I wouldn't exactly call it random, since that carries with it a connotation of the kinds of things that shut down the SB. I would say that you can talk about real things in your life that aren't related to LDW games - things like school, family, friends, cars, travel, hobbies - you get the idea. No "random shouting" or other disruptive stuff. It has to fit in the flow of normal conversation.

I wanted to post sooner, but this took me several days to write. This is a little hard for me because I really, really, really love the Shout Box.

My first day on the forum, I talked in the Shout Box to a few people, who made quite an impression on me. Because of those moments I loved the atmosphere here so much, that I stuck around, read A LOT of posts, and felt like I was becoming part of something bigger than me. But I didn't talk in the shout box again for another year.

Each time I came here (I rarely logged in back then), I read some of what was happening in the shout box. As VV3 got closer to it's release, I decided to enter the SB to ask about it. I was answered quickly, and then the shouters went back to their conversation. I was not bothered. Just because I had been reading about them for almost a year, didn't mean that they should feel like they had to talk to me.

When I became a shouter, my biggest worry was (and still is) whether what I said in the shout box was mattering to someone else reading at that very moment. How many times have you shouters read me say, "There are such and such number of invisible and anonymous users online right now able to read what you just wrote..."? Of course, that didn't stop me from playing from time to time. Why? Because as a reader, I enjoyed the playful banter as well. Just being honest.


I want to say that it has been an incredible joy to me to be able to interact with people from all over the world, as well as right here in my own part of the world, about the game that has brought me so much happiness.

At the same time, I will admit that I didn't like being yelled at in the Shout Box when someone thought I was wrong in my thinking. It made me very uncomfortable when a newbie would ask a question but I couldn't type fast enough around the other shouters in order to answer him or her. Rough-housing often made me feel out of place, even if I acknowledged it was going on while I was in the SB.

As I said before, I know I'm not innocent. I've had my share of pie-throwing antics, and sugar-free-cookie free-for-alls. But I have also been on the responsible side, warning those who were messing around that they needed to stop. I have tried to help others who were close to being banned to change their ways. And, sadly, I have also been witness to the banning of certain SB trouble-makers.

After the many meaningful posts were added to this thread, I wondered why certain shouters didn't care whether the Shout Box came back, and even moreso, why more who enjoy the Shout Box haven't come forward to say so.


I had in the past, requested that a list of Shout Box rules, or a link to them, be posted near the Shout Box. Although the rules are easy to find at the top of each forum, they are not the first thing that Newbies see (and sometimes those of us who have been here awhile need to be reminded). Like my experience, many who sign up, first see a moving box where people are communicating and find it much more engaging than that first thread. But at that point, the only rules a brand new Newbie has seen so far are listed (very clearly I might add) at the top of their registration page with a check box for agreement:



But I see now that perhaps it needs to go a step further than just posting the rules. If the problem is that only a few shouters are breaking the rules, then shouldn't we simply keep just those forumers out of the Shout Box? (and yes, I understand that could mean me too.) Couldn't there be a separate registration for the Shout Box? And if you break the Shout Box rules, you are suspended from being able to shout. Serious violators would be banned from the forum as always.
It just seems to me like it would teach a good lesson to a trouble-maker (they are able to read the SB but not be able to enter it), while not interrupting the good forumers from continuing their conversation.

Then the forum doesn't become static. Good shouters would warn Newbies who blatantly disregard the agreement they just checked off in registration, as well as regulars who get carried away, that they could be suspended from the SB, indefinitely if necessary.


I have so much more on my mind, but that's all I have to say for now.

putting cacti everywhere