"Newbie" Forum - Comments?

[Tom Allensworth 1,532]

The suggestion made in the "Why are simmers.... rude" topic that we should consider opening a "Newbie" forum is a good one and has merit. I cringe every time I hear someone report that a new user left because the were bullied, told rudely "RTFM", et al... So, we are thinking about this and here is what I was considering:

 

Name: Members New to Flight Simulation

 

Purpose: Provide a forum for members new to flight simulation where all questions are welcome and responses are provided by knowledgeable contributors to our hobby who want to see you succeed in this hobby.

 

Location: TBD. I am thinking of opening an entire category all of its own. Any suggestions? The FBO category is a logical alternative.

 

Rules: Simple; if you consider yourself a new user of flight simulators, you are welcome to post any question regarding any sim that is important to you. If you respond with the too often seen RTFM, implications of "your an idiot", etc. etc., you are banned for life from the entire category or forum, whichever applies.

 

Goal: That members who get comfortable with the other fora and community transition fully to those forums.

 

Obviously there are limits to the types of questions and how fundamental (or not) they are. A person who finds a "home" in this forum would need to be eventually encouraged to "graduate".

 

Comments, thoughts?

[LeeL 272]

I honestly don't see the downside of this idea. Its not like they can't post anywhere else.

 

I think it'd be very helpful

 

Sent from my Nexus 4 using Tapatalk

 

 

[n4gix 4,947]

Tom, while I truly feel the concept has a lot of merit, the reality is that "new folks" would have to have it nearly shoved in their face in order to even notice it buried among the very HUGE list of forums here.

 

If there were a way for the list of forums be restricted to just this one new comer's forum until they had at least x number of messages, I fear that it would be difficult -if not bloody impossible- to get folks to use it...

 

As it happens, "the other flightsim website" has had such a forum for many months now, but then they don't have a Googleplex of forums to choose from either:

 

Forum: Newcomer Services

Friendly one-stop-shopping for answers and how-to's for newcomers to flight simulators

 

[Tom Allensworth 1,532]

 

 

If there were a way for the list of forums be restricted to just this one new comer's forum until they had at least x number of messages, I fear that it would be difficult -if not bloody impossible- to get folks to use it...

 

We can do that.

[n4gix 4,947]

Cool! That would be wonderful then!

[styckx 1,870]

If it encourages people to sign up, participate and eventually stay.. It can't hurt..  You do indeed need thick skin sometimes to survive in the nether parts of the forum.. I've said many times the only reason I never signed up here years ago is because of the intimidating nature flight simmers are known to have..  It has calmed down a lot and I'm just now getting comfortable around here and interacting with folks but still now and then throw on the flack jacket and take cover.  :lol:

[snowingairlines 20]

This sounds like a great idea. Would help to curve the attacks that seem to come.

[willym 4]

Sounds like an excellent idea. I'm personally 3 yrs and waaaay too many hours and $ into this hobby, and have only recently ventured onto the forums..

[MarkW 1,491]

I think it is a great idea.  I would just be a little concerned about restricting the forums as this may discourage some people who have very specific questions that are more advanced and belong on another sub-forum but are new to Avsim.  Having said this I agree with Bill that if you don't do this the newbie forum will not be seen.

[n4gix 4,947]

It would be helpful in another way as well. All new members have to have their posts "approved" before they appear in the forum. With all such being made in a single forum, it would make the odds of their post being seen and "approved" faster much higher than at present...

 

...and this can only be a "Good Thing!" :Applause:

[JSkorna 137]

A great idea!

[LeeL 272]

While I do not think that new members should only be allowed in certain areas I think that pointing them towards the particular sub-forum when they join would be best, most will want to post in an area like that at first anyway

[Jeff H 63]

I think that's an awesome idea!!  I really like Bill's idea, too, of restricting access to just that forum and maybe the Commercial Vendor section so they can get to PMDG and such.  Maybe make it for Newcomers to AVSIM instead of just Flight sim, as we have a couple of forums outside of that genre. Having a centralized place where folks can introduce themselves and we can get to know them and their needs a little better before we direct them to the areas best suited for them.  It would also give us a place to pin the "need to know" stuff like terms of service, proper etiquette etc.  Great Idea!!

[Lowflyer 97]

I think it's a bad idea to restrict new members to a small part of the forum. Not everyone who comes here are new to flightsims and they don't want to be locked out of the discussions that interests them until they've got their post counts up or otherwise have proven themselves worthy. Most likely they will just go somewhere else instead.

 

As a means to fight the rampant rudeness that apparently plagues Avsim these days I don't think a newbie section is the right way to go either. It may have it's benefits but on the whole I think it's rather unnecessary. Better to just adopt a more stringent policy against pointless RTFM and GIYF posts and such.

[Q_flyer 766]

As I pushed and twisted for it on the other thread, I think it's a fab idea!

 

I think you're right to make it stand alone from a specific 'platform'.     You could have a sticky at the top that asks members to write the name of the FS platform they're using, before their topic title.

 

Eg...

 

"FSX:  How do you put the water rudder down?"

 

"XP10:  How do I turn off the ATC sounds?"

 

"FS9:  How do I start the DC-3s engines?"

 

"P3D2:   How do I get cockpit shadows on?"

 

 

etc.

 

But yes I definitely think this will help to welcome new members, who may otherwise be scared off my some of the more hardcore platform-based forum sections.  

 

:smile: