Treatment of "Newbies"

[Armadillomon]

I've noticed that whenever a new member joins a message board like this one (it's not just Otaku, i've seen it elsewhere as well), older members of the board seem to attack him or her for minor little things. Yes, i know they should read the rules, blah, blah, blah, but, honestly, who here actually read the rules before they posted or did anything on the boards? I'm just wondering how new members can feel comfortable here when the first thing someone says to them is "This doesn't belong here." or "read the rules, newbie" or something like that. I just want to say that in general, we members could be nicer to the new members of Otakuboards.

[Kittcat]

[color=red]I've been treated well so far. I got 2 welcomes. Heh. No one told me, "That dosn't belong here" or whatever. O.o Its really akward when they do, though. (Experience from other places.)[/color]

[Kei]

[color=royalblue]*sigh* Not this again....

First of all, we make it clear that when people join OB, that they should read the rules. More often than not, this is what sparks a problem. Second, when we older members and Moderators tell a new member that what they've posted is not appropriate for whatever reason, we are not "attacking them" as you put it. We are simply informing the person that they've made a mistake. Given that some of the members here have started "playing Mod" as of late, and that's uncalled for in most cases, but otherwise, we're just trying to help the member out. There are nicer ways of just saying "This doesn't belong here." as you said, which is where we Mods come in to tell why the topic was closed, why a post was edited, so on and so forth. So you see, we don't "attack" people, simply try to help before the problem escalates into something serious and causes someone to be banned for whatever reason.[/color]

[Queen Asuka]

[color=dark red][size=1]Well, when I was a newbie I was immediately accepted into the group of things and made friends quickly. That's why I've been around this place so long.

I'm also not rude to newbies. I try to make them feel as welcome as possible because I've had experience with other message boards and I absolutely hate it. These newbies are really the future of the boards because who's really going to be around here for their entire lives? Look at Sephiroth. He's a big role model to older members, but new members don't even know him. Now he's at home raising a family and makes an appearance every once in a while.[/color][/size]

[treton_noir]

i read the rules before i joined. i dont think ive ever been mistreated or abused or anything... i really hate the term"newbie", though. it just looks really dumb. i try to be generally pleasant with everyone here, new or old.

and how can you yell at someone if you are typing?

if you had bad experiences with someone here when you joined, i think you need to take them up with that person. dont be passive aggressive.

[eleanor]

Yeah, I'm just fine around here, even though I've gotten no welcomes. ::starts crying:: Anyways, other older members can be scary even if they don't say stuff to you...

[Guest Chris]

[color=green]well, now there aren't as many time that i see a newbie mistreated, but when i joined it happened a lot. not to me though. i know that sometimes people judge peaople from they're title, but that's starting to fade.[/color]

[Queen Asuka]

[color=indigo][size=1]I don't like it when people mistreat newbies. It's rude. What's the point? Do you get off on cutting people down? If that's the case, then you need to take that elsewhere and not have it here on the OB.

And a_g, ^_^, how in the world do you think old members are scary? Anyone that you have in mind? I want to know. :D

*Edit* I've also noticed that there are a LOT of OB members from Georgia. That's pretty cool![/color][/size]

[eleanor]

[QUOTE]And a_g, ^_^, how in the world do you think old members are scary? Anyone that you have in mind? I want to know. [/QUOTE]

::clears throat:: *looks around nervously* Hahaha....of course not...*people look suspiciously* ehehe...I LOVE OB! Guys? Guys! Can you untie me now!?

Yay! Go GA! I think it's because Georgia is probably one of the most anime-deprived states in the world. The stores around me have no anime whatsoever, and the ones that do don't have a lot of animes I like.

[Syn]

Im not a newbie, well I dont class myself as one, others my say differently but who really gives a damn?

Anyway, im hardly an experienced member either, so I voted for the second one. The "I've been yelled at already" vote, because I was :p

[Yu Yu Hakusho!]

I've been yelled at a couple of times by some smart aleckly junior memeber (when I was a newbie) and I just ingored it. I think one person that said something rude to me one time got banned...0_o...not sure what happened to them.
See, that proves that the nicer you are to people here (older members or newbies) the more friends you'll have. NO ONE likes getting shouted at or told what to do....we gotta watch was we type...or else it might not be pretty.

[Semjaza]

It isn't something reserved just for newbies. I double posted once, after being well past Newbie status and someone corrected me for it. It's done to anyone here, it's just that people that still are newbies are generally more likely to not think of it when they do it for the first time. I don't know that anyone is ever nasty about it (well sometimes they have been), if someone thinks so... I guess they are just overly sensitive lol.

