New Player Etiquette

In-depth tactical discussion on how to lose the least

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Tripper
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New Player Etiquette

Postby Tripper » Wed Aug 15, 2007 5:28 pm

Not sure if this is the right place to post this thought, but it came up after a couple of 1v1 games I played recently – on one of Xanders servers I think. In both games, my opponents turned out to be very new players, and made basic setup mistakes like deploying in my radar range, which made the games very one sided. (Although one of them said he'd win easily as EU v russia and lost by >50m kills. "At least I got Moscow!" as he said. Not that I’m a “very good” player but I at least claim to know my basics). To be fair, they were very polite about it and I tried to make some constructive comments at the end.

My question is this: When you see from the outset that your opponent has an inexperienced setup, what is the most polite and constructive thing to do? (Often you can’t tell how experienced or not your opponent (or team-mate) is before defcon 4.)

E.g. – tell him what he’s doing wrong and offer to restart?
- nuke him to oblivion and hope he learns from the experience?
- provide commentary while nuking to speed up the process (a bit condescending in my mind
- direct them to the defcon school (if its still operational…)

(Might make this into a poll later ...?)

Cheers, Tripper
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Ace Rimmer
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Postby Ace Rimmer » Wed Aug 15, 2007 5:41 pm

If they're polite and/or make comments that lead me to believe they're surprised at how much I destroyed them and how many units I have left (as opposed to theirs), then I'll offer advise. If they find it helpful, I'll tell them I can give them a few more tips and leave it up to them.

Most true newplayers are glad to get some advice.
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Feud
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Postby Feud » Wed Aug 15, 2007 6:11 pm

I'll always try to be nice, chat about a few other things first. I'll then give them a solid beating. Once it is clear that they have lost, I'll let them know that they did well, and that the victory is largely a matter of experience, not skill, and give them a few pointers on what I think they could have done better. Last night I had a guy fly single bombers all in a row at me, while I shot them down, so I talked to him some about the benefits of making a line attack, and how to do it.

I think the most important thing is to be friendly, and make them feel like they aren't getting into a game filled with hard core elitists. If they see people being nice, being humble, and trying to help them improve then I think they will be much more likely to take the advice and keep playing the game.
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Postby Angel of Death » Wed Aug 15, 2007 6:35 pm

I sometimes will play a new player (just for a little batting practice), and do find it ejoyable that after a good beating they will stick around for questions. Not that I can offer any expert advice, but to tell them some of the basics.
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Ace Rimmer
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Postby Ace Rimmer » Wed Aug 15, 2007 6:47 pm

Feud wrote:I think the most important thing is to be friendly, and make them feel like they aren't getting into a game filled with hard core elitists. If they see people being nice, being humble, and trying to help them improve then I think they will be much more likely to take the advice and keep playing the game.

Well said.
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Hyperion
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Postby Hyperion » Wed Aug 15, 2007 8:11 pm

I generally don't have enough time to surf the defcon servers and play new players anymores so i tend to look for names i know or players i've seen in games and would enjoy to watch...HOWEVER i think the right approach has been said by many so far so that i need not comment :P

Only try to remember if their set up is crap then they just got the game and expect an experience from it...just make sure they don't have a negative view of the game from the get go...i.e. don't be condascending, don't mock them...just be polite, destroy them and acknowledge their efforts.

Whether they stick with it or not is entirely upto them :) . I myself was lucky enough never to meet anyone who ruined the game or my enjoyment of the servers/forums for a long time, i like to return the favour.
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Ace Rimmer
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Postby Ace Rimmer » Wed Aug 15, 2007 8:15 pm

Also well said.

However, you can get non-new players to play you if you just sit long enough in a dedcon test server or other dedicated 1v1. You might get some that are unfamiliar with 1v1 but have been around a while. For example, I played Cobra Commander last night in two 1v1's. I've seen him/her around for quite some time. The first game he tried the suisilo trick, he was USSR and I was Africa. That didn't work so well. Although it could have been worse, I could have been Asia :wink:. The second game it was Asia vs S. America (I think) and he did much better.
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Postby Hyperion » Wed Aug 15, 2007 8:18 pm

I look in on most of the 1v1 servers and if there are none with realistic joining times (to specatate) then i'll browse the multiplayer games...ascending by number of players :wink: .

I tend not to sit in a dedcon server because besides players taking the time to check who is actually sitting there :roll: , you lose the effectiveness of naming your server :? , i.e. i know which is xander's server because of it's name...same with AoD etc.
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Postby Ace Rimmer » Wed Aug 15, 2007 8:27 pm

I've thought about that as well but found that sometimes it's the only way to get a 1v1 going.

/me thinks bert might be able to help out...

*goes to pm*

Edit: Sent bert a pm asking if there's a way to allow players to change the server name, perhaps with login requirement but no password...
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Re: New Player Etiquette

Postby mrobertsonesq » Fri Aug 17, 2007 10:56 am

Tripper wrote: - nuke him to oblivion


What can I say - I get a bit carried away and press home my advantage. If he makes contact I'll have a chat but the old saying about recognising you have a problem is the first sign of solving it rings true.

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