New Members

[Ankerson]

Some here want this place to be a club, a place where you earn your stripes so you can show your chops.

I believe Spyderco has just said this place is more than that.

If you want to distrust/disdain the motives of newcomers, just do it quietly. Whatever their reasons for coming, they don’t cheapen yours.

I agree. I suspect there are many here who do not post but enjoy (mostly) the conversations and information presented.

I don’t think veterans should enjoy special privileges over newcomers. We were all new here once.

Some of you are putting a little too much emphasis on "veteran". I just would like people to participate, otherwise things like "forum knife" or "forum calendar" are meaningless in those terms and become simply another form of sprint or exclusive items. It would be nice looking through a calendar at those pics and seeing familiar screen names at the bottom instead of names I've never seen before and will likely never see again. I really don't think that's asking too much or wrong or elitist or whatever. Maybe I have the wrong understanding of what these things mean or maybe I wish they meant something more than they do.


For the record...I don't think I even opened the calendar thread this year beyond the very first time I opened it when Kristi first posted it so whatever comments were made I never saw.

I didn't open it either...

[bearfacedkiller]

As someone who has been around for a while and who has a pretty high post count I can say that Spyderco doesn’t owe me anything and I don’t care how they run this forum or their contests. I am just happy that they host this forum and do giveaways. They have always appeared to act with integrity so I give them the benefit of the doubt.

[The Deacon]

As someone who has been around for a while and who has a pretty high post count I can say that Spyderco doesn’t owe me anything and I don’t care how they run this forum or their contests. I am just happy that they host this forum and do giveaways. They have always appeared to act with integrity so I give them the benefit of the doubt.

Totally agree and will just add one more thing, anyone whose photo is selected for a calendar has made a worthwhile contribution to Spyderco and to this forum, even if the post containing that photo turns out to be both the first and last post they ever make here.

[ladybug93]

As someone who has been around for a while and who has a pretty high post count I can say that Spyderco doesn’t owe me anything and I don’t care how they run this forum or their contests. I am just happy that they host this forum and do giveaways. They have always appeared to act with integrity so I give them the benefit of the doubt.

Totally agree and will just add one more thing, anyone whose photo is selected for a calendar has made a worthwhile contribution to Spyderco and to this forum, even if the post containing that photo turns out to be both the first and last post they ever make here.

well said.

[odomandr]

In all honesty the new members thread should be a place where new members can introduce themselves. Get a friendly welcome and not have to jump right into a topic. It's super cool to have Sal say hello to newbies as they post up. But this thread should have a name change.
Now this is what is stickied.....

This is the most restrictive forum to join the community I've ever come across. I've been using forums since they were distributions lists, guns to cars to games, I don't think I know of another forum that has a post approval process for interim new members like this place does. I bet it alone drives away a lot of initial interest for new members. Now that I think about it, it is not just here. The knife community; with bickering about missed releases, nit picking design to death without so much as actually cutting a single thing, and animosity towards people in one form or another it's a real gatekeeping obstacle to overcome for something I just want to hide in the depth of my pocket and have available as needed......

[James Y]

Even though I joined here in 2004, I’m kind of a new(er) member here, or at least somewhat recent. After I initially joined, I barely posted anything or even logged on here for 14 years. I didn’t really start posting here until late 2018 or so. Perhaps surprisingly, my account was still good to go.

Jim

[Bloke]

As someone who has been around for a while and who has a pretty high post count I can say that Spyderco doesn’t owe me anything and I don’t care how they run this forum or their contests. I am just happy that they host this forum and do giveaways. They have always appeared to act with integrity so I give them the benefit of the doubt.

:)

[JuPaul]

I just joined these forums. I joined because I wanted to be able to ask questions about some of the many products that Spyderco offers, and express my excitement about new knives that I buy. When I joined today I only owned one Spyderco knife, a Tenacious that I bought at Walmart. I've always been a ZT fan, but wanted to try Spyderco knives because they are will regarded among knife nuts. I'm very interested in picking up a MT28 when they are eventually released, because it sounds like a fun project, and I would like to try out SPY27. After perusing the forums for a bit I found out about an exclusive Manix 2 in 20CV that was going to be discontinued. I bought it from DLT Trading right away because it's gorgeous and I love that steel. When it gets here it will be my second Spyderco knife.

