IMNEWS NEWBIEHELPING SETUP

VI. What to Do after Culturing Many new players do not understand that getting cultured is not the END of the setup process, but merely the beginning. They often log off very quickly after you welcome them to the culture. You want to make sure they understand what comes next, and if at all possible get them to read at least the notes on the OOC room corkboard and +imnews starting out before they log off. In an ideal world, you would make sure that a newbie did not log off until (a) they were cultured, (b) they had read the basic info on getting set up and knew to read +imnews, NEWS, HELP and the OOC room corkboard for more information, (c) they had written their desc, and (d) had gotten into at least a brief IC scene that gave them a taste for what RP in Imladris is like. It often won't be an ideal world. This part of the process is where there is huge room for individual judgement. You want to help them, and you have a wonderful opportunity to help them shape their character and get ready to take part in the IC and OOC worlds. Keep in mind your goals, though. At the very least, before they log off, try to have them cultured, get them to read the minimal help file information they need to know how to get set up, and make sure that they write down their name and password before they poof. You'd be surprised how often newbies come back not remembering what their character's name or password was, and if that happens, we probably have lost them. But above all, your job after a newbie gets cultured is to move them as swiftly as possible to the point where they can actually roleplay. We have very high expectations about character setup. We want a quality desc, a thematic well-written history, and a persona attribute before we set titles or consider character setup finished. That whole process can easily drag out, and if a player is kept waiting till the end of it to roleplay, we may lose them. They can RP as soon as they have an acceptable desc. We want to hook them into roleplay as soon as they do. Remember: it's everybody's job to hook newbies into roleplay. But if you're a greeter or LA, that's job one. That's how we keep them coming back. But also make sure that they know what they have to do to get all the way set up. Read +imnews starting out. ALL the pages of +imnews starting out. And make sure they do the same. Also note that many players prefer to read help files on the web. We will soon have the up to date +imnews files on the Imladris web site, http://imladris.elendor.net ... make sure that newbies know about it. Also, make sure they know to page folks listed on +info imladhrim by preference, though any Imladhrim should be willing to pitch in at a pinch Next: +IMNEWS STANDARDS