The Unspoken Rules: Spoken (incomplete list)

[Savin]

The beginnings of the list are in the works. They are not of importance yet. We still need a lot more imput from fellow members, mostly senior members, you guys will have the greatest influence.


Here's the deal, with recent members joining just to spam post to gain access to the 'for sale' section, I think we as a community need to express what we feel to be the unspoken rules that newbie poster should follow so there are no arguements.

If you refer to the "lets make the longest thread ever" thread that has been recently locked (maybe do to this thread?), you will understand what I mean.

So everybody think of some expressed rules that you think newbies should follow then I'll take it upon myself to conjur up a list from greatest importance to least.

To start off:

1. If you are here just to build up your post count to gain access to the 'for sale' section then don't bother joining this community, just go to Ebay and save us the grief.

2. If you still plan to sell on the forums, please be kind to donate before selling or possibly donate a percentage to the mx-3.com website.

3. If you are a new member with 30 and below post counts, think. If your post does not contribute to the thread in helping others, then please do not post there. (off-topic section might be a good 'off limits' thing for newbies.

4. Please! If you have a question and you don't knwo the answer, use the SEARCH function. Many a times the answers you seek have been posted before. AFTER you search, and you still cannot find what you are looking for, then we will be glad to help you.

5. Search the FAQ most of the time, in regards to a swap or technical information, it is there. If not, search the field that best suits your question (V6 technical/performance etc...)

6. DO NOT SPAM POST. You WILL lose a majority of any credibility you might have tried to gain.

7. We welcome people to the boards, but instead of making a 'New Guy Here' thread, just simply introduce yourself at the beginning of a worklog, if you so choose to make one.


I encourage all that have say 40+ post counts to contribute.

Oh yeah, If this would be better suited in another section then please move it Thanks.

*is in full support of becoming the forum nazi mentioned by the_anj*

[RS_OBD'oh_2]

Maybe we need to change things a bit. How about a donation to mx-3.com before a noob can sell. This should not be an issue to anyone devoted to the site and its members.






And yes, I have donated.

[the_anj]

I think that's a good idea. Make them donate a minimum amount before they can sell anything.

On a side note, I've been searching, and where can I get myself an MX-3.com sticker?

but a couple of other forums that I'm a part of have rules like;
If a post is considered to be spam...instantly deleted, therefore members cannot spam their way to a certain post count.
Any posts like "x2", "lol", "that was great" or any other short post is gone too...same reasoning

Pretty much, it involves forum nazi's for moderators, preying on stupid noobs.

[PushnFords]

Maybe we need to change things a bit. How about a donation to mx-3.com before a noob can sell. This should not be an issue to anyone devoted to the site and its members.

If you don't mind me butting in one last time...I would gladly have donated in exchange for access to the Classifieds section. Another thought...some forums require posts from new members to be approved before they are posted. Maybe it could be set up so that is the case in Classifieds. Open ONLY that section of the forum to a preapproved member so simply has things to sell.

[fowljesse]

If there were a "welcome" thread, all these things could be put there.
I don't know anything about how forum sites work, but it would be cool if there were a manditory read that would be checked, or some questions to be answered before one could post anything, such as: "Q1) How do you find information before asking a question? A: The search function B: PM someone C: Google D: Post the same question in multiple forums".
At least, if there were a scroll through thing like when you sign up for things, they'd be likely to read it.
Personally, I'll read people's posts if I'm thinking about buying something, and they have a low count.
When I first got on here, I got a PM about my post count rising fast, and I respected that. I asked Barry right away to go through my posts, and tell me if I should cool it.

[Savin]

So far so good. When I get home from school, I'll start compiling the list. As for now, Keep the thoughts a comming.

How about a donation to mx-3.com

Dang, looks like I've been slacking. I'll get to that when I have money, lol.

[Daninski]

I agree, you shouldn't be allowed to make money off MX-3.com if you haven't already donated to support this site, say $20.00 min. If you can't afford to donate then you probably can't afford to sell as a few posts of members getting ripped off testifies to. Also rules could include bargining in good faith. If I offer you your price then it's mine. Getting fed up with people doubling the price after I contact them. Finally as a side note. Everyone STOP telling people their selling stuff too cheap. If your not interested in buying then please keep your comments to yourself. Your part of the problem. Ok now that everyone hates me.

[wytbishop]

I think there's a more fundamental problem with the forum. I don't know if there's a solution.

