Some time ago -- when MiSs was a moderator of the forums -- an initiative was started to gather, collect and in some cases even reward experienced players for helping new players get settled into MWO.
Disclaimer on reward
Spoiler
MiSs only gave out Member titles such as 'Welcoming Committee' to long standing helpers of the community. Welcoming Committee is the title given to those who have helped new players with several years of service.
Titles were given to other players as well, as I'm aware that numerous other help-threads such as the hardware peripheral and tech-help threads also have certain tech-heads awarded titles related to what they do for the community.
It's nothing fancy, but a humble yet honorable recognition for services to the community.
This initiative became known as a thread of Community-Made Guides and Tutorials which sorted them in an organized, summarized, single-stop-shop for all the self-help a new player could ever dream of with topics so specific as "I downloaded the game, how do I run it?", "A list of all the loading screen tips", "Cbill Earnings and you", "Solid starting mechs based on your playstyle," and "Advanced Controls and Techniques for the Arm-Inclined."
It was open, so that any new entries can be added into the mix with ease. It had instructions for how to format your entries for easy conversion into the main list which was at the time sorted into 3 separate categories (Getting started/basic knowledge, Advanced knowledge, and guides/strategies), and once added with the link, summary of what is to be learned from it, and credit to the author the posts given by the authors are subsequently deleted to keep the thread clean and easy to read.
Of course the categories could change, I confess I'd like to see a section dedicated to the UI. But back on topic.
Then MiSs left us. The thread was taken over by a Gamemaster/moderator who took, locked to prevent additional entries and new knowledge, and with the separation of the Developer from the Publisher and the subsequent departure of the Publisher's moderators, this fantastic resource has been unpinned and deleted. Quite possibly forever lost to us.
But with new blood, hope springs eternal (or something cheesy like that).
Comstar (PGI) has delivered a new Precentor ROM (a high rank associated with Comstar intelligence; e.g. a new Community Manager). This Precentor ROM, Tina Benoit, had this to say in response on the subject of reestablishing this initiative:
Spoiler
Koniving, on 27 February 2015 - 12:30 PM, said:
Just thought of something that you might be able to help with.
We used to have a list of user-made guides and tutorials that was pinned in the New Player Help thread, separated into three categories (Getting Started, Basic Knowledge, and Strategies or somesuch like that). It was started by one of the former (and admittedly my favorite) moderators before the separation of the Publisher and Developer.
In new hands, it was left but unmaintained, and now it seems to be deleted.
It was a solid way to combine resources for new players in a one-stop-shop's easily accessible location by providing links to each relevant thread's guide/tutorial/etc, complete with a short summary and author credit for each.
I'm hoping that we might see this again.
Tina Benoit, on 27 February 2015 - 03:07 PM, said:
Yes! We can definitely work on this and have it re-maintained~
------------LoreFriendly version------------
That stated, the Prefectorate of the Capellan Confederation in its infinite wisdom has decreed an Act of Enlightenment, calling upon experienced Mechwarriors to bring forth their basic and advanced knowledge to teach the new generation of aspiring Mechwarriors, so that all may contribute to the betterment of the State.
Attached below is the corresponding form. Note that the form may be edited as the Prefecture or the Precentor ROM sees fit.
Such resources are to be harvested then cataloged here, and forwarded to Comstar where the Precentor ROM (Community Manager) Tina Benoit, or other such delegated entity, may be able to process and forward this resource library to Outreach.
Most humbly and responsibly, Sang-Shao Koniving
_________________________________
Attachment:
(In plain-jane English)
Spoiler
I am taking the initiative in calling on experienced players to bring their guides, tutorials, walkthroughs, best explanations, etc. to this thread for preliminary processing to help bring the hub of new player guides back to easy access.
With the form filled, they will be index-carded and compiled for the Community Manager or a designated moderator to put them together so that players new and old may benefit from the aid of our helpful community.
In the past, a form of similar distinction was given:
Category: What category should the guide be placed in? (Examples: Getting Started. Technical Help. User Interface. Gameplay. Advanced Knowledge. I'm certain someone will come up with a few good categories). Title: Title of the guide. Link: Link to the guide's thread, where any feedback, updates, etc. can be posted and the community can interact with the guide's creator(s). Separated from the title for security purposes (and to be reunited by the Community Manager or designated moderator. Summary: A brief summary as to the purpose the guide intends to fulfill. Please keep this below 5 sentences. Credit: Insert the names of those involved with producing this work; especially important if you are referring us to work from another author.