I only found out about the calendar project today, AFTER I joined the forum, so I wasn't able submit a photo to be entered. Oh well, these things happen. It looks like it was a fun event, and getting a free calendar would have been pretty cool TBH. However, after reading some of the comments in this thread, I'm glad I didn't get the chance to post in that thread. Honestly, if I had seen some of these comments before joining this forum or buying that Manix 2, I would have done neither. No one wants to be part of a toxic environment. No one wants to read posts that make them feel like they shouldn't get involved because they are less active or spend less money on products. Especially someone who was just starting to take an interest in this brand. Loyalty doesn't mean discouraging other people from taking part, and the attitude I've seen is harmful to the brand and to this forum community.

I never saw any of the posts that Kristi removed from the calendar thread and I'm glad. Because this small sample that I have read in THIS thread alone has me second guessing my decision to join this forum.

I really hope you don't let this get you down! Like all communities, we have disagreements, sometimes big ones. But at the end of the day, this is a great group of people, and one of the most civil places on the internet (thanks to the leadership of moderators like Sal and Kristi, but also thanks to its members, who want this place to stay that way). I've only been here for a little over a year, but I've always felt welcomed, and I really value the connections I've made with other members. Hope you will, too!

[MichaelScott]

Funguy, exactly. Stuck around this is a good place and we need more folks like you.

[TkoK83Spy]

I just joined these forums. I joined because I wanted to be able to ask questions about some of the many products that Spyderco offers, and express my excitement about new knives that I buy. When I joined today I only owned one Spyderco knife, a Tenacious that I bought at Walmart. I've always been a ZT fan, but wanted to try Spyderco knives because they are will regarded among knife nuts. I'm very interested in picking up a MT28 when they are eventually released, because it sounds like a fun project, and I would like to try out SPY27. After perusing the forums for a bit I found out about an exclusive Manix 2 in 20CV that was going to be discontinued. I bought it from DLT Trading right away because it's gorgeous and I love that steel. When it gets here it will be my second Spyderco knife.

I only found out about the calendar project today, AFTER I joined the forum, so I wasn't able submit a photo to be entered. Oh well, these things happen. It looks like it was a fun event, and getting a free calendar would have been pretty cool TBH. However, after reading some of the comments in this thread, I'm glad I didn't get the chance to post in that thread. Honestly, if I had seen some of these comments before joining this forum or buying that Manix 2, I would have done neither. No one wants to be part of a toxic environment. No one wants to read posts that make them feel like they shouldn't get involved because they are less active or spend less money on products. Especially someone who was just starting to take an interest in this brand. Loyalty doesn't mean discouraging other people from taking part, and the attitude I've seen is harmful to the brand and to this forum community.

I never saw any of the posts that Kristi removed from the calendar thread and I'm glad. Because this small sample that I have read in THIS thread alone has me second guessing my decision to join this forum.

I really hope you don't let this get you down! Like all communities, we have disagreements, sometimes big ones. But at the end of the day, this is a great group of people, and one of the most civil places on the internet (thanks to the leadership of moderators like Sal and Kristi, but also thanks to its members, who want this place to stay that way). I've only been here for a little over a year, but I've always felt welcomed, and I really value the connections I've made with other members. Hope you will, too!

My post and others really had nothing to do with new members! We love having new members around here, Sal and many of the others welcome new members aboard and do our best answer any questions they have.

That was all about people that only submit to the calendar, which topic we are dropping now.

But any new member here that reads this...I and I'm sure anybody else that may have got a little hot the other day knows, none of that was for someone just recently joining the forum.

Funguy, glad to have you aboard. You picked a great 1st Manix! It was my 1st G10 Manix and have since acquired 4 more... it's a fantastic model!

[Ankerson]

I can honestly say I don't agree with everything they do with the forum, but I don't make my opinions public when I do disagree.

In the end it is their forum to run as they see fit so we all do need to respect that in the end.

Whether we agree with it or not. :spyder:

We are all guests here in the end.