Back when I started on MX-3, the old school guys were still really active on the site and still learning a lot of the things we sort of take for granted now. By paying attention to what they were doing I learned alot of that stuff as it was being developed. Now it seems like most of the stuff that is worth doing or getting done regularly has been discussed over and over. So not only do guys not want to answer the questions anymore, but there are so many threads discussing it that it's hard (though not impossilble) to find the information you're looking for. A noobie coming in nowadays has a harder time finding what they're looking for than we did. It should be taken into consideration when chastising people that's all. It would benice if some of the more commonly sought after infromation could be consolidated abit and the FAQ's updated.

I think only the moderators should be allowed to tell people off. If you think the question is a dumb one or a guy is being lazy, just don't answer. I've been guilty of razzing a lazy noob lately myself but I think we should leave it to the mods.

[Mooneggs]

So basically your thoughts are that we have a specific process to sell items - if we are going to make sellers give donations - if we are going to make the newbies do it I think all members should as well if they want to sell items... I have mentioned this before but I've seen other forums that have seller/buyer ratings but I don't know if we can do that here...

so here are my thoughts... and I'm just throwing this out there...

1. In order to sell on this forum, members must have at least 30 contributing (not spam)posts and have been a member for at least 3 months.

2.After the trial period listed above if they choose to sell something and the buyer is still uncomfortable dealing with a 0 feedback member, they may request to pay only half or shipping or something (assuming the buyer already has positive feedback). Then when shipment arrives, they pay the balance. Once this initial positive feedback is gained, of course trust is built, etc. Needless to say, going forward ANY negative feedback would substantially prevent you from selling anything ever again on the board (granted that negative feedback was coming from someone with positive feedback). I also realize that in certain exceptional circumstances the buyer is the one who has scammed the seller either out of shipping or not paying a balance but I believe this is also because people were not careful and trusted someone too much...

Maybe also when people post a WTB or FS and the transactions occur it would be helpful if either one or both of the parties involved gave a followup post saying "transaction complete for item xxxxx - feedback left"

I guess this is getting kind of complicated but I think if we have a few standards in place we could prevent alot of scamming... and maybe failed group buys. For instance say I started a group buy and somebody with 0 feedback or something started a group buy - who would you be more inclined to follow?

meh these are my thoughts maybe they are overcomplicated and legalistic... but when you are dealing with money sometimes it has to be that way...

[Mooneggs]

I think there's a more fundamental problem with the forum. I don't know if there's a solution.

I think only the moderators should be allowed to tell people off. If you think the question is a dumb one or a guy is being lazy, just don't answer. I've been guilty of razzing a lazy noob lately myself but I think we should leave it to the mods.

I agree with all of what you said I agree alot of the faq's are outdated or there should be new faq's listed more specifically. Instead of making some threads faq's, they should be retyped in a format that's easy to read cause some of those faq's are pretty bad and it's still confusing to a n00b...

[Savin]

This is redundant on my part, but oh well. I agree too that the FAQ are outdated. I've even thought about retyping the BP swap guide thing. I'm not sure if i want to, but it has been a thought that has crossed my mind.

Mooneggs, I think the 3 month probationary thing is a great idea. It would definitely stop the Quickie members from even joining.

Now that we've covered most of the 'for sale' section opinion areas (if you feel there are more, then by all means contribute), maybe we should focus on other aspects about a noob's post that tend to get us disgruntled. Mainly usless posts, like maybe that 'Greetings' forum thing that was proposed where noobs can introduce themselves and such, but not affect the post count.

EDIT: Had to fix the bad spelling

[Mooneggs]

Now that we've covered most of the 'for sale' section opinion areas (if you feel there are more, then by all means contribute), maybe we should focus on other aspects about a noob's post that tend to get us disgrunted. Mainly usless posts, like maybe that 'Greetings' forum thing that was proposed where noobs can introduce themselves and such, but not affect the post count.

I agree a NEWBIES section would be perfect for introductions and crap we don't want to read in the v6 tech or general mx-3 forums

Also some of the disgruntled posts could be redirected to the faq's (if they were rewritten in english) by a single link from a mod or other senior member - and I like what wytbishop said about only allowing a mod to tell off somebody... especially if the n00b is acting a fool!

[Savin]

Soooo....I guess i should stop telling the noobs off when they ask the redundant questions. Dang. It was so much fun. I'd help them and yell at them at the same time.

Good times.

Back on topic: Maybe after a compile a list of implied rules to follow, maybe we should focus heavily on the maybe "Introduction" Forum. Some people seem to agree in the reccomendations section that this is a spendid idea. And you and myself are in support of it too. Thus leading into more credibility for it to become a reality.

[Custommx3]

Guys, regardless of how many times they post to "up their post count". I warn them. There is no Auto-rule in place.
I have to physically give them access.

[Savin]

Very true, but it would still be nice for them to at least follow other guildlines as well as the ones in place already. I guess its just to give us all less of a headache reading through the useless noob posts. Thats just me though...