I think we should bring back the introduction forum.

HeroLinik · Postby **HeroLinik** » Mon May 25, 2015 1:40 pm

Apparently due to useless posts cluttering the introductions forum, the forum was removed and it's been relegated to a topic in the Sandbox forum about new users coming in to introduce themselves. Personally, I don't think this was a good idea, and here are my reasons why we should bring it back.

If you don't have an introductions forum, new users won't be able to feel welcomed into the community. Sure, there is the Sandbox thread, but it's just a thread. There's a high chance that the topic will be overlooked and the user in question might not feel welcomed into the community. The forum needs to be made prominent so the new users can establish their spot in the community more easily - by removing the forum, it's been made harder for them, not easier. Surely if a new user posts in a general SMBX forum, some users might raise doubts about the identity of the person, so placing in the Introductions forum can ensure their identities more easily; it's not easy to tell if they're a hacker or an actual interested SMBX member without this forum.

If we do bring it back, then we should impose the following change: nullifying the postcount. That seems like a good idea because the "useless posts" that were made were probably designed just to increase their postcount - it's just like with the Forum Games forum on Knux's site. By doing that, posts will have no significance to the postcount and there will be no way people can just come in for the sake of postcounting.

So what do you guys think?

HenryRichard · Postby **HenryRichard** » Mon May 25, 2015 1:42 pm

I really don't understand why it was decided that it should be archived. Just disabling the postcount fixes all the problems.
pls dont make this drama

aero · Postby **aero** » Mon May 25, 2015 1:46 pm

I don't think new people are going to be heart broken if they can't introduce themselves. I'd actually go in the opposite direction and have people just find their niche here and have no introductions system. It's pretty much pointless.

underFlo · Postby **underFlo** » Mon May 25, 2015 1:58 pm

Regardless of wether it counts towards the postcount or not, I doubt people will feel welcome if they get replied to with stock posts like "Welcome @User I'm @Nickname and I record stuff."

Having it in a thread prevents these posts since you can't farm posts with it that easily.

Mable · Postby **Mable** » Mon May 25, 2015 2:01 pm

Let's be honest 5% of new users actually made introduction threads. Most of them didn't even had replies and i find it way better the way it is now. And the only one who really lost a lot there is bossedit since he posted the most replies there.

sleepy · Postby **sleepy** » Mon May 25, 2015 2:58 pm

it's better the way it is now

a forum just for introducing is pointless

Postby **Shadow Yoshi** » Mon May 25, 2015 3:06 pm

The introductions board was something we outgrew.

Introduction threads, when done properly, can sometimes stimulate good discussion. Nobody was doing them properly, though, and the easiest way to deal with it was to just remove the forum. Having a single thread for it reduces the amount of useless posts and places less emphasis on users introducing themselves.

FallingSnow · Postby **FallingSnow** » Mon May 25, 2015 7:27 pm

How many people actually read that forum?

XerX · Postby **XerX** » Mon May 25, 2015 7:36 pm

The introduction thread is fine. We don't need a whole forum for people to post the exact same thing everytime.

Postby **Julia Pseudo** » Tue May 26, 2015 12:23 am

Yeah... very few people, either new users or repliers in the forum, were posting anything meaningful. It didn't really add anything to the forums honestly, and they didn't lose anything when the forums were removed, either. A lot of people used stock replies too like Nickname said (admittedly including myself to an extent) and that wasn't great.

Metamorphizer · Postby **Metamorphizer** » Tue May 26, 2015 2:37 am

I suppose I'm more or less neutral on this matter. I don't think there is anything harmful about an intro forum, even if it's flooded with stock posts and replies. On the other hand, there really isn't any reason someone can't introduce himself in their first thread, as opposed to a dedicated intro forum.

lighthouse64 · Postby **lighthouse64** » Mon Jun 01, 2015 3:32 pm

I guess itd be nice to see the intro forum.

h2643 · Postby **h2643** » Mon Jun 01, 2015 3:57 pm

Oh please no, hopefully that forum section won't return. It's better to make people post in one thread that they are here, rather than having over 1000 topics with "hi i'm here".

Chip Potato · Postby **Chip Potato** » Mon Jun 01, 2015 3:59 pm

i'm mostly neutral on the matter, but i lean more towards "no". i don't really think it should return, but if it did, i'm not gonna throw a fit.

Radishl · Postby **Radishl** » Mon Jun 01, 2015 5:26 pm

Spoiler: show

My arguments to various user's ^
I think you all are missing the point here.

The point of the introduction forum is for the satisfaction of new user's. As long as the post's refer to welcoming the user, it's alright if it's just ''Hello, hi my name is''. The point of the introduction sub forum is so we can introduce ourselves to them(the new user's). We want them to get to know us, and use the thread as a starting point to their life on SMBX. When they're just thrown into the forum looking for and I say LOOKING for because that's what they're doing now, looking for a place to INTRODUCE themselves, they are dumb founded at the fact that they cant find a place to introduce themselves. They have to search for a place to say '' hello ''. Some people cant just find the introduction thread carefully hidden inside the sandbox forum. They need a big fat SUB-FORUM to refer to because that's what some people are used to in forums.

But no, we throw em into SMBX without a place to start and get settled into. They have no starting place, no HOME. Just random people no body KNOWS come in posting in random TOPICS. This contributes NOTHING to community growth but more to chaos.

Zeldamaster12 · Postby **Zeldamaster12** » Mon Jun 01, 2015 5:37 pm

There's an introduction thread in the Sandbox subforum. They can post there and be welcomed.

Radishl · Postby **Radishl** » Mon Jun 01, 2015 5:39 pm

Zeldamaster12 wrote:There's an introduction thread in the Sandbox subforum. They can post there and be welcomed.

Radishl wrote:They have to search for a place to say '' hello ''. Some people cant just find the introduction thread carefully hidden inside the sandbox forum. They need a big fat SUB-FORUM to refer to because that's what some people are used to in forums.

Postby **Shadow Yoshi** » Mon Jun 01, 2015 5:43 pm

It's not too much to ask for users to look for the thread if they want to introduce themselves.

(we're not bringing back the introductions forum)

Radishl · Postby **Radishl** » Mon Jun 01, 2015 5:47 pm

Joey wrote:It's not too much to ask for users to look for the thread if they want to introduce themselves.

(we're not bringing back the introductions forum)

You don't get it. The first thing a user looks for in a forum is the INTRODUCTIONS, they don't have to search sub forum through sub-forum to find it. It should be right there in front of them.

And if you don't have the will to cater to the new user's then it says alot about the admin and the forum its self.

But I guess your word is final.

EDIT: Also the Introductions thread is not personal to the new user himself and attention to that user will quickly be shifted to someone else. That does nothing to improve how welcome the new user feels like.

The thread lacks emphasis on the individual user him/herself.