Mentoring Pilot Program

[rebelman]

cena-rules - general help for new players

the blind leading the blind comes to mind lol

Title for first lesson how to become a cook in 200 games or less



(only kidding would happily recommend cena as a mentor )

[wacicha]

I have played her. She is good - But of course I am only a sargent. What would I know-----

[kooks]

1) Absolutely awful need help for plans of world domination.

Please take pity.

[geigerm]

I could use some help--I'm probably a weak level 3 player. I've got about 130 games under my belt at this point. I managed to work myself up to Corporal 1st Class status at one point, but I've been losing points rather steadily ever since (even more steadily since I purchased a premium membership!), and I'm not quite sure what's changed. Could be I've branched out into more maps with which I'm unfamiliar, could be I'm playing too many 2-person games, could be I'm playing better opponents now, or it could be that I'm simply not that good.

Anyway, any help would be appreciated. Thanks in advance.

[Visaoni]

I could use some help--I'm probably a weak level 3 player. I've got about 130 games under my belt at this point. I managed to work myself up to Corporal 1st Class status at one point, but I've been losing points rather steadily ever since (even more steadily since I purchased a premium membership!), and I'm not quite sure what's changed. Could be I've branched out into more maps with which I'm unfamiliar, could be I'm playing too many 2-person games, could be I'm playing better opponents now, or it could be that I'm simply not that good.

Anyway, any help would be appreciated. Thanks in advance.

Well, as far as why premium started your score drop... I did much the same thing. I dropped all the way to cook, but I didn't start as high as you either. Just cut back your games. I know in about 2 weeks I managed to go from the 4 games to a good 50. Also, 1v1 is pretty much all luck. Combined, those may be hurting your score a good bit.

[geigerm]

Well, as far as why premium started your score drop... I did much the same thing. I dropped all the way to cook, but I didn't start as high as you either. Just cut back your games. I know in about 2 weeks I managed to go from the 4 games to a good 50. Also, 1v1 is pretty much all luck. Combined, those may be hurting your score a good bit.

Thanks for the pointers. I've noticed that's been the case--don't know if I've quite gotten up to 50 active games at once, but maybe 20 or so. And I realize the 1v1 games have a ton to do with luck, so that doesn't really concern me too much. I play those games when I'm looking for a quick match while taking a break in the middle of the day.

I guess I should have been a bit clearer. It's not necessarily the drop in score that's concerning me so much; it's the fact that I feel outclassed in a lot of my games lately. I suspect that my problems are really (a) not really being THAT good to begin with and just having a few really helpful victories (for example, I won a couple of 6-player matches on World 2.1 that netted me mucho points), and (b) running into some truly good opponents, particularly as my rank rose, since good players tend to attract other good players to their games. I'd like to get to the point where I'm at least competing against the better players here on a regular basis, and I think I need some strategy help to get to that point. That's why I posted in this thread.

[Visaoni]

Well, as far as why premium started your score drop... I did much the same thing. I dropped all the way to cook, but I didn't start as high as you either. Just cut back your games. I know in about 2 weeks I managed to go from the 4 games to a good 50. Also, 1v1 is pretty much all luck. Combined, those may be hurting your score a good bit.

I guess I should have been a bit clearer. It's not necessarily the drop in score that's concerning me so much; it's the fact that I feel outclassed in a lot of my games lately.

Oh I realized that. I'm not really in much of a position to mentor anybody right now. Incan has (and continues to) help me a lot. However I'm still not at the point where I could help another too much so I was just offering what little advise I could.

[geigerm]

Oh I realized that. I'm not really in much of a position to mentor anybody right now. Incan has (and continues to) help me a lot. However I'm still not at the point where I could help another too much so I was just offering what little advise I could.

Gotcha. Well, like I said, I appreciate any help--I'll try to take your advice and cut back, but I'm not sure I can help myself. Hence, the need for mentoring.

[kalishnikov]

A somewhat updated list of Mentors/mentees:

(note: I went back a little more then a month for this, figuring anything longer ago then that was unnecessary; starting with Scott-land's post)

Mentors: Available unless otherwise noted.

Scott-land - possibly unavailable? experienced
negoeien - top 100 player
Kid_A - possibly unavailable? experienced
AAFitz - highly recommended, no 5 or 6 player escalating
Aerial Attack - nice guy, good player- no freestyle
Peaceful Warrior - will help with basics for new players
Herakilla - odd strategies
cena-rules - general help for new players
lokisgal - excellent dubs/trips player


Mentees: Available unless otherwise noted

Ditch - new player
Scigatt - new player
brunowa- new player, interested in learning for board game practice
witchywen - new player, strategy help
Prefontaine13 - new player
satanspaladin - freestyle/strategy help
iConquer - help maintaining points
Peaceful Warrior - advanced strategy help
Cool_Hand_Luke - new player, any help
surfside - new player, basics help
ThePatMeister - strategy help
PLAYER57832 - new player
vic - advanced strategies (2000+ points games)
fvong - new player, general help
galoshes - new player, needs strategy help
kooks - new player, needs general help
geigerm - new premium, needs help with the inevitable point loss/strat help


If there are mistakes or changes in status, please point them out an I'll fix them. I was just trying to make a quicker way to reference then scrolling the pages, I'll keep it updated.

