n00b Forum Guide
THE DETAILED N00B'S GUIDE TO SURVIVAL ON THE FORUMS
Follow these directions to lead you on the path of happiness!
1) These forums are like a social system, a school. The social rules, written and unwritten, should be observed here. In order to be accepted, you have to do the following in order: Watch and listen, find your niche, watch for your cue, make yourself known. Now, the last one can be hard, because even if you've been hanging around for a long time, you can't just go barging in and say "WOAH HEY DERE WHAT'S UP ROFLTE I 0WNZ J00 SAY HELLO TO GRANDMA WTF LOL PIEZ" You wouldn't do that on your first day in a new school, would you? (I think that analogy is appropriate)
If you get bored/frustrated, don't act up! Good fictitious example: User SaturnStarmanFoppyBoppy followed all the rules of the above clause and is somewhat known and accepted. However, nobody reads his topics, reples, or visits his extra special EarthBound website. So he starts posting topics in all sorts of forums about how nobody reads his topics, he's gonna leave forever, the staff sucks, the people are lame, etc. "WTF WAMPA YOU SUCK ROFTLE WHAT KIND OF PLACE IS THIS REIDMAN PIEZ YOU ALL SUCK SOMEDAY I'LL COME BACK AND SHOW YOU THE TRUE POWER OF FOPPYBOPPY!" See, this is the perfect way to get your name deleted, which leads to further frustration. So take it from me, don't do it!
Post count has no relevance whatsoever to your standing as a member. That may be a bit too strongly worded, but after about 100 posts it's true. This is not a race to get to 500, 1000, 3000 or any such number. It won't affect your social status here that much. In fact, if you regged 2 weeks ago and have 600 posts already, people might think you're full of gas.
Believe it or not, spelling/grammar/punctuation is a huge determinant of what people think of you. It's pretty simple: "hi wats up my names foppyboppy i like earthbound anybody fgot cheat coedz" versus "Hi, I'm new and my name's FoppyBoppy. I was wondering if there were any cheat codes for EarthBound. If so, post them here or e-mail them to me. Thanks!" Good English (or Japanese if you're on the Mato board) makes a difference, and coherency will make your life much, much easier.
This is nothing that special about being a big shot here at Starmen.Net. A lot of what I gather from people's behavior is the idea that the higher on the caste system you are, the better things will be for you, and that the ultimate goal is to be a staffer, or be a forum mod, or something like that. You can talk to any staffer or forum mod, and they will tell you that their position is tough as nails! It's hard to keep up with everything you have to do as a staffer. It might be a position of respect, but usually it isn't a position of glory. Hard work man, cherish your outside life while you still can!
If you get banned/removed, chances are you won't get much better luck next time unless you shape up. You can't say "WTF MATO WAS HAVING A BAD DAY AND BANNED ME SO I DIDN'T DO ANYTHING WRONG SO WTF GIMME BACK MY NICK." Go back to the first rule if you're having trouble fitting in. And if you don't fit in, don't try too hard. If you're not our type, chances are it's not worth the hassle to try and fit in (that applies to real life, kids!).
Lastly, REMEMBER THIS IS THE INTERNET. I think Reagan said that the Internet was a fad that would last three years. He was right. After three years, it became commonplace, a part of life. However, you don't need the Internet. You're not bound to Starmen.Net by your geographic location, your family, or anything in real life! If you don't like it, close your browser window! If people make fun of you, ignore them. They can't do anything to you. It's a lot easier to shake off an insult when you know that you're shielded by a variable level of anonymity. These people don't live down the street from you, man (and if they do, they're probably your friend and that friend referred you to Starmen.Net. If otherwise, I'd like to see it). Remember that this site is probably not your destiny, so if you can't hold on to it, don't feel bad. This is about EarthBound, and around that, a community has formed. If you don't like it, "move out" of the community. All it takes (in many cases) is a friendly goodbye post (not even a new topic, just a post on a thread).
