Though the View is
no longer produced in a print format, there are still numerous gems contained
within the paper pages of the many years of past editions. However, unless one
has, or knows someone who has, a collection of past issues, it can be difficult
for many players to gain access to this
content - let alone sift through each booklet to find it. To that end, the
staff of The View from Valehaven
would like to take this opportunity to announce the launch of a new Feature
series. Called "The View
Retrospective," the goal of this series is to draw out articles, stories,
and guides that are as pertinent today as they were when they were first
written. By re-publishing these pieces in our current online format, it is our
hope that these pieces can not only continue to serve as a source of knowledge,
entertainment, and inspiration to the community as a whole, but will also find
a more easily accessible home on The View
from Valehaven blog. Additionally, re-publishing of past content through
the "Retrospective" series will serve not only to highlight some
excellent submissions from players that
may not be as active in the game anymore, but also showcase their dedication to
our Realms community through their writing.- Jennifer DeNardis Rosa
We know, we know, you get bombarded with “good advice" from everyone all the time. And frankly, you are probably sick of it anyway. Well, consider this, I am not yet an oldbie. I'm not going to talk about the good old days. I still remember being a newbie. Hell, most people still think I'm a newbie (ok, I am practically still one). So here is a bit of advice from the likes of me. You decide what you think will be useful.
1) Do not knock off the heads of nations, no matter how much they annoy you, how much cool stuff they have, or even if they aren't paying attention. Really, it is just not the way to make friends. And it's going to make petitioning that much harder later.
2) No one will ever ask you about your incredibly complex back story. Don't take it personally, but no one really cares. We all have back stories, and no one cares about them.
3) At wars, DRINK SOMETHING. No one really wants to sit out with the newbie with heatstroke. Someone will if you need it, but no one really wants to.
4) Moreover, just because our parents aren't there doesn't mean you should eat nothing but snack food all weekend. One cannot live on pretzels alone. Nor marmalade alone, nor goldfish crackers alone. Try eating whole meals.
5) Just because you don't recognize what it is, doesn't necessarily mean you should kill it. Still be prepared to kill it, but if it's not swinging at you, you can always double check with someone (spellcaster)
6) Even if you have a fairly high IQ, you can be a fighter, we promise.
7) Some fighters have fairly high IQs, we promise(please let us know if you find one).
8) If you have too many pouches, people are going to assume you're a spell caster, the best solution, is getting a spell caster to carry around your stuff.
9) You might “like the feel" of the heavy chain mail now, but give it some time, and as your joints will start to protest then switch to something lighter. You're not proving anything by wearing the heavy stuff, except maybe you're stupid.
10) Mundane friends will not think chain mail stain is cool. They also won't think a chain mail tan is cool. In fact, trying to explain how cool these things are is a waste of breath.
11) Become close friends with a healer, trust me on this one.
12) Don't stress to remember everyone's titles. If they've been playing long enough, they have more than anyone ought to remember anyways.
13) Do remember heraldry. Knowing who belongs to who is always a good thing. It also helps to know who to return bodies to. If this gets confusing, you can always just try to match the colors, green with green, red with red etc.
14) Do not join a nation because you think the Heraldry is cool. Also do not join a nation because you need the tabard.
15) Be a man; make your own damned garb. If you are really, really, not going to make your own garb, at least pay whomever is making it well.
16) Do not join this game in an effort to pick up members of the opposite sex. If you're a guy, the numbers are against you to begin with, and if you're a girl, no number of pseudo-cute guys is going to make up for being hit in the head over and over again.
17) Your significant other will not "understand" that you have to skip their birthday/Valentine's day/anniversary/etc for an event. Give up now, occasionally, you're going to have to skip and event for their sake. Come to terms with this... Or dump them.
18) Further, an event does not count as a "date" unless you buy them dinner afterwards.
19) Listen to the oldies tell stories, when you are that old, and you're going to want to tell stories too. You might not care about it now, but sometime, the information might be useful. If it's not, hopefully the oldbie will recognize your face from story session and see you get raised.
