34 replies to this topic

[Brian6330]

This is something that I noticed in the Introduction Central section.

Nearly all people that reply to someone's introduction just copy paste it. I understand if you re-use part of your posts, but to see the exact same post by people in different threads gives me an impression of not caring. I understand if mods and admins do it out of courtesy (and their post count doesn't matter a whole lot), but the other people that just put the same post in introduction threads just to raise post counts kinda annoys me.

How would you feel if you make an introduction thread, see your replies, and then go to another introduction thread to see that the same person posted the same thing they posted in your thread and not even changed a small part for your thread. Wouldn't make you feel like "Oh, just another new person... they don't need a special post, let me just copy paste my old post.


I'm not writing this to get hated on or anything, but it's just something I noticed. Maybe I'm just a little bit moody so excuse me for that, but still... copy pasting your post, thread for thread for higher post count, isn't the best thing to do.



/annoyed


Excuse me for that up ^there^, but it's just something I had to say, and I'm a little moody at the moment. I hope you fellow people still consider what I wrote.

-Brian6330

edit:

I feel like I'm the only one that doesn't copy paste <.<

Edited by Brian6330, 06 July 2011 - 09:20 AM.

[Wertville]

Which is why I never introduce myself to people

...And firmly believe that Feld0 is a robot XD

[Epic Kirby]

I'm afraid I'm guilty of being one of these people you're talking about lol.

It never used to be like that, go back to some of the first introductions to the thread and you will see they were each tailored to the person who had joined and a bit unique, Feld0 used to tell us off for not writing in depth introductions but nowadays so many members join I couldn't write whole introductions that I used to. I say "couldn't" but really I just got lazy.

It's true what you say, I said this in a bit of a different way, about people just writing on word "welcome" just to increase thei post count. It does sort of beg the question whether introduction threads are useful or not, or maybe they should just be locked threads (if this makes sense).

I understand your post count point, I remember Feld0 said (when I asked that roleplays posts should count) that someone could have 400 posts but most could be roleplay when this forum is first and foremost about games but how different is it if someone has 400 posts of the word "welcome" that's even more useless if you ask me .

[Feld0]

Thank you for voicing your concern, Brian6330. If there's one thing I hate, it's when something on my sites bugs someone, and they're not willing to speak up about it.

The ideology behind making post counters increment in Introduction Central is that there's nothing more important to a new member than a great first impression of the forums - and more importantly, its people. So I wanted to reward people for taking the time to greet new members by letting them accumulate posts by helping to create that first impression. This used to work quite well several months ago, as Epic Kirby pointed out.

But as you said, what is happening in reality is actually quite far from this. I've come up with two potential solutions to it.

One, and I think I'm going to implement this one quite soon, is to disable the incrementation of post counters in Introduction Central. That will weed out those who are doing it only for the post count. I think that's inevitable.

The second solution I have in mind is to put together a "welcoming committee" out of a small group of dedicated volunteers. These people will be responsible for taking the time to greet all new members that join with a personal message written just for them. As well, they would be seen as mature "guides" whom both new and existing members can come to for non-technical help, support, and guidance. I haven't thought too far into how such a committee could be chosen, or how they would be organized, but I think the basic concept is clear, and it seems like a solid direction for us to pursue.

What do you think?

[AMAC]

I understand where you're coming from Brian6330. The one word and copy and pasted welcome posts are kind of meaningless and I think that on some occasions, they're done purely to boost post count, rather than to genuinely welcome the new member.

I like this idea of having guides to welcome all the new members. Having a group to give personal responses to introduction threads would make the new members feel more welcome than copy and pasted welcomes, and they would have several members who they can turn to for support.

[HaHa-No]

I like the welcome committee idea. I try not to copy and paste. It is rather hard on 3DS Buzz for example, I'm busy anyway but there is so many people to welcome that it is difficuilt not to copy and paste.

So I also avoid introductions .

On a off-topic note, I'm gonna try and get posting more. My count is low for how long I've been here.

[Brian6330]

The second solution I have in mind is to put together a "welcoming committee" out of a small group of dedicated volunteers. These people will be responsible for taking the time to greet all new members that join with a personal message written just for them. As well, they would be seen as mature "guides" whom both new and existing members can come to for non-technical help, support, and guidance. I haven't thought too far into how such a committee could be chosen, or how they would be organized, but I think the basic concept is clear, and it seems like a solid direction for us to pursue.

