access on weekends, and would mainly be on occassionally while on campus. how big of a problem would that be,

Not much. The more you are on the more likely you are to be involved in larger things in game but you don't have to log in every few hours. Whole weekends you might miss a lot but logging in only once or twice a day you can get away with.

and how would it affect the rp experience?

Depends what town your characters are in. If you are in a really active town then a lot. Things will be happen and will likely be over by the time you log in. If you're in a sleepier town then not at all, things take days and dats to get sorted out.

[Alladinsane]

Was I not supposed to click on the http://www.cantr-sucks.org link?

Because it didn't lead anywhere!

Be well

[mojomuppet]

Ok if you want something bad about Cantr I got it for you. The game is not fair and you cant call foul. You can however throw your computer, the cookies you were munching on and your pillow that you will need to punch when things are going really wrong and you cant fix them out the window. Dont bother to open it just shove all the shit at it, listen to the glass break and stare proudly out the window at your mess. Then write a note and leave it in the spot where your computer was. I won. This feeling is more intense that almost any emotion I have ever had.


Or get really into the game and then watch when someone else has to quit or thin out chars so you start losing relationships your used to. Then you start staring at that X thinking should I just do it and stop causing all this misery. Then as you are hunting down something to replace it you come to the conclusion there is nothing else like it and settle back into you seat and take your Cantr drug like the good little addicted soul you are.

Oh or you could end up having to set timers so you don't miss the certain second you need to get that edge over someone else, wake up in the middle of the night to creep to the computer and move your chars around so no other player actually knows your sleeping habits. Do I sound paranoid? *be shit eating grin* Welcome to Cantr.

[lucid]

Ok if you want something bad about Cantr I got it for you. The game is not fair and you cant call foul. You can however throw your computer, the cookies you were munching on and your pillow that you will need to punch when things are going really wrong and you cant fix them out the window. Dont bother to open it just shove all the shit at it, listen to the glass break and stare proudly out the window at your mess. Then write a note and leave it in the spot where your computer was. I won. This feeling is more intense that almost any emotion I have ever had.


Or get really into the game and then watch when someone else has to quit or thin out chars so you start losing relationships your used to. Then you start staring at that X thinking should I just do it and stop causing all this misery. Then as you are hunting down something to replace it you come to the conclusion there is nothing else like it and settle back into you seat and take your Cantr drug like the good little addicted soul you are.

Oh or you could end up having to set timers so you don't miss the certain second you need to get that edge over someone else, wake up in the middle of the night to creep to the computer and move your chars around so no other player actually knows your sleeping habits. Do I sound paranoid? *be shit eating grin* Welcome to Cantr.

You scare me.

[mojomuppet]

Ok if you want something bad about Cantr I got it for you. The game is not fair and you cant call foul. You can however throw your computer, the cookies you were munching on and your pillow that you will need to punch when things are going really wrong and you cant fix them out the window. Dont bother to open it just shove all the shit at it, listen to the glass break and stare proudly out the window at your mess. Then write a note and leave it in the spot where your computer was. I won. This feeling is more intense that almost any emotion I have ever had.


Or get really into the game and then watch when someone else has to quit or thin out chars so you start losing relationships your used to. Then you start staring at that X thinking should I just do it and stop causing all this misery. Then as you are hunting down something to replace it you come to the conclusion there is nothing else like it and settle back into you seat and take your Cantr drug like the good little addicted soul you are.

Oh or you could end up having to set timers so you don't miss the certain second you need to get that edge over someone else, wake up in the middle of the night to creep to the computer and move your chars around so no other player actually knows your sleeping habits. Do I sound paranoid? *be shit eating grin* Welcome to Cantr.

You scare me.

*points to some other players* They made me this way

[Gran]

Well, let me see. Cantr is one of the few games where characters can be free: free to decide their own laws, build whatever they want, go whatever they want( within the physical limits out our meshed torus, that is). You might aswell get lost in this world because of that, I usually am.

Usually we complain about the ideological and balancing problems of the game: Albert can't hit Berthold more than once per day; automatic projects are too slow; automatic projects are abusive( or the 'free lunch dilemma'); smoking is dumping baking out of business, etc. Each of such topics is followed by heated discussions with people divided into pro-realists, pro-cantrianists and pro-shut-it-and-play-it.

But that should mean next to nothing to a new player. A new player should be busy being marvelled by the game, the veterans be busy with senseless discussion and flame.

Anyway, join and play. See for yourself instead of relying on us. It's free anyway, and not much of an effort.

Have about three or five characters. Sit and play. If you feel the need to play to check your characters, you're too much of an eCitizen. If you feel the need to play to check how the events are going, you're probably going the Cantr way. Cantr is mostly like a play: "all the world's a stage"*. So you like it if you want to know what's in the next scene. At least in my biased opinion.

*Disclaimer: Pardon the use of this citation, it's inevitable. I have never read Shakespeare in it's own form.