Curse

FexFX · Nov 12, 2006, 11:35 PM // 23:35

First allow me to begin by stating that I am not an elite veteran who say they have every title in the game, all the green weapons, FoW armor, and 250 Black dyes in storage on a Mule...But I am no n00b.

Heck I cant even claim to have yet beaten every chapter because I am taking my time, and trying to do it all on limited playtime...

But, I do avidly read the boards when things get slow here at my work... (internet access at work is a gift from the gods to be sure!)

And one things I have seen is a growing concern that Heroes are killing the game, and that there are no longer any people looking for PUGs...and Tied to this are an increasing number of players complaining that without farming and running (which some claim is nerfed) they have grown bored...

My solution to both of these problems, while perhaps a bit naieve, is simplicity itself!

Become a Mentor!

PUG everywhere, but especially with n00bs! Find someone in Ascalon and team up with them through as much of the game as you can tollerate!

Looking for a challenge? Try to keep a group of n00bs lacking experience alive during a tough mission instead of doing a run!

See a l33t [email protected] making a fool of themselves and annoying everyone around them? Invite them on a run and have a little "chat" with them enroute, maybe give 'em a few valuable trinkets to enrich their characters while you enrich their minds to reinforce your example!

Create a guild who's only purpose is to school the n00bs (litterally) on how to make the GW community the best one around! Gather the most tollerant players you can find, and create your own "Guardian Angels"! Spread the word of GW!

Play watchdog for the Local and Trade channels, diffusing or reporting the Scammers and abusers.

Instead of complaining about the community, work actively to improve it!

Instead of wishing there were more PUGs or that PUGs were more fun, make it so!

This is just my two cents, and I hope no one decides this is the perfect target for a flame attack or an excellent chance to point out that I am st00p!d for being so naieve...But I think what I am sayign has merit...

So now, in my mind, it's up to those complaining loudest...do they want change bad enough to work for it...or will they only be happy if its someone else doing the work. And dont get me wrong, this is work I am proposing...but then again so is farming and running...and the way I see it, you'll meet more people and have a lot more variety than ripping through the same mobs over and over in the hope of getting those greens, golds and Ectos...

Consider this a challenge...who accepts? I look forward to seeing people out there PUGing for change!

-FexFX

Zinger314 · Nov 12, 2006, 11:38 PM // 23:38

If n00bs don't suffer mission loss after mission loss, they won't learn how to improve their skills. No pain, no gain.

Holding hands for n00bs won't help them in the long run.

FexFX · Nov 12, 2006, 11:46 PM // 23:46

Quote:

Originally Posted by Zinger314

If n00bs don't suffer mission loss after mission loss, they won't learn how to improve their skills. No pain, no gain.

Holding hands for n00bs won't help them in the long run.

So then are you saying that, other than the painful brick wall methodology you suggest, there is no way for a n00b to learn? Are you implying that you could not assist a n00b in being less of a n00b? That your own experiences are something no one else might benefit from? Did no one ever give you good advice or take you on a run?

Are you saying you can't turn a common flowergirl into a proper lady?

Warrior Of The Toon · Nov 12, 2006, 11:48 PM // 23:48

To be honest I don't find finding a PUG too much harder than before. As for your plans to improve the community - almost every online community for a game seems to start off all nice, dancing on the green grass in the sunshine while making daisy chains, but thye all get corrupted and if you are going to try and stop the next generation of scam artists and noobs just talking to them and doing the work for them isn't going to stop them, they are more likely to just take advantage of you and still do what they would do, but just be worse in-game and maybe not quit due to that near impossible mission you guided them through.

FexFX · Nov 12, 2006, 11:55 PM // 23:55

Quote:

Originally Posted by Warrior Of The Toon

To be honest I don't find finding a PUG too much harder than before. As for your plans to improve the community - almost every online community for a game seems to start off all nice, dancing on the green grass in the sunshine while making daisy chains, but thye all get corrupted and if you are going to try and stop the next generation of scam artists and noobs just talking to them and doing the work for them isn't going to stop them, they are more likely to just take advantage of you and still do what they would do, but just be worse in-game and maybe not quit due to that near impossible mission you guided them through.

So you take the stance that people just natually end up sucking eventually so why do anything? That a n00b PUG/Scammer is what they are and cannot be helped/changed and must therefore be merely tollerated/ignored? That trying to do anything about it is pointless? Is all reform an illusion?

Between trying and surrendering, do you prefer surrendering?

lacasner · Nov 12, 2006, 11:58 PM // 23:58

At one point one must give up a losing battle.

FexFX · Nov 13, 2006, 12:02 AM // 00:02

Quote:

Originally Posted by lacasner

At one point one must give up a losing battle.

Are these the only people out there? Those who believe that this is a lost cause? Is the GW community therefore automatically doomed because everyone believes that people just plain suck and that doing something/anything about it is a completely pointless waste of time? Have the [email protected]/Scammers broken our spirits and defeated us so soundly that surrender is this automatic?

Is hope for fools?

lacasner · Nov 13, 2006, 12:05 AM // 00:05

No, the ignorant will always be strong, as there is strenght in numbers.

xxSilhouette · Nov 13, 2006, 12:09 AM // 00:09

Quote:

Originally Posted by FexFX

Instead of complaining about the community, work actively to improve it!

out of everything you just said - i find this to be best. Beacuse frankly, its annoying seeing everyone complain about the nerfs, or the hero's, or the chests, or farming or whatever.

