More strict posting..."what T should i get?" banning

[Tindalos]

just putting my two
cents in here.

the good thing about these noob threads like what T should i get and
what is my T doing.
is that it allow other i guess say "experienced noobs"
put in their info and knowledge and allow them to be
more reputable. many on those super experienced
people with ten thousand posts and several thosand
T's wont be around forever and people like me and other
young folks can take the torch.

i went from owning one tarantula in February and know i have fourteen
since saturday and i blame the boards.
i know now how to properly take care for them.
if it weren't for noobs like me asking stupid repititve questions
id be left with 0 spiders.

 

[Obelisk]

I've noticed a lot of those threads too, though I just ignore the ones that don't interest me.

One of the best things about forums like this is that we get to ask questions from people with experience rather than just relying on simple care sheets with temps and humidity percentages plugged in.

I've learned a lot from searching the boards here on AB. I've learned plenty from reading those threads which ask for feedback on a species, especially those details about a species which the typical generic online care sheets don't provide. Thanks to threads in which owners give their feedback of the species which they own (plus a lot of research), I've started out in the hobby by buying the species that best suit my interests (rather than just what's popular or available at stores).

I personally don't think these kinds of noob threads are out of place in the Tarantula Chat section anyway.

Just my 2 cents

 

[rasputin]

I don't have a problem with noobs, I have a problem with people who ignore the stickied threads at the top of each forum to address many of their questions and what gets more-so annoying is when there's a handful of these people that ignored those threads and remain uneducated taking over an entire board and it becomes the blind leading the blind. This is why I post on AB more often now...one of the boards I was on had that happen and no matter what I said or how meticulous I was about spelling it out I still had a thousand little cockroaches treating me like I didn't know what I was talking about. I may come off a little harsh at times but the questions on AB aren't as frequent nor as bad. I'm only really here to answer questions more-so than ask them but I may get stumped from time to time and ask for a second or third opinion from AB.

At any rate, the OP rant is technically justified, makes perfect sense, and is applicable to any forum as a general rule in regards to forum etiquette.

 

[b.donahue]

i hate noobs, oh wait i'm a noob lol:? just kidding i like stirring the pot

 

[rustym3talh3ad]

i never understood the hate about newbie posters..these are people who want to learn. getting information directly from people who are experienced, IMO is one of the best, if not THE best way of obtaining information.

people here need to stop the whole "elitest" attitude..every single one of you were noobs once and had questions.

There is no "Elitist" attitude here....and yes we were all noobs at one point...my complaint is BY NO MEANS towards people who ask "Whats wrong with my T" or "Why has my scorpion stopped eating for the last 5 weeks" those are good things to ask, "do you think i should buy a lawn mower or free range goats for my back yard" would even be SLIGHTLY legit, but to just simply ask "im new to the hobby, what should i buy" my response time and time again should be....A BOOK! thats why i complain.

I completely agree. Yes we were all noobs once but like the OP said, he did his research...so did Mackenzie and I...so did a lot of people. Just for fun, I typed "beginner tarantula" into google and a whole slew of results came up, one is a list of the top 10 beginner tarantulas. You don't even need to buy a book (even though you should anyway). The OP isn't talking about all "noob" posts, he's talking about the 5 million "what T should I get" posts, that usually end up with 5 pages worth of replies. However, real, legitimate posts get overlooked. It's not fair to those with real or more advanced questions. I agree 100% that people should at least try a google search before coming on here and asking what kind of tarantula they should get, because they're going to get a million different answers from us ranging from a rosea to an S. cal. That's what sparked that ranting post someone made about recommending more "advanced" T's to people who are just starting out, especially those who are trying to recover from arachnophobia.

Ethan is right too, at the beginning of the web page, there are three stickies for beginners. I would bet that at least half of the people who come on here asking advice on their first T don't read any of those stickies. In Joe's thread, there's tons of links for what kind of T's people should get based on what the person is looking for...it's perfect for any newcomer to the hobby to make a sound decision.

Shell is right as well, those people will come on here, post a few absolutely ridiculous questions, and then we never hear from them again.

Cassandra

thank you.....and for all of you that didnt read this post....please read, it explains my thought completely...you guys are saying im bashing noobs...which im not....please inform yourself with my complete thought before getting on my case.

If nice people didn't answer my noob questions I would have ended up with a dead emperor scorpion and never got involved as I am in the hobby. I now own 14 scorpions, 2 millipedes, 1 centipede, 1 true spider, and 3 tarantulas. I would like to thank all of those who helped answer my questions and got me deeper into the hobby.