20) And solemnly swear that when you're an oldbie, you'll never complain about newbies, because you were a newbie once too. Of course by then, newbies will have no respect for their elders and shall be complete dunderheads, which you obviously never where, so, complaining will be warranted.
Editor's Note- Christina/Adara started playing 8/29/04. So had been in game about a year and a half when she wrote the above. At this point she has been playing for 10 years and has reached the point of being a bona-fide "oldbie".
A Little Advice to Newbies
By Christina Clements(Adara Aleilah)
Originally published in The View From Valehaven,
211 Ed, Vol. 4, Issue 2; February 2007
We know, we know, you get bombarded with “good advice" from everyone all the time. And frankly, you are probably sick of it anyway. Well, consider this, I am not yet an oldbie. I'm not going to talk about the good old days. I still remember being a newbie. Hell, most people still think I'm a newbie (ok, I am practically still one). So here is a bit of advice from the likes of me. You decide what you think will be useful.211 Ed, Vol. 4, Issue 2; February 2007
1) Do not knock off the heads of nations, no matter how much they annoy you, how much cool stuff they have, or even if they aren't paying attention. Really, it is just not the way to make friends. And it's going to make petitioning that much harder later.
2) No one will ever ask you about your incredibly complex back story. Don't take it personally, but no one really cares. We all have back stories, and no one cares about them.
3) At wars, DRINK SOMETHING. No one really wants to sit out with the newbie with heatstroke. Someone will if you need it, but no one really wants to.
4) Moreover, just because our parents aren't there doesn't mean you should eat nothing but snack food all weekend. One cannot live on pretzels alone. Nor marmalade alone, nor goldfish crackers alone. Try eating whole meals.
5) Just because you don't recognize what it is, doesn't necessarily mean you should kill it. Still be prepared to kill it, but if it's not swinging at you, you can always double check with someone (spellcaster)
6) Even if you have a fairly high IQ, you can be a fighter, we promise.
7) Some fighters have fairly high IQs, we promise(please let us know if you find one).
8) If you have too many pouches, people are going to assume you're a spell caster, the best solution, is getting a spell caster to carry around your stuff.
9) You might “like the feel" of the heavy chain mail now, but give it some time, and as your joints will start to protest then switch to something lighter. You're not proving anything by wearing the heavy stuff, except maybe you're stupid.
10) Mundane friends will not think chain mail stain is cool. They also won't think a chain mail tan is cool. In fact, trying to explain how cool these things are is a waste of breath.
11) Become close friends with a healer, trust me on this one.
12) Don't stress to remember everyone's titles. If they've been playing long enough, they have more than anyone ought to remember anyways.
13) Do remember heraldry. Knowing who belongs to who is always a good thing. It also helps to know who to return bodies to. If this gets confusing, you can always just try to match the colors, green with green, red with red etc.
14) Do not join a nation because you think the Heraldry is cool. Also do not join a nation because you need the tabard.
15) Be a man; make your own damned garb. If you are really, really, not going to make your own garb, at least pay whomever is making it well.
16) Do not join this game in an effort to pick up members of the opposite sex. If you're a guy, the numbers are against you to begin with, and if you're a girl, no number of pseudo-cute guys is going to make up for being hit in the head over and over again.
17) Your significant other will not "understand" that you have to skip their birthday/Valentine's day/anniversary/etc for an event. Give up now, occasionally, you're going to have to skip and event for their sake. Come to terms with this... Or dump them.
18) Further, an event does not count as a "date" unless you buy them dinner afterwards.
19) Listen to the oldies tell stories, when you are that old, and you're going to want to tell stories too. You might not care about it now, but sometime, the information might be useful. If it's not, hopefully the oldbie will recognize your face from story session and see you get raised.
20) And solemnly swear that when you're an oldbie, you'll never complain about newbies, because you were a newbie once too. Of course by then, newbies will have no respect for their elders and shall be complete dunderheads, which you obviously never where, so, complaining will be warranted.
Editor's Note- Christina/Adara started playing 8/29/04. So had been in game about a year and a half when she wrote the above. At this point she has been playing for 10 years and has reached the point of being a bona-fide "oldbie".