Proposing a new (Ubuntu) packet description for TMW

[Byakushin]

Hello,

The current TMW package description in Ubuntu (for the old stable version) is in some need of updating:

Old desc:
Description: The Mana World is a 2D MMORPG
The Mana World (short TMW) is a serious effort to create an innovative free
and open source MMORPG. The Mana World uses 2D graphics and aims to create a
large and diverse interactive world.
The player's story is built with quests, interaction and fighting against
monsters and in PvP mode against other players, too. Or you join other partys,
clans or groups and will contribute them.
Homepage: http://www.themanaworld.org/

I propose the following new version:

Description: The Mana World is a 2D MMORPG.

The Mana World (TMW for short) is an innovative, free and open source
MMORPG (Massive Multiplayer Online Role-Playing Game). The game is fully
playable: there is a main game server, and a handful of alternate
servers providing varied environments. The client can connect to any of
these tmwAthena servers. In TMW, the player advances their story through
quests, fighting monsters, and practising skills such as magic. Player
interactions include parties, trading and limited PvP in designated
areas; cooperation is supported by design. The Mana World graphics
represent 2D pixel art at its prime of the late 1990s, when many
RPG classics were released for e.g. the SNES.

Homepage: http://www.themanaworld.org/

This is just my suggestion, so feel free to suggest alternative full descriptions. (I won't necessarily manage to follow this thread regularly to provide updated versions based on change-this-word-here etc suggestions, so don't get stuck waiting on me if you come up with something better.)

I'll refer the Debian/Ubuntu packager (the-me @ freenode) to this thread.

[the-me]

With my *Debian* maintainer hut on, thanks for the work and it looks nice.
If no one has got other subjections I would took it over?

[Bertram]

Hi,

The description has never been better with Byakushin's modifications.

It has my full support.

Best regards.

[Meemxes]

Bravo, Byakushin! In addition: Ubuntu's software center has game categories, as I'm sure you know. The Mana World should be under Role Playing, but currently is not. It would be nice if browsing users could find it under Role Playing instead of having to look through the list of all games.

Note: I'm not blaming anyone for the fact that TMW isn't in the right place. I wouldn't even know who to point at or which end it's on. I'm just saying that if there's something we can do to make things better, we should. And it seems like it should be an easy thing to do if you plan to upgrade the description anyway.

[Matt]

The Mana World (TMW for short) is an innovative, free and open source
MMORPG (Massive Multiplayer Online Role-Playing Game). Besides the main server maintained by the developers there are many community-grown servers which provide varied environments for days of additional fun. In TMW the players create their own story while solving quests, fighting monsters, practising skills, cast magic and form ingame guilds. Social interactions improve the gaming experience (including parties, trading and limited PvP in designated areas), but are not required. The Mana World graphics are inspired by 2D pixel art at its prime of the late 1990s, when many
RPG classics were released for e.g. the SNES (Secret of Mana).

[Byakushin]

Hm, in Matt's version the main differences seem to be:
+ a change to the description of main vs. alternate servers (I react to "days of additional fun" - just days?, and "maintained by the developers" - the developers of what, as opposed to the other servers though)
- removal of "fully playable" (won't be missed, was just a reaction to the in-progressiness of the first desc)
- removal of depiction of what the client can connect to (I'm neutral about this)
+ change "player advances their story by doing xyz" to "player creates their own story while doing xyz" (I don't think you can really do much in the way of creating your own story in TMW, the main thing you can express yourself through is just chat and outfits; the quests are rather railroaded but at least they change the NPCs' attitudes towards you - you become the Hero of Tulimshar in the eyes of an old lady and whatnot - but in short, I don't think the player has much of a story beyond the quests, skills and stats. But I may be biased towards text-based games where you can add your own descriptions, build houses and choose classes/guilds/races etc that emphasize what you are.)
+ addition of mention that player interaction is not required (I think this is a kind of strange emphasis, "come play an online game, where you don't /have/ to talk to anyone")
+ mention of guilds (this boggles me most - we _can't_ do that AFAIK! - there is a guild-like-chat bot privately maintained, but that can't be counted as a game feature)
- removal of mention that cooperation is supported by design (I think this is actually a real value in TMW: instead of the usual problem of rampant kill stealing, hitting monsters others are fighting actually rewards both, and instead of healers being just supportive, they actually get exp for it)
+ graphics represent -> are inspired by.
+ added mention of Secret of Mana

Without knowing the thinking behind the previous proposal (plz include commentary! ), I suggest a compromise where I pilfer the good stuff I agree with:

