My demands are simple

So what you're saying here is that the newbies arent worth the time it takes you to write longer posts?

Nope, I just hate mistakes in my posts. I can avoid them by just saying welcome.

 

That seems like the wrong choice I would say. I think that most of us should be able to understand a lack of perfect english, even the native english speakers. I don't like to make errors in my posts, but in a two to five lines welcome post it should be possible to get somewhere without having the text littered with errors. Okay, then I might not be able to welcome 20 users an hour, but quality over quantity.

But I hope this thread is not about specific posters, but instead just meant to make us think about adding value to our welcome posts. So let's not further argue your postings and try to keep a steady level of personal welcomes!

DU.

 

No that thread isn't about a specific poster, but a habit of using this board which should be a place where you make a new member feel welcome and at ease and not a place to boost your post-count with one word-post/one-line-post.

And excuse me to say that, but I think that is your reason behind your posts, Cloned_Sidious. I saw some of your post about the Top-Poster-Feature. You were quite eager to get information about it and proud you were when Bib told you that you could rival him. And if I take a look through your other posts, it seems that you just want a high post count. Just like Bib...

 

I've been trying to make my welcomes a little more informational by adding links, recommending certain boards, etc. I remember my newbie thread where I used the links so I'm beginning to help out a bit more.

And I've known many people, C_S, that make mistakes in their posts that speak perfect English. It is okay to make a mistake once in a while if it is because of posting a helpful link or welcoming a new user in a different way.

 

And excuse me to say that, but I think that is your reason behind your posts, Cloned_Sidious. I saw some of your post about the Top-Poster-Feature. You were quite eager to get information about it and proud you were when Bib told you that you could rival him. And if I take a look through your other posts, it seems that you just want a high post count. Just like Bib...

Part of that was just kidding.

But still, I actually have posted some FanForce links, but only if somebody haven't done it first.

But one of the reasons I post here how I do, is that I want to treat every poster equal. By saying just welcome, I don't favour or dismiss anyone.

 

I agree with what you said to an extent as some will think that one word posts are ok. However, not all newbies, such as myself, are actually new to message boards in general. I just happen to be new here. So, I know not to do one word posts. I'm sure there are others like me.

I agree with the original point of the thread. It's nice to see in my own welcome thread some replies that were more than simply "welcome."

I personally think it would be helpful if newbies would actually post a sentence or several in their introduction rather than just saying - "hi, I'm new." Might make it a bit easy for others to post a nice welcome message.

Maybe I was a bit unusual in my introduction but I rather give a little background as I think it's a quick way for other board members that look at these welcome threads to learn a bit about my SW interests and why I am here.

 

Do you think a newbie is going to have a grudge against you because you only said two sentences in their thread, but you said four sentences in someone else's?

I think it's more likely that they'll appreciate any personal reply that isn't just two words, or that isn't just copy/pasted.

 

That's quite an interesting excuse. With that c/p-style you dismiss every new member. The thing with treating every one like that, you call it equal, you show no respect to individual who thought abotu his choice to join this community. And if I got such a welcome and have lurked a bit before my post, I would have a feeling of being kid quite a bit.

 

i wish i had come here first when i was new. I think it has a nice warm enviorment. Instead i started out at the ROTS spoiler forum.

 

I think it's more likely that they'll appreciate any personal reply that isn't just two words, or that isn't just copy/pasted.

I don't use copy and paste when I welcome new users.


But in my opinion, short welcome is better than no welcome at all?

 

Am I the only one that thinks it is kinda funny that there seems to be a lot of criticism from people that don't bother to post in the WNU themselves?

Cloned_Sidious makes a valid point, a short welcome is better than no welcome at all, and since he is taking the most heat about this from someone who made maybe 3 or 4 welcome posts here in the last 3 months maybe that should speak for itself.

MacCaffrey you seem very quick to criticize CS's contribution to this forum (no matter how small it may or may not be), especially considering by your posts that you have made little to no contribution in this forum yourself.

That is just my opinion though.

 

True, I am not posting very regular here. Easy to see. But do you have an idea, how often I take a look in this forum? Mmmmh? I don't think so, Despised1. And I think it is quite insolent to compare posting with bothering.

