"Stupid n00b"? {no thanks}Follow

This goes against what seems to be standard practices, so my karma may well be about to take a hit. So be it.

I, from this day forward, will no longer use the term "stupid n00b" to describe anyone.

I've used it in the past (ashamed to admit it, but true unfortunately). I've seen it used all over this forum and many others. It is used as a derogatory term to describe someone you percieve has less knowledge or experience than you in the game. And I am tired of it.

When I first learned the terminology it was me on the outside looking in, asking questions like "How do I use the AH" or "Where are the Chocobo Stables in Bastok". Most of the time people were nice and offered help. But invariably there was somebody who would shout or send back a /tell along the lines of "STFU yu stupid n00b".

It continued in my first parties. Someone would make a mistake, either in the PT or outside the PT, and the term would be used. Youd hear a statement like "OMG I hate dunes pts because of all the stupid n00bs". Or "level your subjob you stupid n00b". Or "omfg you stupid n00b why are you wearing [insert gear here]". Later it continued when I joined my first LSs. Often, "stupid n00b" would be stated in conversations criticizing someone for something.

It's still happening now, just at another level. Someone who doesn't have the best gear is a "stupid n00b". Someone who is lower Rank, lower level, or lower playtime is a "stupid n00b". People do not want to EXP in certain areas because of all the "stupid n00bs". On and on and on. And as I read about the endgame, it still goes on. Lvl 75s calling lvl 70s "stupid n00bs". It doesn't ever seem to end.

I guess my main problem is this term tends to dismiss people completely based on whatever issue or perception caused the person to be labeled as a “stupid n00b”. The fact is, they may neither be stupid nor new. They may know a heck of a lot of things you don't. Maybe in this instance they just made a mistake. Maybe they just don’t have the gil to have the gear you think they should have by when you think they should have it. Or maybe they really HAVEN’T done something before, or don’t know EVERYTHING. So what? That doesn’t make them “stupid”. ‘Cause guess what? There was a time you didn’t know it either.

Unless you have every job leveled to 75, have fought every NM and HNM there is, have every piece of gear, have done every Rank Mission, every quest, have every Avatar, gotten every AF and RSE, played every race, done every single thing there is to do in this vast game, guess what? There is something you haven’t done yet. Something you would be a “n00b” to. Something you can learn. Wouldn’t it be nice if instead of being criticized, laughed at, dismissed or berated for that, someone with that knowledge took the time to help you.

So I personally am eliminating this term from my in-game vocabulary. I am going to try to help people where I can instead of simply applying a label to them and laughing at them. If it’s a situation I can’t help, I’ll just move on. But I’m too much of a “n00b” in too many ways in this game to be applying the term to someone else. Instead, maybe I can teach them something that can help them later on. And maybe they can teach me something too.

Peace and take care,

Andi

Edited, Thu Apr 14 01:34:11 2005 by widenorg

I'm pretty short, my dad calls me half-pint. At 5'0" I'm always the little one. ; ;

At any rate, I remember when I first started the game and couldn't figure out how to move. Then I didn't know I had to equip my weapon so I was thinking the game was SO HARD because I wouldn't hit those tiny mandragora for anything!

Then Wingchild and Vree taught me how to make macros while I was in Buburimu Peninsula on my subless WHM. I had long since hit the cap on lv50 and couldn't figure out why I wasn't getting exp anymore before I found out about genkei 1.

I don't think I've ever used the term "stupid n00b" unless I'm teasing a friend because well, I am one too, and I probably always will be lol.

Meh, there have been times though that I ask a stupid question and maybe get teased but I'll get an answer then get a /tell from someone else in the party or wherever thanking me for asking because they were wondering the same thing. ;)

The way I've always seen it is that "n00bs" are the ones that not only act like newbies, but they're usually the ones that think they're the **** when they're really not, or people that refuse to learn from their mistakes, etc... You don't even have to be a newbie to be a n00b. Their practices can extend to even the highest levels.

A newb, on the other hand, is the kind that's actually tolerable and willing to learn and better themselves. In other words, they AREN'T the kind of people that make you want to gouge your eyes out in Valkurm Dunes. They learn and get better, and become the normal everyday players you get used to past level 30 or so... sometimes even better than that.

