|TG| Tags should be earned to some extent.

[8 bits]

I'm not trying to prevent people from joining or make it any harder for them to do so. I just feel that too many people come to the servers, like what they see, and decide that they want to become TG almost instantaneously. They ask about it, we tell them to sign up on the forums, read the stickies, follow the rules, and maybe a few other tidbits of information and thats it. The next day or a few hours later, they are wearing the tags and happily disrupting the server with absolute innocence. They don't mean to I'm sure, but this leads to other people who are also new to the server developing the same innocent disruptive mentality.

When I first started playing here, I was also told this same sort of information. However, out of respect for what TG stood for, I declined to do so immediately. I waited a while, put in several weeks (maybe even months) of playing, became a regular, looked through and actually read a good portion of the forums, and learned enough so that I felt as though I understood to some degree the major portion of what TG was all about. In fact, I had been here so long that people started asking me why I wasn't wearing them.

Another way of promoting the TG spirit before allowing the donning of the tags would be to require a certain number of posts in the forums or even using the reputation feature as a clear indication that the person in question has truly found some understanding to what TG is about. This is an area (not the understanding) that I have obviously failed at myself and would gladly remove the tags until these requirements were met (Never really had a reason to participate in forums until I came here). TG made me do it!

My point being is that people should at least play on the servers for a while, establish themselves as productive regulars, and read up on what TG is all about before being allowed to don the tags; this can't be accomplished in a few days let alone a few hours.

[Barnaby]

I have also suggested similar things to this in an earlier post but it got very little response if any.

I can see part of the difficulty with a system like this would be to what degree of knowledge should be gained and how would you would test for it.

Never the less some prior knowledge gained must help the smooth running of the server and would make adminning easier.

It is an almost impossible task to run a server to include the public and expect them to know our RoE's as most public servers have no regs other than no tk's and tend to rely on common sense prevailing.

[ikonic]

If you have continued issues with TG tags, please make a post in the Contact an Admin forum and the admins will investigate.

TG is an open community for players and the best thing we can do for these TG newbies is to RESPECTFULLY point out the rules, SOPs, primer, etc and set a positive example for them. Do not have any prejudice for these players from the start, I know it is rough, but be patient with them.

You reap what you sow on the servers.

[8 bits]

Well that was better than being torched! =P

Common sense prevailing and the general public is a rarity at best. That being said, I understand that there will always be people disrupting the server innocently or not. I simply believe that allowing everyone to don the TG tags without investing a little time learning and adopting the style of play over a period of time has a negative effect on the mindset of those who are new to the server and see the people with tags on that don't quite grasp the ins and outs of it and are new to the servers themselves. It would be nice if everyone aired on the side of caution, but this goes back to the common sense thing.

I offered several ways in my original post to test for it that I believe would be sufficient in doing so. I strongly believe that if they have been here long enough to become regulars and make several productive posts, everyone will know they have or are well on there way to gaining the right mentality. If not they will have surely have been kicked many times or possibly even banned.

Simply put overnight TG tag wearers unknowingly send the wrong messages to new would be regulars.

[badbest321]

yea i seen this before they go and read the rules and sign up and they are back in an hour and still break the rules. at first what i did was what 8 bits seem to do

[8 bits]

Originally Posted by ikonic

If you have continued issues with TG tags, please make a post in the Contact an Admin forum and the admins will investigate.

Under the list of admins, everyone has there xfire listed. Is this not the preferred method of communication? I added everyone on there that I've seen on the server last night and only one has actually accepted. :/

Originally Posted by ikonic

TG is an open community for players and the best thing we can do for these TG newbies is to RESPECTFULLY point out the rules, SOPs, primer, etc and set a positive example for them. Do not have any prejudice for these players from the start, I know it is rough, but be patient with them.

I know. I'm not trying to change the fact that it's open. Myself and others wouldn't be here if that wasn't the case. Thanks TG! I just feel that they should play long enough to be trained to some extent before donning the tags. I do so try to point them in the right direction if they act like they are trying. I still consider myself to be fairly new to TG as well. To me it's worth it to help improve the gaming experiencing. It's simply frustrating sometimes when I just want to play and nobody is cooperating or half the server is being disruptive. I tend to play into the later hours of the night when most of the regulars have gone and It's not like I have any way of enforcing anything. All I can do is ask and if they listen, great! If not, well ... what can I do?

Maybe we can invent a brainwashing ray gun to zap them with the "Wearing the TG tag" sticky!

Originally Posted by ikonic

You reap what you sow on the servers.

True, true!

[SledgeHammer]

Ok I may be off on this a bit but here is that way I see it. There is required reading before putting on the TG tags. If the person truely reads this as they should before putting on the tags then they know at this point they are held to a Higher standard than your average joe on the server. This mean that if they continue to break the rules then they will be Ban from the server and much quicker. So if someone want to join and wear the TG tag we should support that. It makes us stronger everyday that someone joins. If they break the rules we remind them what they agreed to when they put the tags on.

As for the post count before you can get your tags. There are lots of folks that read here but don't have much to say or what little time they have off they want to be playing not posting.

That is just my point of view on it so take it for what it is.

[8 bits]

Originally Posted by SledgeHammer

There is required reading before putting on the TG tags. If the person truly reads this as they should before putting on the tags then they know at this point they are held to a Higher standard than your average joe on the server.

I couldn't agree more. But this is the key phrase and the problem I'm attempting to address.

Originally Posted by SledgeHammer

As for the post count before you can get your tags. There are lots of folks that read here but don't have much to say or what little time they have off they want to be playing not posting.

This is true for me as well. I would much prefer to be playing than posting. I'm trying to become better about that though because TG is more than just the servers IMO, so I'm trying to hit the forums and start contributing to the community during my down time in more ways than just playing on the servers and paying for a SM.

With all this being said, nothing is probably going to change in the way the tag is administered, but maybe it'll get people's attention enough to sway the mindset a little more towards the positive side.

In the meantime, I'll keep working on my ray gun so I can zap'em with the "Wearing the |TG| tag" sticky!

[Grieg]

I agree, in that I would like to see new persons very carefully and thoughtfully make the choice to wear the |TG| tag.

I think it would be best if current, or senior, |TG| members take the time to calmly and kindly correct the misunderstandings of new members. A calm voice and willingness to answer questions goes a long way, and demonstrates the maturity which |TG| values.

That being said, I'm guilty of not being so kind and understanding, but will strive to improve.

[gijoe]

I dunno, most of the time i dont really have alot to say(although i have like 720 someposts) at one time, but to tell you the truth, when i first came to TG i didnt read the rules and SOP's, i just kinda went with the flow. Then i started to like the place and i saw how not really disciplined but, how well the games went with teamwork, so i decided that reading the SOP and primers were probably a good idea. So i did and they really help.

So what im trying to say is i bet a small ammount or higher havent read the primer or SOP's yet. Which is probably why we constantly have to remind them. There is probably a way to tell to, add in something like a codeword in the SOP's to verify that you read it.