New members are a good thing, the more the better. :cool:

[James Y]

TBH, out of all the online discussion forums I’ve joined (admittedly fairly few forums over the past 22 years), this forum is probably the least contentious one I’ve ever been on. Try being on some of the online martial arts forums, especially several years ago when forum discussions were more prevalent, and they were like the Wild West. Some of them made Whine & Cheese over on BF seem docile in comparison.

Sure there are disagreements; I’ve been in a couple disagreements (without animosity) here. But it’s usually kept civil. If everyone thought the same way about everything, this world would be a boring place, and there would be no need for discussion forums. And if things go too far they’re kept in check.

Jim

[Peter1960]

I share my thoughts: Count you lucky when your thoughts are centered about the rights of new members. Are we talking about 1st world problems? Yes we do!

[Wartstein]

Just had a look at the "calendar"- thread (I am pretty sure for the first time ever) to see what it is all about.
Obviously I did not see any of the posts that had been removed beforehand.

I somehow can understand both sides of the discussion here:

- When reading the guidelines I think it is made pretty clear what that contest is about: Open for everyone, regardless if first time poster or long time member, and the main ore even sole goal is just to find the best pics for the calendar (and not to "reward" more or less long time members). And everyone who participates should know that beforehand.

- On the other hand: I can see that it might be frustrating for long time and very involved members, if there are suspicions that the winners could be not really interested in Spyderco at all, but just want a free knife and that´s all. But I don´t think that this is generally the case, and even if so: Again, the goal here is just to create a calendar with the best possible pics...

Anyway, I am still pretty new here (like for two years or so) and still think it is a great place to be :)

[Ankerson]

Just had a look at the "calendar"- thread (I am pretty sure for the first time ever) to see what it is all about.
Obviously I did not see any of the posts that had been removed beforehand.

I somehow can understand both sides of the discussion here:

- When reading the guidelines I think it is made pretty clear what that contest is about: Open for everyone, regardless if first time poster or long time member, and the main ore even sole goal is just to find the best pics for the calendar (and not to "reward" more or less long time members). And everyone who participates should know that beforehand.

- On the other hand: I can see that it might be frustrating for long time and very involved members, if there are suspicions that the winners could be not really interested in Spyderco at all, but just want a free knife and that´s all. But I don´t think that this is generally the case, and even if so: Again, the goal here is just to create a calendar with the best possible pics...

Anyway, I am still pretty new here (like for two years or so) and still think it is a great place to be :)

I would bet there are a few who just do it for the free whatever, human nature being what it is, but that's not really our concern as members. Anytime FREE is introduced there will obviously be some that will try and take advantage.... That's why there is an ADMIN, it's their job to deal with that..... Not ours as members.. But I can see how people might get upset so I do see both sides... Not that my opinion really matters as it's not my forum, it's Sydercos.

It's all on Spyderco to deal with.

[Doc Dan]

Looks like I missed all of the fireworks. I don’t post in that thread because I’m a terrible photographer and I know it. Also, I don’t appreciate a lot of vitriol so I’m glad I missed it all. I want a peaceful, welcoming place.

[Halfneck]

I'm sorry Kristi,

I really hope my opinion on this doesn't get me banned...but I think it's a bit BS. It's so incredibly obvious that some of the submissions are strictly for the opportunity at a calendar or a free knife or two. How in the world is someone that's here on a daily basis, supporting this company, welcoming new members, spending thousands of dollars every year on your products, interacting with all the other members here that are also spending all that money as well, learning, gaining knowledge, having great in depth discussions on your products that we love, forming friendships...even outside the forum, but real life friendships!!....the same as someone who posts once or twice a year...and only in this thread? Submitting a picture with a couple sentences, because that's what required. How are these people equal to every other "forum" member for the "forum calendar"??

I'm honestly not trying to be disrespectful towards you, I'm just a bit perplexed. Posting photos once a year with no content is valued by Spyderco, the same as people that are constantly pushing your products and providing information for so many new members that join here?? That's on us, the members that new people search Google and find this forum, create accounts and posts their first questions...it's us that answers them and keeps them around, not the strictly "calendar submission" members.

