My Very First Forum! Please Show Me Around!
Hello, Furries!
Allow me to introduce myself! I am Leo the Ninja Lion. I am an 18 year-old newcomer into the furry universe, not to mention that I am – as it is obvious – a lion. For the record, I am actually 19 now, as it is my birthday today! That’s right! When else would it be better to try my very first forum post than on my birthday? So, yay! Happy Birthday to me! 
As a new furry, many of you are thinking “Let me guess… Is he going to ask about what Anthrocon is, even though there is an FAQ link?” Well, no, as a matter of fact; that would be for another post. (lol) Right now, I wish for some major assistance as to how an Anthrocon account works.
I need some help with the forums, for the most part. I think I can handle how to post on my own, but will I be notified if I get a response? Or would I have to keep searching my forum posts to see for myself? Also, how will I know which forum topic goes in which? For instance, for such areas as general vs. miscellaneous, where could I post a topic such as “Help me,” “who wants to be my buddy,” or “does anyone want to talk about baseball, ninjas, Asperger’s Syndrome, etc.?”
Furthermore, do we furries get, like, special newsletters in our e-mail inboxes or something? Or do we have to keep going on to the website to see if anything new comes up?
How do private massages (PMs) or buddy requests work? Are they very useful? Does anybody even get back to them at all? I ask these, because, thus far, I have sent such things to Uncle Kage, VegaGuy (a.k.a. ~V~), and Chiaroscuro. And I still got no response, as of yet. Of course, if they’re always busy, then I totally understand.
Do picture icons always have to be 100x100 and about a small amount of kilobytes large? So, something like 600x600 and 404kb will not cut it? They cannot just be automatically condensed, can they? If that is the case, then I really need Photoshop badly!
I hope anyone out there can help! If such a forum topic as this was already brought up, then sorry for repeating it again (depending on how many times it has been done).
I look forward to your responses! よろしくおねがいします。
BTW, I’m not Japanese. I’m just being a bit of an otaku. (lol)
As for the buddy requests, let me politely say this: I do not automatically say 'Yes' to every Buddy request given. As a member of not only the staff but the board, to list someone as my 'Buddy' implies a certain level of friendship and endorsement, so it's not something I automatically approve.
I will respond to PMs; I'm very prompt about that. I do not believe I've yet seen a PM from you.
What he said.
I confess i've felt guilty in the past about responding or not responding to friend requests; i tend to feel that friending someone is my way if indication that they are an actual honest-to-gods friend, so i rarely friend people i don't know in some context beyond this board. But then i feel all worried cuz i don't want to hurt their feelings, and i'm paranoid like that. It's not that i don't want to be friends with folks; it's just that i'm not friends with them yet.
Will you be told there's a response? Yes and no. The website default is to send an e-mail to the location you specified in your profile whenever there's a reply to any thread where you've posted a response. I personally find this annoying, but I just turn it off by going into User Menu, My Account, My Subscriptions and turning the reply option off.
Help me posts could be general, but if you're asking about fursuit construction, you may get better response putting it under fursuits. Same for hotel or ride share info. For a number of reasons (including size), the moderators prefer that the posts deal with Anthrocon or some aspect of it: this is not really a 'social networking' board. In that respect, discussions of baseball, ninjas or even Asperger's Syndrome are... inappropriate.
No special e-mails of which I'm aware.
Private messages are simply that: messages sent through the board that you wish to be kept private, at least in the sense that not everyone can see them. The recipient will either reply or not, depending on what the message was about, their schedule or the phase of the moon. Chiaroscuro, for example, apparently works late evenings/early mornings. If you send him a message while he's asleep... well, he may not respond for a while. I don't use the 'Buddy' feature so I can't discuss it.
Don't know about the icons either, as should be obvious. Again, this may be a size consideration.
Inappropriate, hardly. Out-of-place, very. Unless, of course, if I am able to tie Furry Fandom in with ninjas (for example) and how they coexist with each other, then would it be considered relevant enough? And if so, would that still have to go under the "Off Topic" forum?
