You don't have to go full speed and you can just play them with a default deck or even the same deck they are using so they can get some ideas on how to use it. It's pretty easy to hold back if you wanted to.

I think many have been doing this, why should only 1-3 ppl be "paid"?


I earnt things that way, and I believed many did too. You think someone who cant stand slaughtering will stay?

This tutor thing isnt a bad idea you know...

Ok, you have a point there. How about instead awarding the most helpful player every month? Not with gold but discounts. When some newbie is grateful for your help, you could ask him to report it to a thread made for it, or something. Sure, some players help noobs even now, but such players might not always be there. Anything that would further encourage helping would be good. One of the first things people people think about when they log into an online game like this is how is the player base, are they nice people who are friendly and welcoming to noobs, or utterly uncaring.

This will continue to turn players away as long as the initial rating is kept at 1300.

What's the first thing you do when you're finally ready to play other human players?
Naturally, you hit "similar players" in the hopes of, you know, playing a similar player.
You don't know and don't care about the ladder at that point. You just want to be paired against a noob like yourself.

Instead, you get trounced by a 1300-point veteran (who doesn't, and shouldn't be expected to, hold anything back).

The simple and obvious solution: start new players off at a rating congruent with their expected ability (probably 900-ish). This doesn't compromise the integrity of the Glicko rating system in any way (trust me, I'm a mathematician ).

The simple solution, as others have pointed out, is to use the player's real rating (displayed rating - uncertainty). New users would start at 950 (1300-350). Problem solved.

Might require an update to the player's panel to explain what the numbers are, but that's hardly difficult.

I personally avoid playing new players because I don't want to discourage them. I feel bad when someone logs off angered/frustrated. But for whatever reason, new players really seem to like the "duel" feature. I get challenged a lot-- but I never play.

I still contend that if a storyline/campaign mode were implemented to make games against the AI more immersive, it would "lessen the blow" when you start losing to humans. At least you'd have felt a sense of accomplishment having completed an interesting campaign before you started getting beat down.

When i play new people, i spend time talking, telling info, so that when they eventually lose(muahaha) they walk away feeling smarter and that they have gained something.

yaron:

Thanx for quoting me. That comment still cracks me up. Why do I say stuff like that? It is just wrong on a number of different levels. I still think too many gamers are "sore" when they get PULVERIZED, and just quit the game. Some endure and eventually thrive. Too many people need cheats to play a game, but I guess that is another topic.

Sleepily,

DarkJello

_________________
Ad astra per alia porci!$!

Zavia--

Sure, I'll chat and offer any information "they want", but I stopped "feeding" newish players a lot of crucial information long ago. Some people get really angry if you offer them unsolicited constructive criticism in ANY form. Even when it's PURE information, and not even feedback or advice per say. So I don't bother. I think most of the old timers are this way. If "asked", however, we are generally more than happy to chat about the game, offer advice, or even review decks.

But even so-- playing against a pleasant person who provides a wealth of information is nice and helpful, but getting horribly thrashed in game makes the overall experience somewhat less than pleasant overall (for many people). But in reality, failure is one of the best paths to learning.

Meh, i offer it and if they dont reply, i stop.
After all, how can a place be friendly if the older folks dont initiate 1st?

I'd trash and milk all the ladder points off a newbie gets all proud and angry tho.
2 reasons.

• They are not the kind of ppl worth befriending, and probably the kind that gives forum moderators a headache.
• They will usually quit.