- However, the whole thing with the lack of registered usernames leaves much to be desired in the realm of verifying just who is or is not actually an older member, which is why I was much less hesitant to listen to one or two people who, for all I knew, could have been trolls impersonating normal members. Most boards I visit have a strict register before you post policy.
And if a troll gets spotted impersonating a senior member, s/he'll be banned. Really, this board's problems in the 'who's posting' department, such as they are, are far more from 'established member using secondary/joke handle' than they are from 'random n00b/troll stealing someone else's handle'. That and plain similarity, like Shade and myself (Shady). There aren't enough miscellaneous people frequenting this board for there to be /nick issues - even if there were any, one of the regulars would spot the IP address or general typing mannerism and call them on it.
It's the way this community works.
- On the matter of introductory posts: How many message boards out there don't ask for some kind of introduction (even just a token 'Hi! I'm new' in a post that then goes off on an entirely different subject)? How else do you define 'introduce yourself in a (relatively) sane manner'? (And that much, I am directly quoting from the top of the website.)
I honestly am not getting the 'assume everyone is a non-senior member' thing. If you'd looked around the boards more, you would've seen that there were plenty of appearances of "Lainer" and "Junior Bastard Lainer", not to mention other people using the "Bastard" title. Ditto Oniko Hakubi et al. Why not answer the questions in a coherant manner - or at least include a coherant answer among the rest?
"I was sent by he who is called 'I am'!" [paragraph] "...Otherwise known as 'she' and 'Alair'."
That kind of thing.
- Difference number one between the supermarket and this message board: we actually have archives available to be read through. Difference number two: we aren't running a business here. Difference number three: we're dealing with social rules.
Sure, someone could put up a form for all first posts, requiring handle/reference/a personal blurb. But that, again, eliminates the 'common sense' search. Do you know enough to communicate coherantly? Can you demonstrate that you're of any interest to the community in general? Should we put forth the effort to introduce ourselves in response and get you involved - or should we put forth the effort to get you kicked out?
This is our sandbox, and we've decided that our rules work well enough for us. There are reasons hanging out on the fringes and watching for a while is a good idea before you jump into the middle of someone's castle. Or into range of their shovel.