So a filled example would be: Category: Getting Started. Title: OK, seriously, how do I start MWO? Link:http://mwomercs.com/...start-the-game/ Summary: So you have downloaded the patcher, but for some reason still can't figure out how to get the game started? Here's a walkthrough. Step by step with pictures. Credit: Koniving
And here is an example of what the final product may look like. Getting Started:
------- Title:OK, seriously, how do I start MWO? Summary: So you have downloaded the patcher, but for some reason still can't figure out how to get the game started? Here's a walkthrough. Step by step with pictures. Credit: Koniving
------ Title: A fitting title with link Summary: This is an obvious placeholder Credit: Some schmuck.
______________________
User Interface:
------ Title: Launching a Match and Social tutorials. Summary: A video tutorial instructing new players on how to launch into a match, choose game modes, as well as use the Social features within the game. Credit: Spike Brave
------ Title: Another fitting title with link Summary: Yet another obvious placeholder Credit: The same schmuck as last time.
Category: Gameplay/Advanced Knowledge. Title: The Underrated Locust Link:http://mwomercs.com/...errated-locust/ Summary: Initially a guide to the chassis and rebuttal of the then-common opinion regarding the inferiority of the Locust, this thread eventually grew into a sprawling morass of useful information intermingled with anecdotes and even off-topic chatter. While not always on-topic regarding the thread title, the people still posting therein are generally very helpful and willing to repeat/update information if asked, since several builds for the Locust get changed with each quirk revision. Credit: IraqiWalker, Tarogato, Shar Wolf, Void Angel, 3xnihilo, Tim East and many, many others. Mostly IraqiWalker for starting the fire.
Category: Game Mechanics
Title: Heat and Heatsinks
Summary: a work in progress on explaining just how heatsinks work
Credit: So far just Shar Wolf
Category: Game Mechanics?
Title Hitbox Localization
Summary: A graph of every mech's hitboxes - one of the most useful chunks of knowledge in the game
Credit: Tamerlin + many others
Koniving was kind enough to include one of my videos in his sample. If you are looking for help and prefer a video to a write-up please check out my YouTube channel. I've got stuff for the entire UI, weapon tests for both Inner Sphere and Clan, game play examples, and some example Mech load outs. If you would like a video about something I don't have, please send me a private message and I'll get to it as soon as I can. Here is the link: https://www.youtube....tNUCKmcC0Q7pKJQ
I feel that "How to" guides and videos can actually be less helpful and even more frustrating for a new player than the game they are trying to play. Every player has a different thought process, so what might sense to an experienced player may seem confusing or even stupid to a less experienced player. Mind you, they can be helpful in establishing a control scheme, but for games where customization and skill lead to success, you really need to let the player do what they want, and provide them with the tools necessary for them to become efficient.
Having zero starting weapons, or even some AI opponents to train against, does not help make a new player better and its bloody disappointing that something so trivial got overlooked.
Le sigh. Thanks for sending it over here. (*Fills out the form for ya.*)
Category: Community Warfare Title: How to build Inner Sphere mechs for Community Warfare. Link:http://www.mwomercs....s-mechs-for-cw/ Summary: A guide about building Inner Sphere mechs to fulfill specific roles in CW, as well as when it is better to use an XL or STD engine. Credit: Gyrok.
Dug these examples out of the second spoiler where the form can be found.
Category: Getting Started. Title: OK, seriously, how do I start MWO? Link:http://mwomercs.com/...start-the-game/ Summary: So you have downloaded the patcher, but for some reason still can't figure out how to get the game started? Here's a walkthrough. Step by step with pictures. Credit: Koniving
And here is an example of what the final product may look like after a moderator processes it for the pile, where the big "Getting Started" is the huge category with dozens of tutorials on getting started.
Quote
Getting Started:
------- Title:OK, seriously, how do I start MWO? Summary: So you have downloaded the patcher, but for some reason still can't figure out how to get the game started? Here's a walkthrough. Step by step with pictures. Credit: Koniving
------
And this one's being dragged out here since I already filled it out as another example. Category: Getting Started (or User Interface). Title: Launching a Match and Social tutorials. Link:http://www.mwomercs....ocial-tutorial/ Summary: A video tutorial instructing new players on how to launch into a match, choose game modes, as well as use the Social features within the game. Credit: Spike Brave
I feel that "How to" guides and videos can actually be less helpful and even more frustrating for a new player than the game they are trying to play. Every player has a different thought process, so what might sense to an experienced player may seem confusing or even stupid to a less experienced player. Mind you, they can be helpful in establishing a control scheme, but for games where customization and skill lead to success, you really need to let the player do what they want, and provide them with the tools necessary for them to become efficient.
