The Introduction Forum

Godo · Post by **Godo** » Mon Dec 10, 2007 10:18 am

Why is it dead?
I've seen lots of new members, but noone writes an introduction anymore.

Jerseymilk · Post by **Jerseymilk** » Mon Dec 10, 2007 11:05 am

That would be because Mike recently made it so that only mods can respond there. The reason for this was because the majority of the posts there had become off-topic "inside jokes" that went for pages, and snowballed. He even put a sticky at the top of that forum explaining it.
http://db.schuby.org/daizex/viewtopic.php?t=6885

Godo · Post by **Godo** » Mon Dec 10, 2007 11:18 am

I guess noone is interested to be greeted by just one single person...as VegettoEX is the only active one of the Moderator staff that writes regularly.

I find it a problem if I can't get to know the new members. I want to get to know them. Some of us actually communicate outside the forum (AIM, MSN Messenger, ICQ ect.) and if we now nothing about the new members it will feel like talking to a bot. I'm serious.

Better to have it Off Topic in the introductions section than in the other sections, as I've seen lots of off topic discussions in the other threads recently, ever since the announcement was made. I mean, the amount of offtopic discussions have exploded there.

And I don't get this with the scared off members. I've never encountred anyone that got scared and stopped visiting the Daizex forums because of the Introductions section?

Gyt Kaliba · Post by **Gyt Kaliba** » Mon Dec 10, 2007 11:28 am

I think it was more he was afraid our randomness was gonna scare people off. People who don't know who Frankenbell is I guess.

Heck, I dunno who he is - but it's funny.

Godo · Post by **Godo** » Mon Dec 10, 2007 1:02 pm

If I could get a welcoming as we gave the new members in the Introduction section in every forum I visited, I would be a happy lad.
I've never met anyone that disliked the way of greeting in the introduction forums.
Hell, we give them a chance to get into the jokes and stuff and welcome them as if they were old members just like us.
It's just common knowledge everyone gets from a social life. A joke is the fastest and most common way to get into a group.

If I was new here and only a moderator welcomed me, I would flee the forum. My thoughts would be:
"What is this, Bot-topia? Is this an automatic message? Why won't anyone greet me? This is just plain boring. I won't have any fun here. But wait, I could have fun and go off topic in the other threads in the forum!"

Gyt Kaliba · Post by **Gyt Kaliba** » Mon Dec 10, 2007 1:12 pm

Can't argue with you on that, it would seem Bot-tastic to me too, but it's VegettoEX's forum and he can do whatever he wants really. I don't have to like it, but meh, there are worse things he could suddenly decide to do.

Godo · Post by **Godo** » Mon Dec 10, 2007 2:36 pm

The MFG forums had an Offtopic section and the Dragonball discussion went well...

I'm just saying that humans need to crap. Maybe it's a dookie in a toilet, their emotions by many ways, or in a forum words. It's not a coincidence that forums also are called communities.
If you have one place to place crap, other places get clean. In communities we have toilets and garbage bins, and in forums we have Offtopic sections...

Without the Introduction forum, I think that I'll miss the fun + discussion part of a forum, and I will not see enjoyment in hanging here on MFG.

Hell, in a Medicine forum I use to visit, where Dentists, Medical students, Residents, Attendings, basically every kind of people that study or work with patient care write, which is very known in the States, there is an Off Topic section. In this way they keep the other sections clean and are able to keep serious discussions without any disturbance. The forum is HUGE.

But still, I know it's VegettoEX's forum and he can do whatever he wants with it...but I will not stay here for long...I think the way of doing things are unprofessional.
Just because he is the forum Admin it doesn't mean that I have to fully agree with everything.

I also think that the reason he has written is very vauge and only a way for him to tell that he hasn't got time to deal with the forum anymore.

Steven Perry · Post by **Steven Perry** » Mon Dec 10, 2007 3:18 pm

VegettoEX wrote:That's somewhat what this "Introductions" section has become, and that was never intended to be its purpose. We welcome everyone, and I have no desire to scare off people with the kinds of things I see evolving in this section. It's completely non-representative of the rest of the forum, and that concerns me.

You mention that we're 'completely non-representative of the rest of the forum, and devoid of reasoning and logic', (making out we're crazed weirdos in the process); yet from what I've seen, there's loads of similarities between 'the rest of the forum', and the introductions. Case in point:

If removing your pants, putting on a scouter, and screaming like you've just seen a human-sized rat isn't 'devoid of reasoning' (that's the sort of comedy we have in the intros), then how can you say the occasional jokes in the introductions are...?

