002 Veterans

There is an unwritten, but very important scale that determines just how 'experienced' a given member is within the JTS community. This article is written when New Journeys is the OS MUSH open, so specific OS references refer to OS:NJ.

At the top of the scale you have the long time players, the old guard, so to speak. Some of these are staff, some of these are just people who have played for a very long period of time. Most of them know more random trivia than is healthy, have seen many of the major plot lines of the MUSH, and in general have also been around long enough to rack up quite a bit of experience points, so their characters tend to be pretty powerful at all. These players are also very active within the community, and many have known opinions and thoughts on several topics. Many also take it upon themselves to attempt to enforce IC cultural norms.

Below this you have the veterans. These are those who have been around quite a long time, but are not nearly as active. They have seen quite a bit, and their characters tend to be rather powerful, but their activity within the community tends to be limited to their own characters and perhaps their own organizations.

Next on the ladder are the average players. Most of these have been around for a little bit, could be a month to three years or so, really. Some of these are daily JTS warriors, and spend at least a couple hours around daily. Others are able to be around less often. They know a decent amount, they contribute where they can, and some of them are well on the way to becoming veterans are old guard types.

Newbies step in line after this. Newbie is not a derogative term at all, merely meaning someone who is new. They may make mistakes, they may not understand roleplaying all that well, but those who try tend to stick around, moving up to average within a month or two of starting. Most of this group are well intentioned and just may not be familiar with the game.

At the bottom of the ladder are those I dub 'eternal newbies.' They should not be confused with newbies. Eternal newbies are those who have been around quite a while, but just don't seem to get it. Many twink, powerpose, and ask questions that anyone who has been paying attention (even the real newbies) would know the answers to. Some are around for years and seem to meet with little success. Some eventually come to their senses, however, and become decent players. Most simply fade away.