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Sometimes people are just way too sensitive. This is an excellent example from the "I want to be a reviewer" thread:

 

If I were new to Geocaching and I asked a simple, albeit uninformed question, I would be really turned off by the miserable way that some of you have greeted this individual. Very rude folks.

 

That entire thread is a light-hearted response to the OP's question. I've reread it a couple of times to see if I could figure out what ATX is referring to.

 

Not all accusations of negativity are valid. Sometimes, people just need to learn to lighten up.

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As an occasional reader of the forums, I've ... been apalled at the number of nasty, rude or sarcastic comments made by the regular contributors. That includes many but not all of the moderators which is really discouraging

 

100% spot on.

 

Ive stopped reading the forums daily, and now check in once a week at best to see if theres anything useful.

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Sometimes people are just way too sensitive. This is an excellent example from the "I want to be a reviewer" thread:

 

If I were new to Geocaching and I asked a simple, albeit uninformed question, I would be really turned off by the miserable way that some of you have greeted this individual. Very rude folks.

 

That entire thread is a light-hearted response to the OP's question. I've reread it a couple of times to see if I could figure out what ATX is referring to.

 

Not all accusations of negativity are valid. Sometimes, people just need to learn to lighten up.

The feeling of negativity was valid to HIM, and that's what matters. :anibad:

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Sometimes people are just way too sensitive. This is an excellent example from the "I want to be a reviewer" thread:

 

If I were new to Geocaching and I asked a simple, albeit uninformed question, I would be really turned off by the miserable way that some of you have greeted this individual. Very rude folks.

 

That entire thread is a light-hearted response to the OP's question. I've reread it a couple of times to see if I could figure out what ATX is referring to.

 

Not all accusations of negativity are valid. Sometimes, people just need to learn to lighten up.

The feeling of negativity was valid to HIM, and that's what matters. :anibad:

 

In that case, there is not one thing we can do to make everyone happy. Period.

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What I notice is not outright hostility towards newbies, it's more of a passive aggressive type response in most cases.

 

It's passive in the sense it can be excused later as a not intended that way if it's later taken in the wrong way. It's very easy to be passive aggressive, disruptive and subversive towards a person or group of people and pass it off later as a misunderstanding - that is the whole intention of doing it in the first place.

 

It also doesn't seem to be something that can be avoided, considering for some, their testosterone level is inexplicably linked to the game in various ways.

 

What I'd suggest as an alternative is that moderators focus on moving incendiary newbie posts that stumble into the General forum into the Getting Started forum soon after they appear.

 

This would have the double-whammy effect of discouraging trolls (ie. the one's who pretend to be newbies to start a flame war) and getting genuine help for those who are genuinely confused without exposing them to the harsher elements.

 

I notice the topic of popcorn comes up. I don't know about others who have used the icon in the past but I use the popcorn icon to indicate I'm going to watch and laugh at all the geotards responding in their typical way - often because I know the OP is going to wish they had never discovered the forums/geocaching after the thread is finished.

 

In this instance, I use geotards to refer to those who are neither civil or objective.

 

Disclaimer: This post was carefully made in the highest quality controlled environment, but may contain trace elements of passive aggressiveness.

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:ph34r: Maybe we need a heated topics board where the circular yelling debates can go on.

 

seen it on several forums.... a hidden forum, or regulated entry (one forum it was based on gender, and let's just say one gender was always boring)...

 

it never ends well, as someone always ends up getting their one true feeling hurt. ...and really, just as with the grammar nazis, there are some people who will bang their heads against the brick wall making dadgum certain that their point is the one surviving at the end of it all.

 

:)

 

The Frog tongue was implying me being sarcastic.

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I really don't see the rampant newbie bashing that TAR is referring to. If someone comes here with an earnest question most forum regulars fall over themselves to help the person out. Sure once in a while you'll see that ridiculous popcorn icon, or someone will make a flip comment in an poor attempt at humor, but they are generally received well.

 

There are times that new visitors are jumped on and it usually occurs when:

 

- They set the tone with a negative, accusatory or belligerent OP.

- They are obvious trolls.

- They are sock puppets and not really newbies.

- They have little or no geocaching experience and are disposed to tell us what's wrong with the sport.

 

But if they come here and are sincere and polite they are almost always treated respectfully.

 

Gosh why can't I phrase things like this. Of course I'm not the Geocacher of the decade either.

