Lamers

[gold eagle]

In other areas of society it is the same for those with deep misgivings about themselves and possessing a small self image. Consider those with the "coolest" bike or stereo or toys or car etc. People feeling a need to be self important latch onto an object or ability from which to look down on others.

In the computer world, it seems to be simple. Get a computer, load an os and some downloaded tools and try to impress others with the new "power" this confers. Sad.

[the_g_nee]

So let me get this straight, if someone comes to AO looking for information, they will be turned away because they r not smart enough? Thats fair.
Or if someone comes to AO trying to learn more, then they can only post to the newbie forum? Wooah, thats fair too.
Ignore the kiddies.

[dieterle81]

@System_Overload :

please can you explain what do you mean with entry level test ??
or better what's your suggestion...

cheers,

[System_Overload]

My suggestion is to make a simple entry level test to weed out the scripter kiddies. Im not saying that only smart people can post threads. I just think there should be basic entry level test. If they cant pass the test that does not mean they are a scripter kiddie. That just says that your not ready for the other forums. Learn the basic stuff in the newbie forum then take the test again. When you pass the test the you may join the other forums.

Picture this... You have a 5 year old kid. Your going to put him/her in school. Are you going to put your kid in Pre-K with the rest of the new students, or are you going to put your kid in the 9th grade with kids twice his/her age and school work way over there head??? No your going to put them in Pre-K.

We should use the same system here. This way the newbies are not over there heads, and the more adv. people dont have to deal with dumb newbie questions if they dont want to.

Any ways it is just an idea...



System_Overload

[thor]

It's obvious you don't have any children(hopefully). As far as a test, I agree only senior AO members should be able to post, but that leaves you out?? Everybody has a right to post and no question is stupid(I'm sure you know the quote) You are not a true AO member if you don't get this
thor

[rcgreen]

Originally posted by System_Overload
My suggestion is to make a simple entry level test to weed out the scripter kiddies. This way the newbies are not over there heads, and the more adv. people dont have to deal with dumb newbie questions if they dont want to.

Use the tools you already have available.
At the top of each post, there is a button that says
"ignore" which means "add <this user> to your ignore list.
Problem solved.

[Midridth]

I have a question for you System.....
If you cut off all of the newbs out there from gather information and being non-newbs, then how are they going to become non-newbs?
Think of it as a river of knowledge that people are constantly drinking out of. All of the newbs are at the bottom of the river while all of the 1337 people and sites are at the top. Now what if we dam that flow of knowledge, or water. Then no more knowledge will be flowing down the stream to the newbs. And you KNOW that more and more come to the bottom of the streem by the mili-second. If we do this then we will have a EXTREMELY conjested and packed down stream, along with our inboxes overflowing with questions like, "how do i hack hotmail?"
Think about it.

[Terr]

What you show:
"Test to weed out script kiddies."
What they see:
"A way to prove your uber-l33tness!"

Uhm... no. Any sort of 'proving ground' inevitably draws the young-and-enthusiastic-but-attitude-problematic.

I'm also against Antipoint-based kicks or anything. Too much power for such a fickle system.

[freeOn]

This site is full of the biggest lamers I have ever seen. This site is cool, but we have to fliter out all the stupid little kids that that think they are hackers before it get out of hand. If we dont do this soon this place will just be an other **** hacking/Security site full of lamer kids talking ****. Im not saying that im a hacker, but I do know some Security stuff. Im just saying we need to put a stop to lamers before this site turns to ****.


People have been saying the same thing ever since I got here. There is nothing you can do about it but make them feel not welcome and hope they move on.

I thought Lamer was my word to use, o well just don't take the FRANK N BEANS!

[stflook]

As much as I hate to say it, I agree that this site is loaded with lamers, and it brings the overall quality of the site down. However, I don't think there is any kind of regulation or testing that can remedy this problem and still be reasonable. The best thing that can be done is to educate those who can be saved, and put up with those who can't (or flame them the hell out ).

I really don't think you should waste your time worrying about this, seeing as you have virtually no power to change it. Your only real hope would be to convince JP of your idea. Getting members' opinions is really a waste. As much as many of us like to think this site is a republic, it isn't. Like it or not, JP doesn't have to listen to our suggestions on how to run this site. AntiPoints have proven that many times (the system DOES seem to be improving, though). Luckily, he's kind enough to let us voice our opinions, and generally consider them with an open mind. Some of us need to be more thankful for that.

If you want to exercise what power you DO have to change this, use what you know, and post. Contribute meaningfully to good threads, and create meaningful new threads. For those of us who are desperate for intelligent conversation, it will be a great relief. It will also help to shorten the lifespan of meaningless threads, and therefore limiting the power of those of us who think that Windows is actually a good operating system. If you want a good thread to start, do a tutorial on good Linux distributions for beginners, the ups and downs of each, the ups and downs of Linux in general, and how to install each distro. This would be a great weapon to use against those awful "which distro" threads which I'm so horribly sick and tired of answering.

Unfortunately, lamers are a fact of the forums. No matter what we do, there is nothing we can do to get rid of them without being total Nazis about it. Dumb threads will pop up now and again. The firewall questions will always be there. The hack Hotmail questions will always be there. The best thing us simple members can do is answer them in one reply, and let them go afterwards. If somebody has the initiative, maybe they can suggest to JP that he get a person to moderate the forums, and remove all threads that are stupid. We can still have our fun, but crap like what people like Eating_Scarlett post needs to go. A moderator to clean that trash up would be a much needed relief to the forums. As much as I despise his iron fist, I think Louie would be just about perfect for this job.