Newbie wonders: Are there too many of us?
- Thread starter Elizor
- Start date
Well, one or two months would be a bit excessive, but disabling /ooc a week or two wouldn't be. I know you don't like it, but I could live with being muzzled a week or two as the price for "training" folks in the ways of the WR community. Of course, there's one minor problem:
It wouldn't work.
Keep them out of /ooc, they go beserk in /gu. Keep them out of /ooc & /gu, they'll be going "/shout Cazel hits YOU for 395 points!" Grrr. They're misfits and will do anything they can get away with until you whack them upside the head.
I do think the "senior" players and staff of WR should get together ASAP and decide on 'community standards' (as opposed to rules); make these very clear and link them from the website. Anyone acting contrary to the standards can be referred back to them by other players; rude or continuing mis-behavior can THEN result in channel privileges being taken away, or bringing out the banstick.
And an /auction or /othergame channel could help, but the question is, does Wiz want to add the extra chat load?
It wouldn't work.
Keep them out of /ooc, they go beserk in /gu. Keep them out of /ooc & /gu, they'll be going "/shout Cazel hits YOU for 395 points!" Grrr. They're misfits and will do anything they can get away with until you whack them upside the head.
I do think the "senior" players and staff of WR should get together ASAP and decide on 'community standards' (as opposed to rules); make these very clear and link them from the website. Anyone acting contrary to the standards can be referred back to them by other players; rude or continuing mis-behavior can THEN result in channel privileges being taken away, or bringing out the banstick.
And an /auction or /othergame channel could help, but the question is, does Wiz want to add the extra chat load?
Heh before I shut of my ooc there was a grp carrying on with smack talk. When someone pointed it out they should take it to tells or to a channel they replied they were to lazy too.
As for not allowing access to the channel for new players I would have to agree with the others that this would not be a good idea. For staters some new players do have legitimate questions or concerns that they would like to ask and now would be denied the access to information. This would create 2 problems. 1 would be the movement of 'traffic' to shouts, which in turn will become very annoying. The 2nd and more important consideration would be the feeling that it creates. These would be a feeling of isolation and elitism (the second many old EQ players who have come here probably wish to avoid). The isolation would be to the new players, that they cant communicate on a server wide basis. The elitism would stem from the fact that they would feel even more the newbie, not privy to the information or benifits that the older players have.
Maybe in your player rules at the start you can point out the proper use of /ooc (I am pretty sure you have though) and add some information on how to make a channel to talk trivia with your friends.
I can see its going to be a headache for the moderators no matter what you do though
As for not allowing access to the channel for new players I would have to agree with the others that this would not be a good idea. For staters some new players do have legitimate questions or concerns that they would like to ask and now would be denied the access to information. This would create 2 problems. 1 would be the movement of 'traffic' to shouts, which in turn will become very annoying. The 2nd and more important consideration would be the feeling that it creates. These would be a feeling of isolation and elitism (the second many old EQ players who have come here probably wish to avoid). The isolation would be to the new players, that they cant communicate on a server wide basis. The elitism would stem from the fact that they would feel even more the newbie, not privy to the information or benifits that the older players have.
Maybe in your player rules at the start you can point out the proper use of /ooc (I am pretty sure you have though) and add some information on how to make a channel to talk trivia with your friends.
I can see its going to be a headache for the moderators no matter what you do though
There should be
a) a new forum section devoted to WR newbie questions/"suggestions"
and
b) an autojoin channel for newbie questions. The problem with the beginners' guild is that once you leave it becomes difficult to come back. With a channel, there should always be at least one or two helpfuls hanging around in it to answer all those mundane, repetitive questions that we all get to see spammed in /ooc every 5 minutes.
a) a new forum section devoted to WR newbie questions/"suggestions"
and
b) an autojoin channel for newbie questions. The problem with the beginners' guild is that once you leave it becomes difficult to come back. With a channel, there should always be at least one or two helpfuls hanging around in it to answer all those mundane, repetitive questions that we all get to see spammed in /ooc every 5 minutes.
