About welcoming new members

Carrying the thoughts below over from another thread, a trip report, and placing them here.

I'm going to start a new thread, I haven't done many. It's a suggestion for a new member to have to sort-of introduce themselves to the forum, tell the forum something about yourself. Like where you live, SE USA would be me. How long have you been gambling? Just couple years for me, exclusively Blackjack. (Means I don't have a clue bout roulette, craps, or the now dreaded Bac, or VP or anything else). Are you young or ahead of easy john, sp). Do you win, or lose? Do you care?.............just something to give the watchdogs, whether official or not, a glimpse at who you are so they don't have to try to piece it together from your posts, and grammar, and phrases, and references. Is that OK? I think it should be posted under 'general discussion'. Did I get that right? Just a thought, feedback accepted gladfully. 2F (that's me).

Alright, I slept on the idea, (I'm quoting myself, is that bad form)?
A lot of people join the forum every day, many days.
Some a couple of times per day ;-)
I suppose that's way too many intros for anyone to keep up with.
Many just come to read and to learn, not to post much.
Maybe only if you want to post, particularly post ALOT,
then your first post should be an introduction of yourself.
Still thinking, I'm slow.

Maybe just a suggestion or two that is part of the "join the Forum" process.
Read the rules.
Try to obey the rules.
Consider reading a lot of previous threads before you start posting.
Try the 'search' function before starting to ask questions to see if they've already been answered.

Some guidance like that.
It may already be in place, I don't remember.
Been quite awhile since I joined.

Or the watchdogs, official or not, could request an intro from anyone that becomes super active immediatly after joining.
It could be a polite request.
Of course if the request was ignored, other members could just 'block' that poster, in the 'members' list.
If everyone blocked them they would just be sending themselves typed notes ;-)
Am I just sending myself typed notes?

Done. No new thread, re-activated an old one.
I should read more and type less ;-)

This is an excellent thread started by our friend, kubikulann. Everyone should read it in it's entirety.

I would suggest that if you do this, you get permission of the Mods and maybe have them draft the thread, because IMO, this needs to be sticky so it doesn't fall down into the level of forgottenness.

Quote: 1BB

This is an excellent thread started by our friend, kubikulann. Everyone should read it in it's entirety.

I read it in it's entirety and decided my thoughts should be added rather than starting another thread. Good stuff in there already, good stuff all over the place but sometimes I have a hard time finding it. Patience is a virtue, and an admiral goal. Some days I do better than other days.

There's also bunches of other good ideas expressed in other threads under the 'Rules' group/category/subsection area. I read a bunch, too much for one morning. I wish I could go sit down at a table and play now. Not today, not me.

We should have a suggestion box. Allow the option for members' thoughts and ideas to remain anonymous if they are afraid of repercussions. How long would that last?

Quote: 1BB

We should have a suggestion box. Allow the option for members' thoughts and ideas to remain anonymous if they are afraid of repercussions. How long would that last?

The Rulers may not know how big to make that box. How big does it need to be to fit all your suggestions? Tee hee

Quote: TwoFeathersATL

The Rulers may not know how big to make that box. How big does it need to be to fit all your suggestions? Tee hee

We definitely want to think big just in case. :-) I would never do it anonymously but would completely understand if others did.

Quote: TwoFeathersATL

The Rulers may not know how big to make that box. How big does it need to be to fit all your suggestions? Tee hee

That wasn't nice, I retract my comment. The list has to have 1BB, he's a necessary component.
My sincerest apology, Sir. I owe you a drink, and I pay my debts. You keep the tab current.

Quote: TwoFeathersATL

That wasn't nice, I retract my comment. The list has to have 1BB, he's a necessary component.
My sincerest apology, Sir. I owe you a drink, and I pay my debts. You keep the tab current.

No apology necessary. A sense of humor is a good thing.

Members seem to do just fine making their unsolicited suggestions without extra encouragement.

comments? suggestion box?

Do the inmates think this is a democracy?

Quote: RaleighCraps

comments? suggestion box?

Do the inmates think this is a democracy?

No

I forgot to add my emoji to my above post ....... ;-)

Suggestion box?

Isn't that kind of handled just as well with the PM feature? I'll go on record saying that I've not had a single PM ignored.

Personally I prefer this method.

http://www.shutterstock.com/video/clip-8433784-stock-footage-interrogation-suspect-accused-file-thrown-on-table.html?src=rel/8433790:2/3p

My suggestion for a suggestion box was somewhat tongue in cheek. Anyone here can make a suggestion anytime they please. It may be convenient to have them in one place but it's not necessary.

I've made some good suggestions over the years, from doing away with the Suspension List to term limits and elections for administrators. I never got any feedback on those except from the "circle the wagons" crowd. :-)

Quote: kubikulann

It has now been more than a few threads where some person, first-time poster, asks some question and receives a deluge of sarcasm and abuse. In several case this has led to their reacting offended and be banned for insult or profanity. But are they the guilty?

