The Life of a Newbie - Days 1 & 2

[PINKY]

Originally Posted by Xerces

This is a good idea Pinky but the only issue I see so far is that by announcing your intentions there are more people apt to help noobs than there were before. Having 2 people essentially give gifts is very uncommon in my experience. Especially in the first 2 days. I have been playing for 2 years and only recieved 1 gift. The best I have recieved other than that was paying TT for a few other items.

Yes, but all this happened an unspecified time ago.... At the time of days 1 & 2 only I and Mindark knew what was going on. I think 711 found out around that time too.
So the giving of gifts, firstly wasnt influensed by this and secondly isnt as rare as you think


Regarding the whole why not do the whole experiment then report it thing - I have my reasons... I am going to try catch the articles up with real time eventually, so the final article will be posted on the final day - maybe have an event to reveal the noob or something but essentially, I have set this out so people do not know where to look because i am reporting things that happened a while ago. If people are running around giving gifts out in swamp camp or PA, trying to get me to report about them, then great for all the noobs there, but I havent been hanging around there for a while now

plus, I think it's far more interesting to report on this before i know what the eventual outcome will be myself...

[kira-red]

nice story, pinky. I highly doubt that I could contain myself trying to be undercover like yourself.

now that your alter ego has been informed of the EF FAQ/guides and the existence of this forum, you can now use some information herein. I'd think a new person would be concerned wit what all this new information is. in particular, things like weapons, sweat, mentors, and scams. I know I would be, and I don't think I'm more paranoid than most.

knowing that EU is an RCE (and likely knowing that before, as it is one of the selling points), a reasonable person would know that where money is involved very little is free and it's good to have your guard up.

yes, you're being disciple farmed. the low condition on the jester (which the "mentor" probably crafted) is likely enough to lock you down. getting you to fight and give back the loot is part of the investment recovery program. the "mentor" may get half his ammunition investment in you back in loot.

yes, you do earn some skills and maybe a teleport or two before you're locked down. it's not really worth it. when I was new the first thing I did was download a map of eudoria from entropia pioneers (there was no EF at the time) which I knew of from a google search before I had even entered PE (as it was known at the time). the odd teleporter I had some help in finding, but I did most of them alone by myself. I also quickly realized that dying was free and it was a way to learn what was out there, so I didn't use weapons unless that is what I wanted. I understood that their use costs money. I also knew that I wouldn't recover all that I had spent unless I was luck and that luck shouldn't be relied upon when trying to learn and figure out what to do.

anyways, keep going. I can't wait to read about your decisions regarding sweating and gathering and which profession you will choose. you weapon choice will be interesting, as well. I trust you're playing as a smart neophyte who does their homework.

lastly, I know there's a desire to do everything the "right" way - whether this be economic or efficient. I think sometimes, neophytes are convinced by others that only one way is correct. sometimes, you have to look beyond today and into what is best for the future, even if it is a little harder or more expensive in the present. sometimes, you do something because you want to and it's fun - not worrying about a small incremental cost. after all, it's you money and if you're okay with how your spending it then everything is fine.

[Coelacanth]

Well written article so far. Re: the mentor thing, trying to give benefit-of-the-doubt but you did get a gun and ammo for free, and some rudimentary help. No doubt that person wasn't that good of a mentor, which brings up a good point: How does the n00b recognize between a good mentor and a below-average one?

The few times I've taken on disciples, I've tried to have the foresight to help with issues that annoyed the hell out of me, when I was a clueless n00b. Things like managing the ridiculously unintuitive GUI & keymappings. You can spend a good hour trying to explain this to a new player, and I agree that a lot of mentors (most?) would overlook this detail. I guess the onus is on the n00b to ask a million questions...those are the n00bs that I like the most, the ones who show a genuine interest in learning more about the game. The n00bs just standing around expecting people to share their info won't get ahead too fast.

Looking forward to the next episode!

[DrewiD]

you rock pinky,, plz keep up the good work............

