In my years of playing this game I have seen some reoccurring themes within the newer players of the game. I saw this especially when I helped my friend from real make a character and level up. Since I talked to him a lot I realized that the same themes seemed to occur in him as well. So this is the report I have written on The Stages of Newbdom-

The report is based off of 2 years experience, watching my friend as he became a good player, and the following studies that were done:

I went to Kelan T1 and asked for any players under level 100 that would like to earn some gold for answering game-related questions to please come to my tent. Each "noob" was questioned individually and they each received 1k gold for each answer. The results of my research are as follows:

Subject 1: Level 39
Q- What is your favorite thing about WLO?
A- Fighting
Q- If you had the choice between getting to level 100 or having the EQ I am wearing now, what would you choose? (EQ- RDG, bloody war boots, and samurai katana)
A- Lvl up
Q- Would you rather do a fun quest or be in a fun pk?
A- Fun pk

Subject 2: Level 37
Q- What is your favorite thing about WLO?
A- fighting
Q- If you had the choice between getting to level 100 or having the EQ I am wearing now, what would you choose? (EQ- RDG, bloody war boots, and samurai katana)
A- lvl 100
Q- Would you rather do a fun quest or be in a fun pk?
A- fun pk

Subject 3: Level 26
Q- What is your favorite thing about WLO?
A- friends
Q- If you had the choice between getting to level 100 or having the EQ I am wearing now, what would you choose? (EQ- RDG, bloody war boots, and samurai katana)
A-lvl
Q- Would you rather do a fun quest or be in a fun pk?
A- fun pk

Now that you have my research you can see my full report.

My research leads me to believe that there are indeed six stages of newbdom. The stages are as follows:

Stage One: "Total Darkness"
-This stage is classified by total blindness to most factors of the game
-This is the stage where players first create their character and arrive on SB. They may get the monkey and fight a few jelly monsters while they explore.
-This stage most likely ends with the developing of friendships in-game and the mastering of the basic controls such as combat, movement, and socializing.

Stage Two: "Candlelit Path"
-This stage is characterized by the beginning of quests either alone or with friends. First quests usually involve the quest for the remote and getting roca, xaolan, etc.
-This is the stage that lets the player expand their horizons and learn how quests work.
-This stage probably lasts until level 25 or so when the "noob" has begun to pick up things from players that they talk to.

Stage Three: "Socializing"
-This stage is characterized by the use of Kelan village as a "social playground" where the "noobs" begin to meet even more new people and may join a guild.
-This stage is where subject three lands. At this stage pk is the favorite activity besides just chatting. As you saw above, subject three answered "friends" to my first question.
-An ego begins to appear around this stage. I was told by the "noob" that I questioned "Naaa naaa naaa nah, you can't hack me" -- I have no clue what was meant by this but it was obviously meant to be an insult or bragginf of some sort as if he/she had bested me by answering the non-threatening questions in a way that wouldn't let me "Hack" him/her.

Stage Four: "Real Beginning"
-This stage is characterized by exploration of North and South Island and by asking questions to any player who is a higher level than them.
-This is the stage where "noobs" become more outgoing and usually know how to burst and find a burst team on their own.
-All the question asking comes in handy because at this stage is where the "noob" masters the basic understanding of the game, expecially the fighting system as you saw subjects one and two answer in my questioner. They can do quests on their own and have realized the need to train as you can see in all three test subjects. At this stage they would rather get to level 100 than to take the semi-fancy clothes that were offered.

Stage Five: "Reverting Back"
-In this stage many "noobs" revert back to stage three except this time at a more advanced level.
-Most "noobs" become obsessed with EQ because they want their character to look socially appealing to others. Good EQ also symbolizes strength to them and they think by now that they should convey that strength.
-Sadly, I didn't get to interview anyone around this level but, if I did, my hypothesis would be that they would have answered the EQ for question two.
-This stage usually ends around level 90

Stage Six: "Into the Light"
-This stage is where the "noob" finally realizes that character looks and socializing aren't everything. They realize that level 100 isn't all that it is said to be and they have the drive to reborn.
-In this stage, my hypothesis is that they would have answered "a fun quest" to question three. The "noob" isn't really a noob anymore and I believe the term "young player" fits much better in this stage.
-Usually the "young player" leaves this final stage of newbdom at around level 130 where they begin to understand the higher significance of things. They are then thrown into the world of players and advanced players where they will learn and thrive and soon become one themself.

