Netiquette and you

By everyone's favourite Well-potato, Kodiak

Ohk, now you're lookin at this and thinking, "Why is Kodiak writing a guide on how to act and behave? He's crank!" Well, because if more people knew about this subject, I'd be a lot friendlier and less surlier and quite possibly more helpful and more willing to impart my knowledge of the game.

First off, everyone wants to be liked ... at least by the majority of the playerbase. The first step is that you become respected. Various things can accomplish that. Mainly, though, don't ask, do or say stupid things. Asking questions that are generally answered on the website (yeah, I know I bitch about this alot) make you look lazy, wanting to bug people to answer your questions instead of taking less than a minute of your time to answer your question, and also future questions that may pop up. Also, if you asked a question, odds are, someone asked it before and odds are, someone asked before them, etc. Hearing the same question over and over (especially a site answered one) gets annoying after a while. Which is mainly the reason for my surliness. Whenever you play a new online game, always read the online documentation. They are there for a reason (no, not to be ignored). In the end, respect will make sure your gaming is a smooth ride on the player side.

Spelling is another, when you spell like a 5 year old, it tends to make you look bad. Now, I know there is a problem with chat and lag, and minor spelling mistakes are forgivable, and people ignore them, generally. However, constant misspells, caps, run on sentences make you look like the kid who was always stoned in English class in high school. (You know who you are!)

Being hung up about why someone doesn't like you makes you appear ... well emotionally baggage. Just because one person hates you, doesn't mean that the game is no longer fun. Just ignore them, or try (very subtly) to get them to not like you. Having someone with neutral feelings towards you are better than negative.

Independence is good! Begging people for gold, spells, equipment and levels, etc, tend to make you look pretty pathetic. Who do you think better of? The lvl 40 who bugged people for equipment and gold, and then to level him, or the lvl 30 whom you noticed never asked for anything. Asking someone your level if they want to party, however, doesn't fall near this category. Your gaining a friend, and promoting positivity in the playerbase.

Be polite and try not to spread harshness. (Do as I say, not as I do!) People who say and do negative things tend to spread that feeling to everyone else. Politeness will generally give people a better view of you, and in the end, respect, which is what everyone but the loner wants.

Also note how generalized I made this, it's not just for EUO, y'know. It carries through with other games ... well, other games with a playerbase.

And life in general too - egg.