A Community Story

[Ithica]

This is a thread I think everyone should read and maybe we as Members can learn what being a part of a Community is about.

As most of you know now I am working on an R2D2 Unit and I have met some great people. Well my wife has been researching with me and she came across and R2 Unit she liked which was pink and white. I mentioned it to James to find out that there is a very sad story behind this droid. I am a grown man but I am not ashamed to say that this story of R2-KT brought tears to my eyes. Although this all took place a few years ago there is still a vital lesson to be learned. You can read more here http://www.r2kt.com/ but I will give you the quick version. I young girl was diagnosed with a brain tumor and you all know the end results. One day the family was at church and her father noticed the windows looked like R2-D2. At that point Katie’s father and sister decided to build her and R2 Unit to watch over her as she slept. He joined R2-D2 Builders and began to research for his endeavor. Word caught wind and spread very fast. The Members of this Community gathered together and donated parts to JAG (Jerry Greene) to build one and donate it to the family. Her health started going downhill so another Member repainted his R2 Unit and sent it to the family until theirs was built. R2-KT was loved by Katy until the day she passed on. R2-KT holds the spirit of this little girl as it lives on in her name. R2-KT's story was heard by George Lucas and from that point was written into some stories and they even made a toy of it. R2-KT has become a true icon of what it means to be a Community. It brings tears to my eyes reading this story and thinking of my daughters but it brings me hope knowing that total strangers can pull together to donate their time, money and strength so a child can live her life with happiness.

What does this story have to do with 405th? As a prop building Forum 405th is among the best. As a Community 405th has been going downhill. I am not the only one to see this. If this story reaches one person in this Community and makes them a better person for knowing this then Katy is still changing lives. We have so much potential but we lose focus on what 405th is about. It is not about Halo Props...it is about being part of a Community that builds props together. Remember...if we can do it, so can you.

Ithica
Dave

 

[Boba Fett]

Well put, Dave! Excellent story I was never aware of... It DOES tug at the heart!
You have a point, and it's well put. Hopefully everyone reads this and takes the message to heart!

 

[mitch35542]

That was sad and very great at the same time, the community part was the greatness of the story. What could we do to actually become more of a community though?

 

[ForgedReclaimer]

Incredible story, you don't see things like that too often, and Its amazing how things like that can bring people together.

Its too bad about the mood some people throw around here, people say "This person did this or that" or outright bash peoples work. Even things like a new guy posting about something he should have read in the stickies but didn't. Some people might just as well of outright said GTFO. Its kind of a sad thing when you think of what this should be.

Things can be done to get the community more involved with each other. Maybe a community project to build a collaboration armor and raffle off for money to give to an organization or something, but that may not be within legal terms.

 

[Boba Fett]

Actually, Jbetts is running one right now, I'm doing the pep work for it. It does happen.

There are a lot of people that are all about themselves, and it's saddening. I've tried to ignore it, but it still winds me up. I might not be a perfect person, but I try to help encourage positive feelings with all members. I don't care if their work looks amazing or like a piece of crap, it's all about learning, sharing, giving: something that nobody values anymore.

 

[Akademee]

I don't care if their work looks amazing or like a piece of crap, it's all about learning, sharing, giving: something that nobody values anymore.

Well my friend, this is the age of instant information and results. Unfortunately, more and more people find this site and want armor (this is not news to many of you people) rather quickly and cheaply and expect quality. This cannot be done, of course, you can only pick two! Instead of sitting here saying "Hey, the 405th as a community is going downhill" no offense to Ithica since he is not the first, or last, I have heard say this.

The thing I find in this article is that whole tear-jerking scenario became a reality because there was a person on a mission, a mission to make his daughter feel better in her darkest time. Through communication, word got around and people started pulling together to make this hefty dream into a total reality.

