Just a thought.....

[Hone]

I have been talking to mel76 on msn, and her an i both agree that sigbar is walking on the road to the castle of every-other-GFX-Sites. Meaning, we are ending up like every other GFX forum out there, All abourt art, with hardly any sense of community what-so-ever.

We thought that what set us apart from everyone else was the strong sense of community, along with the great artists we have here, along with the ability to help others attain there potential with their art.
Now, even myself, when i log on, i never look at the introductions forum!
Does it hurt to just post in like 3 topics, "Hey, welcome to signaturebar! Have a great time and i hope you find what your looking for ;)"
I know people still do this, but how welcoming do you think people would feel when they got about 30 hits with people saying that?

It used to be that people were educated when they came to the forum, people would comment on how friendly the forum was, now, its all about selling signatures and whether i should enter my signature in the sotw section.

Signaturebar still has a sense of community, but how many of you reading this came here and thought FIRST, wow, such good artists, then, WOW! These people are so nice, and their community section is so involving! And how many people here don't make sigs and still frequent these forums? Off the top of my head, i can think of about 3 people.

I know we still get compliments from time to time, and i am not saying that people here aren't nice, we are all very nice, even if some people get out of hand now and then, and i think that is a trait that will pretty much stay with this forum till it dies out, and if it dies out, why will that be? Waning numbers of artists? I don't think so. The sense of community gone? Pretty much.

How many people reading this started making sigs because people who were good at making sigs were nice to them and they kind of wanted to make sigs like them, so they could be looked up to like they looked up to that someone? I secretly look up to alot of people here. Whether i never admit it, i will always love and adore a couple of people here greatly.

I could go on, but other than that, i think people should be reminded about what they first loved so much about signaturebar, because if we aren't careful, that is going to die off pretty soon.

Just a thought...

Miniscule P.S When i came here, i started off with about 3 people on my msn, one of them has blocked me for a reason i have no idea, one of them has pretty much become my best friend, and the other i cannot even remember. 2-1 Friendliness loses. I now have about 18 or so people, not all of them log on, but about every night i have conversations with up to like 4-6 people from signaturebar, IN ONE CONVERSATION! Wake up people.

[lokifeyson]

interesting thought :)

It used to be that people were educated when they came to the forum, people would comment on how friendly the forum was, now, its all about selling signatures and whether i should enter my signature in the sotw section.

Signaturebar still has a sense of community, but how many of you reading this came here and thought FIRST, wow, such good artists, then, WOW! These people are so nice, and their community section is so involving! And how many people here don't make sigs and still frequent these forums? Off the top of my head, i can think of about 3 people.

I know we still get compliments from time to time, and i am not saying that people here aren't nice, we are all very nice, even if some people get out of hand now and then, and i think that is a trait that will pretty much stay with this forum till it dies out, and if it dies out, why will that be? Waning numbers of artists? I don't think so. The sense of community gone? Pretty much.

How many people reading this started making sigs because people who were good at making sigs were nice to them and they kind of wanted to make sigs like them, so they could be looked up to like they looked up to that someone? I secretly look up to alot of people here. Whether i never admit it, i will always love and adore a couple of people here greatly.

so....what am I? lol

[Mel76]

I hope alot of people read this and it makes them think, because if that happens then the point of the post will not be lost :)

[Sn00p]

umm i still dont get why was this posted ?

[Hone]

If you read it ALL, there is nothing to get, just wonder.

[ArmedCivilian]

So people don't visit introductions as often anymore. That isn't what makes people stay. We do have a lot of activity in the competition and show off area but that is to be expected. People should be more active in that area. The community might make this site stand out over other gfx forums but it is still a gfx forum. There is still lots of activity in the General Chat & Discussions. How many posts in your introduction thread means nothing. And that is the only thing that has been affected. I don't even make introductions at half the forums I go to because of the meaninglessness of them. Nothing is dying, certainly not the community feeling. I might not be the best to be talking about this because I don't really get involved with any community but I can assure you from the time I joined till now I haven't seen any failing in that area.

[lokifeyson]

I could go on, but other than that, i think people should be reminded about what they first loved so much about signaturebar, because if we aren't careful, that is going to die off pretty soon.

