Nominate your favorite noob

[parowan]

I recently was given something I didn't deserve and couldn't return. In an effort to pay it forward I'd like to help out a deserving newbie. So I'm going to give away 1mil plat to one winner, and 400k to a runner-up. It's not a big deal, but when I was new it would have seemed like a crazy big pile of riches.

I might still find someone to give it to myself. But I'll also take nominations. So go ahead and post your story here. Tell me about a new player you recently met and why they give you hope for DDO's future. No hard and fast rules, but nominees should not be personally connected to you and should either be below level 20 or have joined in the past 3 months. And if you can't tell by the forum this is posted in: this is for Orien only. My decision will be entirely subjective but I'll post it here.

[parowan]

Anadriela

I'll give some credit to this player, who joined my Lordsmarch pug a few days ago. She(?) has been a member for a year but hadn't played for a while and her main is a Rog12. Right off the bat she let me know she didn't really know the quest and would be following my lead. Such a simple thing, but something everyone (no matter how experienced) should do when they don't know the content. It prompted me to explain what we were doing rather than just running on ahead and getting peeved if she had triggered a bunch of stuff that usually gets skipped in fast runs. And knowing that someone with a role that's more than just dps is going to need guidance (search here for traps, etc.) is so very helpful for all concerned.

Thank you Anadriela! People like you keep me pugging.

[parowan]

I was a little disappointed at the lack of response to this.

But, just for the record, I did give 400k to a newb that impressed me. Forgot to ask him/her whether they would mind if I mentioned their name here. And silly me now I've even forgotten their name...

And rather than the planned 1mil I gave two cool new players I recently pugged with all the mats they needed to make their first GS items. Again, I didn't ask them if they'd mind being mentioned here, so I won't.

Suffice it to say, despite the persistent gloom of veterans on the forums, I still haven't lost faith in the newb scene.

[BOgre]

The lack of response is due to the Forum code of conduct that says you can't draw unwanted attention to anyone. Naming names without permission (even if you think it's for a good reason) is usually a no-no.

[Ungood]

I meet some amazing noobs.. but I normally forget their names about a day after.. and it's been 3 weeks since I TRed.. soooooooooo...

But I'll have some victims.. err.. people.. who I think were pretty cool.. once I start PUGing again.

[katz]

1. While participating on the Community Sites, you must respect the rights of others to participate in the community. To this end you may not harass, defraud, threaten or cause distress and/or unwanted attention to other members or Turbine staff. This includes, but is not limited to: Name-calling or other insults
Posting or commenting with the intent of provoking ("trolling") another user or users
Flaming another user for their spelling or grammar
Bringing disagreements with someone into unrelated threads or blog posts/comments
Creating a thread, post, or comment on any of the Community Sites that calls out another player(s) for their actions in the game


while you have him on a technicality... i find it hard to believe that someone would be upset about being called out for being awesome.

[Veriden]

1. While participating on the Community Sites, you must respect the rights of others to participate in the community. To this end you may not harass, defraud, threaten or cause distress and/or unwanted attention to other members or Turbine staff. This includes, but is not limited to: Name-calling or other insults
Posting or commenting with the intent of provoking ("trolling") another user or users
Flaming another user for their spelling or grammar
Bringing disagreements with someone into unrelated threads or blog posts/comments
Creating a thread, post, or comment on any of the Community Sites that calls out another player(s) for their actions in the game


while you have him on a technicality... i find it hard to believe that someone would be upset about being called out for being awesome.

PFFFFT being recognized for positive things is so 2005.

[kned225]

I was a little disappointed at the lack of response to this.

Im sure you had good intentions, but its hard for an idea such as this not to come across as a nauseating ego trip.....playing God and handing down rewards and praise to those you deem worthy.

[Leclaire1]

Im sure you had good intentions, but its hard for an idea such as this not to come across as a nauseating ego trip.....playing God and handing down rewards and praise to those you deem worthy.

Yeah, that definitely was not the intention. The goal is to actually encourage newer players by helping them out in tangible ways. Parowan encouraged me when I was a new player and now I'm pretty established and try to help others to be better in turn. We certainly should be encouraging any action which helps newer players feel at home and helped out in this game and not the reverse.

[Guanmagi-1]

I'd gladly roll up a toon on Orien for a shot at the 1M PP Fave Noob. How do I audition?

[parowan]

Im sure you had good intentions, but its hard for an idea such as this not to come across as a nauseating ego trip.....playing God and handing down rewards and praise to those you deem worthy.

Who peed in your cheerios this morning?

And who says I'm only "playing" at being God!

I can see what you're saying, though, and how that perception might arise. But who should I give rewards and praise to, if not to those I deem worthy? Those I deem unworthy? Or should I just not praise anyone? Or is the problem that I was putting myself in a position of authority, setting myself up as a judge? Instead of such an ego-trip I should have appointed a panel of experts and computer simulators to produce a Noob Championship Series (NCS) ranking, and let the top two go head-to-head. That way this wouldn't have been all about bringing attention to me.

Just kidding around with you. Obviously, there is merit in simply being discreet about encouraging new players. For one thing, doing it privately will keep you safe from the temptation to violate some super important forum rules that we've all been reminded of here.

Most encouragement does happen privately, and overall I think DDO has a pretty good environment in that sense. I thought it might be fun to make some of that encouragement public, but it didn't work out, and maybe it was ill-advised. But don't worry for my sake. An ego as robust as mine will prove resilient even through this failure. After all, I once died by jumping down a few stairs in Heyton's Rest. My kids still bring that up whenever they see me playing. But the point is that I'm still playing! And it's because when I was new people gave me encouragement. People I'd never even met invited me to join their guilds or heal their parties. That kind of welcoming atmosphere and encouragement is what I was trying to pay forward. And if I got a little glory and fame for myself along the way, well, it would only be what I deserve.