If you want to improve the community, the key is communication (for god sakes the first 7 letters are the same!), and not sitting around like old men with their thumbs in their butts saying "In my days, things were better." I challenge you to send a PM to a person who's topic you read and just ask them how they are doing and some background stuff. People love that, it creates a sense of caring and friendship also known as a COMMUNITY. I have got to stop writing these long things since I'll bet no one reads them in their entirety...

 

[weeds]

...I challenge you to send a PM to a person who's topic you read and just ask them how they are doing and some background stuff. People love that, it creates a sense of caring and friendship also known as a COMMUNITY. ...

Great idea. I will be doing that. If I get blown off by someone, so be it. A community is about people, not props or armor. Great story Ithica. Point well made.

 

[ForgedReclaimer]

People will read its entirety, people who care will. But your right, some people around here don't care, its about getting their armor and getting out. Its sometimes the people doing that, that will cause the drama and problems and they are everywhere. We could just close the doors by locking the signup function to new people but whats a community that doesn't allow new people in. The more people that join the more the quality will drop, its only natural. Look at real life, compare a big city of thousands to a small town of hundreds. The forum is sort of like a school, you have the popular/social kids, the introverts and the bullies, and i don't like bullies one bit. The only way to get the diverse group together is like you said, communication and social effort. Something that most forums are lacking.

There needs to be more ways to get the interaction like social gatherings, events, group projects and maybe an Xbox Live 405th event of some sort like a tournament or something. Something to bring the new guys and seniors together and bring them to the same level instead of the Skill barrier.

 

[Boba Fett]

I read it... and you're right. Unfortunately, we can't change the way people think. The purpose of a forum IS to communicate, but it seems that the communication is currently coming in the wrong way... I also think Ithica was just pointing out an example of what a solid community will do, and throwing it out there as an example. I love this community, and I hope to be around for a long time.

 

[misfitjh]

You all make some very good points. As Akademee pointed out we don't really know a lot about each other. I mostly know everyone on here by the screen name and their profile pic, and from some of their threads I've learned a little extra. I could walk right past you on the street and not even know it was one of the group. I think one of the key issues we are having is that we as a community are spread out all over the world. And I know the 501st is the same way, spread out over the world but they have a huge amount of people compared to us so there is bound to be a lot of people close enough to do community events and such. So as a community I think we need to share more about ourselves and really get to know each other, then we as a community can pull together when needed to help and support each other and the communities around us.

 

[weeds]

...The more people that join the more the quality will drop...

Oh, I'm not so sure about that, I'm a noob by many standards and I consider myself to be a quality member. There has been a fair amount of discussion about this and from my perspective, it's about expectations. New member expectations have to be set early and in a polite a way as possible. Adam said it in the new recruit video... We are not here to teach you how to make armor... we are here to make community..."

hen you walk into a room full of people who you have something in common with. Your first impulse is not to stand on a chair and stat yelling, "What is Pepakura?". You are a lot more likely say, "Wow, that is an excellent helmet. How did you make it?"

The internet, however, has provided people with an expectation of instant results, instant gratification. How do I get from Columbus to Boston? (CR) instant answer, with miles and time.

The forum stats say there are 2,859 active members. I don't know what that means exactly, but I bet that at least 1,000 people will check these posts in the next day or so. (If they don't scroll off the first page.) That's really not a huge community, but it is spread out.

 

[SagittariusArt]

There´s a Reason why the 405th going downhill as a Community.

First it is the Board itself.
The Design and Menu Navigation is irritating, but this is just my Opinion.

It looks a little Cheap, when i remember the 405th Board as it was a Year ago...man, that was a true great looking Board and easy to handle.

The second Reason is, that whe have too much Guys here, who wants to build nothing Halo-Related, so this is a mixed Community.

Okay, they build Armor too and collecting Stuff, nothing against them, they can make what they want.
But when it comes to be a real Community Member, the most have other Things to do.

For the Armor Making, there isn´t a fast Way, there´s only one Way.

