I want to help more newbies.

Today saw the closure of the Adoption Center, which is sad but it's the changing of the guard in terms of being helpful to the new members. The program became problematic due to misunderstanding, inactive new members and the stress it put on mentors and their mentees. I knew the program also had some flaws, such as rule-breakings being taken into consideration when signing up new mentors. I felt like that was the reason I never wanted to become a mentor in the first place and helped newbies in the easier method of VMs.

What does this mean for the new members? They think they may be left out in the desert since the announcement, but this means I want to help fill the void left by the program's closure by helping every newbie I come across to show them how cool PC is. I want to show them what they might be interested in, and start VM conversations where I can ask them a question or two. I always knew that VMing newbies made them feel more welcome, along with posting in introduction threads.

If anyone's a new member, I'd be happy to make you feel welcome. I may be a PC Supporter and have all those fancy things, and the fact I'm in my 20's, I'm not intimidating or scary. I just love helping newbies fit in. You can always count on Hika!

What do you think I should do to help the new members feel more welcome? Share your ideas.

ill consider i dont want ugly spam on my beautiful profile yes u can say ive changed ever since Jan 1 2013

yes when im friendly im friendly but when im scary, whoa whoa whoa, u do NOT want to see me tbh

but yeah, newbies that are willing to stay and become better members feel free to approach me too

I want to express my full opinion on the matter, Hikari: You really shouldn't kill yourself trying to aid every single new member of the community. I don't think you realize how much of a huge task that is, and heck, you have to realize that "helping" new members became an obligation more than it's something you'd want to do.

That's not an environment that would be comfortable nor suitable for both the moderators of the forum as well as the regulars of the forum. I sure as heck don't want people to feel like they have to help new members, I want people to feel like they want to because they care, but at the same time, take your time doing it, and know what you're getting into before you do it.

Taking on new members sounds like an easy task on paper, but it is actually the very opposite. Sometimes it can get really overwhelming, and every single person that has ever been a regular of nu/w knows that. You'd have to learn to keep up with the flood of new users coming in every day, and on top of that, keep up with your own schedule as well. Now, if you have free time, at least that's a plus, but that's not everything. Sometimes, as you've said, these new members are inactive, and they don't do their part(as harsh as that sounds, but that was part of the problem).

I feel that if you, as well as any other veteran want to help new members, that it would be a wise idea to do so independently and at a manageable pace, and answer relevant questions as necessary, etc. Make members feel at home at PC, but don't ruin the experience for yourself, also.

i agree with derk thats why i quit

@MidnightShine I knew how much you'd change, I remember when you had dragon456 for your Emulation mentor and then you suddenly lost interest in ROM hacks. And after you became a Supporter it seems like the MidnightShine I saw back in March 2012 is no more. You have made a turnaround in almost the same way as me. I remember using too many Oshawott forumsets back in my old days and now you're seeing less of it.

@Twilight Sky Thanks Derk, you have well-thought information there. Newbies do sometimes friend request me but then a month passes and I don't hear from them, forcing me to have to have to clear out my friends list a bit. I show newbies which sections might suit them, but I still want to dedicate all the fun I have with helping them out.

The Adoption Center was a great idea but it came with its fair share of hassles. Newbies joined, applied for a mentor, and then disappeared, never really asked questions or showed any desire to learn, or requested mentors solely for help with their hack/project/graphics/etc. It was really hard to manage something like that - we're expected to manage mentees and mentors for every single section, which really does make it difficult when very few actually "graduate" from the program. As I told Cid, it was probably no more than 5% of the mentees that actually used the program properly. Most of them were one of the three things mentioned above: they either disappeared, ended up requesting a mentor and not actually needing any help from them, or requested a mentor for the wrong reasons.

So yeah... it was really hard to manage and I definitely know I need a break from it. Cid probably does, too. x:

They won't be left for dead. Most of those that apply for a mentor leave anyway, so trust me, it won't be much different lol.

wow seems like i did change a lot but yeah, ive had horrible experiences with some new users which i dont want to name

so, yeah, its a new me after all i dont want ignorant so-called know-it-all newbs coming to haunt me

Well, I'd take it slow, honestly I mean on EGC I try to welcome and be friendly to every single member that joins. But this forum is really big--it's too much for one person honestly. You can't communicate with every member and you can't help every new member either. So, try not to help every single member--some can manage on their own and it will make them feel uncomfortable. Also, there's FAQ's, right? They're very helpful for members as well! Don't stress yourself out about it please.

I also think you should let members come to you, too. Be open that way and give people a chance to be independent :3 Some members come here knowing exactly what they want to do, so remember to be a friend more than just labelling yourself as a helper and I think they'd appreciate that more.

OMG I SERIOUSLY NEED HELP WITH SOMETHING! IF YOU KNOW ABOUT ROM HACKING FIRE RED I WOULD REALLY APPRECIATE IF YOU COULD SHOW ME HOW TO FIX THIS GOD FORSAKEN PROBLEM I CAN NOT FOR THE LIFE OF ME FIND AN ANSWER FOR: Body swaping. It's driven me so mad I've stooped to making a youtube video in search of help Skip to 0:55 to see the problem http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cnjXGnz7qqc

I usually find out mostly everything pretty easily but there are a few things in particular that I have no answer for - and cannot seem to find an answer for. For example, the problem mentioned above - or maybe getting the vs seeker to work right (hell I copied and pasted the code (changing all the hex to @begin @intro etc.. and it STILL didn't work x.x; and yes I tested it on a route - route 1 to be specific).

I'm a newbie and I'm wondering if you could give me a good place to start my own pokemon hack if I can at all, thanks!

Bloodysoul;bt98873 said:

I'm a newbie and I'm wondering if you could give me a good place to start my own pokemon hack if I can at all, thanks!

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Sorry I don't have any knowledge on ROM hacks but why not go look over in the ROM Hacking board?

Hikamaru;bt98874 said:

Sorry I don't have any knowledge on ROM hacks but why not go look over in the ROM Hacking board?

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.....where would that be?