I personally don't think I treat anyone any different here than anyone else (well maybe the people I actually talk to outside of OB). Half the time I don't even pay attention to the names and stuff on the left, because while reading the posts I see people's sigs (and some people use certain fonts and colors which standout). Which basically means I don't notice the titles anyway.

I don't know that this is really much of an issue at OB... at least in my eyes. If someone doesn't tell you that you're not supposed to do something, how would you know? You would if you read the rules, but like you said, most people don't. I never did when I joined :S.

[Deedlit]

[QUOTE][i]Originally posted by anime_gurl [/i]
[B]Yay! Go GA! I think it's because Georgia is probably one of the most anime-deprived states in the world. The stores around me have no anime whatsoever, and the ones that do don't have a lot of animes I like. [/B][/QUOTE]

[color=009966]*sigh* How true.... V_V lol I remember when there were only a few people from GA on OB....

I think I treat newbies like any other member here. We were all newbies once, so you have to give them the same respect.[/color]

[BabyGirl]

[color=deeppink]I think I have always treated new members with kindness because that's how I was received at these boards when I joined back in 2001. It angers me when people get on new members' cases about doing small, stupid things wrong simply because they have yet to learn the ways of this particular message forum.

I also think that the members who are anal about rules are the ones who have been here long enough to surpass newbie status, but haven't been here long enough to relax about things a bit. From what I've witnessed, most mods are pretty nice to newbies who make simple mistakes.

However, I know that most of the staff greatly appreciates it when people who aren't mods don't make comments like, "This doesn't belong here", etc. That's [i]our[/i] job, don't overtax yourselves worrying about things that we're here to do ;)[/color]

[Sara]

[size=1]New members are actually treated very well here. ;) Staff does a good job of making sure things don't get too out of hand, and people are generally very welcoming.

Semjaza is right: everyone is chastised for breaking the rules, new members in general just break the rules more often.

Staff members have bad days as well as anyone else, and sure, you're likely to notice a thread closed with a sharp remark once in a while, but compared to some other boards, this place is quite the newbie haven.

And before someone asks...

"Playing Mod" is a term used to denote unnecessary or rude action by members. If you know a thread is spam and will be deleted, [i]ignore[/i] the thread instead of posting about it. If someone asks a question in the wrong forum, [i]answer[/i] it instead of coldly announcing that 'this doesn't belong here, you should read the rules.' It doesn't make you an outstanding person among the staff, trust me. It just ticks people off.[/size]

[Queen Asuka]

[QUOTE][i]Originally posted by Sara [/i]
[B][size=1]"Playing Mod" is a term used to denote unnecessary or rude action by members. If you know a thread is spam and will be deleted, [i]ignore[/i] the thread instead of posting about it. If someone asks a question in the wrong forum, [i]answer[/i] it instead of coldly announcing that 'this doesn't belong here, you should read the rules.' It doesn't make you an outstanding person among the staff, trust me. It just ticks people off.[/size] [/B][/QUOTE]

[color=indigo][size=1]It really ANNOYS me whenever people do that. They are really just over-stepping their bounds. And what's really annoying is when someone does it in an RPG thread and then doesn't even bother to sign-up for it. I just wish people would give it a rest and just go about their own business and not worrying about others.

Ah, Sara, I myself have been guilty of closing a thread with a sharp remark. But James opened it back up and I came to my senses. Some people are just SO aggrivating, though, and it's usually not even the newbies!

I remember when I was a newbie...I got married to PiroMunkie. ;)[/color][/size]

[Roxie Faye]

[color=#9933ff]I was treated very nicely when was a newbie, only being chastised by a mod once(and they were very nice about it, too).

I was treated nicely when I was a newbie, and I'm treated the same way today. Nothing's really changed for me. I'm still the same old Roxie. I'm not really respected or anything, but that doesn't bother me, either. lol. Sometimes I actually feel like I'm a burden, acting like a idiot, more often then not. >_<

And it's funny, how most newbies, whether on this board or another, are looked down upon as little children.

I don't judge people here based on their Rank. I base it on what their posts are like. Infact, some newbies are oustanding. I believe Mnemolth is still a newbie, and the post quality, and the level of his posts surpass a few older members. It's all about the [b]quality[/b] of your posts. I'd rather achieve an "Otaku" status by thre years of thoughtfl posting, than in three months, by mindless posting of stuff that I'm barely able to get away with, without someone telling me it's spam.

