Plan to get rid of the n00bs!

TC wrote:And what I mean by that is scaring off the noobs that ruin this place, and shaping the new members who actually have potential before they get tired of the immaturity and leave.

And by scaring them off, I don't mean the way we've been doing it. And that's replying with almost an equal amount of immaturity and letting them know that they're getting to us.

When replying to a REALLY nooby thread. The kind that would normally make you want to tell them to go die of AIDS, instead of replying with what's on your mind, reply as professionally and as moderator-like as possible, tossing a few subtle insults in there.

Kind of like this post:
http://community.naturalmotion.com/forum/showpost.php?p=233418&postcount=4

If you can't be arsed into typing something that long. Copy some stuff from the rules thread and compile it into a post. Just make sure it fits the situation. Don't copy-paste an entire bit about spelling if the noob's problem is that he constantly posts in the wrong section.

If they don't notice your insults, then they haven't read your post. Then you know that they don't truly want to improve themselves.

At this point, they have a giant target painted on their head. This is when we go through the steps of getting them off these forums.

1. Whenever they make a stupid post. Reply with one of those long rants about the rules Even if someone else already has. This should both frustrate them and make them feel a tad stupid.

2. Neg rep them for every little thing that's worthy of neg rep. You heard me. When they have nothing but mature, well-written responses and really low rep, they'll most likely either leave, or start copying off the moderators and trying to act authoritative themselves (but failing miserably when they do so) to get a higher status in the community.

Either that, or they'll start sucking up to you constantly.

3. Once they've been neg repped to oblivion and nothing but mature yet condescending posts surround their immature post, they'll feel like an outcast and start posting like one as well, flaming everyone around them. This is when one of us moderators will swoop in and take this opportunity to ban them.

If they did ACTUALLY read your post, and they did read the rules, then they show at least a little promise, and will most likely improve over time. If this is the case, then try to help them as much as possible so they can become one of the veteran members who will help us keep these forums from sucking too much.

Good luck.