3 Reasons New Players are at a Disadvantage

This post is in response to the very first comment on MasterHalo.com.

Hi I am a new Halo 3 player and I suck.
I need all the advice you can give me
Thanks,
lcdmarie

1) Being a newb (newbie)

When teammates find that they are playing with a newb, you will usually get laughed at, cursed, ignored, told to crouch in the corner, or worse. You will not have the respect of your teammates for the game and you will have a hard time finding people who are willing to join your party and play multiple games with you. Newb abuse.

I suggest sticking to unranked games until you can add value to the team. This way you are more likely to find players that would be less annoyed by having a newbie on their team. If you are going to play in ranked matched, then you should let the other players know at the start of the game as opposed to when the other team has twice you score and you betrayed 2 of your teammates with a poorly aimed rocket. Communication is key.

2) Lacking experience

Halo 3 is very similar to both Halo: Combat Evolved and Halo 2, and most players find it easy to intuitively switch to Halo 3. Being new to Halo puts you in a disadvantage because you are open to making the same mistakes these players made years ago. You may accidentally stick a teammate with a plasma grenade when trying to jump. (Good luck explaining that one.)

I suggest you use your inexperience to your advantage. If you learn the correct way to play first, then it will keep you from making those repetitive mistakes turn into habits. Like shooting an opponent who is unaware of your position instead of throwing a grenade first. Perfect practice makes perfect.

3) Lacking knowledge

What is a ghost? What does spawn mean? How did he kill me so fast? If you find yourself asking these questions you have a lot to learn about Halo. You can do what most players do and play the game over and over again picking up things here and there that make you a better player over several years, so that you can have the right to verbally assault any newb that happens to make it on your team. That is one way you can do it.

I suggest you take advantage of the resources available to you, so that you can gather years worth of information without the anger and demoralizing defeat. Be prepared you may get lucky.