John,
I wanted to open up some discussion with you and the other players about what to do to make Oubliette a better game. As it stands right now, Oub is a good game. I think with some relatively minor changes you could push it over the top into a great game. I have hundreds of notes jotted down, and too many ideas to discuss in this format, but I have attempted to group them into 3 main ideas:
Make it easier for new players to get started
The hardest and most frustrating moments of this game (for me at least) were the first few levels. Running out of cash, resting in the streets for weeks and weeks, trying to advance my newly rolled chars, trying to figure out the game mechanics... it was a lot of negative energy going on. I was motivated to play, so I pushed thru it. I imagine that most folks get frustrated, delete the free app and move on. So my question is... "Why does it have to be so hard/frustrating at the beginning of the game?" Here are a few quick and easy to implement (I hope) ideas to reduce newbie angst:
1) Improve the starter party -- It is nice that you have provided some pre-made chars. What is not so nice is that too many of them are borderline useless.
Gilmor -- raise dex from 5 to 10
Santhil -- raise con from 13 to 15, start with 10 hits instead of 7.
Aiwendil -- raise int from 13 to 16, raise dex from 12 to 15.
Gurunk -- raise str from 19 to 23, raise dex from 11 to 13
as you can see, most of my suggestions are designed to increase dex because the starting party is too slow.
2) Use the starting party to teach basic elements of the game...Write into the tutorials a brief blurb that discusses experience parameters. Make one of the original hirebrands an orc. When he makes level, have the tutorial pop up explaining why some chars level up faster than others. If you set his age high enough, that char will be useful to also explain (via a tutorial pop up) what happens to aging chars as well. He will make it easier for a new player to get started, but will have minimal long term effect on the game. For the same reason, change
Salamar (the sage) into an Elf, and
vastly improve his stats. When you write the tutorial pop ups, you can draw attention to the fact that while the orc hirebrand has less going for him than Salamar, he will level up much faster. When the aging pop up occurs, again you can use it to point out that the hirebrand's days are numbered and Salamar's days are not.
3) Provide the initial party with an item they can sell for a reasonable amount of cash. I am thinking of something in the fairly modest price range, and not terrible useful to the party. Perhaps put a Dagger + 2 on one of the mages. Then when the player's gold drops to >50, have another tutorial pop up suggesting that the store is a good way to raise some cash, and that perhaps the mage really doesn't need his dagger, since he isn't likely to be fighting much anyhow. This kills two birds with one stone -- provides cash to help minimize the endless resting in the streets problem (I mean its not really much fun to rest week after week after week after week after week...) and gives you a teachable moment to utilize.
4) My last idea most likely falls into the realm of a coding change, but I include it in the off chance you want to incorporate it in a future version. Create a "level 1-2 monster buffer" in the first few squares around the city steps. I recall very clearly my first trip to the dungeon. One step, 8 Ogres, and I had chars dropping like flies. Again, I was motivated to restart and try again... other players might just walk away. Give the new players a few rooms that they can't encounter the level 4,5,6 monsters, and write it up in the tutorial.