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I remember when I first started posting to the geocaching forum(s). I was greeted with snarky attitudes, especially by one particular individual.

I was specifically targeted and labeled as a total noob who had no business commenting in the forum(s). It was implied that my low find count somehow translated to my being unworthy of being here. It didn't matter that my find count encompassed 4 states and over 3000 miles or that I had found a cache near an active volcano, outside the redwood forest, or that I had gone geocaching at 2AM. Apparantly it had something to do with my "count" as if the commentor(s) were better than me.

 

Yup, that's how I was introduced to the forum(s) and as far as I know I have never made a post to a noob like that.

 

You regulars are fair game but the noobs get serious answers and as much help as I can give at the time.

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Sometimes people are just way too sensitive. This is an excellent example from the "I want to be a reviewer" thread:

 

If I were new to Geocaching and I asked a simple, albeit uninformed question, I would be really turned off by the miserable way that some of you have greeted this individual. Very rude folks.

 

That entire thread is a light-hearted response to the OP's question. I've reread it a couple of times to see if I could figure out what ATX is referring to.

 

Not all accusations of negativity are valid. Sometimes, people just need to learn to lighten up.

The very first reply was "It must be Tuesday" (or something similar...) To those of us who hang out here on a regular basis, that is humorous. Well, intended to be, at least. But to someone that isn't used to our humor, that is confusing at best, snarky at worst. I don't for one second think that the first reply was intended to be snarky, but it obviously confused the OP and raised the hackles of at least one reader that isn't a regular.

 

I never have liked the "thick skin" argument that so often surfaces here. No... you should NOT need a "thick skin" to post here. These are our geocaching brethren, coming here looking for answers.

 

As to the trolls and sock puppets... SO WHAT? Answer them sincerely (I have been guilty of disregarding that advice, too). Whats the worst that can happen... you'll look like you didn't realize that it was a troll or sock puppet? :ph34r:

 

Those of us that hang out here, whether we intend it, or not, are seen as ambassadors of geocaching by many that come here. We should act like it. Frankly, I'd love to see the day when the mods are here to police the newcomers and not the old timers.

 

(anybody please remind me of this post when/if I fail)

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I remember when I first started posting to the geocaching forum(s). I was greeted with snarky attitudes, especially by one particular individual.

I was specifically targeted and labeled as a total noob who had no business commenting in the forum(s). It was implied that my low find count somehow translated to my being unworthy of being here. It didn't matter that my find count encompassed 4 states and over 3000 miles or that I had found a cache near an active volcano, outside the redwood forest, or that I had gone geocaching at 2AM. Apparantly it had something to do with my "count" as if the commentor(s) were better than me.

 

Yup, that's how I was introduced to the forum(s) and as far as I know I have never made a post to a noob like that.

 

You regulars are fair game but the noobs get serious answers and as much help as I can give at the time.

 

Come back when you get a few more finds and maybe we'll pay some attention to what you have to say.

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I remember when I first started posting to the geocaching forum(s). I was greeted with snarky attitudes, especially by one particular individual.

I was specifically targeted and labeled as a total noob who had no business commenting in the forum(s). It was implied that my low find count somehow translated to my being unworthy of being here. It didn't matter that my find count encompassed 4 states and over 3000 miles or that I had found a cache near an active volcano, outside the redwood forest, or that I had gone geocaching at 2AM. Apparantly it had something to do with my "count" as if the commentor(s) were better than me.

 

Yup, that's how I was introduced to the forum(s) and as far as I know I have never made a post to a noob like that.

 

You regulars are fair game but the noobs get serious answers and as much help as I can give at the time.

 

Come back when you get a few more finds and maybe we'll pay some attention to what you have to say.

A perfect example. :ph34r:

 

And this from a Moderator? No wonder folks avoid this forum like the plague. :)

Edited by TheAlabamaRambler
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I remember when I first started posting to the geocaching forum(s). I was greeted with snarky attitudes, especially by one particular individual.

I was specifically targeted and labeled as a total noob who had no business commenting in the forum(s). It was implied that my low find count somehow translated to my being unworthy of being here. It didn't matter that my find count encompassed 4 states and over 3000 miles or that I had found a cache near an active volcano, outside the redwood forest, or that I had gone geocaching at 2AM. Apparantly it had something to do with my "count" as if the commentor(s) were better than me.