What do you think?

I really like the idea of a welcome committee. I would even volunteer for being in it as I like welcoming people at the moment (As long as we don't get floods of new people, as it will be hard to welcome all of them with nice posts.)


Thanks for the responses and understanding what I mean. I just wanted to point out how I felt about the copy-paste posts and how it probably makes new members feel.



I'd be glad to be in the welcoming committee. I hope that we get more support for this and have at least 5 people in it. I don't mean that all of them have to post. It's understandable if you have a busy day at work, school, or something in private life, but every person should post in at least 9 out of 10 threads. So that overall, the new members gets nice posts, and you can point out that you like their signature, who's the guy in the avatar, say random stuff, etc. as long as it's mostly different from other posts...

[nintendo3DS]

Thank you for voicing your concern, Brian6330. If there's one thing I hate, it's when something on my sites bugs someone, and they're not willing to speak up about it.

The ideology behind making post counters increment in Introduction Central is that there's nothing more important to a new member than a great first impression of the forums - and more importantly, its people. So I wanted to reward people for taking the time to greet new members by letting them accumulate posts by helping to create that first impression. This used to work quite well several months ago, as Epic Kirby pointed out.

But as you said, what is happening in reality is actually quite far from this. I've come up with two potential solutions to it.

One, and I think I'm going to implement this one quite soon, is to disable the incrementation of post counters in Introduction Central. That will weed out those who are doing it only for the post count. I think that's inevitable.

The second solution I have in mind is to put together a "welcoming committee" out of a small group of dedicated volunteers. These people will be responsible for taking the time to greet all new members that join with a personal message written just for them. As well, they would be seen as mature "guides" whom both new and existing members can come to for non-technical help, support, and guidance. I haven't thought too far into how such a committee could be chosen, or how they would be organized, but I think the basic concept is clear, and it seems like a solid direction for us to pursue.

What do you think?

I like your idea Feld0, that way people wont get 'free' post count to boost up their post count. If you did make the 'welcome committee' i would be glad to join it. As I really like welcoming people and making a good first impression on them.

I really like the idea of a welcome committee. I would even volunteer for being in it as I like welcoming people at the moment (As long as we don't get floods of new people, as it will be hard to welcome all of them with nice posts.)


Thanks for the responses and understanding what I mean. I just wanted to point out how I felt about the copy-paste posts and how it probably makes new members feel.



I'd be glad to be in the welcoming committee. I hope that we get more support for this and have at least 5 people in it. I don't mean that all of them have to post. It's understandable if you have a busy day at work, school, or something in private life, but every person should post in at least 9 out of 10 threads. So that overall, the new members gets nice posts, and you can point out that you like their signature, who's the guy in the avatar, say random stuff, etc. as long as it's mostly different from other posts...

Brian, I understand where your going at here. I think that people shouldn't do this, as it pretty pointless. Especially if your trying to make a good first impression on a new member. I must admit, i have done before, but that was because I was a little lazy and wanted to introduce myself fast. That was when David introduced this website to everyone on his site. So when we got flooded with the new members, i just copied then pasted some of my introduction post, from the past. Although, now that this forum has cooled down a bit, I try to make my introduction long, good, and original to try and make a good impression on them.

Edited by nintendo3DS, 06 July 2011 - 02:33 PM.

[Brian6330]

I like your idea Feld0, that way people wont get 'free' post count to boost up their post count. If you did make the 'welcome committee' i would be glad to join it. As I really like welcoming people and making a good first impression on them.



Brian, I understand where your going at here. I think that people shouldn't do this, as it pretty pointless. Especially if your trying to make a good first impression on a new member. I must admit, i have done before, but that was because I was a little lazy and wanted to introduce myself fast. That was when David introduced this website to everyone on his site. So when we got flooded with the new members, i just copied then pasted some of my introduction post, from the past. Although, now that this forum has cooled down a bit, I try to make my introduction long, good, and original to try and make a good impression on them.

Glad to already have 2 "absolute sure" members in the welcoming committee. Me and Nintendo 3DS

Anyone else wanna say something from now?

[AMAC]

Glad to already have 2 "absolute sure" members in the welcoming committee. Me and Nintendo 3DS

Anyone else wanna say something from now?

Erm, there aren't any "absolute sure" members in the welcoming committee yet. This welcoming committee is still just an idea.