I was trying to think of some things that could be done to get it across to players that bad behavior won't be tolerated, without actually pulling out the banstick. Some would require programming -- but they range from the truly punishing to downright annoying. Here's the oddball things I came up with:
NPC spawns (via GM command), demands a fine and kills the player if it's not paid within 30 seconds. (Or just take the money from their bank).
Character forfeits one or more items (mechanism as above or simple removal).
Character's XP debt is set to 100% and locked there for 48 hours.
Character loses a level.
Character is made PVP active... but can't attack other players in return. Let us express our displeasure.
Anything the character says in any channel for the next several days has a chance to be randomly put through the "drunk filter" and scrambled.
Character is followed by a "pet" gnome that can't be put on ignore and constantly sends him tells: insults, begging for plat, dewdspeak, etc. For that matter, just make a random insult generator that sends tells at odd intervals. (not /ooc or other open channels, since the player might try to get this penalty just for the notoriety).
Change the character into a female troll. 'Nuff said.
NPC spawns (via GM command), demands a fine and kills the player if it's not paid within 30 seconds. (Or just take the money from their bank).
Character forfeits one or more items (mechanism as above or simple removal).
Character's XP debt is set to 100% and locked there for 48 hours.
Character loses a level.
Character is made PVP active... but can't attack other players in return. Let us express our displeasure.
Anything the character says in any channel for the next several days has a chance to be randomly put through the "drunk filter" and scrambled.
Character is followed by a "pet" gnome that can't be put on ignore and constantly sends him tells: insults, begging for plat, dewdspeak, etc. For that matter, just make a random insult generator that sends tells at odd intervals. (not /ooc or other open channels, since the player might try to get this penalty just for the notoriety).
Change the character into a female troll. 'Nuff said.
Firedancer_01
Dalayan Beginner
Elizor said:I was trying to think of some things that could be done to get it across to players that bad behavior won't be tolerated, without actually pulling out the banstick. Some would require programming -- but they range from the truly punishing to downright annoying. Here's the oddball things I came up with:
NPC spawns (via GM command), demands a fine and kills the player if it's not paid within 30 seconds. (Or just take the money from their bank).
Character forfeits one or more items (mechanism as above or simple removal).
Character's XP debt is set to 100% and locked there for 48 hours.
Character loses a level.
Character is made PVP active... but can't attack other players in return. Let us express our displeasure.
Anything the character says in any channel for the next several days has a chance to be randomly put through the "drunk filter" and scrambled.
Character is followed by a "pet" gnome that can't be put on ignore and constantly sends him tells: insults, begging for plat, dewdspeak, etc. For that matter, just make a random insult generator that sends tells at odd intervals. (not /ooc or other open channels, since the player might try to get this penalty just for the notoriety).
Change the character into a female troll. 'Nuff said.
rofl.. not
Tarrax Ironwolf
Dalayan Beginner
This would be ineffective. As long as you have the tell window from the particular individual, all they would need to do is shrink it and not be bothered by the tell until the gnome disappeared.Elizor said:
wow
If you do not want to limit /ooc to zone wide, could another channel be opened for zone wide? This would allow me to completely turn off /ooc and never look back. I do not turn /gu off, but as soon as I get some levels under me I plan on moving on to a more mature guild with a respectable chat channel.
Just seems to me when you yell for a group in /ooc, you only get responses to groups on the other side of the world. /SAY isn't enough to assist in group hunting ... and don't even get me started on Winter's Beginners. :censored:
I am glad to see that no one will be channel banned. Banning is good when it is really needed. But if it is over-used, it just becomes a nail in the coffin. The issue with Wiz and the morons that continue to bother him is a sad one. Those bannings are more realistic then the limits on /OOC.
Just thankful that WR was awesome enough to allow me to join their server. Thanks WR Staff ... you all are doing a great job!!!!
Klona
If you do not want to limit /ooc to zone wide, could another channel be opened for zone wide? This would allow me to completely turn off /ooc and never look back. I do not turn /gu off, but as soon as I get some levels under me I plan on moving on to a more mature guild with a respectable chat channel.
