Bustr made this fine point in another thread:
"Years ago some of you guys would have invited that newbie to the DA to help him instead of repeatedly smacking him down or enjoying watching him repeatedly auger."
So how do you others encourage the younger players? What do you think are the best methods?
- oldman
First of all, I would take them to the TA, not the DA. The Training Arena is designed specifically for training and learning, in that you can shoot each-other without damage. This allows you to see, feel and confirm when you have a gun solution, instead of playing "taka taka" style, and without ending the fight when you land hits. When you land steady pings on a guy, he knows he's dead and you just reset, instead of having to re-up. I think it is much easier to learn (as a newbie) from a more continuous session, than from a dueling approach.
Second, if possible, bring a friend. If you have a squaddy who is willing to help out, you can have the new guy ride along while you demonstrate ACM (or whatever they want to know) and show and explain the applications against another plane. When I was involved in training in Warbirds, many training sessions would begin with or include one trainer flying against another trainer to demonstrate something while the trainee rode along. Sometimes people have to see it before they can do it (or wrap their heads around the concept). I did this a couple weeks ago with a new guy who said he was having trouble in the Pony dealing with good turning planes. I happened to see him in the TA while some of my squaddies were there, so I had him ride with me while I showed him the High Yo Yo vs. one of my squad-mates. Then I had him try them on me until he got the feel for it. Sure enough, it clicked after just a few tries, as he had the basics of the maneuver down from seeing it first. The next day he posted in the help forum that he had gotten a kill using the High Yo Yo. That was rewarding stuff to see that.
Find out what they want to do/know. It's hard to teach people something they are not interested in learning/practicing, so make sure you are addressing their interest some, before getting into all the basic BFM/ACM. If you can address a specific problem they are having (or think they are having) that is always a great start toward getting their interest. This way you also avoid hitting them with too much information at once. There is SO much to learn in the game that it is easy to get overloaded, or even frustrated, with too much info at once.
That's my two pennies from the stuff I can think of off hand.
<S>
Ryno
