A person I know is trying wow for the first time, and another very very casual has started to log in again. As a confirmed WoW nut I had to moderate my behaviour. Normally I’m foaming at the mouth, singing praises and virtues, looking for subtle gains and measures.
And while that is OK when you’re mid-froth with another wow nutcase, its a poor way to introduce a new player.
Jez from DPS We Deliver is also helping, so the corruption of a new player is not my sole pleasure. New players will see overt enthusiasm as terrible ranting. Information overload and information starvation is something new players have to fight; and raving does not help (I tried, ooops). They are overloaded by a new interface, skills, feel, and flavour. It takes time to sup all that up and get into it.
Give ’em time. Step back, breathe, go make coffee. Then prep for the questions, and remember to talk slowly and not take the mouse out of their hands (ooops again).
They are also information starved, because a lot of the things that we take for granted are not written anywhere and you just have to stumble upon them. The chat commands, tells, invites, group rules, locations, how to hand in quests, and even what the mouse-over tip can tell you. Log-in tips are especially useful.
This stuff they need to know, and cannot absorb it over night. It took us time the first time round, some of us have just forgotten how green we were.
Also don’t install any mods. If they love the game without them, it will be like Christmas morning when they get some mods installed. If they don’t like the game without mods, then maybe they don’t like the game.
So for the new guys out there, here are the personalities that you’ll meet in the first 7 days of wow. In almost all cases telling them that you’re new and not really stressed about the game yet will make them back off. Unless you rolled a female toon, then you’ll have to be stern.
– Stats guy
So many stats, so little time to educate. Strange that these monkeys will waste 15 minutes getting +1dps mace, when that time would have added a level to the lowbie toon.
– technique guy
Kinda of a hybrid of the Stats guy; its all about shot or cast rotation, for these freaks. Which in itself is a term that will make new players go huh? (a rotation is the order you use your abilities for maximum affect) They’ll tell you at what level each ability becomes more or less efficient, and what macros to use.
– Racist / Classist / Etc
You’ll be told that Humans are not the best Warriors, or that Gnomes make bad anything, and possibly even that the only race to play is Undead. Pffft. Play what you like, especially for your first characters. You’ll hopefully experiment with a few, and find that suits.
– creepy helper
I’ll just watch…..(I never want to know what they are doing in the basement, its a worry).
– Duelist
Constant requests make me scream at the keyboard, and the neighbors nervous.
– Faction ghost
It the level 70 Horde Hunter rolling through Goldshire, looking for “fun”. Don’t flag pvp, or you’ll be that fun.
– Guild Recruiter
The start-up guild is always full of 2-20 toons from level 2-20; and one level 70 seeking value in life through wow.
– Beggars
I just need, its only, can you lend me? Aww, please? These guys should be recursively deleted in RL and WoW.
– Chatter / Voice Chatter
Don’t enable voice chat. They are mostly freaky types…
TyphoonAndrew's - Eye of the Storm 