creepyhollows wrote:That is certainly a general rule, but every person is taken on their own merit... although I will say if you've been here 6 months and only made 100 posts it may not run through the channels of tenureship very quickly.

If you take some time to read through older threads and breathe new life into them with questions, or start new threads with new topics, or just engage in a conversation/discussion with someone else, you are going to find that your engagement level skyrockets. Don't be shy, be open to asking questions or sharing your own thoughts, you never know how it's going to help someone else who might have had the same question & was too shy to ask

Thanks Good advice...

I think it’s fitting that participation in the forum is the way to advance through the ranks. It’s not like we have to pay money or do things that are a hardship in some other way. Being active in the community gets you privileges in the community, period.

And post-approval for brand-new arrivals will weed out the spammers and people who are anti-paranormal or anti-spirit-keeping and just want to bash keepers. Those folks do exist, but their posts won’t see the light of day.

It’s sad that things need to be as they are. We might as well just make the most of it right?

I think, I do miss the old chat. The socialising aspect of this forum is, well, nearly nonexistent. As much as I understand why we do not have them anymore, I do miss them.

As far as contributing goes - before I was downgraded due to inactivity, which again I do understand why this takes place and I am not saying I shouldn't be, I had a blog. I tend to hide in my blog with occasional day-to-day life type posts and saying welcome to new people. As disheartening as Unclesid's posts read, personally I do agree with bits of them. I am still interested in the forum, and it is interesting to read others' experiences and views, but a lot of the time I find myself refraining from posting my own, or post relevant comments but keep it as simple/short as possible. There were times when I contributed, and I think I might give it a go again, but I do find it frustrating sometimes that either different ideas/believes get ignored or drowned - which means as open as a lot of people can be, and understanding there are different systems and basis of beliefs, there are still a lot which hold their own as the only truth.

I think, for me as a personal experience, my care of this forum diminished in 2010 - I am not blaming anyone for this, but please just understand this is my experience, and it hasn't completely killed my interest in this forum as I am still here. The experience happened in my own blog. My dad died and I was sad, but a few friends did come and offer support, except that some others came along and commented along the lines of as I am Asian, chances are I had an abusive dad. I replied along the lines of if that person has an experience of having an abusive dad please do not generalise as that isn't my case. I was told that I am rubbing salt in the person's wound, and another member sided with the person telling me the person didn't mean it and was probably just saying what the person knows from another fellow Asian's perspective. That was the point when questions of how can a person be so one-sided and I felt completely helpless being put in the wrong. From then on I stopped posting personal experiences and only short comments that may, or perhaps may not, be useful even though at the bottom of my heart and the back of my mind I hope they may be useful.

Sometimes when I look back at these I would still hope there were chat and PMs which we can socialise, or when other members would like more information from what I have commented, but again, I can understand why we don't have them.

This is just my 2 cents, not really trying to change anything or asking for those features to be put back on.

Ishvala wrote:

Alys-RaccoonReadings wrote:Policy considerations aside, the good news is that once you find one of us on the great Tome of Visages, it becomes shockingly easy to find many more of us.

I've learned this rather recently actually. It's an odd route to make friends but I guess it's the best we've got for now.

Likes2Read wrote:Here are ways to reach out off-forum to other members.

I have been made aware. Hopefully you're right and chat will pick up eventually.

Of course, the bad news is that Detective Alys hasn't quite located either of you in her scourings of said Tome.

Alys-RaccoonReadings wrote:

Ishvala wrote:

Alys-RaccoonReadings wrote:Policy considerations aside, the good news is that once you find one of us on the great Tome of Visages, it becomes shockingly easy to find many more of us.

I've learned this rather recently actually. It's an odd route to make friends but I guess it's the best we've got for now.

Likes2Read wrote:Here are ways to reach out off-forum to other members.

I have been made aware. Hopefully you're right and chat will pick up eventually.

Of course, the bad news is that Detective Alys hasn't quite located either of you in her scourings of said Tome.

I'm pretty easy to find. I go by the same name and am Noc's newest stalker- I mean uh, student? Okay okay fine fangirl!

Alys-RaccoonReadings wrote:Of course, the bad news is that Detective Alys hasn't quite located either of you in her scourings of said Tome.

You won't find me in said Tome. Or in many other places. I keep a very low online profile. I don't trust what people do with information in public, generally, and I don't see the point in putting my life out there for display, even to my own family. You might find record of me by the same name as an EQ2 character though, if you dig deep enough.

On topic, though, after reading through everything I have to say as a new member I actually am rather fine with the limitations set down for the vetting process. Chat really means nothing to me, as I only ever ghosted and lurked in chat boards anyways. I'd rather write out longer posts than deal with the back and forth of instant messaging. I like the space to think I guess, time to consider and digest. I never found chat conversations very informative besides. Usually it ends up being a bunch of random nonsense. Nothing against chat, I just never found it particularly stimulating except on the rare occasion that it was, but that's different. 2wk

I also don't mind the inability to pass my email to someone. I don't find that troubling because PM on this board should be enough for private messaging. I am on enough that I can check it, just like any email account. If I ever want to pursue more direct and personal means of communication I can always work it out with someone. There are other ways if we are so inclined.

Otherwise, to be honest I find it very comforting to know that Magnolia and Ash care enough about this community to place such safeguards on the forum. It is one of the things that drew me to CH - that is, their clear compassion, honesty, and respect. When I first was researching buying a binding from CH I saw more than one reviewer completely bashing them. When I read Magnolia's response to the review I realized how off-base the buyer's comments were, as CH was doing everything they could to give advice and help. Between that and multiple threads here, I was impressed by them and how they operated.

Ishvala wrote:I'm pretty easy to find. I go by the same name and am Noc's newest stalker- I mean uh, student? Okay okay fine fangirl!

I hadn't landed the elusive Noc yet either! This is kind of like Pokemon Go.

I've got a couple of suspects for you though. There's Ish Vala, two listings of [Male-looking-Firstname] Ishvala, and one [Female-firstname] [Female-middlename] Shivala. That last one has a profile picture, and that's my lead suspect for you. The other shave no profile picture. Let me just say, too, that the closeness of "Ishvala" with an anime character's name is producing A LOT of similar results with anime profile pictures much further down the results list, and as a woman on the Internet I am NOT just going to haul off and click on any of those, lol!

Alys-RaccoonReadings wrote: "Ishvala" with an anime character's name is producing A LOT of similar results with anime profile pictures much further down the results list, and as a woman on the Internet I am NOT just going to haul off and click on any of those, lol!

It should be associated with a place in an anime, one of my favorites. I originally picked it as a combination of Valhalla and Ishtar I think but when rewatching the show I realized my subconscious probably just remembered a fictional city name and was like, "that sounds pretty!"

Let me make it way easier for you. Any social media of any kind with the name Ishvala that isn't one very specific Therian guide website or a d-server with an icon that has a red eye...isnt me. I go by other names on most all other websites depending on which brand of community it is. I'm only a member of three spiritual forums, four if you count one inactive account.

Any other Ishvala ain't me.

I'd love to help you find others but I feel like that'd be crossing boundaries and you're a smart lady. In March I'll stalk your pm box if I get tenured.

***REMOVED FOR TRYING TO CIRCUMVENT BOARD RULES 2an ***