Quality over quantity. :-)

P.S.: How much you wanna bet I'm contradicting the way I act myself in this post?[/color]

[Kei]

[QUOTE][i]Originally posted by MistressRoxie [/i]
[B][color=#9933ff]I don't judge people here based on their Rank. I base it on what their posts are like. Infact, some newbies are oustanding. I believe Mnemolth is still a newbie, and the post quality, and the level of his posts surpass a few older members. It's all about the [b]quality[/b] of your posts. I'd rather achieve an "Otaku" status by thre years of thoughtfl posting, than in three months, by mindless posting of stuff that I'm barely able to get away with, without someone telling me it's spam.

Quality over quantity. :-)[/color] [/B][/QUOTE]

[color=royalblue]You don't realize how much like James you sounded just then. lol

I like to believe that I'm very nice in general to everyone, except on a few occasions I can think of off-hand, and when I was here under a different name in v1 or v2. I was really bad back then. *shudders* Anyways, it would help if people would just stop making unnecessary comments, but that will more than likely never happen....[/color]

[Rhys Mayiessen]

[color=navy]I've been treated nicely hear though that's because I'm mostly ignored....No one seems to notice me:bawl: [/color]

[DeathKnight]

[color=crimson][b]Neil[/b] [Medra]: *roasts newbies quietly, adding BBQ sauce to marinate*

Personally, newbies seem overly senesitive sometimes. I do agree that some people are harsher to members simply because they are new, but everyone here gets corrected every few weeks for slipping on something, purposely or no. Newbies seem to jump back and whine when they get corrected, as if they deserve some sort of Royal treatment.

New people are alright in my book, as long as they arent [i]too[/i] annoying. But we all get on each others nerves- Oldbie or Newbie, and it seems that some people find release going off on the mistakes of the newer people.[/color]

[Mako]

<- has been treated to nicely

Sometimes it's more fun when you get into a little flame war with the n00bs (in good fun of course). It's ok to bash them (us/me/whatever) just don't do it to the point of making them feel truely unwelcome.

[liamc2]

I was always treated nicely by older members when I was new to this, sure there were smart comments and the ones that made them are now burning in hell....

[Genkai]

well, am I an old one? nah. Uh, I guess when I was real new here, I read the rules, but forgot about double posting. In one thread I made, I posted 4 times in a row, then someone woke me up to it.. that's it, but i wasnt ATTACKED or anything. Someone helped me. had I kept doing that i wouldas been banned.

[PiroMunkie]

[color=indigo]:blulaugh:

Oh my, for all of those spiteful newbies who think staff is too harsh here, or just have ever been given a "talking to" by one. Just be glad this is not JVF (a few of you know what I am talking about). If you did something wrong there, you would have had a team of people on your case. More times than not, we were not the most polite people about it, lol. Those were some good times. ^__^ *sigh*

Here, I am generally light to the people who makes mistakes. I just simply state what they did wrong and what they should have done or such. Or if I am closing a topic, I tell them why I am doing so. It is not like I transform into a Golden Oozaru and stomp all over them (as I was notorious for doing so at JVF... that and my Attitude Adjuster). Perhaps I should add a smiley or two? So the message does not seem too harsh?[/color][quote][i]Originally posted by Queen Asuka[/i]
[b][color=indigo][size=1]I remember when I was a newbie...I got married to PiroMunkie. ;)[/size][/color][/b][/quote][color=indigo]See! I [i]married[/i] a n00b!!! [size=1]of course, i do not think i was staff at the time. but i was still an older member(by terms of seniority)![/size] So this just proves we are not [i]all[/i] bad. Altron Gundam in his old days was quite the belligerent one. But staff is quite nice here I think. :)[/color]

[Queen Asuka]

[quote][i]Originally posted by PiroMunkie:[/i]
[color=indigo][b]See! I married a n00b!!! of course, i do not think i was staff at the time. but i was still an older member(by terms of seniority)! So this just proves we are not all bad. Altron Gundam in his old days was quite the belligerent one. But staff is quite nice here I think. :)[/b][/color][/quote]

[color=indigo][size=1]Nope, you sure weren't staff. You were just some crazy guy that I saw around the boards and I was like "Man, that guy is so COOL" and then I IMed you one day and asked you to marry me. Now we have been together a year and have four beautiful children. And the rest is HISTORY! :toothy:[/color][/size]