Re: The diary of a newbie [long]
 

simple quick answers that could be implemented to help include the following:

1) alongside the feature where a galaxy can add a galaxy channel with 'key' to the comm unit ADD a feature where you can auto login to netgamers and if they dont have a netgamers nick - a link to the site with a short description on why its useful.

2) you could change the quests etc but a quick solution (that goes part way) would be to explain WHY you are doing a quest in the quest overview. So instead of saying this -

'Description: You need asteroids to give more income to your planet. Initiate some!'

it says

'initiate some asteroids for income, as the game progresses you can steal them instead (combat explained here: link). you can also supplement your income with mining (link to manual here), Population (link here) and refineries (link to manual here)'

longer descriptions would go some way to explain to the average new person why they are 'initiating asteroids' OR 'setting Population'.. links to the manual would help the lazy, new or returning people and writing it in PLAIN ENGLISH would help.

3) create a quest where they open up the comm unit and join the galaxy channel. Maybe make it compulsary for galaxies to have ONLY key locked rooms and MAKE them have them added to the comm unit.

4) im not going to comment on the exile function but it does seem that something needs to happen. you cant have galaxies floundering because they have small inactive planets (there are alot of em) and cannot exile them BUT conversely if you have an exile function (self or not) it does allow abuse..

working on the in-game stuff to start with would make small improvements for the small amount of returning players to this small game..

Re: The diary of a newbie [long]
 

It aint what ya know, its who you know

I too decided to play a round, and took measures to ensure nobodywould know its me, i changed my playernick to Anon on signup, and have made sure only to login from ingame irc with a fakenick. I too started late around about the same time as Forest

1st gal i landed in have been nothing but friendly to me, offering advice and guidance instantly, and when i told them i wasnt in and had no plans to join an alliance, they said "ok, we'll cover your ass" When our gal got raided i received in gal defence when members of the bp didn't. They have tirelessly got me scans and put me into their attacks.

I didn't do this as an experiment and tbh they worked out i wasn't nub pretty quick, i did this purely because i don't want to get dragged back into uber activity by old contacts on irc, but i was pleasantly suprised by the warm welcome a gal was prepared to give to what they assumed was a new player

I would like to have seen a double blind experiment from Forest and a.n.other to compare results. Forests experiment is notable as it mostly includes the games 'elite' or at least some of its most active. The whole game isn't anti noob but parts of the game want to win and would do anything to win or at least give themselves a shot at the win.

Maybe my account uninowingly provides the double blind experiment,
I dunno. But i do feel it shows that if you remove the 'elite' from the equation then a new planet enjoys a much better experience.

For that reason i feel blueesper has made some of the better suggestions as to 'how to fix this', though of course they would need major fine tuning.

Edit - I do wonder if a bp was given an option 'accept new planets in the shuffle' how many people would tick that box

Re: The diary of a newbie [long]
 

these people pretty much already exist, they are called the support team. large group of very knowledgable people that are a very under used resource.

Re: The diary of a newbie [long]
 

We're all dying to know why you're referring to it as "1st gal i landed in" because that sure makes it sound like you eventually ended up in a second one, maybe a third one and so on.

Regardless though, which galaxy?

Re: The diary of a newbie [long]
 

Do we really want kargool training new people ??

Re: The diary of a newbie [long]
 

ahh sorry if that was misleading, I just meant the luck of the draw plonked me into a new player friendly gal at the very first time of asking.

I have not moved out of that gal.

Re: The diary of a newbie [long]
 

Yes that might be the case, but don't some of them play in their own alliances? i would like to see them in the 1:1 galaxy with galaxy channel specifically for that galaxy so ALL the new players are forced to use them rather then people who don't really wanna spend time training a newbie in their own gal

Re: The diary of a newbie [long]
 

didn't finish reading the whole thread so don't know what everyone replied. Simple answer to me is to remove exile. Gals should be Max size 8 or 9 with buddy pack of 5.

Re: The diary of a newbie [long]
 

its a nice idea blue and i think you could get people willing to do it. however, would require something to actually be done by the powahs that be. So, you have more chance of God proving his existence than this happening.

Re: The diary of a newbie [long]
 

Somehow this doesn't surprise me, and the nicks mentioned in those gals well... you have to have some bad luck to end up with those. Then again i believe their are plenty of players that are willing to help. Any nub is welcome in #oddr willing to be active and so in most allies playing not in Top 5. :banana: :banana: :banana: :banana: :banana: :banana:

Re: The diary of a newbie [long]
 

Any nub except Donar is welcome.

Re: The diary of a newbie [long]
 

one of my members was insulted, invited to leave and treated generally like a piece of dirt...
not by any means a 1st rounder, not by any means a useless player and certainly not acting like a retard !
This particular member started a blog on the galaxies forum of their experience with added humour and sarcasm.
Kept us entertained for days, had to leave eventually for somewhere more friendly.
I personally have been verbally insulted, threatened etc for exiling into somewhere and offered the funds to leave, i didnt, i was having wayy too much fun frustrating them and after a few days they removed me from the gal chan and exiled me.

but my point is that its not just the new players its done to, but a new player probably wouldnt have had the confidence or taken the time to royally take the *beep* out of them.

Re: The diary of a newbie [long]
 

Was the last galaxy our gal ? ? ? ? ? ?