And if you do confess that it is a little 'devoid of reasoning and logic', then what sort of impact do you think it'll have on the members?

If anyone's gonna get 'scared off', they're gonna get scared off because of you!

With all respect, VegettoEX, I think you should re-evaluate what the forum does 'represent'. I've been around for... well, a while (I've seen almost every thread since I got here), and I'd use the following phrases/ words to describe it as a whole:

authoritative, entertaining, friendly, a little crazy, fun

I see it that way because you helped make it that way! The greeters represent all of those descriptions in the introductions, and so do everybody else in 'the rest of the forum', (although in the 'Dragonball Questions' section, there's much less craziness, and should stay that way). But overall, there's a strong aspect of all of those descriptions. Just... how can the introductions be 'completely non-representative of the rest of the forum'?

I think that each section of the site has an appropriate amount of all five of those descriptions; with the introductions sporting mostly the last 4- which, like I said, is appropriate- because it's good to have an accurate first impression of what the forum as a whole largely represents.

VegettoEX, do you not see what the forum really is?

VegettoEX wrote:That's somewhat what this "Introductions" section has become, and that was never intended to be its purpose. We welcome everyone, and I have no desire to scare off people with the kinds of things I see evolving in this section. It's completely non-representative of the rest of the forum, and that concerns me.

Godo wrote:I've never met anyone that disliked the way of greeting in the introduction forums.

Exactly. Looking through the introduction forums now, I can see that 90% of the newbies loved our greetings. We continued to do it because we saw how much they loved it, and we tried to make it a little more fun each time.

EDIT: Nicely said, Godo! Especially this:

'I also think that the reason he has written is very vague and only a way for him to tell that he hasn't got time to deal with the forum anymore.'

True. And also, he makes inaccurate generalizations as well.

Post by **desirecampbell** » Mon Dec 10, 2007 3:22 pm

Bottom line: this is a Dragonball forum, there's no need of a section that is non-Dragonball.

If anyone feels the need to discuss something else, well, that's what the multitude of other forums are for. Find one that is designed for your intended topic and post it there.

If you want to discuss something Dragonball, you're in the right place.

If you want to discuss something else, you're not.

If you just want to vent about your life, get a blog.

-edit-
Steven, we're a little bit crazy - but the Intro threads were exceedingly crazy.

BlueSky · Post by **Kaboom** » Mon Dec 10, 2007 3:45 pm

desirecampbell wrote:Steven, we're a little bit crazy - but the Intro threads were exceedingly crazy.

I have to agree with this. I used to be one of the biggest frequenters of the Introductions Board, but in the last couple months, things have just gotten exceedingly random. There's "funny," and then there's "out of control." The Introductions Thread were starting to lean far too much towards the latter.

I think a fair compromise would be to reopen it again if you guys promised to just tone it all down to a degree. Giving warm welcomes and cracking jokes is one thing. Spouting nonsense is quite another.

Post by **TripleRach** » Mon Dec 10, 2007 3:52 pm

This thread is probably doomed, but I still want to throw in a couple of my pennies anyway...

Personally, I stopped reading the intro forum a long time ago, because I had no idea what anyone is talking about anymore. Every time I peeked back in there since then, it was still the same. And it's not like Mike hasn't expressed his feelings about it multiple times in the past.

But the "We Need An Off-Topic Forum" thing seems to come up at least once every few months. The first time it happened, we just made an off-topic forum. It was rather active at first, and even The Man himself has posted there a few times. But it's died down a lot recently, partly because the older participants fell off the face of the internet, and partly because newer Daizexers rarely seem to be swayed by the revival attempts from people like Xyex and myself.

There's also the official IRC room, where we've always been able to talk about whatever we want. I've gotten to know and even become good friends with quite a few people from the forums that way.

Steven Perry · Post by **Steven Perry** » Mon Dec 10, 2007 3:53 pm

SSj Kaboom wrote:
desirecampbell wrote:Steven, we're a little bit crazy - but the Intro threads were exceedingly crazy.
I have to agree with this. I used to be one of the biggest frequenters of the Introductions Board, but in the last couple months, things have just gotten exceedingly random. There's "funny," and then there's "out of control." The Introductions Thread were starting to lean far too much towards the latter.

I think a fair compromise would be to reopen it again if you guys promised to just tone it all down to a degree. Giving warm welcomes and cracking jokes is one thing. Spouting nonsense is quite another.