THATS A LEGIT POST! "Something is wrong with my pet...." SHOULD be answered, and im glad you are still in the hobby...we need numbers...but we need numbers of people who aren't just trying to get an easy way out....hence my rant on doing research. ive asked a million questions...some dumb as hell...but i always go out of my way to research. I also go out of my way to answer good noob questions.

So i got 40 Ts. What do you guys think i should get next?

Thats easy.....Aenigmarachne sinapophysis ;P

 

[flamesbane]

I think it would help if "what T should I get..." threads weren't allowed in the Questions and Discussions, and were moved to the Chat...

 

[WelshTan]

I think that a good function on this forum (if it would be possible to develop) would be one that when you click on "new thread" and type your header question and title, that there be a built in automatic function that would automatically search and match/the kind of topic you are asking that has already been submitted and automatically take you to threads of the same kind before actually submitting your thread. In a way "forcing" so-to-speak a person to read threads of the same topic BEFORE being able to submit a same/too similar thread of same subject. Then if the threads do not answer the certain required question to then be allowed to submit the question. This would help curb the problem of people bypassing/ignoring the search function and stickies that are already there.... If it makes sense lol

 

[flamesbane]

I think that a good function on this forum (if it would be possible to develop) would be one that when you click on "new thread" and type your header question and title, that there be a built in automatic function that would automatically search and match/the kind of topic you are asking that has already been submitted and automatically take you to threads of the same kind before actually submitting your thread. In a way "forcing" so-to-speak a person to read threads of the same topic BEFORE being able to submit a same/too similar thread of same subject. Then if the threads do not answer the certain required question to then be allowed to submit the question. This would help curb the problem of people bypassing/ignoring the search function and stickies that are already there.... If it makes sense lol

That would also be nigh impossible to make...Also, can you imagine the pain someone on dialup would experience if every time they went to start a thread they got a search? Or the annoyance of a long time member?

 

[curiousme]

i agree with the OP. i am not a newbie hater, but if you are asking that question, you have got to know someone has asked it before and it is not an original query.

i will rarely even click on those threads anymore, because it is such a multi-faceted question; the question asker must then be asked questions themselves to try and give any kind of appropriate answer. Very rarely does someone know the exact qualifications that the T they will get, needs to have.

Edited to add:

i would not support a ban on any subjects having to do with tarantulas on this board. There will always be people that will ask that question and people that don't mind giving an answer to it.

 

[rasputin]

That would also be nigh impossible to make...Also, can you imagine the pain someone on dialup would experience if every time they went to start a thread they got a search? Or the annoyance of a long time member?

If it were possible, I would back it 100%! Just make sure and add a bypass for the longstanding member - much like my Q&A for punk rock kids wearing fresh Black Flag shirts studdering in my general direction about punk rock; I tell them to name 5 Black Flag songs that aren't the title of an album, ep or 7" and it gets 'em every time, it also works for kids in Ramones, Dead Kennedys or Clash shirts.

People still use dial up?!?! :? Seriously? Computers seemed faster back in the days of aohell and bimbos 95.

 

[flamesbane]

If it were possible, I would back it 100%! Just make sure and add a bypass for the longstanding member - much like my Q&A for punk rock kids wearing fresh Black Flag shirts studdering in my general direction about punk rock; I tell them to name 5 Black Flag songs that aren't the title of an album, ep or 7" and it gets 'em every time, it also works for kids in Ramones, Dead Kennedys or Clash shirts.

People still use dial up?!?! :? Seriously?

Not everyone who uses this board is in the US (even people in the US still use dial-up or other slow internet access) so you can't assume everyone has a fast connection.

 

[saltyscissors]

god damnit! these people want to learn about tarantulas! WE CAN'T HAVE THAT NOW, CAN WE?!?!

 

[flamesbane]

^ 1+....lol

 

[Selket]

THATS A LEGIT POST! "Something is wrong with my pet...." SHOULD be answered, and im glad you are still in the hobby...we need numbers...but we need numbers of people who aren't just trying to get an easy way out....hence my rant on doing research. ive asked a million questions...some dumb as hell...but i always go out of my way to research. I also go out of my way to answer good noob questions.