Having zero starting weapons, or even some AI opponents to train against, does not help make a new player better and its bloody disappointing that something so trivial got overlooked.
For some it helps, for some it hinders.
Honestly I like written tutorials. Quick, searchable, get in and get out.
Some prefer videos with voice.
Some prefer videos with text.
Some just need a quick reference.
Some just need to get behind the wheel.
Different people learn different ways. I'm more of a do it myself kind of person too. And yes, it'd be nice to have some basic AI and a reasonable training ground to play on. I've given suggestions on how to do a low-budget but manageable tutorial using a single map custom map, but, none of them took off here. Maybe in the future.
In the mean time, we do the best we can. I'm hoping to see multiple versions of similar tutorials, too, done in different ways to suit the fact that people learn differently.
What are the chances we could grant these experienced players access to the MWO Wiki and get started with the refurbishment?
Particularly well-written articles could be transferred from their forum threads and posted to the Wiki and organised from there. We just need a few people with wiki-experience to handle the brunt of the work to make sure it stays clean and organised. I'd be willing to contribute to such an effort.
What are the chances we could grant these experienced players access to the MWO Wiki and get started with the refurbishment?
Particularly well-written articles could be transferred from their forum threads and posted to the Wiki and organised from there. We just need a few people with wiki-experience to handle the brunt of the work to make sure it stays clean and organised. I'd be willing to contribute to such an effort.
Honestly anyone can put info into the Wiki. But they need to quality control, to be done more in a encyclopedia-like style, include references... ideally what you would have is a dictionary.
Though, lets be honest, many of us don't write like that.
What are the chances we could grant these experienced players access to the MWO Wiki and get started with the refurbishment?
Particularly well-written articles could be transferred from their forum threads and posted to the Wiki and organised from there. We just need a few people with wiki-experience to handle the brunt of the work to make sure it stays clean and organised. I'd be willing to contribute to such an effort.
I've made some minor edits to the wiki in the past, and will continue to do so if I should stumble across something that's not up to date or simply wrong, but I'm not exactly the type to be writing whole pages on anything.
The community as a whole is better with players like you guys, willing to go the extra mile to help new players through that steep learning curve that is MWO. Good work!
I wrote some pages but they were taken down. So yeah. >.>
Heh, exactly.
I don't know who's in charge of it, but it's definitely a very inactive part of the community and I think we could use it to great effect, we just need to get our foot in the door.
Using it to organise and categorise player-written guides could work very well, so long as it's maintained and kept clean.
Do you think it's worth a shot? Perhaps compiling a list of dependable wiki-experienced MWO'ers and getting them involved?
Category: Mech help, Trials, Roles in the Battlefield.
Title: Trials and how to play with them
Link: http://mwomercs.com/...20#entry4255228
Summary: Lots of trial guide, still WIP, always WIP as PGI rotates the trials and adds more champions.
Credits: Koniving (Original creator of the ) and all who helped add on advice.
Category: Everything.
Title: Spike Brave's youtube channel, a good guide. (If you want Spike Brave, you can edit this; thanks for all the hard work recording!).
Link: https://www.youtube....tNUCKmcC0Q7pKJQ
Summary: A ton of things, more specific things to closer knowledge of the game.
Credits: Spike has to fill this one out.
Category: Competitive Play.
Title: Metamechs
Link: http://metamechs.com/
Summary: Good competitive guide, although isn't 100% accurate at times (GMan does need time for this). Not always agreed on but is a good reference point on mech builds and comp team composition; don't treat it as everything however.
Credits: Gman129, the rest of the SJR team, and other comp members on that website.
Not truly a guide but worth mentioning:
Category: Mechlab tool/Mech builder
Title: Smurfy
Link: http://mwo.smurfy-net.de/mechlab
Summary: Best mechlab tool possible as long as one has internet.
Credits: smurfynet, and the people that helped him make smurfy happen: Blark, Snib, Ricciardi (from his credit's page).
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Tina Benoit, on 27 February 2015 - 03:07 PM, said:
