What's with all the new folks?

[Henry]

I really hope that no one EVER lets something as innocuous from postcount prevent them from posting. It's never stopped me at NTL, Green Ronin, Kenzer, Malhavoc, Dragonsfoot, WotC, RPGnet, Dumpshock, and Alderac before! I might have 50 posts at each one of them over the years, because I don't have time to be everywhere (probably shouldn't be as many places as I am! )

 

[JoeBlank]

As an insufferable, arrogant bastard once said:

At some point, though, you have to cut bait and say, "look, if this makes you feel inferior, you need to grow a real skin, step up, and stop blaming other things for your problems." You can never make everyone happy, so trying too hard to reach that last 2%, or whatever the number happens to be, usually just ends of alienating everyone else.

Any social situation is going to require some intiative for a new person to break in, be it a party, a new job, or school. This place has been around for a while, so if someone is just joining the conversation then it is well known that he or she is talking to an established group, many of whom already know each other well. That is just a fact of life, and we are all responsible for overcoming that barrier, if we so desire.

In my experience, the only thing close to elitism I see on EN World, or talking down to newbs, comes when someone jumps in and makes repeated and obvious errors, such as rogue/rouge, or just does not seem to take the time to think though a statement before making it. Even when posts make little sense, I see people trying to help, asking for more info, etc.

The vast majority of folks around here are well aware that the vast majority of gamers never visit this place, and yet know the game well and have opinions and thoughts that might benefit all of us. Come, be welcome, and share what you have to offer.

 

[diaglo]

I really hope that no one EVER lets something as innocuous from postcount prevent them from posting. It's never stopped me at NTL, Green Ronin, Kenzer, Malhavoc, Dragonsfoot, WotC, RPGnet, Dumpshock, and Alderac before! I might have 50 posts at each one of them over the years, because I don't have time to be everywhere (probably shouldn't be as many places as I am! )

ditto.

i've always been an advocate of removing post count from any forum.

even tho, i have ...thousands of posts on all those forums.

 

[Thornir Alekeg]

I am going to counter the arguement that postcount only serves to intimidate new users or creates an elitist attitude. What I have seen is that most of the people here are willing to cut a person with a low postcount a little more slack and maybe be a little easier on them.

If a person with 5k posts starts up a thread that has been done to death, that person is probably going to get some flak for starting the arguement again, but a person asking the same question who only has 30 posts will probably find that people are more than willing to offer up their opinions without too much snarkyness, and maybe will direct them to a prior thread.

As for a lot of new or low post count users, maybe somebody recently posted a link to EN World that is drawing in some new traffic.

 

[diaglo]

As for a lot of new or low post count users, maybe somebody recently posted a link to EN World that is drawing in some new traffic.

many colleges and at least here in ga high schools are out for summer break.

 

[Wystan]

I like getting my postcount higher, and I like having people to base it against.

 

[MonsterMash]

Y'know, it's a good thing there are so many new people around here. It means the site is getting fresh blood, and is an indicator that the hobby is growing and well. We should be a lot more worried if we never see anybody new, and all the posters have been here for years and have zillions of posts.

But post count isn't all it is cracked up to be. As was pointed out, the join date is also important. Lots of people are lurkers who may register and never post, or even never register then suddenly sign up one day to post on a thread that gets their attention (or they really want to say something). They'll look like a total newbie, but have been reading for months or years.

Kind of like me - I spent a long time here as a lurker before really starting to post frequently around september/october last year and then becoming the unstoppable torrent of verbiage that I am now

On the other RPG boards I tend to visit (necromancer games) I've got a much higher post count - there there is a system of ranks based on post count and custom titles, but that is a smaller community than here so has a different feel - there are something like 1/20th of the amount of posters registered than at ENWorld so the active regulars are many less than here and it does feel different (not better or worse so much as different).

 

[Raging Epistaxis]

One more long time lurker here who has just recently peeked out of his shell a bit to post some. Until about a year ago, I had less than twenty posts, but have been reading news and lurking here since near the inception of this site (and a bit before even).

Now I find myself reading and posting less and less due to RL business.

That and my two favorite story hours haven't updated in a while. Well, ok, Zad did the other day, but PC still hasn't. Not that I'm really complaining, just pointing out a reason for visiting less.

Elitism? Nah, not so much here as other boards. I like the community/tone here. Best of the breed, if you ask me. Mentions of postcount tend to be in-joke kidding, tongue-in-cheek stuff mostly IMO.

R E

 

[the Jester]

I have never found ENWorld to be 'elitist,' and I like postcounts, personally.

One way to see how we treat newcomers is to look at the 'hi, I'm new' threads that come up from time to time. There are usually tons of people who chime in to welcome the new folks.

 

[mojo1701]

I usually see others' higher post counts (esp. when I myself was a newbie) as something to strive for.