for the newbs.

[cecmk5]

I just wanted to point out a simple thing I have learned.

Now I'm by no mean a pro at this game. But I do love it to death. One of my favorite things to to is find the new guy looking for a little help. Maybe it's a level two fighter fresh of the boat who's having trouble with Durks, simply because he doesn't have the healing or support damage. Some times it's a young wizard trying to deal with the mobs of Kobolds in the water works.

Whatever the case I love joining up wiht these guys and showing them through the quest. It makes me feel good that I helped them a little. Maybe sling them a wand or some weapon.

I know I'm not the only one. I've seen a few young'uns thinking their invincible because someone gave them a nasty weapon or some "CRAZY AWESOME SUPER BADASS ARMOR!!"

It take them a few good head whacks to realize that they can still feel pain, but I always take the back to arest shrine. I've said before that I love this community, and this is one of the reasons why.

So put your hand up if you love helping a newb once in a while. Taking them through a quest, or hooking them up with some gear. Even you guys heading to korthos to hand out some half decent weapons. You guys are a big reason why I love this game.

[Srozbun]

I used to be a nice guy. Now I'm just a mean frustrated power gamer

Props to you OP.

[FuzzyDuck81]

I was distributing some assorted bits & pieces in the harbour last night.. nothing too earthshatteringly amazing, mainly cookies, a few fairly nice ML4 weapons, armour etc, but must have given out about 100 or so wavecrasher manifest collectables to various people & told them that they can turn them in for healing wands - one of those things a lot of people dont realise, and one of the few really useful collectables (for the turn in) for lowbies, particularly clerics... also a lot of people playing rangers & paladins (or with those as splashes) dont realise they can use them, so its nice for them too.

Free rides to the portable hole & a couple thousand PP "here, go shopping & fill up that spellbook" is a good one for newbie wizards too.

[begbie]

I ran over a puppy today

[blitzschlag]

I used to be a nice guy. Now I'm just a mean frustrated power gamer

Props to you OP.

this.

most of todays zergers/powergamers done their fair share of newbie helping years ago.

newbie help is a trait the teacher hands down to the pupil.

[Templarion]

I used to be a nice guy. Now I'm just a mean frustrated power gamer

Props to you OP.

Double this. Reason? Need to grind faster!!

But yes, when I tr I like to group with newbs. Not that I exactly help them but I run the quest for them. Con is that they don't always like that...

[protokon]

I still pug virtually every step of my TR-ing grind. I find myself much, much more patient during the first few levels, where I meet the newest players. I have stereotyped the types of players I come across in my TR travels:

The Noob. This guy is inexperienced with the game, doesn't know better. he tends to have an extremely poor amount of hitpoints and no fort. This poor guy has to rely on what he sees in the few low lvl pugs he has joined, quickly learning that "share" is a good way to find his way to the quest. I suppose the ddo wiki, ddo forums or google never crossed his mind. Most of the time, they willingly and eagerly accept advice from DDO veterans on how to better equip there toons and play better.

The Pileon. This guy has been playing the game anywhere for a few weeks to a few years. Naturally a know-it-all, they share similar traits as the Noob, only they are incapable of taking advice or criticism - after all, they understand the game well enough to be carried through everything, right? They are literally incapable of contributing to the group in any way, shape or form. They just pray there are enough veterans to finish the quest for them so they can get there 'phat lewts'.

The Gimp. Similar to the pileon, He has chosen a play style unaccepted as the norm, fully realizing it. He has probably never tried to build his characters or gear them from other players' advice, because he is afraid to be 'the same' as everyone else. They can typically be found dual wielding bastard swords with a rogue icon next to there name, with a high dexterity score and the finesse feat. He doesn't take the toughness feat or enhancements, because he 'doesnt have room' for them in his build - and doesn't realize that his ingenious plan of never having aggro just doesn't work. On the rare occasion, this player is an intellectual who purposefully goes against the norm, claiming to be an 'anti-conformist'. because going against the game mechanics makes them that much cooler.

The Veteran. a solid player, follows instructions well and works with the team. He prefers not to lead groups, and will wait for a guildy to put together a group or hit a pug LFM. They tend to be a bit more quiet when it comes to pointing out mistakes or delegating within the group. They just want to get things done.

The Elitist. This guy has been around for years, has taught his fair share of noobs how to play the game, and is tired of it. He has gone through the motion of leveling an army of toons, understands the game mechanics extremely well to know the ins and outs of all classes. He tends to not mind putting a group together to get things done for himself. He is short-tempered and has little patience for petty errors or mis-communication; after all, raids get old after you have completed them several hundred times. Newer players tend to find this guy very snobby and will squelch or avoid them at all cost, thinking they are grouchy, condescending players. And they are probably right.

The Solo-artist. Best players in the game, they understand the game mechanics to such a minute level that they are able to conquer virtually all content on there own. They tend to have several accounts and multi-box, they typically are introverted and prefer to play alone. They don't mind joining a raid group for an easy completion when given the opportunity, after all who doesn't like raid loot? When they are in groups they are extremely quiet. They tend to have toons built to be extremely effective in a group and solo.

