Monday, 06 August 2001 1905Z
More on the topic of 'Newbies'... -Teatime

There was a very good editorial on the topics of 'Newbies' in PF Editorial Section last week, written by TheNemesis. He very nicely described the problem of newbie bashing which is by no means new and yet sadly becomes more common each day. Recommanded reading!

But besides the editorial of TheNemesis there was an excellent post on the PF Forums by The Hal, a former PF newsie, to that issue. This one's not only a keeper, but should be mandatory reading for every TFC player. The more it saddens me that those people, who should read it in the first place, will likely never glance at it. Perhaps ignorance is even a worse enemy for TFC than cheaters and lamers combined ...

Even though I have moved away from the TF scene, I stop back at PF every now and again to see what's happening. I read the editorial by TheNemesis. I scanned through many of the comments posted in response to his editorial. And I can assure you, not much has changed. And I doubt anything will ever change concerning newbies and llamas.

Newbies need help. If you don't take the time to help them, then who's fault is it that they don't know how to play? Yes, he should have read the manual. Yes, he should ask questions instead of just doing something, and hoping it is right. But on the other hand, do you think you could read a manual on setting up a server and get it right the first time? Do you think you could read a manual on driving a car and do it to perfection right off the bat? Maybe a select few could do those things, but the vast majority would need some extra guidance.

Many players come from different gaming environments where the rules are different, the goals are different, and the community is different. Do you treat a newbie with contempt and ridicule him for going through his learning curve? Do you think he is stupid because he hasn’t grasped the concept of how to play TF? Is a baby stupid because it falls down when it is trying to learn to walk? Ask yourself, did you know everything about TF and play as good as you do now the very first time you got on a server? I doubt it.

If you don’t take the time to explain things, you can hardly complain when a newbie makes mistakes. If you can’t take the time to explain a few quick basics to the newbie, then isn’t it more likely that he will spoil your precious game? And if you loose the flag because you are spending the time with the newbie, big deal. It is one game. How many more games will you be playing in the future? Hundreds? Maybe a thousand or more? That newbie might just help you win a game down the road. That newbie might become one of the next Great TF players with your help. Or is that what you are afraid of?

If the TF community was really concerned about newbies, there would be a whole lot more effort made to help them. And I don’t mean more manuals, more class sites, more reading, and more shunting them off the server to find out how to play on their own time. I mean helping them in real time, on the server, in a game where they can best learn the ins and outs of TF. If you are playing a real clan match, a newbie has no right to be there. If you are playing on a public server, he has as much right being there as you do. And as a ‘veteran’ TF player, you should feel obligated to help. Team Fortress is all about team work. If a newbie happens to be on your team, and you don’t help, then what kind of team player are you?

I rarely found myself at the top of the score board when I was playing TF. But I did enjoy many wins as a team. I was never all that great a player. But one thing I could be called is a great team mate. That’s what it’s all about. You get on public servers to sharpen your skills. But you are still on a team. Is it still as rewarding being top fragger when your team looses? Myself, I wouldn’t mind being lowest on the scoreboard every time if the team won. A newbie could be a great team player if he is given the chance. But you will never know unless you try…

The Hal

To quote DieHard: "Hal, no matter how long time passes your words of wisdom always hits the nail on the head". My sentiment exactly.

Thrusday, 02 August 2001 1905Z
Give me a break... -Teatime

You may or may have not read my latest little rant in my 'I hate it here'-section on the left. Those rants are usually coming from my guts. I don't spend a lot of time to construct these rants and I don't waste too much time in the phrasing or the words used, I just aim to get a point across as directly as possible, which often happens to be in a rather cynical and negative way (why else would I have adopted this headline).

Why do I tell you all this? Because obviously people have problems to get a point even if it bites them in the ass.

So when you read this little rant over there you will notice that I tried to label people, who - either deliberately or because of laziness - don't play the game as it's supposed to be played (and yes, I'm prepared for all the smartass remarks about my boldness to state how the game should be played) as 'newbies'. I did so in the knowledge that the term 'newbie' is used in offensive ways belittling and ridiculing new and inexperienced players. In fact it was my point to offend those people I described there by using that term.

I may quote from an email I received:

Frankly, it's as bad as calling all newbies llamas (for being unable to play) - what you are doing is calling a fairly large subsection of the llama
population 'newbies'

This isn't just a semantic difference. By legitimising the term 'newbie' as an insult, you cause the idiots you use it at to fling it around themselves.
Sooner or later the real new players will hear it, and real people - new lifeblood for the game, will be hurt, and turn away.

May I suggest instead the term 'furbie' It is similar enough to 'newbie' for most people to work out what you mean, whilst carrying the connotation of
being fluffy and annoying.

I acknowledge the writer's good intentions, and I can understand his concerns perfectly. Yet this turns into an issue of political correctness. Let us by no means and under no circumstances use the term 'newbie' in ways which could be mistook for transporting a negative image. As with most cases of political correctness these are good intentions blown out of proportions. Let's face the fact that the term 'newbie' is already used in a degrading way in most cases and we won't be able to 'neutralize' this word any time soon. In fact TFC is already far too old as that you could prevent the arrogant or braindead portion of the established players to look down on new players. Maybe this is another example where the real world, where it's not unusual that new people are ridiculed or picked on, is catching up with the online world with the steady increase of people online. Anyway, creating an environment which welcomes and helps new players will not be achieved by dancing around the term 'newbie'.

What I tried to achieve with my rant was to point out that skilled and experienced players act in ways which are just as far off from the game as the cluelessness of a newer player. But maybe I should have added a disclaimer in big letters that the catch of this comparison is that the new player don't know any better yet, while the experienced player don't care and therefore deliberately hurt our all game.

There are people who think the steady influx of newbies would be bad for the game. But IMO the biggest threat to the game is the indifference of the experienced player towards playing TFC as the teamgame it's supposed to be. I know it's often not easy to get some teamwork going on the pubs, but how can you expect teamwork on a public server if you are not willing to do your part, to put a little effort in pulling off some teamplay. To all those people claiming the pubs were just bad and not-to-be-taken-serious I can only say: If you are not part of the solution then you are part of the problem.