Are we hindering newcomers with our generosity?

[Saisu]

Originally Posted by Valrok [You must be logged in to view images. Log in or Register.]

In the past I have found myself donating this loot to newer players that are not necessarily searching for handouts but could obviously use the upgrade. Lately though I have been wondering to myself if I am doing them an injustice by handing them such easily obtained gear, if I am somehow robbing from them the experience of the long hard road that is leveling up from having nothing in Everquest,

I'll share my (long) firsthand experience of starting fresh here a couple weeks ago:

I rolled a tank in Erudin (a complete ghost town) before moving to Qeynos (a mostly ghost town). The experience may be completely different in Freeport with access to high level buffs and greater access to EC tunnels. I was lucky to see 8 people in a zone my first week here.

Basically I wore 90% cloth armor and a rusty longsword until level 9 when someone in my Blackburrow group had an extra Fine Steel Longsword they gifted me (score! no more rusty weapon!). Later in West Karana a friendly shaman I grouped with for a couple levels handed me ~40pp of gear (a Giant Militia Longsword 11/39, and two pieces of Blackened Iron Armor). I was excited for this gear, even though I'm sure I could have bought better with the ~400pp I had saved so far.

At 18 I figured I'd make the trek to Unrest to try playing in a populated zone where I could actually fill out a full group. When I posted to the forum asking for gear advice I had two incredibly helpful players reach out with warm offers of charity. I ran from Qeynos to Highpass Hold without realizing the gnolls there were going to destroy me - I barely zoned before dying. One of the players (an awesome troll warrior) met me there and helped clear a path through. He was a killer envoy for the server and we talked a bunch on the run over to Freeport. He gave me some very helpful gear and advice, and has been checking in on me a bunch since then. A friendly ranger also gave me some fun items as a "welcome to the server" gift and a port to Butcherblock.

So what did all this charity get me? Through both the items and the advice, it gave me the confidence boost to try my first full group dungeon. Unrest was scary with the trains, high level monsters, and the responsibility of pulling. But it's been a blast! I've gone 18-21 there in the MR, and I don't have to feel like a paper tank holding the group back.

Overall, it was great fun to skip sitting in EC trying to buy 30-100pp newbie items and jump straight into dungeons. Plus I got to meet an awesome troll who has been hugely helpful in explaining tanking and giving advice and just checking in. It's been a great introduction and I do not regret at all "spoiling the long hard road" by accepting some gear. I still got to experience dying to "a large rat" and missing 12 times in a row with a rusty longsword. I have a long long road to level 50, and a longer one to 60. There's plenty of challenge in learning how to tank, how to gear, memorizing dungeon layouts, and figuring out pulling strategies.

I've written down in /note every piece of charity gear I've ever received, and once I get my own upgrades they will go right back to the next wave of newbies.