Social Dynamic: An Observers Viewpoint

[NaomiScott]

Hi everyone.

I've been a PE/EU visitor for several years now (at least six, maybe more) and in that time I've played three different avatars. Until recently I wouldn't have described myself as a regular visitor; my previous avatars were deactivated due to account activity and it's only with my current avatar that I've deposited to any serious degree. Along the way I've made friends, had fun and generally found EU (and Calypso in particular) to almost be a home away from home.

Over the years I've witnessed a lot of changes here. The game engine has improved, the content has expanded and the in-game systems have been adapted to allow for the changes. And yes, the social dynamic has changed as well. I'm just not sure if it's for the better.

When I first arrived on Calypso with my first avatar there weren't that many players, sweat-gathering wasn't even a possibility and MindForce was an intriguing topic that nobody had any real knowledge of. However, several helpful Societies had already been set up and noobs were generally welcomed and helped. I have some strong positive memories of that time and it was only my own impatience that led to me abandoning that avatar.

My second avatar had a similar experience, though by the time she was created the player-base had expanded and the less salubrious elements of RW society were beginning to appear (haters and scammers). Even so, I still enjoyed my time and once again it was only impatience that led me to leave.

My current avatar was created on 10 May 2009, and initially my experiences were along similar lines. The veterans were generally still helpful and noobs were generally still encouraged and helped. Unfortunately the arrival of CryEngine 2 and my lack of suitable hardware meant that I was forced to abandon EU once again and it was only when I got the 350-day notice that I found my way back. I returned a little over two months ago to a very different Calypso to the one I'd left behind.

In recent weeks I'm sure we've all been affected one way or another by the drama surrounding certain give-aways at a certain noob-friendly location involving certain radio stations*. I've watched the drama unfold and read the posts here on EF but other than that I've stayed out of it. I've also noticed a lot of posts here on EF regarding scams and seen a lot of people in-game advertising free PED for online surveys. I've witnessed flame wars between players, sweat-gatherers get verbally attacked by resellers for trying to get a good price for their hard-earned produce and noobs getting harangued for simply asking a question. I honestly don't think I've had more than three days go by without some form of argument or shouting match take place at my usual haunts and it makes me sad.

I like this online world I've found and I have a lot of respect for a lot of the people I've met here, but the social dynamic that's been unfolding makes me wonder if we (as a community) are giving newcomers the right impression. Do we really want new arrivals to this virtual community seeing us at our worst or do we want them to feel welcome? In many respects noobs are the lifeblood of this game and without them the game and the community it encompasses will surely stagnate and die. Let's not scare them off by showing them our bad side the minute they step of the teleporter pad.

Just my two PECs, for what it's worth.
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* This isn't a thread to flame those involved in the aforementioned drama or to open up old arguments, so please don't even start. Let sleeping snables lie please.

 

[nix]

Ah well stuff happens, but I think in general most people know there are always bad apples...

In the end, most people in game are mature enough to behave and even help others out even if they don't really need it

That's still the biggest diff then the most other games I have played ( and that's alot .

In fact the people who endure the most probably are the game producers at all times, POOR THEM, lets give em a great grouphunt next occasion

 

[ranpha]

I noticed this strange chance of newbie helping also.

I also came in 2006 where you got a mentor and he helped.I picked up mine when i was lost at the outpost between PA and Orthos looking for the Oil Fields

He taught me everything and i even got on EF how to skill fast with pixie +1a , an opalo +a103 and tantelions at the outpost east of twins. (and yes i already had all tps in a week (without tp tours etc etc naked without a gun)

Two years after that i helped newbies also when i got drawn into the helping. I found it fun and took some as disiplces (one fellow was very decent). I noticed then already that this game requires a certain mind on a social aspect and not on the goldfarming aspect as many newbies where.

With Vu10 i became an Extended Guide and doing expect the same as those other two years I notied that most newbies come online, ignore the old players and go "PEDZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZ i want FREEE PEDZZZZZZ , i wanna buy spacestation PEDZZZZZZ" and when you told them how things worked you got "#(&&(&#(&#(&#($(*#&(&$&(# game"

Now we gave out free stuff aswell because there was no sweating at that time and newbies where happy. But it also sparked a give me free stuff or i leave this game attitude.

