IMNEWS NEWBIEHELPING CREATION
V. The Character Creation Process
You should make a point of familiarizing yourself with the way character creation works on Elendor. Remember: there are two parts to the process -- the initial setup where they create the character, and the recruiting room. Before a player gets to the recruiting room, do NOT page them trying to get them to join our culture. They are dealing with much more basic decisions until they get into the recruiting room,and they may not even know how to answer pages yet. Once they're in the recruiting room, it's OK to go there and talk to them, if you like, or to page them. But don't go for the hard sell. They are choosing a culture. Nobody should be pressuring them to choose one culture over another. Of course, newbies tend to go where they get help. Offer help, and they're likely to come to you.
When a newbie decides they're interested in a culture, they signal this interest by using the +join command. LAs and greeters get a notification when a player +joins. Other players do not. It is very important that we respond quickly to +joins from newbies. Nothing loses the MUSH players more quickly than dropping the ball after they type +join.
You should realize that newbies often misunderstand what +join means. They will often log off very quickly after +joining, and if you aren't quick to page them, they're gone, thinking they have ACTUALLY joined a culture rather than just sending a message saying they WANT to join the culture.
When a player +joins, you should get them to type "visit Imladris" (if they're in the recruiting room) so that they come to the Imladris OOC room. The Imladris OOC room contains instructions to help guide newbies further: a warning to read +imnews, a newbie orientation on the OOC corkboard, and the Imladris librarian object.
It's almost always a good idea to go physically to the Imladris OOC room to help newbies once they go there. It makes them feel that you're really paying attention to them. By the way, if a newbie doesn't respond when you page them or talk to them, that may be because (a) they do not know how to page or talk, or (b) they are responding to what you say on the newbie channel. So if they don't respond, make sure you tell them HOW to respond to what you're saying.
You should make sure they know the difference between Silvan and Sinda and choose one or the other before you culture them (it's easiest to explain it by having them read NEWS SINDA, NEWS SILVAN. But as soon as you know a few basic things about the character, and have them in the Imladris OOC room where it's easiest to help them, you should get them into the culture. One they're in the culture, they will automatically be asking questions on the Imladris com (if they know how; make sure they do) and it's important that all players, not just LAs and greeters, should help newbies and answer their questions. It's always a nice touch to welcome them publicly to Imladris on the culture com right after you culture them.
Next: +IMNEWS NEWBIEHELPING SETUP