State of the Introductory Forum

just a group of people that welcome people, but with personal messages that relate to the OP.
Well, that sounds quite good to me, poseidon.
Seriously, Introduce Yourself ranks as the second forum with the highest spam. The first is of course, Closed Threads.
The thread you(Dei) gave as an example in the OP shows how blindly users post the Welcome to the WBO thingy.
My friend, confused chonda says that he wanted to stop this 'blind posting'. Tongue_out
Hence he used the weirdest username ever. At least that thread contained something other than the word- Welcome!
Well, why delegate it to a select few? We should just improve. A committee is unnecessary, and will likely be redundant, seeing as a community should do it anyway.
(Sep. 17, 2011  2:41 PM)Temporal Wrote: Well, why delegate it to a select few? We should just improve. A committee is unnecessary, and will likely be redundant, seeing as a community should do it anyway.

Precisely my point. If you guys see it as a problem, be the change you want to see.
@♥- True enough. But, there are still a few people who just won't understand... Your point is this thread's main objective. The question is, how? We would change, but what about those people who aimlessly post a welcome banner out there?
Reporting posts is the best way atm but if there were better options, the job would get a bit more simple. Smile
Yeah, that's an issue, sure - however, I am addressing the fact that at some point in this thread, the suggestion that we should appoint a "welcoming committee" cropped up and I don't see it as necessary at all.

There's obviously a fine balance to be struck between excessive, generic welcoming posts and no one posting messages at all ...
There is definitely no need for a "welcoming committee". People just posting banners and not saying anything related to the OP should be reported and given a small warning, maybe it being against the rules should be announced to make sure they know.

If no one is greeting, then we have a problem as a community, and this ties into the "state of the WBO" thread. That said, I barely post there because the amount of spam (in OP's and replies) causes me way too much irritation to bother, so maybe, if others are like me, once the spamming thing is solved, coherent people will return/join in.

That said, I guess a lot of people who can make coherent posts are busy doing so in important discussions and the like, so no offence to them is meant (as I said, I barely check the welcome forum). This probably won't change, but as said above, if the spam is addressed (I haven't checked as I said, so if it has, this is redundant), maybe people will.

As for the spam, are people reporting it, mods/committee? Just trying to pinpoint whether or not that is an issue.
th!nk, you are the only one I saw who reported posts there, from what I remember.


Can we all agree on something ? "Welcoming" is good for the first two days someone is here. After that, they are technically already established members, so there is no need to welcome them anymore unless their post is very interesting. Of course, two is not a solid number, but when it has been one week since they arrived, think about it.
Mmm, that is a shame...

And yes that sounds like a good definition, however either way, the unrelated banner spam is annoying. But I agree, people seriously need to check the dates.
Also, could people just report recent posts ? I woke up today and saw that there were twenty-nine reported posts, I thought rup123 had come back or something. If you were not there at the time to report it, then do not bother, for this sort of post.
Don't want to make a fuss, but this has started becoming more of a big deal with people copy and pasting the same message in multiple topics. Whilst it isn't as bad as "Welcome to the WBO, here's a cookie!" the message some messages are basically saying in breif some points in the introductory PM, or something that doesn't really relate to the OP.
Here's some ideas I thought could help:
Put this thread in the introductory forum, so people reading before posting
Perhaps put the introductory PM into a thread in the intro forum, so newbies read, sothere's no point in repeating the PM.
I generally find almost all repeat offenders are warned once they are reported. I think it really is just a matter of reporting them.


That said, a thread containing the introductory pm would be fantastic, it's something I've wanted for about a year now.
I don't think the introductory forum is needed that badly. On your profile,there is a space to put a bio...so utilize it.

The only replies I've seen is "Welcome" or "Don't get warned" or "read Kai-V's PM" or DarkMousy's legendary repeat welcoming wall of text (jokes).

But what really pisses me off :

"PM me if you need any help".

Seriously,they are newbies themselves and should not be misleading new members. I personally think the intro forum is not needed...Speechless
(Jun. 17, 2012  12:28 AM)Vortex-S Wrote: I don't think the introductory forum is needed that badly. On your profile,there is a space to put a bio...so utilize it.

The only replies I've seen is "Welcome" or "Don't get warned" or "read Kai-V's PM" or DarkMousy's legendary repeat welcoming wall of text (jokes).

But what really pisses me off :

"PM me if you need any help".

Seriously,they are newbies themselves and should not be misleading new members. I personally think the intro forum is not needed...Speechless

Ive stopped doing that. I just now post some comments and tell them to check out my Guide. And most of the stuff i post is more helpful then what everyone else posts.