THE DETAILED N00B'S GUIDE TO SURVIVAL ON THE FORUMS
Follow these directions to lead you on the path of happiness!
1) These forums are like a social system, a school. The social rules, written and unwritten, should be observed here. In order to be accepted, you have to do the following in order: Watch and listen, find your niche, watch for your cue, make yourself known. Now, the last one can be hard, because even if you've been hanging around for a long time, you can't just go barging in and say "WOAH HEY DERE WHAT'S UP ROFLTE I 0WNZ J00 SAY HELLO TO GRANDMA WTF LOL PIEZ" You wouldn't do that on your first day in a new school, would you? (I think that analogy is appropriate)
If you get bored/frustrated, don't act up! Good fictitious example: User SaturnStarmanFoppyBoppy followed all the rules of the above clause and is somewhat known and accepted. However, nobody reads his topics, reples, or visits his extra special EarthBound website. So he starts posting topics in all sorts of forums about how nobody reads his topics, he's gonna leave forever, the staff sucks, the people are lame, etc. "WTF WAMPA YOU SUCK ROFTLE WHAT KIND OF PLACE IS THIS REIDMAN PIEZ YOU ALL SUCK SOMEDAY I'LL COME BACK AND SHOW YOU THE TRUE POWER OF FOPPYBOPPY!" See, this is the perfect way to get your name deleted, which leads to further frustration. So take it from me, don't do it!
Post count has no relevance whatsoever to your standing as a member. That may be a bit too strongly worded, but after about 100 posts it's true. This is not a race to get to 500, 1000, 3000 or any such number. It won't affect your social status here that much. In fact, if you regged 2 weeks ago and have 600 posts already, people might think you're full of gas.
Believe it or not, spelling/grammar/punctuation is a huge determinant of what people think of you. It's pretty simple: "hi wats up my names foppyboppy i like earthbound anybody fgot cheat coedz" versus "Hi, I'm new and my name's FoppyBoppy. I was wondering if there were any cheat codes for EarthBound. If so, post them here or e-mail them to me. Thanks!" Good English (or Japanese if you're on the Mato board) makes a difference, and coherency will make your life much, much easier.
This is nothing that special about being a big shot here at Starmen.Net. A lot of what I gather from people's behavior is the idea that the higher on the caste system you are, the better things will be for you, and that the ultimate goal is to be a staffer, or be a forum mod, or something like that. You can talk to any staffer or forum mod, and they will tell you that their position is tough as nails! It's hard to keep up with everything you have to do as a staffer. It might be a position of respect, but usually it isn't a position of glory. Hard work man, cherish your outside life while you still can!
If you get banned/removed, chances are you won't get much better luck next time unless you shape up. You can't say "WTF MATO WAS HAVING A BAD DAY AND BANNED ME SO I DIDN'T DO ANYTHING WRONG SO WTF GIMME BACK MY NICK." Go back to the first rule if you're having trouble fitting in. And if you don't fit in, don't try too hard. If you're not our type, chances are it's not worth the hassle to try and fit in (that applies to real life, kids!).
Lastly, REMEMBER THIS IS THE INTERNET. I think Reagan said that the Internet was a fad that would last three years. He was right. After three years, it became commonplace, a part of life. However, you don't need the Internet. You're not bound to Starmen.Net by your geographic location, your family, or anything in real life! If you don't like it, close your browser window! If people make fun of you, ignore them. They can't do anything to you. It's a lot easier to shake off an insult when you know that you're shielded by a variable level of anonymity. These people don't live down the street from you, man (and if they do, they're probably your friend and that friend referred you to Starmen.Net. If otherwise, I'd like to see it). Remember that this site is probably not your destiny, so if you can't hold on to it, don't feel bad. This is about EarthBound, and around that, a community has formed. If you don't like it, "move out" of the community. All it takes (in many cases) is a friendly goodbye post (not even a new topic, just a post on a thread).