..and a few of my favorite types, can be a sub-type of 'noobs'.

The lollygagger. He is almost completely oblivious to the fact he is grouped with other players. He enters a quest just as the group finishes, and while everyone is waiting at the door to go back in, wonders around the instance trying to find that end chest only to get killed by a stray mob or trap that wasn't disarmed. He tends to be short-tempered and obnoxiously loud over the mic about why nobody won't go back in to get his stone.

The Tool. They think they are god's gift to DDO. this person is constantly chattering, because he loves the sound of his own voice. He is constantly linking gear in chat, and is quick to mumble excuses when he dies - which is usually pretty often. Maybe he should have drank a few cure serious pots instead of linking his crappy metalline weapons in party chat.

The Drama Queen. This person is friendly and polite when they first join the group. they tend to die on the single mob you left at the beginning, and then violently accuse you of 'griefing' them, throwing a hissy fit and making a scene to try and throw off the fact that they made such an embarrassing mistake. They tend to get annoyed and voice there opinion about that cleric who is not following there heels, or why the caster isn't constantly hasting them.

there are a few more types, but that's most of what I have seen in my travels .

[Clay]

Lol... I like the descriptions of the last 3.

It appears you don't encounter many good people in your travels!

[licho]

I still pug virtually every step of my TR-ing grind. I find myself much, much more patient during the first few levels, where I meet the newest players. I have stereotyped the types of players I come across in my TR travels:
.

Nice list, i personnally like the lemming, which is probably subtype of the pileon:

The lemming - Its like soloartist, with the exception its not one of them. Believes that can solo any quest, and party is just obstacle. Why he join team stays mystery. As soon as enters dungeon, starts running forward to the quest goal, since buffs or waiting for others is for loosers. Few seconds after discovers that cant selfheal and fight at the same time, or dungeon scaling exists, and then the Ding comes.

[FuzzyDuck81]

Nice list, i personnally like the lemming, which is probably subtype of the pileon:

The lemming - Its like soloartist, with the exception its not one of them. Believes that can solo any quest, and party is just obstacle. Why he join team stays mystery. As soon as enters dungeon, starts running forward to the quest goal, since buffs or waiting for others is for loosers. Few seconds after discovers that cant selfheal and fight at the same time, or dungeon scaling exists, and then the Ding comes.

I tend to think of this one as the "wannabe soloartist/zerger" as they've presumably seen it done, but dont yet have the skill/knowledge/equipment etc. to actually pull it off & ends up in trouble way over their head.

[protokon]

Lol... I like the descriptions of the last 3.

It appears you don't encounter many good people in your travels!

Nonsense! It's the good people I encounter that keep me pugging, master Clay. If I didn't, I'd probably join some kind of Conglomeracy thingy to avoid them. Or something like that.

Unfortunately, when you are going through the motions its the bad ones that stick out like sore thumbs and make the game less fun, that you remember. Although I've added quite a few people to my friends list this past life .

Nice list, i personnally like the lemming, which is probably subtype of the pileon:

The lemming - Its like soloartist, with the exception its not one of them. Believes that can solo any quest, and party is just obstacle. Why he join team stays mystery. As soon as enters dungeon, starts running forward to the quest goal, since buffs or waiting for others is for loosers. Few seconds after discovers that cant selfheal and fight at the same time, or dungeon scaling exists, and then the Ding comes.

lol, I like that description.

[Micron]

I started a guild focused on newbies and mentoring in EU in 2007 after I left my old guild over exploits. I was determined to raise a new generation of players who shared the same "values", plus it seemed to make sense to help them since the population on EU servers was low due to insufficient marketing and support and I felt that every newcomer had to be nurtured and looked after, lest they go back to WoW or wherever they had come from, discouraged by the game's complexity, zerging veterans and general lack of interest on the publisher/provider’s part.
I had immense amounts of fun playing with complete newbies for about a year and a half, until I finally burnt out, having given the same advice to and having run the same low level content with dozens upon dozens of new people. I realized I couldn't face much more of it and I wished to work on my high level alts instead. I gradually started to feel guilty as the newbies in the guild were sometimes left to their own devices while I was raiding or hanging out with the L337 boys so I took the "guild for newbies" label down at some point in 2009. We still like newbies nowadays and accept them occasionally but we tend to choose people who show some degree of self-sufficiency and are willing to read up / discover things on their own.

Anyway, helping newcomers and watching them become better players can be very rewarding and a lot of fun. Only point I personally disagree on is giving away free stuff. Nothing wrong with sharing resources for raids or giving away the last few dragon scales to a friend to save them hours of boring grind on their capped character, but giving away twinks to new players spoils the fun in finding their own, gradually more powerful gear in the initial stage of the game. It works the same way as acquiring new feats and marvelling at new spell effects as you level up. When I played my first character, I got excited any time I found something useful in a chest or on a reward list. Being given free stuff, from a new player’s point of view, is boring.. in my opinion anyway.

