Comments on: Noobs

By: backarch

backarch — Sun, 02 Oct 2011 21:50:17 +0000

maybe its just me, but when i first came on here almost two years ago, i took a serious look at what clothes were offered me. didn’t really like the t-shirts, so went with the of shoulder top, cargo pants and runners. the last thing i wanted to do was talk to people. i wanted to get a feel for the place. see what was up. it was actually quite a while before i talked to someone, and of course, it was a ‘noob’ wanting to cyber. pffft. it just depends on your approach to home. some say its just a game, but as everyone points out, there are real people on the other end. well, those real people act certain ways in real life. so since we’re not running around shooting each other, i tend to think home leans heavily towards the social aspect, rather than gaming. so, that being said, do people run up to a group of girls and start jumping into a conversation at their local mall? probably not. or do a running man on a girl in an elevator? hmmm. doubt it. so basically what im saying is, if your in a new enviroment, such as a virtual world like home, tread lightly. be silent and put your feelers out, bucko. if not, expect the worst. sounds sad, but its like at a new school for kids. the last thing they do is run into a new unknown class and start singing out loud. just doesnt happen. think this just boils down to common sense. if they get picked on for what their doing right away, then i guess they had better take mental note and learn. zoinks

By: GoodBytes

GoodBytes — Sun, 02 Oct 2011 19:56:59 +0000

This article reminded me of another related to clothing (http://www.hsmagazine.net/2011/02/who-loves-ya-babe). I strongly believe the "Noob" title is given based on ones clothing rather than behaviour. When a avatar arrves in Home Square (im from the EU region) or Central Plaza wearing the default clothing, he/she is immediately branded as a noob - and they have not said a word yet.

Unfortunately for him when he first arrives in Home, no one is willing to tell him that his "default" clothes mark him as a new arrival. He wanders around in Central Plaza because that is the location waiting for him when he walks out of the Harbour Studio apartment, bewildered, excited, and eager to find out what he has stumbled into. So, he tries to talk to people. And gets brushed off. Or gets chased away. And that's from the nice people. The "elites" who really hate noobies can be really cruel.

By: Punkwillie

Punkwillie — Sat, 01 Oct 2011 18:15:43 +0000

I wouldn’t go so far as to calling this “Cyber Bulling”. There does seem to be a class structure in Home. There are the idiots and the real nice people… I would tell u which I’m in, but I’m stuck in my wardrobe section seeing what pants match my flaming head!!

By: Burbie52

Burbie52 — Sat, 01 Oct 2011 12:32:31 +0000

Well I wouldn’t call it bullying unless it goes beyond just the word, but I agree that we all need to be kind to one another, new or not. You get more flies with honey as the saying goes. We just need to remember there are people behind the avatars and treat them as you would if you met in real life.

By: Burbie52

Burbie52 — Sat, 01 Oct 2011 12:28:44 +0000

Yes the facepalm would be nice. There are so many times when we have all had to deal with some sort of noobish behavior that was upsetting to us, or just plain dumb, but when I meet someone new I always try to be kind to them at first. Sometimes when I have had the tenth guy walk up to me in a day and say “sup”, I will just come back with a retort like “the sky” or something similar.
Part of the problem is the now keyboard thing, but I agree with Granny’s assessment that they need to change some of the preset questions and sayings. Instead of “I have no keyboard”, which is quite obvious without being said, why not “What games do you like?” Instead of “Where are you from?” (which I believe is against the rules as you are asking for personal info), why not “What do you like about Home?” These might actually start conversations that lead somewhere.
Good article Kassadee.

By: MJG74

MJG74 — Sat, 01 Oct 2011 12:10:43 +0000

I never liked the word “Noob”. To Chastise someone for being new or un-experienced to a online game or platform is just another form of cyber bullying.

By: AkumaPrince

AkumaPrince — Sat, 01 Oct 2011 10:28:31 +0000

I too am at a crossroads with this topic. We were all noobs once, whether it was just for an hour or a few weeks. I remember being in the close beta for home, at that point everyone was “noobs” and had no idea what to do or even expect from PSHome.

I do know that some people do run around with what I call “throw away accounts” that they use to be jerks and troll others. I have unfortunately known people in the past who did this and they probably still do it.

Most of the time conflicts with said noobs could have been avoided. The response that you gave in your example convo is what I mean. Yeah the noob shouldn’t have ran up and danced on the girl but at same time she shouldn’t have immediately popped off on him either.

Some of the “noobs” aren’t really noobs anyways. I don’t mean the fake noobs, some people do enjoy going on home but refuse to spend money on virtual items. I do agree with that to a point, sometimes I buy virtual items but not all that often. When it comes down to it if I am going to spend money on PSN its going to be for games or addons lol. That’s just me though.

In closing, there will always be noobs as the user count on PSN grows day by day as does the users who go on PSHome. You just have to roll with it, weed out the jerks, pervs, etc.. and enjoy what time you spend online.

By: NorseGamer

NorseGamer — Sat, 01 Oct 2011 06:35:35 +0000

I’m torn on this subject.

On one hand, I vividly remember stumbling through Central Plaza as a noob, no keyboard, trying to figure out what the hell was going on. I sat in the Gamer’s Lounge, default avatar in default clothing, and someone came up to me and showed me how to momentarily disappear into a wall by walking up to it and hitting the “Boo!” emote.

That one momentary kindness is something I cherish. Somebody took the time out of the day to interact with me, even though I had no keyboard and barely understood the interface. So, as a result, I tend to be very sympathetic to new users. The PS3 isn’t bundled with a keyboard, which dramatically raises the barriers to enjoying Home.

On the flip side…man, there are a lot of doorknob users out there. As this publication has stated many times, our biggest criticism of Home actually has nothing to do with Home itself, but rather a significant percentage of the people who populate it. While I think the Hub deployment will help — because gamers with no social skills will go run and play games rather than bug people because they don’t think there’s anything to do — I’m still waiting for Sony to program a facepalm emote for my avatar.