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From Newbie to Member: a guide to becoming more well-known in the community

Shiny Motley

2016 Singles Football
Hello everyone, I’m Flandre, previously known as Shiny Eevee, of the forums! Now, I’m sure a lot of you guys have wanted to be able to contribute more to the ‘Charms community here but just don’t know how to. Perhaps you’re too scared to say anything lest you get a warning, or you’re too shy and are afraid the people here will make fun of you. Worry no longer, for I, Shiny, am here to give you a step-by-step guide to change you from Newbie to Member!

If you’re looking for a help topic for all the little tidbits of ‘Charms, this probably isn’t the thread you’re looking for. You can go here, though, for the Newbie Help FAQ. ^^

Step 1: Read the rules.
The one step you absolutely have to do. You can find the rules and other important things here. If you really don’t want to read those boring rules, I’ll paraphrase them for you.

Don’t use chatspeak, overuse smileys, or use all caps in one post.
Quality over quantity (meaning don’t worry about your post count; that has nothing to do with your standing as a respectable member).
Flaming is prohibited; be nice to us, and we’ll be nice to you.
No double posting, unless you’re the creator of a topic in the Creativity Pit.
Read every other board’s rules if you’re going to post in them (ie. Read the General Fiction rules if you want to post a fic or comment or one). They can be found at the top of the page of each board.
Use common sense.

There, was that so hard now? Read them? Memorized them? Good, now onto Step 2.

Step 2: Lurk around for a bit.
Some people might disagree on me in this, but I find people who lurk a bit before posting to be better members in the long run than those who post before looking around a bit. Why? Because if you refrain from posting and just check out what we’re doing, you’ll know how we run things and understand what to do or not to do. You see how we post, comment, role play, etc, and so now you’ll know how to do it correctly. It also allows you to know where to post certain topics, which is pretty helpful.

Step 3: Introduce yourself.
Do NOT PM a person and say, “hey I’m new want to be my friend?”, because you’ll probably be ignored, and your reputation just went down by over 9000 points. There are other and better ways to introduce yourself. For example, if you’re a spriter, post a sprite thread in the Sprites and Sprite Comics forum. If you write, go ahead and post your work(s) in the General Fiction board. The easiest way to introduce yourself is to just go to the New Member Introduction Thread here and say hello. You could also go onto chat and talk to the regulars there, which ties in nicely with my next step.

Step 4: Drop by in Chat.
Since most of the regular members here (ones who’re more well-known in the community) hang out in the chatroom a lot, it really helps to go there. The easiest way if you don’t want to download anything is to use mibbit, and we have a handy help topic on how to access chat here. Remember that rules here in the forums apply into the chatroom too, though we’re a bit more lax about the rules there. A few brbs or fragments is okay, but just… don’t overdo it, okay? ^^

Step 5: Post and post~
People will start knowing you when you begin posting regularly, and great places to begin are in the Small Talk, Pokemon Chat, or War Room boards. They’re filled with little topics that are great for expressing your opinion or just for, well, talking. The Playground is also a great place to post as well, if you’re interested in forum games and stuff. Commenting in these kinds of topics will probably help ease your anxiety about posting here, since no one really judges you for what you put there. Remember, quality over quantity, so don’t post a bunch of single-sentence posts. Elaborate on your opinions, give details, so on and so forth. It also helps to read the first post of every topic, so you know what people are talking about.


Step 6: Make a name for yourself!
Most of the people here are well known for a certain aspect of themselves. Tunduli’s an amazing spriter, Carmen writes terrific stories, LoN’s signature making skills is the bomb, Virgil’s art is uber cute and really good, etc. You don’t have to start out big; maybe just post in a few threads or join an RP. If you have works you want to show us, go ahead and make a thread in the Pit of Creativity and show it to us! Remember, it takes time for people to recognize your skills, so don’t get discouraged if no one comments on your stuff. They’ll start coming once you establish yourself in the community, so that means… don’t give up! Keep trying!

Most people here do give criticism to works, but we’re not trying to beat you up with words. In fact, these words are meant to help you get better. So accept these pieces of advice with joy; that means you’re noticed and we think you have potential.

