Fab NEN 
Introducing new players to Quake is a challenge, but I’m here to give you fellow Quakers some practical tips and steps to follow on how to go about the process, as someone who has introduced many players myself. This article is focused on Quake Champions, but many aspects are applicable to other AFPS’.
First, I’d like to mention some activities to avoid when introducing a brand new player
Do Not’s:
- Do not queue Quick Play for their first several matches (or longer based on their general FPS skill). The majority of new players will be immediately destroyed, confused, and frustrated. Custom Games with Bots is better at first
- Avoid choosing confusing and/or frustrating maps at first (e.g. Crucible, Exile, Lockbox)
- Don’t attempt to explain every champion and their passive in depth. General statements like “a few champions have extra movement abilities” are more easily understood.
- Avoid objective based modes at first (Sacrifice, CTF, Slipgate, etc) as they will already have an overwhelming amount of map knowledge and game concepts to learn in basic TDM/UHT/CA.
- Do not try to immediately teach them Strafe Jumping. Understanding how the weapons and items work should take priority.
Do:
- Load them into a Custom Lobby against only low-difficulty bots (or other new players), enough to be 4-6 total player/bot lobbies.
- Prioritize popular, non-frustrating maps (e.g. Awoken, Corrupted Keep, Molten)
- Explain the main three weapons (Rail, LG, Rockets) and their strengths/weaknesses, and inform them of the default binds.
- For everyone but the most casual players, encourage them to use dedicated weapon binds instead of scroll wheel.
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- Try having their first match be Unholy Trinity to avoid overwhelming them with weapon choices. The second mode to test should likely be TDM or Clan Arena. CA (Impulse 9 also works) is an excellent way to introduce them to all 7 weapons, and TDM can help them adapt to the need to find/pick up weapons & items.
- Explain (as simple/basic as possible) that each champion has its own primary ability, and each champ can be categorized into Small/Medium/Heavy with different total health.
- Have them screen-share if possible (e.g. over Discord) so you can watch and explain confusions early (e.g. if you see them attempting to use LG against an opponent very far away, inform them of the range limit)
- Explain items very simply, e.g. “There are many small items throughout the map, but only two major items. One gives you health, one gives you armor. They spawn 30s after being picked up. Item spawn locations do not change.”
- Explain that queues are usually quite fast for popular modes (if you’re in NA/EU) during peak hours. Show them how to add/remove servers for queuing in off-peak hours.
Maybe’s:
- If you have sufficient knowledge on PC hardware, give them advice on appropriate Video Settings for their system (e.g. if they have 4GB or vram, they likely want to run low-textures).
- Consider inviting them to some Quake Discord servers (e.g. Church of Quake) where they can socialize, ask questions, and queue for games with others. However some players have 0 interest in engaging with the community and would rather stick to queuing Quick Play exclusively.
- Sweaty tryhards like me loved watching high-level Duel and 2v2 almost immediately, so consider sharing some links and streams. Some players however will simply find this boring.
Now you have no excuses not to force all your friends, family, acquaintances, pets, and strangers to try Quake 🙂
You’ll never get everyone to love Quake (some people are just mid, amirite), but if you follow these concepts, your noob friends will almost certainly enjoy their time testing the Quake waters.
How have you introduced your friends to Quake? Have you had success with any tactics I didn’t mention? Let me know in the Church of Quake Discord!
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