You don't know how long I follow this discussion or the behavior of some people that post here. And no, it isn't only C_S, if you think I am stalking him. It is my job to keep my eyes open. This board is J_Ds hometurf and I respect that, but since it has some things in common, namely sithlorderic before you ask, I take a look here sometimes, too.
Btw. my few posts here may have more different words then C_Ss, if you care to research.
And I am pretty sure that you have no right to judge my contribution to this forum.


You are right, C_S, a short welcome is not bad, but that short?

 

Right, Doc!

 

And I am pretty sure that you have no right to judge my contribution to this forum.

Really? And yet you reserve the right to pass judgement on others, a little hypocritical don't you think? I post here more often than you and I lurk probably as much, I see what goes on here and since I am a part of this community I have the same right you claim. You don't have a monopoly on that just because you have pretty colors, and since I never see you here I think that you have less right than someone who actually cares enough to make welcome posts here, but I forget my place, I forget you care so much that you don't need to post here.

All I am saying is that it is pretty easy to rip on someones contribution to this forum, why not show us some of your amazing welcoming skills if you can do better? Since you seem to be such an authority on the matter I am sure the WNU forum could benefit greatly from your effort. Or is it enough for you to just tell people that what they are doing is not good enough?

Do as I say, not as I do. Seems to fit in this case rather well I think.

 

If I was new here I'd rather have 1 post in my welcome thread telling me where to find things that might interest me then 10 posts just saying "Hi" or "Welcome". A welcome like that is just something that was posted by someone on "auto-pilot" and is just spam IMHO.

And yes, I know the obvious reply: "a short reply is better then no reply", sure but think of this: how would you feel if all the posts in your thread were exactly the same as the posts in someone else his thread. Because this is what happens with welcome posts like "Welcome .." and stuff. Seeing this will make these posts meaningless and thereby redundant.

But the intention of this thread was not to attack each other, just to kindly ask everybody to try to post something more then just "Hi". And it doesnt have to be a 1000 word welcome, just saying a bit more and give a little bit of advice would be great and will be, most certainly, very much appreciated by the new user.

 

And yes, I know the obvious reply: "a short reply is better then no reply", sure but think of this: how would you feel if all the posts in your thread were exactly the same as the posts in someone else his thread. Because this is what happens with welcome posts like "Welcome .." and stuff. Seeing this will make these posts meaningless and thereby redundant.

Well, by your definition, almost all the welcome threads in this forum are redundant. Many threads are almost carbon copies of the next, about 95% of the posts are the same (if not the same very similar), Any thread with 10 posts in it is redundant. I don't see anyone talking about that, we seem all to happy to focus on 1 or 2 people in the entire forum, and ingore the rest of the issue. To me the greater issue is that there are so few older members that frequent and support this forum.

But the intention of this thread was not to attack each other, just to kindly ask everybody to try to post something more then just "Hi".

That was the point I was trying to make in my first post in this thread, a lot of people seem to want to jump on CS which was not fair, this thread should not be used as a soapbox for a few people to rip on CS and Bib. It is easy to come here and bag on a few people for short posts, but none of those people are offering any contstructive criticism, they are just saying that short=bad.

Maybe these highly critical people could show us a better way? Obviously they think the contribution being made is not enough, so why don't they pitch in a help rather than just sitting back and bagging on a few people.

 

Did you not read the multiple posts in this thread that explained better replies?

 

If by that you mean this one by Amazing,

Or you could, you know, ask about their screen name, why they joined, what attracted them to Star Wars, something in their profile, what their favorite food is, if they've ever owned a Slip N Slide, if they're polydactyl, if they have pets, where they're from, if they've ever done battle with their neighbors. Really, the possibilites are endless and would make for much better threads than:

"Hi, I'm new."
"Hi."
"Welcome."
"Hi, here are links."
"Thanks for the welcomes."
"Hello."

But maybe that's just me. I would have thought my pro-fun bandwagon would garner more support. But the night is young!

And then the 2 posts that were almost identical to that (yours and Skiara's), I would not call that "multiple posts in this thread that explained better replies". Its more like 1 post explaining a few better replies, and then 2 other posts that were redundant and basically repeating the above post by Amazing.

Don't get me wrong here, I think Skiara is one of the best welcomers in the Community, and from her I have no problem taking criticism. From the others that don't put any effort into welcoming people here and are just here to bag on everyone else, whatever.

Again, would it be so hard to roll up your sleeves and pitch in with welcoming the newbs, rather than just sitting back and baggin on the ones that are?

