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#### Reminder: Teach our newbies how to be self-sufficient!

"Give a man a fish and you feed him for a day. Teach a man to fish and you feed him for a lifetime"
I've posted about this before, but with all the new glitchen I think it's time for a reminder. If someone asks for bubbles in global chat, don't just give them some, or just tell them there are some on your street. Link them to Glitch Housing Routes. If they ask how to make a cabinet, don't start listing off all the ingredients in global. Send them to the Glitch Wiki. This way, they will learn to find the answers to their questions themselves, and not have to ask in global chat for everything they need. There are some really great resources out there that many of our fellow Glitchen have worked hard to create. I love the helpfulness of the Glitch community, and donations are wonderful, but remember to teach too!
Edit: If you don't want to tell newbies about the housing routes just yet, you could direct them to an appropriate region (make sure they know how to use the subway!) or link them to Zog's Glitchy Tools. There are many different ways to solve a problem. The important thing is to do it in such a way that it gives them information they can use to solve FUTURE problems as well.

Posted 4 months ago by Mikella | Permalink

### Replies

- Cant I just eat one as a lesson to the others? Keeping me well fed is always a good plan..
  Posted 4 months ago by ☣ elf ☣ | Permalink
- Good point; teaching is far more sensible in the long run - although I've already seen a few who seemed irritated at not being hand-fed answers, but rather being told where to read for themselves.
  Posted 4 months ago by Not a Princess | Permalink
- In addition to the Glitch Housing Routes, there are also lots of resources in main Ur! This is a really useful map of roughly where to find what while exploring.
  Posted 4 months ago by Persephone Pear | Permalink
- Heartily agreed. I think sometimes we get so enthusiastic to help that it's easy to do too much without realising it. It's a balance, for sure. Though there *are* of course different play styles, and some folks are less interested in figuring stuff out for themselves. I fondly remember one guy last fall who asked a LOT of questions in global chat for a few weeks, then announced he'd won the game because he'd reached level 20 and had already bought the most expensive house...then asked what else there was to do because he didn't want to get achievements or explore.
  I also try to ask new players if they're cool with receiving stuff before I give them anything. Some folks enjoy achieving things on their own, and sometimes giving them even a musicblock can take away from their experience in their eyes.
  Thanks for making this post. :)
  Posted 4 months ago by Voluptua Sneezelips | Permalink
- But im hungry, I need a meal..
  Posted 4 months ago by ☣ elf ☣ | Permalink
- Okay, ☣ elf ☣, but just one!
  Posted 4 months ago by le beebs | Permalink
- i need at least 3, to satisfy my urges and cravings for...diversity \o/
  Posted 4 months ago by ☣ elf ☣ | Permalink
- And definitely tell them that getting "Your Papers" is very inexpensive at any Bureaucratic Hall, and that they don't need to spend ¢700 for them on auction :)
  Posted 4 months ago by devlogic | Permalink
- I second this advise, though, i also agree that we should not just direct them to the housing routes but to Ur in general. Newbies would extremely benefit from exploring the regions over just running from street to street. Their are QQs and badges that can be achieved from exploring the streets of Ur.
  Posted 4 months ago by Papa Legba | Permalink
- elf --- ONE !! just one. more would be antithetical to the purpose of this thread!
  I usually give any glitch lower than 6 a stack of eggs and ask if they have questions. I remember how hungry I used to get as a new glitch and how a lot of questions didn't occur to me until waaay after the tutorial.
  Posted 4 months ago by MontytheGeek | Permalink
- But three is better than one. And then I wont need to eat for a day or two.
  Posted 4 months ago by ☣ elf ☣ | Permalink
- elf - you can eat any of them that posts at least 10 messages to global asking for free stuff.
  Posted 4 months ago by WalruZ | Permalink
- but those are not the tender ones, they are lazy and gristly....ew...
  i want easy to eat tender noobs on a bed of brown rice w/ gravy and a Pepsi
  Posted 4 months ago by ☣ elf ☣ | Permalink
- Nuh uh, yeah, no, give me free stuff, I mean I'm new, and you have too... and stuff. ;)
  I would hope newbies can be self-sufficient, and those resource routes are the best things ever! But it does kinda take away from exploring, so for me it's normally explore/wander and when I'm short on one resource and I need(well want) it now, just pop on to the route snatch some up. So handy and helpful.
  I think one of the only problems I have right now is focus. I want all the skills and I want them nows!!! *throttles training skill so it goes faster...*
  I've found a lot of helpful FAQs and guides, and random people keep handing me things. YAY! Actually it makes me feel a little guilty because I don't have much to give back other than "Thank you, would you like some waffles?" ;) But I can just pass on the love to the next wave of newbies.
  Although one thing I'd like to point out is sometimes the answers are easier to give than just a response like "Go google it." I think that's actually kinda rude. If the answer is easy like "Where do I find bubbles?" Why not answer it and tell them about the routes and the wiki? Sure I found this stuff on my own, but that's only because I never ask questions in most mmos, half the time the answer is "lawl google/wiki it", and I don't feel like being trolled for not knowing something. I'm capable of finding answers on my own, but I feel it takes away from the community if someone can't ask for help. That's me though.
