The Culture: How To Git Gud, Part 1: Read The Manuals

Now that we've put down what makes a Tourist a bad fit for the hobby, let's pivot to answer this question: "What makes for a good fit?"

The most basic quality is this: READ THE MANUALS!

You have a rulebook. Read it. Study it. Work with it; perform the procedures of play according to the rules therein. In any competent product, you can do this solo.

Why would I suggest this? Because a lot of you folks out there are the "hands-on" sort; you need to do the thing to learn how to do the thing. Furthermore, everyone benefits from having some hands-on practice to become familar with, and therefore comfortable with, how the machine works because in a controlled environment you can observe it working before your eyes.

it's the hobby equivalent of your father taking you to a big parking lot to teach you how to drive, which leads to what really makes this work- and why I'm posting Jon's videos doing this: by putting up some form of actual play session report (it doesn't have to be a video; written ones will do), where you show your work to others on exactly what you did and how you did it, well-meaning fellows can double-check your work and catch errors that you missed.

This is all "in the dojo" stuff, so you are permitted to fail, to screw up, to completely botch things, to go full SNAFU FUBAR and end up like Wile E. Coyote after yet another go at the Road Runner.

The best part?

You can work through the rules at your leisure. If you don't understand something, say so in your actual play session report; someone will come along to help you troubleshoot the issue.

Because hobbyists help hobbyists to succeed. Can't have top tier gaming without top tier gamers to play with- and against.