Leave your Sanity at the door?

[adamjared]

Ok i know that we have said that to every new member who has come to RAF lately, but frankly, its getting quite annoying.

Most of the members on this forum are mature people, which is good. But sometimes our maturity fails to show when we start asking people to "put their sanity in a jar" or telling them that "a seal will be around shortly to collect yours."

I understand that some people enjoy the roleplay that many of you are trying to do (seals, realmwalkers, etc.), but when a member comes here wanting a mature discussion about Animorphs/gone/other things, sometimes that may turn them away. I don't want new members coming here thinking we are actually nuts.

One of my classmates joined this forum a while ago. They wanted to talk things like x-box and video games (in the media board), among other things. I recommended that they post an introduction thread (like the good little member I am ). So, they did, and they did not understand some of the welcome they got. They asked me "what's the significance of the green bottle?" that someone had posted. SO when I explained what it was for, they were just like: "Oooook..." When I asked them the next week about why they haven't posted anything, they said that they didn't really want to get involved with a forum for little kids.

Now I know, most people that come here don't think that. They may actually enjoy the jokes you guys make. But there are a few people, like my class friend, who don't.

I'm basically suggesting that we move all the "Role Playing Introduction" stuff to the actual "Role Playing Board," and leave the actual introduction thread for mature, realistic introductions. Then, if people like the roleplaying, they can also post an introduction in the RP intro board or what have you.

Just a little thing i've observed, that's all.

[DinosaurNothlit]

Yeah, that is a valid point.

Maybe, at the very least, we need to pay more attention to the actual introductory post?  Like, if the person posts "Hey, I like Animorphs, and I'm here to discuss Animorphs and to be generally intelligent and such," then maybe we should treat them with more seriousness than someone who posts "Hai, guys, I'm a pink rainbow unicorn Andalite!"  Bit of an extreme example there, but you get my point.

Basically, I think we can judge the difference between someone who is here for serious discussion of the Animorphs series, and someone who is here for the fun of it, and act accordingly.  As long as we spot the serious people and treat them with the accorded decorum, then I see no reason not to treat our fellow crazies with, well, our special brand of craziness.

That's a good point, though, and I appreciate you bringing it up.  It never even occurred to me before that our crazy shenanigans might actually be turning people away from RAF.  :'(

[Darth Revan]

I think that's a valid point Adam, but if the Intro thread doesn't scare hiim off, eventually everything else will if he can't take those kinds of jokes.

I think we should let everyone be who they are, If you have a problem with the way people are behaving, you should bring it up with the mods. Not create a thread designed to berate others.

Though I understand your point and sympathize, if someone bases the forum on just the first impression, then they probably shouldn't be here.

[Alic]

i feel like you're picking out people. i dont think this should be posted in a thread. it's asking for arguements.
if people come to the board and cant accept who someone is in an intro thread, how are they going to talk to them in any other thread or in chat? i think we should let it be and not change anything.

[Phoenix004]

I can understand members being confused by the in-jokes, but I hardly see that as a reason to censor our member's free will. The jokes about leaving sanity at the door are not against forum rules and they don't offend anybody. In fact it's pretty obvious that most newcomers like the welcomes they receive. I don't see any reason why the system needs to change to accommodate one person who didn't want to join in, RAF's not for everyone.

[Horsefan1023 (Seal)]

I know you mean well, Adam, and please don't get mad at me, but I personally am insulted by this.  Saying as I do most of the "sanity collecting" and all, I feel like you're calling me immature, saying as you pointed out about the Seal.  I think that it's their problem if they don't get the sanity things.  Don't forget, you say you're an Ellimist, a character out of kids book series.  Are you going to change that now because of what one person said?

[Richard]

please remember to keep this argument civil

[Kit Cloudkicker]

i feel like you're picking out people. i dont think this should be posted in a thread. it's asking for arguements.
if people come to the board and cant accept who someone is in an intro thread, how are they going to talk to them in any other thread or in chat? i think we should let it be and not change anything.

I 100% agree with this. The majority of people on this forum are not children, and I've never seen anyone respond negatively to that kind of comment. As a matter of fact, most people respond by saying that they've already lost their sanity. I feel that it was very immature to start a thread that picks on a member, instead of approaching them directly or taking it to a mod.

[Richard]

I feel that it was very immature to start a thread that picks on a member, instead of approaching them directly or taking it to a mod.

I don't think he was picking on a specific member. It's the general atmosphere he was referring to.

All those who feel personally offended; don't.

[DinosaurNothlit]

Okay, a lot of you have pointed out that nobody has ever complained about the welcome they've received in the Intro boards, and that isn't really a fair point to make, because the people who feel insulted by it don't usually stick around long enough to complain.  Just felt like I should point that out.

