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<p>[QUOTE=&quot;GDJMSP, post: 668976, member: 112&quot;]cupcake - let me relate something to you and then you can think of it what you will.</p><p><br /></p><p>First of all, I am not an expert. And among all of the thousands of members here on this forum I can only think of 2, maybe 3 who I would even consider calling an expert. To me, expert is a word like rare. It is used way, way too often and very seldom is it ever used in its correct context.</p><p><br /></p><p>Now that being said, back in 2002 when this forum first started it was a pretty slow place. Even I didn&#039;t sign up and join right away, I was a lurker just like many are today. But as usually happens a post was made that I just couldn&#039;t resist responding to and so I joined becoming member two hundred and something. </p><p><br /></p><p>Now people tell me today, often complain about it even, that I am too harsh, too abrubpt, too blunt if you will. And I put members old and new alike off because of the way I post and what I have to say. And maybe they are right, I admit that I am blunt and to the point and I never sugarcoat anything.</p><p><br /></p><p>But as I said, when I first joined, the forum pretty much stayed a pretty slow place with not much activity. But then a few newbies started showing up asking questions. Rarely did anybody else answer their questions. The membership we had back then consisted almost exclusively of PCGS, NGC and rcc forum members. There were one or two others who came from Numisadict, another forum that I used to moderate. And honestly, a lot of those people tended to just ignore newbies, or those who seemed like newbies.</p><p><br /></p><p>So I began to answer their questions, just like I always did on any other forum. In fact, back then, I was often even asked why I bothered to make it a point to answer questions on not only this forum, but every other forum there was at the time. Most of which nobody here ever even heard of. My answer to them was this - because nobody else will and they deserve to be able to learn. In other words - somebody has to do it.</p><p><br /></p><p>Well one thing led to another and as word spread that newbies could come here to Coin Talk and be treated with respect and have their questions answered - more and more newbies began to show up. Soon they were coming in large numbers almost every day. More than a few of our oldest members here will remember this, many of them were newbies themselves when they came. Today, those same people are called experts by the newbies we get now.</p><p><br /></p><p>Now my point is this - I have not changed one bit since the first day I got here. I have always been this way, my entire life. But if a guy like me, who as you put it - mowed newbies down at the knees, and who is thought of by more than few around here as being some sort of ogre or something -&nbsp; then what do you suppose it was that made this forum grow as much, as fast, and have so many loyal members who stay year after year ? </p><p><br /></p><p>There must be something those newbies like about getting straight, no nonsense answers. There must be something they like about being told plainly - hey, you made a mistake. </p><p><br /></p><p>You see there is a big difference between telling a person they screwed up and making fun of them because they screwed up. The former happens a lot around here - the latter never happens, because it isn&#039;t allowed - not by me, not by Peter, and not by any of the other mods either.</p><p><br /></p><p>So I submit to you that nobody around here has forgotten where they came from or how they started. And as I have already said, I can remember when a whole lot of them were as fresh as the driven snow. Today they answer the questions while I just sit back, smile, and feel proud of them.</p><p><br /></p><p>Now I don&#039;t mean to single you out, there are others who feel just like you do. So this response of mine is for all of you. Perhaps you should take another look at what actually goes on around here. And this time keep an open mind and try not to be biased just because you have seen mistreatment of newbies elsewhere. For as I said earlier, mistreatment doesn&#039;t happen around here - we don&#039;t allow it.[/QUOTE]</p><p><br /></p>

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