5 replies to this topic

[Rintero Pryde]

There are a ton of enthusiastic players out there, willing to share their experience in this game with bright eyed new players, and to be honest, that's just a healthy part of what keeps me in this game. The community isn't cancerous, and alot of players are out there to help.

Behind the scenes of this drive to help players is a very intense love for the lore, the game, or just plain Battlemechs themselves, and that passion can sometimes carry us away when we aren't paying attention.

This post here is a prime example: https://mwomercs.com...-my-first-mech/

Please take a moment and step back when replying to a post. I don't know if this player was able to extract the advice and help he truly needed in that torrent of 200+ replies. Keep it down to a healthy 10-15, and remember why we reply here in the first place- to help.

Edited by Rintero Pryde, 21 April 2017 - 05:55 AM.

[Rogue Jedi]

Rintero Pryde, on 21 April 2017 - 05:54 AM, said:

There are a ton of enthusiastic players out there, willing to share their experience in this game with bright eyed new players, and to be honest, that's just a healthy part of what keeps me in this game. The community isn't cancerous, and alot of players are out there to help.

Behind the scenes of this drive to help players is a very intense love for the lore, the game, or just plain Battlemechs themselves, and that passion can sometimes carry us away when we aren't paying attention.

This post here is a prime example: https://mwomercs.com...-my-first-mech/

while I do not disagree that 11 pages is long for a Mech advise thread, in that case the OP had requirements and asked questions, when we answered one he had another, and another, and another. The information we gave caused his requirements to change, meaning he asked for further advise which we provided.

there were several posts by Eddie Money (the origional poster) on most pages and only page 11 does not have a post from him, that is not a case of the OP asking 1 question and getting 11 pages worth of responses, that is him asking about 40 58 questions and us keeping answering then.

Quote

Please take a moment and step back when replying to a post. I don't know if this player was able to extract the advice and help he truly needed in that torrent of 200+ replies. Keep it down to a healthy 10-15, and remember why we reply here in the first place- to help.

here is the number of posts he made on each page
4,2,3,8,7,7,6,7,6,4

so you see this is the exact oposite of what you were commenting on, if there were a total of about 200 responses about 1 in 4 was from the OP himself.
I am pretty sure he got what he wanted as he has not posted back in a few days.

that is the way most posts get past 3 pages, if the OP does not come back and the question is anwsered the post dies at 1-2 pages.

Edited by Rogue Jedi, 21 April 2017 - 06:23 AM.

[Koniving]

Also note that the new player there was very indecisive. His original goal was a medium or heavy with a very strict set of conditions, one of which was the subtle "Not a Hunchback" despite how the Hunchback repeatedly fit his ever changing requirements for the first 6 pages.

Eventually it shifted from medium to heavy second line fire support to front line brawling heavy or assault, to really fast light, to a venerable but fast medium, and throughout it all he had very specific questions.
"Can you compare the Mauler, Marauder and (one other specific assault mech)?"
"What are the real differences between the Locust variants?"
"Can you compare (specific set of very similar lights at polar opposite ends of the weight spectrum)?" Right down to how much window space each cockpit had between them.

Edited by Koniving, 21 April 2017 - 06:54 AM.

[Koniving]

Trust me, most players get a few quick suggestions, ask a couple of questions and they're right back out the door with a brand new mech.

That one just window shopped almost every mech dealership across the universe and questioned the quality of the footpads and their effect on hill climbing capabilities before settling on a decision, and immediately asked for one that suited his friend, and shortly after began asking about a second mech. So there is a lot of reason and merit for the size of that thread, even if half a page got semi-off topic through the exchange of visual memes relating to some of the new player's questions and the answers given.

Other long threads of note tend to follow a journey format... Basically a single thread in which to include every complex question the pilot ever thinks of, in which the player keeps returning to it to ask the next question and the next. Such formats tend to help us keep the overall section of the forum nice and tidy rather than having dozens of tiny threads for a single complex question that's been asked over and over.

Edited by Koniving, 21 April 2017 - 07:03 AM.

[Roughneck45]

To be fair too, "Help me pick my first mech" is a topic that anyone visiting the NPF would like to comment on.

Who doesn't like to gush about their favorite mechs, amirite?

[Jingseng]

I would also add, that perhaps if you read the thread, you would see he DID indeed get the advice he requested.

The greater issue to highlight is that many of the players who sometimes share 'advice' are NOT knowledgeable. They do so for various and numerous reasons that are pointless to speculate on; the net effect is the perpetuation of uncertainty and misinformation.

So when you say take a step back and think before replying, I agree for entirely different reasons. A person should consider

1) is my response necessary? (we don't need so many people parroting the same bit of advice, particularly if it's already been given... especially because the illiterati wont read this and do the repeating anyway, and that is more than enough to drive home a point).

2) do I know it for a fact, or do i merely think that I am right? One of these is a truth statement. The other is your opinion, and potentially less accurate, inapplicable, and/or less relevant.

3) do I have the relevant experience to enable me to give sound advice? Look, you shouldn't take medical advice from a 7year old with a learning disability. You shouldn't take lessons on french cuisine from a cannibal. And so forth. But neither ought those people be stepping forward and propounding their views as good advice. If you haven't even finished your 25 cadet games, maybe you should be listening more than talking when it comes to weapons, builds, and mechs discussions. However, if someone is looking for advice on whether to save up cbills from cadet or immediately blow them, maybe you do have the relevant experience ON THAT point.

4) is what I have to say at all helpful to the OP? Because a lot of people post just because they think they are funny, clever, or intelligent (they fail on all accounts and do more harm than good). Other post because they are bitter, biased, or elitist (they also fail and do more harm than good). Some like to brag (fail) and others don't have the etiquette not to highjack a thread (kinda like what I am doing now). There are plenty of times I refrain from posting because "If you have nothing nice to say...." Although sometimes, that is precisely the shock needed to force a player to reconsider what they are saying.

and I have to add lastly, this is by no means the most toxic community around. That does not mean it is not toxic. It has its salt plains and toxic wastelands. New player help is more like a protected wildlife reserve sanctuary, so You don't see it much here (except from me).

Roughneck45, on 25 April 2017 - 08:52 AM, said:

To be fair too, "Help me pick my first mech" is a topic that anyone visiting the NPF would like to comment on.

Who doesn't like to gush about their favorite mechs, amirite?

it doesn't help the question asker, and so should be refrained. Gush elsewhere, like mwo uni> gen dis where it is appropriate.