Everyone started out as a newbie

by **Clint Orchuk** on Tue Aug 23, 2011 12:08 am

A new guy comes on to the boards and says he's enjoying the coffee his machine makes and asks a simple question. He didn't ask for a pat on the back, snide sarcasm or whether or not his machine makes someone's definition of espresso. Give him a break.

...split from Espresso serving temperature by moderator...

by **another_jim** on Tue Aug 23, 2011 12:24 am

Clint Orchuk wrote:A new guy comes on to the boards and says he's enjoying the coffee his machine makes and asks a simple question. He didn't ask for a pat on the back, snide sarcasm or whether or not his machine makes someone's definition of espresso. Give him a break.

You make a good point. But I disagree strongly.

It it is not our job to give context-free answers; there are about 1000 places where the OP could have had his answer without waiting for someone to reply. Nor is it our job to sugarcoat. This is a serious hobby site and it would be the height of dishonesty and impoliteness for us to give pablum and misleading answers. Our job, our politeness, is to be completely honest about what can make good espresso and what cannot.

by **aecletec** on Tue Aug 23, 2011 4:32 am

Which replies are you going to deem proper and which not?

by **chinamon** on Tue Aug 23, 2011 5:24 am

aecletec wrote:Which replies are you going to deem proper and which not?

It's a simple matter of seeing the big picture here.

For a new guy to join the community and ask a simple question but get answers like "your machine sucks" seems quite uninviting. Everyone just seems like a coffee snob stuck in their own little bubble. As a person who admins another forum (non-coffee related) I know how important it is to make noobs feel welcome but maybe that's just the administrator side of me talking.

by **aecletec** on Tue Aug 23, 2011 6:02 am

So you want to be welcomed with open arms by telling members of other forums how to do their thing?

by **chinamon** on Tue Aug 23, 2011 6:06 am

aecletec wrote:So you want to be welcomed with open arms by telling members of other forums how to do their thing?

No, but I did expect a friendlier group.

by **takeshi** on Tue Aug 23, 2011 2:52 pm

chinamon wrote:It's a simple matter of seeing the big picture here.

For a new guy to join the community and ask a simple question but get answers like "your machine sucks" seems quite uninviting. Everyone just seems like a coffee snob stuck in their own little bubble. As a person who admins another forum (non-coffee related) I know how important it is to make noobs feel welcome but maybe that's just the administrator side of me talking.

Jim didn't say "your machine sucks". He said that it did not produce espresso and explained why. He didn't give you the warm fuzzies but that certainly isn't the point of Home-Barista.com. Home Barista is a site for serious espresso enthusiasts (note the tagline under the site logo). If you aren't looking for that, CoffeeGeek is frequently recommended but even there you'll probably think that the users are snobs as they're enthusiasts as well.

The irony is that you were actually shown the "big picture" and didn't like what you saw compared to the bubble of your superauto. I wish I could direct you to a site dedicated to superauto enthusiasts but I'm not aware of any.

by **another_jim** on Tue Aug 23, 2011 3:21 pm

chinamon wrote:It's a simple matter of seeing the big picture here.

For a new guy to join the community and ask a simple question but get answers like "your machine sucks" seems quite uninviting. Everyone just seems like a coffee snob stuck in their own little bubble. As a person who admins another forum (non-coffee related) I know how important it is to make noobs feel welcome but maybe that's just the administrator side of me talking.

This is a hobbyist site, where "coffee snobs stuck in their bubble" talk to each other about the best coffees and espresso in the world. If your life is too hectic, and your priorities do not include good coffee and espresso, then you are here purely as a free-rider. You will never have anything to contribute to this discussion, nor do you intend to do so.

That does not make you a bad person; but it does mean you are here for some quick answers that you cannot be bothered to look up for yourself. As a site administrator, you know it is good form for people visiting a site just for its information to find it by looking for themselves, and not imposing themselves on others.

by **chinamon** on Tue Aug 23, 2011 6:11 pm

another_jim wrote:This is a hobbyist site, where "coffee snobs stuck in their bubble" talk to each other about the best coffees and espresso in the world. If your life is too hectic, and your priorities do not include good coffee and espresso, then you are here purely as a free-rider. You will never have anything to contribute to this discussion, nor do you intend to do so.

That does not make you a bad person; but it does mean you are here for some quick answers that you cannot be bothered to look up for yourself. As a site administrator, you know it is good form for people visiting a site just for its information to find it by looking for themselves, and not imposing themselves on others.

So what's you're saying is a noob or someone who lacks the knowledge to keep up with the "experts" are not welcome here? If you do not welcome people who come heretofore read and learn, or what you call a free ride, then why is the forum open to the public to read? Why not lock it down so only the elite have access?

On our forum, we don't judge people based on how much or what they know. Everyone was once a noob. With out new blood, any hobby would eventually become extinct.

by **Bluecold** on Tue Aug 23, 2011 6:28 pm

A noob can read up before he asks questions. A noob is expected to read up before he asks questions. I've frequented boards on which persons were expected to explain where they had been looking for answers to their questions. If not, the thread was closed and the TS was warned.


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