Stage Seven: "Ignorance"
-this stage is after players decide to reborn. most "noobs" think that there the"strongest" out there after they reborn and start pking other lower lvs and lower reborns to prove their stronger and start calling much higher reborns noobs cause the fact that they quote beat them doing something. This stage can either get worse or they get to stage eight which i call enlightenment as they lv up. (In my server I know a young girl named neko(heart symbol)mimi and shes one of the strongest, kindest and most experienced players i know and i can vouch for her myself. all lower lv reborns make fun of her for being strong[and she is not cause of all the IM stuff she has but because of her experience and to boot shes lv 150 fire killer.]and its aggravating for her and her true friends.]most noobs in this stage would rather get higher lv and do fun pks even thought they would kill instead of fun pking. This stage will end depending on the maturity of the person or when they get themselves beat hard by someone lower lv than them.

Stage Eight: "Enlightenment"
-at this stage the "noob" experiences like the stage says enlightenment and become a true member of wlo gameplay by actually relying on others and realizing where they need to work on themselves and help out others without expecting anything in return just so they can test out their own strategies.

Thanks for your time in reading this and DEFINITELY LEAVE COMMENTS. I want to know what you guys think.

Last edited Wed, 16 Mar 2011, 12:33am by Balthier22

are you from taurus? ._.

wow this took time and effort :D congrats on writing something like this

all of the people you questioned had same answers exceot for the lvl 26 XD

i felt everything especially "Total Darkness" when i was a noob i thought monkey was the best pet ever!!! till i met roca (but soon became a D*ckhead and left me) then i met xaolan and thought "i cant have 2 pets at once!!! i cant level the other one T^T soo i made an alt .. her pet now is xaolan and it's rb :3 then after that i met niss and thought "omfg she's soo strong!!! she can hit everyone !! XD" then i realized that she has crappy con... as soon as i was "strong" *still noob* i made 2 more fires, a mage and a killer, the mage had niss, the killer had a kanako but niss didnt have high hp and i got kanako for the mage also >,< now... we are reborn, xao reborned too, kanakos and angela (btw i met angela when i was 60(?) then became my perm petXD) are level 80+ :$

heres my opinion on for
stage 7 Ignorance: this stage is after players decide to reborn. most "noobs" think that there the"strongest" out there after they reborn and start pking other lower lvs and lower reborns to prove their stronger and start calling much higher reborns noobs cause the fact that they quote beat them doing something. This stage can either get worse or they get to stage eight which i call enlightenment as they lv up. (In my server I know a young girl named neko(heart symbol)mimi and shes one of the strongest, kindest and most experienced players i know and i can vouch for her myself. all lower lv reborns make fun of her for being strong[and she is not cause of all the IM stuff she has but because of her experience and to boot shes lv 150 fire killer.]and its aggravating for her and her true friends.]most noobs in this stage would rather get higher lv and do fun pks even thought they would kill instead of fun pking. This stage will end depending on the maturity of the person or when they get themselves beat hard by someone lower lv than them.

Stage 8 Enlightenment
at this stage the "noob" experiences like the stage says enlightenment and become a true member of wlo gameplay by actually relying on others and realizing where they need to work on themselves and help out others without expecting anything in return just so they can test out their own strategies.

This is my own opinion lol on the next stages you can either agree or disagreeXD and its based on what ive seen i plan to do what balthier did and ask noobs what they would like. I think im stuck in the last one that Balth put up im trying to thrive and lv up even as a lower lv reborn.

I never really gave much thought to pets till now because i didnt know how strong they can get. I have right now a lv 80 hayate and a lv 59 reborn magellan and i myself am a lv 91 killer and i astonish my guild in what i can do solo. (truthfully i can get to the dark roca team on 15 rounds soloing with my magellan and to my guild thats actually pretty good for my lv)My other alts and my Gf may be lower than me but with time anyone can become stronger snf now ill be quiet since i think im rambling. good luck balthier on getting more comments and so far i think all stages are correct and very true. Also youve been doing a great job while Sarin has been away as a admin keep it up :)

Balthier, I really have to compliment u on wat u've shown us. u were really bothered to do this and the information I feel is so detailed and accurate. I agree with all the stages above and looking back to when i was a noob, helped me realise most of wat u said is unquestionably true xD I actually find it quite fun watching some of ur closest friends on the game lvl up and get stronger. My close sis on there used to be quite low.. like 60+ and she reached my lvl (which back then was like 110) in 2 days :P it was awesome cuz I noticed the more u lvl, the happier u get to be on the game and more excited and less shy :D
I think also a matter of fitting in played a big part somewhere among the stages. For instance, I remember when I first came to this game..I arrived on sb and there were soo many ppl all rb, wearing all these cool im stuff and thats when most ppl would say "im such a freakin noob xD" but thats kinda good in a way... it gets u determined to go train, lvl up and to try and make ur char the best it can be. so I think just fitting in maybe played a part somewhere in between the stages.
anyway.. thats really all xD but awesome report! seriously great job^^

@shio21 did u mean rb fire mage ♥mimi on taurus?
and ur extra 2 stages were brilliant also :P
good on ya both :)

(btw this is random but i was there when u asked for players under lvl 100 in kelan...lol XD) sry just thought id mention that JL

~Breathe in and take my life in you~

lol really fun research :P

Very nice ^^
And fun :D

@Delecaty90- Yes I'm from Taurus and I'm glad you found the info. correct.

