No more HLP?

[pgcd]

Yesterday I was at home, checking some loot for prospective relic fragments when a guy comes and stands on the steps. I go out and ask if I can help, and the guy asks me if I have some armor for sale... well, to cut a long story short, the guy was on the second day of his 14-day trial, and apparently a bit overwhelmed by UO's complexity.
As I had to leave in a couple minutes I couldn't even begin to teach him anything, but I figured I'd take him to New Haven, where I was hoping to find some member of HLP - too bad there was none. So, here's the question: did the guild disband, is it a simple lack of time/volunteers/whatever, or is there any other reason? Because I swear I never saw so many new players in a single day...

 

[Cailleach]

HLP are still about; I saw Paidric a couple of weeks ago. But, like the rest of us, they have real lives too. We also help new and returning players, so if you can't find HLP, have a hunt for some SAOR. Often in Haven, some in Luna. And if you don't see anyone there, check out the guild house - next to the guild shop, South out of Luna and about two screens past the brigand camp on the same side. The guild house is right next to the shop, which is right next to the road

 

[Minerva Foxglove]

For quite some time we have only been 2 active HLPers . Paidric very busy rl for a long time and me, running 16 vendors , imbuing , crafting , marking runebooks and making lrc sets for youngs. This makes I dont stand still at the bank but do some rounds in Old Haven mornings and early evenings. Paidric comes later if he has a chance. So we are still around even if struggling a bit, and missing youngs im afraid.

 

[Winker]

Paidric was there the other day, I stopped and asked for some of his worldly knowledge and he was kind enough to point me in the correct direction

 

[Cailleach]

This is something that's been discussed over and over and it all comes back to the basic fact that there's very little information available in game when you first land in Haven as a new player. Sure, it's there online, but when you've just downloaded a game, you don't want to read pages and pages of info, you want to play the damned thing! People get confused about templates, skill caps, stats, and stat caps, armour, LRC, LMC and all of the other basics that those of us who've been playing a while have at our fingertips. I remember how overwhelmed I felt when I first started, and I was with my husband, who'd come back after a break of 6yrs! We were both incredibly fortunate to run into Paidric quite quickly and he sorted us out with armour and advice. A few of the other vet players were lovely to us as well, which is why I ended up starting my guild. The best thing we can offer new and returning folks is guild chat. We have a number of veteran players who are a mine of information about the game in general and are wonderfully generous about sharing that knowledge. We help out, as do HLP, with runes, books, armour, hunting and training, template advice and with the addition of a few Fel players, we can now help those who want to pvp too.

Unfortunately, real life has a nasty habit of intruding on game time. Most of us have livings to earn and families who require more than just the odd five minutes here and there from us. So, pgcd, why not put a char in SAOR, and you can help us to help the young ones? There aren't nearly enough of our experienced players to go around, sadly, so we could always use more people who are happy to help. Then you too can do your bit towards keeping the population of the game happy, healthy, and unconfused

 

[pgcd]

Cailleach, sadly my only "roaming" characters are all guilded - the ones without a guild are my crafters and they don't really move about much.
Anyway, I always try to help, at least with info and the little gold/equipment I can spare, and I'm very aware of the many other players who always do... It's just that I remembered HLP being a constant presence in New Haven from the days before my hyatus (I quit playing after Magincia and started again a few months ago), and wondered where they had gone =)

I promise next time I'll try and find some SAOR or HLP - better yet, first time I'm in game, I'll mark myself a few runes to your guildhouses so if any more youngs come my way I'll know where to take them right away =D

 

[Fluffi]

...but I figured I'd take him to New Haven, where I was hoping to find some member of HLP - too bad there was none. So, here's the question: did the guild disband, is it a simple lack of time/volunteers/whatever, or is there any other reason?

Oh hell, how do I word this without looking like I'm having a dig at other people...


All my UO accounts are currently inactive - including the HLP character account; but we are not the only people on Europa who know about the game.
This forum is full of players who could do the same as HLP if only they tried: Most of us have a crafter who could make a spined/DC suit for a newbie, or could spend 10 minutes telling someone the basics of how to play UO: The only thing missing is the will to "waste" time on such a thankless task.


*Please don't bother to tell me that you spend time in Haven helping others - if you do, I already know who you are, and appreciate your efforts.*




Aaaah, sod it: I'll reactivate the "Legendary Tart" account at the weekend, so there'll be at least one HLP around next week.

 

[Saunders]

Confession... RL does not give me much time to play either, and when I do, it tends to be for fun stuff rather than running about Haven after youngs who are so itchy. So my HLP char has been in Haven at odd times, but not as much as she might have been.
Plus a lot of my friends seem to have moved on, which has reduced the motivation to log in.