Step 7: Have a good time!‘Charms isn’t meant to be a place that’s not fun. Our motto is “We’re crazy and proud!” (or Wii’re instead of we’re, but you get the idea), and indeed we can get crazy sometimes! It might take a while for you to get some of our inside jokes, but trust me, you’ll soon find yourself integrated into the community. We accept anyone and everyone, no matter if you’re gay or straight, emo or overly-optimistic, talented or not. We also have people from all over the world: US, Canada, UK, Ireland, Europe, Asia, Middle East, Australia, Philippines… they’re all here. And yes, we’re very nice, as long as you follow the rules and don’t act like a n00b. ^^

Of course, you don’t have to do all of these steps to become a respectable member, especially the even numbered steps. If you really want to become known, though, and have your name written down into ‘Charms history, following most of these will get you to that position.

It also helps to stay on the good side of the admins and mods, just saying. ^^
 

Shiny Motley

2016 Singles Football
Index of Useful and Important Threads

Also decided to include a list of useful/important threads, for those who're too lazy to look for specific threads themselves :p

Index of Important Threads:

General Important Topics:
Hall of Justice (Read ALL the topics in here, as they’re very important to your survival here)
Newbie Help FAQ
New Member Introduction Thread
How to Reach Pokecharms Chat!


General Category things:
Rules for Posting a New Game


Writing and RP things:

Rules
Pokemon Role Play Rules
New Rule Regarding Legendary Pokemon
General Role Play Rules
General Fiction Rules

General
Back to School, Kids. Grammar Time! and Back to School: The Sequel (for those who need a recap on correct English grammar)
Writing Tips (for those who want to become better writers)


Artworks/Sprite Board things:

Rules
Artworks Board Rules
Spriting Board Rules
IMPORTANT: Please Read (regarding requests)

General
Tun’s Trainer Sprite Tut (Helpful for first-time spriters)
Tutorials (every aspiring artist/spriter should read this)


Pokemon Games Discussion:

Rules
WiFi Forum Rules
The Doctor’s Clinic Rules and Guidelines

(The following are rules regarding competitive battling, like in organized tournaments, etc.)
Standard Competitive Battling Rules
Alternate Battling Rules Template
Pokecharms Baby Battling Rules
Generation Five Interim Rules

General:
Advice for In-Game Teams
Basics to a Competitive Team
Basics to Competitive Team-Making


Fun Things to Check Out:

Contests, Competitions, and Tournaments
Charms Organized Play
Pokecharms Signature of the Week
Pokecharms Sprite Contest

Other Fun Stuff
The Nuzlocke Challenge! Pokemon Hardmode!
Weekly Anime Discussion (all about the Pokemon anime. Warning: There are spoilers)
Pictures, Please~ (see what our members really look like!)
Youtube Thread
The Chatlog Topic! (to know more about what we do in the chatroom)
Battle Videos (see what our battles with other members look like here!)
 

baratron

Moderator of Elder Scrolls
Staff member
Moderator
Good stuff, Shiny. I'm just going to add to this:
No double posting, unless you’re the creator of a topic in the Creativity Pit. - AND YOU'RE POSTING NEW MATERIAL IN YOUR OWN TOPIC!

Just because some people are idiots, and might think that because they're the creator of a topic in the Creativity Pit, that they get to double-post everywhere else! :D

I really hope we don't have any of those idiots at the moment.
 

Shiny Motley

2016 Singles Football
I'm also going to say this:

No body's perfect, not even me, the admins, or moderators. That doesn't mean that we can't improve, so whenever people criticize your works, don't take it personally. We're not trying to be mean; on the contrary, we're trying to help you improve. Good writers know to lap up good critiques like it's water in the desert, and thus take them to heart and actually try to improve from there. Even if you took a long time making something and yet you still get critiqued, it's okay! That doesn't mean your work went to waste; think of it like a stepping stone to getting better. We all want to get to the top, right? Failures are part of the way to get there.

That being said, you're not going to be friends with everyone here, because, unfortunately, the world is a mess and you might not like some of the personalities here. Most of the regulars are rather nice, but some might accidentally rub you the wrong way or something. Keep it to yourself, and don't ruin the Pokecharms experience for others. If you really think you have to, send the person a PM telling you why you don't really like them and how you guys could solve your differences together. If that still doesn't work much, fine. Just smile and nod and go on with life; you're not going to like everything in life, but you have to learn to keep moving forward.
 
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