Re: The diary of a newbie [long]
 

yep and you were cocks too :p

Re: The diary of a newbie [long]
 

Lies utter LIES i didnt banish u did i

Re: The diary of a newbie [long]
 

To add to this thread and build on what Mistwraith said:

I returned to the game and landed in a Fockers gal. Although I tried to get communications going I got no response. Then, I exiled myself into another Fockers gal. Same story. Finally, I landed in a gal which is filled with DFWTK and tbh... there isnt much communications going as well, but at least there is a galchan!

In short, I knew there were some cnuts lurking around the universe, but I didnt expect teh numbers to have multiplied in such manner in about 11 rounds... or was I just unlucky?

Re: The diary of a newbie [long]
 

The Fockers has just been trying to ruin the game this round.
imho, alliances should in the future not let in anyone from teh fockers into their alliances/gals.

Re: The diary of a newbie [long]
 

Tbh Butcher, they have a right to pursue their own goals in their own way. However, they could be a little more communicative to the newbies in this game. Be honest about what they do and exile the people themselves. That way a newbie can land in a better = more newbie friendly gal and The Fockers can still Fock everyone they want :)

Re: The diary of a newbie [long]
 

Tbh at least Fockers have added something a little different, made even the most fenced planets still have to worry about incs, which imo is good. I have lost a fair few roids to Fockers sadly this round but hey, what fun is there in a round with no incs/challenge?

Re: The diary of a newbie [long]
 

I know I will regret this but care to explain how they are trying to ruin the game , I thought they were just lol waving their way through the top 20 planets

Re: The diary of a newbie [long]
 

From what I've heard during my brief stints on IRC this round, The Fockers galaxies all provide #planetarion as a galaxy channel.

Some opinions may differ, but I think that is a great place for new players to start in order to receive help and guidance - and I doubt your private galchan can top the amount of conversations going on there.

Re: The diary of a newbie [long]
 

Imagine the following situation, Zaeji.

Me, happy camper newbie, reads gal message and decides to join the galaxychannel #planetarion

- I enter that channel and I am baffled. So many players and we have just 10 or 11 ingal! How does this work? I say: are you all from 1:1?
End of story. -

Although I agree with you it is a great place to find advice etcetera it is not what someone would expect. And donot forget that people tend to learn better when they are taken into a smaller group.

Second, Ive seen a galchan named #fockers.tv which was empty. That wasnt much of help, don't you agree?

Re: The diary of a newbie [long]
 

yea nothing wrong in that, cept the annoying fact that it happens

Re: The diary of a newbie [long]
 

Except Shaz ofc.

Re: The diary of a newbie [long]
 

they hit shaz....

Re: The diary of a newbie [long]
 

He's been told multiple times, ignore him, he's just fishing for a reaction.

Re: The diary of a newbie [long]
 

Man, Orwell was right, things really do go to pot when the swine are left in charge. If guys like "[DDK]gm" (what, couldn't afford to buy a vowel?) are what passes for PA players these days, I'm sad. It also reaffirms that there is nothing here worth coming back to.

Oh well. It was fun once.

/me heads back to his Proteus.

Re: The diary of a newbie [long]
 

Sadly Tis you are right.

Well, 50% right.

It is people like GM that are keeping this game going.

If you wanna come back though, I am sure we can create merry hell and give the boring people a run for their money!

Re: The diary of a newbie [long]
 

How exactly is this experiment any different from the situation a few years ago Forest?

And henceforth, why are you all still here?

Re: The diary of a newbie [long]
 

about time you returned wipeout

Re: The diary of a newbie [long]
 

I have not returned, nor am I planning to. I just found myself bored at work one day and checked up on how things were going here. Sadly, but therefore not much less expected; nothing much has changed. I do not have the time to stay up nights and nearly become an Australian to cope with the incomings that are sent at my arrogant planet every night.

One can only be appreciative and frankly almost awe-struck by the amount of dedication most of you still have for this game, or should I say its community? In all honesty, I feel kind of sad not being part of the core that is currently still holding this community together as somewhere I believe I should have been part of exactly that core.

This place used to be a place of war, politics (backstabbing - yes I have done my fair share of that) and thriving discussions. I do not understand how any owner of this game (and thus "owner" of its respective community) cannot see the immense potential in that.

Imagine if this community would pack up and collectively move towards another game which allows for the same political scheming and interaction. You guys would simply crush any opposition simply due to your experience. I remember when a large portion of the community left for EVE.... You guys are worth so much more than the hard code of this game that Spinner once created (no disrespect intended). You are of immense value and if Jagex does not recognize this potential, you should honestly shit on their faces and go elsewhere, collectively.

This community is much like Facebook; its worth not defined by matter or substance, but by intellectual value and seemingly limitless potential (making a comparison here as a positive remark - let's forget about the stock deprival of FB stock for a moment).

I wish you guys all the best of luck, and if there would be anything I could do personally, I honestly would. Be it financial support or time, but even though you as a community deserve all the help you can get to turn this game to the good, Jagex sadly does not deserve a penny of my hard earned cash.

Good luck guys, and if there ever will be an answer from Jagex followed by some concrete action towards the positive of the game, I hereby swear that I will send every ex NoS player a message and pay for their planet if they would desire to come back for a round.

Re: The diary of a newbie [long]
 

As an ex-AD mod I feel rather sorry for derailing a thread on AD completely, but I somehow have the feeling no one will give a shit.

Re: The diary of a newbie [long]
 

its the 50th round next time.. it would be a great time for them to pull there finger out! but we all know we will get nothing