Welcome the Newbies

[Morgan Gillespie]

I think even a newbie would realize that someone popping up an old topic from a while ago would people off, even if they’re new to forums completely. Yet you shouldn't yell at them, while it is their fault for not thinking everyone makes mistakes sometimes.
Heh just noticed last post was 10 27, no matter ... This place seriously needs new smiles, or atleast similar themed ones. (Color, shading, style, ect… I know red is supposed to be anger, but I mean there like green, purple, blue, and yellow…)
Heck I could rustle up some of my pixel artist friends and hook you guys up with some real nice ones.
___________________

[Ellery]

To tell you the truth I have never ever used the rep "thingy" or even care that it's there. it's just another area to cause extraneous discussions like this to begin with. It we never had it we would never even bother have to curtail rules to even monitor it. I for one think rules are necessary but too many rules are just absurd and make life in general inefficient. Just pm people privately if there's really some life theatening topic that they seemed to have rubbed you the wrong way on. You rarely have to make using forums a popularity contest or a place to burn people. No one else really needs to know or care for that matter.

Oh well as with everyone else my $0.0002 for what's it worth.

Actually I don't even care if anyone even reads my posts. I'm here to learn and share.

Ellery

[GlitterRave113]

O boy! I just started robotics less than a month ago, so in order to recognize people from other teams I created a cheifdelphi name. Well, evidently one of my posts was "gramatically" incorrect! I got four people who left me messages telling me how horrible I was for using incorrect english, and you know what bothers me the most, that two of them spelled things wrong in their own posts! Even though I got off to a bad start, I advise anyone who has experienced these problems to stick with your name and keep on posting anyways! I have made so many friends through this site, I still find it incredible!

[eiii]

Well, it's a lot easier to read if you do use proper grammar, but you don't deserve a negative rep for that.
I recently got negative repped for having a differing opinion. Some people...

[Mark Pendergast]

This looks like a safe place for my first post.
(I mainly want to see what I look like in print ;-)

I believe this thread will help keep me out of trouble as I get started.
Many thanks to the person that stuck it to the top of the list.
I would have never thought to search for this topic.
I hope this thread never gets so old that newbies can’t post to it.

As for people that give excessive negative rep - I see them as Bully’s.
I don’t have much tolerance for that kind of behavior.
Maybe we need a reverse rep rating to identify people that give excessive negative feedback. Then you could tell if the feedback came from someone objective.

Anyway, I am starting a new FRC team, so I already have plenty of stress in my life. I am looking forward to working with all of you in the coming year(s). I am glad I stumbled into this thread early on. Thanks to all of you.

[TniyTyne]

TniyTyne
Greetings everyone, i just joined my schools Robotics team this year. ofcourse im excited about what im in store for. ( to everyone) What was your first Robotics experience like?

[nocentbystander]

Originally Posted by TniyTyne

TniyTyne
Greetings everyone, i just joined my schools Robotics team this year. ofcourse im excited about what im in store for. ( to everyone) What was your first Robotics experience like?

Hello! I'm a newbie to the site too, but this is my third year in FIRST. As a designer who worked in Inventor, my first year was mostly frustrating since I was trying to work with a fairly complex program on a REALLY slow computer (it took about 15 minutes to boot the laptop up and another 8 to 10 to actually open Inventor), but all the other aspects of being on a FIRST robotics team definitely made it worth it. Most people will probably say that competition is the best part, but my favorite part is actually seeing the progress of the robot being built. It's absolutely fascinating to come in every day to see this part or those wheels added to the robot, and then being able to stand by in anticipation and nervousness awaiting the 'bot's maiden voyage- even if it is one of only 3 feet (not an actual experience, just an illustration)!

I can tell you that you're in for an experience unlike anything else, and be warned - every spare second of your time WILL be eaten by FIRST! I've even had people come up to me at church and ask me how robotics was going!!

[Iggy]

The irony that I found this thread...not only because I'm new here, but I joined the DevHardware forums in October, and several people there seem to be hot heads. I joined because my bf was a member on there and I wanted to learn more about computers so I wouldn't feel "out of the loop" when he gets to talking with his friends or tries to explain something to me, etc. Since the computer class I'm in at school didn't fit the course drescriptin and I'm stuck in a stupid basics class, I've stayed out of the main forums for now until I can read things in there and post something somewhat useful. In the general section alone, I have seen (and often been the target of) a lot of bashing/flaming by members who have the theory that just because they are better at what they do than the other members (especially n00bs such as me) they can basically treat people like dirt and give neg rep, flame them, etc. There has been a thread where something was brought up in the Spam section that everyone was talking about, and then suddenly there's a post about how the topic was brought up over 5 months ago, and this resulted in an all out flame war about bringing up old topics and our claim that it shouldn't matter since it was so long ago and it was the spam section anyway. Another thread resulted in a flame war because of a post that was made that ended up asking a question answered earlier in the thread. And that's just the tip of the iceberg...

Really, I agree. If you can't use constructive criticism and be polite in telling someone they made a mistake, then you're going to scare away the newbie, and make yourself look like a jerk. Sure, if someone shows that they just don't care and does stupid things repeatedly, then you need to be tougher on them. But there's no need to insult a person for a simple mistake when they had really meant well.

[XMAN LIVE]

OK I am a Newbie. I agree that you should be nice to me.

[Nita]

I am also a newbie and this will be my first post in this forum. I joined my school's team this year as you can see from my Rookie year and I hope that things described in the first post don't happen anymore. Nice to meet you all and have a great day!

[AceOfSpades]

am i free to talk about anything i need to know about my robot in this thread?? the last one i got put down the whole time

[Arefin Bari]

Go for it, I am sure we will all help you out. If you have any questions or need help, please don't hesitate to shoot an email or im over my way. Good luck.

[EricH]

Originally Posted by AceOfSpades

am i free to talk about anything i need to know about my robot in this thread?? the last one i got put down the whole time

Start a new thread, and ask for advice relating to a specific area. It also helps to put the thread in the correct forum/subforum. Read the rules first to avoid cases of "It's in the manual, look there first," and there is always the search function to make sure you aren't asking a question that has already been answered. Doing both of those will save you a lot of hassle.

[AceOfSpades]

the bot can expand 5 feet around and 60 inches up but can u pick another bot up making it like 120 inches up and then he can dump a basket into the center goal?? it is stupid but someone wants me to ask

[Arefin Bari]

Originally Posted by AceOfSpades

the bot can expand 5 feet around and 60 inches up but can u pick another bot up making it like 120 inches up and then he can dump a basket into the center goal?? it is stupid but someone wants me to ask

From my understanding, that shouldn't be a problem. The rule says, your bot can't be extended more than 60 inches throughout the match. Your strategy doesn't conflict with the rule. I would suggest you to ask this question also in Q&A.