Newbies

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Let's talk about newbies, shall we?

No, I don't mean people who are simply learning how to play a game. I mean the more generic newbies. Watch this replay from Warcraft III: The Frozen Throne and you'll know what I mean.

The guy's level was 8, while mine was 23 in solo and my highest so far has been 26 in pre-arranged teams, so it would have been no shame for him to lose. However, look at what he did:

1. First he came with a Blizzard spell on my gold peasants (in generic terms: area of effect attack on my basic resource-harvesting units) but only with his Archmage and no units with him. For all his attempts, only one peasant fell. I scored three to five doing that when I still played like that.

2. Oh, and when you really have to Blizzard-rush a human player, you just repair-build your Altar and do it fast, before he has military units, so he has to stop gathering resources and you can kill some of his peasants/peons too. If you do it right, you can even centre your Blizzard on your own mage after getting him surrouded. Two casts before you die and many peasants fall before you get killed, wchich may even be before the enemy trains his hero to score the experience for your dead one with. But oh, he was such a non-newbie that he didn't even think about that.

3. Look have I managed to pwn his mage. Getting your hero hurt is worse than getting him killed because healing costs more than reviving at lower levels and you also need to have the shop built for healing scrolls.

4. Calling me a tower noob after I built two arcane towers after two or three of his Blizzard rushes was also a classic. Arcane tower, the most basic defensive structure of the human race is often overlooked as, well, the most basic one. But its mana burning is excellent protection against hero rush. So, Blizzard-rushing my peasants wasn't newbish but my building two towers in the right places was.

5. Look. I didn't even try much when playing. I played a lousy game and had my feet on the bookshelf next to compy, while lying in my chair. I actually managed to get away with building two barracks and blacksmith (if you think really carefully, you don't get two barracks when also getting blacksmith and upgrades) and two towers with it, and made a serious mess in his base with, gasp, 11 footies.

6. Wow, what a great thinker. Hid in his base with rifles instead of using them on me. It was obvious from how he attacked me with his mage only that he was preparing something in his base. And, gasp, some footies pwned his surprise. And who makes rifles when he knows the enemy is massing footies? And if the enemy #1 has footies, #2 has two barracks, #3 has no blacksmith, then what else can the enemy be doing? And after massing rifles when he knew I was massing footies, it was simply brilliant to call me a footie masser.

7. Hint: Also look at what his Blizzard did in my base (one dead peasant or something) and what mine did in his.

8. Oh, well, you can still pwn footies in Defend mode with rifles. You just send militia first. And you make towers behind buildings and you can also make air units. Or just switch to melee and get some magic support. So... well. But his Dwarven cannon idea wasn't bad at all. Except by that time I had knights. Fast and lots of HP. Go figure. And was called newbie.

9. And calling me a noob for no anti-air was classic. Lol. Who would make air if the enemy has #1 no gryphon aviaries (you can make gyrocopters in Workshops and he had two, so he could have actually done it but no one does that anyway and their upgrades take a lot of time), #2 already has lots of non-air units occupying food slots, #3 serious resource-gathering problems? To spam up any army at all, you need gold, lumber, peasants to harvest resources and build farms. And buildings where to train units. And time. So even if he had actually managed to make air, it would have been one or two units. What could it have done to a group of knights in maximally upgraded armour? And who says I had to shoot it down or be a newbie if his one or two air units were to outlive his base?

10. The final touch. Saying I had my level 23 only through abuse. What abuse? Building two basic mana-draining towers (crappy against units) next to my gold mine and not letting my peasants be slaughtered with Blizzard? Not following the unspoken rule of always having anti-air that some players worship and follow religiously (especially when there are no air units on the field), i.e. not getting crappy anti-air when he had Dwarven cannons that blast riflemen into pieces (because they stand in one place, in groups and are easy targets, contrary to knights who can engage cannons in melee, beyond being able to fire successfully, even if knights take increased damage if are actually hit -- and mine had a HP upgrade and maxed out armour upgrades). Or for cutting his cannons into pieces with my knights when he was trying to run away with them? Eh. Don't know if he had a tp scroll or the right upgrade for cannons, but he could try tp-ing -- his hero would be immune and more slow units would survive (also inflicting some damage) than by running.

Is there a #11? Perhaps. Let me explain. A real level 8 player doesn't pull stupid rushing tactics against a level 23 player. Also, a real level 8 doesn't normally call people noobs (yet). And I'm not sure a level 8 player would come up with the cannon idea. Besides, an Archmage with Blizzard is typically a toy of higher level players (who, however, know how to use it, unlike he, but heh). He also seemed to be sure of his victory. And very moved and shattered by not being able to destroy my economy with his hero alone. The anti-air mention... perhaps he originally planned some air and couldn't get his mind off the idea. All in all, perhaps he wasn't really level 8 -- although the "you got to level 23 only by abuse" kind of comment slightly suggested he had no higher level himself and was bitter about it (and 23 is not very high... the guy I taught to play has 27 now). But one of those cunning wits who play all their life on low-level "training" accounts.

And the sudden twist of the plot of my post is that this is what is the most newby thing in the game. The smartasses.

Or perhaps he was actually a real newbie. One of those permanent newbies, i.e. the newbie mindsets who don't learn to become good players or perhaps grow into specialists in lame tactics through sheer number of days spent using them, who can't play a normal game.

Post your comments on the replay and Warcraft III and newbies in multiplayer games and whatever strikes your fancy. You can comment on my playing style if you have to, but I repeat: I was lying in my chair with my knees at the level of my head and not even having both hands on the desktop. See my lousy APM (actions per minute). And this is definitely not a how great I am topic, so...

 

haha lying with your feet on the bookshelf while playing, sounds very familiar, but most time I quickly get up in a real position as soon as a big battle begins

Pretty nice game, winnig with only foots and knight makes him quite a noob indeed, the ''lol no aa?'' comment is priceless

 

Thanks. Want another one?

Played yesterday after the previous post, at night in fact, to finish off gaining a level. It was a random solo and I got one of those "Gosus". I won't claim I played with great skill or style, but I competently executed a successful strategy and pwned him. Okay, but it was funnny how I pwned him. What did he say? "Noob." Just that. See.

 

My fondest memories are related to playing NWN on the internet.


My rogue joined a party roleplaying the OC and all was fine until a wizard joined us. He was all dressed in black carrying a massive scythe, had an Eyeball familiar, and the really evil voiceset. Needless to say that his 'evil guy' roleplay wasn't inspiring either.

After collecting the last reagent for the cure in Chapter 1, he suddendly left the party and attacked us with a Fireball. I'd like to mention that he nearly killed himself with that fireball...

Unfortunately for the poor lad, our party leader hadn't trusted him much since he joined, and had whispered me at the beginning to become our wizard friend's shadow. So when he was trying to cast something else, my rogue 'happened to be' behind his back with a short sword at the ready.

When he respawned at the Temple of Tyr, he was all pissed off about the fact that we had cheated, that we were not good roleplayers because we were 'expecting him to be evil', and that in 'real life' he would have "pwoned us"... That was when my invisible rogue appeared at the Temple via Stone of Recall, and backstabbed him again getting a critical

 

@Colthrun: That is hilarious!!!

@Chevalier: I know what you mean...from the other point of view though, because mostly, I am a HUGE Warcraft III noob...

However, in my defense, I never insult the other person...instead I save the replays and watch them and try to learn where I went wrong and improve...but you are right.

Newbies can be really annoying...