Can we put together a new, decent guide?

Although the vast majority of sign-ups at the moment are returning members, there are still some brand new memebrs joining and that number will only rise as GFF gets back to it's former glory.

At the moment, under the FAQ button is some servicable, basic technical stuff but hardly what one would refer to as a guide as such.

One of GFF's strengths in the past is the way in which so many newbies are nurtured into decent members and a good guide is an essential part of that. Not just technical stuff but maybe a brief history off GFF, some stuff about acceptable behaviour, names of important members (Admins for example for those important "Oh my god I called myself Cloudiroth how do I change my name" moments) and some general stuff about in-jokes and what have you.

I'd be happy to help out but I'm aware that for all my Welcoming efforts, I'm hardly the model GFF member a lot of the time so some more level headed input is pretty much essential I'd say...

Anyway, thoughts?

Jam it back in, in the dark.

Why not just rebuild your previous thread before GFF died? There was an attempt to create a guide before but it went off with no results.

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This could be a nice community project. I'm all for improvements to the guide.

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A history of GFF would definitely be a good thing. I also wouldn't mind seeing a list of in-jokes... since I've been away so long that I'll probably not get quite a few ^^; (anything since around July/August last year will probably just go straight over my head )

In terms of nuturing newbies, I think a newbie forum survival guide would be very useful.

I know that when I was a newbie (back in the days of GFA), I was always very cautious to post because I was worried that I might be char-grilled in the aftermath

I think a general newbie survival guide would be a great start. Things such as using proper grammar where possible, avoiding SMS or AOL speak, basic ettiquette, resorting to solid arguements rather than knee-jerk lashing out (i.e. to quote Asimov, "violence is the last refuge of incompetence" ), etc etc

Also perhaps some sub-forum specific survival tips (especially for The Sewers and PP... I remember the first time I went in there I got flamed and took it personally when I shouldn't have... glad I've grown up since then ).

Another addition that could possibly useful (although one which I'm very very tentative of suggesting, because there is a possibility that it could create bad-stigma, etc) is somewhere that describes the perculiarities of some of our longer-standing and more eccentric members (in other words, people who you shouldn't get too offended at if they give you a little bit of shit )

I am a dolphin, do you want me on your body?

Just so you know, some of those suggestions have already been incorporated in our GFWiki.

I was speaking idiomatically.

So they have I hadn't actually gotten around to checking that link yet ^^;

How ya doing, buddy?

I'm in support of a new guide. I think the most important thing to explain to people is that when making a post, it should not only be relevant to the thread, but it should offer some insight or be interesting to read.

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Adding basic guidelines about how to make a new thread could also be helpful. We have pinned topics in the gaming forums that explain this, but how about something general like if the thread creator asks a question, he or she should also give their answer.

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The edit signature page has a quick reminder of the rules, which can be rather handy if it's also applied to threads (i.e. search first, be constructive, create discussion, that sort of shit). I think more people will look at such a message than at the guide. (I'm not saying that the guide isn't useful for looking up stuff, but most new members don't bother checking it out).

Jam it back in, in the dark.

That's why I think that after you register you should be taken straight to the guide, rather the main forum page. If it's well written and interesting, people are likely to stop and read it rather than forging straight ahead and making a twat of themselves.

I absolutely agree with Dukebox about forum specific sections too. Posting styles and etiquette vary tremendously between the forums here at GFF and for someone who's only ever posted in Game Music and wants to branch out, PP or the Sewers could be rather dangerous ground (As it were).

The wiki provides a ton of useful information and history but that's kinda the problem, there's just so much of it. A cut down, potted history of GFF would be a bit more noob friendly I think.

There's nowhere I can't reach.

Yeah, when this idea came up before I thought something like an automatic PM linking to a guide would work well. Now this just assumes that people read their PM's; but I'm sure most people would keep the popup on. Though if there is some direct way of linking to the guide before posting - maybe through the activation e-mail - then that would be even better.

How ya doing, buddy?

I want to see progress made here because I want an official definition of what divides a decent/contributive post from a spammy/worthless post. There are multiple posts I'm seeing in GGMD and Game Album Reviews that seem like delete button fodder, but I don't want to be an outright Nazi about it without something to back up my actions.

I am a dolphin, do you want me on your body?

I'd say that what constitutes spam varies wildly from forum to forum. One of the reasons mods are assigned to specific forums is that it's thought they are best placed to tell a spammy post from an acceptable one. I could point out what I thought was a crappy post in the Sewers, the Kitchen or Welcome Welcome but my opinion would most likely be well wide of the mark in the Concert Hall or Quiet Place.

What would be ideal would be if someone who's an eponymous poster in each of the forums would write their idea of what constitutes acceptable behaviour in that particular forum, have it reviewed by a couple of other chaps and assimilated into the guide.

That's the way I'd do it, anyway.

I was speaking idiomatically.