List updated. Also, I took myself off as I just picked up another mentee. I'll pm someone else in a week or so when I finish with him.

Remember new players looking for help, you pm the mentor. Very few mentors (other then me, I think I pm'ed all my mentees) will pm you. Don't be shy, if their name is on this list they have VOLUNTEERED to help without coercion, just don't spam them or be rude. And if they say they are busy, give them time or try someone else.

I wish I could get this list into the first post and be able to edit it. Perhaps wicked would like another job updating this list in her first post?

[kalishnikov]

Thanks for the pointers. I've noticed that's been the case--don't know if I've quite gotten up to 50 active games at once, but maybe 20 or so. And I realize the 1v1 games have a ton to do with luck, so that doesn't really concern me too much. I play those games when I'm looking for a quick match while taking a break in the middle of the day.

I guess I should have been a bit clearer. It's not necessarily the drop in score that's concerning me so much; it's the fact that I feel outclassed in a lot of my games lately. I suspect that my problems are really (a) not really being THAT good to begin with and just having a few really helpful victories (for example, I won a couple of 6-player matches on World 2.1 that netted me mucho points), and (b) running into some truly good opponents, particularly as my rank rose, since good players tend to attract other good players to their games. I'd like to get to the point where I'm at least competing against the better players here on a regular basis, and I think I need some strategy help to get to that point. That's why I posted in this thread.

You are correct. I've noticed most the lower-ranked players use little strategy. A lot of times you'll get a few lucky wins when you start then once your rank gets a little higher you start getting beat up on pretty badly because you're now encountering players with good strategy/tactics (different things, btw) because a higher ranks draws a different sort of player.

You just need to take the 'next step' in your playing and get some basic strategies down to build on then you won't feel outclassed any more. I'll be glad to help you with this in a week or 2 when I'm done with my current mentee as strategies are what I'm best at.

And as mentioned, it's a normal thing to get premium then join too many games and loss hundreds of points. I'm not sure theres a player on CC that this hasn't happened to.

[Aerial Attack]

I think that the easiest way for you to be able to update the First Post AND to get the topic stickied is to PM wicked and/or JenniferMarie. In the PM you should ask if you can create a new thread and then have them merge this one into it (and sticky the new one of course).

[wicked]

We'll look into editing it. Thank you kalish!

[lokisgal]

List updated.

lokisgal, a girl named satanspaladin posted a while back saying she could use some help.

yes i spoke with her and she is going to need a few weeks before she can start so anyone else who needs help I am happy to do so

[wicked]

Now that I have more help around the forums, I should be able to keep this updated more regularly.... especially if people are nice and do the work for me! A million thanks to KALISH for doing just that, so all I had to do was copy/paste!

[Visaoni]

You just need to take the 'next step' in your playing and get some basic strategies down to build on then you won't feel outclassed any more. I'll be glad to help you with this in a week or 2 when I'm done with my current mentee as strategies are what I'm best at.

I don't know how your doing the whole mentoring process, but if you find yourself giving very similar advise it may be easier to collect all that you've written and turn it into a forum topic for newbies.

Or you could just CC some of your PMs to me. I'd like to see what your doing in a couple weeks. Incan has been with me forever, and he is amazing; cook (I got premium and went down like a rock) -> 1600 and rising. But I'd still like to see what your doing, if it isn't any trouble.

[Incandenza]

The big key I've found to this process is that the mentee has to be willing to put in as much (if not more) work than the mentor. One of the reasons that Visaoni and I have worked well together is that he's already thought through strategies before he even asks for help. I've never gotten a PM from him that's just 'so here's the game number, what do I do?' I had one mentee that was a turnskipper and basically bailed, a couple more that exchanged a few PMs, and Viz, who's been great and who I expect to see in the officer's ranks in the not-too-terribly-distant future.

This whole mentoring process has been fun. It's a pleasure to impart some knowledge (and curb some of Viz's more crackhead tendencies ) and do my small part in raising the quality of play on the site. It makes me feel more a part of the community, and for that reason I encourage anyone with a few spare minutes and some game skill to give it a shot. But don't be discouraged if your first pairing or two doesn't go well.