 

Yup, that's how I was introduced to the forum(s) and as far as I know I have never made a post to a noob like that.

 

You regulars are fair game but the noobs get serious answers and as much help as I can give at the time.

 

Come back when you get a few more finds and maybe we'll pay some attention to what you have to say.

A perfect example. :ph34r:

 

And this from a Moderator? No wonder folks avoid this forum like the plague. :)

 

Surely you meant to add a smilie. You can't be seriously questioning that post???

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>>I know, folks really should search for a topic before asking about it, but a lot of new forum users don't know that.<<

 

Why should they search ahead of time? Honestly, why shouldn't the new guy just ask the question that's on his mind.

 

The questions noobies ask are just as much a part of saying hello to the community as they are about getting information. And it's not like yet another thread about micros or whatever is somehow going to drain us of the limited supply of pixels. If you don't want to provide a repetitive answer, that's fine. But having the question posed again doesn't hurt anyone or anything.

Edited by Alkhalikoi
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>>I know, folks really should search for a topic before asking about it, but a lot of new forum users don't know that.<<

 

Why should they search ahead of time? Honestly, why shouldn't the new guy just question that's on his mind.

 

The questions noobies ask are just as much a part of saying hello to the community as they are about getting information. And it's not like yet another thread about micros or whatever is somehow going to drain us of the limit supply of pixels. If you don't want to provide a repetitive answer, that's fine. But having the question posed again doesn't hurt anyone or anything.

 

I have no problem with new folks asking the same questions. What I don't get is why so many seem to take offense when a regular links them to an ongoing thread.

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I remember when I first started posting to the geocaching forum(s). I was greeted with snarky attitudes, especially by one particular individual.

I was specifically targeted and labeled as a total noob who had no business commenting in the forum(s). It was implied that my low find count somehow translated to my being unworthy of being here. It didn't matter that my find count encompassed 4 states and over 3000 miles or that I had found a cache near an active volcano, outside the redwood forest, or that I had gone geocaching at 2AM. Apparantly it had something to do with my "count" as if the commentor(s) were better than me.

 

Yup, that's how I was introduced to the forum(s) and as far as I know I have never made a post to a noob like that.

 

You regulars are fair game but the noobs get serious answers and as much help as I can give at the time.

 

Come back when you get a few more finds and maybe we'll pay some attention to what you have to say.

A perfect example. :ph34r:

 

And this from a Moderator? No wonder folks avoid this forum like the plague. :)

 

Surely you meant to add a smilie. You can't be seriously questioning that post???

 

I was going to tell him to Bite ME! but I think my next time-out is scheduled to last past the Mayan calendar end date.

 

(that reminds me, for some reason, that I just got a reminder to renew my membership)

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>>I know, folks really should search for a topic before asking about it, but a lot of new forum users don't know that.<<

 

Why should they search ahead of time? Honestly, why shouldn't the new guy just question that's on his mind.

 

The questions noobies ask are just as much a part of saying hello to the community as they are about getting information. And it's not like yet another thread about micros or whatever is somehow going to drain us of the limit supply of pixels. If you don't want to provide a repetitive answer, that's fine. But having the question posed again doesn't hurt anyone or anything.

You are absolutely right about that... if we're thinking logically. Unfortunately, we are all human. It is much like cussing at the guy driving 50 mph in the "passing lane" and feeling as though we've told him "a million times" not to do that. Its stupid to get upset about it, but we do, nevertheless.

 

I particularly appreciate you reminding us that often the person is actually posing the question as a way of opening the door, and that the exact question is sometime really irrelevant. I know that I, for one, often forget this.

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Why should they search ahead of time? Honestly, why shouldn't the new guy just question that's on his mind.

Because expecting someone to just spoon feed everything to you is just as rude as someone giving you a flip answer to your question.

 

Honestly, if you think we are rude to newcomers here, then head on over to the DDWRT firmware forums.

 

They have a FAQ posted and a number of pinned topics. If you ask a question that is included in either the FAQ or pinned topic, they will rip your head off.

 

But, if you take the time to read and do a little research on your own, then they are the best people in the world. They will bend over backwards to help you figure out your problem.

 

It works both ways.

 

We do have a getting started section that is VERY newbie friendly. If you choose to post in here, you should be just as willing to do some reading before you come here as we should be to tolerate the same question over and over.

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LOL, I arrived at the neologism independently, but I think it's prior art in these forums! I think there's even a cacher called Geotard.