It shocks me as in total contradiction with what you see on Mike's other site, WizardOfOdds, where he has the habit of answering very kindly to most requests -- even stupid ones, even sometime far removed from what the site was about.

Please consider that many people first visit the WoO site. They find a treasure trove of information, want to congratulate/thank Mike and/or ask him a question. Nowadays, they are redirected to this forum. So, it is totally normal and expected that they sometimes ask, uhh, 'improbable' questions. I would find it so much more nice if the (older) members had a bit more understanding and welcoming.

Maybe one should distinguish 'discussion' forums and 'question' forums?

Maybe a new rule should be written about the behaviour towards newbies, and a punishment for abusive sarcasm or meanness?

Nice, but hum-hum, laughable.

Quote: 1BB

"circle the wagons" crowd. :-)

I am not commenting on the thread. I simply love this saying and how adequate for a description of some.

Is anyone going to welcome the new member with the five blogs or is that a bot? How can you tell a bot? Is it always obvious?

Quote: 1BB

Is anyone going to welcome the new member with the five blogs or is that a bot? How can you tell a bot? Is it always obvious?

No, it's not always obvious.

This board needs fewer mods and more blade runners to detect the replicants.

I thought Rutger Hauer played an excellent roll in this movie and Daryl Hannah was still hot. I actually rooted for them over the Blade Runner.

Quote: Tomspur

Man you guys are a tough bunch :)

Everyone who registeres here has the right to ask a question and interact with other posters as long as they follow the rules.

We should not be chasing anybody away because perhaps one of them might actually have found the missing "system" we have been searching for since Noah climbed aboard that big wooden boat of his........

NAHHHHH who am I kidding :)

Personally, I am waiting to get slammed on the question I asked. Someone else posted, 'tough bunch here', I see that.

Quote: EvenBob

I don't remember anymore. I had a reason at
the time, though.

Sounds like the poster is a genius! I don't say that to be downgrading, he seems to have an intelligent answer for everything thrown at him! I love it.

Quote: TwoFeathersATL

Carrying the thoughts below over from another thread, a trip report, and placing them here.

I'm going to start a new thread, I haven't done many. It's a suggestion for a new member to have to sort-of introduce themselves to the forum, tell the forum something about yourself. Like where you live, SE USA would be me. How long have you been gambling? Just couple years for me, exclusively Blackjack. (Means I don't have a clue bout roulette, craps, or the now dreaded Bac, or VP or anything else). Are you young or ahead of easy john, sp). Do you win, or lose? Do you care?.............just something to give the watchdogs, whether official or not, a glimpse at who you are so they don't have to try to piece it together from your posts, and grammar, and phrases, and references. Is that OK? I think it should be posted under 'general discussion'. Did I get that right? Just a thought, feedback accepted gladfully. 2F (that's me).

Alright, I slept on the idea, (I'm quoting myself, is that bad form)?
A lot of people join the forum every day, many days.
Some a couple of times per day ;-)
I suppose that's way too many intros for anyone to keep up with.
Many just come to read and to learn, not to post much.
Maybe only if you want to post, particularly post ALOT,
then your first post should be an introduction of yourself.
Still thinking, I'm slow.

Maybe just a suggestion or two that is part of the "join the Forum" process.
Read the rules.
Try to obey the rules.
Consider reading a lot of previous threads before you start posting.
Try the 'search' function before starting to ask questions to see if they've already been answered.

Some guidance like that.
It may already be in place, I don't remember.
Been quite awhile since I joined.

Or the watchdogs, official or not, could request an intro from anyone that becomes super active immediatly after joining.
It could be a polite request.
Of course if the request was ignored, other members could just 'block' that poster, in the 'members' list.
If everyone blocked them they would just be sending themselves typed notes ;-)
Am I just sending myself typed notes?

Done. No new thread, re-activated an old one.
I should read more and type less ;-)

I'm still really new here. I had not been a lurker before joining. Coming here kind of feels like being someone's +1 at a 20 year high school reunion except my date who was actually a class member is sick and didn't make it so I'm here by myself. I've gotten a few welcoming smiles and gestures (thank you 1BB, BBB, TwoFeathers), but for the most part, it's pretty awkward being new. I feel like I'm overhearing circles of conversation, old friends/nemeses, many inside jokes, and getting blank looks when trying to join in. I know this is part of the nature of just being new in an established community. I am trying :)

How about a dedicated "Welcome" or "Introduce Yourself" sub-forum? It gives people a visible way to debut their membership and lets people know a bit about each other from the start. Rules should be a sticky at the top of the Welcome/Introduction sub header. I was unaware of the new member posting limit until I read about it elsewhere. To be perfectly frank, I probably only skimmed over this forum's rules because I generally know how to behave online. (I just looked now, new member posting limits are rule #14. That's pretty far down there.)

