The Tip.It Times


Issue 15699gp

Be Patient with Me. I'm Slow, but I Want to Try

Written by and edited by Jaffy1

Note: The views expressed by this article are not necessarily supported by the Tip.it staff. Any opinions expressed are solely that of the author's, and are not aimed at any particular group of people, clans, etc. If you have any questions or concerns, please refer them to the appropriate thread for this week's articles. Please ensure that all questions and concerns follow with the guidelines set as written in the discussion thread. Thank you.

There comes a time in everyone's gaming career where after a certain amount of experience, you are considered knowledgeable in at least the most basic of aspects of whatever game you are playing. How we share that knowledge in helping others is down to the individual. After the release of Dungeoneering, there was a lot of talk on how one could efficiently complete a dungeon and maximize experience point gains. A lot of data were collected over the coming weeks and months, and eventually a standard was figured out on how to gain the most experience efficiently. The desire to gain experience efficiently isn't a bad thing. What is worrisome is how some people have used such knowledge to maintain an idea that they know what is best for everyone, and that their way is the only way to play the game.

I am not trying to invalidate the methods of those who do know more than some of the average players on effective methods of Dungeoneering, or any other skill or activity in the game. Their knowledge is valuable to those who wish to gain levels for certain skills without breaking their bank and/or spending too much time. However, this "elitist" attitude that has reared its ugly head in the past year has made it feel like only a certain class is worthy of playing the game, and that if you do not follow these methods, you cannot join in their little group, not even to learn. And even if they do let you in their little group to learn, there is a certain amount of patience that runs out if you don't catch on quickly enough to their satisfaction.

It's understandable that as a high-leveled player, you may not want to delve into a lot of low-level content. But if you're going to share some knowledge on how to gain the skills to the higher-level content, you cannot expect that there won't be any questions regarding the methods, or questions regarding alterations to the stated methods to compensate for lack of money or equipment to achieve them. You cannot expect that everyone's learning curve is the same as your own. Is this to say that people should share their ideas if and only if they are willing to explain their reasoning through the entire process? No, but a little patience is appreciated when answering questions or concerns.

It's not expected that you need to be the most patient person in the world, but when you find yourself resorting to name calling because someone can't follow your ideas, that doesn't encourage learning. If anything, that just makes the average player hate not only the people giving the advice, but sometimes the skill itself. More often than not, I have been told personally by friends that they do not like Dungeoneering because there are simply too many players who call them stupid (in not-so-polite terms) because they are unable to follow orders quickly enough to finish a large dungeon in 30 minutes or less.

This sort of attitude is not just limited to in-game activities. On the forums, some of us have witnessed or experienced people giving them advice that was not in line with what they requested. More specifically, when a user asked for advice based on available resources and skill, responses instead pushed for a different method, ignoring the stated limitations, even going so far as calling the original poster an idiot for not using the most efficient method. What has made us stoop so low as to call someone stupid just because they do not use the most efficient or most profitable methods available? Have we become so self-confident about our methods that anyone who doesn't use the same ones are automatically not worthy of playing the game, are insipid? Who is the say that RuneScape is meant to be played in the most efficient, if not most profit-gaining, way possible? These are the kind of questions that some may have. The responses to their queries are influencing how they think of the community as a whole. Victims (for lack of a better word) and witnesses to these sort of posts may also formulate a negative feeling towards the efficiency crowd because of these few people who insist that their methods are the best.

We as a community of players need to try to cut back on this elitist attitude towards players, and instead encourage each other to rise to the top. Everyone's pace and access to resources is different. Each method has their advantages. Be patient, be flexible. Let's reduce the hostility, try to understand the different views presented on how to play the game a bit more, and show that we can actually work as a community of teachers and learners.


Do you have any thoughts or comments about this week's articles? Want to discuss these articles with your fellow RuneScapers? We invite you to discuss them in this forum topic.


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Will you use Menaphos to train your skills?



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