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An intro, a noob story, and some askance

#1
Hi folks.

I'm new to this forum, and I've been playing Xonotic since last spring, and before that I hadn't played shooters much.

It seems that currently I am in the process of migration between two categories, from "Absolute Noob" to "Still Noob 'cause Can't Learn".

So I think it's the right time for me to share some Valuable Noob Feedback before I've forgotten all the Genuine Noob Experience ː)

In this issue:

A STORY ABOUT A NEWBIE DISCOVERING XONOTIC

The beginning of the story is trite, you must have heard it already: "There's not enough games on Linux". That's basically why I tried all the shooters available through the Ubuntu repos, although shooters weren't my favorite genre. None interested me, and I didn't search for more info. Until at some point (perhaps after upgrading Ubuntu to 12.04, not sure now) I saw a new icon in the Games section, labelled "Nexuiz". I tried it, and it was different. I completed the whole local campaign suite, and started to watch people playing on open servers. And even to play against humans myself. And to search the web for tips.

I think I saw a couple mentions of Xonotic on some forums, at that point. Nothing to get excited about. However, search results were too often spammed by discussions of the *other* Nexuiz, so I began to search for game-specific terms without the name of the game itself: "minsta", "grappling hook", "crylink" and the like. And... found Halogene's Newbie Corner on *this* site. I understood that it was about a fork, and much of the info could be relevant; I read it attentively, twice, still thinking about Nexuiz and checking how the tips worked there. It took me a couple more days to digest some news: Nexuiz Classic is essentially a fossil, and the living-and-kicking beast is called Xonotic now.

After some hesitation, I downloaded 0.7 from the site, and upon fixing a couple problems I can't recall now, it worked. Happy End ː)

* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *

Well, obviously, there's something in this story that feels wrong. I mean, it is, like, year 2015 now, and it's still easier for a potential player to find Nexuiz Classic.

In fact, it's even worse than that. There are about as many people on Nexuiz servers as on Xonotic servers, still. Even more embarrassing: since the moment when I discovered Xonotic, the number of Xonotic players seems to have been shrinking (haven't checked the stats, just my impression). Despite some migration of old players from Nexuiz. Despite the release of 0.8, which must have attracted some curious ones.

So I have a MESSAGE for the devs.

OK, "we're still beta", OK, I'm not going to dispute this policy. However, guys, do you know what you did?

You created THE BEST SHOOTER EVER, ABSOLUTELY.

Well, OK, this is just what some players think; but, you know, it's sort of an informed opinion, actually. For example, take me: due to addiction to Xonotic, I got interested in shooters in general, tried a couple more, saw tons of frag movies, video tutorials, and the like; no other game looked comparable.

Sure, it has crashed for me, occasionally. Like, five or six times in, what, nine months of playing nearly every day. My browser has crash stats differing by an order of magnitude. Yeah, there are things that can be improved... which means, the game still has a huge potential, too. It seems to offer a flexible platform for adding mods, new features, whatever. Anyway, it was the best FPS already as 0.7; 0.8 is still better; there's absolutely nothing to be shy about. Perhaps it's not the time for advertising the game actively yet, but it's not the time to hide it from potential users anymore, either. For example...

IT SHOULD BE IN THE UBUNTU REPOS. YEAH, AS IS AND ASAP!

I don't know how difficult this will be, technically and organizationally; but it will be necessary anyway, I believe, at some later point. So why not start working on this now? Write "BETA" in the description, in boldface and all-caps. Linux users, generally, don't mind testing betas; for example, they don't fear malware or system crashes as much as users of commercial OS's do. And they don't have enough games to play, see above. And where do you think the people who may start to experiment with, and provide sensible feedback on, or even contribute to, a free and open-source software, are? Perhaps, they are already using some free and open-source software? Including, as their main OS?

PLEEEEASE!
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#2
Welcome here Tongue
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#3
Hey Base. I see you around a lot although its mostly you spectating. Tongue Don't be afraid to post on the forums if you're having a problem with the client. There is a lot of smart people here who could probably fix your problem.

Gameplay wise, feel free to ask for help if you had any questions regarding the game.

Join the IRC channels too.
[Image: 38443.png]
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#4
What a nice introduction! Welcome to the forums, and I'm very glad to hear the Newbie Corner has helped you! Join #xonotic.pickup on quakenet irc (http://webchat.quakenet.org) to get in touch.
My Xonstats Profile
Latest track on soundcloud: Farewell - to a better Place (piano improvisation)
New to Xonotic? Check out the Newbie Corner!

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#5
Welcome!

I think its quite a common story of finding out Nezuiz and then accidentialy stumbling across Xonotic.
[Image: 0_e8735_c58a251e_orig]
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#6
Welcome to forums! Smile

I've seen you around also, join to our pickup games (i guess they still exists, sometimes) on #xonotic.pickup on quakenet. Get involved and surely there you can advance with your skill!
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#7
I very much agree with adding it to software center/store.
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#8
Thank you for the greetings, guys!

(Also, sorry for the delayed reply; various things IRL keep intervening, so I'll probably be missing from the servers too, for a week or so...)

Sure, I'll have questions to ask... And, true, I tend to be a very regular spectator... I often spec Xonotic matches while doing some unrelated job - this game is such that just spectating can be addictive, too ː)

Also, I want to discuss a couple other topics (more specific ones) related to noob experience and a beginner's perception of the game. Laters ː)
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