Did some thinking this time for my character about where i wanted to be later in the game. Decided in lieu of the dark horde that is all over thera I would make a good warrior to join the fortress. I made one whom I will not name and worked him up through the ranks. I repeatedly battled evil and lended a hand at the fortress many times. I even spoke to a few people and gave ample opportunity for discussions and the such.
I have to say that given the amount of times the fortress was attacked with so few in my range I cannot understand why they would not want to at least have made me a squire. It started to just feel like the fortress started to enjoy losing all the time instead of recruiting. It even got to the point where I was told to basically stop helping and leave.
No offense to anyone but is it just me or are there groups of experienced players who bounce around from cabal to cabal and if you dont know exactly what to say and how you are pinned as a newbie and cant ever join one? This may sound like a whine but I am the other part of the player base. I am the semi newbie who can get a character to 40 but has not been in thera long. Well if i feel that CF has become a home to clicks of exp players then its your loss bc I will get bored like i am now.
In conclusion I hope somebody reflects on that i have instead of the quick flame. Its players like me who add a little flavour so you exp players dont feel like you are fighting "bob" who has been a storm pal, fire warrior, duergar thief and you know its him.

Newbie bored to tears

>Did some thinking this time for my character about where i
>wanted to be later in the game. Decided in lieu of the dark
>horde that is all over thera I would make a good warrior to
>join the fortress. I made one whom I will not name and worked
>him up through the ranks. I repeatedly battled evil and lended
>a hand at the fortress many times. I even spoke to a few
>people and gave ample opportunity for discussions and the
>such.

I'm just curious if you actually asked to join. Did you send a
note, talk to the leaders, ask the current membership to give
you a recommendation (and if they refused, what was their
reason). Sometimes an offer is extended, but that's usually
when the Cabal is not the most populated it has ever been.

>I have to say that given the amount of times the fortress was
>attacked with so few in my range I cannot understand why they
>would not want to at least have made me a squire. It started
>to just feel like the fortress started to enjoy losing all the
>time instead of recruiting.

Did you ask anyone, in character, what you weren't doing that
you should have been? Also, just because the times you are on
coincide with a Cabal being sparse or beat on, doesn't mean
that is always the case. Something to remember is that just
because you don't see certain things, doesn't mean they aren't
going on.

>It even got to the point where I was told to basically stop
>helping and leave.

Did you ever ask why? It could be as simple as them not wanting
you to waste your time on a Cabal that was either a) not in the
midst of a recruiting drive (which you recognized) or b) you're
possibly not ready for (which you seem concerned about).

I can tell you there are *plenty* of newbies in Fortress. That
crutch doesn't hold any weight.

>No offense to anyone but is it just me or are there groups of
>experienced players who bounce around from cabal to cabal and
>if you dont know exactly what to say and how you are pinned as
>a newbie and cant ever join one?

Most of the players are experienced and plenty of them bounce
around from cabal to cabal knowing exactly what to say. But a
lot of first timers and near-newbies fake it til they make it.
In my experience, how many characters you have had before, how
many were leaders, tattooed, whatever is not a good indicator
for the next character. First timers and first heroes frequently
stun me with stellar characters and roleplay.

>This may sound like a whine
>but I am the other part of the player base. I am the semi
>newbie who can get a character to 40 but has not been in thera
>long. Well if i feel that CF has become a home to clicks of
>exp players then its your loss bc I will get bored like i am
>now.

It's normal to feel left out when you put a lot of thought into
something, really desire it, and the reason it doesn't happen
for you is out of your control. Roll with it and step up to
those challenges.

You need to find the drive within yourself first and foremost,
to inhabit a character that can weather setbacks, savor
victories, and has the internal motivation to keep you, the
player, interested.

>In conclusion I hope somebody reflects on that i have instead
>of the quick flame. Its players like me who add a little
>flavour so you exp players dont feel like you are fighting
>"bob" who has been a storm pal, fire warrior, duergar thief
>and you know its him.

Hey, I'm glad you're around. Hang in there, chief.

>Newbie bored to tears

Your homework is to Hero. Maybe there's no room in the Fort
for you at the moment or you're not showing them what they
wanted to see, but that doesn't mean you still can't latch
onto those guys for a ranking group and when the dark horde
thins them out, hey, maybe the survivors will see you with
new flaming silver eyes.

