Are we being a bit too rough?

[elvenwizard9]

Are we being a bit too rough on newer members? I see new guys whose join dates are from last week, and they have under ten posts. Under ten posts, with neg-rep. That's sad, I'm sure not every single last one of them is a bad apple, because I see this all of the time. Are we being a bit too rough? If you don't think we are, please explain why they deserve the bad reputation. Have they been spamming or putting others down? Or are they really, really clever bots? I'd like to know what the situation is here.

[SuperflyTNT]

I'll tell you why:

If you allow newcomers to act as fools, then it becomes the norm. It's like a puppy in the wild whose mother nips at its neck when it misbehaves.

It reinforces the ground rules, and indicates to them what kind of behavior is required to play well with others here. It's a corrective measure that is effective in relaying a message of discontent with a user's behavior.

Last, rep is about as valuable as the digital paper its written on. You can disable rep if you desire, so really, it has absolutely no value other than that which is given to it by the recipient.

[elvenwizard9]

[quote=SuperflyTNT;1453933]I'll tell you why:

If you allow newcomers to act as fools, then it becomes the norm. It's like a puppy in the wild whose mother nips at its neck when it misbehaves.

It reinforces the ground rules, and indicates to them what kind of behavior is required to play well with others here. It's a corrective measure that is effective in relaying a message of discontent with a user's behavior.

Last, rep is about as valuable as the digital paper its written on. You can disable rep if you desire, so really, it has absolutely no value other than that which is given to it by the recipient.[
Alright. I was just wondering, it seems like every new member just costs too much.

[lefton4ya]

I would rather send pms or reply to posts and give constructive feedback or just let them wait it out and they will hopefully change by example, rather than scare them off and make them never come back. If we are like the teacher who is a jerk the first few weeks of a class by expecting new people to know what his graduate students know just to weed out 1/2 the class, that is not our objective, as most people who behave bad in the beginning will learn by example and the occasional prodding with PMs and replies, not by negrep. IMO unless someone is a bot or BLATANTLY disobeys forum rules (I.e. they are told to read it, say they have read it and still disobey) then newbies should not get neg rep for the first 60 days/50 posts.

Been discussed before though.

[elvenwizard9]

Originally Posted by lefton4ya

I would rather send pms or reply to posts and give constructive feedback or just let them wait it out and they will hopefully change by example, rather than scare them off and make them never come back. If we are like the teacher who is a jerk the first few weeks of a class by expecting new people to know what his graduate students know just to weed out 1/2 the class, that is not our objective, as most people who behave bad in the beginning will learn by example and the occasional prodding with PMs and replies, not by negrep. IMO unless someone is a bot or BLATANTLY disobeys forum rules (I.e. they are told to read it, say they have read it and still disobey) then newbies should not get neg rep for the first 60 days/50 posts.

Been discussed before though.

Exactly what I think. Poor newbies have no idea what they're doing when they first post in online forums. I know by experience.

[Shockma Ranyk]

I just repped a new member with a red box and brought him back up to green. That tells me that what little rep power I have was enough to overpower whatever the neg-repper had, meaning it wasn't a very influential member of the community. I don't see a huge problem with it, just if you see a new member with few posts and there's nothing they've posted to warrant neg-rep, then +rep!

[elvenwizard9]

I saw a guy with a red OM. He had three posts. All in the same thread. They were all inoccent questions about 'Scape. Everyone was happy to help him. Why did he deserve a red OM? Is someone out there just that cold? "I had a rough start; everyone else should to. I'm going to go neg-rep all of the noobs."

[Kic22ker]

Well being new to these boards I have experienced this myself. My first thought was simply that if people are going to neg me because and I quote "they do not care I pm'ed someone" that I need to look elsewhere to trade and sell scape. I have bought and sold online on ebay and other trading communities and never had anything like that said to me...pretty petty if you ask me.

To be honest the only reason I am still hear is the vast majority of people on this board are courteous enough to either state their issue with a post I make in pm or simply the thread in a cordial and courteous manor. I decided not to let one bad apple ruin the community in general for me.

[Cavalier]

Double standard much? If it is ok to give pos rep, why is it not ok to give neg?

[Margloth]

I can see both sides of the issue.

On one hand, I feel for the posters who (seem to be) young players who are posting less-than-well-thought-out posts because they are excited to be a 'part' of something, or to have their voices heard, and get neg rep for it. Especially since younger posters are those most likely to not have the emotional maturity to realize that this is just a website, for just a game, and are more likely to take neg-rep harder.

On the flip side, I also get frustrated at the posts (or more accurately, new threads) that are clearly in the wrong spot, or are unneeded. So it's probably better that these individuals get a 'slap on the wrist', to become better posters and more valuable to the community.

I guess I'm all for neg-rep as long as it's not grossly abused and the neg-repper takes the time to give the offender some constructive criticism as to why their are receiving the neg-rep (anonymously, of course).

Although I will agree that often a, "Welcome, but just fyi, this is how we roll" pm works wonders.

[gorthan313]

Originally Posted by SuperflyTNT

I'll tell you why:

If you allow newcomers to act as fools, then it becomes the norm. It's like a puppy in the wild whose mother nips at its neck when it misbehaves.

It reinforces the ground rules, and indicates to them what kind of behavior is required to play well with others here. It's a corrective measure that is effective in relaying a message of discontent with a user's behavior.

Last, rep is about as valuable as the digital paper its written on. You can disable rep if you desire, so really, it has absolutely no value other than that which is given to it by the recipient.

Agreed. I've visited many other forums(usually when looking up info on a certain game) and usually the quality of posts is much lower than it is on here. I could cite examples, but I won't. Also: NO Leet speak! (I know that that's not how you 'spell' it, but I really don't care that much)

Very important thing to remember here. The ground rules encourage people to post better, and makes this a higher-quality forum in general.

Also an important thing to remember about rep. It's not a personal attack on you. The individual sending it probably doesn't know you personally, so you shouldn't get worked up about it. Learn from it and move on. You'll pretty much always be a better Heroscaper if you take advice from other members. If the neg-repper doesn't explain why he negged you, then forget about it. It really is that simple.


~Gorthan, a former noob who took this advice and learned from it......


P.S: Basically, my post could have been shortened to 'I agree with Superfly' .

[Griffin]

Originally Posted by lefton4ya

I would rather send pms or reply to posts and give constructive feedback or just let them wait it out and they will hopefully change by example, rather than scare them off and make them never come back. If we are like the teacher who is a jerk the first few weeks of a class by expecting new people to know what his graduate students know just to weed out 1/2 the class, that is not our objective, as most people who behave bad in the beginning will learn by example and the occasional prodding with PMs and replies, not by negrep. IMO unless someone is a bot or BLATANTLY disobeys forum rules (I.e. they are told to read it, say they have read it and still disobey) then newbies should not get neg rep for the first 60 days/50 posts.

Been discussed before though.

I agree with you both, but on a personal level. There are a couple people who think that it is their mission on this site to "train newbs" with neg rep and rude comments, but all they end up doing is turning good and bad members away with how they go about it. With that said, it should be their right to rep (neg or pos) who they want and when they want. The good news is there are more of us who know how to make friends and extend a welcoming reply or a concerned and respectful PM. So as long as we continue to be positive and welcoming, the bullies won't win, and eventually even they will give up on their "mission", because lets face it, signing onto a site every day to just be rude to people is a waste of time and life, and that can't last forever.

You have given out too much Reputation in the last 24 hours, try again later.

What a shame.