I don't think I've ever called someone a "n00b" in game. Chances are, if someone is acting dumb enough to deserve that term, I've already reserved some much better insults for them, or a /pcmd kick... one of the two.

I totally agree with Rair.

There's two levels of ignorance: The first is flat-out oblviviousness--they just didn't know. This can be further divided into simple instruction-manual information, of which I will refer to you as a noob if you don't know, since any idiot who can read should know this information or be able to easily figure it out on your own, which includes how to garden (not specific yields) operating the AH, setting up simple macros, or anything covered by the instruction manual included. Then, there's non-basic information. Not knowing this information is always understandable, and includes how to find and fight avatars, how to unlock new jobs, or other information not covered in the manual.

Then, there's stubborn stupidity. This includes scenarios like this: you're leveling in the dunes, and you are partying with a whm who doesn't have a sub--a newbie. This whm constantly spams cures, gets hate and dies, over and over, despite the advice of the party to tone things down a bit. This whm sick of dying, of their own fault which they don't seem to realize, blames the tank for not holding hate, an arguement occurs, and leaves. Odd how a whm who doesn't know how to moderate curing can lecture a tank about hate management.

Another reason I'll refer to someone as a 'noob' is when they behave innapropriately, or exhibit no respect for their fellow players. This includes leaving a party after the first fight just because of some bad luck, such as linking or some idiot is training mobs.

[EDIT] glaring error removed

Edited, Thu Apr 14 08:03:55 2005 by ShyFox

Ahh my dear Andi, what a LOVELY post. I see no one bagged on you for it, so I am hoping they wont bag on me any. I look at this game's society a lot like it was in High School. By that I mean this:

My ex-bf was one of the star athletes, right, he took A.G. Honors classes, and did very well for himself. However, there were the "geeks" as you would call them who were in the A.P. classes that would rank on people in the Honors, or God forbid, REGULAR classes! Now, they would not DARE put such things in spoken word, so they had to create words(or use language no one else uses) to keep from carrying an *** whipping home. In my school, they would chose the latter, such as calling someone the "Latin root" of the insult, and cackle fiendishly amongst themselves, while everyone else kinda stared at them. Now to this game:

Same thing. You can blame this on the Internet or the PC version of this game. The Internet for laziness. By that I mean someone's unwillingness to type out something, and just abbreviate it, or use an acronym. The PC version of this game because it was around long before the PS2 version, and I highly doubt any Japanese guys ran around screaming "w00t, 1337, pwned, etc." Many of these words were brought into this game by PC playing dorks with a superiority complex. Many of these words are simple typos, that someone else saw, thought was cool looking, and started using it. So it was a trickle down effect, one huge nerd did something that your average idiot seen, and he spread it to his LS, and thus we have this game.

Evidently, I am one of the few who thinks of this game like this: Many people on the PC version fancy themselves as superior beings. You know the type, the ones who would never play a console game because it doesn't meet their intelligence standards, but will gladly play all these PC games because they are so bleeding sophisticated. Excellent post about the word n00b Andi, and this is where it kills me. You have people defending "newb" saying its a different word, people saying you pronounce thewm differently, etc. Well, I live in the deep south, so there is a certain word that is used by all these backwoods farmers and rednecks that starts with an "n." You hear the cases for these as well, some yutz trying to explain the difference in the words depending on the suffix, be it "-er" or just simply "-a." I must end this rant because it's time to go eat, but rate up Andi, and here is a list of terms that should be abolished from this game:

w00t, n00b, pwnd, 1337, teh, OMFGLMAO, any exclamation where someone takes their finger off the "shift" key and end it !!!!!!111111.

Uhhhum I was never a noob!!

ummm wat do u mean by n00b being spread through a idiots LS?

n00b existed way before FF11 so it didnt pass through a LS it probaly started in EQ or D&D u no wat im gonna do a search :D

but i understand wat ur gettin at by saying they passed it on through their LS.

Me too. Personally, I was exposed to '1337', 'n00b', and other ************ during my CounterStrike/Team Fortress Classic days. I stopped playing them almost immediatley since most people out there couldn't speak in anything BUT l33t haxxor language, and that drove me insane.