New Doesn’t Mean Incompetent

By Aunraye

 

Everyone was once new to multiplayer RPG’s, no matter if it was 50 years ago with pen and paper, five years ago with Everquest, if you will be the last person who buys Vanguard, or like me about six months ago when friends talked me into it.  I did have a few years of message board role-playing under my belt, which is how I met the people who convinced me to give Everquest a chance.  No matter who you ask there are flaws and
confusion that can be found in any game, but when you are new its often hard to
find the answers you need to continue on in a game that you are hoping to
love.

 

Being the new player also means people assume you know things you don’t. I can’t count the number of times I’ve seen abbreviations or been asked for help with something and had no idea how to reply.  I didn’t know what was going on.  The first few days were full of confusion and expressions like, “Oh my gosh! How can I keep up with anything there are way too many things happening in my window!”  Then there is the feeling of being lost despite having found someone who is willing to explain one or two things. You start to enter the “I’ll never understand all these abbreviations!” phase of learning your new game. You understand how to move, how to shop, how to do the basics, but you want to keep going up the skill ladder. Instead of being able to just continue your progress you hit the wall of abbreviations and missing information.

 

During these phases, I was lucky enough to have some wonderful friends who took me into their guild and helped me learn the game. Even with their help there were days I was alone, or times I wasn’t sure how to ask for help.  Who doesn’t remember the first time they saw, “I’m gonna pull,” and was like “Pull what?” I didn’t ask that question out loud. However, I did spend some time trying to understand what my group was telling me.  If you’re lucky you have someone who knows you are new that you feel comfortable going to for help.  Allowing you to ask, “What does that mean?” If not, you spend a lot of your time learning through trial and error and when grouping feeling horrible when you make those little mistakes that come from being a beginner.

 

Did all of this dampen my love for the game? No, but it did increase my frustration levels.  I have noticed I spend more time soloing than a lot of the players I know that have been playing longer. Part of this is not knowing as many people to group with.  However, another part of this is that with a low level character its harder to participate in certain activities that your higher level friends were involved in. Was I made to feel bad about this? Nope not at all, which I’m sure is part of the reason I still love the game.  I won’t deny that it makes some things harder and causes you to miss out on part of the game for a bit. Now any of you who feel the same way are of course welcome to find me on EQ and join in the fun, or those of you who just want to meet someone new!

 

Being new is also good though. It means that as we wait on the exciting release of Vanguard. I get to go into this exciting new adventure without all the prejudices of what I hate and what I like.  Everything won’t be compared to the games I’ve played before.  Of course, I have developed some likes and dislikes in my time playing, but it’s not to the same level as those of a longtime gamer.  I also won’t be faced with the frustrations that some may feel of starting all over. Though I know many a longtime gamer who is excited about starting over new with new and old friends!

 

Unfortunately, some people assume this ignorance means you aren’t a real gamer, that you don’t take the game seriously, or that you are just trying to kill everything and move on. This attack sometimes also comes at the casual gamer who will naturally have a slower learning curve than someone who can devote several hours every night.  To be fair, the games are about having fun.  It shouldn’t matter if you are new, old, casual, or “hardcore.”  Will your playing experience and time affect your ability to progress? You bet!  If you are serious about the game, that doesn’t matter. You are focused on becoming a better player and enjoying the game experience.  What does matter is learning what things mean so that you can enjoy the game and develop enough to actually succeed in your goals with the game.

 

Is it wrong to ask new players for KEI, if they are LFG, or if they want to pull for you? I think most players would say, “No! Please ask me!"  The catch is that when that player responds with, “What is KEI? How do you pull? I’d love to, but I don’t know how!” Don’t stop talking to them, and act like they are insane. Be prepared to give them a quick explanation.  It’s not that hard to identify a new player. Granted it could be an old player with a new character, but then again you never know. New players just like old are out to have fun, to learn, and to experience the game.

 

As new players look at a game, sometimes it’s easy to forget that it wasn’t always the way we see it. Things change from expansion to expansion with updates and upgrades.  Not starting at the beginning means that we miss out on some of those unresolved bugs at release, but we also lose out on the experiences that came before that just might help us better understand and respect some current in game situations.  The differences and changes that have developed can create a gap between old gamers and new.  However, with some cooperation and understanding that gap can be a source of knowledge and respect instead of a sense of confusion and isolation.