How can 'noobs' improve if we are insulted every time we ask a question?

[Suikoden]

http://www.noxxic.com/

this is an alternative to ej. i find myself still without answers on ej. too wishywashy imho.

I must say that is an awesome site. Wasn't expecting something of that detail. Much better than EJ.

[Blockygame]

This is exactly the same thing in all games, not only in wow, not only in mmorpg.
I mean, in League Of Legend this is the same. For example, Viktor was new, I played him after 1 hour of release, and I sucked. I have been insulted.
Same thing everywhere.

LoL generally has a very, very toxic community... worse than WoW in some respects, I wanted to like the game more, but shitheads just ruin the experience.

[pocky_rin]

I would expect nice answers from a guild if you ask them a question, but whispering random busy people, well I wouldn't be rude but chances are I would answer the question if it was short but if it took a lot of explaining I would suggest a site. I never hang around in the game if I'm bored, i just log off and play something else.So if im ingame i'm certainly very busy with my friends and typing to them plus talking to more guildies on ts. So it gets a little too much to also type to someone that wants a big explanation and maybe isn't getting the help i am trying to say. I won't put you on ignore like I said I'd just probably lie and say it was only an alt and to check the website where I got my info. Btw EJ is elitist jerks, its a lifesaver for me for any new alts I choose to play. They do all the theorycrafting for u and u just get the list that says - u want to go for int, hit and then crit. For my main I will try out a few things myself but for an alt u just want to know the rotation and stat weights + start raidin.

[Vargur]

If it's a smart question, I'll take my time to answer you.

[anveena]

I don't insult people who whisper me or ask for help, I tell them go use google like I did to figure out stuff.

[Aspid07]

Trolling or you have extremely bad luck. Personally i give advice to anyone who asks and i've never had anyone shoot me down for advice.

[Nicola]

Really depends what sort of question it is.
If it's someone asking for the basics, I'll tell em to check google but for more complicated questions I don't mind helping people out.

[Clockwork Pinkie]

Dungeon Journal, actually playing your character, reading the abilities and talent specs you are using points on to see what suits you best, pretty much like playing any other game. Don't even need EJ anymore as everything is just common sense now.

[Conzar]

Wasn't aware of Noxxic, but it looks like a nice site.

Not anywhere near as much detail as EJ's theorycrafting threads, but enough detail to improve your performance if you've recently dinged 85 in a new class, or are brushing the dust off an old you haven't played for a patch or two. Nice layout too.

[Crummy]

Sorry to hear that OP.
I do my best to answer any questions that players might have about Shadow Priests, but also send them to the Shadowpriest.com Forum which is a big help for anyone.
Even if people think that there are better ways to get the information, then to ask players in-game. Tell them that, give them a link or tell them to go to some forum.
Insulting is helping neither one of you.

[Deleted]

I wouldn't call myself noob, but I sometimes ask for advice, but mostly get rude comments or ignore. But there are some nice people out there, I have met few. Also when you get to know your guild you should meet some nice folks. Tbh if you have a question, you could search forums or some guides on the net or watch youtube videos, most of the time you can find your answer via Google.
Problem with those players is that they think they are the "elite players", in reality they are nothing more than desperate wanna-bes.
I learned the game by playing it, never really asked for help. Now I sometimes do, but as I said, to guildies. Sometimes you find nice person in a bg or LFR, it's not often tho...

[pocky_rin]

ooh what a nice site, I love the layout. Sometimes on Ej to get my answer i need to scroll through a few pages of things if its not on the summary. Plus a site that finally has a feral tank guide, hard to find

[Darkfriend]

Stop being a noob. Research your class. Spend 30 minutes on a training dummy testing. Do some work. It'll show if you've gemmed/enchanted/specced right, and then at I'd be less likely to insult you. But most noobs are noobs because they are lazy. There is a reason when I first dinged 85 on my DK I was beating all but 3 DPS in LFR, and was top DPS in 5 mans, because I wasn't a lazy idiot.

I try and give advice, but mst people are lazy or dislike advice when they are obviously wrong, so they don't listen. So they continue being scrubs.

[Seegtease]

I give advice to anyone who asks, unless the question is "how i mine for fish" or something.

Heck, I'll even answer "how can i improve my dps" questions. Why not?

People who say you can just go to EJ and learn how to be a pro in 5 minutes are seriously exaggerating. You go there because you want to know what to look for. I usually go there specifically for gemming, enchanting, reforging, and stat priority concerns. Sometimes rotations. But the content at EJ is written in such a way that they assume the reader understands past a certain threshold, so it can be kind of daunting to someone who is entirely clueless.

The worst advice someone can give is "google it". Not because it's rude, but has anybody actually tried "googling" most WoW topics? You get a bunch of shady sites that are probably loaded with keyloggers, especially common questions.

Sometimes, a person's misunderstanding is very specific, and reading a guide at elitist jerks isn't going to answer their question. It could be obscure, or just too obvious to most people.

Seriously, people need to just answer the question asked, say "i don't know", or say "i'm busy, sorry." Any of those 3 answers are fine.

