When you were a Newbie, did you feel alone, thinking no one would help you? People were maybe mean to you, since you asked questions about what to do in Whyville and how to get to places. Future Newbies will no longer have to go through the same thing with the Raise a Newbie Program! This program, started by co12bo, helps new users by teaching them the ways of Whyville. Volunteers spend their time by showing a Newbie around, answering his/her questions and teaching him/her how NOT to blow all his/her clams on face parts. That's right, you don't have to give away your hard earned clams and face parts to be a part of this program, just your patience and time. This way, no one will be scammed.
Like being a tour guide or y-mail helper, you need to pass some requirements to become a volunteer. The requirements are:
- You must have a salary of at least 25 clams.
- You need to chat and check y-mail on a regular basis.
- You should have a good reputation (not have been taped or banned 3 times combined).
- The account must be three or more months old.
If you pass these requirements, you qualify to become a volunteer in the Raise a Newbie Program!
A question you may have is how do you get the new users informed? When in chat (for example, South Beach), you may see a Newbie looking a little lost. Ask the Newbie if they need help. If they say, "Yes," introduce yourself and the R.A.N program and ask if he/she would like to receive y-mails about the program. If he/she would like to receive the y-mails, you can go up to the user and double click for the drop down menu and select y-mail. You then send a y-mail introducing yourself and the program. The y-mail may go like this:
Hi, new user username! I am your username and I am a volunteer for the Raise a Newbie program. The Raise a Newbie program, or, R.A.N. for short, is a program to help new users like you to learn the ropes of Whyville. You may have questions or need help finding out what to do in Whyville. If you do, I, and all the other volunteers are here to help you! Meet me at Whyville destination to get more information and a tour. Have a nice day.
Also, you can just explain Whyville to the Newbie during chat. You can explain the program in chat or y-mail, whatever way you prefer. Remember to be kind to the Newbie, and don't scare him/her by saying, "HI, NEED HELP?" That is not a good thing to do. The Newbie might go hide in another chat room to get away from you. One more thing is to use proper grammar and spelling. The Newbie might not know what "Lol", or "ttyl" stand for. You might want to teach them what those stand for.
Now for an interview of the founder, co12bo:
Ice3211: What made you want to start the program?
Co12bo: I started this program because when I was on the forums I was seeing all these threads about organizations, but they all involved donating clams. A lot of people were saying "OMG you scammer don't donate to her/him!" I wanted to make a program that you would personally see yourself helping someone and then you wouldn't doubt if what you donated, your time, was really to help people.
Ice3211: Is this program only for a while, or will you stick to it?
Co12bo: This program is permanent and I am sticking with it because I think it is important to help.
Ice3211: Any advice to Newbies?
Co12bo: My advice to Newbies is to go onto the forums, (click the red thumbtack at the top of most pages) and go to the selling/buying sub-section in the Life in Whyville section to ask people about good but cheap parts to buy. You should also play games like PlaneWorks to earn lots of clams to buy parts so people won't call you a "Noob" or "Newbie." Then you can start making friends and just have fun enjoying Whyville.
Ice3211: Is there anything else you want to add?
Co12bo: One thing I would like to add is if you would like to join the R.A.N. program as a volunteer just y-mail me with the subject line saying R.A.N. and list the answers to the requirements and why you would be good for the job.
Well, we are at the end of this article. I hope all of you enjoyed it and will be inspired to help. Y-mail co12bo if you have any questions. This is Ice3211, signing off.
