PHO Satisfaction Survey - Take it today!

[Kaito]

I think one similarity PHO has to PC that people have failed to mention is the cliques that are formed. The reason why I first turned here six years ago was the lack of acceptance at PC. On PHO however, I was welcomed by everyone, including the staff. When I started to visit here again more recently however, there was a heavy hand of sarcasm on newer members. I got the feeling that the staff and their close friends had branched off, and many people that came here were treated differently. I'm going to give the benefit of the doubt and assume that I saw a few isolated incidents where the newer members were being ignorant or non-observant, but even still the staff and veteran members should always be friendly in my opinion. The more pressing issue though is the lack of a true community feeling. I no longer feel comfortable introducing myself to members and trying to join into conversations; instead I feel like the forum is a bit more abrasive. If anything should change, I believe it's the overall attitude of the forum. Members should feel welcome to freely communicate, and there should be activities and discussions to bring everyone together. Relic Castle is a great example of a Pokemon based forum that has a wonderful community going. I strongly suggest the staff take a look over there and try to get inspired from their successes to make some of their own here.

[Alice]

Yeah, I myself have noticed that we are less welcoming as a community now. I feel that it is much worse on romhack.me, but it is definitely something that has seeped over here too (the toxicity to anyone not part of the "elite" over there is part of the reason I left). Since I noticed how cynical and rude I'd become to new members, I've been making a conscious effort to be nicer to everyone. I definitely agree that the attitude towards some people or new hackers in general needs to change though. New hackers will become skilled, given time, though they also need to be willing to learn and not have everything handed to them.

[Kaito]

Originally Posted by Alice

Yeah, I myself have noticed that we are less welcoming as a community now. I feel that it is much worse on romhack.me, but it is definitely something that has seeped over here too (the toxicity to anyone not part of the "elite" over there is part of the reason I left). Since I noticed how cynical and rude I'd become to new members, I've been making a conscious effort to be nicer to everyone. I definitely agree that the attitude towards some people or new hackers in general needs to change though. New hackers will become skilled, given time, though they also need to be willing to learn and not have everything handed to them.

That was very well said. While it can be frustrating to deal with newer hackers, particularly because a good portion believe hacking is much easier than it actually is, we need to make sure they feel welcome even when explaining that they can't have everything handed to them.