[kage]

Asking that of total strangers on the interwebz you will run the risk of encountering the not so rare elitist-man-child. To avoide this in WoW join a guild (preferably one that self-describes with things like 'laid-back') and ask them.

[Seegtease]

But most noobs are noobs because they are lazy.

That's not true at all. Some people don't know what to look up. They don't even know where to start. The fact that they are asking questions doesn't make them lazy. They're seeking information from other players. Asking someone is no less work than going to a site, and at least the answers from a person might be more direct an relevant than a generalized guide. Plus, sending someone who is really clueless to a site like elitist jerks might just be too daunting. Maybe to you and me it's fairly easy, but I know some people IRL who can't just jump into stuff like that. They aren't lazy, they just find guides either too challenging, or they don't address their specific concerns in a way they understand.

[Failmuffins]

I've always A) Found out through trial and error, usually avoiding group situations until I can become good at whatever it is, or B) Search online for an answer.

I hate asking others for an answer. I feel like it's lazy, and just wasting their time.

[Eggers]

When I ask a general question about the game, or a priest specific question in the general city channel, someone will almost always say, "are you serious?" or something like "how bad are you?" I even got "you should just kill yourself now because you are helpless"

Asking in general or trade chat can yield varying results and is not recommended. Yes, it is normal to get insulted if you ask questions in the game that you could figure out yourself by searching various forums online.

[Azidonis]

Hey MMO posters,

I am fairly new to these forums, so i wanted to say hi. Hi. I have a slight dilemma that i dont know what to do.

A friend of mine asked me to come play WoW with him, and I signed up for the game when the company was giving it for $30 dollars. I also signed up for the recruit a friend program with my buddy playing WoW. He is in a high end raiding guild, but he promised me he would level up with me a few of his characters to help me get a character leveled to 85 to do stuff.

Well I am now 85, and i am a shadow priest, and every time i ask someone for advice in game, even if i whisper them (usually really geared priests who obviously know how to dps well) they usually reply back with insulting and bad comments. I don't know why someone would insult another person just asking for advice and help to improve? Things like "gtfo nub play another game" and i whisper again and it says in red "this person is ignoring you".

Is this normal behavior? Do people really act like this when someone needs help? When I ask a general question about the game, or a priest specific question in the general city channel, someone will almost always say, "are you serious?" or something like "how bad are you?" I even got "you should just kill yourself now because you are helpless"

This is really turning me off to playing this game Even some people in my guild will insult me for asking a question.

Anyone notice this? What should I do?

It saddens me to say this, but "Welcome" to WoW.

The type of people you are talking about in the WoW community display the absolute worst social skills I have ever seen in a video game or in life, and I have been all over the world. It is people like those that people cancel their accounts over... the continuous barrage of immaturity and absurdity by half-wits whose best skill in life is the ability to play a video game at a mediocre level.

Anyway, their egos, or "epeens" (electronic penises) aside, here are a few links that may help:

WoW Official Site
Elitist Jerks: Priest Forum
Mr. Robot Gear Optimizer
Wowhead
Thottbot
WoW Interface
WoW wiki
El's Anglin'
Shadow Priest.com
Tankspot
Curse

There are many other websites that will help you out, many I am sure your friends or guildies might be willing to give. I tried tossing you a link to wow-professions.com but for some odd reason the link isn't working at the moment, nor is the other profession guide I used to use when I still played WoW.

The main thing I can think of that will help you - and you will hate this as it is anti-intuitive to an mmo - is to do as much research about your class and spec as possible over the internet. Also research fights, virtually everything you can. While one would expect that in an mmo people would be friendly and helpful with these issues, many of the players in WoW simply seem to have their heads stuck so far up their own asses they wouldn't know how to help someone if their own lives depended on it. So it sucks that you have to resort to solitary research in order to help your play experience improve, but it is pretty much mandatory, especially in your case where you do not want to get flamed for being new.

And years from now after you have done all sorts of research possible and become a hardcore raider, and the dredges of the WoW community have colored your perception with a jaded lens, just try and remember how you got started when you see someone ask for help as you yourself have done. Some people are able to maintain decency, but some people are changed by the phenomenon, and they too end up saying "stfu noob" once or twice in their WoW "careers".

Some of the angst comes from that very phenomenon. There are people who have done many years worth of research and practice, and when they come into contact with people that have not done so, they either express a false egotistical sense of superiority over the arbitrary video game information, or they have met many people who have known about the research necessary and refused to do it, preferring to simply get carried by those that have done so. In either case, many are prompted to toss out some of the generic responses you have heard and described thus far, instead of having compassion for those who may actually be looking to learn but do not know where to start.

Don't take their petty insults to heart. Just do your research, learn what you can, and practice hard. The most important thing is to learn the "WoW language" - how people talk about things and what they mean when they use certain terms. If you can learn that, it will make your future questions much more intelligible to the community on the whole, and maybe even one day you can put that dirtbag's epeen in place and get some solace.

Best of luck.

[1kmodem]

wow maybe you just got bad luck with the people you've whispered, anytime i get a whisper with class help, i give them paragraphs (lol) and point them to here or EJ. Dont know why the wow community is so anal...