Just seems to me when you yell for a group in /ooc, you only get responses to groups on the other side of the world. /SAY isn't enough to assist in group hunting ... and don't even get me started on Winter's Beginners. :censored:
I am glad to see that no one will be channel banned. Banning is good when it is really needed. But if it is over-used, it just becomes a nail in the coffin. The issue with Wiz and the morons that continue to bother him is a sad one. Those bannings are more realistic then the limits on /OOC.
Just thankful that WR was awesome enough to allow me to join their server. Thanks WR Staff ... you all are doing a great job!!!!
Klona
Suggestions from a new player to this server for this issue :
1) A lot more policing of /ooc for those that are immature in /ooc with a different penalty for each infraction. First, a single warning via tell, then for a second offense some form of penalty to the character (take 20% of their cash in the bank, so it effects all levels equally), then for a third offense a 2 week suspension, and a fourth offense permanent ban. While this may not be possible due to limited resources of people to watch /ooc, it would likely be effective.
If someone gets a warning, maybe let it roll off the end of a 60 day period. Some people will get warnings due to reasons "beyond their control" such as a family member or friend typing something while they are AFK, so allowing the warning to only last for 60 days means they have to break the rules FOUR times within 60 days prior to being banned.
2) Additional chat channels would probably help quite a bit. I think this would do nicely, as long as someone who was talking in the wrong channel doesn't become the l33t d3wd of "I can talk anywhere I want and you can't stop me." If that did happen, see #1 above for possible ways to have them dealt with.
Channel 1 : /wwc - Worldwide chat channel. This is server wide and to be used for game questions and answers ONLY. Things like "How do I?" and "I'm stuck with this, can someone help?"
Channel 2 : /ooc - zone wide, out of character chat - can talk about anything here, family, politics, it is out of character and designed for this.
Channel 3 : /wwt - Worldwide talk channel. This is /ooc but serverwide.
Channel 4 : /shout - zone wide, to be used for IN GAME chat only about your character, roleplaying events, looking for others to help with killing a mob, etc. NOT to be used for normal discussion (see channel 2 of /ooc if you want that.)
Channel 5 : /banter - Worldwide chat channel. This is /shout but serverwide.
Channel 6 : /auction - This is the auction channel, to be used only for buying and selling.
With the six channels above, people can choose what they want to see.
3) Limit certain chats only to contributors. Lets face it, most adults who are mature can easily donate something to the server. I would have to guess that 95% of those that are the problem are people who are here for two weeks then we will never hear from again. By limiting chat only to those who donate (except for maybe one channel designated for new players to ask questions) you have the "newbie" channel, and the rest of the channels for those who are likely here for the long haul. Note : I like this idea the least of the three, but wanted to at least mention it.
Well, there are my suggestions for possible ways to help the chat problems before they go spirialing out of hand. Feel free to use what you wish, and ignore anything you don't like!
See you in the game,
Zyekad
1) A lot more policing of /ooc for those that are immature in /ooc with a different penalty for each infraction. First, a single warning via tell, then for a second offense some form of penalty to the character (take 20% of their cash in the bank, so it effects all levels equally), then for a third offense a 2 week suspension, and a fourth offense permanent ban. While this may not be possible due to limited resources of people to watch /ooc, it would likely be effective.
If someone gets a warning, maybe let it roll off the end of a 60 day period. Some people will get warnings due to reasons "beyond their control" such as a family member or friend typing something while they are AFK, so allowing the warning to only last for 60 days means they have to break the rules FOUR times within 60 days prior to being banned.
2) Additional chat channels would probably help quite a bit. I think this would do nicely, as long as someone who was talking in the wrong channel doesn't become the l33t d3wd of "I can talk anywhere I want and you can't stop me." If that did happen, see #1 above for possible ways to have them dealt with.
Channel 1 : /wwc - Worldwide chat channel. This is server wide and to be used for game questions and answers ONLY. Things like "How do I?" and "I'm stuck with this, can someone help?"
