New Members... an open letter

[State O' Flux]

Howdy N00bs,

First... I still consider myself a n00b, a Babe in Toyland, a rank amateur... and total freakin' beginner. If you are open to an education, there is so much to learn, you cannot learn it all. Focus on a few things, get it and move on to a few more things. Have fun!

I joined this forum on 7-18 of this year, and started vapin' about a week or two prior to that. I started with a couple of eGo batteries and a few Kanger clearos. One of those Kangers ended up being a fake, and not yet real sharp on the intricacies of clearos in general and Kangers in particular, it took me a few days to figure out it was a POS.

I have learned a lot from:
1. Other members - mostly.
2. My own mistakes - a close second.
3. My own successes... but not as much as the mistakes. (So, don't be afraid to screw up... it's OK, everyone has, and they'll be the first to tell you)

Moving right along... In just a few short weeks, I've had 709 posts, have around 20 ECF "friends", obtained 19 mods of all varieties from several eGos (eGos and a few clearos make great friend and relative gifts) and Innokin mods... to 7 assorted mechs. I've given away 10 (quick count - yep, 10)... to friends and relatives... and even one eGo pass-through - to a neighbor that was just curious.
I've obtained 17 clearos, mostly Kanger. 11 carto tanks - mostly, no - all Valley View and IBT. 4 or 5 RBAs (don't ask)... and am looking at things like the $100 surge tank and waiting for the much cheaper Vision Aurora to show up in the US. Somehow, I've only bought one Glassomizer... and not the one you'd expect.
I've got more bottles of juice than I can easily count, plus mystery liquids that are a mix of things I don't like, hoping they get better when mixed and steeped... for a few years.

If you think I've spent lots of money... how much are you spending on smoking?

I guess the point I'm trying to make is that, if you stick around and you stick with it, you will learn some stuff and you will have fun... if you have the right attitude. No one here owes you a damn thing... but if you ask nice, use your words and a bit of punctuation now and again... people will respond kindly. We want to help, so make it just a little easy for that to happen.
One thing you can try not to do is write some big long life history... unless you're very clever and can entertain from the first sentence, and keep it up for the duration.

I can't do that - at least not for long, so I'm done.

Ciao,
C

 

[Txaggiesaunt]

Well said State. VAPE ON

 

[90quattrocoupe]

Well said.

Greg W.

 

[fourtytwo]

Well said.

Asking questions is a great way to learn. We won't judge. We were all new here at some point.

 

[soba1]

Very nice........

 

[AgentAnia]

Well written. Well thought. Well done, State!

 

[Robino1]

Like, like, like x 1,000!

 

[polingpower]

HEY STATE,
Way to go,
Like you i have give away more starter kits, 20 so far.(batterys,evods,charger)
Thank You FT, for making them so cheap!
Thank you MBV, for making juice so cheap!
I'll will talk to anybody about E-Cig when ask in Public.
Been know to hand a total strange a kit.
Yes, I'm that kind of guy, I'll try to pay for meals,also of Veterans(I love The.. I'm a Retired Vet Hats)
And still take my hat off in public places to Eat.

 

[Bosco]

Wow - you've been busy! I've been vaping for about 8 months and so far I've given away 1 slightly used cisco spec atty and a few bottles of DIY juice. Also - somebody stole my little ego pouch-thing that had an ego and 2 carto tanks in it. The tanks had dual coil cartos in them which don't work very well on an ego . . so I hope whoever stole it is having a crappy vape right now, lol.

Everything I know about vaping, I learned right here . .or on youtube watching reviewers or products that were mentioned here. IMO - this site is a fantastic resource for both new and experienced vapers . .after 8 months I still stop by here daily and learn new things.

I agree about asking questions nicely. I haven't been on the forum as much as you but I don't really notice people being snotty. Am I missing something? Anyway - agree with the thoughts and wish I was your neighbor, lol.

 

[Coastal Cowboy]

One thing I would like to politely ask:

If you're having a problem, please describe it in as much detail as possible. By that, I mean explain what equipment you have, when you bought it, what liquid you're using, what you did or tried to do when the problem occurred, etc.

There are lots of new member questions with very little detail other than "my tank is leaking" or "I'm not getting any vapor," or "burnt flavor won't go away."

A lot of folks here have probably had the same experience you've had and either solved the problem themselves, or got help from another ECF'er.

Details, details, details!

 

[bhswmc01]

Great post! My advice would be to start small. Hubby brought home a RBA a few weeks ago and plunked it down in front of me, thinking I could build him a coil no problem. I just laughed. I would like to get into this soon, but need a multimeter first - it's on my September 'to buy' list.

 

[Caridwen]

Very nice. My biggest pet peeve are non-descriptive thread titles. You'll probably get passed over if your title is HELP!

