When Last Generation Meets Next Generation

People react in many different ways in our MMO world. Whether it’s Norrath, Azeroth, or Telon at some point the old generation of players will meet the new generation of players. How do you react when this happens, and which end are you on?

Aunraye’s article New Doesn’t Mean Incompetent last week gave us a look inside the mind of a newcomer to the genre. In it, she expressed the struggles she and many newcomers to the MMO world tend to deal with. One of those concerns was the way the older veterans of the game sometime react to new players. One thing I think all players need to do both new and old is to be tolerant and respectful of your fellow player. We share this world, and in all likelihood we will cross each other’s path at from time to time. It is always best to make a new friend instead of a new enemy.

One of my favorite things about the MMORPG world is the social aspect and friendships that these games can inspire. My first MMORPG was EverQuest and I can say from day one I was hooked, but like many others from day one, I was also lost. I had no Idea what I was doing, and at the time I was not entirely familiar with how the chat system worked. I had a tough time figuring that out for a while. For a good portion of my first few newbie levels I spoke to no one.

The old days of gaming in MMORPGs like EverQuest were a lot less newbie friendly than the games we see today. Pretty much you logged, created your character, and the game pretty much said “here is your rusty sword and tattered note have fun”. After wondering aimlessly through town and getting lost who knows how many times you finally find your class trainer who you are to deliver the note to. He in turn gives you a basic cloth tunic or robe, and sets you off on your adventure in the local newbie zone. Once you manage to find it. This is a low level mob area usually just outside the city. One can hone their skills killing the local wildlife like bats, rats, snakes, and orc pawns. Most players probably won’t have figured out the life saving con system before their first battle. The con system of EQ went like this.

Green = Below your skill you win easily. You get no experience points.

Light Blue = Still below you, and you should win, but only get a small amount of experience.

Blue = Below your skill level, but still a challenge a bit harder as well.

White = Is equal to you. The battle can go either way.

Yellow = Is a bit higher than you and will likely kill you until you die.

Red = Red was infamously known as death. No low level would dare touch a red without protection of the highest order.

After a while I managed to achieve level 4. Goody! That’s when you get your first Mage pet spells. However, finding them was no easy task. After a couple of hours of searching, I managed to acquire some Mage spells and Malachite. Malachite was a reagent used for summoning my new lowbie elemental pets. So armed with a level 4 air elemental and my new fire direct damage spell of Burn, I was sure to be unstoppable. I get daring and confident as I adventure further and hit the zone line to the East Commonlands. I thought to myself "Wow this place is huge". I wondered the countryside dodging these new dangers that were a very scary red con to me. I had learned my lesson about these as one should.

As I adventured further, I made a trek a bit too deep and hit another zone where I loaded into the Western Commonlands. It was there my adventure began to pick up. At first, things looked empty, so I ran forward to a nearby hill, but as I reached the top I heard a sound. It was like thunder echoing across the valley. Boom! I heard it again. I turned around and standing there at the hill staring at me like I was a chewy morsel of delicious delight was the biggest and scariest thing I had seen to date. A Hill Giant it was called as it stood there with a big smile on its face and pounding his fist in hand. All I could think was Fee, Fi, Fo, Fum, off to the Eastern Commons I run. As I darted for the zone line with the angry giant in tow, I had to figure a way to buy myself some time as I made my escape. It was time for my trusty air elemental to take one for the team. I sent this little fellow at the giant, but alas the giant steamrolled him in a single step. It wasn’t too pretty after that. In fact, some people say that even today if you look close enough, you can still see the imprint off a screaming mage running for his life dented nicely into the bottom of the Hill Giant's boot. Rest in peace dear Mage.

Modern MMORPGs and even EverQuest now have added a more newbie friendly Tutorial. These tutorials pretty much give the new player a hand held guided tour through some of the basics of the game. These tutorials make the life of being new a whole lot easier. Players now can get a feel for the game instead of being thrown to the wolves like I was. Though fun, it can be frustrating for some people. So I think these tutorials honestly serve a greater good even though they are despised by some of the veteran players.

I don’t look down on new players for not knowing the basics. They are new and still learning. In fact, we were all new at some point. Even the most seasoned veteran was a newbie traveler at one time and getting lost in the vastness of a new world that is an MMORPG is only natural. My approach to the new player is that of a mentor of sorts. There were days that I simply took and trained new players I had met in EverQuest in basic things like what abbreviations meant, basic class information, and the ways of the world. In some cases I would give them some newbie gear, but nothing major as I wanted them to experience the thrill of earning that upgrade on their own. Had I simply twinked them, I feel I would have robbed them of an enjoyable experience.

To any new player, if you can’t figure something out, just ask anyone around. There are many of us willing to help. I urge everyone to assist other players when you can. We all were new at some point, and sometimes we all needed help. Maybe we got it, maybe we didn’t, but we can help the next person out regardless. I can say that I have personally made some great friends in-game from just helping out. Some of those people even helped me gain entry into high end guilds eventually. So my helping them actually ended up helping me, but that was all just a bonus. So let’s help out our fellow players if they are in need.