Text Online Games - Common Newbie Mistakes

Mischans anyone?! or REPLYing to a tell and then you get a tell from another person. Am I the only one guilty? nooooo- you know your names!

"You do not have to be perfect with the English language to be able to play MUDs, but a basic understand of correct grammar and punctuation helps an awful lot. Think about what you are typing."

A basic understanding perhaps. When followed by a warning about typos, I had to laugh at the irony.

The semicolon and starting a sentence with 'albeit' made me sad, though.

I am invinci...gurgle.

I miss onto clans all the times and tells its not even funny. And I'm not a newb anymore! Thats the sad part.

What an excellent read. I especially like that you used spelt correctly, when commenting on literacy.

Though on the "Be Polite" note, I would like to state that being polite is not necessarily the case. Being polite, as a person to another person, OOCly, is, as I understand it, what is intended by the above, but just in case... Being polite to an enemy, in character, can be considered a treasonous action to your city/guild/organization of some sort. I would suggest, be as ignorant or mean to your enemies as you want, as long as it's all in character. OOCly, nobody likes to be around a jerk, and you don't want to be the jerk nobody wants to be around.

yep

..The other players have it. Aetolia's RP specifically is darker, and more violent. Being a newbie is definintely not an excuse to do things that would get you in trouble; it's certainly not a get out of jail free card. If you pointedly irritate players even after they've given you the bit of newbie slack, they WILL kill you. Just saying.

Thats right, newbies. Thou art not God. So don't be so rude when you speak to novice aides. Or any other player for that matter. It's not nice, and the Gods are much nicer than you. And I'm guilty for not typing ' as often as i should.

I hate to say it, but even these people kill my RP Buzz in a way. There's absolutely nothing wrong with ESL learners, or people from other countries. Don't have any problem with them. But there's just something about those little mistakes that just ruin it a bit, for me. Don't even get me started about people with improper grammar! But definitely, playing these games, I think, makes you more literate and aware of what you're typing and saying, and in turn makes you a better player of these games

This is just a trial that every new player has to go through, and test of patience for every older player. The reward is priceless, but is also taken for granted a lot. Which is a flow of more newer individuals with fresh ideas who are interested in playing a text game for the long term instead of just trying it out for the short term. Who knows, that leet speaking player you've just pointed to 'help insanity' may just be the next great pvp'er to defend your city and lead terrific raids against your enemies.

Great info on general MUD guidelines - now if only all newbs would read this!

and no you can't roleplay an athiest

When I was a total newbie I thought I was pretty tough when I was like level 30 and up to like Bear stance or something in Tekura. I didn't know there was a whole plethora of other skills and artefacts etc. I tried picking some fight and I'm pretty sure the dude 2-shotted me. 

I'm glad I'm not the only one who is bothered by people saying, "i just joined the city... where can i hunt?"

"Let's eat grandma."  - "Let's eat, grandma." --> punctuation saves lives.

I was too intimidated, as a newbie, to ask for assistance from my big, scary city-mates. Asking questions regularly would've made my beginnings much easier, and there are plenty of people willing to help. However, at the same time, it's important to remember that there is <b>already</b> tons of information available to new players, and making an attempt at "doing it yourself" first is always better than asking question after question for information that's already been made available to you! Strike a good balance between the two and you'll be an efficient citizen in no time.

I'm betting this was from the recent influx of bad newbies(the kind that attack people at random and refuse to stop even after being killed over and over?) So listen to what people tell you, learn the rules and the games ARE fun. 

One of the biggest mistakes I made was not joining a guild/house and thinking I can make do with just the help files given to me while I played. It did not turn out so well, and it is harder to make friends who aren't 'shady' as a rogue from what I have experienced. :(

The part about being polite is so important and not just for newbies.

The biggest mistake not mentioned here in my opinion is painting outside the lines early on with your first character. Doing things such as half-breeds, inventing new powers your character isn't supposed to have and inventing other new things when you're not informed about the environment means that many won't take you seriously. Make sure you understand the world first. :)

Please ask as many questions as you like if you're sincere about playing.

Dear non-newbies pretending to be super annoying newbies,

Just don't do it. We can spot what you're doing, we have access to every channel that you do (provided you're in our guild), and we will not hesitate to kick you out before you get to 'have your fun' or whatever it is you're doing. Just remember that the world doesn't revolve around you!

Sincerely,

Everyone

Achaea is a huge world and it can be overwhelming at first. Thankfully there are Houses which are a great tool for learning your way around!

Basically the things that will get you accepted in the real world will still work in Achaea.  And the things that aren't very well accepted in the real world aren't very well accepted in Achaea as well.

As someone who is often pushed in to doing all the intrductions for the newbies in the house, i've often seen the same thing,newbies not being sure of OOC and IC, I remember once a newbie asking over the city channel if we have "vehicles" to get around on, this is of course greatly frowned upon.

I fully agree with this article though, it is a good thing that people are forced to use proper spelling and grammar as we use "w8" "4" "b" ect. for cellphone texts and also online chat.

I'm glad this article was posted  it may give some insight to those who wish to play the right way and being respectable and excell faster without the people in their presence shuddering from the lack of grammar and spelling and facepalming in embarrasment.

I really never ran into that many uppity novices.

I should have read this article when I was a newbie ;-)

Achaea is a text game. The way you present yourself and communicate is 100% through text. If you use text badly, by not punctuating or spelling well, you seem like an idiot, no matter how smart you are or what you're saying. So make friends with your shift key.

It's a roleplaying game, so you should come up with an interesting role to play. Don't make your character just a standard digitised version of yourself, sharing all your morals and habits. "Interesting" isn't the same as "unique", so it's better to keep it simple with a few character quirks like extreme overconfidence, or being kind of stupid and naive, or a coward, or having a predilection for eating rats, or saying "aye" instead of "yes". Don't claim you're a thousand year old vampire, with a sign of the cross carved over your forehead, different-coloured eyes, day-blindness, and a lisp, and an identical twin who finishes your sentences. (Twin roleplay never works out - one of you will always get tired of it within about a week.)

Ask for help. People are pretty nice and helpful in this game. At the least, they'll point you towards someone or somewhere else that can help you, like the newbie channel.

My first one. I remember shouting around like a moron and killing a Gods' loyals.

I have never made those mistakes. My biggest mistake is playing MUDs like single-player games.

A more common newbie mistake is not being able to recognize sexalts from a mile away.

Your character is not a God nor do they have amazing divine powers that will enable you to crush a human body just by giving them a stern look!

evileye bleed?

a good set of advice

Yes to politeness, please, newbies :(

I'm sad that I see a lot of these.