Other players kept donating via radio stations, give aways, or even special soc now. Let me tell you, you dont help the newbie understand the game.

Yes ofc sweating is fun, yes it can be played free but if nobody depos something then this game goes belly up. I teach my disiplces that always , depo for the fun involved and for the social aspect. And if you really want to create large sums of money look into trading, Land areas etc. I remember a fellow that wanted to make a Force Nexus farm to help newbies but didnt understand that you dont always mine force nexus and you lose a lot of peds and need trust.

Thing is the newbie nowadays is spoiled. You got the gateway which they teach you tohunt and stuff. The newbie thinks okay now i know everything.. WRONG you dont know shit. You still need to listen to your older players that played this game over 4 years even longer. Learn from them and dont make the mistakes they made. (like melee !!!!!!!!!!) If i tp into swamp now i see 5 newbies teaching other newbies that swords are great , 5 others scammer the 5 sword newbies , 1 survey site annoucer scams the 10 player that want free peds (nothing is free stupid , you give away your private info duh) and all the false information i just want to get but not as a newbie that needs to learn the game.

How do we chance this ??introduce mentors i suppose. Or let Emma and SImon stand at the Swamp Camp teaching stuff again like they did in the past.

 

[AlphaGeek]

Another question about helping newcomers. While giveaways are really cool and attract attention, those trinkets of largesse are far from the only thing a new player needs to become a functioning part of the colony.

Sure, having parties is fun too. They highlight the social interaction aspects of the social life on Calypso... with all the benefits and drawbacks that can bring. Like any civilization, Calypso has heroes, leaders, citizens, pariahs and criminals. Hopefully, newcomers have the good sense to pay attention a bit and figure out who is who in their first days on planet.

I think the new new arrival zone (yes, I typed new twice on purpose) helps with many of the basic skill sets a colonist needs, but...

The one thing the old hands of the colony can really help out with is imparting our advanced knowledge of how to succeed on planet. It's a shame the old mentoring system is no longer in place. That's where this forum, Alices guide, and we as individuals can make a difference when encountering newcomers on planet.

A old biodome around Swamp Camp sure would make a nice classroom, Marco. Just sayin'.

 

[Trina Xenophage]

Personally I think this is from the influx of players from other games that this behavior is standard.

I played WoW in Beta and saw this exact same thing going on there in an over crowded new player area. That is why I am in EU and not in WoW like many of the old DAoC players I knew back then.

This game is really tough to get started in and is not for everyone.. Ill be the first to admit that. I think part of the problem is that too many changes are happening too fast and no one is having time to adjust to be able to help others get into the new ways of the game mechanics.

Im not defending anyone in swamp teaching certain things but it is possible they are just passing info they were initially told when they had started.

I agree that Simon and Emma should be back in doing what they did before as they helped many get started. They kept the newb areas semi under control by keeping them busy where they did not have time for petty arguements.

As far as this radio station thing goes......I dont listen to them as they are yet another site I need to sign up to and log into. I would like to listen to ingame dj's but not by being forced to sign up to something. Radio is free.... keep it that way. I also noticed that the DJ's tend to go over board advertising them in game as well. This causes many problems that are not needed. I was on tonight and the active DJ was spamming chat with his show announcement. Sometime 2 to 5 times in the same window. Thats a little excessive when you are trying to follow other conversations or read sellers / buyers comments. I think an official ruling for things like this need to be set AND enforced to stop some of the problems

 

[Arokh]

*waves cane at the young whippersnappers*

Back in my day....

Reminds me of that other thread where newbies no longer wanted TP runs once they had swamp camp.

IYes ofc sweating is fun, yes it can be played free but if nobody depos something then this game goes belly up. I teach my disiplces that always , depo for the fun involved and for the social aspect.

I've never understood why some newbies who come here come from games like WoW where they pay $10 a month, refuse to deposit that same amount here to get a headstart! Even going as far as saying it's stupid to deposit. I mean wth? Whats the aversion to chucking in an amount you'd lose anyway in another MMO?

Have seen a few bouncing around the TP at Atlantis asking for MOAR PEDS!!!11! Begging has always been a problem, but recently its got a bit worse - not sure why. Perhaps if newbies are coming from other games, they still think of ingame currency as something that's very easy to come by. I know in other MMOs I play, it's nothing for me to chuck a newbie a few hundred thousand energy credits, or 100 gold etc. It's almost the norm. If you come from that sort of gaming background, I guess getting free stuff is a habit hard to break.

