For those of us who played Vanilla, we know there are a lot of player created etiquette.
We know to buff random players as they pass by us because that buff could be the different of life or death for that player later on. Plus it’s just a nice thing to do.
We know to wait to mine that ore or pick that herb if there is a player killing a mob near it, just to verify their intentions.
We know to /roll when we encounter a chest in a dungeon.
And we all know, too well, on the Need, Greed and Pass loot system.
However, for all the newer players coming into Classic for the first time, them not knowing these “rules” can make for a very frustrating experience for veteran players who “know better”.
So my question is, how can we as veteran players communicate these “rules” in a way without sounding elitist? Or better yet, how can players be informed of this information early on without ruining their server rep with the community?
Make a community/guild/network and run with those individuals. Befriend the new blood and introduce them to your guild/friends to help make their experience a positive one.
Not just veteran players but all players just need to exercise some patience, and not be a bunch of pretentious wet blankets and blow hards with new players, going right for the throat. I’m in no big hurry after being away for over 10 years and I’ll gladly help out anyone who may need some direction.
I think most of us would agree that Vanilla was about community and striving for a mostly positive engagement will go a long way. I plan on doing more healing this time around with my Shammy, and I’m not too proud to ask for pointers.
First question I always ask (in whisper) is “Are you new to the game?”. Judging by their response after that will help me to decide where to go from there.
It also help to make yourself open to question if asked. I’m like that in Retail.
same way they did back in vanilla. had to suck it up and teach people because they didnt want to go back to the main city asking for randoms for another 30 mins or so.
Communication and cooperation are and always were the keys. Getting things done in Vanilla was more difficult than things are now. And if you earned yourself a bad reputation, it would follow you across the whole of the server.
As somebody who doesn’t have a clue on what to roll for since I’m walking in with limited knowledge the best answer would be to just tell me. It’s not like we aren’t willing to listen.
Communication, and a bit of patience, are going to be fairly important things. Especially early on.
On top of this stuff, we’re going to get new players who are simply unprepared and don’t know what they’re doing. People are going to wipe in Deadmines because they can’t handle the 4 adds that show up during the VC fight. People are going to pull the alarm bots in Gnomer and not understand what letting them yell 3 times means. People are going to accidentally pull the entire cathedral in SM.
All you can do is try to communicate and tell them what they need to do, without being a jerk about it. After that, it’s on them to listen to the advice they get from veterans.
It isn’t Elitist to educate players on how to play the game better including their social interaction with others.
They still have the choice to do whatever they want, and you have the choice to not play with them.
At the end of the day you’re dealing with a cooperative person or a selfish donkey. Posting the rules all over Azeroth won’t stop rude behavior, it just educates the people who already wanted to get along.