Channel 2 : /ooc - zone wide, out of character chat - can talk about anything here, family, politics, it is out of character and designed for this.
Channel 3 : /wwt - Worldwide talk channel. This is /ooc but serverwide.
Channel 4 : /shout - zone wide, to be used for IN GAME chat only about your character, roleplaying events, looking for others to help with killing a mob, etc. NOT to be used for normal discussion (see channel 2 of /ooc if you want that.)
Channel 5 : /banter - Worldwide chat channel. This is /shout but serverwide.
Channel 6 : /auction - This is the auction channel, to be used only for buying and selling.
With the six channels above, people can choose what they want to see.
3) Limit certain chats only to contributors. Lets face it, most adults who are mature can easily donate something to the server. I would have to guess that 95% of those that are the problem are people who are here for two weeks then we will never hear from again. By limiting chat only to those who donate (except for maybe one channel designated for new players to ask questions) you have the "newbie" channel, and the rest of the channels for those who are likely here for the long haul. Note : I like this idea the least of the three, but wanted to at least mention it.
Well, there are my suggestions for possible ways to help the chat problems before they go spirialing out of hand. Feel free to use what you wish, and ignore anything you don't like!
See you in the game,
Zyekad
I have to say I was quite surprised when I started WR to see OOC server wide. My first thought was 'once they've filled the server, won't that be a crazy amount of noise?' I've been watching it and only at times does it get off on a tangent. But so did ooc in EQLive if I remember. Some people hated the fact there was this 'over the treetop' discussion of something non-game related but they just ignored it or shut it off.
I'm taking that same view on ooc here. So far it's interesting to hear what folks are seeing on the server at different level but if I hear too many spoilers or quest info or whatever, I'm just going to turn it off.
There's a reason I hunt solo in Everfrost and similar zones... for that quite hunting experience. And when I want to talk, I just use a channel and chat (like having a satellite phone in the Amazon, heh)
My recommendation, just step up on the policing. If you can handle a few more 'keep it on topic' sort of comments at the rabble, they'll stay civil.
I'm taking that same view on ooc here. So far it's interesting to hear what folks are seeing on the server at different level but if I hear too many spoilers or quest info or whatever, I'm just going to turn it off.
There's a reason I hunt solo in Everfrost and similar zones... for that quite hunting experience. And when I want to talk, I just use a channel and chat (like having a satellite phone in the Amazon, heh)
My recommendation, just step up on the policing. If you can handle a few more 'keep it on topic' sort of comments at the rabble, they'll stay civil.
It's all how you react to it. Personally, I ignore 99.9% of the green chat text on my screen. It doesn't get in the way of my gaming, and I do occasionally ask questions on /ooc myself.
There are some OOC problems, some people simply do take it too far, but I think it's up to the players who are offended by it to turn off their OOC or ignore it until Staff handles the people who are getting out of hand.
Server growth is a good thing. If these new people who join and start playing like it enough to donate, then that's how the technology and infrastructure of the game grow as well, and don't tell me it doesn't happen... hell, I've been playing under a week, and I'm a platinum donator... (need to pm Wiz to get my tag on forums, but I don't need a badge to feel special.)
Just saying, we all admit there's a small problem with some peoples OOC's, but also, some of you complain about "eww.. this is out of hand.." perhaps you should read some of your own "offhand" OOC tells before complaining.
There are some OOC problems, some people simply do take it too far, but I think it's up to the players who are offended by it to turn off their OOC or ignore it until Staff handles the people who are getting out of hand.
Server growth is a good thing. If these new people who join and start playing like it enough to donate, then that's how the technology and infrastructure of the game grow as well, and don't tell me it doesn't happen... hell, I've been playing under a week, and I'm a platinum donator... (need to pm Wiz to get my tag on forums, but I don't need a badge to feel special.)
Just saying, we all admit there's a small problem with some peoples OOC's, but also, some of you complain about "eww.. this is out of hand.." perhaps you should read some of your own "offhand" OOC tells before complaining.