New Person Perspective

[phillymiket]

I have posted a few replies hinting at my perspective but will now completely express myself and then never again chime in on the new -vs- old subject.

I run a restaurant. Every season there is an influx of new staff. It is always interesting to see the dynamic between the senior staff and the new staff year after year.
One can observe…

-New people who complain about things who have no idea what the older folks have gone through and just how easy they now have it.

-Older folks who forget that they had time to learn each new wrinkle step by step and have no idea what it’s like for the new folks to jump into things with all the options now available.

-New folks who have no respect for a long standing set of unwritten community rules.

-Old folks who forget that it is not always clear just what those rules are.

I could go on and on, but does any of this seem similar to what you see sometimes expressed in these forums and experience during game-play?

Here are some things that are not tolerated…

-New folks who say “at the last place I did it like this so that’s how I’m doing it here”

-Old folks who ignore or alienate new people whose fresh perspective often has much to contribute.

-New folks who don’t realize there is always a learning curve no matter how much experience you have.

-Old folks who half-heartedly train then complain that the new staff isn’t doing things correctly.

-New folks who say “I got this” and don’t ask questions.

-Old folks who say “That’s a stupid question”

-Anyone who cannot bring a positive attitude to the table.
I will stop there but, again, could go on and on as a comparison.

In life there are 25% of the people who will always do the right thing, 25% who will never do the right thing and the other 50% will follow the stronger of the other two groups. This is true for new folks and old folks alike.

If you are not happy with the direction of things, I would tell an overly negative staff member, I would suggest you join the 25% who are actively seeking a patient, positive and cordial solution and be vocal about it. I guarantee you that half of the people will follow you and the remaining 25% will go away.

I feel exactly the same way about this game.

All too often life is a self-fulfilling prophesy. If you are overly express that all new players are (insert negativity) or that all old-heads treat me like (insert more of the same) I promise you it will come to pass. If you express things in a positive and constructive manner people will listen and things will get better.

F2P is not going anywhere, nor is the store. I doubt any business would offer something for free if they did not need to in order to compete and survive at least I wouldn’t Until we invent time travel, things will never be like they once were in anything we experience. We can play together in life and be civil and have fun or we can make life a game no one would care to play. It starts with basic respectfulness and empathy.

Anyway, I love Dungeons & Dragons in all its forms and would say thanks to the forum and all who have contributed their efforts, builds and ideas.

[Anarkius]

Well said!

Although I have been known to play both ends of the spectrum on the topic of 'new vs. old'. I think that you have really hit on something that BOTH sides could (and should) really take into account.

Yes, I have been playing THIS game for a good while. But I stil realize that a fresh persepective on things (the 'new' player) can and often will grate against the way things 'were'.

Simply put; change is inevitable. Even before the introduction of F2P and the DDO Store, a lot of the 'older' players complained about the changes to the game that were implemented. I remember the mass exodus that took place when the servers were initially merged, and even though I miss Fernia, I uderstood even then why Turbine decided to go with such a protested (by some, not all) server merger. And even before that was the Enhancement Respec Fiasco.

The point I am trying to make, is that no matter what is done there will be those that are for or against whatever change is made. Some will voice their opinions VERY strongly and some will not. My overall hope is this; we are all able to come to some middle ground and play a game we enjoy.

I may not agree with everything that is said or done to (or for, for that matter) this game. But, at least it is still here. And while it may not be the game we initially loved to play, it has grown, developed and evolved into something much more.

While there are a lot of 'easy buttons' introduced; I think that most of the poor players that are trying to 'hang in there' will end up falling to the side and move on to other games. In the meantime though, I will play how I see fit and continue to adventure with fellow like-minded players. Even if our methods are not similar our 'madness' (or love for DDO) is. I don't mind new perspectives, and I DEFINATELY don't mind the cash that these fly-by-night players are throwing at Turbine.

The only draw back that I see (and I am sure it is a drawback in my opinion only) is that with it being Free-2-Play. The influx of 'poor' players is constant, even if they don't hang around there are always more to take their place. ::shrugs:: a simple price to pay to keep a game I enjoy up and running (again in my opinion).

[TBCrux]

Interesting take on it. And I agree for the most part. I especially liked..
"In life there are 25% of the people who will always do the right thing, 25% who will never do the right thing and the other 50% will follow the stronger of the other two groups."
plus 1 for you!
I've never heard it put that way before, but there is some truth to it. For some reason it reminded me of the old saying,
Inside every man there are two wolves. One is mean and evil
while the other is good and true.
And while they are constantly fighting there is always a winner.
The one that is fed the most.

[Kahuna68]

Well said and I agree! +1 for you sir!

[phillymiket]

A barbarian fights a mind flayer and has his brain fried.

He goes to see Brother Augustus.

The barbarian says "Brother, please help me my brain is fried and I need a new one!"

Brother Augustus says, "Well i have three brains, one is from a twentieth level wizard. That will cost you 1 million platinum. The other is from the wisest and most respected of the elder sages. That one is 5 million pp. I also have a third brain that costs 100 million pp."

"100 million!?!" says the barbarian, "What did that guy do?"

"He ran the 'Leaky Dingy'" says the Brother.

"Ran the Inn? Why so expensive then?", says the barb.

"He's was restaurant manager...The brain is brand new, never used once!", says the Brother.