Do you miss noobie days?

When I play pretty much any RPG now, I am pretty skilled in the genre and I never really am that much in a pinch anymore, but way back then, ten years ago or so, I was noob even at the RPGs and I had really hard time getting through. Half of that could be because I couldn't understand English that well but still...

I really do occasionally miss those old days when I was truly clueless and had to explore or think really hard about what to do next because I was simply stuck.

What about you? Do you miss your noob days or do you enjoy more being a skilled player?

It's depends on how you look at it. One one hand, I like being a skilled player because I don't have that fumbling around that most new players have and I can have access to better strategies (e.g. playing one character while contoling another an AI character simultaneously in Tales of Xillia). At the same time, being a newbie player you miss out on a lot of the "This game is aweseome because" moments like finally killing an Adamantoise in FFXIII, but you have that wonder of hey this game is rad I'm learning so much and gradually getting better.

I think I prefer having the skill, because I can use that skill to understand new games better and get to the stage where I'm killing 8 kinds of butts sooner.

I like having the skill to play since I feel that i can get more out of the game, however as you said, sometimes you don't even have to think about things as you just 'know' how they work or what to expect. This is a shame, but for me the main annoyance, especially for RPG's and story based games, is having built up a lot of experience with how stories tend to play out. I love stories in games, but it can get a little annoying seeing a twist from a mile off or knowing character A will die/betray you, in some cases almost immediately.

But in terms of actually being able to play games, I like being a skilled player.

My perspective is a little broken, because I don't believe I ever had "n00b" days, as far as traditional RPGs go. Or probably rather JRPGs. Likely because Final Fantasy 1 and Dragon Warrior were very early games in my life, and I managed to beat them both when I was still a child. Once surmounting that obstacle, everything else was just more of the same. They added new mechanics and beefed up story and worlds and started adding more intricate puzzles, but while they grew, I grew. We kept pace

Honestly, the last RPG to make me feel like I was fumbling was a western RPG. And outside of Baldur's Gate and Diablo, Oblivion was the first real western RPG I sunk my teeth into. I didn't grow with them the way PC gamers may have. Most JRPGs were very linear. They had a story to tell and that was mostly all that mattered. Coming out of the dungeon/sewers in Oblivion and having the vast open world ahead of me with no clear path of what to do and knowing there were hundreds of quests out there waiting, with a dozen towns, and hundreds of people to interact with at my leisure. It was very overwhelming. Not even Baldur's Gate felt that open world. Sadly I missed out on Morrowind and have a hard time enjoying it these days because of its age

But using that as an example, the noob factor was left behind with the experience. Had I not been a PC gaming newbie, I probably would have played Morrowind, and its predecessors. And some of the better Ultima games, and other games of that ilk. If I were a JRPG newbie, that would only mean that I'd missed out on way too much. So I'm glad I had those experiences to hone my skills on. And only wish I'd had more. And more quality ones, rather than some of the garbage I'd wasted my time on over the years. Dozens of Xenogears and Baldur's Gates for me please~

I feel mostly the way Vyk pointed out, with the exception of playing Morrowind when it wasn't out-dated. Yet, sometimes, I miss being a noob in wow back in it's early days. I really enjoyed learning the game and exploring the world and teaching myself how to be a good player instead of just being good at it.