I think that for some people asking on AB is research. I know that I have googled a lot of my questions first, but only come up with basic care sheets (that a lot of them are wrong). Also a lot of first hits do come up from AB. I agree with research (use the search function that is what it is there for) But also the people on these boards know more about the hobby than a lot of other sites that have a simple "Universal care sheet for arachnids".

I do use the search function before I post a new thread, and sometimes I don't get any good results, but someone will post to another thread that didn't show up in my search.

So even if people do search, irrelevant results can show, but it still helps if people answer the question, even if it is just "look in this thread here, and it answers your question"

There should be no need to say "I found this thread by searching in just 2 seconds" I am sure new people don't add scientific terms to their search, and just try to describe body parts or other problems to the best of their knowledge. They then learn from replies and start to understand all the specifics of the hobby.

 

[LeilaNami]

How about you stop whining about newbies not using the search function or google first since THAT has been posted multiple times before. Our goal is to help new people new to this hobby and not to chase them away. If you don't want to answer the question then DON'T READ THE THREAD.

Many many people come here who have never been to a forum like this before and therefore don't know the etiquette. Just because YOU know does not in any way give you the right to imply these people are dumb asking dumb questions and should be banned. You should be ashamed.

 

[Selket]

How about you stop whining about newbies not using the search function or google first since THAT has been posted multiple times before. Our goal is to help new people new to this hobby and not to chase them away. If you don't want to answer the question then DON'T READ THE THREAD.

I don't have a problem with people not using it, I just don't think that people should bash on new people not using. I hate when I come across a thread and some one asks a question and people just reply with a link and " I found this in 2 seconds"

I also don't care if people reply with a link, just don't be mean about it.

I am in the same boat as you.

 

[rustym3talh3ad]

How about you stop whining about newbies not using the search function or google first since THAT has been posted multiple times before. Our goal is to help new people new to this hobby and not to chase them away. If you don't want to answer the question then DON'T READ THE THREAD.

Many many people come here who have never been to a forum like this before and therefore don't know the etiquette. Just because YOU know does not in any way give you the right to imply these people are dumb asking dumb questions and should be banned. You should be ashamed.

once again...going WAY out of context, i never said people should be banned and i already stated that i have no problem with noobs...read before you post please becuz ur just making urself look silly.

 

[LeilaNami]

once again...going WAY out of context, i never said people should be banned and i already stated that i have no problem with noobs...read before you post please becuz ur just making urself look silly.

I read what everyone posted and YES that is what you imply. What do you expect the mods to do to people that post repeated questions? Put them in the corner? No, they will either warn them, which will chase them off, or ban them. Think about the consequences and what it will do to this board and the hobby before you post silly things like this thread because that will be exactly what will happen when calling and ranting about stricter posting rules.
I'm not saying they shouldn't do their own research. They should. However, not many people know what to look for when researching tarantulas. They see one care sheet and go "Oh okay." It could be right info and it could be wrong and THEY WOULDN'T KNOW. It is OUR place as a experienced hobbyists to help them. As far as asking "What T should I get?" That's a legitimate question. Individuals want different set ups, different requirements, etc. Yet, they don't know to go look up "Brachypelma smithi" or "A. avicularia". Once again it falls to us.
Furthermore, the whining is annoying. As others have stated, you were once a newbie that didn't know much of anything as was I and as were the others in this thread. Get off your high horse and care about helping the hobby.
Also you want to talk about about stricter posting? How about you cut out that IM chat language. That also violates forum etiquette. People are annoyed by it. So what's the difference between you and the newbies? Nothing.

No offense rusty but I find it very annoying to find multiple posts whining and ranting about newbies in response to multiple newbie threads. I'd rather deal with the newbies than with this crap. But really rusty I'm sorry for being so irritible. It's just that this rant pops up all the time since way before you got here lol. I fear if the newbie questions like that stop, arachnoboards would turn into some elitist hobbyist group that doesn't allow anyone else in.

 

[ArachnoJoshua]

People join to ask them questions. We are all naive at first. Banning them isnt wise

 

[Moltar]

Just putting this out there... there are several other forums on arachnids/tarantulas with far lower membership. Generally speaking these places have less "candy posts" and more "meat". Also much less activity... I'm not suggesting that anybody should leave AB, just that you might enjoy visiting ATSHQ, arachnofreaks, etc. as well as here.

If you want some really substantial meatiness you can go join up at BTS, they take this arachnid thing quite seriously. I go there on the rare occasion I cannot get a question answered here. They have yet to disappoint.