[Xerces]

Pinky, thanks for the reply. I do have one question though. Where are the ESI's going to come from in order to chip out your skills and sell them? Your deposit will most likely not cover these ESIs. Unless MA is supplying them for free. Something to consider.

[gekkegerrit]

This is on of the best threads I've seen for ages

I'd +rep you again but I've got to spread it around

[PINKY]

Originally Posted by Xerces

Pinky, thanks for the reply. I do have one question though. Where are the ESI's going to come from in order to chip out your skills and sell them? Your deposit will most likely not cover these ESIs. Unless MA is supplying them for free. Something to consider.

This is something I have been considering for a while...

Was thinking maybe i could use CareBears intropedia tools which gives a total value after esi had been deducted to announce if the experiment was a profit or a loss.

The problem of course is that technically I could buy a 30 ped esi, take the skills out and sell the remainder of the esi - but as you point out I, unless I hof big time there simply isnt enough money in the avatar to be able to do this. I think the entropiatools.com is the best bet to establish what the end total is as it does give a figure "after ESI cost" to establish a truer profit picture.

As far as actually taking the skills out to sell and give the peds away, I guess I have no choice but at the end of the experiment to get Pinky to bail the newbie out and treat it to an ESI. For the purposes of the experiment, the noob should pay me back (and I will make the calculations to show what the profit/loss would have been if it did), but it will give a nice boost to the prize pool so will probably just donate one to the cause...


Unless anyone has a better idea??

[Commodore]

Originally Posted by kira-red

when I was new the first thing I did was download a map of eudoria from entropia pioneers (there was no EF at the time) which I knew of from a google search before I had even entered PE

LOL, thanks for the memory Red. I've actually got the coffee-mug stained sheets still! Hail EP.

I think your mentor is banking on the lack of knowledge about items value. So if you were to loot something tasty, u'd never know.

I used to enjoy mentoring, but at some point (don't remember exactly when) people became more interested in the money they could get out of me. I strongly believe in wise words and little assistance. That builds a strong person. Handouts and running every single TP just breads morons. Knowledge seems to be undervalued, now it's 'Yeah but wheres my peds' - 'my peds' jeez there mine!!! That was too much for me, after about three more of these ppl I stopped mentoring. Personally I blame the mentor gifts, noob seems to know all to well about mentor gift and approachs from the angle that they are paying you the gift, so what are you gonna pay them to get it! For the guy that I got through despite the attitude, I was 'awarded' for many hours of chat and assistance - a zero ped FreanD Alpha ME

I'm happy to help - say a manual cleaning task, but I won't accept someone trying to pay me below minimum wage, instead of respect.

I've noticed a shift from exploration to loot gratification. When I was new, an exciting session would be climbing to the top of a mountain and exploring - seeing my first spid and not getting wasted - finding out which pools of gunk would hurt me. So, Pinky make sure you do some exploring! Or else do something that is fun and don't involve peds.

Sry for the rant - I love this idea Pinky!

[gekkegerrit]

Originally Posted by PINKY

This is something I have been considering for a while...

Was thinking maybe i could use CareBears intropedia tools which gives a total value after esi had been deducted to announce if the experiment was a profit or a loss.

The problem of course is that technically I could buy a 30 ped esi, take the skills out and sell the remainder of the esi - but as you point out I, unless I hof big time there simply isnt enough money in the avatar to be able to do this. I think the entropiatools.com is the best bet to establish what the end total is as it does give a figure "after ESI cost" to establish a truer profit picture.

As far as actually taking the skills out to sell and give the peds away, I guess I have no choice but at the end of the experiment to get Pinky to bail the newbie out and treat it to an ESI. For the purposes of the experiment, the noob should pay me back (and I will make the calculations to show what the profit/loss would have been if it did), but it will give a nice boost to the prize pool so will probably just donate one to the cause...


Unless anyone has a better idea??

I doubt you will have any skills worth sellling unless as you say you hof on mining or something (not a typical non-depositer thing), I think it could be more fun if you get MA to change the name/look of the avatar and resurect the project again in 3 months

[Jamhot]

Absolutely fantastic reporting Pinky can't wait for the next installment now!

Jamhot