---

The Mana World (TMW for short) is an innovative, free and open source MMORPG (Massive Multiplayer Online Role-Playing Game). Besides the actively maintained TMW game server, this client can connect to multiple community-grown servers, which provide varied environments and further challenge. In TMW, the players solve quests, fight monsters, practice various skills, and study magic. Social activities include parties, trading and limited PvP in designated areas; while there are no limits to solo play, collaborative behaviour such as healing others, fighting together and banding up against tougher monsters are rewarded in the game. The Mana World graphics have been inspired by 2D pixel art at its prime of the late 1990s, when many RPG classics, such as the Secret of Mana, were released for e.g. the SNES.

----

I wonder one more thing though: should we advertise here that we're item-saving, location-saving and no-kill-penalty, and easy enough for a toddler to play (sans quests)? For me, this was a major reason to stay on the server since I keep getting interrupted and can't play my home MUD because it's designed for focused sessions that last for more than a few minutes at a time. On the other hand, it might not be a marketing key as such - my main reason to _come_ was the free+open sourceness, the cute graphics and of course the fact that I actually ran into the game in the Ubuntu games section, since I haven't looked any further for gaming entertainment for a while. A major thing from my point of view, therefore, is to have the latest client available through the major Linux software repositories, easy registration (and online instructions in the client), and a nice description that piques people's curiosity somehow.

(EDIT: fixed a typo in 'areas', thanks to TheKandiman for spotting it!)

[Matt]

Thank you for your last version, it is perfect!

I just wanted to get the technical stuff out noone cares about (when first hearing about TMW, might be confusing), e.g. tmweAthena, Tmwserv, whatever.

The graphics aren't like SNES anymore since we changed from 16x16 to 32x32, but still keep their spirit.

And SoM was always important to me

[the-me]

The Mana World (TMW for short) is an innovative, free and open source MMORPG (Massive Multiplayer Online Role-Playing Game). Besides the actively maintained TMW game server, this client can connect to multiple community-grown servers, which provide varied environments and further challenge. In TMW, the players solve quests, fight monsters, practice various skills, and study magic. Social activities include parties, trading and limited PvP in designated areas; while there are no limits to solo play, collaborative behaviour such as healing others, fighting together and banding up against tougher monsters are rewarded in the game. The Mana World graphics have been inspired by 2D pixel art at its prime of the late 1990s, when many RPG classics, such as the Secret of Mana, were released for e.g. the SNES.

Sounds good, should I upload it?

[Matt]

Yeah, but "such as the Secret of Mana" sounds strange, use "such as Secret of Mana" maybe?

[Wombat]

The Mana World (TMW for short) is an innovative, free and open source MMORPG. Besides the official game server, this client can connect to multiple community-grown servers, which provide varied environments and further challenge. In TMW, the players solve quests, fight monsters, practice skills and study magic. Social activities include parties, trading and limited PvP in designated areas. While there are no limits to solo play, collaborative behaviour such as healing others, fighting together and banding up against tougher monsters are rewarded in the game. The Mana World graphics have been inspired by 2D pixel art at its prime of the late 1990s, when many RPG classics, such as Secret of Mana, were released.

[Matt]

The Mana World (TMW for short) is an innovative, free and open source MMORPG. Besides the official game server, this client can connect to multiple community-grown servers, which provide varied environments and further challenge. In TMW, the players solve quests, fight monsters, practice skills and study magic. Social activities include parties, trading and limited PvP in designated areas. While there are no limits to solo play, collaborative behaviour such as healing others, fighting together and banding up against tougher monsters are rewarded in the game. The Mana World graphics have been inspired by 2D pixel art at its prime of the late 1990s, when many RPG classics, such as Secret of Mana for the Super Nintendo Entertainment System, were released.

[Wombat]

I like Matt's the best. the-me, I think it is ready.

[the-me]

The Mana World (TMW for short) is an innovative, free and open source MMORPG. Besides the official game server, this client can connect to multiple community-grown servers, which provide varied environments and further challenge. In TMW, the players solve quests, fight monsters, practice skills and study magic. Social activities include parties, trading and limited PvP in designated areas. While there are no limits to solo play, collaborative behaviour such as healing others, fighting together and banding up against tougher monsters are rewarded in the game. The Mana World graphics have been inspired by 2D pixel art at its prime of the late 1990s, when many RPG classics, such as Secret of Mana for the Super Nintendo Entertainment System, were released.

Comitted in svn.