- Kilroy
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In light of recent things I have experienced, and a HUGE thread made by Jim, I decided to write this rant. If you're going to post, please read all of it. Now that I think of it, even if you aren't going to post, please read all of it. Thank you.
We are all part of a community. The Bungie Community. We are members of what is called Bungie.net. It is a place that Bungie created for their fans to gather and discuss everything from Halo to poop(yes, even moderator have mentioned this topic *looks at Recon*). They gave us a way to come together. To discuss, to appreciate, to analyze, to debate, to criticize, and to have fun.
But, things don't always go as planned. Anyone who joined B.net prior to the announcement of Halo 3 can tell you(Zanzibar). Flamers. Spammers. Elitists. Jerks. They are everywhere, and you know it. Do you fall into one of these categories? I sincerely hope that you do not. But if you do, there's no time like the present, to change.
Play nice together. We are all fans of Bungie. We are all here because of them. We are all equals. Yet we do not treat eachother as such. What can you do to fix this? Well, that's the main purpose for this rant. Read on.
Some random user of b.net makes a thread in the Septagon. He's posting his Halo 2 Montage. What do you do? Here are a few choices. I'll give you the correct one after they're all listed.
A). You watch the montage, and post on it, saying "Good job" or maybe "Meh."
B). You watch the montage, and post on it, giving constructive criticism. You do everything in your power to encourage the user to make more.
C). You watch the montage, comment on it, and mention that the user posted in the incorrect forum. You direct him to New Mombasa.
D). You simply post and tell the user that he is in the incorrect forum.
E). You PM the user and tell him that his montage was good. You also tell him that he posted in the wrong forum. You tell him that it's okay, and all he needs to do is delete the content of that thread, and repost in New Mombasa.
F). You PM a moderator, to do as he sees fit(move, lock, blacklist, etc).
G). Ignore the thread entirely.
Which choice is correct? E. You probably guessed it. It's pretty obvious. It informs the user that he made a mistake. It helps him understand what to do now, and in the future. It saves him from public humiliation, because it is via PM, not post. It enables him to quickly notice it, as he will immediately notice a PM, but not necessarily a post. This is clearly the best solution. But is it the solution you would choose? If not, try to make it so in the future.
When someone makes a mistake, don't flame them. Do not call them an idiot or a retard. Give constructive criticism in any way you can. People make mistakes. Forgive, help, and move on. And please. When you try and leave constructive criticism, double, or even triple check to make sure that all of the information you are about to give is 100% accurate. Otherwise, it hurts, not helps.
Do not be afraid to ask questions. Sometimes, you may feel like a n00b, asking a question. Don't be afraid. Nobody's going to think less of you. There's a million reasons why you could not know the information. No one is going to assume that it's simply because you're a moron(if by some chance they do, just ignore them).
Go above and beyond the call of duty. Do all you can to help someone, and then some. Once upon a time, someone posted in the Septagon, asking for a link to the Forum Rules. I saw it almost immediately, and had a link up very quickly. Then, about 2 posts later, a thoughtful user also gave a link to the Code of Conduct and the Terms of Use. I thought that was awesome. I didn't even think of doing that! I felt stupid, but it reminded me to try and go the extra mile from then on.
When joking about something. Please. Make sure that there is no doubt in anyone's mind, that it is a joke. People take things very seriously sometimes.
Remember. This is not simply your forum. It is not simply Bungie's. It belongs to all of us. So please, get along with eachother. Help out. Be fair. Play nice. Share.
[/rant over]
[Edited on 8/1/2006]