Seems like merging the GNTs would just give another CT, which isn't going to help much. Seems like Xenthos's ideas above would be much more useful, because even if there are a lot of people around, they can't help too well if they're not on prime too.

The idea is to offer a method of getting the novice going, when there isn't anyone around. I think that is our biggest problem, not the lack of novice interaction when people are around.

I agree that changing GNT to CNT would not make anything better. The guild is better suited to address specific novice questions, while CT/newbie can be used for general questions.

Why not set up a denizen to welcome newcomers to the city? Such as in Celest, Meleris could do it, or that cat-lady in the hotel. Sends them a tell with a basic newbie-guide that the Ambassador can write up, along with the laws and some basics. Of course the tell can be broken up in to timed parts. Maybe?

Just make GNT hearable from any plane, as suggested.

You mean like... An automated Lachesis-Clothos-Atropos tour, but done by the guild's tutor, instead? That could be neat... Especially when they try to learn the wrong thing and they get the "Please do not try that at this time" message. And, no more undersecretaries.

Automated NPCs does not remove the need for undersecs and personal interaction. However, it greatly helps with when you arn't around to talk to them.

I think the automation should be as complex or as simple as the admin can handle it to be.

I don't like this idea... I really don't feel it will solve anything.

It would be much better, in my opinion... to identify which guilds are failing with novices and then have the guild patron speak with the administrator about why. Never mind big changes... I feel a little micro-management would be far more efficient.

There could be a city scroll that lists the scroll needed for the novices of each guild. Or, if we want to encourage people to teach novices not of their own kind, we could make them CHELP scrolls as well, or something.

Alright, after thinking about this for an hour, as I couldn't get to sleep. Here is what will happen.

The only people who will help the novices in the commune will be the same ones who will help in the guilds. And so, they will now be four-times as over-worked. Rather than just working with novices of their own guild, they will work with all of them, getting the city tutor to teach. This will increase, heavily, the amount of people at the nexus, and will make the teachers have to fight for the attention of the novices.

These people will be overworked, and people will notice that they help novices and start to expect them to do so. Even going as far as to contact them on OOC services to suggest they come help.

These people will, understandably, go completely and utterly insane with novice burnout. They will procide to go completely homicidal on the commune and soon be carted away. An Asylum will take them, and it will soon be filled with people rocking in fetal positions saying 'Learn X of skill from miakoda"

It would help when a novice joins, there's no one in the guild but there is someone in the commune. I've seen nothing but my own name on GWHO enough times to assume it happens often. Those novices need human interaction, if no one in the guild is there someone in the commune can provide it.

Besides, I don't like to expose everyone on CT to my newbie questions. I don't see anyone else doing it, I don't do it. If there were a CNT for that I'd feel more at ease asking those questions there.

Making GNT and newbie -hearable- from any plane but also enabling you to -be heard- on it regardless of your plane or planar skill would definitely be a start.

I understand what kind of problem CNT would be trying to address but I'm not sure if it can actually solve anything. There would be more people around there to answer yes, but if it's a very guild specific question (like advancement, guild rules etc) then they couldn't help much. Wouldn't a reference in the guild novice scrolls stating to ask on CT if no one answers on GNT have the exact same effect?

I know one at least brings it up with all three Guild Leaders. Must be a lot of repetition with varied responses.

I was fairly impressed with Lord Charune for doing that.

So was I.

I agree with this. Some guilds have no (or little) problems with this, so changing how they function would just cause disapproval. Micromanage!

Also, I wholeheartedly agree with the idea that GNT should be heard everywhere, and -from- everywhere. After greeting a new novice and being immediately required to go up to another plane, how many times have I been worried that the novice's questions won't reach me and that the novice will feel alone...

The obvious issue is if there is no one around in the guild, there is no one around to help the novice--so whether GNT is heard off plane or not is moot. We've noticed that novices who do ask questions on CT are immediately told to ask their guild (no matter if there is no one in the guild around) or told to read help files. I'm not sure you understand how isolated that makes novices feel, especially those who are new to text games. By focusing the community more on the city/commune level rather than the guild level, there is a greater chance of the individual feeling more a part of the society. If there are more people available to help, then (hopefully!) the duty of helping novices will be spread around more.

I'd like to point out that asking novices to read guild scrolls or further automating the novice process with intro messages is counterproductive. If I were new to a game, I would not care about guild criteria or responsibilities, I would want to just know how to get started on a basic level, i.e., get into Newton Caverns and get started playing around. Only later once I got into the game would I slowly start even begin to get interested in reading some of the help or guild help files. If you think back to when you first started a text game, I bet you were the same way. We already inundate newbies with tons of automatic messages and whatnot, adding more just would get lost and most of which wouldn't be pertinent until they become more established.

My problems with CNT are, first it does rob guilds of a bit of the autonomy. Lusternia guilds are already fused to cities/communes at the hip more then any other IRE game, and they really don't need to be fused more.

Another problem, novicehood is where the new player bonds with her guild, having a CNT and no GNT does not even give her even a glimpse of the personality and character of her guild. This is my major concern.

I do think this is a good first idea, but I think it is too much for to little of a gain. Now something that might work would be like, novice joins, at this time the game checks to see if anyone in the guild is on, and if not, it fires an automated message saying, "Hello, please read ghelp skills, this will help you get started with the basics, explore and have fun. If you have a question, check GWHO and if someone is there, use GNT question, or if no one is there, CT question, or NEWBIE question will usually garner you an answer as well."

If GNT does remain, it should be audible from any plane, and novices should be able to hear you, simple as that.

I think the easiest way to handle it would be to simply have their arrival announced on CT. They can already hear it, no need for a new channel. "Bob has just joined the commune (if guilded, "as a member of ..."), please welcome him!"

Actually, no need to change GNT. Just put an announcement "Please welcome X who officially joined guildX" to the city only. So, the other citizens can welcome the novices and make sure that the novices will get a warm reply even if there's no one in the guild

Once someone in the selected guild has taken care for him/her, I believe, there's no other problem.

If no one available in the guild at that time, then one of the citizen should help for the introduction to the city and to the game

Edit : ops, Sylphas beat me to it. Yay, first post on the board