Trainer's

[wolf37]

hello:

well I would really like to know, is why are the trainer's not jumping in to help out newbies. I just looked at the list of trainer's and, well some names I dont recall ever seeing, as for those names I do know, well why is it when a newbie is asking questons on how to get plane in the air, how to bomb, how to do this or do that, these guys dont seem to be helping them out.
now I may be wrong here, but dont the trainers play for free, so they are avalable to help newbies at any time they are on line.
are the trainers not suppose to help newbies with joystick problems, or any thing like that. now I know when I first started playing AH back in beta 1, there where no trainers, but I did get help from other pilots, and as time went by, I help out new pilots. but now there are trainers that play for free, and they should be jumping to help newbies out as soon as one ask's a queston, that is what they are here for right. now I am not pointing fingers at anybody, and as far as I know, maybe when a newbies ask's a queston, the trainers responde on a private channel.
but it bothers me when a newbie is asking how to play and after several questons, some pilots feel the need to yell at the newbie to go to the read me file. well I have never even seen the read me file, I down loaded the game and I wanted to play now. and I bet every newbie feels the same way. but how many have come to play, been yelled at to stop bothering everybody, ( and I know I am guilty of doing it once, and felt so bad about it, I took the newbie to the training areana and help as best as I could) and left thinking what a bunch of amazinhunk and never came back.
well the reason I am posting this is because I saw it again tonight, a newbie trying to learn the game and suddenly been yelled at to go read the readme file. I checked the list of who the trainers are and what do you know, I know there was one trainer online at the time it happened, now I won't say who, for as I said they might be talking on a private channel.

what it is I am trying to say, maybe HTC should monitor the trainers a bit, and I think they should put something right be side the download place thingy that lets newbies know of the trainers. yes I know there is a trainer list and that it tells newbies that there are trainer that can help them out, but how many newbies look around the whole web page. the way I see it,

first: click download
second: twittle thunbs and fingers waiting for download to finish.
third: install and run game
fourth: start to ask how the game is played because they can'nt get the plane in the air.

 needless to say, I dont think they know there are trainers that can help them out, and I think it would be better if they knew that right off the start, with out have to look the whole web page over. well thats what I think anyhow.



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wolf37
C.O.
THUNDER BIRDS

[aircat]

 I think part of the main problem is the lack of or rather the hard to find info. if they made someone read through the documentation at some point before they could hit the play button it would help alot.

I try to get newbies to read it then return and those that leave comeback 15 minutes later and only have minor problems and its saved 2 hours of both parties time.

the worste of it is some newbies type 4 times faster then most skilled players. I caught one spamming the chat and before I got out "hold on one moment landing" he spammed another 4 full lines. he gave me about 15 seconds and started again. personaly I dont mind a few quake addicts leaving.

and making them read for 15 minutes first will leave the trainers to do their job propperly. I believe the trainers are there 90% for tips and help in ACM and basics of flight not basic game mechanics. also in that 15 minutes they will save the players much agrevation (sp?) while they are trying to get there own thing done.

but most of the above is IMO.

but in defence of trainers I hit an early slump and made it known (prolly to well known) but 4 or 5 out there (mostly trainers) spoke up and told me to set up a time to meet them in the TA and one said what the heck let me know when you land and I'll meet you there....

[Rocket]

As a trainer if I am in the MA and see someone asking questions I hit them privately to help them.  And alot of times they continue to ask and ask and ask.

  I prefer to help the newbies as my ACM is far from good.  My first question to any newbie is have you read the readme's and info on the websight.  If they say no I usually point them in that direction to start out with.  There is a ton of stuff there and reading doesn't take that long.  I can spend an hour trying to show them/tell them the key command or they can spend 1/2 that time reading the info.  

  I enjoy the time I spend on my days off in the TA.  When you spend a couple of hours flying with a newbie and they get done and say "Thanks I really think this helped me" it is a great feeling.  
 
  I think that most the time if there is a trainer in the MA they will hit the newbie on private to help them out and invite them to come into the TA with them.
 
  And then there are the times I am in the TA and a long time pilot comes in and asks if there are any trainers online.  When replied yes they say hang on bringing a newbie in from the MA.  We spend quite a few hours in the TA working with old and new pilots.


 

they should be jumping to help newbies out as soon as one ask's a queston

Do you expect me to be in the middle of defending my wingman or myself and read the buffer, check 6, try to get kill(not often), and try to type?  I have a hard time getting out wolf6666666 alot of times and not auger.
I agree that if a trainer is up and sees the question they should try to answer as soon as they can.  But don't expect a trainer to see the question on the first attempt and answer it immediately.