Uhhhhh, no. Again, we try and keep the boards open here, but really there are general interest furry boards all over the internet that are geared towards more scattered conversation. This place is REALLY supposed to be a collection of resources and conversations that pertain specifically (in at least some context) to Anthrocon.
Oh, I see! I think I'm beginning to understand... For instance, I remember reading this one post where one furry was asking if there were any Canadian furries out there. And that would sort of pertain to Anthrocon, because they are already members of Anthrocon (the Furry Fandom, if you will). Right?
Okay, then. So, bottom line: as long as it has anything to do with events, staff, arts, programming, or other questions & concerns, then any and all forum topics that I create beased on those credentials are considered relevant enough to be on a furry forum. Is that gist of things, or am I way off?
Greetings, Leo!
First off, I should begin by stating that I am not Staff, so I can't pronounce what is official policy and what is not...but I can tell you of what I have observed, what seems to fit well, and what does not.
...So, bottom line: as long as it has anything to do with events, staff, arts, programming, or other questions & concerns, then any and all forum topics that I create beased on those credentials are considered relevant enough to be on a furry forum. Is that gist of things, or am I way off?
I would say that this is the general tenor of the situation, except for one thing - this isn't really a "furry forum" - that would be too broad a category. This is an AnthroCon Forum, with the things regarded as on-topic being things directly related to AnthroCon, and the AnthroCon Experience - that is the central core of the thing. Around that core may be a layer of things which are less AnthroCon-Centered, but would be of a general "Furry Convention" nature, things like how to build fursuits, how to reserve a hotel room, what are things like in AnthroCon's host city - but they should still be within an arm's length of being related to AnthroCon.
Now, a "Furry Forum" would be much more general in nature; it's core would be much broader, and may be more centered towards being a Socail Gathering spot and sounding board for topics which might have a more diffuse interest beyond being purely "furry", but still of interest to the majority of Furry Fans using it.
Now - around these cores and within these limits, there is a certain amount of "elasticity" - and as I type this, I see that you have already discovered a tolerance for "role play", within limits. These episodes tend to pop up within certain topics once in a while, and if they are witty and intended to be light-hearted, they are tolerated, even enjoyed - until they start to hijack a thread, or overwhelm the current topic, and at that point one of the senior staff may suggest that the Threshold of Tolerance has been reached, and to get back to safe ground, pronto.
That being said - it just so happens that AnthroCon is held during the baseball season, and the home of the Pittsburgh Pirates is just across the river from the convention center - and when the Pirates are in town, if there is a game scheduled, the visiting team usually stays at the same hotel which hosts us. SO you might see a topic about an afternoon game on the Thursday before the convention gets rolling, with the suggestion that a group form to attend the game; or a notice reminding us that the Visiting Team are guests of the hotel, just as we are, and to be kind and considerate of those who may need to sleep while we are busy partying, and to give them their privacy when they arrive from the airport or ballpark, and clear the lobby for them.
...And you might read a thread or two mentioning our very-capable "stage-ninja", who handles the props on stage for the Masquerade/variety show and for the other stage events.
Politics - we do not discuss.
Religion - as a general topic of conversation, we do not discuss - but if a Furry Christian Group such as "All God's Creatures" holds a gathering, they may announce it here; if someone wants to hold a minyan (sp?), or a communal breakfast, or a "spirituality" gathering wishes to hold a drum-beating ceremony at sunset, they may announce those things here, in the forum reserved for meeting others...but not as a topic of idle conversation, unrelated to AnthroCon, no.
You see, then? The key is in how they relate to AnthroCon, or at the very least, how they relate to Furry Conventions in general.
If there is a specific topic that you wish to post about, and it seems important but doesn't quite fit in to those parameters, then send a Private Message to Giza or perhaps Chiaroscuro, asking if it's OK - and then follow their advice. They may surprise you.
Bon Chance!
Whoops. Sorry about that. I meant to say "Anthrocon Forum;" I had a feeling that that would come back at me full circle. Well, I figured: Anthrocon consists of furries (or furry fans). This is a forum on Anthrocon's website. Yada, yada, yada, it all seemed to seemed to make sense at the time.