Suddenly out of the blue, memory I thought I had repressed surfaced. Wasn't there this photo of this guy who geocaches in a leotard-like "superhero" suit? Arrgghhhh!!!

 

I've tried to answer newbie questions to the point and without attempts at humor (especially inside jokes like platinum membership, etc), and definitely nothing that could be perceived as snark. I hope I've succeeded.

 

Oh, and if I felt I've answered a question too many times, I leave it for someone else to answer it.

Edited by Chrysalides
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As has been mentioned already, the attitude of the poster can have a lot of influence on the answers received.

 

For example, when someone with very few finds or hides comes here and starts, for example, calling other geocachers "destructive idiots" and accusing them of destroying things without any sort of proof whatsoever that geocachers were actually responsible for the witnessed damage, they can reasonably expect to be called on that and their preconceptions questioned. But even that can be done respectfully.

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Why should they search ahead of time? Honestly, why shouldn't the new guy just question that's on his mind.

Because expecting someone to just spoon feed everything to you is just as rude as someone giving you a flip answer to your question.

If you don't feel like spoonfeeding, don't. Doesn't mean you have to say something about it, does it? Let the spoonfeeders spoonfeed while you go over to the DDWRT firmware forums.

 

Honestly, if you think we are rude to newcomers here, then head on over to the DDWRT firmware forums.

That is an awful excuse for bad behavior. Just because there are murderers doesn't mean that it should be OK for me to steal. Never use somebody or some situation that is worse to excuse bad behavior... there is always somebody with worse behavior than you. That does not mean that your behavior is OK.

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I have not once excused bad behavior.

 

But I am not going to sit by while folks make it out like we are horrible people here.

 

Does TAR have a point with this thread? Yes!

 

Do a lot of people perceive this to be a rough place to go to ask questions? Yes!

 

Is that perception totally justified and valid? NO!

 

I've been around a while. I've seen bad. I've seen good.

 

While there is a LOT of room for improvement around, a lot of the negative perceptions are just misunderstandings about the people involved.

 

TAR's comment about Briansnat's last post is a good example.

 

For someone who still possesses a funny bone, his post will be seen as the good natured poke it was intended to be.

 

For someone with a chip on their shoulder looking for an excuse to call foul, his post will be seen as snarky and uncalled for.

 

I realize we are knee deep in political correctness these days, but I'm not going to start posting yes/no robotic answers out of fear that I may offend someone.

 

If I do cross the line, then I hope whoever I offend will PM me and let me know. I will be the first to apologize if I hurt someone's feelings unintentionally.

 

But I'm not comfortable with the whole walking on eggshells vibe I'm getting now.

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If you see "bus micro" in the title of the 3rd thread from the top, indicating that it is active, then you should open that thread and read it before asking about putting micros at bus stops.

 

That should be "bus stop micro". Didn't you read the thread? :ph34r:

 

(meant in a light-hearted, positive, manner) :)

 

Disclaimer for newbs: GB knows my sense of humor. This is truly meant as a humorous post. I am not attacking him (I hear he packs a gun).

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I don't see "political correctness" as playing any part in this thread. I do think, for instance, that a rude post should be called for exactly what it is. But there are many ways of wording what we say. Some can exasperate problems, and some can diffuse them. I think that we forget too often that there are others watching our posts that do not themselves post, and making decisions about us based on those observations.

 

By the way, I think the recent "Group cache logging, who gets credit" thread (so far, at least) exemplifies the very best of this forum.

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If you see "bus micro" in the title of the 3rd thread from the top, indicating that it is active, then you should open that thread and read it before asking about putting micros at bus stops.

 

That should be "bus stop micro". Didn't you read the thread? :ph34r:

 

(meant in a light-hearted, positive, manner) :)

 

Disclaimer for newbs: GB knows my sense of humor. This is truly meant as a humorous post. I am not attacking him (I hear he packs a gun).

 

I would slap you back, but I'm afraid someone would take it the wrong way. :)

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If you see "bus micro" in the title of the 3rd thread from the top, indicating that it is active, then you should open that thread and read it before asking about putting micros at bus stops.

 

That should be "bus stop micro". Didn't you read the thread? :ph34r:

 

(meant in a light-hearted, positive, manner) :)

 

Disclaimer for newbs: GB knows my sense of humor. This is truly meant as a humorous post. I am not attacking him (I hear he packs a gun).