[Brian6330]

Erm, there aren't any "absolute sure" members in the welcoming committee yet. This welcoming committee is still just an idea.

Well... if we ever have a welcoming committee, then you already have 2 members. Anyways, ideas are just ideas until we change them into something greater.

[Feld0]

Well... if we ever have a welcoming committee, then you already have 2 members. Anyways, ideas are just ideas until we change them into something greater.

Well, not necessarily. It comes down to how I will choose the welcoming committee. But I do think we should pursue that idea, and want to make it happen.

I'm currently wondering whether I should choose members for the welcoming committee like I do moderators (a manual process in which I privately invite members to the position) or whether I should take applications. I'm usually against applications as it tends to result in people making promises to get the staff position, but then don't live up to them. But these guides will not be moderators, and it's good to have as many members on the welcoming committee as possible, so I'm more open to the idea of accepting applications than I am with mods.

But I still don't want to hand this position to just anyone who's willing to say hi to new members. "Guides" will be the forum's mentors, and should serve as examples of great members for others to look up to. Despite not having any mod powers, it will be a staff position and I'll expect it to be treated as such.

I want to hear some thoughts on this.

[AMAC]

Spoiler

Well, not necessarily. It comes down to how I will choose the welcoming committee. But I do think we should pursue that idea, and want to make it happen.

I'm currently wondering whether I should choose members for the welcoming committee like I do moderators (a manual process in which I privately invite members to the position) or whether I should take applications. I'm usually against applications as it tends to result in people making promises to get the staff position, but then don't live up to them. But these guides will not be moderators, and it's good to have as many members on the welcoming committee as possible, so I'm more open to the idea of accepting applications than I am with mods.

But I still don't want to hand this position to just anyone who's willing to say hi to new members. "Guides" will be the forum's mentors, and should serve as examples of great members for others to look up to. Despite not having any mod powers, it will be a staff position and I'll expect it to be treated as such.

I want to hear some thoughts on this.

I would say that applications would work better for appointing guides. That way, you'd at least know who's interested in becoming a Guide and it would be easier to choose which people to accept. I don't know how many people would want to welcome every new member, so if you decided to choose the committee, there's a good chance that some people would turn it down. I imagine some people would consider welcoming all new members and offering guidance as a chore, rather than as something they want to do. It would be pretty time consuming after all.

[HaHa-No]

Well, not necessarily. It comes down to how I will choose the welcoming committee. But I do think we should pursue that idea, and want to make it happen.

I'm currently wondering whether I should choose members for the welcoming committee like I do moderators (a manual process in which I privately invite members to the position) or whether I should take applications. I'm usually against applications as it tends to result in people making promises to get the staff position, but then don't live up to them. But these guides will not be moderators, and it's good to have as many members on the welcoming committee as possible, so I'm more open to the idea of accepting applications than I am with mods.

But I still don't want to hand this position to just anyone who's willing to say hi to new members. "Guides" will be the forum's mentors, and should serve as examples of great members for others to look up to. Despite not having any mod powers, it will be a staff position and I'll expect it to be treated as such.

I want to hear some thoughts on this.

I likey.
I l-l-l-l-likey!
I likey!
(I apologize for the pop culture reference that nobody will understand D:)

I'm more fond of the idea of applications than private invites, mainly because it feels more warm to know somebody will probably want to and will enjoy the job. Obviously, they would have the chance to say no. But an example of the word no, is in school when a kid asks you to join a club, your not interested in it, but you'd feel bad saying no so you say yes and act really lousy while doing it.
All in all, applications seem like a much better idea to me.

[Brian6330]

Well, not necessarily. It comes down to how I will choose the welcoming committee. But I do think we should pursue that idea, and want to make it happen.

I'm currently wondering whether I should choose members for the welcoming committee like I do moderators (a manual process in which I privately invite members to the position) or whether I should take applications. I'm usually against applications as it tends to result in people making promises to get the staff position, but then don't live up to them. But these guides will not be moderators, and it's good to have as many members on the welcoming committee as possible, so I'm more open to the idea of accepting applications than I am with mods.

But I still don't want to hand this position to just anyone who's willing to say hi to new members. "Guides" will be the forum's mentors, and should serve as examples of great members for others to look up to. Despite not having any mod powers, it will be a staff position and I'll expect it to be treated as such.

I want to hear some thoughts on this.