And is there really a reason to revive this thread?
Main reviving reason:
I'd like to see people stop posting:
"Message me if you need any help."

The reason being is that the posters themeselves have been members on the WBO for less than one month and should not be in any position to direct others. Yes,it is being corteuous but seriously I think warnings should be given out for that Uncertain
(Jun. 17, 2012  12:59 AM)Vortex-S Wrote: Main reviving reason:
I'd like to see people stop posting:
"Message me if you need any help."

The reason being is that the posters themeselves have been members on the WBO for less than one month and should not be in any position to direct others. Yes,it is being corteuous but seriously I think warnings should be given out for that Uncertain

I can understand that. Ive been feeling the same way for a while. But sadly the odds of anything actually being done about it is slim. IT would be nice if there was a moderator just for the Introduction Forum.
(Jun. 17, 2012  1:09 AM)Dark_Mousy Wrote: I can understand that. Ive been feeling the same way for a while. But sadly the odds of anything actually being done about it is slim. IT would be nice if there was a moderator just for the Introduction Forum.

Baha,make a rule where if you have not been an informed member of the WBO for atleast a year...you have no right to post such things.

Seriously though...just update the bio on your profile is what I am saying. Threads do not help at all...how many of the posts in those threads actually say something "welcoming"?
(Jun. 17, 2012  1:20 AM)Vortex-S Wrote:
(Jun. 17, 2012  1:09 AM)Dark_Mousy Wrote: I can understand that. Ive been feeling the same way for a while. But sadly the odds of anything actually being done about it is slim. IT would be nice if there was a moderator just for the Introduction Forum.

Baha,make a rule where if you have not been an informed member of the WBO for atleast a year...you have no right to post such things.

Seriously though...just update the bio on your profile is what I am saying. Threads do not help at all...how many of the posts in those threads actually say something "welcoming"?

There are some legit posters in the Intro production. Just more or less of the posts are spam. And what needs to change about my profile?

(Jun. 17, 2012  1:25 AM)Dark_Mousy Wrote: And what needs to change about my profile?

Under "Bio" people can add their "Introduction" .Afterall that is what the intro thread is for,amirite?

So to solve all problems:

No intro threads,just descirbe yourself under the bio section.

Problem solved...?

(Not talking about your profile, just all of 'em in general-yes...including mine). Look at Hazel's for example...its pure gold.
No introduction forum would just welcome people even less, we would appear even colder and stricter, and they might actually be traumatised (more) ...
Sample Intro (Click to View)


For the most part, they're fine. But what I am picking at is the bolded response. Can we really entrust these people to be guiding the new members? Shouldn't this be left to advanced members and experienced people.

Make it a rule that you cannot post such things...?



Intro PM Wrote:If you have any further questions, please post in the appropriate area, or feel free to contact any of us, the staff: ... Now, go Introduce Yourself!

(Jun. 17, 2012  3:04 AM)Kai-V Wrote: No introduction forum would just welcome people even less, we would appear even colder and stricter, and they might actually be traumatised (more) ...

Im all for keeping the introduction forum. I just think maybe have someone who will moderate it a little bit more. Someone who will actually help them. Not just post "Hi Welcome to the WBO. Go Pegasus" .
(Jun. 17, 2012  3:28 AM)Dark_Mousy Wrote:
(Jun. 17, 2012  3:04 AM)Kai-V Wrote: No introduction forum would just welcome people even less, we would appear even colder and stricter, and they might actually be traumatised (more) ...

Im all for keeping the introduction forum. I just think maybe have someone who will moderate it a little bit more. Someone who will actually help them. Not just post "Hi Welcome to the WBO. Go Pegasus" .

Yes, we should have some kinda moderator. Or simply make the rules of welcoming scricter...?


I think messages like : "Be careful not to get warned!" are a lot more detrimental than telling a new Member that they can contact you if they have any questions. I am convinced that I still get most of the messages anyway. In any case, perhaps whatever the question will be is one of the few things the other person does know, at least. They cannot be clueless about everything here, even after only a few weeks.
(Jun. 17, 2012  3:30 AM)Kai-V Wrote: I think messages like : "Be careful not to get warned!" are a lot more detrimental than telling a new Member that they can contact you if they have any questions. I am convinced that I still get most of the messages anyway. In any case, perhaps whatever the question will be is one of the few things the other person does know, at least. They cannot be clueless about everything here, even after only a few weeks.

I see your point. Afterall, its a good thing that you cannot welcome members after a couple of days. I see almost half of them turning into a chat thread.

PS: I had to search up the definition of detrimental Crying