Best way to teach a friend the basics?

[Wora]

So I have a friend who may or may not try the game (though he's not entirely convinced, so this is all just hypothetical). Now my question would be: What's the best way to introduce him and teach him the basics? Saying "here, watch these ten tutorial videos" doesn't sound very attractive; I know many of us, me included, started out exactly like that, but giving some hands-on teaching would probably be more effective and of course, fun.

Which brings me to the other option: playing together. Except, admins aren't exactly fans of metagaming (and rightfully so) and one would have to be very careful not to break any rules that way, most noteably sharing any IC infos the other shouldn't have. Alternatively, one would ahve to not use metacomms, only resorting to ingame chat and LOOC. If an admin sees this, I would be grateful to get an opinion on metagaming in regards to teaching new players.

So I'm curious: Do you have any friends you introduced to the game, or perhaps you were the one introduced, and if so, how did you learn/teach the basics? (to the point that you/they knew the game enough to just check the wiki or ask a mentor if you needed to know about something/learn a new job etc.) Any suggestions to people who have this exact issue (again, in my case this is all hypothetical but it would be good to know for the future)

Thanks!

[Cal]

private server with voice chat

[Mordent]

Always good to shoot a heads-up in adminhelp before you start, so that the admins are aware of what you're doing. My personal preference would be to use in-game chat/LOOC (depending on server) to talk through the stuff with you playing in the same department as them. Remind them regularly to make use of mentorhelp for game mechanics questions.

Another option is to simply observe them as a ghost (i.e. you observe the round, find them, and observe them throughout the round), in which case I personally would have no objections to giving mechanical help via some private voice chat (obvious exception: any information gleaned from deadchat), and usual mentor-like guidelines of trying to avoid steering them - tell them how to do something, not what to do.

In general, if you make a good faith attempt to give the admins a warning that you're teaching some newbie, rather than us having to admin PM you when we suspect metacomms or whatever, you're definitely going to have a better time of it.

[Wora]

Another option is to simply observe them as a ghost (i.e. you observe the round, find them, and observe them throughout the round), in which case I personally would have no objections to giving mechanical help via some private voice chat (obvious exception: any information gleaned from deadchat), and usual mentor-like guidelines of trying to avoid steering them - tell them how to do something, not what to do.

I didn't even think of that, that's a really good idea!

And yeah, I'd ask the admins beforehand and, if I'd play with them, uncheck any antag roles, just in case.
Thanks for the reply!

[SimianC]

Consider using the After-life Bar to teach your friend the basics. By hitting observe, you won't need to worry about antag roles.

It's very unlikely that you'll be interrupted while showing them the ropes and there's no consequence to dying if you want to teach them combat basics.

The Kitchen, Bar, and Botany areas in the After-life bar are also helpful for teaching more department specific mechanics, as well as the basics of chemistry through bartending. Considering that Civilian jobs tend to be laid back, it's a great starting point for new player still getting familiar with the mechanics.

You'll also have access to VR and the Murderbox if you want to teach them how to fight, use traitor gear, or other antag abilities.

[Zafhset]

If a private server is not an option, playing on #2 or #4 would probably give them a slower more gradual start to learn the basics. less chance of getting murderized or getting involved in complicated things right at the get go.

[Wora]

Thank you everyone, this has been very helpful!

[KingMorshu]

If you know how, setting up a private server is a good option. Instructions are on the the wiki, and you can set yourself as admin. You could make yourself Captain for the all access, and show him the game. If not, I'd go for server 4. It's much lower population, and it's a slower paced round usually. Just make sure he minds the RP rules, but if he's entirely new, most should give him plenty of slack. I've been playing on server 4 a lot recently. I'd be happy to take him under my wing at the job I'm doing if you see me on the server.