Seems to me their impression is to never deposit and become rich. Yes, some people here in EU have done it, thanks to a LOT of hard work. But for some reason some newbies expect to be rich within a day or two, or to become an uber in a month.

Thing is the newbie nowadays is spoiled. You got the gateway which they teach you tohunt and stuff. The newbie thinks okay now i know everything.. WRONG you dont know shit. You still need to listen to your older players that played this game over 4 years even longer. Learn from them and dont make the mistakes they made. (like melee !!!!!!!!!!) If i tp into swamp now i see 5 newbies teaching other newbies that swords are great , 5 others scammer the 5 sword newbies , 1 survey site annoucer scams the 10 player that want free peds (nothing is free stupid , you give away your private info duh) and all the false information i just want to get but not as a newbie that needs to learn the game.

I think the gateway does help with player retention. I mean if you start a game and theres no instruction, you'll throw it down in frustration and go play something else. I tryed to play a certain space game earlier this year, and really could not get my head around it. Freakin' menus in menus in menus... felt like Microsoft Excel Online. I just thought "can't be arsed" and uninstalled it. I'm sure when there was no guides by the newbie zone, a few must have quit without a clue what to do. At least now they get a good feel for the game, and think thats a really good step forward.

I see what you mean though. I learnt a lot in this game through expensive mistakes, such as running around with my first 15PED in a sword thinking it wouldn't decay, or finding out that the TT does not repair your A105. One mistake I think was preventing older players from entering the Gateway. I mean not make it open to everyone, but for those of us who have been playing for X amount of years. Suppose thats a good mid point, since the shady type are less likely to be around after a few years, yet it allows veterans to help newcomers. At the moment after Gateway, they just appear on Calypso and run off without asking questions.

 

[jjmatrix]

Here is my approach to the "bad apples": I like to treat EU as an alternative universe with all that implies. A mature crowd, with normal people, with respect for one another; this is 99% of my experience.
For the remaining 1%... the exceptions, where people act like Aholes, I treat them with total disregard, and no matter what's being said, I ignore such encounters. I only have to think: "This is a GAME... ultimately"; you can't expect being treated with respect in all aspects, and whenever I come across idiots... I ignore them and TP away. In the past I've tried to explain, teach even (the little I know), but like I said, in 1% of the cases it was just a waste of time.

Hope this helps.

 

[The White Dot]

I think there is a big contributing factor to a lot of issues. From what I understand a large amount of the downfall came in vu10 when many players were forced from the game due to hardware issues. Shaking and dividing the foundations of many great societies and players within the community.

Another contributing huge factor is the lack of mentor system. Sad as it sounds some players won't help mentor a player unless they get something back in return for their time and work. Do I feel it should be the reason they help NO, but I think it did provide motive and with motive you did have helpers, and of course newb farmers were unavoidable as they are today.

Any culture in which there is destabilization within a social hierarchy and a second impact of massive immigration stirs change, lots of change, not always good or bad change, merely both. In this case a loss of some key good and some influx of unbalanced good and bad.

I believe with the return of the mentoring system, hopefully soon and with the help and education of the new found colonist, yes this will be a lot of hard work, we can help re-establish an educational foundation which once again propels and promotes the spirit and environment loved by the veterans of this universe.

Edit: I believe Entropia is far from a lost cause there is just a lot of hard work to be done

 

[Thaddeuss]

Learn from them and dont make the mistakes they made. (like
melee !!!!!!!!!!)

come on whats wrong with melee m8 hehe ...

been here 4 yrs and i fukn love my melee

tho i wish their was a bit more blood and skull crushing when i hit something with my club...
was up on cp last week... shooting my scorpius for the aurli mission to 100.
then i switched to a rutik blitz for the kreltin and i swear in the end cost me less. with all mark up and ammo considered.

but anyways sorry for going off topic..

im a socialist at heart and beleive as ive said in to u in discussions ranpha its capitalism at its finest thats ruining society and peoples way of thinking .. ingame and in rl.

