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Newbies are the breath of life
Newbies are the breath of life in a game. They want to learn, they are interested in improving, they see possibilities.
To get them, you need to show them fun, diversity and options.
These things will repel them ...
Dead-Enders are kiss of death
Dead-enders are players that have extinguished any further interest in playing or have achieved their full potential.
Now ... Notice I haven't even used the word Quake yet
This is because the above is universally true with anything. You can spot these 2 groups of people anywhere ... among friends, at work, at school.
Quake has *ONLY* a social problem
You can cater to dead-enders all day and all night. It doesn't work and they will never be happy. And, you'll run off the newbies for extra credit. It's a suckers game.
The main characteristic of the newbie is that they won't stay if the game sucks.
The main characteristic of the dead-ender is that they won't leave. The dead-ender is constantly unhappy, and has been constantly unhappy for a very long time.
The dead-ender, in their heart, wants to enjoy the game again and feels if you turn back time, they'll enjoy it again. But the problem isn't that the game has changed, it's that they have.
The game isn't going to be new again for them, but the dead ender won't hesistate for a second to demand a newbie be denied what they would like.
How To Solve This Without Being Mean To The Dead-Enders
The dead-enders knows what they want, but they don't know how to get it.
If you are successful, the dead-enders will ultimately be happy but they will argue with your plan the entire way.
The same way they don't understand their ownselves, they don't have enough vision to see that A leads to B which leads to C.
You need to short circuit the dead-ender, but in a fair way.
1) You start a newbie magnet server. Newbies like variety.
2) Make the settings appeal to the average player, but have it be absolutely repulsive to the dead-ender. (Important!)
3) Make a strongly enforced rule that those that affect the environment of the game will be banned/muted/admin-owned. (Important)
4) Follow thru on 1, 2 and 3.
The Dead-Enders Win Too! But They Don't Think That Deeply
Now, the above formula will successfully grow batches of newbies and the new crop of players will have diverse preferences and this will grow the population that likes to play the way dead-enders like to play and then they become happy because they actually get what they want after the newbies mature.
But the dead-enders will never understand this. Don't try to reason with them, don't let them influence you. They'll want to take a shortcut that does not exist.
A major mistake is to use to above formula and then at some point cash in and bail out, breaking the newbie generation cycle. There is a strong urge to kill the golden goose after a bumper crop of players. Stay strong and don't do it.
Note About the Above
Diversity isn't just the severs, mod, map and settings. Newbies like trying different clients as well and a world with more clients (Qrack, DarkPlaces, etc.) is a better one.
Newbies are the breath of life in a game. They want to learn, they are interested in improving, they see possibilities.
To get them, you need to show them fun, diversity and options.
These things will repel them ...
1. They may see an environment that is no fun.
2. They see redundancy.
3. Skill disparity.
4. Abusive environment.
5. Lack of variety or inflexibility.
6. See people that don't enjoy playing.
2. They see redundancy.
3. Skill disparity.
4. Abusive environment.
5. Lack of variety or inflexibility.
6. See people that don't enjoy playing.
Dead-enders are players that have extinguished any further interest in playing or have achieved their full potential.
1. Play the same thing every day.
2. Refuse to play anything different.
3. Refuse or hate even small changes.
4. They don't experiment, aren't curious.
5. Have strong and rigid beliefs.
6. Only sense of humor is sarcasm.
7. Strongly dislike happier people.
8. Will act as anti-socially as the status quo permits.
2. Refuse to play anything different.
3. Refuse or hate even small changes.
4. They don't experiment, aren't curious.
5. Have strong and rigid beliefs.
6. Only sense of humor is sarcasm.
7. Strongly dislike happier people.
8. Will act as anti-socially as the status quo permits.
This is because the above is universally true with anything. You can spot these 2 groups of people anywhere ... among friends, at work, at school.