I came to sigbar looking for a signature...
here is my first post ever!!!
http://signaturebar.com/forums/viewtopic.php?p=13974&highlight=#13974

lol, I didn't even make an introduction (at the time we had no 10 post minimum rule)

Etha was kind enough to make my sig request :)

After I got my sig, I thought to myself..."why don't I try making a sig, I have plenty of knowledge with photoshop."

which is exactly what I did, this is my fourth post
http://signaturebar.com/forums/viewtopic.php?p=14015&highlight=#14015

and so it started, I loved the fact that someone liked my work and I wanted to get better, so I kept making requests.

rarely did I make a sig for myself, I wanted to wait. I wanted to become great at sig making, not just "good", that way when I did make a sig for myself it would be an awesome one! Because I would be making a sig that meant something to me, the requests didn't mean anything, they were just practice.

basically my point is that this is a graphic site, its just that we happen to be a very friendly one. As long as that doesn't change, then neither will sigbar :)

[MonkeyKing]

your not the only one loki
http://signaturebar.com/forums/viewtopic.php?t=12200

when i first got here i wanted was a sig made and leave but i end up stay because of you guys

[Hone]

And do you think if people would have been tools to you and knocked you around and just made your sig and said HOPE YOUR HAPPY WITH IT WOULD YOU LIKE SOME AVATAR WITH THAT would you stay?

This happened to me at GSA, i hardly ever post on that forum now, or i occasionally lurk it when i have nothing to do.

[diesel]

but we dont do that here hone.

just because 30 people dont post in the intro threads it doesnt mean we are friendly.

as loki said, we ARE a graphic site, but 1 thing we pride our selves on is being a friendly grpahic site, this wont change, as long as the members here keep doing what they are doing, and being friendly :D

good idea mate, its good your thinking of sigbar like that, but im quite happy with how things are atm, just my opinion.

[tradedemon]

I appreciate your comments Hone, but as forums and sites grow things usually change. What I can't quite grasp is how you have equated that sites about general art and graphics become less friendly as they get more diverse.

Maturing and maintaining a friendly environment can go hand in hand and from what I am seeing we're still one of the most friendliest sites on the net. We keep things clean and above all encourage each other with their work.

Lastly if you don't want me to humiliate you then I suggest you pm me.

thanks

[noobie]

I think this site has a fantastic balance of community friendliness and gfx.
I dont think its too much of one and not enough of the other.
Theres plenty of things going on for people just interested in gfx, and so so many lovely members chatting about general everyday things and welcoming people to make them love the site as much as most of us do.

I love this site for both reasons equally and i hope the same goes for most other members too :)

[Etha]

As most people have said this site IS one of the friendlier sites I've seen. What else is there to say in the intro thread other than "Welcome to SB?" and other "canned" sentences? It's been that way ever sinse I joined a year ago, and that was when the forum wasn't too big at all.

I think what makes the community a community is having all the member contribute. We aren't going to package up the want to be interested and hand it to new members on a golden platter, that's *not* the way things work around HERE or ANY OTHER PLACE.

As for communication, not everyone has to be in contact with everyone else on a personal level. Some people DO have lives away from the internet and computer and aren't open to be just randomly chatting with tons of people all the time. Yes, it's nice, and on occassion Farrah and Paul and I will have loads of chats with eachother but that is after we became more than just forum buddies and took the time to get to know each other, but that is not what this forum offers. We are a graphic forum and what YOU do on your personal time has no effect on this forum, unless you are secretly HARRASSING other members outside of the site, THAT is when a problem would arise.

This is a great site, and as it keeps on growing I hope many members will see and have a want to stay and contribute their time and efforts to keep SigBar at the top. I know if I hadn't as I had, I wouldn't be in the positions that I'm at today.

[Hone]

Me and mel were just talking, and its not all about the introductions thread, some of you posted here that what i said was pretty much all about the introductions thread, it isn't. I just thought id make everyone just a tad aware about what they love most about this forum. What i love most about this forum.
Me and mel put this together TOGETHER. And it was just a thought. You all don't have to hound on me.

[Mel76]

LOL well that got you all talking didn't it ;)

Solidarity in the ranks :)


Nice one ;)

[~flow+]

i first come here for looking sig, but after getting sig i stay here and started posting and looking how great sigs some ppls do and then i started making sigs myself too, so this site changed my life quite much...

because now i waste or "use" my time to sigs making :D