[PMC] Playing Nice: A great idea in action

[WayneByNumbers]

Given the low player count on C I figured I'd put up a particular nice example from last Tuesday of how the player/staff experience affects players, especially new players.  A player named TheShoelaceKing logged on and asked if any staff were on (it was me, nick, and neva, so he was the only nonstaff on), then asked if anyone could skype with him.  Of course, our warning lights were flashing on this guy, but we decided to humor him (and maybe get a funny recording like the one on BestOf).

 

We directed Shoelace to our mumble channel, and he joined in with some standard concerns, like how the server had changed since he had last been there a long time ago, and that he'd heard a group of people planning to "attack" the server with a powerful modded client he had provided them (for other purposes, naturally).  To demonstrate what he was talking about, he directed us to an AVO video demonstrating a similar function (it was a year-old video just showing off a printer-style nuker/reach hack).  We assured him that we have plugins which block such behavior, including suspicious packet behavior.  Pacified, he just got to talking with us about building on the server, playing spleef, and chatting.

 

Once he got more comfortable, he eventually admitted that he had joined half-planning to grief, but after talking with us and seeing some builds, he stated that he'd rather stay and build than grief, saying he "expected something completely different."

 

Audio Clip (MP3 256 kbps 4:14)

 

(Speakers by order of appearance: WayneByNumbers, NEVAstop, TheShoelaceKing, Magnyus)

 

The audio is mostly rather boring (and an hour long), so I've just posted the relevant bit I'm talking about.  Will this guy become one of the pillars of the community?  Not too likely.  But this is the kind of thing we can do that makes players want to stay.  And like I said, I'd rather get a new player than a funny troll any day.

[CROCKODUCK]

Very nice story Wayne. I have had similar experiences where a player about 2 months ago joined P for the first time and I took the time to walk around with him. He then explained how he used to play on C in 2011 and felt very comfortable building there because of all the avo attacks at the time on other servers. I was quite excited to be hanging out with someone who was around when C was very popular and he said he would love to find a server that has a survival creative type gameplay. He explained this would be walking and jumping high instead flying. I wanted to see what other admins and C mods thought of this idea? Perhaps a poll if it's a possibility.