Helping newbies isn't the sole job of the trainers IMHO but the job of the entire community.  It is how they are brought into the game from the start on how long they will stay and how much of an active part of the community they will be.  If you help a guy out to get started and are nice about then in turn he will be more likely to help the next guy out.  If you are rude to him then chances are he thinks screw that guy asking for help I got none when I asked.

I think overall the chances of someone asking for help and recieving it is a lot higher vs. asking and getting blownoff.


I will stop rambling now but will leave with one last thought.  We do get to take a break and fly with our friends and enemies from time to time like everyone else.


S!
Rocket
VMF-115 Joe's Jokers-RD AH DIV
 www.reddragons.de
Aces High Training Corp

[popeye]

I suspect most trainers will be happy to answer newbie questions.  If you don't see this happening, it may be because there are no trainers online, they are not watching the radio buffer, are engaged in a fight, or they are answering on a private comm.

As for telling someone to read the FAQ, I've never done that, but I don't think it is out of line.  AH is a complicated game, and it is WAY more efficient for a player to read the doc's THEN ask for clarification, than to ask questions without at least a general overview of the game.

It might be beneficial if there were some more organized way to introduce newbies to the game, than letting them fend for themselves.  Some have discussed a training squad or school, maybe something along these lines would be a good idea.  However, there are lots of people that would rather learn the hard way.  Many times, I pop into the TA and ask if any are looking for a trainer, and get no requests for help.

popeye

[crabofix]

I confess, Im a trainer........

Why areŽnt the trainers helping out newbies?

Well, sometimes you come in from TA and youŽve been in there for 2 hours trying to teach a guy to fly, that is only using the mouse.

Thats a lot of "typing"....I can tell you that.

Then a "newbie" calls out for help in MA.
The only way.....(well not always) really to teach him how to handle the plane and stuff is to take him into the TA.

It never happend to me, I always try to help if I can or if I have time. (No big idea to start a lesson if your only in for one sortie and are going to logg of.)

Then the second thing is that the community is a good help in MA and this binds the whole "gang" tighter together.
(We have a fine community and I guess that when my 4 months as a trainer is up, it might be Wolf37 that is the trainer......8))

My point is: that trainers must have some kind of "qulity time" in AH to, not only to sit and reapeat the same things over and over again. It is tiresome, but Im not complaining.

And that theres a lot of nice guys flying around and they are helping out for the fun of it.....(next genaration trainers, with free time?)


Crabofix
Aces High training corps

[humble]

wolf37,

Your always going to have times when someone slips thru the cracks...but all in all the trainers (past and present) do a reasonably good job helping folkd out. I always use channel 1 or 2 for training....but many prefer private channel. Realize that often trainers get overwhelmed when in the TA and occasionally someone gets left out.

Also some of the first group of trainers (myself included) spent so much time away from MA we really lost our touch. I personally don't often respond to general help questions in MA for that reason (unless its simple...how to use radio, auto trim, etc). But I still spend at least a few hours a week in TA and often have someone "observing" or am working with folks. I've never seen a trainer ignore a request for help in the TA.

[wolf37]

hi all:

as I stated, I dont know if the trainer was on private channel or not, I am not trying to dump on the trainers, as I am not a trainer I do not know what all is involed with been a trainer. but when I see some poor newbie getting yelled at to go to the readme file, and there is a trainer in the MA, that trainer should look at taking the newbie aside to talk to them or even set up a time to meet in the TA if now is not a good time.
now I am sure I am not wording 80% of this right so it probably sounds like I am just been an amazinhunk, witch of course I am, but thats not what I'm trying to be here. but I do know what it is like to try and help a newbie out, I have help out newbies before.
but the thing is, not everybody wants to go read the readme file right off the bat. they want to see if the game is any good, I know thats what I did on day one. and when I found AH, it was about the thrid or fouth game I had downloaded over a couple of days. the others where crap, as far I could see.
now I am sure it can be annoying to train newbies that after two weeks may not even be here and you could have spent your time with a newbie that wants to stay or helping out team mates in the MA. but all in all, it just bothers me to see a newbie asking for help, and been yelled at to go read the readme files. and I am not saying that if a newbie ask's for help you should stop what ever you are doing that very second and get your self or squad mate shot down, newbies stay around for a while asking questons, so yes you have time to finish up your sortie and when in the tower you can then address the newbie.
and yes I did say that on one occation I yelled/snapped at a newbie but then felt bad about it, so I had him meet me in the TA, how much he could have learned from me I don't know, he may still be stuck in the TA for all I know trying to get out.
the piont is, when a newbie is asking lots of questons, and somebody starts to yell/snap at the poor guy, I think if there is a trainer in the MA they should step in and try to help. well thats what I think. but I am not a trainer so I may be wrong to think this way.

but I would like to say I am sorry to all the trainers if I made it sound like you where not doing your job or if it sounded like I was dumping on you, that was not, and is not my intent, so I am sorry to have sounded that way.



