Note : this post is too long, you should just skip it
Well, I\'ve been reading this thread and found it really interesting. It starts as a nostalgic reminder about the old times back to AB (a normal thing), then we see some ?oldbies? discussing about how much things have change since that time, and finally I read some discussions about who can call himself an oldbie, and who can not. This is where it disturbs me a bit. I?ve been playing this game since April, so now I?m about 10 months old, and I?ve been ingame regularly since then. I think you might consider me a ?midbie? (people like to classify each other, probably to feel like a part of a sub-community, though to me it appears more like setting up pointless barriers between them, but anyway). According to this thread, I consider that I could not be ranked as a newbie, but not as an oldbie either. It probably gives me a more objective opinion, so I thought this post was worth writing.
It is certain that as time passes, the number of newbies increases, and the ?quality? is not always the same as it used to be. This might be because when you guys started, you had been looking for such a game a long time, whereas now most people just find it randomly and decide to give it a try. So maybe these newcomers are less? hmmm? ?serious? (not all of them, of course). But there is nothing we can do to change that. As old players, most of you left the game (I mean that you are not ingame) for different, and understandable, reasons; and now, you may feel like the game is being ruled by newcomers who do not know you or even remember that you were here long before. You have known funny times in AB that will not come back, but it doesn?t mean that the new generation is spoiling these times. It has bring several news ideas, and if the fun now is different, it is still fun. How many of you guys have ever enjoyed a tavern or temple party, a climbing on the temple or in the cage, a game of hide&seek, and so on? This players have bring things to the game, with or without you, so I doubt that they consider themselves not as respectable as you are.
By calling yourselves oldbies, I feel like you are in fact trying to tell the other players that they must have respect and consideration for you, which I understand. However, you can not ask others to consider you as a reference and an elder just because you were there as the beginning of the game. Consideration is not something you can claim, it is something that you earn, you know that already. Also, being an old timer must not be a comfortable title you can rely on, it implies responsibilities, too : you have to transmit the game\'s values if you don\'t want them to get lost. Newcomers have consideration for those who helped them when they started the game, those who showed them how and why they liked this game so much, those who, in a way, are a part of the ?soul? of the game, regardless how long they have been playing. These players were taught by older players, and now they know that it is their role to pass on what they have learned, and to adapt it, because it is sometimes necessary. All of us have seen people being asked to watch their language at least once, for example. If no one had told them to, things would already be different.
Ow my post is so long, I am sorry
. The point of what I have written is that you should not watch the newcomers coming and look down on them, for they would feel depreciated; but rather welcome them and show them how it is. It is hard, yes, but it is surely worth the pain. If the newcomers feel that they are excluded, they will form their own community, which could be better or worse, who can tell, but it would create tensions. Having a single united community is surely better : when someone come with bad intentions (cheating, insulting?) and see that everyone condemn his actions, he will not stay, most of the time (it is probably more complicated than that, but this is a good start). In such a community no one would need to say that he is an oldbie for others to respect him, they would already know him by reputation or, better, personally.
Now if an old timer feels like his name was forgotten and can not come back in the game, he must not consider it as definitive. The forum is a good way to keep up with the community, and when they will eventually come back, they will meet again old friends, and new ones. We all have an embittered grandfather who always complain how the youths have no respect for their elders, you wouldn\'t want to become something similar, now would you
?
p.s. My ingame character is Mayia, but it won\'t send me the registration mail on the first adress I gave