Good luck.

Qaledus
qaledus@carrionfields.com

Most leaders will let you know why you aren't in. Talk with people who are in the cabal and find out where you went wrong. The game can be frustrating and its easy to go make excuses why you didn't manage to accomplish something but this is a nasty habit. Instead tough it out and learn from it and you'll find people respect that more in the end. You also get better faster by toughing things out and taking your knocks.

After reading your post I don't really see why someone would want to flame it.

I can't talk for whomever you talked to and whatnot but I can at least give my thoughts on it. I still remember my first hero, was a dwarf lawful paladin who, after about 300 hours, thought that he wanted to join Maran. I remember praying to the imms about it and having Vynmylak come down to talk to me. Was a great time, and I learned alot from it, he turned me away because I was lawful, probably other reasons too, but at the time I still walked away happy. I guess the reason for me bringing this up is to say that you shouldn't take what happened as a knock on yourself, but try to take something from it and learn from it, so you can do better next time.

Now I will talk from my cabal leader experiance, granted not the hugest resevoir or knowledge but not a puddle either. First of all, if you want to join a cabal you should send a note to the respective cabal, basically this lets everyone in the cabal know what you want. If a lowbie comes to help defend I usually check my notes to see if they sent one, it is a good way to get in the door and you may find the cabal members are more receptive if they know for sure that you want to join rather then being someone just interested in finding out more about the cabal (alot of people think that if it isnt going to benefit them in some way, make the cabal stronger etc, then why bother wasting time) a little harsh but some people are like that.

In regards to interviewing I like to think that I could pick the newer players from the older ones just by talking to them, to be honest it really made no difference to me. As long as they were willing to learn and were enthusiastic then I would give them ago. In some ways the newer players are better then the "elite" because the newer players are much more willing to dust off their shoulders and go at it again after being pked and full looted. They cherish each char alot more then some of the players who power game (best race/align/cabal combo for pks/exploration/exploitation of exploitable things) and who delete after one mob/pk death and for that reason I enjoy talking to them. Granted there are some who are completely off in what they think a cabal is about, or who are on the right track but heading in the wrong direction. If this was the case I would try to help them out and point them in the right direction.

Basically to cut a long story short, don't take it to heart, take it on the chin and learn from it. What happened to you I would like to think is not the norm. My advice is to try again, write a note to the cabal (a good hint if you don't know the exact spelling of a cabal is 'help notes', it has a list of all the cabals in it from memory.) and just be persistant, if you bug people long enough then some of them are bound to give in.

Blobqirt

I have been around for some time and in various capacities and you are correct in many respects in your post. While I no longer know anyone that plays or communicate with anyone other than on these forums I can easily tell when someone is experienced or not. For example, when interviewing, it is fairly unlikely that an experienced player would make any mistake concerning laws, or rager parity, or not understand how the Empire works. And as a leader, you want your cabal to succeed and it is only too easy to give priority service to those that you know are going to be able to make your cabal look better while you lead it.

I don't know that I'll have anything helpful to suggest here, but I'll try. First, I think it would be helpful for the Imms to remind leaders from time to time about the necessity of giving people that are likely to make mistakes a try or three at the cabal. I know it has happened to me, and I think a little reminder would have been all it took.

For you: Try making your character have another goal that you can work on as well as joining the cabal. For example: If you want to be an Imperial you could have a second goal of wanting see an Imperial Fort established on the New Continent. You can spend time discussing it with groupmates (in an appropriately evil manner) and trying to get others involved in your project. This will give you something to do that may not be very tangible, but could be entertaining, and you may find that there will be many 'elite' players that will get interested in it as well.

Try to focus on making your ranking, pking, exploration all one event. Don't get into the mode of 'ok, we're ranking now, so I'll just spam feint on these mobs'. You may find that elite players get annoyed at this because they feel it slows them down. If they show petulance it's their problem. Ask people about things in their descriptions. It messes with elites, because they write theirs before they roll and then forget specifics in most cases and think you are referring to a piece of armor they have equipped (in a slot).

I hope other people will have better things to add, and I hope you continue to play and figure out a way to make it fun even with the cliques.