NooBTooB Forum

NoobToob 101- A Guide For Beginners

This guide has been created for newer and older members alike to get a better understanding of the NoobToob forums. It will be an in-depth guide, that presents all the frequently posted threads that asks questions. For example "What are Moderators?" or "How do I earn a Noobie?". It will also outline all the major sections of the forum, and a brief description of each part. With that said, I hope you find the guide useful!
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General Information

The NoobToob forums can be found under the Community tab at the top section of the main NoobToob site. Here we have many sections for anything NoobToob, Gaming, or Media related. These can be seen in the middle-left side of the screen, taking up a majority of the page.

From there, the top panel that is shown on the top of the page are the main controls that can be seen on any page you view around the NoobToob forums. You can click on the Front Page, Podcast, Community, or Wiki tabs that all lead to their respective areas. Each tab has subheadings with even more links that lead you to even more destinations.

Some of these include, but are not limited to: Archived Episodes, Episode Guide, iTunes, NoobToob Youtube Channel, NoobToob UGC Youtube Channel, viewing your Site Profile, viewing recently given Noobies, editing your profile, viewing your private messages, or viewing pages on the Wiki.

Familiarizing yourself with these links is essential to navigating the NoobToob site quickly, and efficiently. By spending time learning these links, you will find yourself browsing the NoobToob forums with no effort at all!

On the top-right side of the main Forum page is an advertisement for an upcoming social, event, or a link to a great thread. Underneath this is the NoobToob Shoutbox. Here you can send out a quick message to the other members of NoobToob, telling them something short about a game you are playing, or asking other members to play a specific game with you.

Underneath this are more links that provide you with easy access to the NoobToob IRC, Facebook page, Twitter account, and Youtube Channel.

Below the links are the latest members that are online in the last 5 minutes. It shows you who is browsing the site, what section they are looking at, what there NoobToob status is, where they are from, and how many Noobies that member has.

Last but not least, is the Statistics section of the forum. Here it shows how many threads have been created since the site has started, and how many posts. It also gives an average of how many threads/posts are created on any given day. Other statistical information is also given here as well. In addition, it shows who the newest and latest members are to join the forum, along with whose birthday is upcoming. Finally, it shows what members have been on in the last 2 hours.

FORUM RULES
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Forum Boards

NoobToob Episode Discussion-
This board is dedicated to discussing the latest week's episode of NoobToob. Once the episode has been posted on NoobToob, a thread will be created asking for comments, feedback, and questions that you were presented with while watching the episode.


Introductions-
Introduce yourself here! If your new and what people to get a better understanding of who you are, let us know! Tell us all about your gaming tastes, hobbies, or gaming history. We want to know it all! Make sure you provide us with your Gamertag, PSN ID, or Wii code, so we know where to contact you if you ever want to play sometime.

Easy access to the Forum Rules are presented in this section as well: Forum Rules

You can also Meet Your Mod Team and get to know the people that are dedicated to making the NoobToob community a better place to be.


Site Discussion-
Any discussion about the general site of NoobToob should be talked about here. Comments on how to better further the site can be posted in the Suggestion Box #2. Any further comments about the NoobToob site as a whole can be posted here as well.

Also in this section are the weekly contests about the site, Member of the Week, Review of the Week, and the Shoop contest are posted in this section as well.

SITE DISCUSSION GUIDELINES


Events-
Everything from socials, events, contests, etc are posted here. Want to play with other Noobtoobers, set up an event to let us know when to play, whose playing, and what the reward is for winner (if there is any)

The NoobToob War Room (game with others) is a place where you can quickly post what game you are playing, on what platform, and that'd you like others to play with you. Also it's great for boosting achievements, or just earning achievements with friends, in general.

You can also Suggest the Game! that you'd like to see an event be made for. Want to play an event for your favorite game? How will we know, unless you post here telling us what game you'd like to see an event be created for!

EVENTS GUIDELINES

Moderated by wtrswoopes
Coordinated by Spike941


Game Discussion-
General discussion on any game can be talked about in this board. Only specific game threads can be created, one thread per game. If you want to talk about your experience with a game, ask a question about a game, or get a better understanding about what's in store for you before you start a game, don't hesitate to check this board out!