Again, I'm not trying to be disrespectful towards you or Spyderco, just voicing my opinion. The calendar is for fun, always turns out amazing. "I" just think that a lot of us feel a bit let down or betrayed...that maybe loyalty really doesn't matter around here :confused:

Going to address the bolded parts from above - keep in mind this is just my opinion.

1) Those posters are just as equal because the rules Spyderco made says so. Simple as that. Sure you might get people only posting in the hopes to win a knife, but you might also attract new members. It's a bit more inclusive than "Must have so many posts to participate".

2) It's the knives people come here for, a good online community is a bonus. If Spyderco started making their knives in sub-par steel with crappy fit & finish, no amount of a good online community would salvage it. I've seen a lot of people over the years inflate their importance & get upset when they find out they are not.

3) The calender is for fun - re-read that.

I've never participated in the calendar contest for 1 simple reason - I take crappy phone pics. I'm just happy if my pics are in focus, occasionally I get some decent ones. I'd rather see the award based on a good picture than post count. Merit based on post count can also lead to unnecessary posts just to up the count. For example member Larrin has a join date of 05/10/18 & only 556 post compared to my 1754 posts since 12/23/05. But I don't feel my anecdotal stories with so-so pics have more merit than his steel analysis research posts just because I've been here longer, or posted more.

New members can also be an impetus to Spyderco. Case in point - Surfingringo. What if back in 2013 he'd not felt welcome & decided not to stick around? There would be no Waterway, no Siren, and no "Walter Mitty" daydreams looking at his kayak fishing posts.

If the people at Spyderco are OK with it, then so be it.

[PineyBoy]

Ok, my opinion time:
I have been a member of many, many forums over many years. I've been here a very short time and only joined because I've spent $1000+ on Spyderco knives and thought I should check it out. Very disappointing. Friendly...I don't think so. In fact almost, if any, response to a new person post is pretty much non-existent. You want to feel like your invisible, this is the place.

[James Y]

Ok, my opinion time:
I have been a member of many, many forums over many years. I've been here a very short time and only joined because I've spent $1000+ on Spyderco knives and thought I should check it out. Very disappointing. Friendly...I don't think so. In fact almost, if any, response to a new person post is pretty much non-existent. You want to feel like your invisible, this is the place.

Greetings, PineyBoy:

I’m sorry to see that your experience here hasn’t been the most pleasant for you.

Even though I joined here in 2004, I’m kinda new here myself, because I only really started posting here just under two years ago. As in any other forum I’ve belonged to, there are always some members I’ve interacted with, or have interacted with me, more than others. Some have never interacted with me at all. I don’t take that as anyone intentionally snubbing or ignoring me. And I’ve never intentionally ignored or snubbed anyone else either, as long as they were being civil (if someone isn’t civil, they usually don’t last long around here). As in life, some people are simply more compatible than others, whether personality-wise or interest-wise. Also, not every post will get responses. It’s all good. I post for fun, whether it gets any responses or not. And on the few threads I’ve started, I read and appreciate every response, even if I don’t always have something of value to respond with to each individual post.

If you decide to stick around, I hope your experience here becomes a more positive one.

Jim

[The Meat man]

Ok, my opinion time:
I have been a member of many, many forums over many years. I've been here a very short time and only joined because I've spent $1000+ on Spyderco knives and thought I should check it out. Very disappointing. Friendly...I don't think so. In fact almost, if any, response to a new person post is pretty much non-existent. You want to feel like your invisible, this is the place.

That's unfortunate. It's been my observation that when a new member posts here, most people give him/her a friendly welcome, including Sal himself. :confused:

Are you aware that a new member's first few posts are withheld and reviewed by the mods before being put online? This is the reason many new member's posts appear to be ignored, because by the time they get approved and put on the forum, the conversation has often moved on.

The mods do this to cut down on the amount of spam posts that get into the forum. And it works. I remember before they reviewed first posts, every morning there would be a handful of spam threads and posts clogging up the forum. It was very annoying and a lot of work for the moderators.

I really hope this thread does not deteriorate into a place for folks to just air grievances and complain about the forum and its members.