In Regard to New Players

Roblor · 2018-09-02 22:35:20

A failure to respect an other is a failure to respect oneself.

MinnieMoocher · 2018-09-03 03:01:21

I just chalk it up to rude kids and laugh it off when it happens to me, but I can see how being treated like you described can be frustrating and demoralizing. But, yeah, in like 8/10 games I play I see this kind of stuff happening, and it's either just going to make people turn away from the game or, like you said VioletLily, become griefers.

Personally, I try to be respectful of other people even when I throw in some sass or goof off a little (like when I changed the lyrics to the SpongeBob "Striped Sweater" song and sang it as "red sweater" to this one girl). I also try to help when someone asks, but I don't know everything myself so sometimes I just can't. It's hard to shake the feeling of being judged when I try something new, though, so I definitely see where you're coming from.

MultiLife · 2018-09-03 09:25:42

VioletLily wrote:

This is actually one of the reasons it is so hard to learn in this game. People tend to feel rushed because their life is so short. That is why I agree with what Tea mentioned earlier about letting new players take their time learning. This is also one of the reasons why it is so important to talk kindly to people you are teaching.
...
"No carrots means no compost
No compost means no soil
No soil means no food
No food means mass starvation"
...
Four: Many, many people learn visually or kinetically. Simply explaining isn't enough for people who don't learn well by reading. This includes reading on the forums. So show them by having them watch you and/or by doing it themselves.

I picked some parts of the message I want to talk about.

So I've been thinking of becoming a strictly teacher-only villager in my next lives to try it out (currently all of my recent tries to focus on in-game teaching have gone down the drain due to having to compost for huge populations or overall preventing a total collapse of towns and cities).

Quote, first part: yeah, learning and teaching in a game like this is crazy tough as seconds go by and the hunger bar depletes while towns suffer from the lack of a good player as you are stuck teaching, making you slower than usual.
The best time to teach is around 40 so you get enough text and hunger bar (no kids for females), but your life is quickly rushing towards the end and first you need to grab the apprentices to get to teaching (adult apprentices are more ideal so they don't die mid-way like kids often do, starving while asking about things). I think a shaman hat or some 'teacher' hat could help a bit, so people could approach these players to ask about things (now people ask from crowned people which does work half the time but crowns make you a target so I'd rather wear a less flashy hat...).

Quote, repetition (next) part: yes. Do this. Then the people can search for more info about your compressed explanation and maybe learn a bit how stuff is connected and needed for things.
Yesterday a boy made baskets in a wheat farm, I managed to quickly explain that the straws are needed for compost but I had no time to teach him and he was too small to keep up.

Quote, next part ("Four"): this has been the best way to teach for me. My most successful lessons were the ones with teen/adult males as apprentices and I showed them examples and made them watch and eat pie. It's hard to teach fertile girls as babies pop in and the newbie girls try to raise them at the same time.
---
Overall the toughest things are:
- you finding time to teach (teachers have to be good players but towns always need good players to help)
- you finding an apprentice of good age
- you not being interrupted (hunger, babies, losing apprentice, dead or lost somewhere)
- explaining more abstract things like how only lambs should be fed and how farms shouldn't be expanded and how space should be left in farms etc., and overall just stuff that is good in moderation but bad when excessive.
These more abstract things and tricks I have learnt from videos.

Yesterday there was an old man tending berries but he was just expanding the huge field, probably had for years, and I was preteen aged and couldn't explain the problem of the expanding to him very well due to the text limitation. After he was gone and I was older the city fell to famine as the soil had gone to the berry expansion so there wasn't soil left to fertilize the existing bushes. It's these kinds of lessons that are hard to explain when they seem good but bring trouble in the long run.
Anyways that made me busy for the rest of my life (trying to compost, get mutton for pies etc.) and I birthed two newbie daughters, both sweet as can be but I had no time to teach as I rushed around multitasking as they got babies.

Last edited by MultiLife (2018-09-03 09:43:27)

VioletLily · 2018-09-03 17:53:11

MultiLife wrote:

tr
Overall the toughest things are:
....
- explaining more abstract things like how only lambs should be fed and how farms shouldn't be expanded and how space should be left in farms etc., and overall just stuff that is good in moderation but bad when excessive.
These more abstract things and tricks I have learnt from videos.
Yesterday there was an old man tending berries but he was just expanding the huge field, probably had for years, and I was preteen aged and couldn't explain the problem of the expanding to him very well due to the text limitation. After he was gone and I was older the city fell to famine as the soil had gone to the berry expansion so there wasn't soil left to fertilize the existing bushes. It's these kinds of lessons that are hard to explain when they seem good but bring trouble in the long run.

I agree, "abstract" things are a little harder. Rather than having a very simple single line of consequences like the carrot problem I gave an example of, the consequences of these abstract lessons are a little more complex, often branching into what could be considered a 'tree', meaning they have multiple consequences that need to be taken into consideration.

One thing that could be done is to choose the line of consequences most relevant to the current situation. Like with the berry problem you gave, you could say:

" Too many berries means no berries"
He will most likely express confusion at this to which you will reply:
"Too many berries means less soil,
Less soil means less berries or carrots
Less berries or carrots means less compost
Less compost means even less soil
Even less soil means no berries or carrots
No berries or carrots means no compost
No compost means no food
No food means mass starvation
Balance is important"

The problem is these end up being a little more wordy, making it difficult with chat restrictions, as you said, especially if you are young. It also makes it a little harder to remember. If anyone can think of a better way to explain that, please let me know.

