A Newbie’s Guide to Life on the Vine
I decided that it might be helpful to come up with a little guide that will help newbies from falling into the trap of n00bism. For those who don't know, a newbie is someone new (all of us at one point), a n00b is someone who refuses to learn. Thanks to Methos and Superkitty for contributions and to those who have helped to review the rules.
The Basics
Whether you are socialising on the boards, discussing your favorite characters, participating in an RPG or debating a battle. These rules are the cornerstone of the Vine.
1.No Nudity
Simple rule, this is a child friendly site with young users. No porn or hentai allowed. There is no middle ground on this rule, it is firm and steadfast. Breaking it will have the mod's coming down on you hard. If you find any in the encyclopedia entries, delete it or notify someone in the forums.
2.No Profanity
Again, this is a child friendly site, keep the profanity to a low setting please. If you must swear to get a point across, something I don't see the point of, use symbols to cover up a few letters.
$ = S
! = I
And so on, it's a form of 'leet' speak that has evolved onto most forums, it gets the message across to most people and keeps the swearing to a minimum.
3Avoid using messages that are in ALL CAPS
Also avoid posts that have needless pictures attached (and quoting those pictures needlessly), and ending with 15 or 16 exclamation points!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Irritating.
4.Anything you post here is open to criticism.
Yes we know everyone has a right to post here and everyone has a right to their own opinion. But people have differing opinions on things and they have just as much right to post as you do. That's why this is a discussion forum. A suggestion: before posting, ask how someone could counter your argument and what you can say about it.
5.Don't use slurs against someone's (supposed) race, creed, religion, sexual orientation, etc.
Using terms that fall under these makes you seem especially ignorant, and well, boring - we've heard it all before. They certainly won’t win you any arguments, let alone friends.
The Art of Debate
We all like to debate which superhero can beat who, or which storylines are better. However, there are certain subjects that have been done to death,. To make matters worse, there are many who seem to wish to bring them up again and again. These are some of them.
1. Hating an entire comic book company.
There is a common belief among the unenlightened, that every character by a certain publisher is the same. Previously, I thought this was confined to just Marvel fans who are ignorant of the DCU beyond it's 'Big Three'. Readers of the Poo Poo list will know better.
The fact is that the majority of artists and writers move between the various publishers and have done so since the late thirties. Both DC and Marvel, as well as many of the independents, have characters created by a host of people and their stories are similarly written and illustrated by a small army of people. The stories at both companies are being written by a number of people (of varying talent) along broad editorial guidelines set out by the publisher and themselves to keep in with various events (World War Hulk, Countdown etc.) and to fit their marketing goals (you can't fill it up with sex, drugs and profanity if you want the youngsters to buy it).
This, helpfully, brings me onto my next point.
2. Hating a long established character There has been many a n00b who, in introducing themselves to the Vine, has then gone on to write a venomous diatribe against a character. These are usually very long, have appalling spelling, alot of needless profanity, make very little sense and feature very few facts. This is not about personal taste, no character in comicdom appeals to everyone. The problem here is that the n00b seems to assume that people whose taste does not match their own is wrong and will tell them so with a great deal of profanity mixed in. They forget that for a character to stay around, their books must be reasonably popular. You don't like powerful characters like Superman, Green Lantern, Silver Surfer or the Hulk, fine. Other people do.
Characters that have been around a while do inherently have bad stories and will have contradictions in their history. These are the inevitabilities of being written by dozens of people over several decades. My advice is to get over it.
3. Power levels don't matter
This takes in both ends of the scale. There are some who feel they need to show how their favourite character can kick around others in an entirely different league. Gambit beating Galactus, Spider-man beating Wonder Woman.. the list goes on. Before you post a highly unlikely scenario where Batman pwns the Fantastic Four, the Avengers and Superman using his fabled 'prep time' (a power that apparently makes him functionally omnipotent), remind yourself that being able to win every battle doesn't make a character good or interesting. Similarly, just because a character can take on the Fantastic Four, the Avengers and Superman, there are still plenty of interesting stories that could be written about him/her/it. It's just more challenging.
4. Personal insults don't make you right
Need I say more? I hope not.
5. Being wrong isn't the end of the world
So you made a mistake. You didn't realise that one of the characters in a battle thread has powers you didn't know about. We've all been there (and it's usually Buckshot who sets us straight). The difference between being a n00b and being new is a matter of humility, admitting you are wrong. This will mean the difference between becoming an accepted member of the Vine or being on the Poo Poo list
6.Agree to disagree
If you find yourself saying the same points and they're "not getting it," just call it a draw or stop posting. If they didn't believe you when you said it the third time, why the fourth? I know it's a shame that some people don't "get it," but just accept the fact some people won't get the point (This assumes that you're right - see point #5 being wrong isn't the end of the world). A good hint you and the other person are going too far is when other people are posting "why is this thread still going?" or "this is getting boring."
7.Keep n00b "hunting" to a minimum
Yes, I know n00bs need to be kept under control, and I found some of the messages funny, but some people take this way too far to the point of self-posturing (are you really such a big person for shooting fish in a barrel?), threatening physical violence (I'm not sure if I should takes these as overly silly- are you going to fly 3000 miles to beat someone up? or scary- there are people out there that think this is a solution?), or just being mean and trollish (Someone new: "I was wondering..." Noobhunter1234: "Shut up n00b!"). There was one of those "I hate n00b threads" going and it degenerated into two people arguing why the other one was a n00b. Don't let the cure be just as bad as the disease. Let's not make the forum a witch hunt in which there are more messages about how everyone hates n00bs (old news), RPG's where "we kick a bunch f(@&ing n00b @ss" (who's n00bing who?), etc., than there are actual n00bs themselves. Yes there will always be n00bs, just handle them when the time comes. The discussion of these rules can be found here:
http://www.comicvine.com/message/rookie-mistakes-or-how-not-to-sound-like-a-n00b/222674/&page=1 Clark’s Bar is a good place to introduce yourself to the community:
http://www.comicvine.com/message/clarks-bar-and-grill/70447/&c=38244&38244
Post Edited:2007-08-26 17:29:51
Post Edited:2007-08-26 17:32:23
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