I made a sizeable donation to she shop...pipes, vials, tinderboxes shouldn't be a problem for a while.

Yeah, I know. Passed that along too, and I'm absolutely grateful for it, though you do seem awfully intent on letting everyone know from what I've seen. Complaining about lack of... whatever for it on your clan, etc. I suppose I figure that donations are just that? A smile, sincere 'thank you', and knowing you've helped out immensely are payment enough, etc, etc. You'll still get a favour or something tasty out of it anyway. I've already donated over 300,000 gold in wares and such, myself, on things you don't see for sale yet but I doubt anyone is aware of it. Not to mention, the job most certainly isn't near done - meaning that more gold is needed. Which, IC, is most certainly the point. I doubt Val will ever tell anyone that he's put a thing into the shop, he'd rather leave the commune funds going to whatever else. Not to mention the other donations and steady supplies that have been arranged for the shop, such as Nyir selling me herbs at ridiculously low prices, or Talan's big donation, and even a certain somebody else about to make a big herbal donation themselves. Regardless, now I'm just lookin' to grab Nyir or somebody at the right time to pack those wonderful pipes. I may give up and just do it myself, though, or delegate it out. We shall see.



I do like a lot of what I'm seeing, too - I hadn't even thought up something like a newbie pack, that'd really streamline the little process I'm going through. Just interjecting to let you all know I really appreciate the advice and all!

Valarien seems like a good fella'. He should go Seren.

Valarien, if you speak to me ICly, I'll see to it that you get the newbie weapons and leathers for the shop.

Woo!

He is in fact an -amazing- fella. As for going Seren, NO!

You can come too.

Even the Merciless Chieftain speaks true.

*come2seren*

Dy, stop trying to steal all the good gloms away!

Pfft, no Seren propaganda on my Glommie newbie thread.

Otherwise, though, Come2Glom kthxbai.

The more people you use Come2Glom (which is totally wrong) on, the more novices you will have, creating a larger problem for you.

On the other hand, the more people who come2seren, the less novices you will have, and therefore, your problem will be easier to solve.

I never mentioned the shop in my clan(s?). I'm not certain where you got that kind of false information. I've been mostly complaining about...well the only thing I can think of was dying and sleep deprivation.

I think the only comment I made regarding the donation I made was the one I made in this thread. And the somewhat polite message to you to stock the shop with said donations.

This is why I don't bother with people in Glom. So quick to judge with minimal evidence.

But... but... I -like- having that problem!

Therefore, you should come2seren, as our problem is significantly greater than yours.

Stop trying to steal my Val! I stole him first!

Lots of good, concrete, ideas in this thread. Valarien, I think it's great that you're taking such an active role in things -- really taking on the mantle of ambassador.

To tackle the issue from a different perspective: I think one of the chief obstacles to newbie-retention in Glomdoring is the culture of silence, for lack of a better term. I'll preface things by saying I'm as guilty of this as anyone, and should probably start contributing more IC. (I just saw this thread and couldn't resist throwing in my two cents.)

I've seen a lot of questions asked over CGT go unanswered, and CT is largely silent. I play at night (PST) so this is a small sample size, but the lack of encouragement/assistance for new players over these channels can be pretty daunting to a novice. I think most players are capable of killing a weevil or two and equipping themselves with the basic necessities, but learning -how- to make money and which items -are- considered necessary can be difficult when older, more experienced players aren't active in answering questions and providing information. Even if you don't have an answer, or aren't able to take the time to help someone travel to the Astral plane for a collegium quest, a quick response or acknowledgement goes a long way toward making the new player feel involved and important.

I remember the first time I played Lusternia, it took me about an hour to puzzle out who I could learn my initial lessons from, where to find them, and which lessons to learn. I had to decipher all this myself from scrolls, since "CGT: I am ready to learn the ways of the Night" was totally ignored. The commune seemed cold, uninterested, and decidedly non newbie-friendly. Not all newbies are going to be super pro-active in seeking out assistance, so I think it's important that they're immediately welcomed into the commune and given some helpful scrolls to read.

I'm starting to ramble, so the tl;dr summary is: the single greatest thing you can do to increase player-retention is to make oneself available, actively answering questions and providing assistance through CGT or tells.

Speaking from experience, I think the most important thing is getting the newbies interacting with the guild and org. I've had a ton of alts, and the ones I've stuck with the longest have been the ones where people have taken time to force me to interact. As great as newton is, you need to draw them away from it for a while, otherwise they'll get bored with the grind. Probably the example that sticks out in my mind the most is the Blacktalon alt I had forever ago before colleges were implemented. Someone took the time to give me an orientation, she (I think it was a she...) taught me the lessons, summarized my skills, and even brought me to see Crows aspects and explain a bit about them. Later on little contests for the novices were arranged, such as quizzes, scavenger hunts, various little things. Contrast with various other guilds, where I was basically left to my own devices to bash newton, I quickly became bored with the alt.

So basically, you need to let the novices know that the door is open should they want to participate, and perhaps give them a little nudge, and they'll usually enthusiastically come along.

(The Daughters of Attai): Kharaen (from the Aetherways) says, "I made a huge ass donation to the novice shop with barely a thank you -sniffle- Donating for gratitude doesn't get you cookies."


If there's another context in which that's not complaining, or talking about the novice shop, let me know.

When I was returning to Lusty after my break I started an alt in Glom to see if I still wanted to do the whole MUDs thing. I had a good experience as a novice in Glom and don't have any huge issues with it.

What I would say as an ex-GA is that support from the commune in unifying the GA work on the collegium would be brilliant, and I think as Ambassador you're in a good position to do that. There are certain scrolls for example that all newbies need to read (general startup, like hunting and influencing) that you don't want to confuse people by making them read the same things 100 times.

I'm suffering from dizzy spells recently, I did forget that...Ask Leil how bad I've become. I think I felt a bit jilted at the time for very little thank yous. I'm rather surprised people share my clan info though, didn't think I was that important I imagine I know who it is though, but I don't really mind. I didn't mean it as a bragging thing or 'I want everyone to know thing.' I often do nice things with no thank yous, maybe it's my bitch reputation catching up to me.