If you are really short on time, you could just mention that first line. It shows that it isn't really helpful to make gigantic berry farms. It may make him curious enough to look into it himself too. It seems like an oxymoron, which while difficult to understand, actually makes it much easier to remember. (It has some repetition as well). Although, it could prove to be so unbelievable that he may just choose to ignore you. Maybe you could use both that first line and the last. It may prove more effective. It is always risky to take shortcuts though.

As for the sheep/lamb problem, maybe try:

"Both sheep and lambs make wool.
Only lambs make dung
Dung needed for compost
Compost needed for soil
Soil needed for food
Food for lamb means food for you"

Again, that last line will prove very easy to remember because of the repetition.

It makes me wonder if we should just make a bunch on 'lullabies' we sing to babies about common mistakes made by new members. If we can get a lot of people to use the same ones, the repetition will make it much easier for them to remember. They may even become ingrained in the OHOL culture. Maybe mothers, wet nurses, and elders could pass them on? It would be a big undertaking though...

Last edited by VioletLily (2018-09-03 17:55:47)

The_Llamacorn · 2018-09-03 18:17:39

Now, I'm not trying to disprove you or anything, I am aware that this negativity towards new players is very common.
But I just want to add something.

I joined back in April and maybe I just got lucky but I don't remember experiencing any negativity at all.
Perhaps players were just more patient back then when there wasn't a big influx of new players, but think it can have had something to do with the way I tried to learn the game.
I see a lot of new players just jump into the game and try to do everything they see others do, without asking anyone else.
Instead, I made sure to have the wiki up to check how to do things and, most importantly, I asked people "Ok, what do you want me to do?", "How do I do that?" etc. and I started out with the simple things like farming and then when I felt confident in that I started to learn the more complicated things.

And I feel like people don't look up anything about the game before they start playing like the wiki and stuff so they have no idea what they're doing. So I think it's also the new players' responsibility to be "good" new players and *listen* to the experienced players, I don't want to have to teach someone who doesn't listen to me and tries to do everything themselves.

Now having said that, this post did inspire me to start helping new players more, maybe I'll start a school next time I play.

VioletLily · 2018-09-03 19:09:43

The_Llamacorn wrote:

Now, I'm not trying to disprove you or anything, I am aware that this negativity towards new players is very common.
But I just want to add something.
I joined back in April and maybe I just got lucky but I don't remember experiencing any negativity at all.
Perhaps players were just more patient back then when there wasn't a big influx of new players, but think it can have had something to do with the way I tried to learn the game.
I see a lot of new players just jump into the game and try to do everything they see others do, without asking anyone else.
Instead, I made sure to have the wiki up to check how to do things and, most importantly, I asked people "Ok, what do you want me to do?", "How do I do that?" etc. and I started out with the simple things like farming and then when I felt confident in that I started to learn the more complicated things.
And I feel like people don't look up anything about the game before they start playing like the wiki and stuff so they have no idea what they're doing. So I think it's also the new players' responsibility to be "good" new players and *listen* to the experienced players, I don't want to have to teach someone who doesn't listen to me and tries to do everything themselves.
Now having said that, this post did inspire me to start helping new players more, maybe I'll start a school next time I play.

You do have a point.

Although, I did research the game quite a bit before I started getting into things. I only did things I knew how to do, and when I wanted to learn something new, I asked someone how. I always asked for a job, but was rarely given one.

I was very eager to listen but people at the time assumed I didn't want to. One of the problems is that people sometimes gave me conflicting info. One person would tell me to do one thing, and then I would get yelled at by another player for doing said thing. Then I would just get really confused and ask him to explain. Then they would get upset that I didn't just listen. So I would, then first person would come back upset, asking why I wasn't doing things the other way. So confusing... Again, there were a lot of new players and it was hard to know who I should listen to. I did learn in time though.

There was also a lot of in-game ettiquite I didn't find online. I had to learn those the hard way.

You are correct in that the experience of me and those others who started at this time seems to be uncommon for most. Like I said, I hadn't seen that degree of negativity since I joined. Patience with new players was just unusually thin. It could also be that those who were really stressed were just a lot more vocal. I'm not sure how many of this group of new players kept with the game. I only did at the time because I wanted my money's worth. I really do enjoy the game now though. I'm glad I stuck with it!

I posted my original post because at the time I wrote it, I noticed people were starting to get really frustrated with new players and their patience was ebbing. I wanted to avoid the possibility of others having a similar experience. People seem to be doing better now though!

And I'm glad you decided to try a school! I've been wondering if someone would start one as more and more players joined. Have fun! I'm sure those you teach will be really appreciative!

Last edited by VioletLily (2018-09-03 19:16:42)

One Hour One Life Forums

#26 2018-09-02 22:35:20

Re: In Regard to New Players

#27 2018-09-03 03:01:21

Re: In Regard to New Players

#28 2018-09-03 09:25:42

Re: In Regard to New Players

#29 2018-09-03 17:53:11

Re: In Regard to New Players

#30 2018-09-03 18:17:39

Re: In Regard to New Players

#31 2018-09-03 19:09:43

Re: In Regard to New Players

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