IMNEWS NEWBIEHELPING GATEKEEPING

  
  
III. Gatekeeping
  
We are not allowed to put conditions before we let a player join our culture. (read NEWS POLICY CULTURING) The admins want us to work with players and help them learn about the game, NOT turn people away.
  
That being said, there are times when you can tell that a newbie does not understand what MUSHing or Elendor or more specifically Imladris is all about, and it's a good idea to provide them with the information they need to make informed decisions. It's OK to ask players what sort of character they're interested in developing before you actually culture them.
  
In particular, you should be alert to the following situations:
  
-- A player comes in with a name like diabolic_wizard, Obi-Wan, KillerBoy, etc. and so forth. Such players should be warned that they will need to pick an elven name after they join the culture, and if their name suggests potential problems, you may want to draw them out a bit so if they have a basic misunderstanding about the game you can explain things to them up front.
  
-- A player shows an inordinate interest in developing combat skill, magical abilities, having adventures, and so on. These expectations usually come from people whose previous fantasy game experience comes from RPGs, combat MUDs, and graphical MUDs like EverQuest. You want to make sure that such players understand what roleplay is. If they are very strongly focused on combat and travel, to the exclusion of all else, it is permissible to explain to them the limits of Imladris theme, and to educate them about which cultures on Elendor offer the most scope for combat and travel. Remember that as a newbie helper for Imladris, you are serving the MUSH as a whole, not just this culture. It is far better to refer a player to a culture where they will be happy than to culture them to Imladris after which they lose interest.
  
But remember: you are not a gatekeeper. You are a helper. Your goal is to help the player find a role on Elendor that they will enjoy.
  
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