I've had the "Discussion about the Suspension List" open on my desktop for a few weeks now because of a mention of suspicion on any new members that they were actually old members with a new name. I didn't try to start from page 1 but I did go back to mid-April to try and catch myself up to speed. I have gotten a few days past my join date and I can see that right when I joined, "sock puppets" was a hot button issue. Maybe if you want to be welcoming, you have to do more than just say that this is something you aspire to? I would have definitely introduced myself before posting my brief Bellagio review as my 1st posting here.

Hi Chereya! :-)

Quote: surrender88s

Hi Chereya! :-)

Hello, surrender! Any significance to your name with the 88s? :)

Quote: Vegaseddie

Sounds like the poster is a genius! I don't say that to be downgrading, he seems to have an intelligent answer for everything thrown at him! I love it.

Agreed that he has an answer for everything thrown at him. Intelligent answer?? That is a different discussion. :)

Quote: Chereya

Hello, surrender! Any significance to your name with the 88s? :)

I hate splitting 8's in blackjack, unless I'm against a 8 or less. So I surrender it like a 16 against a 10 or A. And at the time I couldn't think of anything better to make a username about haha.

Quote: kewlj

Agreed that he has an answer for everything thrown at him. Intelligent answer?? That is a different discussion. :)

I understand now what you said! :)

Quote: kubikulann

It has now been more than a few threads where some person, first-time poster, asks some question and receives a deluge of sarcasm and abuse. In several case this has led to their reacting offended and be banned for insult or profanity. But are they the guilty?

It shocks me as in total contradiction with what you see on Mike's other site, WizardOfOdds, where he has the habit of answering very kindly to most requests -- even stupid ones, even sometime far removed from what the site was about.

Please consider that many people first visit the WoO site. They find a treasure trove of information, want to congratulate/thank Mike and/or ask him a question. Nowadays, they are redirected to this forum. So, it is totally normal and expected that they sometimes ask, uhh, 'improbable' questions. I would find it so much more nice if the (older) members had a bit more understanding and welcoming.

Maybe one should distinguish 'discussion' forums and 'question' forums?

Maybe a new rule should be written about the behaviour towards newbies, and a punishment for abusive sarcasm or meanness?

This recent thread by Aimee21 is surprising. Maybe I am naive and trusting. All I know is that IF she is indeed who she says she is, I would think that she should be terribly offended by all these annoyingly rude accusations. The accusers don't want to put their money where there mouth is. Well, be polite until the green inkers decide.

Quote: FleaStiff

This recent thread by Aimee21 is surprising. Maybe I am naive and trusting. All I know is that IF she is indeed who she says she is, I would think that she should be terribly offended by all these annoyingly rude accusations. The accusers don't want to put their money where there mouth is. Well, be polite until the green inkers decide.

All I can think is if this is how a 21 YO talks and acts, this country has bigger problems than Trump or Hillary could ever solve. Amazing how some of the so called smartest people in the world fall for stuff like this. Damn I hope their lives are not that empty that they want something to be real, they lose their common sense.

Just my opinion on how I see it.

Quote: Boz

All I can think is if this is how a 21 YO talks and acts, this country has bigger problems than Trump or Hillary could ever solve. Amazing how some of the so called smartest people in the world fall for stuff like this. Damn I hope their lives are not that empty that they want something to be real, they lose their common sense.

Just my opinion on how I see it.

wutevs bruh

umad

but in all seriousness, betting a new member is a sock puppet is +EV. nobody has offered me any odds on the "YES" however.

Aimee turned out to be a scammer and was nuked by the Admins. I was dismayed as I not only fell for her ruse, I adamantly stuck up for her thinking she was a sweet girl. There were many red flags that were explored after she was nuked, such as her saying,"I used a fake ID when I was underage to get into an adult club!" As soon as she posted that, everyone should have been thinking, "What else could she be faking about? " And another red flag that was explored after she was nuked was the fact that she posted a slightly suggestive avatar of herself in a bikini on a largely male oriented website and had the "Hee hee hee, I'm a sweet lil ol me who is a Vegas virgin and need the help of you manly men to help me out!" persona!

Another red flag that was explored after she was nuked was how she started off as asking normal questions such as "What are the best games in Vegas to play? " And eventually began to ask personal and borderline creepy questions such as "Where do you live" and "Where in Vegas do you play?" It was suggested that she would have eventually asked WOV posters for money had she not been nuked. It was also heavily implied that "she" was probably a guy pretending to be a sweet, naive 21 year old girl which would make the whole thing creepier than it already was.