Of course, I don't know what you exactly mean by "broad." If it really means something like "offensive" or "irrelevant," then I deeply apologize. Especially for the "role playing" with Alondro (a.k.a. Charlene de Lyon). If I ever do something like that again (of course, with temptation like that, who wouldn't start being cheeky with it? 
), then I'll try to keep it "witty" and "entertaining," as you so put it, and keep 99% of my posts as relevant as possible.
Through my experience as a volunteer production assistant for a local television studio for four years, I believe that it is common sense not to touch onto the subject of politics and religion. Rest assured: I am not one of those people who start things like that. Period.
Anyway, I thank you so much, Vulpes Rex! What you have written up here on this forum, along with everyone else's posts, will help me understand forums (in general) a little better. And, again, I'm sorry about the classification mix-up. Anthrocon, not Furry, Forum. Got it! 
P.S. "Stage-Ninja," you say? So, there are other ninjas afoot in Anthrocon? I would love to see what kind of jutsu he/she uses! LOL
I hope I didn't come off as quite so stern and rigid as all that! You are new, asked for instructions in how the forums work or are structured, and thought that this space was more of an open-topic, discuss-anything soapbox. It is not; no harm, no fowlfoul.
...I don't know what you exactly mean by "broad." If it really means something like "offensive" or "irrelevant," then I deeply apologize...
By "broad" I meant wide; vast in scale or proportion; very general in scope; diffuse in subject. Furry Fandom is much more diverse than just AnthroCon, although AnthroCon tries to embrace as much of the subject - within its guidlines of being FAmily-friendly, of course - as a convention can. That is what I meant.
Think of AnthroCon as a polynesian island set in a sea of "furry". Think of us, the people using the forum, as islanders. Our main focus here in these forums is AnthroCon itself, but we do occasionally have to go fishhng in the lagoons and navigate around the reefs surrounding AnthroCon. That would be staying either on-topic, or close to it. How closely are we tethered to that island/core? Well, that is where the "elasticity" comes in, and I'm afraid that I can't give you any specific parameter.
...But the BEST way to judge how well something might fit, is to spend some time - anywhere from a couple hours to a couple days - just reviewing many of the posts and threads in our Archives of past AnthroCons. We have had threads dealing with Military Service, due to many of our attendees being MilFurs, folks who are either currently or formerly part of the Armed Forces. THis has lead to discussion and rules on the wearing of Uniform Items as part of a costume. We have had threads about train travel, as for many people who live on the US Eastern Seaboard, AmTrak provides a reasonable means of getting to and from AnthroCon. A number of Furry Fans are also Railfans; Lionking CSML is an Engineer, One of our raccoons works at a factory where they make locomotives, I work for a major class-I railroad in the west - but this is not a forum for us to discuss railfanning, and we don't - just advice on train schedules and what someone who has never taken a train before needs to know, to be able to travel that way to conventions.
...Especially for the "role playing" with Alondro (a.k.a. Charlene de Lyon). If I ever do something like that again..., then I'll try to keep it "witty" and "entertaining," as you so put it, and keep 99% of my posts as relevant as possible.
Role play DOES pop up here on occasion - and I am guilty of indulging in it myself - but we don't start thread topics with that as the reason for the post. Again, it's allowed, "within limits"...as are puns and humourous asides...so long as they don't become a total distraction. Heck, we've had a couple topics where role-play broke out, and I think that they would make excellent skits for the Furry Talent Show/Masquerade .....Cobra! 
...And I second Fangfox's advice - when Charlene starts to talk to you, run: run fast, run far. She wants minions, but she seems to want to dine on Foxes whenever she can. Gawd only knows why, though - as Oscar Wilde once described foxhunting, it is "The Unspeakable in pursuit of The Inedible." I think she believes that our souls give her some unique power or other.
it's true! she's tried to eat me three or four times now! and i believe those RP sessions that ended a few topics were me and Raskas fault.