 

I would slap you back, but I'm afraid someone would take it the wrong way. :)

 

Go ahead, I need a good smackin'.

 

 

There is some negative energy in these forums but every forum I've ever been on has an element of that. While I have seen much worse, the general vibe here has led me to post more negatively than I do on most places I visit.

 

I might just be having a bad year, though, and I am working hard to build a reputation as a Crusty Old Fart, just in case I die before achieving the Old part.

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As has been mentioned already, the attitude of the poster can have a lot of influence on the answers received.

 

For example, when someone with very few finds or hides comes here and starts, for example, calling other geocachers "destructive idiots" and accusing them of destroying things without any sort of proof whatsoever that geocachers were actually responsible for the witnessed damage, they can reasonably expect to be called on that and their preconceptions questioned. But even that can be done respectfully.

Thank goodness we have you to set the noobees straight.

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I know I've had to stop myself from making a snarky sarcastic comment. The Getting Started Forum is the place where newbs should be asking the basic questions. I don't know why newbs don't use all the great informtaion on the main site before coming here, but I try to be helpful. People should enjoy this hobby/sport/addiction and I think a lot of people can do a better job of making the forums more enjoyable.

 

:ph34r: Maybe we need a heated topics board where the circular yelling debates can go on.

 

My experience as a web designer has shown me that there are some folks who thoroughly read every little bit of text on a site, and then there is a HUGE portion who somehow miss all of it. I have a client who is a lawyer and she has to be shown where to read certain things several times, and this is an intelligent and very well-educated woman.

 

Some people have a difficult time noticing things on a computer, or on the internet; intelligent as they may be, links have to be in exactly the right place sometimes for someone to notice them; it's something I work with on a daily basis. How to make my site more usable to the average user?

 

I know that Groundspeak works very hard on this, so it's not a criticism of the site; I just know that it's impossible to make a site usable for everyone, someone will always miss the right link with all the right information, and so they go to the forums!

 

That's my take on it, hope that helps.

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As has been mentioned already, the attitude of the poster can have a lot of influence on the answers received.

 

For example, when someone with very few finds or hides comes here and starts, for example, calling other geocachers "destructive idiots" and accusing them of destroying things without any sort of proof whatsoever that geocachers were actually responsible for the witnessed damage, they can reasonably expect to be called on that and their preconceptions questioned. But even that can be done respectfully.

Thank goodness we have you to set the noobees straight.

No problem, my friend. You have done a superb job of joining our ranks.

 

By the way, I just went into the wayback machine and re-read the thread that I think you are referring to. Very educational. You might want to do the same. Many people echoed, and even preceded the sentiments of the villain in that thread, yet somehow the focus ended up upon one in particular individual as the enemy. Very strange.

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I remember when I first started posting to the geocaching forum(s). I was greeted with snarky attitudes, especially by one particular individual.

I was specifically targeted and labeled as a total noob who had no business commenting in the forum(s). It was implied that my low find count somehow translated to my being unworthy of being here. It didn't matter that my find count encompassed 4 states and over 3000 miles or that I had found a cache near an active volcano, outside the redwood forest, or that I had gone geocaching at 2AM. Apparantly it had something to do with my "count" as if the commentor(s) were better than me.

 

Yup, that's how I was introduced to the forum(s) and as far as I know I have never made a post to a noob like that.

 

You regulars are fair game but the noobs get serious answers and as much help as I can give at the time.

 

Come back when you get a few more finds and maybe we'll pay some attention to what you have to say.

A perfect example. :ph34r:

 

And this from a Moderator? No wonder folks avoid this forum like the plague. :)

 

Surely you meant to add a smilie. You can't be seriously questioning that post???

 

He's not serious, that's dry humour. He has always had a notoriously low find found, and high amount of hides :D

 

I'm surpised it wasn't directed at Geobain.. :)

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I remember when I first started posting to the geocaching forum(s). I was greeted with snarky attitudes, especially by one particular individual.

You have to admit though, you seem to have one of the sharpest personalities here that often rubs folks the wrong way. I'm sure that plays into responses too.

 

I'd like to say "maybe it's just me" but I don't think* that is necessary. :ph34r:

Edited by Knight2000
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I remember when I first started posting to the geocaching forum(s). I was greeted with snarky attitudes, especially by one particular individual.