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wolf37
C.O.
THUNDER BIRDS

[Minotaur]

Wolf37;

I am not a current trainer, but I have been in the past.  To my knowledge, at least at that time, HTC required Trainers to spend 2 hours minimum in the TA per week.  This was the Trainers obligation to HTC.

However...

I know for a fact that myself and many other Trainers spent quite a few more hours than that.  At some point you start to "Burnout".  You don't really want to be a teacher all the time.  At times you just want to relax and enjoy the game like everyone else.

I don't know the case exactly that you are refering to, but keep what I have said in mind.

Have Fun!  

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Mino
The Wrecking Crew

"My Motto: Just have fun!!!! "
Swager

[hblair]

Can't believe I missed this thread. I generally hit the newbies in the MA up on private, and like was said earlier in this thread, they'll keep jabbering on channel 1 for a while longer til they figure out the guy in white is talikng to them.  

I spend a good bit of time in the TA. I spent about an hour the other morning with some guy, trying to show him how to fly. He was flying with a mouse. Took forever. When I finally got him where he could stay in the air, he said "This Bites" and left. Oh well, you get your a*shholes, but there are more nice guys than a*sholes.

Anyway, my two cents.

[Mark Luper]

I have always made it a point to answer questions from newbies and regular players any time I see a question posted. Been doing that since this started in Beta. I probably spend 4 to 6 hours in TA though not every week, most weeks.

One of the problems I have encountered is trying to talk to a new guy and have him not respond at all. It doesn't seem to matter if I use private chat or channel one. Most don't know about the text box entension key and until you can get their full attention trying to comunicate with them can be a real problem.

Training is something I enjoy, especially the newest guys because I'm not that good at ACM, but if you can't comunicate with them then it takes a while and if I am in the main arena it seems to make it even worse.

I always try to get these guys in the TA where things are more controled but even in there at times it has been difficult at best.

You may not have meant to point fingers or dump on the trainers wolf, but I took exception to what I thought was an uninformed post. I will grant you that in the main arena I have also seen a lot of RTFM from players, but on the whole the community seems ready to lend a helping hand.

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MarkAT

"It is not the critic who counts,
it is the man in the arena..."
Teddy Roosevelt

[Lephturn]

I know I've taken new folks from the MA and got them to move to the TA for training from time to time.  I always try to answer questions that come up in the MA if I can as well.  I know the other trainers do as well.

We all do our best, but it is not just the responsibility of the trainers to help new folks in the game.  If we want the AH community to grow and thrive, we all have to lend a helping hand when new folks join up.  I know there are lots of folks out there that do exactly that, so it is rare that I see questions going un-answered.

However, there is a difference between the MA and the TA.  Yes, the trainers have some obligation to help new folks in the MA, and we try to drag them out to the TA if we can.  However, sometimes when a trainer is in the MA he's just there to play.  We get to have time just to play the game too, we don't have to be "on duty" all the time in the MA.  Yeah we'll try to answer questions and help people out, but if I'm in the middle of a dogfight with bogies on my tail, I may not always see questions let alone have time to answer them.  When these things happen, I hope the rest of the AH community will pick up the slack.  I think 95% of the time that is exactly what happens, but sometimes folks will slip through the cracks.

I don't fault the trainer you mention (could have been me for that matter) for this incedent as much as the rest of the AH community for not taking care to nurture new players.  We all have to take a hand in helping new players in the game.

As for making it easier for new players to hook up with the trainers... yeah make it as easy as possible.  We trainers love doing this, so bring it on!  



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Lephturn - Chief Trainer
A member of The Flying Pigs  http://www.flyingpigs.com


"My P-47 is a pretty good ship, she took a round coming 'cross the Channel last trip.
Just thinking 'bout my baby and lettin' her rip, always got me through so far."
 - Steve Earl

[-ammo-]

well I hope it wasnt me wolf. I squelch 1 alot becasue of my tender ears; Seriously I have recently started squelching 1 so it could very well be me. A squadie last night told me that someone was requasting a trainer on 1 so I helped out (as I should if i can).  I have set my own schedule, I will go in there on  Mon, Wed, and Fri or Sat for at least an hour. Hopefully someone wants my help... most often there is just a FFA going on which is OK by me (unless it gets out of hand).


But I see trainers and other good folks answering questions all the time.

ammo