@Shio21- I definitely agree with these stages and I'm sure that you can find the evidence to prove it, but I would disagree with your placement. I think these stages you wrote about are stages once the player reaches "young player" not the stages of Newbdom. Also by what you described I believe you are in the Enlightenment stage and you just need more confidence :)

-possibly later I'll rename this post and add your information to make it The Stages of Development

Thanks for the kind words also I have tried hard even though there are things I mess up or don't catch. :)

@DevilxAngel- LOL that is funny that you were there XD, and can you tell me your character name again? I can't for the life of me remember who you are in Taurus haha. And yes fitting in is a great piece of the puzzle throughout all stages because we humans are "social creatures". This need to fit in is most seen in the "Reverting Back" stage where they take it so far as to base their entire game-play around it.

Thank you all for the comments, I can't wait to see what everyone else thinks.

Last edited Mon, 14 Mar 2011, 4:16pm by Balthier22

You have to be smart to use internet for gaming guides, not trying every single thing alone.

what do you mean magiical?

Balthier22 wrote:

@DevilxAngel- LOL that is funny that you were there XD, and can you tell me your character name again? I can't for the life of me remember who you are in Taurus haha. And yes fitting in is a great piece of the puzzle throughout all stages because we humans are "social creatures". This need to fit in is most seen in the "Reverting Back" stage where they take it so far as to base their entire game-play around it.

Thank you all for the comments, I can't wait to see what everyone else thinks.

lol xD I love how u used the expression "social creatures" idk y, I just found it funny XD but yea its true wat u say^^ its not that good when u base most of ur time on the game to looking like others and basically just "fitting in". I think more importantly, if u've got the right friends and ur happy with them, then looks shouldn't matter so much or being the highest lvl and w/e xD
and aww its ok if u dont remember :D my char is Salacia I think u should have seen her atleast once somewhere in the game :P but if not ohh well xD
and yw :) u deserved all those nice comments xD

Last edited Sun, 24 Jun 2012, 5:28am by DevilxAngel

Ok yeah I think I have seen you :P
Later today (seeing as it is almost 2 am) I'll fix the topic up a bit and add shio's insight.

lol :P yea I see u in kelan alot^^ and gstin at beetles JL
and okie good on shio xD

~Breathe in and take my life in you~

@DevilxAngel: Im in Aries Server lol but yeah its what ive seen in my server. Mainly the step seven i posted too many low lv reborns thinking there all that and when i go in with my wind( my lowest lv reborn acc) and beat them in their own territory well then they start getting into enlightenment in my opinionXD

@Balthier22: Yeah I believe your right but truthfully I do my best in everything i can to spread my own wisdom to everyone i can. In my guild DOS i try to help out my little stars( the guild is technically mine just hasnt been officially given to me yet and i call them stars since were dream of starsXD)as much as i can. Little by little i figure out whats good and whats not, how to create and how to stay alive XD. About your Modding Sarin is dearly missed but I know shes busy but i have to say you do great without a doubt. I only wish people followed the rulesXD

The post has been reformated to include shio's information
-Thanks for the help shio and thanks to everyone has has and will share their opinions.

That's a pretty good summery of how we think.. Although there are some players that don't apply to your research. But yeah, when i first started, xD i was really like that. Though, even if we are higher levels, we are still noobs at heart xD no matter what. >.> feel free to delete my post if you want xD if you dont like it.

No way, all posts are welcome :)

shio21 wrote:

@DevilxAngel: Im in Aries Server lol but yeah its what ive seen in my server. Mainly the step seven i posted too many low lv reborns thinking there all that and when i go in with my wind( my lowest lv reborn acc) and beat them in their own territory well then they start getting into enlightenment in my opinionXD

yea thats true^^ I used to have a good friend on the game but once he rbed he was like a whole new person ._. he was talking trash alot to ppl and was pkin non rbs (or just lower lvl rb) thinking he was all that =.= and then he would lose to another guy lol XD its just life... JL

~Breathe in and take my life in you~

I agree with all of this basicaly... i still think everything have to fit together in term of eqs (look+ stats) and on my wind hybrid * first char created on wlo* i have so much stuff and i still need to buy some XD

Another Reason for that hybrid is that i think all wind skill are cool ^^

most important thing on wlo is have fun(with friends or guildmates or yourself) second is your level,third is money and EQ and least important is events=my summarization -P

This was kinda a old topic, I am locking.

Aries: Klayton

Kojika wrote:

They must be drunk since they are part liquor and I DON'T even want to know what the hard tissue is referring too so lets just say that's their bones, obviously. Since my mind may have been thinking of something else

"Laughter at the midnight hour, in our own little tower"

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