As a self-confessed newbie, I have been following the thread regarding
new players and powerful nations with increasing melancholy. Why? Well, from my perspective, catalysed by recent experience, I have come to the conclusion that an elitist subculture pervades the game. Newbies are to be tolerated, not encouraged or fostered.
Since I've been playing, I've always treid to have a balance of games. I play on a VERY expereinced grudge team. With 7 years under my belt, I'm one of the relative newbies. Well, we do have 1 true newbie on the team now. When playing on this team, I expect to win EVERY game. This team has not lost in a LONG time. Last game went less than 15 turns.
I also play in other games. Some I just jump into, like my current 1650. In these games you get a good mix. We are winning this game, but more from poor competition than from being a particularly good team. In is turn 21 and we don't even have a curse squad up and running yet. Truely pathetic.
I also join variant games, like the 4th age, No Kidnap or Assassinate game that just started. There is at least one player in his first game, and several in their second or third on the team.
I do think that the new player ranking system will further discourage people from joining ad hoc or games with newbies. In PBM, win and lose has 1/25th to do with your skill and 24/25ths to do with ohters. If you can get on an experienced team, you can bring that up to 50-50.
However, one newbie in a key role CAN damage the whole rest of the team. A newbie that gets the Nordor and doesn't know he has to be LATing the agent and curse artifacts ASAP, can cost the whole team the artifact war, costing them the agent and mage war for the whole game.
Darrell
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