You have to admit though, you seem to have one of the sharpest personalities here that often rubs folks the wrong way. I'm sure that plays into responses too.

 

I'd like to say "maybe it's just me" but I don't thin that is necessary. :ph34r:

 

I agree, but I try to be nice to them, as it's remotely possible that bittsen is really a hottie female. :)

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I think TAR makes a lot of good points. I may not agree with everything he said but think we could all try to be a little more understanding and patient with new forum members.

I still consider myself a newbie here (not to forums). I will be the first to point out that I have said some not so nice things to newbies and oldsters alike.

I am making a conscious effort to try to be better in that respect.

 

While I never really felt people were rude to me when I first started posting here I have seen it happen.

Not that often but enough that I agree we should try to make this forum a more welcoming place for new posters.

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I remember when I first started posting to the geocaching forum(s). I was greeted with snarky attitudes, especially by one particular individual.

You have to admit though, you seem to have one of the sharpest personalities here that often rubs folks the wrong way. I'm sure that plays into responses too.

 

I'd like to say "maybe it's just me" but I don't think* that is necessary. :ph34r:

Yup, I do have a unique personality, if I do say so myself.

 

I remember when I first started posting to the geocaching forum(s). I was greeted with snarky attitudes, especially by one particular individual.

You have to admit though, you seem to have one of the sharpest personalities here that often rubs folks the wrong way. I'm sure that plays into responses too.

 

I'd like to say "maybe it's just me" but I don't thin that is necessary. :)

 

I agree, but I try to be nice to them, as it's remotely possible that bittsen is really a hottie female. :)

All I can say to that is at my new work I have had both genders checking me out. Some moreso than others.

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All I can say to that is at my new work I have had both genders checking me out. Some moreso than others

That's not saying much nowadays. :ph34r:

 

*** The preceding comment was meant in jest. It was not directed at Bittsen so much as the ambiguity of society as a whole. If this comment has offended, please accept my apology as it was not intended to be of an adversarial nature.

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I've been posting on this message board for my favorite band since 2001 and the GS board is really really tame compared to it. That message board is like 300 narcissa's on steroids all going back and forth in threads. Noobs are fresh meat there and they definitely go through a hazing period (unless they are hot chicks who post pics). Thing is, when our band comes to town, we all meet up and go to the shows together and we're all best friends. The message board is just the internet. Nobody takes anything personally.

 

When I joined this message board I guess I figured it was the same way and I acted like narcissa on steroids and that only got me a bunch of forum vacations. Then one mod in particular started screwing with my posts and that really ticked me off and I ranted in a PM to him and got a 2 month vacation with a threat that my next vacation would be a permanent ban. That's when I took off for about 2 years cuz I didn't want a permanent ban. I put on my nice guy hat when I come here now and I haven't gotten even a warning in the last 4 months!

 

At the end of the day, the message board is worthless if people don't post on it. Our posts may be snarky or even rude sometimes, but everyone depends on everyone else to be able to participate. I may have given someone a hard time, but it's nothing personal and I don't think it should be mistaken as such. I appreciate everyone for posting (even narcissa). Everyone is here to have a good time. If you take message board posts too seriously you're bound to get your feelings hurt. The noobs are gonna learn that lesson at one point or another. The ones who get hurt in the feelings are gonna leave anyway. The ones who get over it and have fun are gonna stay.

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geotards

Is that in the lexicon? Thanks for the new word! I love it!

 

HEY - I resemble that!

 

Freakin geotard... ain't that the word of the day. After swiping a cache I had no idea was a cache. :ph34r:

 

I caught one "snidey" directed at me being a newb to this forum - heck, I don't even remember who it was and don't really care either. I had made my first goofy post, and someone had mentioned it in another post - I happened to catch it and left one sentence I think it was - in other words "I see you."

 

That takes a bit of "forum knowledge" and some insight to people in general though - and in no way did I take the comment personally. Some people do take posts personally. Too many times in fact.

 

If a new geocacher comes in this forum, and has never been exposed to "any other forums" before - they can take something said quite seriously. They have no idea of the politics, humor, personalities, and other assorted things that go on behind the scenes.

 

I've been in enough forums to know, you have to "earn your keep" because many come in and out - lose interest, are lazy, don't use the search etc and so on.

 

Newbs are Newbs for a reason - either new to an area, new to a game, new to a way of doing whatever - but they mostly want to learn. Only time will tell if they are serious enough to stick with it or not. Might have been a passing interest that got traded for something more interesting.

