It's funny when I hear people keep saying things like; new comers aren't going to like this, this update is gonna make it much more difficult for the newbies, the new guys won't have a chance with this steep learning curve. I mean seriously, I don't remember how many times I got my butt handed to me in games which I just started and don't have a clue on how to play/survive.
It's the same with every other game out there. If you're playing some online game for the first time, which has been out there for quite a while, expect to find yourselves dead in 3 to 4 seconds.
On this subject, I actually find Legions to be a lot less punishing because you
know where you're getting shot from, and who is shooting you. This game is more of a wide area shooter, than a one consisting of a high graphical environment. Atleast, you don't get one-shot-killed from some bush far away, just because you stood in an open area for a couple of seconds(*cough* BF *cough*).
As far as helping newbies out, I'd like to ask you "oh holy priests of wisdom and kindness";
to what end? Because, I've been there, done that, and the teaching and the learning almost never ends. How do I move fast like you? How do you aim so good? How can I ski properly? How do you OD? How do you Rocket Jump?
What is a Llama? And these are barely the warm ups(and remember that the same questions are asked multiple times by multiple people). I personally do not have anything against answering from these basic questions to the ones that require a good load of time and patience to explain. And to explain I choose TeamSpeak, but the "apprentices" just want their answers in the game, through the chat box. I choose to refrain from replying to any of their queries, until they get on TS, I get these messages; Apprentice-1 left the game, Apprentice-2: I got no TS, and I can't download it right now, Apprentice-3: I got no headset/mic, Apprentice-4: Mom told me not to talk to strangers on the internet. This is problem-1.
Problem 2: No guides. As a newcomer to other games, the first thing I would do to learn about the elements of a certain game is by visiting the forums, and searching for any sticky-ed guides. Now, it's either that I'm blind, or it's just that there isn't even a single sticky-ed guide on the game explaining a certain aspect of the game(like a class or a position), or the basics of it. And everytime a new comer asks a question about some really common part of the game, some idiot shows up and advises him to do a forum search. Sure, he can do that but he's just going to end up closing the browser after a few tries, and start to play some other game. Therefore, if you really want to help, start by
making it easy on the newbie by adding those guides to the first page.
Solution-1: Create a new forum. Name it, "Help Section". Create and Sticky all your guides there. Encourage all newbies to visit the Help Section and to get their questions answered.
Refrain from pausing the game, and answering the questions of newbies(use the same old Public test password strategy to force them to login to the forums). Make a new tab on the
www.legionsoverdrive.com and name it Help. Let it have the basic controls image and a link to the "Help Section". Make it so that the main page also has a TeamSpeak tab on it,
with a damn link for easy access.
Solution-2: Create a system, so that for every new account created, a small symbol or a character will be added right next to the player's name, such as a + sign(with a colour other than yellow). This means that the person is a newbie, and doesn't know crap. So, the next time he goes llama grabbing, you'll advice him not to, instead of teaching him all your regional curse words. Set a time limit to this character(like about 3 months or so) so that it cannot be removed before the time limit expires. Again, create a sticky in the General Discussion, explaining what the symbol defines, and it's purpose. This will make the in-game guides' life much easier to identify the newcomers, from the smurfs(unless the one smurfing just wants to be an a-hole, and made a new account).
Let's talk after you've done all this.