To be honest with you, I find the application thing great, but it's good to have as many people on the welcoming committee as possible, so that each person in the welcoming committee doesn't have to post in each and every thread, as in a few months (or even weeks) when there's new info announced, there'll be a wave of new members. I'm sure most of us have either a job, social life, or school to also deal with, so we wouldn't have time to post in more than 5 threads per day, as that would be time consuming.

I just think that it'll be hard to find good members who can act as a "guide" and for them to have time to write many nice posts in introduction threads. When there's too many new in a day, a person in the committee should post in at least 5-6 of the threads. They can also post in more, but that is just so to be sure that they will post enough posts in the introduction section per day, or else they should get thrown from the welcoming committee... UNLESS, they have a good reason for not doing so as school and stuff, and there should also be a minimum post per week if people can go into this forums everyday, as some of us are/will be only online on weekends and not on weekdays, or vice-versa.


This is just what I think, Just my piece of cake...

I really like the application idea, and people in the welcoming committee should have a minimum number of 100 posts, or so, and be a member for at least a month (or two).

[GwJumpman]

I think we should just disable post count there.

[nintendo3DS]

I think we should just disable post count there.

Why?

Like AMAC and Haha-No said, applications would work much better for appointing guides. I think if you, (Feld0) make a thread about who would be interested on wanting to welcome each new member, then whoever says they want to, will agree that they should/have to welcome each new member in the necest best way. They would also have to teach them about this forum, how to get around, and why this site is the best around. Then they can also tell a little about them selves in their post.
My latest post, in the Introduction Central is a really good idea on how people on the 'welcoming committee' team should greet/ introduce people.

This is what it says- "Welcome to the largest and greatest forums of them all, about the Wii U! Glad to see your interested in the Wii U. I am nintendo3DS, this sites huge fan/lover of Luigi and Yoshi! If you need any help, you are able to view it by clicking the link. Or you can look in the upper right corner and search for the "Help" button, if you click on that you will learn pretty much everything you need to know about this site! Most of the people on here are really nice, so you shouldn't have any trouble making any friends. If you need and non-technical help, I'm always just a PM away! But, if you need technical help our awesome administrator, Feld0 is also just a PM away. Our other person you could PM is AMAC, another person who is modest, awesome, and of course, our moderator. Well, I hope you enjoy your stay, and have fun and post lots! "
If people would post like that with each new member, then I'm sure that the new member will feel warm inside, rather than someone just saying this- "Hey, welcome to the forums." If you ask me, that's kind of dull. That is why I think the application idea is great! If people don't follow up to the expectations they say they would, you can obviously ban them from the 'welcoming committee'.

Edited by nintendo3DS, 08 July 2011 - 10:54 PM.

[Feld0]

I think we should just disable post count there.

Funny how no one noticed I already disabled it the other day.

Judging by all the feedback, it seems applications are the way to go. You guys are right that cherry-picking guides by inviting them is going to be a lot more difficult than mods, so I don't think there's a need to agree on that any further. When I open them, I'll post a few guidelines so guides-to-be know what they're getting themselves into.

What would you like this new class of members to be called? I've used "guides" to refer to them until now, but that was only a placeholder name - I'm open to suggestions, if you've got any.

[Bill Cipher]

Funny how no one noticed I already disabled it the other day.

Judging by all the feedback, it seems applications are the way to go. You guys are right that cherry-picking guides by inviting them is going to be a lot more difficult than mods, so I don't think there's a need to agree on that any further. When I open them, I'll post a few guidelines so guides-to-be know what they're getting themselves into.

What would you like this new class of members to be called? I've used "guides" to refer to them until now, but that was only a placeholder name - I'm open to suggestions, if you've got any.

They should be Called the Salutinators
or they could be know as the welcome team

Edited by Wiiwouldlike2playwithU, 09 July 2011 - 07:41 AM.

[nintendo3DS]

Funny how no one noticed I already disabled it the other day.

Judging by all the feedback, it seems applications are the way to go. You guys are right that cherry-picking guides by inviting them is going to be a lot more difficult than mods, so I don't think there's a need to agree on that any further. When I open them, I'll post a few guidelines so guides-to-be know what they're getting themselves into.

What would you like this new class of members to be called? I've used "guides" to refer to them until now, but that was only a placeholder name - I'm open to suggestions, if you've got any.

You could just call them guides, or The Welcomers. Just, something along those lines, I think will fit the name.