Please note that I'm not, in any way, saying that we should crack down on all our silliness and be totally no-fun Nazis.  That would utterly annihilate all that is RAF, and it would ruin exactly what makes this site so beautiful.

But you guys have to admit that the rest of RAF isn't even close to being as silly as our intro threads usually tend to be.  We've had very serious discussions about Animorphs, for example, and in the media boards I've seen some very intellectual discourse.  What I'm saying, and I think what Adam was trying to say as well, is that we should try to show our true selves, so that people will know what they're getting into when they first see the intro threads.

Now, for some of us that means being crazy, and I think that should be perfectly allowed and even encouraged.  Nobody should have to hide who they are in hopes of enticing someone who would be scared off at the first hint of insanity anyway.

However, what often happens (and, I'll admit, I've done this too, many times) is that everyone else gets swept up in the silliness, and we all play along and act psycho-crazy.  And, for some of us, at least, this is actually a bit counter to our usual character.  I'm as crazy as anyone here, I know, but I can be serious (well, occasionally) as well.  So people might get scared away from RAF, who would have actually enjoyed our slightly-serious side, because that's the side of RAF that is never seen in introductory threads (or at least, very very rarely).

All I'm saying is that RAF has something for everyone, so why do we only ever show newcomers one trait?

However, while I agree with some of the points that Adam made, I also agree with everyone who has pointed out that that first post was phrased very hurtfully to certain members.  Yes, it's an issue that needs consideration, and yes, I'm glad you brought it to our attention, but it could really have been phrased a lot more gently.  Please, just be careful when you're treading in delicate territory, okay?

[Kit Cloudkicker]

I feel that it was very immature to start a thread that picks on a member, instead of approaching them directly or taking it to a mod.

I don't think he was picking on a specific member. It's the general atmosphere he was referring to.

All those who feel personally offended; don't.

Why shouldn't they? This very obviously singles out the two or three people who keep this joke running in the intro threads, so maybe it's not a particular member, but a few members. If Adam has a problem with people being silly in those threads, then he should have said that. He's obviously picking on a specific group of members, and that's not cool. Since when has it been okay to do that to anyone on here?

[adamjared]

I know you mean well, Adam, and please don't get mad at me, but I personally am insulted by this.  Saying as I do most of the "sanity collecting" and all, I feel like you're calling me immature, saying as you pointed out about the Seal.  I think that it's their problem if they don't get the sanity things.  Don't forget, you say you're an Ellimist, a character out of kids book series.  Are you going to change that now because of what one person said?

I'm sorry Seal, I didn't mean to pick on anyone. I was just using your role-play species as an example of the types of role-play that happens on RAF. Sorry that I insulted you, and please understand that I didn't mean to do that in any way! And I never meant to call you immature, i was just referring to the atmosphere, like Richard said. I think you are actually very mature in any discussion I've had with you.

I feel that it was very immature to start a thread that picks on a member, instead of approaching them directly or taking it to a mod.

I don't think he was picking on a specific member. It's the general atmosphere he was referring to.

All those who feel personally offended; don't.

Why shouldn't they? This very obviously singles out the two or three people who keep this joke running in the intro threads, so maybe it's not a particular member, but a few members. If Adam has a problem with people being silly in those threads, then he should have said that. He's obviously picking on a specific group of members, and that's not cool. Since when has it been okay to do that to anyone on here?

OK, Jess, I know you may not like me, for many reasons, but please don't go twisting my words to make it sound like I'm being very rude and inconsiderate to my fellow members. I care about all of the members, including any new or future members that may be turned away by this issue.

please remember to keep this argument civil

Exactly.

I'm not demanding that this be changed, I'm just proposing an idea to the whole forum, because some other members may feel the same way.

And while some of you were accusing me of purposely offending and picking on other members, you are doing just the same to me. RAF is an open forum, and while Richard owns it, and whatever he says goes, we should still be able to express our opinions, and not be judged.

[Kelly]

If someone you didn't know said this, instead of your friend, would you feel the same way?

If someone doesn't feel comfortable with staying at the forum because they think the people are immature, whatever that's their choice. Who cares?

[adamjared]

If someone you didn't know said this, instead of your friend, would you feel the same way?

If someone doesn't feel comfortable with staying at the forum because they think the people are immature, whatever that's their choice. Who cares?

I care, Kelly. They are other members, even if I don't know them.

[esplin]

Well I think your example is kinda unfair Adam.  Only people who like animorphs are crazy enough to get our members and the people who are here and don't like animorphs probably haven't read it or are just that awesome.

And who's to say he just didnt wanna join an animorphs forum to talk about video games and stuff?  Maybe he didnt wanna hurt your feelings and just didnt wanna join RAF?