In addition, we have Game and Thread Links that link to most game threads that have been created on the forums. Also, the NoobToob Army Gamer Club where you post what games you have earned an 1000/1000 or Platinumed, and you will be added to our continually updated list of all the other members who have done the same. We also have a NoobToob Game Trade here, where you post what game you are wanting to trade, and other members offer you games for what you post. It's great for trading amongst each other, and letting other members play what you enjoyed so much.

BEFORE YOU POST! - Games Discussion Guidelines Updated.

Moderated by Chip
Coordinated by Crimson, Fandango, Dr Flibble, Raskit


Gaming Culture-
Have something on your mind, gaming related? Talk about what makes you interested in gaming, various gaming related stories, what you have been playing, and more in this section! Anything that gives you a better understanding about what makes gaming so interesting fits well in this section.

We also have our 2010 Completed Games where you make an ongoing list of the games you have completed during the 2010 year.

GAMING CULTURE GUIDELINES

Moderated by Gameshark
Coordinated by Trikker, Manio, LeonJuggaloFTW, Littleg, Karnage


Gaming News-
This section is dedicated to any of the newest news video game related. A new game announced, new news on your favorite developer, or upcoming information about a video game console, all the news can be found and discussed here.

Games are given their own news thread upon their announcement to discuss your hopes for the game. Then, a week before the game is released, a new thread will open up in Game Discussion, and the thread in News Thread will be locked. This is in order to keep pre-release news in it's own section, and after-thoughts and actual info on the game in another section.

The New Game Releases have their own thread in this section as well. Any game being released in the next week will be seen here. Tell us what game you are excited for, and what games you plan on picking up! Also the Officially unofficial gaming deals thread is present here as well. See a deal at a store that you want others to know about, tell us here! We are gamers, on a budget. Any game you see on sale, or with a special bundle, make sure you let others know so we can hop on that deal as well!

GAMING NEWS GUIDELINES

Moderated by Kaidfather
Coordinated by Fuzzy, XxBarretxX, ZeroX4270


Game Reviews-
Play a game and want other members to know your opinion on it? Write a full-review giving us every detail about your experience with that game. Pictures, sub-headings, videos, and a thumbs-up/thumbs-down rating are only a few of the things that make a review stand out!

The Review Requests Thread! is a thread where you can request any game that you want, for someone to see and hopefully get a review up for you. If you need an opinion on a game, just post the game you want to see reviewed, and it will be added to the list.

GAME REVIEW GUIDELINES 3.0


User Generated Content-
This board is dedicated for anything created by you, or for you. Let's Plays, First Impressions, Sig and Avatar Requests, Songs, and more are all posted in this section. If you are hit with a stroke of inspiration, don't be afraid to make something! This community thrives on great User Generated Content, and the more content out there, the greater things can be!

As well as the general UGC, The NoobToob Modcast is in this section for listening as well. This is an additional podcast created by 4 lovely gentleman from the forums. Sunflower, Locke, Gravehound, and JamEnslaver. It is a weekly podcast where they talk about what they have been playing, Gaming News, and answer questions straight from the listeners!

Need an idea for how to set up your UGC thread, here's a great template for doing just that Game/Video Design Document Template. Want to use the NoobToob logo in one of your ideas, here is the template for that as well, NOOBTOOB LOGOS for use in UGC.

USER GENERATED CONTENT GUIDELINES


Media Discussion-
We understand that all of our lives don't revolve around gaming. That is why we have this section dedicated to Movies, Books, and Television. YouTube videos can be discussed here as well.

MEDIA DISCUSSION GUIDELINES

Coordinated by McMason


Help!-
Have a question that needs answered? Post it here. Have something you are having trouble with and don't know where to find the answer? Post it here. Having computer troubles? Post it here.

You can post any and all questions that you need help with, and it's almost guaranteed that someone on the forums will know how to solve your problem.

Don't know which game to get? Try checking out this thread The 'Which game do I get' Thread. Post a detailed explination about what type of game you are looking for, and other members can suggest other games of similar taste.

