Useless fact of the day:
Aerosmith's "Dude Looks Like a Lady" was written about Vince Neil of Motley Crue.
Vanilla Ice's real name is Robert Van Winkle.
Ok, as I promised in the last Blab, I was gonna write a sort of "A Newbies guide to success" this time around. In the mean time, Ghandi posessed me, and so I made a Blab inbewteen, so sue me! :). Anyways, without further ado, here's my blabbing of a bidding on how Newbies can seem... Not-so-newbie-ish:
I won't put this up in numerical order from point to point, so bear with me and my inconsitency, though I will try and divide the points as well as I can. (Which means not very well :)
What is a newbie?
The word behind it is "New Beginner", just smack those two together and you have the new word: Newbie.
What characterizes a newbie?
In one word, it's usually inexperience, or ignorance, or both of course. This isn't to be taken negatively, since we have all been newbies at something at SOME point.
I will be referring to newbiedom in the place where I believe it was born, namely online. And from where I have garnered my experiences from being a newbie and developing into a... non-newbie. This is mostly on IRC and various gaming networks.
First off, you need a healthy doze of observation ability and patience. What makes a newbie? Usually, a newbie doesn't know that, and will venture off to figure it out the hard way.
There will always develope certain elements of specialization within a community surrounding something. Take for instance tech-jargon of computers. All that techno babble can drive people away from it so easily, and they'll say it's just too much for them and they don't like it.
In a game chat-room however, people who show up there are there for a reason and purpose. Not just passing by, in need of a good first impression and a good introduction of things, but actively seeking entertainment, not passively. But there's no reason for a new-comer to have to suffer in ignorance for a period of time, only to be able to throw the unwanted title of "Newbie" off his name after some time.
Many might not have patience to sit around and observe a while, but patience is afterall a virtue, learn it!
When sitting idle and watching the ways of the room, you should be able to pick up rather quickly on how the basic things work in there. Assuming it is a gaming service, you'll see how people find/host/join games and the likes. If you ask about how that sort of thing works in the main channel, you'll be dubbed a newbie instantly, and many people will not want to be bothered with you. Sad but true.
If it's "just" a chat-room for whatever, depending on the purpose of the room, going ahead slowly and wisely should be the way. As if to blend in unnoticed, and slowly build up some sort of image and presence.
Pick your nick name wisely and with concideration. Most people won't notice your name if it's anything but bad. You don't want any initial attention if you're there to observe things and ways of the chat-room you might end up spending a lot of your future leisure time in. Perhaps even initially take on some secondary nickname and try things out to start with, and after you feel comfortable in the place, leave, change name, and come back as your-not-so-newbie-self.
If you are new to the gaming service, but not to the game, a period of observation is always recommended in order to evaluate the level and manner of the players there. In most places, there are regulars, and those are the ones you should try and get to know. Not just anyone, but those who appeal to you the most ofcourse.
If it's the first time you venture online, seeking opponents and peers in a game, like TA for instance, you have played a bit offline and single player, there are some things you should keep in mind.
Playing vs. a computer opponent is always different from the AI, so don't "brag" about having completed the missions on the hardest difficulty, or in skirmish games. That usually never impresses anyone, rather the opposite.
Rather say nothing than saying something bad or stupid.
I would ofcourse recommend a very civil and laid back attitude when chatting in general, so no unnecesary abuse of language, no gloating or harassing, just a calm and silent nature aswell as keeping a low profile in the beginning will do.
Lamers are everywhere, it's a rule rather than the exception. So learn to live with it. You'll ofcourse be left to jugde who the lamers are, and the best way to deal with them is to ignore them to your best extent.
If anyone calls you a newbie, then I suggest taking it with an ounce of humor and acceptance, since you are basically a newbie, no need denying it.
I would recommend that you find some friend(s), or person(s) who are willing to help you through some basics. Always nice to have some allies aswell. And here the question of Clans/Legions arise.
If you're new to the place/room/service, but good/experienced at the game, you might come across some people who will be impressed by your skills at the game. And perhaps they will offer you to join their clan/legion if they see (or hear, by asking you) that you're clan-less. Here, we will assume that you're not in any clan/legion. The best way to deal with such an offer from some person which you hardly know, is to politely, and initially decline, but perhaps try and leave the option open. You could perhaps say that you're new there, don't know the people asking for you to join, and you'd like to get to know them better before you're joining. You might end up joining a clan-fulla-lamers if you just say yes right off the bat.
Perhaps a more reasonable way is to join a clan in which many of your friends (assuming that with time you aqquire friends) are in. Or even, start your own clan, with the friends that you want to be in.
Some TA-related advice:
It's somehow come to pass that a newbies preferred way of playing is with a Maximum resource level, namely 10K/10K, and preferably playing on a metal map, such as Metal Heck, and last but not least is the Build-time. Perhaps demanding a build-time when playing with a friend is ok, afterall, it will give you peace and quiet to build up slowly and make all the advanced stuff. But it will chase of many other people, and I suggest you just keep it to yourself until you find people who will actually prefer build-times and play amongs yourselves. The reason I prefer never having a build time is because it can ammount to some weird stuff, especially at TA. Many people have some build-order set up so they know exactly what they allow themselves and how far they can stretch the time and resources, so that when time is up, you'll get a smack in the face. Most veterans prefer a no-holds barred approach, with no build time whatsoever, and in TA, playing with 1K/1K or less of resources.
This, and other in game rules, such as no-commander rushing, are hard to maintain, so just having free hands is a lot easier, then it will surely be fair to everyone.
If you want to ban some unit in TA, see to it that you host the game, ban the unit, and inform everyone about it so that they'll know whether or not they still want to play.
So in conclusion, a period of low-profile observation, and a little patience will get you a long way. And the same goes for a good and reasonable attitude. No need getting un-needed/unwanted enemies. So sit back and learn the ways by watching the more experienced people doing their thing.
As for getting beyond being a newbie at TA... Well, that takes time atleast, but first off, playing a bit of competitively, on a ladder for instance, will usually brutishly learn you a few initial things about rushing, fast build-orders and tricks. Second, getting to know the right people is important, they can learn you alot. Perhaps find yourself a particular peer and friend, where you collectively rise in skill as you play eachother, play other people, and then meet to play eachother again. Thirdly, watch games ! Watching will show you a lot of what is good and bad. Ofcourse, try and play more than watching games, you'll need the controlling routine and experience.
And last but not least: read the Gnug Tips! :)
I'm sure I forgot something, and I'm sure I said a few of the same things twice or more. But like I said: Better say something twice, than not to have said everything.
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And by the way, we managed to find a new game of Freecell which we've so far dubbed the toughest to beat yet. The game is #28068. As our #gnug channel regular put it: "
This was all for me and this Blab, another long one, hope you can find it in your hearts to forgive me.
This was Gnug215, reporting live from the Gnug-Cave.