[DaSawks]

The Plankton:This player wants to run the party but is not quite sure how to do it. Knows what he wants (Krabby Patties) but cannot get it done. Runs a Shroud and tells everyone "Make sure you can do your puzzle." and then watches someone else struggle with the 5x5. Asks for help but complains on how it arrives. Very near sighted due to only having one eye. He is the one found in sneak mode with platemail on and no skill points asking "How did they find me?"

[Cauthey]

I ran over a puppy today

That puppy got glassed, and nobody leaves here till we find out what person did it.

[Tenchi]

The only thing that I really require for newbies is for them to ask. If they ask for help, or they have genuine questions about the game, then I do think they should get proper answers.

Also, if I see a new person who is following instructions properly, a "good job" and maybe some level/class appropriate gear once in a while is the "nice" thing to do.

The descriptions on the different kinds of players in this thread is hilarious.

[cecmk5]

I love the list of player types. Although I fear I've fit into many of them at one time or another. It took me a lot of desperate runs for a red shrine, or restarting a quest form the begining before I learned a lot of what I know now.

[protokon]

I love the list of player types. Although I fear I've fit into many of them at one time or another. It took me a lot of desperate runs for a red shrine, or restarting a quest form the begining before I learned a lot of what I know now.

we all did, I know I used to fit into a few of those categories!

I remember the first time I signed in, asking in general chat how to create a party, lol . Then some veteran gave me a blind invite and started showing me the starter quests, back then it was the goodblades series. I was pretty excited about the little light puzzle in the storehouse quest, good times.

[Airgeadlam]

I agree with some replies posted here. I do like to join newbie groups (since I still consider myself a newbie who's learning how to play different classes/roles) as long as they listen to advice on mobs, traps and such (the little advice I could give, anyway), do not bad-zerging (lemming type, if i recall right lol) and such. And as for giving equipment for free, I did it many times, mostly while favor questing with my higher level chars. I could leave all those (at my level) crappy items which are not worth selling, or could put them on my backpack, go to Korthos/Harbor and help some people. I did the last, and I think is the right thing to do. Just my opinion, though.

[maha0201]

My point of view:
low lvls:

• Honestly i dont like to pug in harbor / market, why i know most quests good i know when i accept person and see him in dungeon for 1 min when will i hear ding... The ding is not problem, problem is realising while i drag his ss to shrine (if any in quest), lack of comunication and not paying attention to party chat, i manage to quest, read party, guild and to poke nouda while i zerg...
  
  Dont get me wrong i like pugs when they listen at low lvls then im all out of my zerg mode and turn in good halfling that is willing to help other guys. If i see that person is listening i try my best to help him/her... before i was in that kind of guild where i was one of members whom helped yunglings with advices what to do or not to do, some took advice some didnt and then they run back crying :/. Im not the smartest guy but i know my share and what is good/viable and what is bad

At mid lvls

• I start to get ichy cause of bad tear/von3/delara pugs then i start to put up lfms like this:
  (IP) *name of the quest* *difficulty* ,exp farm, BYOH, know the way (p2p)
  ()- optionals *-changes with quests
  And i get people who dont know how to get to quest or ones who ask what is IP... *shighs*
  I usualy end up with few that can hold tempo and do quests propperly, i dont scream on dig i just kick on release :/ and i still pug

High lvls (17++)

• i try not to form pugs i ninja some friends or guildies and do quests that are needed, or join some pug where i can see 1 name that im certen that can solo quest or if i pug usualy i fill last spot that isnt specificly needed (caster is known rog is known and healer is known) like to play that quests on safe side

I will still pug and i will always end up with noobs or newbies in all range of quests, noob will prolly stay in for 1-2 runs or quests then he will leave or get dumped :/, on the other hand newbie will stay for 3-5 quests or more and might end up on firends list....

[Atree]

Another archetype I encounter far too frequently:

The lawyer: Your role in the party is absolutely dictated by the class symbol next to your name. Must have a fighter/barb (maybe pally) as a tank, FVS and clerics should stay back and heal, need a full rogue to trapmonkey, etc. Nothing can convince him that a properly built and played toon can excel in more than one area of expertise. Is willing to wait for hours for a particular class to fill a perceived role before starting the quest.

The most stalwart of these types will whine, grumble and lecture endlessly on why my cle/fig/rog is not doing her job of nanying him, despite the evidence that I can disable the traps (which he ran through), kill the mobs, am the only one healing, and can keep all party members that were willing to listen to directions alive. Funniest comment to date was a one-hit-wonder berating me for not raising him. I try to explain that I only have 8 lvls of cleric, to which he responds "so why are you in a lvl 11 quest?". I resisted the urge to point out I had 10x as many kills as him, proceeded to solo the end boss then take stones to the shrine.