[Visaoni]

The big key I've found to this process is that the mentee has to be willing to put in as much (if not more) work than the mentor. One of the reasons that Visaoni and I have worked well together is that he's already thought through strategies before he even asks for help.

This whole mentoring process has been fun. It's a pleasure to impart some knowledge (and curb some of Viz's more crackhead tendencies ) and do my small part in raising the quality of play on the site.

Your being nice calling some of them 'strategies'.

You've yet to stomp all the crackhead out of me. Maybe one day... but it's hard to resist sometimes.

Incan is right though. Put your time in, think things out, and show your mentor you really do want to get better. A happy mentor explains more than a frustrated one.

[high_voltage21]

well im make this my first post, i just joined up a couple days ago due to a friend and could use any advice at all and help with all the mode/ways to play around here.

i guess i would rate myself about a 2. i alright on the board, and understand the concepts of WD. i did win my first game. and working on my second. BTW , who has the great idea to make a map molded after omaha beach? really? well i guess i shouldnt criticize since im new but thanks

[Herakilla]

i have taken on galoshes

[kalishnikov]

Now that I have more help around the forums, I should be able to keep this updated more regularly.... especially if people are nice and do the work for me! A million thanks to KALISH for doing just that, so all I had to do was copy/paste!

No problem at all. If there is a way that I can edit it and keep it updated, I'll be happy to do so as I know you've got your hands full around here.

For the time being though, would it be easier if I update my original post or if I quote a new list when I update? Then all you've gotta do is copy/paste into the first post instead of actually going through and adding/removing people, seems more expedient.

I wanna see this program take off and I'm completely down to do whatever needs done to help in the process, however 2 mentees at a time is my limit (1 here and 1 in Gen One where I'm the TrainerBot) for a decent experience so I can't do much more as far as actually mentoring people goes except every time I finish with one I'll take another.

Let me know if I can be of assistance, I enjoying helping others in a context like this.

[kalishnikov]

A somewhat updated list of Mentors/mentees:


Mentors: Available unless otherwise noted.

Scott-land - possibly unavailable? experienced
negoeien - top 100 player
Kid_A - possibly unavailable? experienced
AAFitz - highly recommended, no 5 or 6 player escalating
Aerial Attack - nice guy, good player- no freestyle
Peaceful Warrior - will help with basics for new players
cena-rules - general help for new players
lokisgal - excellent dubs/trips player (taking satanspaladin in a few weeks)


Mentees: Available unless otherwise noted

Ditch - new player
Scigatt - new player
brunowa- new player, interested in learning for board game practice
witchywen - new player, strategy help
Prefontaine13 - new player
satanspaladin - freestyle/strategy help (herakiller in a few weeks)
iConquer - help maintaining points
Peaceful Warrior - advanced strategy help
Cool_Hand_Luke - new player, any help
surfside - new player, basics help
ThePatMeister - strategy help
PLAYER57832 - new player
vic - advanced strategies (2000+ points games)
fvong - new player, general help
kooks - new player, needs general help
geigerm - new premium, needs help with the inevitable point loss/strat help
high_voltage21 - new player, general help


If there are mistakes or changes in status, please point them out an I'll fix them.

Remember new players looking for help, you pm the mentor. Very few mentors (other then me, I think I pm'ed all my mentees) will pm you. Don't be shy, if their name is on this list they have VOLUNTEERED to help without coercion, just don't spam them or be rude. And if they say they are busy, give them time or try someone else.

*updated.

[kalishnikov]

This whole mentoring process has been fun. It's a pleasure to impart some knowledge (and curb some of Viz's more crackhead tendencies ) and do my small part in raising the quality of play on the site. It makes me feel more a part of the community, and for that reason I encourage anyone with a few spare minutes and some game skill to give it a shot. But don't be discouraged if your first pairing or two doesn't go well.

Exactly Incan, I couldn't have said it better.


It can be a very good time but it can also be quite frustrating; don't be discouraged prospective mentors, your first experience will probably be rough but it gets better once you get into the swing of things.

If we can teach a few new players the basics of the game it will benefit us all in the long run, and besides, couldn't your karma use a little boost?

[wicked]

A new list each time would suffice. Is that list updated from yesterday? You can just post it here or PM me if I don't happen to see it. Thanks!

[firstholliday]

Hmmm first time i see this.

Well that could be fun. sign me up as Mentor wicked.

(will be available for the next 4 weeks) after that i,m on a months holliday)

Now at +/- 2700 points , play mostly dubs and tripps.
But guess i can help in every style apart from freestyle and Fog of war.

First

[Herakilla]

you can put me back on the list, ive got no problem doing more than 1 person at a time, just put like a note that says "pm for help" or something of the like