Quake has *ONLY* a social problem
You can cater to dead-enders all day and all night. It doesn't work and they will never be happy. And, you'll run off the newbies for extra credit. It's a suckers game.
The main characteristic of the newbie is that they won't stay if the game sucks.
The main characteristic of the dead-ender is that they won't leave. The dead-ender is constantly unhappy, and has been constantly unhappy for a very long time.
The dead-ender, in their heart, wants to enjoy the game again and feels if you turn back time, they'll enjoy it again. But the problem isn't that the game has changed, it's that they have.
The game isn't going to be new again for them, but the dead ender won't hesistate for a second to demand a newbie be denied what they would like.
How To Solve This Without Being Mean To The Dead-Enders
The dead-enders knows what they want, but they don't know how to get it.
If you are successful, the dead-enders will ultimately be happy but they will argue with your plan the entire way.
The same way they don't understand their ownselves, they don't have enough vision to see that A leads to B which leads to C.
You need to short circuit the dead-ender, but in a fair way.
1) You start a newbie magnet server. Newbies like variety.
2) Make the settings appeal to the average player, but have it be absolutely repulsive to the dead-ender. (Important!)
3) Make a strongly enforced rule that those that affect the environment of the game will be banned/muted/admin-owned. (Important)
4) Follow thru on 1, 2 and 3.
The settings must be repulsive to the dead-enders. You don't want their negative attitude and rude behavior around a newbie server. Mess with the settings, mess with the maps, play with the rules enough they hate it and will want to complain. (<--- it is important they want to complain). You need to make it entirely clear what the server IS and IS NOT. Don't send mixed signals to the dead-enders, make it clear so that they understand they can participate but won't be catered to.
It is also important to have some sort of "disruptive behavior" won't be tolerated rule. Due to the settings, the dead-enders will want to complain, this gives you reason to eject them from the server. This is an important part of social coercion.
Now, since you give dead-enders the beatdown, they can participate if you keep their numbers minimal. NEVER let dead-enders defacto manage a server with vote-settings. This is asking for them to take over the server. Remember, if they do, the newbies are gone. This means you cannot allow the dead-enders to vote their dead-ender settings.
The reason you want to keep the dead-ender participation to a minimum is the social coercion part. If there is a mixed crowd, dead-enders are ok. They will not feel comfortable enough to be an ass. Keep them in the minority, so they feel uncomfortable and they will behave. That is perfectly acceptable.
It is also important to have some sort of "disruptive behavior" won't be tolerated rule. Due to the settings, the dead-enders will want to complain, this gives you reason to eject them from the server. This is an important part of social coercion.
Now, since you give dead-enders the beatdown, they can participate if you keep their numbers minimal. NEVER let dead-enders defacto manage a server with vote-settings. This is asking for them to take over the server. Remember, if they do, the newbies are gone. This means you cannot allow the dead-enders to vote their dead-ender settings.
The reason you want to keep the dead-ender participation to a minimum is the social coercion part. If there is a mixed crowd, dead-enders are ok. They will not feel comfortable enough to be an ass. Keep them in the minority, so they feel uncomfortable and they will behave. That is perfectly acceptable.
Now, the above formula will successfully grow batches of newbies and the new crop of players will have diverse preferences and this will grow the population that likes to play the way dead-enders like to play and then they become happy because they actually get what they want after the newbies mature.
But the dead-enders will never understand this. Don't try to reason with them, don't let them influence you. They'll want to take a shortcut that does not exist.
A major mistake is to use to above formula and then at some point cash in and bail out, breaking the newbie generation cycle. There is a strong urge to kill the golden goose after a bumper crop of players. Stay strong and don't do it.
Note About the Above
Diversity isn't just the severs, mod, map and settings. Newbies like trying different clients as well and a world with more clients (Qrack, DarkPlaces, etc.) is a better one.
*joke*
I could be wrong on the true depth of your idea of a mixxrd mod, but I'm just runnin off text here.
uake
ne.com
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