 

I have welcomed some new members recently, and I welcomed quite a few in the past.

I tend to only post in the threads if I have something new and unique to add. I did avoid posting here for a while (although it was on my favorite boards list, and I did lurk here), simply because I was tired of seeing the same copy/pasted replies in every thread. I personally feel that welcomes are meaningless not only if you copy/paste, but also if you welcome everyone.

If someone just says "Hi I'm new", with no information in their profile or anything else, I'm not going to go out of my way to try to learn more about them. Someone will be along soon enough to post the links of where they can learn about the boards. If they do have a profile or signature, I will try to find something that I can comment on or ask about. Again, I don't feel a need to welcome every user.

Don't you realize that some of us did welcome people in the past, but were discouraged when our posts were surrounded by nothing but two word or copy/pasted replies? Or, even if we are too lazy to welcome users, at least we don't pretend to care by just having a simple copy/paste or two word reply.

 

If someone just says "Hi I'm new", with no information in their profile or anything else, I'm not going to go out of my way to try to learn more about them.

I am not one that feels the need to welcome everyone either, but there are soooooo many newbs that come in with nothing in their profile, no sig, no avatar, and just say "Hi I am new", WTH are we supposed to say? Or is it better that these people receive no welcome at all? After the 3 or 4 standard and redundant links have been posted there is nothing else to go on, damn sometimes it seems like 1/4 of the newbs who post a welcome thread never come back to post anyway, it is frustrating on all ends.

Don't you realize that some of us did welcome people in the past, but were discouraged when our posts were surrounded by nothing but two word or copy/pasted replies?

I agree that this is discouraging, but how will walking away and throwing your hands up in the air help anything? It won't. Seriously if this forum had 4-5 more people like Skiara posting in it I doubt this would even be a problem, she sets a fine example for all of us and I honostly wonder how she comes up with her posts sometimes. Skaira can only influence so many people by example, if there were more like her maybe more quality posts would be made by others as well.

Or, even if we are too lazy to welcome users, at least we don't pretend to care by just having a simple copy/paste or two word reply.

If I was new, I think I would be happy to have any post in my thread. This place is so huge that even if all someone is going to do is say "Hey, welcome to the boards. " , I would feel a little better about it. The problem is that you seem to think that just because someone is making a short post it automatically means that they don't care or that they are being fake or pretending to be friendly, that is really not being fair to a lot of us who post in this forum.

I don't always post long welcomes and my welcomes are not always the same, but regardless sometimes they just come out that way. Just because a post is not indepth and asking about why there is nothing in the newbs profile, or what they ate for dinner that night it does not mean that we are all here for the post count.

 

Of course there are more people who just c/p or make very short replies. But these people even don't care to write here or maybe everything is already said by C_S. And because we disagree, we argue against his opinion.

A pot shot was taken at C_S before he ever posted in this thread.

It is obvious by his 1st post in this thread that he was only replying to that one specific comment, he has been defending himself ever since.

Same with Bib, he has not posted here one time and a shot was taken at him early on as well.

And since we are talking about uber high quality and friendly welcomes, how would you like to see this gem as the first reply to your thread? Personally if it was me I would have rather seen a "Hello ".

I have said my fill, later.

 

I reserve the right to pass judgement in this matter on my experience here on this board and FF Board before. That's the point. I never said that I had a monopoly and the only one here who has one is J_D. Since you never saw me before don't mean that I am not there.
And my critic is that in my opinion the very short replies are not for the welcome, but for the count. That's the point. I attacked Bib, 'cause I saw his style and I asume his intention and I fear that C_S has the same, so that's why he got my attetnion in this discussion. I was maybe a bit fixatet on C_S, but posting just welcome for the post-count is not acceptable in general.

And I try to do better everytime I welcome a new member! I know that it was a seldom thing the last months, but I don't see a reason to explain my posting habits here.

You make a good job defending other people, Despised, but do you know Bib? I mean do you know his history?

And finaly an advice from me as poster not as Mod. I can handle heated debate with some personal attacks, but it can lead to bad feelings. Don't let yourself carried away.

 

I agree with what MacCaffrey just said.

But one other thing, I dont post here that often anymore, Since long I've started to PM the newbies rather then posting something and see it getting covered in two-words C/P posts by others. Unfortunately I cant do this with all of them of course. So dont pass your judgement on ours before you know what we're doing!