  That being said I also want to point out "Where do I get bubbles?" and "Can I have some bubbles?" are two different things. The second question should be answered with a "You could check the auctions for bubbles. Go to the home page and click auctions." And if the person complains about no currency point them to where you can find bubbles or the resource routes.
  Let's not breed a community that is afraid to ask questions though :( Stopping begging is one thing, but smushing honest questions seems harsh to me.
  Posted 4 months ago by Infinite Duck | Permalink
- I'm not sure I whole-heartedly support sending people to an external website right away. It feels, I can't quite explain it, somewhat alienating?
  I fully understand that to a large extent Glitch can't really be played without checking glitch-strategy, glitchremote or that awesome food/energy/iMG/currents spreadsheet.
  I've started answering people via IM to keep the chatter down but I think what might be nice is a suggestion someone made much earlier about having a tower with Tips and answers. Can notes contain clickable links?
  On the flipside I have to admit I've learned a lot over the months by reading answers in global. So who knows.
  Posted 4 months ago by Hydi | Permalink
- We must raised our newbies right, the point of the game isn't just begging for people to do things for you. It is a cooperative, social game that is more fun when we do nice stuff for each other ... but some kids are getting the impression that the way to play is to poke established players until the items they want fall out of them.
  Posted 4 months ago by Rathany | Permalink
- Ahh but poking people is Fun! J/K :) I've been playing a couple days now and the person who invited me is quite helpful but I wanted to mention something a random person who apparently saw my name on the new player thread did for me...they went to my home street and gave me a couple of packages and for each package they explained what the stuff was for and all about how to obtain more for myself for example feed 3 tomatoes to piggie and get a seed to plant for more. It was so helpful to me!
  Posted 4 months ago by Lizetta | Permalink
- I demand an achievement badge for eating 1003 newbies!
  Posted 4 months ago by Ayzad | Permalink
- a long time ago a player gave me a tool i needed and could not afford. i did not ask for it, and would have saved up to buy it.
  that act of kindness made a large difference to me. it both gave me a tool i needed and also saved me those precious currants.
  the joy of playing for me was in learning how to do things. i stayed out of the wiki and i stayed out of global and asked very few questions. the pride of achievement was worth more to me than any badge or level and then once i got into global i noticed people who had the joy of discovery choose to share their joy by shouting out the answers to everyone else.
  some people want everything right away. they want to have things given to them and they want it done quickly. sure, it's a valid style of living, but i'm not going to support it. i'm going to encourage people to go and see for themselves.
  go on, out with you. get out into the world and go see.
  Posted 4 months ago by flask | Permalink
- I say
  google glitch wiki X
  as a way of telling people about the wiki, because I know for me without the wiki I'd have been very confused about a lot of things.
  When I was in global I used to not do that as much, instead explaining about X more fully. But in live help and such, especially when people ask over and over things they could find out for themselves, I thought it'd be better to direct them to the wiki.
  Posted 4 months ago by diaveborn ♥ | Permalink
- Noooooo! Don't link newbie's to HRR. Let them explore the world and tell them where the best bubbles are before making them fall victim to HRR. Unless they're asking for eggs... *evil grin*
  Posted 4 months ago by daniel5457 | Permalink
- I made a 'care' bag for my invited newbie. It had a stack of food, a stack of drinks, and then just random fun stuff - purple flower, fortune cookie (with fortune inside), one of each series cubi box - stuff like that. Enough to get show that there is cool stuff to be had, but not overwhelming to the point that she didn't have to take care of business on her own.
  Posted 4 months ago by TotallyMentalMommy | Permalink
- i am a newbie and was lucky to meet a couple of kind people who gave me things and helpful hints (without me asking) and it was a good feeling to meet caring people. If they give us newbies a few little things and hints it does not mean we will want the game to be this way...just getting stuff. It's just good to know you're getting a little head start and even with those things you still feel lost. No tutorials in the game, that i can see and thanks to those who share a little.
  Posted 4 months ago by Feef | Permalink
- There aren't tutorials (except the first ones) that are called that, but you often get quests which teach you how to, say, use a certain skill.
  Posted 4 months ago by Not a Princess | Permalink
- Very good thoughts! I do like the idea of teaching newbies about parts of Ur beyond housing routes.You could tell them a region the resource is likely to be found in (Make sure to ask if they know how to use the subway!) or link them to Zog's Glitchy Tools if they seem like they want a more definitive answer. The important part is giving them some piece of information that will help them in the future, and not merely solve the one problem they have today.
  Posted 4 months ago by Mikella | Permalink