[Technophile]

Or how I learned to stop worrying and love the search function.



I'm going to start this off by saying this is primary for new users. We've had a lot of them since we got the new forums and we will continue to get more in the future. You guys (and girls) that have been around for a long time already get all this.

So, you new people listen up. This is going to make your life here on the forums much easier.

I have two guidelines that apply to all the forums. Every section.

1. One thread per topic.

It just makes it simpler for everyone to find or comment on something if we have one thread that covers that topic. If you have a thread called Super Mario World, we don't need "How fast can you finish SMW?" and "Who is your favorite character from SMW" threads as well. All that stuff can be discussed in the general SMW thread. Now if you wanted to create a thread called "Who is your favorite Super Mario character" well, that's a different subject and can cover a whole bunch of games and thus is fine.

2. Post in the right section.

If you read this guide, you will know if you are posting in the right place.

Ok, that's out of the way. Let's cover each of the sections.

Meet & Greet

The Meet & Greet is where you post your intro thread. You are encouraged to make an intro thread if you are new. Your intro thread is YOUR thread. You control the conversation and you can use your intro thread to tell us about you, share a funny story about yourself or pimp your blog/clan/site/whatever. The subject of the thread is YOU so use it. Hell, none of it even needs to be true. The only thing we ask is that you put some content in there. You've got a whole bunch of space, use it!

The Picture Thread
The most popular thread on the forums. The point of the picture thread is to post pictures of yourself. Yeah, there is a lot of off topic conversation there, but the point of it is to post your pictures. So do that.

Gaming Discussion


Gaming Discussion is just what it sounds like. All the threads here revolve around gaming of some sort be it about new consoles, old consoles, pc gaming and of course individual games. If you want to post about a specific game, be it a question or just want to talk about it, I encourage you to use the search as someone has most likely already started a thread for it. Other than that, gaming discussion is pretty self explanatory.

Dtoid Recommendations thread

A question that comes up a lot on the forums is the “Should I get x or y game?” or “what games do you recommend I play?”. This thread is where these questions should go. Just post it there instead of making a new thread for it.

The Bar (section)

This is probably the most popular section on the forums because of the one thread that spawned it. This section is what most forums would call “Off-Topic”. Post about whatever you want here if it doesn’t fit into any other section. It doesn’t even have to be about gaming. The prime 2 rules still apply here though.

The Bar (Thread)
The second most popular thread on the forums. It’s been in existence since nearly the beginning of Destructoid and has over 350 thousand views. This thread is off-topic in a sea of off topic. That is its purpose. Anything goes here (for the most part) and conversation moves fast. That’s why this thread is perfect for questions. Rather than making a new thread to ask that question you could have answered yourself by going to Google, why don’t you post it in the bar? Everyone reads it and it will be answered (or you will be chided for not finding it yourself). Just have some verbal diarrhea? Bar thread. (but keep it to one post, 18 in a row is spam). Want to tell people about the awesome achievement you just got? Bar thread. Want to ask when a game is coming out? Google and if you can’t find it. Bar thread. Want to pimp your blog? Ba..NO. STOP. What did I just tell you? That goes in your intro thread.

Site Support and General Help

Something broken on the site? Well, your first action should be to e-mail support@destructoid.com. Otherwise, you can post a thread here describing your issue and it will get forwarded on. Trying to figure out how to get your PS3 working with your 12 inch black and white TV? Good luck, and this section would also be a good place to look for help on it. Got a suggestion for the site? First go here and search for it, but it’s also ok to post in help.

Forum Feedback

Same as above, but specific to the forums. I read this thread every time someone posts and I try to fix things quickly. A private message would probably be easier, but this thread is good to bump if you find something out of wack on the forums or want to suggest something.

Destructoid Events

This section consists of:

Friday Night Fights This is where you would post a thread if you want to host a particular FNF on a particular system. As you can see, a new thread is put up for each console/system for each week. Once those weeks are over they get closed. This is where you can find out what's on the menu each week.

NARPS and Meetups

A NARP is a No Apparent Reason Party. If you are throwing a party or want to meet up with dtoiders at an event, this is the section you would look/post in. Send me a PM about it with DETAILS and I will put it in the forum calendar.

Trade Yo Games

See the special rules for this forum

Shows and Podcasts

Podtoid

Try to keep anything here Podtoid related in some way. Reverend Anthony, Samit , Topher and Jim post and read this forum often and it’s a good place to show your love for the crew as well.

HAWP

Try to keep anything here HAWP related. Reverand Anthony reads this forum so try not to be too creepy.

RetroforceGO!

Try to keep anything here RetroforceGO! related. While I understand most of the topics are going to be retro flavored, not EVERYTHING retro needs to go here. The gaming discussion section can (and will) talk about retro stuff too and the traffic there is higher, so if you want feedback from everyone, Gaming discussion is a better place for it. Topher, Stella, and occasionally Chad, Colette and Dyson read and post in this forum.

Podcastle

This is the forum for anything Podcastle related, Europe related that you don’t want lost in the rest of the forum and generally your best place to talk with the Podcastle crew. Athiesium, Wardrox and Jim all post and read this forum daily and use a lot of what is posted here for their show.

That is it my friends. That covers all of the forums. If you ever have ANY questions please send me a PM. I’m here most every day and I will answer you as soon as I’m able.

Quick FAQ

*The meat man Reggie goes away after 10 posts.

*The power bar is determined by your posts. It’s just there to look cool. You don’t get anything.

* All the current Badges and how to get them

* you can embed a youtube video in your post by putting everything after v= between youtube /youtube. For example -

* Use the "manage attachments" button to upload huge pictures. It will conveniently make them into click able thumbnails at the bottom of your post. Also the "IMG clickable thumbnails" code from Photobucket will work as well.

Any and all of the above is subject to change at a moments notice. It is however not very likely that it will.