01-07-2011, 05:41 AM
Jarka Wrote:Really? I'm a newbie(ish) and I found CA to be an exciting challenge. Having a leveling system that goes up to 85 doesn't stop people from making new lvl1 characters in WOW, despite never having a chance of beating somebody at the level cap until they've done the leveling themselves.
If I would have joined at this point in time (i.e. no CA for comparison), I wouldn't have stuck around(ish). I didn't join a competitive writing site to hold hands with everybody.
The way you create a friendly environment for new and old members is to encourage the old members to actually, y'know, communicate with new members. Had I not known Sig, Piper, and Vad IRL, I also wouldn't have stuck around since I felt really excluded by a lot of other people (not a good word... I felt really not included? I don't know if English has the right word for it). Sorry for the little OT bit right there, but I've wanted to mention that at some point.
When you joined the power discrepancy was not what it had been in the past and by the time you joined CA was, more or less, not being used to determine the outcomes of fights at all. It was a symbol of accomplishment, and I've stated in other threads that I like how it fulfills that role. So, frankly, your situation is not comparable at all to a system where the newbie has no shot in hell with competing with the established veterans.
And comparisons to WoW are pretty useless, in my opinion. People are going to be more willing to play video games, etc. than they are to come on to a website and actually have to sit down and work at something in order to play, like writing a roleplay for instance. The need to create incentives and avoid disincentives is different. The situations aren't even close to being similar.