We're trialling a new newbie system

The United Irishman said:
I don't see what the problem was, the rules were explained well, and I would put a bit of thought and time into my posts within the newbs and I was promoted quite quickly and the newbies really do test your patience most of them were trolls and idiots and the system encouraged me to post proper to get the hell out! I thought the original system was good because of this!
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We have a big problem where people are turned off by the current system. There are some posters who just like to lurk and not post because thats the type of person they are and that's fine, but from the feedback we received from hundreds of newbies in the survey, they felt discouraged from posting and they had the false impression that essays were needed to get likes which isn't true at all.

2617 valid registrations between Jan 1st and July 23rd (i.e. bots and accounts that haven't had their e-mails verified not included) with just 18 of those getting a promotion and well over half of them never posting as Niall said, there's a huge problem.

And those who have ended up getting promoted usually end up being dreadful and being banned. The system in the format it was in could be "gamed" and saw some posters posting well in the newbies then acting like dicks when promoted so from our perspective it just wasn't working.

What Sphaero says here hit the nail on the head:

Sphaero said:
I welcome that change, because I personally see only upsides in it. It brings new blood and potentially even more diversity in the mains, makes the transfer smoother and helps newbies get used to the mains. It also lifts some load off of the scouts. Now the newbies get the chance to "present" themselves and can show if they fit in or not. The whole promotion system is not about finding the tactical geniuses or eloquent poets. Its about if the new guys can behave themselves and carry a discussion. Thats all there is to it.
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Sphaero said:
Believe me, the least you can say about the people is that they are lazy. Scouting is a very time consuming process. When I did for about two months it ate up all my (limited) time on here to the point where I basically did not post anymore and had to ultimatively step down again.
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I understand, I didn't mean they are lazy in general, I thought they just didn't give much attention to the newbie system anymore.
 
Damien said:
We have a big problem where people are turned off by the current system. There are some posters who just like to lurk and not post because thats the type of person they are and that's fine, but from the feedback we received from hundreds of newbies in the survey, they felt discouraged from posting and they had the false impression that essays were needed to get likes which isn't true at all.

2617 valid registrations between Jan 1st and July 23rd (i.e. bots and accounts that haven't had their e-mails verified not included) with just 18 of those getting a promotion and well over half of them never posting as Niall said, there's a huge problem.

And those who have ended up getting promoted usually end up being dreadful and being banned. The system in the format it was in could be "gamed" and saw some posters posting well in the newbies then acting like dicks when promoted so from our perspective it just wasn't working.

What Sphaero says here hit the nail on the head:
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Fair do's! If only 1% are coming through then I guess there must be a problem to the current system.
 
It's great! I really love how the mods try to make this forum even better continuously with the match day threads, transfer tweets and now this. I myself was quite lucky to being able to post in the World Cup forum, if it wasnt for that, possibly I'd still be a newbie.
 
Amar__ said:
I understand, I didn't mean they are lazy in general, I thought they just didn't give much attention to the newbie system anymore.
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There are a number of scouts spending lots of time on the newbie forums, in addition to the modmin input there. I can understand why you might think not much attention is paid, as I expect most mains posters don't really give the newbies a second thought after they're promoted. It's understandable.
 
My name is Mr Pigeon and I approve this change/health supplement.
 
Sounds like a good change to me. I feared this was going to announce a pomotion and relegation system being put into place. Thankfully the majority of us appear to be safe like a perenially underperforming NBA team...for now :nervous:.

Seriously though I think it is a good idea. World Cup was prime time for getting likes and promotion and the same will probably go for the Euro's but from my experience at least it seemed to be much harder outside of those times to get noticed.
 
Amar__ said:
I understand, I didn't mean they are lazy in general, I thought they just didn't give much attention to the newbie system anymore.
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Nah, thay did, but the problem was that the system was flawed (way more than the new one). It´s actually not that hard to write ten well written posts. The problem is on one hand to get noticed (even with a lot scouts around). If you have a proper topic, where you can stand out in it really does not take a lot of time. My post count was barely in the tripple digits when I got to the mains, but I also got basically promoted on the back of the Kagawa signing. On the other hand ten posts can also mislead very easily. I followed some people who made posts I liked and recommended for promotion. Some really became a contribution on here like for example @Piratesoup. Others like a fellow Dortmund supporter turned out to be people to provoke others and were rightfully banned in the process. This was not predictable because it was a clear chance in behaviour.

Both the problem of become noticed and about the misleading are greatly improved with the new system, so it is a clear step in the right direction.
 
This may be a silly idea (I have many of them) but would it help if we had a sort of Q&A thread (in the help forum) for newly promoted members where they could safely ask questions without looking silly in the mains. I know there is a site rules thread but it doesn't cover specifics about CAF culture that new members may not be that privvy to. An example of this is the 500k thread. Having never had access to the general forum prior to being promoted, I had no idea what the 500k thread was and what the rules were for posting as it's completely different to other threads. Another thing I didn't know (which I should, having been a 'viewer' of the caf for years prior to registering) was what in the heck a, b, c, d, e)boue was all about. These are all part of the funny culture of the caf and I think it's a shame if these legends weren't shared with newly promoted members who may not know. The thread could be open to questions (and newly promoted members encouraged to ask if they want to know something), and the Q&A could then be posted to the OP once they'd been sufficiently answered so people don't need to search through for answers.