 

Forums can be a bit of a learning curve. Doesn't matter if it's geocaching, dog training, humming bird feeding. People make the forums go round. And with people, you can have all kinds of different attitudes, beliefs, etc - but you won't get to know anyone unless they post a few good ones.

 

THEN - you can tell! :)

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I understand everyone who is making comparisons to other forums... but do you really want this place to become the /b/ of geocaching?

 

I think the comparisons with other forums don't hold up. One reason I can think of is that this forum crosses over with RL - and IRL I notice, a lot of different age groups and backgrounds join in this game - from 8 to 80.

 

Going by the logs I read, not all of those are tech-heads or familiar with the subtle nuances of the intertubes - in fact not all of the FM here are even familiar with the duality of richness and horror that the internet can bring, but they act like they are - it's a very curious and sometimes agonizing thing to watch. :ph34r:

 

Whereas a music band website will feature a certain cross-section of society - all rockers/rappers etc into a certain type of music, just as a automotive forum will have a lot of petrol heads, Geocaching seems to have a wide variety of people from anarchists to republicans, wiccans to hindu's, americans to japanese... it's a much broader cross section of society and not all those cultures or nationalities will recognise the cliquey sarcasm.

 

If people want an example of a sane and friendly forum, check out the Ubuntu forums - always helpful to newbies and very useful providing much information and solutions to common problems. Threads with over-asked questions seem to mostly get ignored - a much nicer way to deal with newbies than to start jabbing them.

 

As I said earlier - lot of testosterone associated with this game that I notice - even from the women. :)

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HEY - I resemble that!

 

Freakin geotard... ain't that the word of the day. After swiping a cache I had no idea was a cache. :)

It's not that bad. A cacher with over 1k finds did that on one of my caches last fall. At least the cache is coming back!

 

Some caches are just different than a film can or piece of Tupperware. Sometimes people hide tricky ones to see if they can make you curse and not find it. :):ph34r:

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I understand everyone who is making comparisons to other forums... but do you really want this place to become the /b/ of geocaching?

 

I think the comparisons with other forums don't hold up. One reason I can think of is that this forum crosses over with RL - and IRL I notice, a lot of different age groups and backgrounds join in this game - from 8 to 80.

 

Going by the logs I read, not all of those are tech-heads or familiar with the subtle nuances of the intertubes - in fact not all of the FM here are even familiar with the duality of richness and horror that the internet can bring, but they act like they are - it's a very curious and sometimes agonizing thing to watch. :)

 

Whereas a music band website will feature a certain cross-section of society - all rockers/rappers etc into a certain type of music, just as a automotive forum will have a lot of petrol heads, Geocaching seems to have a wide variety of people from anarchists to republicans, wiccans to hindu's, americans to japanese... it's a much broader cross section of society and not all those cultures or nationalities will recognise the cliquey sarcasm.

 

If people want an example of a sane and friendly forum, check out the Ubuntu forums - always helpful to newbies and very useful providing much information and solutions to common problems. Threads with over-asked questions seem to mostly get ignored - a much nicer way to deal with newbies than to start jabbing them.

 

As I said earlier - lot of testosterone associated with this game that I notice - even from the women. :)

 

Maybe I did it poorly, but that is kinda the point I was making. All message boards are a little different in how snarky or tame they are, etc, etc. You just have to post in proportion to the other posts.

 

In my case, I didn't do that. I went from a board full of snark and angst from 15-25 year olds to this much tamer board with people from 8-80. No wonder I got so many 'vacations'. :ph34r:

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By the way, I just went into the wayback machine and re-read the thread that I think you are referring to. Very educational. You might want to do the same. Many people echoed, and even preceded the sentiments of the villain in that thread, yet somehow the focus ended up upon one in particular individual as the enemy. Very strange.

 

Yes, as long as we can justify our poor traits by comparing them to someone with worse traits, all is well.

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Kum bay ya, my Lord, kum bay ya

 

*** The preceding was intended to be humorous. As it will very likely fail at its intended goal, please accept my apologies ahead of time for wasting 10 seconds of your life.

"Offense taken ya freakin eye patch wearing peacenik pie rat hippy" yelled the eyeliner wearing freak.

Apologies ahead of time = I intend to offend and wish to deflect. :unsure:

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