Here's a thought...
We all know the guides in the backyard, right? They're not very bright, really. They wouldn't survive long outside of the backyard themselves and as such, they're not really fit to answer questions from newbies.
Then there are the greeters. They are very helpful, but whenever I go to the backyard to help out, I rarely see them. I don't even know if the greeter program is still active...
My idea consists of the following:
People that are willing to help out can sign up for "guide duty". Whenever a newbie asks a backyard guide a question, that question is passed on to a player that has signed up for guide duty, is online and has indicated he's available. That player will then answer the newbie's questions, through the backyard guide. Should he, by any chance, be unable to answer the question, he should be able to pass on the question to another player with a simple command.
This way, the newbie will think AO a very cool game and its programmers geniuses for writing such brilliant AI
It will take some burden off of the ARKs and will make many newbies' first steps much easier.
Of course, there would have to be some rules of conduct for the people on guide duty. I would imagine they should adhere to at least some RPing rules. Probably sign some sort of agreement. I don't know how this works for ARKs, but some similar agreement would probably be in order.
I know I would sign up straight away if this were available. It would give me a chance to RP some more, as well as help out new players.
Oh well... Let's see what everyone thinks.