But I will say that I think that begining players or 'n00bs' need to learn things on there own, when I first started playing i mainly played with myself and henchman - i didn't want help from anyone, beacuse i wanted to go through on my own - it was very fun and challenging, and it took quite a long time. But i think in some cases, expecially certain missions or quests, help is needed - I know when i first got to post-searing and I went to go to the quest to get althea's ashes - I got my butt whooped :/ But I do always find it rewarding to help other players, IF they appreciate it.

FexFX · Nov 13, 2006, 12:11 AM // 00:11

Quote:

Originally Posted by lacasner

No, the ignorant will always be strong, as there is strenght in numbers.

Is there then no value in the wisdom of the few? Is the Lone Voice In The Wilderness wasting their breath? Can no group no matter how small/large ever affect a change when faced with adversity? Is change impossible?

Where would be be if every great mind in history had felt this way?

lacasner · Nov 13, 2006, 12:14 AM // 00:14

Well, real life and this game are very different, think about it like that.

Sli Ander · Nov 13, 2006, 12:20 AM // 00:20

Quote:

Originally Posted by lacasner

Well, real life and this game are very different, think about it like that.

Well, seeing as how the game is 'inhabited' by real life people, the differences end up being less than you might think. They are the same people, just with a different, more anonymous atmosphere to operate in.

But that's just my two cents

FexFX · Nov 13, 2006, 12:25 AM // 00:25

Quote:

Originally Posted by xxSilhouette

out of everything you just said - i find this to be best. Beacuse frankly, its annoying seeing everyone complain about the nerfs, or the hero's, or the chests, or farming or whatever.

But I will say that I think that begining players or 'n00bs' need to learn things on there own, when I first started playing i mainly played with myself and henchman - i didn't want help from anyone, beacuse i wanted to go through on my own - it was very fun and challenging, and it took quite a long time. But i think in some cases, expecially certain missions or quests, help is needed - I know when i first got to post-searing and I went to go to the quest to get althea's ashes - I got my butt whooped :/ But I do always find it rewarding to help other players, IF they appreciate it.

Ah! Finally a voice of assent!

Mostly...

So maybe not starting from Ascalon, but a bit further in? I remember fondly joining with groups for Althea's ashes, and learning many of the things I was doing wrong from more experienced players! Making friends and feeling like there was indeed a community I was a part of...Doesn't it make sense to actively seek to preserve that? Isn't it always better to be helpful than to despair? Learning alone only gets you so far...a mentor's value cannot be underestimated!

So will you make it a personal goal to help a n00b and improve Ascalon?

Is there anyone else out there that feels the way I do? Are the voices of reason and hope so quiet that they cannot be heard above the din of despair?

lacasner · Nov 13, 2006, 12:27 AM // 00:27

Yes, but in real life is there an ultimate supreme dictator (anet in this game) who can decide to do anything they want at any time? (god doesn't count :P)

FexFX · Nov 13, 2006, 12:30 AM // 00:30

Quote:

Originally Posted by lacasner

Well, real life and this game are very different, think about it like that.

In real life, are there not those who work for change? Are those who strive to make the world a better place in Real Life wasting their time as you seem to imply we would be in this Virtual Life?

I can name a dozen lone voices that changed the world. Can you?

Should they have decided that the battle was hopeless? What would the world be like had they remained silent? Do you think we should strive not because the odds do not favor us?

lacasner · Nov 13, 2006, 12:33 AM // 00:33

Read the book 1984 by george orwell, it adaquetly sums up at least how I think GW and Anet is and will continue to be.

FexFX · Nov 13, 2006, 12:35 AM // 00:35

Quote:

Originally Posted by lacasner

Yes, but in real life is there an ultimate supreme dictator (anet in this game) who can decide to do anything they want at any time? (god doesn't count :P)

Yes, at the least you can name it nature. Would you choose not to help victims in a crisis because some may loot or take unfair advantage of your help?

At the worst you can call is society, the mob mind...If the mob decides to run amok and riot, by this argument no one should try to stem the tide because it is the will of a greater power!

And, unlike Nature and The Mob Mind, ANet listens...We may not always like the way they respond, but ultimately we cannot be held accountable for their actions, only our own. Innaction is an action. Indifference makes a difference. Apathy is contageous!

FexFX · Nov 13, 2006, 12:41 AM // 00:41

Quote:

Originally Posted by lacasner

Read the book 1984 by george orwell, it adaquetly sums up at least how I think GW and Anet is and will continue to be.

But that book had a hero! A voice that tried to speak out! I will grant you that like all messiah characters in history and in fiction, he was "crucified" for trying to fight the system...I doubt there is much chance of any such dramatic outcome.

But you seem to have drifted off topic...This was not an indictment of ANet or the mechanics of the game...It was a suggestion of how to affect change within the community rather than stewing in our collective despair that certain aspects of the game are no longer the same as they once were...Alternatives...new passtimes to replace old. A way to improve our lot rather than to accept it...

Would you say that such an endeavor is utterly without merit?

FexFX · Nov 13, 2006, 12:46 AM // 00:46

Quote:

Originally Posted by Sli Ander

Well, seeing as how the game is 'inhabited' by real life people, the differences end up being less than you might think. They are the same people, just with a different, more anonymous atmosphere to operate in.

But that's just my two cents

Your post while observant and salient in its relevance, does not state how you feel about the subject...Is such an endeavor worth it? Would you choose to help n00bs and expose scammers in an effort to improve the commuinty as a whole? Will you PUG for change?

Zinger314 · Nov 13, 2006, 12:47 AM // 00:47

Quote:

Originally Posted by lacasner

Read the book 1984 by george orwell, it adaquetly sums up at least how I think GW and Anet is and will continue to be.

Um. 1984 has no relevance to this topic whatsoever.

You are probably thinking of Marxism or Communism, which is completely different than 1984. And it's a stretch enough comparing either of those to 1984.