Help!?

[6Stars]

First off I would like to state that I KNOW that this post is most likely in the wrong area, but I would ask the moderators to at least read through the entirety of it before closing or redirecting the thread.

I've noticed a trend here that I notice in a lot of forums, and that's  an elitist-snarky attitude toward those who know less than you regarding the subject matter or even those who have a differing opinion. Now, that's not an issue if you're having a friendly coversation with a group of friends where you are trying to show your social dominance when it comes to the particular thing you all geek out on. However, forums, as a whole, are not your close personal friends. They are a community of people coming from a wide variety of backgrounds.It is my belief that Forums should be non-threatening places for people to come when they wish to expand their knowledge and connect with other people who are doing the same.

Many who feel ostracized in the “Realm of Reality” because of their looks, interests, etc.  retreat to online communities to feel safe. Unortunately, once those same people feel confident of their dominance in said online community they proceed to unintentionally take out their repressed nerd rage on n00bs. Basically the bullied becomes the bully. And I honestly believe that many of them do not realize they're doing this, or are too preoccupied with the rush of feelling superior to realize that they are hurting other people, possibly even their own friends in real life, and damaging the fun and integrity of the community as a whole.

So I ask you:

Please Respect Others. Regardless of their age, race, background, or n00btasticness.

Be compassionate. Many of the people here are kids, people who have just discovered this project, or passionate people who want to make friends and contribute.

And those of you who have the honor of being here at the project's inception or learned of it not soon after; Help n00bs. This isn't a playground or a prison yard, you don't have to beat down someone's enthusiasm or put them in their proverbial place just because they are naïve.

That's all I ask you to consider. Thank you to those who actually read through this entire thing. I've also attached a clip from 'High Fidelity' to bolster my case and for enjoyment. Please skip to 1:45 for the point.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QOwjVVSNOtY&feature=related

[TERRORsphere]

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QOwjVVSNOtY&feature=player_detailpage#t=105s

There, I've made the video start at 1:45

Anyway, I'm sure some of this is addressed to me but I don't try to bully, I don't try and be offensive. I just try and set standards for the community, like my maps for example.

[Ivory]

You're topic title could have been better picked. I almost always move help topics to Help just by looking at the title.

I've been in this community since long before MM8BDM. I've watched it change and grow.

Do no confuse me for being an elitist. I'm not going to spoon feed someone information. I'm going to direct them to where they can answer their own problems. When they figure out their own problem, they become better at it. Only if they cannot do that, and I know the answer isn't that obvious. THEN It'll give them the help they would expect. But I strive to allow them to walk on their own two feet, as opposed to piggy backing off those of us who have already gone through this process to get where we are.

The ZDoom Wiki  and Skulltag Wiki are your best resources for figuring things out. Else wise, don't ask me how to make a sky box, open up an official map with a skybox and see how it's done. It's fairly simple.

As for mapping. I'm a harsh mapping critic. I will rip bad maps apart. And explain every last reason why it's a horribly designed map. I know some people in the past take it too personally, being unable to step away from their work and see things from an outside, objective stance.
I will praise a map that earns it. A well designed map is a well designed map.

However this community is new, and aside from us Doom Veterans, most mappers here are new and foreign to the Doom Editing world. So they create their maps thinking they've made a masterpiece. If I have to critique it then I will rip it apart and explain every last problem with the map and what would need to be fixed.

If the person can separate them self from their work and actually listen to me, the map can become better. I've been mapping for years, I've developed my eye for good design vs bad design. Something that the newer mappers have yet to develop.

In short, don't confuse me as an elitist. even though you could confuse me for such by not spoon feeding anyone, it's in truth, better then being spoonfed. When you become less reliant on others, only then do you really develop you skills as a modder. I will always point people in the right direction to figure it out for themselves, and only if that fails, will I give the information they seek. I harshly critique maps so I can see the mapper bring out the fullest potential of the map, instead of leaving it as something less.

I do wish for the development of this community. CutmanMike isn't going to be about forever to work on it. When that happens, it'll be up the fan community to keep it alive. And even though right now DTD and I stand out as some of the veteran doom modders in the MM8BDM community, we won't be here forever to guide and explain these things. That is why I try to teach people to be self reliant.

[Max]

I like to think I'm a Doom pro  

I've created over 10 maps, but none of them have been made public yet... eheh. Sometimes I think that the only reason people are so hard on "n00bs" is because of either the "n00bs" reluctance to learn, or their own stupidity. I made my first map over 2 months ago, doesn't seem like long, but over that time I've learnt practically everything about MM8BDM mapping. At first I asked for help, but after DTD constantly pointed me at the ZDoom wiki for weeks I realised just why everyone was being so impatient with me before. It's easy, once you think about it.

I really don't try to bully anyone, I don't think I did bully anyone but sometimes some of us can be a little short tempered on noobs, but with good reason.

I am crap with textwalls so I end this here.

[Kapus]

I appear to be the exact opposite.

I enjoy seeing newbies, actually. I like to meet new people and help them around. I like to teach them how things work and make them feel welcome.
If I'm going to criticize a newbie for something, I try to do it in a nice way so they won't feel intimidated. I want them to feel welcome. I know how it feels to be a newbie, so I treat people how I would want to be treated if I was new.

So yeah. I enjoy teaching them and showing them how things work in the community.

[TailsMK4]

Honestly, I have no desires to be "elitist". I have always seen some of the "best" players make excuses on why they got killed. Sometimes I say lag myself because the screen froze for a second. But otherwise, I take everything as is and try to understand what happened...and to avoid making the same mistakes again, if possible. I've been focusing for a while now, and it has allowed me to get some frags against even those that call themselves the "best". Otherwise, it's due to practicing and practicing.

And finally, I agree with Kapus with the fact that people should teach newer people about the environment. I do that all of the time with my friends.

[Mr. Sean Nelson]

I don't see this problem in the vast majority of the people who frequent this forum. In fact, for a forum, CutStuff seems to be pretty inviting. Are there specific people or groups that you had in mind?

[MagnetMan497]

I agree with the above. Some other forums I know... Lets just say their mods aren't nearly as kind as ours.
except mobius

[Korby]

Ah, if I happen to seem like a bad person, it's probably either because I had a bad day or I'd rather just be blunt than type out a paragraph to say "I don't like the (thing)."

[XutaWoo]

This is the internet. A thing created and used by humans.

Some people will be nice. Some people will be dicks. Some people will troll. Some people will do all of the above (yo!).

At least in a way we're preparing people for the real world. :P