If you can gather enough quotes and examples from the past month, I'm willing to agree. But from what I recall... we toned it down greatly. And I only remember one thread were it got really out of hand, and that was SG2's (all crazy posting stopped in that a while ago, but it got revived and attracted attention). Yeah, and I do think VegettoEX should put the intros on 'probation'.

EDIT: And I'm not protesting about its shut-down because I feel that we need an off-topic forum, but because the newbies will now miss out on that warm and friendly reception that people in the past appreciated (like I said to EX in a a PM).

NeptuneKai · Post by **NeptuneKai** » Mon Dec 10, 2007 4:06 pm

I agree with Mr.EX those posts weren’t even funny.
The so called jokes sort of looked like this-

"*LOL TAKES OFF NEPTUNE KAIS PANTS THEN DANCES AROUND AS A WEASEL SUCKS HIS NIPPLE*
LOL COOKIES!!11" LOL BEWARE OF NEPTUNE KAI HE'S ON THE LOOSE! HOT FUCK THIS JOKE IS STILL HOT EVEN AFTER 50 INTRODUCTIONS!

It made it look more like gamefaqs with slightly better grammar rather then daizex.

Godo · Post by **Godo** » Mon Dec 10, 2007 4:20 pm

As I have told before, every kind of system needs a shithole. Even a forum that is exclusively about Dragonball. As I've told before, a certain forum that is exclusively for people working in medical service, has an Off Topic forum.
The only thing they speak of is work and studies. Eventually they have a nice time in the Off Topic forum, and it works fine. Why?
Just because of that they get social interactions with eachother. That was what we got from the Introduction forum.
I mean, that forum is a helluva lot stricter and bigger than the Daizex forums, and it has worked really fine.

It seems like there is a great fear of that if we get an off topic section, noone will care about the rest of the sections...which is not the case and has never been.

Now I don't care about an Off Topic section. I just think that the reason to shut down the Introduction forums is not logical.

The only thing VegettoEX seems to do on the forum nowadays is to post in the podcast section. Please, put in another moderator. Someone that has been here for long. Then you don't have to worry about things that happen while you are not here.

Got any time to answer, VegettoEX?

Xyex · Post by **Xyex** » Mon Dec 10, 2007 4:23 pm

So, I was going to make a post of my own here but....

TripleRach wrote:This thread is probably doomed, but I still want to throw in a couple of my pennies anyway...

Personally, I stopped reading the intro forum a long time ago, because I had no idea what anyone is talking about anymore. Every time I peeked back in there since then, it was still the same. And it's not like Mike hasn't expressed his feelings about it multiple times in the past.

But the "We Need An Off-Topic Forum" thing seems to come up at least once every few months. The first time it happened, we just made an off-topic forum. It was rather active at first, and even The Man himself has posted there a few times. But it's died down a lot recently, partly because the older participants fell off the face of the internet, and partly because newer Daizexers rarely seem to be swayed by the revival attempts from people like Xyex and myself.

There's also the official IRC room, where we've always been able to talk about whatever we want. I've gotten to know and even become good friends with quite a few people from the forums that way.

That pretty much says everything. The Intro section was getting out of hand and attempts to stop it more diplomatically weren't getting anywhere. Seriously, people, if you want to spout random crap go to the RANDOMNESS BOARDS to do it. It's what they're there for. We've got a section for... just about everything, at this point. Including RPG areas that were requested by many people and then promptly ignored.

Gyt Kaliba · Post by **Gyt Kaliba** » Mon Dec 10, 2007 4:25 pm

Where are these off-topic threads you speak of anyway? I don't see an off-topic section anywhere here. o.O

Godo · Post by **Godo** » Mon Dec 10, 2007 4:47 pm

http://daizexrandom.proboards29.com/ <-- Place made because of that Daizex forums is incomplete as a forum, so they had to make a new one.

Post by **desirecampbell** » Mon Dec 10, 2007 4:49 pm

Gyt Kaliba wrote:Where are these off-topic threads you speak of anyway? I don't see an off-topic section anywhere here. o.O

TripleRach wrote:But the "We Need An Off-Topic Forum" thing seems to come up at least once every few months. The first time it happened, we just made an off-topic forum.

Gyt Kaliba · Post by **Gyt Kaliba** » Mon Dec 10, 2007 4:52 pm

Thanks. So it's more like a sister forum than a section on this forum then. That's what was confusing me.

Godo · Post by **Godo** » Mon Dec 10, 2007 4:57 pm

Still I will remain in the forum, but I still think that many threads are ruined because of off topic discussions.

Kanzenshuu

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