Also, here is a collection of all the How-To's And Tutorials we have collected over the years.

HELP! GUIDELINES

Moderated by The Gravehound
Coordinated by Willo


Off-Topic Discussion-
This section, for the most part, is for anything that you want to post, or are curious about, that doesn't really fit anywhere else. Random threads, thoughts, ideas, etc. are all created and posted in this section.

OFF TOPIC DISCUSSION GUIDELINES

Moderated by GoodEnoughForMe
Coordinated by Ultrabean V2.0, .Ethereal


Hall of Fame-
This section is solely for archiving the greatest threads, that want to be remembered for the ages, and not lost with any clutter from the forums. Things like Post Your Face, Listener Homework, Old Contests, Votes, etc. all have their place in this section.

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NoobToob Connections

NoobToob IRC

NoobToob Ventrilo

NoobToob Facebook Page

NoobToob Twitter (@noobtoob)

NoobToob Youtube

NoobToob Wiki

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NoobToob Frequently Asked Questions

What are Noobies?
Noobies are rewards given to members, from other members for doing something unique on NoobToob. Great posts, threads, reviews, UGC, etc. are all worthy things to give noobies for.

How do I get a Noobie?
A Noobie must be given to you from another member. Reasons for this are listed above.

Why can't I give Noobies?
You must have at least one noobie in order to give one. If you have one noobie, then just click on the "Give Noobie" button on the bottom right of the post page, and type your reason why you are giving a noobie. Click submit and your noobie will be given.

Will I lose a Noobie for giving one out?
No you will not. You can only gain noobies. Never lose them.

Why was my thread locked?
There are various reasons that your thread might have been locked. Some of them include not following the Forum rules and guidelines, posting a thread that already exists, or repeatedly posting the same thing, when you have been told not to.

Why did a moderator just "yell" at me?
This is a friendly place. Most things done on the forums are only to better the community. If you are told not to do something, it is most likely because you are breaking a Forum Rule or Guideline. If you have a problem with being told against doing something, kindly send a private message to one of the Forum Moderators, and handle it that way.

What is a Private Message?
A private message is a message sent privately between you and another user. Only the two of you can see this message, thus making it private. You can send pm's on the bottom of the post page, or additionally by clicking the inbox link at the top of the page, and typing in the user you want to send a message to.

I want more than just the weekly dose of NoobToob episodes! What else can I listen to?
This is when our UGC section comes in handy. Tons of content is provided here, including but not limited to The NoobToob Modcast, Comcast, Let's Play, First Impressions, Reviewcast, Turbo Interview Jamboree, Gaming on a Budget, and more! Search around, and find what you like

Why doesn't my favorite game have a thread? Where do I talk about it?
If it doesn't have a thread, make a quality Original Post (OP) and make one yourself! This would be in Game Discussion, and where you can talk about specific games. Make sure that if the game has yet to be released, wait until it comes out within the next week to post a thread about that game.

(So and So) was breaking a rule, what do I do?
Don't try to handle this yourself. That is what our Moderators are for. If you see something consistly happening. Send a Private Message to one of our Moderators or Admins, and let them know what is going on. Please don't start a heated argument in the thread with name calling and whatnot. This hardly ever solves anything. This best course of action is to handle the issue privately.

[b]What are moderators?[/url]
Moderators are members of the forums that have proven their love and dedication to the NoobToob community. They are given additional powers to lock, merge, and enforce rules in their respective board.

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Now you know the in's and out's of being an upcoming NoobToob member! This really is the best place around, so help us make it even better by doing your part, and upholding the NoobToob golden rule (DBAD).

So now that you have an overview of everything regarding the NoobToob forums, you're probably wondering what to do next? Well the best answer is just to get out there and do what suits you best! If it's posting quality posts, and giving your opinion, then that's great! If you think you are more fit to make videos for our UGC channel, it's fine to do that as well! Likewise, if writing reviews is your thing, hop on in to our Review board and start writing!

That's the wonderful thing about the NoobToob forums. It's adjustable for just about anyone, and any type of forum member. So get on out there, get inspired, and help us make NoobToob the greatest gaming community on the interwebz!!