Make it great, spend a lot of Time in it, and you will love the Results more and more.
I worked on my first Suite 8 Months, then rebuild it. Now i see the Reach Armor and thinking it would look very nice if i replace some Parts with them.

You get more and more skilled, and every Step spends more Time.
But that doesn´t mean that someone can build a Armor in a Week.
Okay, it goes, with Foam Boards, but i would rater spend more Time then waste the Stuff because i stressed to much.

And i saw what the real skilled Members can do.
Their whole Heart, Sweat and Blood is integrated in the Pieces they builded.


I would say, we are making a Topic for those People, wich want to become real Community Members.

The Story behind R2-TK goes to the Heart.
That was a great Teamwork from a great Community, and i bet we can become such a Community too if we work on it.

 

[ForgedReclaimer]

It wasn't so much directed to anyone being a noob in general as that with any large number of people your alwasy bound to get a rotten one or two, not a dozen but a few. And it only takes one person to spark a three way or more fight causing drama and unrest. More will come and lots wont stay but the greater the population, the greater the possibility. We have seen noobs before walk in and blow us away.

It looks a little Cheap, when i remember the 405th Board as it was a Year ago...man, that was a true great looking Board and easy to handle.

Agreed, if the forum ever needs help with photoshop i would be willing to offer my services free of charge, I've used photoshop for years now.

 

[Akademee]

I believe the distinction is:

n00b!: a new person who does not show much promise

newb: a new person who shows a crap-ton of promise!

 

[CoolC]

You all make some very good points. As Akademee pointed out we don't really know a lot about each other. I mostly know everyone on here by the screen name and their profile pic, and from some of their threads I've learned a little extra. I could walk right past you on the street and not even know it was one of the group. I think one of the key issues we are having is that we as a community are spread out all over the world. And I know the 501st is the same way, spread out over the world but they have a huge amount of people compared to us so there is bound to be a lot of people close enough to do community events and such. So as a community I think we need to share more about ourselves and really get to know each other, then we as a community can pull together when needed to help and support each other and the communities around us.

I agree. Unfortunately we all living in a digital age. There are certain things we just don't publish out in the open. We all hide ourselves behind our screen names. A community is where we trust each other by our first names. One possible solution is to have a robust site where membership is by invitation only. That means no noobs. Noobs will have to earn their place. Once we all got to know each other at a personal level, I belive 405th community will grow.

 

[Akademee]

I just find the problem with "Invitation only" stuff, we would become more like the 501st and we might get bad reps for being "elitist." I just think that the best solution is an old one, have the registration open up only once every few weeks. It forces people to read and explore because that is the only thing they can do

I know my stuff wouldn't stand up to an invitation/admissions board, that's why I'm not in the 501st

 

[misfitjh]

I agree that the invitation only might not be the best way to go, it might make us appear snobbish. But I do think we should close the registration for awhile. We all had to wait to join, heck I had to wait three and a half months to join. I think it will force those who are truly interested into reading and learning before they have a chance to post. This will allow then to develop some skills in pep and other forms of prop making. That way we don't get anymore "I've tried it and I stink at it so where can I buy some" posts from people just starting out. The whole reason I join was there was this great feeling of support and understanding, a willingness to help and give advice (positive or negative) to each other. It almost felt like a family and made me feel welcome even though I had no clue as to what I was doing.

However you'll also notice we seem to be loosing alot of noobs for what ever reason. I've had 3 different apprentices through the mentor program and they have all fallen off the face of the earth so to speak. The people who truly care are here almost every day posting or reading so all in all I don't think we are that bad off, there will always be noobs wanting to take the short cuts but they don't seem to last very long. And the ones who are into it make the effort and hang around.

 

[Akademee]

When in doubt,
read the post count

 

[Bryce Youtsey]

Very moving story. I do hope that more people read this story.

 

[thatdecade]

I don't think invitations or staggered registrations is the way to go. They are both ways to decrease the amount of noob posts and the mid and senior members have no problem keeping up with the current volume.