Newbies The treatment of newbies today has an effect of the type of players you encounter tomorrow. Be responsible for your actions.
— TheNemesis
I am not fond of newbie bashing, its something I hate. To me, newbie bashing is up there with llama's, you know those people who shoot you when your on their team. The people who disrupt the fun of others.
Newbie bashing is a form of "llama-ism" as they do disrupt the fun and play of others. The following is a rant/account that I have written:
On a server (name is withheld) I was playing a great game of Crossover2 as Soldier. I had 36 kills and 3 deaths and never once captured the flag. Well a person that I'll call Joe-Bob for now, joined the game. I had just died and respawned right when Joe-Bob appeared. He seemed as though he was having trouble with the controls.
I stroll outside running towards the bridge, and I see Joe-Bob shooting a fellow teammate of mine, which we'll call TheIdiot. And wouldn't you know it, he started spewing profanity at Joe-Bob. This I didn't like because he was ruining not only Joe-Bob's day, but every second I'd see "Joe-Bob is a *#$&* newbie" flashing across mm1. I quickly told TheIdiot to shut up, which he did.
I decided after being "newbie-bashed", that Joe-Bob needed some help, someone who would help him through the game. I took it upon myself to help him out. Not only in 30 minutes of game did he learn how to talk via mm1 and mm2, but he also learned some basic Soldier skills. Mind you, this was a newbie that wasn't an Heavy Weapons Guy. So he followed me around, I showed him the ropes, even had him capture the flag (with some assistance of course).
Well TheIdiot and several other llama's see my good deed and start wondering why I would help a newbie. I start getting called a "newbie" and to the extreme even a "newbie f#$%^@!", to me this is totally uncalled for and not proffesional. Well I asked Joe-Bob for his e-mail address, and for the past 2 weeks I've been helping out. Now for the rest of my rant.
I know at some time in the game we call Team Fortress, that you have faced the guy named "Player" that was an Heavy Weapons Guy, who was also on your team, who would waste the entire 300 rounds of the AC on you. This in most cases isn't a llama, this is a person new to the game, someone who needs to rtfm, and even someone who is used to DM. This does not give you the right to call him names and say "Stupid Newbie", that right there is llama-ism coming to bite you in the butt. Simply brush it off, and if you are a kind soul, show him/her the ropes and not the cliff.
But in this world of gaming we are faced with a new type of "Player" (Newbie). You see here's my point of view from a newbie's shoes. You walk outside the respawn and see a llama shooting your teammates (the llama is on your team). Depending on the person, being confused and all, may or may not join in and shoot his teammates. If Player shoots his teammates, this is might be a llama in the making. If a person sniping claimed that he was using cheats, and passed them off to Player, what do you think Mr. Player is going to be tommorow, and what do you think he's going to say? 1.) He'll be another cheater and 2.) He say something like "I have cheats and you don't, neener neener". This is not what we want, but it will happen, and has happened. All thanks to those few people who want to ruin the game.
Even worse are clans of llamas and newbie bashers. These people are low in the gaming community, but most often then not, a good admin will ban these suckers and spare a newbie the scum which he does not need to see. I must say, think before you call someone a newbie, you were once a newbie yourself. Being called a newbie is much more than an insult to some people, its being called stupid and lame. There is a need to stop this, but alas we will never be able to.
-TheNemesis
Editors Comments: Nemesis has a very going point to be made.. The intro line I wrote: "The treatment of newbies today has an effect of the type of players you encounter tomorrow. Be responsible for your actions." really sums this puppy up.
He does mention at the end that "There is a need to stop this, but alas we will never be able to." I totally disagree.
Today I had one of the best games ever in TFC on a public server. The match was exciting,
instense (final score of 130 to 110, tied until the very end) both teams had excellent defenses, and hardcore
offenses attacking. You want to know why this happened? Simply because everyone understood the point of the
game, and wanted to have fun within those parameters. A newbie doesn't instantly know that they should
attack with a teammate to cap the flag.. They are used to "ok, that guys not on my team, I'll kill him."
TF is complicated. No doubt about it. We were all taught by someone else, even just pointing someone to a
site where they can find helpful information is way better than calling them a newbie.
Great editorial TheNemesis, thanks for sharing it with us.
- The Warthog
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