The Wizardry Report Card - May 17, 2002

Here's what Astarians had to say about last week's column "Bright Ideas & Blight Ideas".

Darkrose wrote:
"The only thing I could suggest would be a response to the idea reports that are submitted to further encourage people that do enter them. For example, a few pre-written forms could be made up when a report is too vague, too outlandish and unbalancing, or creative but needs more explanation."

Good idea. Although forms might be troublesome because there are a lot of wizards who look through each report, I've begun discussing some of idea reports in the last week with the submitters.

Artanis wrote:
"You failed to talk about the complain command. Why?"

Though the column was focused on idea reports, I did mention some statistics about the frequency of bug reports, typo reports and praise reports. Unfortunately, time and date information is not available on older complain reports, so I was unable to calculate any statistics for it. However, I would estimate it's the least used out of all the commands, include praise.

Spring is upon us and I couldn't be happier about it. Warm weather is abundant, hockey playoffs are in high gear and college students are getting out of school. Those students don't win their freedom without a price, though. They've got to face their report card and be judged on how they've done over the past semester. Well why should the wizardry have it any easier? They shouldn't of course. So, without further ado, I present the wizardry's report card.

ACTIVENESS: B+
The activity level of the wizardry has been largely improved over last year. Most of the wizards who admittedly didn't code or help out have been demoted to "Inactive Wizard" status. As of this moment, 12 of the 17 members of the active wizardry have been online in the last 24 hours. There's still much room for improvement, however. One thing that many wizards, including myself, need to consider is taking on smaller projects instead of really large ones. Although the larger ones tend to have a better payoff in the end, most people are less likely to lose interest in a short-term project. Players also appreciate a steadier stream of fresh code rather than seeing it released in a lump sum.

AREA DEVELOPMENT: C
This category definitely seems to have taken a hit in recent months. Although the quality of released areas is definitely at an all-time high for the realm, the quantity has hit a drought. It's been four and a half months since any new areas have been released. The only new area to have been created in that time is the Cynan Windsong Centre for the Performing Arts, which was used to host The 2002 MUDdie Awards. Unfortunately, it was thrown together too quickly to have any sustaining value or even to be connected as a permanent fixture. On the plus side, the activity level of the wizardry certainly implies that there will be new areas in the realm before the summer is up.

MUDLIB DEVELOPMENT: A-
Quantity certainly hasn't been an issue when it comes to mudlib work, which entails the inner workings of Astaria (e.g. commands, powers, inheritables), and hopefully the quality of the work will stand the test of time. The elementalists guild is fully integrated into the realm and has drawn a large number of anxious players to its doors. There have been ongoing improvements to help files and command syntaxes, especially when it comes to guild powers. Unfortunately, some people have expressed concern that the wizardry is focusing on elements of the MUD that are perfectly acceptable, while there are many long-standing problems that remain untouched. It's not for lack of knowledge, though. The wizardry is aware of the weaknesses of the realm and hopefully in time they will all be eliminated.

WIZARD-PLAYER INTERACTION: A
The interaction players have with the staff is definitely much more palatable than late last year. Complaints of favoritism have all but vanished and most people report being treated fairly. Harassment complaints are being addressed where necessary and bug reports are being fixed consistently. Since Alexia's administration it's been largely thought that the staff has been getting ruder and that they don't care about the players. That view may very well have lost it's footing though. Without setting a "happy-shiny" mood, the current administration has still managed to restore players' faith in it. Hopefully this tone will continue over the next year and not evaporate the first time the staff makes an unpopular decision.

OVERALL: B+
The wizardry certainly seems to be in a comfortable position at the moment. Despite the loss of two of its most talented writers this week, the staff of Astaria is still going strong. There are certainly some dynamics to watch out for in the coming months, though. Newly hired wizards are expected in the next while, so it should be interesting to see how they affect the current level of productivity. This column itself may represent an increase in communication between the wizardry and the players, but will it lead to arguments or better acceptance of mutual problems? Will the elementalists quickly grow dissatisfied not having a wizard adjusting their powers as his major project? Time will answer all these questions, but the future of the MUD seems to be bright.