HGG Community Forums

1. What if we opened chat area by time zone or typical game play time? I know that may not be exactly what you are looking for as an idea, but it was the first thing that came to mind with a buddy system. That way there could be a moderator around when the player is looking for assistance and it could be more efficient than a forum post that could get lost at the bottom of the list quicker. Moderators could be notified that there is someone posting in the chat room by a special bell (not the orange one for regular chats.

There could be special contests run in these chats on a daily basis to encourage new players to log in often and get involved with the community (prizes could be something as simple as a show horse or whatever the moderator that runs the contest at the time can pitch in.)

2. I honestly don't know about how to figure out if someone is not a good fit because rarely is there a problem that can't be solved with some teamwork and a bit of brain storming. Some new players can take longer to adapt to the community than others (it took me a while when I first joined HJ1 many years ago!) and I think the whole mentor thing would encourage good habits/manners!

3. A good mentor would need a decent amount of experience and knowledge of the game. Is there any way to have a small survey of your experience kind of like when you shop on a website and they ask you about your visit to the site? A thing like that might help you to decide how things are going without constantly having to check into chat rooms. Perhaps there could be something like that for a moderator as well, to help with determining what a player's strength/weakness is and maybe shift them to a different person that can help.

I have no idea if any of these things could be implemented or how workable they would be for a buddy type experience, but I figured I'd chime in anyway! :)

The 'Greeters' system you had on WHG was nice. It wouldn't provide a mentor or buddy for EVERY new player, but would formalize what a bunch of folks already do.

It could be re imagined as a 'Welcome Wagon' kind of thing. The "wagoneers" (sounds like an act on the Ed Sullivan show!) could be charged with approaching new folks and asking where they might need help. Even to the point of sending PMs to new players.

How would we make it easy for new users to get involved?
Sort of going off of High Five Acres idea but what if there was a chat room that was based solely on who was online at the time. Sort of like how AOL chatrooms used to work (I'm totally dating myself) but when you logged into that chat room you were in and when you logged out/closed the window you left. It would be similar to the 'whos online' but in chat format.

I'm not sure if more contests might be another way to get newer users involved but you would have to make it 'new user' friendly as well either breaking it into brackets or something along those lines?


What if the new user is not a good fit for the game community?
Well, I think that most people would be able to find their niche within the community but it's something that just takes time. Having a mentor buddy might help with this aspect too as they can guide them (hopefully).

What if the mentor buddy is not a good fit for the job?
I would set it up so that instead of you (or a computer or whatever else) matching people together that you allow people to work it out. I think I would still have a list of people interested in being sponsors/mentors but I would have it so the new player can ask others to be their sponsor/mentor if and when they want one. Each person plays the game differently/has different goals/experience and that might factor into who you want as a mentor at any given time. Maybe have a brief bio provided by those that want to mentor that the new players can see so they better know who they might want as a mentor. The second part of this would be that the mentors/sponsors also can say yes or no. Some sponsors might just want one or two sponsees as a time others might be able to handle a few more if their sponsees pick up the game quickly/don't need a ton of help. Basically if the sponsor (or sponsee) thinks things are not working out either has the ability to *respectfully* let the other know and potentially choose a different person to help them.

How do we make it scalable and maintain a quality experience? I'm not too sure on this but I would think the mentor system could be set up as it's own forum section.

I think the idea of broken up chat rooms would actually cause the opposite result and make for less friendly interactions over all. I can't see them as being very welcoming. Besides we already have a new user chat room and it isn't what people are looking for.

Awesome idea. The welcome pack does not even need to be tied on a single post. It can be changed so in order to get your welcome pack you have to make an actual new member introduction post. Then each person could get an individual reply.

We get people fast enough that a once a month post would work really well for that. Great thinking.

I have been thinking hard about a tutorial system. It could certainly check to see if you have posted in your peer group post in the past week and then remind you to do so if you have not.

I'm a relative newbie (March 1st) that had no idea how to do the buddy chat thing or even PMs until recently, and I still don't really use chat. I've been online since the early 90s, but I've never been one to jump into a chat room with a lot of people I don't know. I'm more likely to lurk in the forum and read everyone's posts and try to learn that way, asking questions only when I've already seen enough to be sure the people in the thread likely won't mind. I hate to be a bother.

I agree that a monthly welcome group would be a great idea so newbies from the same 'year' could talk together easier. Maybe ask for volunteer members who have been around a long time to help with each group for a month at a time? Then the newbies would meet at least a few more experienced players who can answer questions and offer advice.

I have played a mentoring role several times. I enjoy doing it, and would be willing to work with new players on a 1-1 basis. I'm a fairly casual player, but I've been playing a moderately long time, so I usually understand how the game works.

Some very good ideas have been mentioned, and I'm at the end of an extremely busy and tiring week, so my idea well isn't very productive. You can count on me to participate in whatever scheme is finally set up.

SandyCreek, even as a 'senior' player (and I mean that in a couple of different ways! :P ) I rely on your wonderful explanations and knowledge!

As a relative newbie myself, one of the biggest stumbling blocks in getting involved was figuring everything out. A tutorial would have been wonderful, as the FAQ only answered a couple of the questions I actually had. I've heard talk of it needing to be updated, and I definitely agree with that. I know it's hard with how much the game is constantly evolving, but a few of the basic facets - like perhaps, for those who aren't familiar with it, a crash course on dominant/recessive genetics and how that even works - would be easy to add without having to worry about that going out of date.

I myself am lucky enough to be a bio major, but I've been here less than a month and already seen at least three or four people asking about inheritance in the beginners barn chat. I'm sure there are more who are too nervous to ask.

If you'd like, I can offer my assistance in coming up with things to add, though I'm sure many other people have ideas of what could be added to turn it into a more comprehensive tutorial/starter guide.

I think its an awesome Idea ( Mentors) . I have been here 3yrs in October and had lots of people help me when needed. I would love to pay this forward and help someone else. This Community is pretty great at helping if people ask, but sometime people are too shy to ask especially if they arestrangers . If they could be introduced online to a mentor they may feel more at ease asking for help.