*Charline enters with a fox-tail hanging limply from her jaws* Nah, foxes are just tasty snacks! >:9
Like you say: no harm, no foul. It is my first time on an actual form, so I thought "general" meant "open." It's okay, though. "Once bitten, twice shy," is what my Mom said to me, once. That's why I started up this forum: so I know how to create forums and posts effectively without asing too many questions. Of course, since I am the one making up these forums, I am already asking too many questions, anyway. LOL
Still, it doesn't hurt to ask too many questions!
Nice analogy of what Anthrocon is. Is the island full of sunshine? I really need a tan! 
LOL
Seriously, though, let me see if I got this straight (using your same analogy): as long as I make forum posts relating diretly to the island, or along the shoreline of the island (with permission from the head island chiefs [Chiaroscuro, Giza, Unclekage, etc.]), then the topic is considered relevant to the island, and the forum will not be voted off the island (i.e. closed down)!
On top of that, it can be tolerable if a small amount of tourists (i.e. role-playing) visits the island, so as long as the island forum does not become infested with tourists (i.e. becomes a distraction).
Okay! Now THIS makes perfect sense! This helps me a lot, as a visual learner; if I see it in print and can be able to visualise the situation as clearly as the text implies, then it's easy! Thanks, Vulpes Rex!
Now, if you'll excuse me... RUN AWAY!!!
*Gets away from Charlene de Lyon using ninjutsu* LOL
*rkk-tkk-tkks! Cobra where?*
http://www.anthrocon.org/node/4444/any-funny-stories-while-anthrocon#comment-35194
At the Cobracabana, of course.
I have indeed, and have greatly enjoyed.
*Charline de Lyon slinks in evily* Well well well well... what have we here! A young lion, innocent, maleable. An otaku, and apparently even more so than my human slave Charles...
Yessss... I can use this one!
*The most evil of evil lions wraps a menacing paw around Leo* Welcome, young one. Join the Dark Side of the Fur. It can give you power! >:3
I wish I could, but the Dark Side of the Fur is holding me down! I figured my ninja senses would have deteced this!
Agh! What am I to do?
What's this? "Dark Side?" "The Fur?" "Power?" An offer so evil-sounding, yet pleasantly tempting and attractive... And how very complementary you are!
(So tempting! Think, Leo! What would Anakin Skywalker do? 
Hmm...)
By "Dark Side," are you asking me to be a Buddy of yours? 
hey i am 14 and i like furrys but yet i am probly gonna try and earn enuff money to try and get a fursuit just wondering could i buy a fursuit from somone if i gave them my body stats just wondering i would love you to tell me and yea
There are many people who take fursuit commissions, yes. However, the price is pretty high in many cases.
It should be noted that you do not need a fursuit to attend AC, and that at your age, you would be best off with a 'partial' fursuit, as you would quickly outgrow any full-body fursuit.
I would also inform you that unfortunately, many reputable fursuit builders will not work with anyone who is below 18. If you want one professionally done, you will probably have to make arrangements with your parent or guardian to do all the business work, or find a good friend to help you work on one.
I also recommend trying sites like furbuy.com and furbid.ws, who regularly have pre-made suits for sale as well.
I would also inform you that unfortunately, many reputable fursuit builders will not work with anyone who is below 18.
It helps if you have a relative that can sew costumes. Maybe he should check with his family. Or visit a dedicated costume shop (though their products are generally pricier than the extremely cheap pap you find in supermarkets).
Of course, it can also be a pretty good time to learn how to sew yourself, as long as you're at it, though it's easier to do if you can learn it from someone who knows.
My mother likes to say she really wants there to be a high school required course in basic survival skills--how to change a tire, how to do some basic sewing/mending, how to iron a shirt, how to read a recipe, how to replace a fuse...
My mother likes to say she really wants there to be a high school required course in basic survival skills--how to change a tire, how to do some basic sewing/mending, how to iron a shirt, how to read a recipe, how to replace a fuse...
Boy, I certainly agree with that idea! And the same course for boys and girs, too; everyone should know very basic automotive maintenance, how to operate a pump at a gas station, how to read a dipstick, how to add oil or other fluid to a car engine; how to sew on a button or mend a tear, how to replace a flourescent light tube, how to use a checking account, how to write a cheque, how to balance a chequebook, how to pay simple household bills, how to clean marks off of a wall, when and how to defrost a refrigerator, how to freeze food, and how to thaw it later, and how to cook, at least at a survival level!
how to write a cheque, how to balance a chequebook,
How to spell "check"...
when and how to defrost a refrigerator,
What, every ten years using a hammer and screwdriver as a chisel/ice pick isn't right?
