Axiom wrote:Anyway, I won't deny that I typically prefer to play antagonistic characters anyway, but being consistently treated with disrespect for being young has greatly magnified the issue. Like, my pirate didn't become a pirate until she walked into a town, politely asked to use the smelter, and got sarcastic non-answers by people who refused to introduce themselves. I see how a glut of newspawns causing problems makes people dislike young characters, but treating them badly just creates a negative reinforcement cycle. I'm way more likely to do something bad to people who act like they're better than me than people who treat me with consideration and respect. Also, it's a really big turn-off to new players. If I didn't enjoy conflict, I might have decided the players of this game were just assholes and quit.
Yup, I've had something like that happen to me when I first started. A character insisted that mine get locked up because I, the player, was testing out mechanics, like picking things up, dragging, and walking down a road. Took me a while to figure out what the fuss was all about, but the rudeness and condescension just made me want to quit. Luckily, someone else took my side and shushed this idiot up. But unless a new player really stood up for themselves or made some telling newbie mistake, it can be really hard for people to tell that a character belongs to a
new, new player and treat them accordingly.
These days, I err more on giving newspawns the benefit of the doubt and some time to adjust, during which time I try to gauge if they are a new player or an experienced/returning player. Even if my character's a misanthropic thief or saboteur, it doesn't mean that they can't still be
nice to the newspawn.
