I was planning on starting a VoG hard run today with a buddy so I posted us on lfg to find four more. Shortly after I posted, I realized I didn't have enough time and took down my lfg post, planning to play a bit of crucible before I had to leave. Up pops a message asking to join our now disbanded raid party. I could have ignored it but I was feeling generous so I replied and to him that I couldn't play but here's my buddy who is still gonna do it, drop him a line. He replies with some questions about our level and it was then I realized I was probably chatting with a confused noob so I ask his level... Drumroll... 25. Remember when Britney Spears was on HIMYM and the main characters kept saying "Oh honey," because she was a bit stupid but in a sweet, naive, endearing sort of way? That was how I felt. So I send him a party invite. He's all blue except purple primary and special. We chat. I break the bad news that he's not quite raid ready. I give him the cliff notes version of the 25 to 30+ process and recommend a YouTube video to flesh out the details. He's friendly if a bit shy, but really polite and gracious. I tell him I'm going to be working 12 hour midnight shifts all weekend and between that and other commitments I won't be on much until Monday or Tuesday. Tell him to crush strike playlist all weekend (he's not big on crucible), try to cap his vanguard marks, don't forget to snag bounties, and he might get a decent rng roll or make some more friends. The conversation lasted about half an hour and I managed to squeeze in a crucible match before I had to leave to check out the art museum with my girlfriend. It's really making me happy to see so many stories like this in these threads lately. This is what community is all about. I have a job and a girlfriend and a life outside this game and I have my own goals in Destiny and I'm not Gandhi, I'm not going to do the weekly heroic a dozen times each week. But I will help out nice people when I can. Who knows, maybe this kid will be a shithead and I'll leave him to his own devices. But even in that case, there will be a lot more who are chill. I know one thing for sure, I'd rather help a pleasant noob get to the point where we can be mutually beneficial to each other than keep crossing my fingers with lfg crews hoping I don't get one of the ones that are too busy making racist, homophobic, and misogynistic jokes to notice that the keep dying. So anyway, I'm Ryan from New York. Feel free to drop me a line, noob and experienced alike. I'm more than happy to help, even if it's just to answer some noob question like "I have all these marks now but I still can't spend them... What's a commendation?" Just please be chill and polite and not a bigot. For all of its flaws, I love this game and I'm really heartened with the direction this community seems to be heading. By the way, I wrote this while working midnight shift. I didn't sleep at all today and even though I know I should go straight to bed when I get home in the morning, I know I'll hop on and if my noob is playing, I'll see if I can backpack him to a shiny new Icebreaker. That's finally it. Peace. It continues to be a pleasure to kill aliens and each other with you all.