And for the members responding to the new members, keep in mind:

-Many may not have ever even seen a PV except online so keep it simple and avoid anagrams, appreviations, etc.
So they can get a rough idea of what your talking about, kindly post a link

-People come from all walks of life, many countries so be respectful. Many people aren't familiar with forums, and this is a big one. Try to be a little patient.

 

[Caridwen]

Wow - you've been busy! I've been vaping for about 8 months and so far I've given away 1 slightly used cisco spec atty and a few bottles of DIY juice. Also - somebody stole my little ego pouch-thing that had an ego and 2 carto tanks in it. The tanks had dual coil cartos in them which don't work very well on an ego . . so I hope whoever stole it is having a crappy vape right now, lol.

Everything I know about vaping, I learned right here . .or on youtube watching reviewers or products that were mentioned here. IMO - this site is a fantastic resource for both new and experienced vapers . .after 8 months I still stop by here daily and learn new things.

I agree about asking questions nicely. I haven't been on the forum as much as you but I don't really notice people being snotty. Am I missing something? Anyway - agree with the thoughts and wish I was your neighbor, lol.

I don't see a lot of snottiness - maybe a little frustration. And by and large 99% of the member that respond go out of their way to help new members.

 

[Cactus Breath]

...And for the members responding to the new members, keep in mind:

-Many may not have ever even seen a PV except online so keep it simple and avoid anagrams, appreviations, etc....

^ This one especially. It makes my eyes roll when a newbie who can barely attach a carto to a Blu battery asks a question in the New Members forum and gets a reply telling him/her something like "try a vv batt with a BCC at 1.8", or "buy a mech and an RDA, roll a micro at 0.5 with an ss wick and use 100vg juice for best VP and TH". For the less-than-tech-savvy newcomer, that might as well be in a foreign language. It's not helpful at all and, if anything, probably makes some people throw their hands up in despair and say "I'll NEVER figure this stuff out!".

 

[Robino1]

^ This one especially. It makes my eyes roll when a newbie who can barely attach a carto to a Blu battery asks a question in the New Members forum and gets a reply telling him/her something like "try a vv batt with a BCC at 1.8", or "buy a mech and an RDA, roll a micro at 0.5 with an ss wick and use 100vg juice for best VP and TH". For the less-than-tech-savvy newcomer, that might as well be in a foreign language. It's not helpful at all and, if anything, probably makes some people throw their hands up in despair and say "I'll NEVER figure this stuff out!".

^^^^^^^ I could barely follow that and I've been on the forum for almost a year!

 

[State O' Flux]

Hi fellow Vapistas,

Thanks for the kind words and personal perspective commentary. Based on what I've read... lots of good "pointers" for both n00b and pro alike. When I wrote this, I was thinking that I might offer thanks those that have helped me, provide a singular (if not necessarily useful) view of my experiences, offer some advice... a smattering of humor and a sprinkling of edu-ma-cation.

I did not expect such a positive or substantial response. Encouraging me is probably a bad idea... and in the future I'd suggest that you ignore anything I write.

Cheers,
C

 

[Robino1]

Hi fellow Vapistas,

Thanks for the kind words and personal perspective commentary. Based on what I've read... lots of good "pointers" for both n00b and pro alike. When I wrote this, I was thinking that I might offer thanks those that have helped me, provide a singular (if not necessarily useful) view of my experiences, offer some advice... a smattering of humor and a sprinkling of edu-ma-cation.

I did not expect such a positive or substantial response. Encouraging me is probably a bad idea... and in the future I'd suggest that you ignore anything I write.

Cheers,
C

You opened the door, can't ignore you now!

 

[State O' Flux]

You opened the door, can't ignore you now!

Sure you can, it's easy to slam that door shut! Just go to your settings, click on "Edit Ignore List" - type in cut N' paste State O' Flux into the box, hit "save changes"... and zee-wango-zee-bango... ignored!

 

[fourtytwo]

Hi fellow Vapistas,

Thanks for the kind words and personal perspective commentary. Based on what I've read... lots of good "pointers" for both n00b and pro alike. When I wrote this, I was thinking that I might offer thanks those that have helped me, provide a singular (if not necessarily useful) view of my experiences, offer some advice... a smattering of humor and a sprinkling of edu-ma-cation.

I did not expect such a positive or substantial response. Encouraging me is probably a bad idea... and in the future I'd suggest that you ignore anything I write.

Cheers,
C

What???

Did someone say something?

 

[Robino1]

Sure you can, it's easy to slam that door shut! Just go to your settings, click on "Edit Ignore List" - type in cut N' paste State O' Flux into the box, hit "save changes"... and zee-wango-zee-bango... ignored!

I've only put on ignore two people in my almost year here. They have both since moved on. In other words, not played well with others and got themselves banned. I don't think you fit that bill.