Sorry again if this is a silly idea :nervous:
 
I like the initiative, then again, not very long since I was sitting as that Newbie (Pretty exactly 30 hours +/- 1 hour)

Also great to see that people are heard when they give their opinion
 
Sounds really good. Hopefully they don't get chased off the site by some posters because they may have a different view of things.
 
Full Member said:
This may be a silly idea (I have many of them) but would it help if we had a sort of Q&A thread (in the help forum) for newly promoted members where they could safely ask questions without looking silly in the mains. I know there is a site rules thread but it doesn't cover specifics about CAF culture that new members may not be that privvy to. An example of this is the 500k thread. Having never had access to the general forum prior to being promoted, I had no idea what the 500k thread was and what the rules were for posting as it's completely different to other threads. Another thing I didn't know (which I should, having been a 'viewer' of the caf for years prior to registering) was what in the heck a, b, c, d, e)boue was all about. These are all part of the funny culture of the caf and I think it's a shame if these legends weren't shared with newly promoted members who may not know. The thread could be open to questions (and newly promoted members encouraged to ask if they want to know something), and the Q&A could then be posted to the OP once they'd been sufficiently answered so people don't need to search through for answers.

Sorry again if this is a silly idea :nervous:
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Niall should send down an emissary to the mains as a guide for the newbs, and to teach them the ways.

This is where @moses comes in, @Roman Bellic.
 
This thread is good news as a mate of mine, think his username is @Fill got stuck in the newbies years ago. Don't even think he posts anymore.
 
Maybe I missed it in the OP, but will the newbies be visible/marked as such for everyone?
 
Sounds mostly great, but that 5 post limit would bug me, were I a newb, as it'd be hard to get involved in a discussion.

Similar to the reason I quickly ditched the official forum, their posting limits for new members were awful, needing a mod to confirm your post before it shows up, which usually took like 8 hours(IIRC). By then the conversation was well over.

That worked out well enough in the end, I guess, as I ended up here.
 
Why not open up the newbie sections to all the mains poster? That way newbs can still engage in discussion with the mains posters which should keep them active.

You could also introduce a thumbs up system in the newbs for the mains guys to hit, which would help the mods with liking posts and speeding up the whole promotion process.

I just think the quality of posts in the mains is going to take a hit if too much riff raff is let up too easily. I don't mind not having a few extra good posters in the mains as long as I don't have to read post from a pre-teen who wormed his way up and is now spamming about his dream signings.
 
I've always felt that the newbie system is like the pit in Dark Knight Rises. Designed to keep people in rather than let them go up, up and away.

I understand why it is in place but I don't like it much. These changes are welcome. If mods need any help with scouting, etc I'd be glad to assist. I'm sure other Caf members would do the same too. If you guys are overworked I guess it's time to expand the scouting network a bit.
 
5 posts a day is a very bad idea IMO. The problem is that they will start replying to some other poster and then in the middle of the discussion he cannot reply anymore cause it has extended his 5 posts per day.

Why not 10-20 posts per day in the football forums after they receive the first like, and then based on other likes they can get access to the other forums?
 
Sky1981 said:
Honest question. Who gives like to the newbs? Scouts?
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Scouts, newbie mods with mains mods and admins giving the occasional one out
Dan said:
This thread is good news as a mate of mine, think his username is @Fill got stuck in the newbies years ago. Don't even think he posts anymore.
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Yeah he left two years ago :(

Sphaero said:
Maybe I missed it in the OP, but will the newbies be visible/marked as such for everyone?
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Not sure. Was the plan initially but things might have changed.
 
Krovv said:
I've always felt that the newbie system is like the pit in Dark Knight Rises. Designed to keep people in rather than let them go up, up and away.

I understand why it is in place but I don't like it much. These changes are welcome. If mods need any help with scouting, etc I'd be glad to assist. I'm sure other Caf members would do the same too. If you guys are overworked I guess it's time to expand the scouting network a bit.
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I'm sure they would, which is why I've suggested opening up the newbs for the guys in the mains and a the thumbs up system in the newbs for all mains poster to hit. That way Mods still have overall control over who gets promoted but they are pointed in the direction of the good posts.
 
Damien said:
Not sure. Was the plan initially but things might have changed.
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Hmm, IMO it would be better to "hide" it for people outside the staff. This might prevent special treatment in one way or the other. They are supposed to be normal members eventually anyway.
 
MannyB said:
I'm sure they would, which is why I've suggested opening up the newbs for the guys in the mains and a the thumbs up system in the newbs for all mains poster to hit. That way Mods still have overall control over who gets promoted but they are pointed in the direction of the good posts.
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I honestly don't think we miss many good posts these days, there are scouts on the newbie forums all the time, with the modmins.

edit - just thought you might not realise that scouts give likes and promote people these days. It wasn't always like that, I know.
 
My girlfriend told me a few weeks ago that she made an account earlier in the year but never got round to doing anything other than browse the main ff, which she could have done without. No idea what her username is or if she has any interest in posting now though. She did say she couldn't be arsed with the newbs when she told me so the change in system might change her mind.
 
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