This can apply for any game, so here’s a thought:
Let new players be new players,
Let them learn and experience things for the very first time on their own.
You don’t have to tell them the best and simplest way to do things,
or how to do something they haven’t figured out yet, unprompted.
And even if they do ask what seems like a question, check in with them if they want to know out right, or if they want to get a hint where to look, or if it was just a rhetorical question.
But why you might wonder? And let me tell you
You only really get that fresh new feeling once when playing a game,
and often once you’ve learned things you don’t just magically forget about it (unless for health reasons, that’s a completely different post)
Even moments of frustration, or moments of wonder, doesn’t mean that the optimal solution or simplest solution should be offered to fix things.
Just watch someone’s video
or read someone’s blog post
chronicling their experience
in order to join them in the fun
of discovering everything for the first time.
Join them in learning new things as they go along.
Struggling, or being frustrated
can be part of the experience,
it can also be part of the show.
Enjoy the show. And if you don’t, change the channel.
And sometimes it’s not part of anything. Sometimes it just is, and that’s okay too.
I understand that you want to help new players, and help them learn things,
but if they aren’t asking you, don’t just tell them.
Let them do,
Let them be,
and first, and probably foremost,
let them create and enjoy themselves in doing so.
Let them have conversations that revolve around what they know,
and sometimes the best thing you can do is bite your tongue.
This…
