mossy_11 wrote:
I've been thinking about going in there to check it out (mostly for historical reasons) and maybe write an article.
What's the learning curve like? Are there many folks around?
In my opinion the learning curve is medium to high because it's such a quirky game. Training is very slow/subtle and you can't get very far without others... which is tricky because there aren't usually all that many players online.
Once you get past the curve of realising it's a slow game, you'll never catch up with others (because most have been playing for 10+ years and you gain a lot of ranks by sleeping) I think it's a pretty cool game.
It's a bit quirky and everybody has their opinions about how to train (you get some tragics/weirdos on there) but overall it's a very close, helpful community. I love it because it goes against so many modern games. True retro graphics, REALLY slow, and no real shortcuts. As a result I feel a bit like one of the helpless characters in the Canterbury Tales... where the journey is more fun than the destination.
The word 'misadventure' is used commonly because when you fall, you either depart (and lose training) or hang around waiting for a healer to rescue you. Classic misadventure involves getting too ambitious, being surrounded by enemies and falling in a totally random place where nobody would think to look for you. Once fallen, you can't communicate with others but they can communicate with you, and you can 'toggle' them (share/unshare them). Share/unshare means yes and ignoring communication means no... by toggling people they eventually find you, rescue you and have a good old chat about the joy of misadventure.
It takes a special person to enjoy CL in my opinion, but I like it!! Because it's slow, you feel pretty awesome achieving little things. The notion of 'misadventure' also makes failure totally cool/normal. A fun/quirky relic from the past that I hope keeps going!! Everybody wants more new players (and TBH with more, it would make the game more fun)... I'd suggest giving it a go.