Cheque's the spelling in the queen's english.
I don't think you can really pick on Vulpes for english, he's nothing if not extremely literate.
Welcome to the Furry Fandom Leo 
-Southern Pup walks in leaning up on the fourm- nice to meet ya, here to lend a paw when ya need one.
*Happily shakes Sothern Pup's paw*
Hey, thank you very much for the welcome! That was the message I've been waiting for this whole time! I'm so excited to be here! This site is awesome!
High paw! 
After a while, you'll feel perfectly at home in the fandom. It personally improved my emotion state.
Have fun!
Oh, I certainly hope so! In fact, I think I am very excited with what Anthrocon - moreover the furry fandom - is like! I have already seen countless videos of it on YouTube, and they never get old! (lol) From the dancing to the Masquerade, I love it all!
I just wish I could be part of the experience; only then would it be official. Alas, I have yet to tell anyone about what I like, which I fear they may put me down or mock me for. 
Don't worry about what is "fashionable" or what isn't. Be yourself.
-Soutehrn Pup laughs- your very Welcome Leo, yeah this site is awesome -nods-
High Paw back at you
Hi, everyone! It's me, again!
Just to give everyone an update about how I'm handling the Anthrocon website (as this thread seriously needs and update). I have long ago accepted my first Buddy Request (thank you GreenWolfEyes!), I have a general understanding of where to put certain topics in, I have a general understanding of what a good and relevant-enough topic is like, and I am just enjoying all of the conversations everyone is having with me. I just hope everyone enjoys the comments I make.
Still, I don't want to go into anything else further by myself. Would someone out there show me some tips on how Anthrocon accounts wor? Or is what I am doing now - creating forum threads, writing & responding to posts, and accepting Buddy Requests - basically all that I need to know?
In any case, to all those who have gotten back to me on this post, thanks for your kind words, moreover your helpful advice. Well, as of now, anyway. Who knows when and if I come up with even more questions to discuss with you guys? (lol)
leo the ninja lion, are your ancestors dutch, you do have a dutch name (Van Veen) under your nick...
Ah, a sharp mind, methinks!
Yes, as matter of fact. However, while my (real) name may be Dutch, I am actually part Canadian and part South American. My Mom was from Ontario and my Dad was from Guyana. No joke!
As for the buddy requests, let me politely say this: I do not automatically say 'Yes' to every Buddy request given. As a member of not only the staff but the board, to list someone as my 'Buddy' implies a certain level of friendship and endorsement, so it's not something I automatically approve.
I will respond to PMs; I'm very prompt about that. I do not believe I've yet seen a PM from you.
Generally speaking we do not send out emails to forum members or registered Attendees; except for the successful registration email. If there are issues or problems of any sort, we may use that email to contact you, but blanket emailing would require a significant occurrence. Like Target buying one of our hotels.
To note, I use the 'Recent Posts' page at http://www.anthrocon.org/recent ; it keeps track of all posts in most recent order and informs me of any unread threads, which enables me to keep up rapidly. As for your forum topics: "Help me" is generally a very generic forum post; We'd prefer you used a subject like "I'm looking for information about [Pittsburgh Parking| Fursuit Building | Which Snakes Are Tastiest]." Though many of those questions would be in the FAQ, to note. That topic, and "Who Wants to be my Friend", would best be in the "First Time Congoers" Forum.
For baseball, ninjas, and Asperger's... we'd generally suggest you go to websites about Baseball, ninjas, or Asperger's, unless it somehow relates to Anthrocon. We try to keep the forums reasonably on-topic, even though we do have an "Off-Topic" forum. Read the various forums, and you'll get a feel for the overall conversations in each.
As for the icons, rather than Photoshop, you could freely download and use The GImP! http://www.gimp.org/
--Chi