"fuk being happy and having freinds, i just want money"
and sadly thats the draw Ma uses to gain players...
instead of hey join our game we have ag reat community of players that enjoy helping each other... instead its heay join our game u can become a millionaire!

down with the establishment i say!

this game is a perfect example of how badly social change is needed.
their too much that it had in common with rl..

in rl 1% of the worlds population owns 40% of the worlds money..
while 40% of the worlds population lived on less then 2 dollars a day..

funny how seemingly easy that can transfer over to EU...and has...

 

[AlphaGeek]

...im a socialist at heart and beleive as ive said in to u in discussions ranpha its capitalism at its finest thats ruining society and peoples way of thinking .. ingame and in rl...

Sorry, I have to disagree. It's assholes. Assholes can be of any political, religious, or social stripe.

WIPE OUT ASSHOLES!

 

[Sinofmen]

Unfortunately a lot of what is said here is true. Me being very new to this game have seen 1st hand what a new player goes through their 1st few months in. Its hard work, its hard to get started and yes the ones in game with ill intentions seem to be the 1st people I came into contact with.

Luckily for me it didnt take long to realize that the ones with bad intentions seem to hang around and target the newbie areas. I finally found some1 that was actually in the new area to help people. I owe alot to this individual and wish I could name his name to tell every1 what a great person he is.

The point is, for new players to get started they have to wade through all the evil before they ever get the chance to see the good. I wish there was someway to change this but I don't see it happening anytime soon.

*Edit Jason Jay Carr is a wondeful addition to the community, he helped me and my husband get started and stood by us through the clubcalypto non-sence

 

[fredzepp]

The point is, for new players to get started they have to wade through all the evil before they ever get the chance to see the good. I wish there was someway to change this but I don't see it happening anytime soon.

That is so not true.

Sure there are some real tossers here but just as irl most people are ok.

There are plenty of people who freely give their time (and peds) to help new players and you see lots of them at the swamp.

You need some perspective here. You may have had a bad time starting out which is unfortunate but just because there are nasty people around doesn't mean that things are a minefield for new players.

 

[Dalas]

Learn from them and dont make the mistakes they made. (like melee !!!!!!!!!!)

come on whats wrong with melee m8 hehe ...

been here 4 yrs and i fukn love my melee

tho i wish their was a bit more blood and skull crushing when i hit something with my club...
was up on cp last week... shooting my scorpius for the aurli mission to 100.
then i switched to a rutik blitz for the kreltin and i swear in the end cost me less. with all mark up and ammo considered.

but anyways sorry for going off topic..

Ok, I think Faye actually meant that newbies often believe that melee is the cheaper option only because you "don't have to buy ammo". They somehow never make the connection that their nice new sword might just decay. It's a bit of a trick which newbies can fall into and also it costs a lot to buy your first melee weapon compared to a ranged weapon.

Even if newbies genuinely want to use melee weapons, it's not the best start for anyone interested in combat. Evade really plays a part too, I mean newbies will get hit like crazy using melee and they simply don't have the evade to handle that yet.

Just trying to clear a little misunderstanding I think I spotted there

 

[apache_ZC]

...I finally found some1 that was actually in the new area to help people. I owe alot to this individual and wish I could name his name to tell every1 what a great person he is...

you can name him, no problem (you just cant name people when you accuse them of scamming etc.)

 

[Jennson]

Ok, I think Faye actually meant that newbies often believe that melee is the cheaper option only because you "don't have to buy ammo". They somehow never make the connection that their nice new sword might just decay. It's a bit of a trick which newbies can fall into and also it costs a lot to buy your first melee weapon compared to a ranged weapon.

Even if newbies genuinely want to use melee weapons, it's not the best start for anyone interested in combat. Evade really plays a part too, I mean newbies will get hit like crazy using melee and they simply don't have the evade to handle that yet.

Just trying to clear a little misunderstanding I think I spotted there

Well i did prety well with Shortblades in my first weeks of playing, so it isn't that bad actually . You get the chance to build up more hp + evade as you could with an opalo.

Actually the point is to point noobs to drawbacks and advantages of several decisions ( noob :why not those fancy gun this guy over there offers ? it shows much more damage in the stats ) and the reasons behind it. After that point they may decide right or they may decide wrong, but at least they were pointed to it before, which makes them realize THAT they might have chosen the wrong path.

So you can at least teach them howto learn from mistakes.