Newbie, Oldbie, Beta ..terms and implications

Something that repeatedly strikes me as someone who studies language and communication for a living is the use of these three terms - especially in online gaming communities - newbie, oldbie and Beta tester/member.

Newbie can easily be viewed and used as a perjorative, an insult if you will. This perception can be solely on then part of the speaker, on the part of the message receiver, or on the part of both conversational participants.

Oldbie, on the otherhand, is rarely used in a perjorative sense – except in left-handed compliments – it seems. Their “claim to fame” is often based solely on longevity rather than on actual FAQ knowledge or tangible contribution to or participation in a/the community. Yet all three seem to be appropriate reasons to refer to some people as oldbies and not others.

Beta testers seem to be exalted oldbies, viewed as the repositories of communal history, trivia, FAQ knowledge, etc. which theoretically have defined the community as a newbie finds it when first logging into an online game, whether here or elsewhere. Rarely are Beta testers those who have merely survived the passage of time. Most are viewed as having actually contributed something of substance (in any number of arenas or perspectives) to the community or product that oldbies and newbies alike see. Newbies rarely distinguish between Beta testers and olbies for a few reason – primarily because it seems to be a norm not to run around claiming having been a Beta tester within a community. Most knowledge of who actually was a Beta tester seems to come from oldbies rather than from the Beta testers themselves in routine conversation.

Yet, there seems to be a vacuum between newbie and oldbie… no catchall term for someone who is recognizably no longer a newbie yet is not considered by others as an oldbie…. Or is there and I am overlooking it?


So, the point of this little ramble are the following questions.

Does the use of these three terms fit the descriptions I have sketched above? If not, please clarify for me your understanding of the terms.
Is the term newbie more often used as a chronological descriptor or as a perjorative – even in the slightest – when discussed by anyone who no longer considers themselves a newbie?
When discussing newbies and the strange things they do, doesn’t that labeling actually create and/or perpetuate an us/them communal border – that is, what does it take for a newbie to be seen by non-newbies as no longer a newbie? Since a newbie cannot prevent anyone else from referring to himself as such, what criteria are people using to make the decision to elevate this av/person from newbie to non-newbie status?

Interesting post Korg.

I was told that a newbie in SL ends after one's first month.

And I've noticed that SL is usually very supportive of newbies, and seldom uses the word negatively.

It's "Resident".



You're all still youngins though.

And we make up the vast majority. I think the oldbies are running scared at the sight of our teeming masses .

In a community that must certify adulthood, the biggest insult I have found in world and on the forum is minor. It is used to discredit peoples arguements entirely, to advocate excommunication and banishment, to belittles someone and thier behaviour etc.

Minors are the untouchables of SL and most players are so prejudice that they will become incoherent and belligerent in thier crusade to maintain the gated community status quo. Forget the back, minors are not even allowed on the bus.

The second most prejorative term I've found is to call a female avatar a man. Its a cunning attack that people use even when they are fairly confident that the player is in fact a women. Of course sometimes it's the truth and even then its intention and result are not simply a statement of a fact but a scathing offense.

My simple definitions.

Newbie: A new Resident. Usually in world less than a week. Said person behaves themselves.

Noob: Like a Newbie, except that this sort usually causes trouble from day one.

Resident: One who is over a month old. The majority of SL is Residents.

Beta: Obiviously one who came along during beta. I usually make no distinction between open and closed beta arrivals.

Alpha: Came along in the beginning. Older than dirt. Surprisingly, they are usually not the wealthiest of SL, but they can be the most creative (my personal opinion, your milage may vary).

Grr, sounds like another minor slipped through the cracks. BURN HIM!

Well, I've never played an online game. Prolly never will. Just want you to know the background and perspective I'm coming from. And I'm old -- very old -- I'll be 51 in November

So in my mind, I really can only really relate this to SL. And to me, alpha/early creators; closed beta testers; and beta testers, simply refer to timeframe in which a person came inworld. Has nothing to do with the amount of knowledge a person may have really, of SL functions or history or whatever.

If someone popped in during September 2002 for an evening, and never came back until a week ago, I wouldn't think of them as an early creator or alpha tester. And I would think of them as a newbie To me a newbie is someone who hasn't yet spent much cumulative time inworld.

I have seen people use the term newbie pejoratively, but that seems to be younger people, primarily people who game a lot, and those who tend to build their own egos by putting down others. Just an observation.

I've also noticed people who refer to themselves as old-timers, along with people who seem like to post about having been the 'first' to do something, or who say things like 'back in the day we used to' do blah blah blah. And it strikes me as the person trying to present themselves as being knowledgeable, or 'in on' something that most people may not have experienced, or whatever.

Again, they seem to be people who lack self confidence or something and need to stroke their egos, or maybe seek some strokes from others.

All this is kind of just in the back of my mind, a vague impression, and stuff I don't really care about... most of the time. Well, thinking of it, I guess it's just 2 people I've noticed who seem to do this a lot, or at least enough to be particularly noticeable that they stick in my head.

What does all this matter? Nothing at all. Unless this kind of stuff matters to you. Which it doesn't to me.

But I guess the upshot of all of this is that I wanted to say that you shouldn't assume that references to oldbies or old timers or beta testers is anything more than a reference to timeframe. Really, I think most people are just referring to timeframe of entry into the world.

But what would I know. I've never played an online game, I'm an old lady, and I have narcolepsy and I'm half asleep, but I can't sleep because I took the drugs I take to try to stay awake later than usual today.

I'm in a twilight zone. Ignore me

Candie

Edited to say:

BTW if any newbies hear someone talking about wanting to "take that chubby little cherub and rip off his diaper and spank him", it's not pejorative or a threat to grief someone... they're just expressing their sexual proclivities toward Devlin. A lot of us are like that.

I think the terms newbie and oldbie don't carry all the same connotations in SL that they do in other online games. Since SL isn't competitive in nature I think they're most often used here as context to discussions where the length of time someone's been in world is relevant.

Newbie can be a pejorative here, but I think it's usually in a good natured "yeah, I remember the first time I attached the cabin to my head" sort of way. We've all been there. 90% of the time I hear someone use the word they are referring to themselves.

I agree entirely with Candie's comments about the oldbie or old timer labels... it's just a time reference... as in "longer," not "better."

That's how I see it anyway.