Welcoming Plaza and Post Count

[Frith is Magick 1,471]

 

 

Staff is currently discussing things with this. I'm for killing post count as well as the 'no copy paste welcomes' rule. I'd rather have someone copy paste a helpful and kind welcome to most if not all new welcoming topics, then ban copy pastes and tell everyone that every welcome post needs to be sincere and thought out, knowing full well that, that's not what's going to happen. People are lazy, man. That said, perhaps some standards to what works as a copy paste welcome and what doesn't, can help us have the best of both worlds.  

Thank you for getting to this, it's good to know that this is already up for discussion. My big problem with the copy-paste was that it was a simple hello, and there was no attempt at personalization.  A pure copy paste is, to me, just as cold as no response whatsoever, and if copy paste is allowed, there should be at least one sentence related to the new user, something to indicate that the poster took the time to read the introduction and try to be welcoming, or at the very least, helpful. The problem with this is that enforcing copy-paste standards seems like a drain on resources that could be better allocated elsewhere. If posts are going to count, there should at least be a higher character limit. It seems like a very hard to balance issue, and ultimately it is up to the staff, but seeing that level of spam was embarrassing.

[NavelColt 22,881]

Thank you for getting to this, it's good to know that this is already up for discussion. My big problem with the copy-paste was that it was a simple hello, and there was no attempt at personalization.  A pure copy paste is, to me, just as cold as no response whatsoever, and if copy paste is allowed, there should be at least one sentence related to the new user, something to indicate that the poster took the time to read the introduction and try to be welcoming, or at the very least, helpful. The problem with this is that enforcing copy-paste standards seems like a drain on resources that could be better allocated elsewhere. If posts are going to count, there should at least be a higher character limit. It seems like a very hard to balance issue, and ultimately it is up to the staff, but seeing that level of spam was embarrassing.

 

A copy paste full of useful information about the site, a friendly greeting and even a link to Pinkie's welcome song from A Friend in Deed (real examples of what people did before we banned it), is worlds better than a one-sentence, 'hai, welcome to the site, have fun' copy paste, and I myself am fine with that first example, and wouldn't call that cold. A copy paste that has effort and a friendly demanour in it counts for something. You're correct in that we have better things to try and put our volunteer hours into than puppy guarding the Welcoming Plaza, but the standards I had in mind weren't going to be some official, written out policy that the staff need to work into their routine, it was more or less a simple, 'If you see someone throwing around a one-sentence, no effort copy paste, you might want to send them a PM about how qulity is a good thing', sort of deal.

[DubWolf 17,271]

I agree with all the things said by frith and CD. The welcoming plaza is a place to welcome people into this community and shouldn't have to be rewarded by a +1 to the post count. I typically usually welcome 2 people every once in a while (can't remember the last time), and I'd keep doing it whether or not it increases my post count.

 

The goal has always been to have it be as active and helpful as possible. That's why posts started counting in the first place, because remarkably few people ever posted in more than three out of ten welcoming topics, leaving a shockingly high number of new members with two, one or even no responses, which was just as big a problem in its' own way as having people abuse post count by working spam into their posts.

So we should be bribing people with the post count just because nobody would be welcoming otherwise? That's shocking that few people would be welcomed (I probably haven't been welcomed in this other forum yet!). It's sort of like a "Scooby snack" thing, which isn't really a problem.

[Washougal_Otaku 1,020]

I just wanted to request that we can have our post counts be more visible.  Also, is there a way to see how many posts are required for each ranking level?  I would like to know how close I am to surpassing the rank of Muffin Cupcake.  Oh, yeah... what's a warning point?

Edited May 7, 2014 by Washougal_Otaku

[Pastel 7,630]

I just wanted to request that we can have our post counts be more visible. Also, is there a way to see how many posts are required for each ranking level? I would like to know how close I am to surpassing the rank of Muffin Cupcake. Oh, yeah... what's a warning point?

Just click on your badge to have the list.

[Washougal_Otaku 1,020]

Just click on your badge to have the list.

...badge?  Oh, that thing!  Hang on a sec...

*looks around*

Okay, so I have at least 40 posts, and need less than 60 in order to become a living creature... (it looks like my profile account says I'm at 48, soon to be 49).

 

Thanks!