Quality Posts

I think there's also the problem with newbies praising people who still need to work on skills A LOT

^ i agree on that, just as well as everything else practicly .. good thread as well ..

im guilty as feck as well, but as trhaynes said, when people make a thread called "new website" and throws in a link and a "what do you think" i dont really feel like using 15 minutes worth of analyzing and replying .. as for paavos "shoes/whatever" we all know that hes not looking for in-depth critique all the time, just to entertain the rest of us and practice ;)

and i think most of us, thats been here a while, is getting pretty sick of all the new-comers, thats just here to spam.. to express my point lets take the "HI, IM FROM CHINA" - guy that posted that in serveral threads, witout anything to say to the subject ..

i hope this thread works though ..

Made me wonder why I didn't get much comments on the work I posted which i knew sucked(though it was a quick one).

Don't have much to post these days cause I'm too busy coding than designing. Makes me wonder, if the tps wrecking crew went on heavy advice on the work members posts here, will it drive the newbies away, thinking we were too harsh?..

For myself, I do have this tendancy to shy off from getting critics because I'm lazy to redo whatever I did, expecially the program documentation work I do @ work when my system analyst goes on bout this and that. But @ the end, I do agree, what she advices me to do, is for the end user's good and for them to understand.

I guess its up to the individual to accept the critics and comments given about their work.

Really good thread... As few of you may have noticed I post less then I did before too, mostly because of lack of time, but also because of the points discussed earlier in this thread.

I tried being a bit more harsh in my posts lately, just to give an example really. And I do agree that the reflection that we give on work of newbies could be a bit more harsh. We don't have to flame them, but it still will help them to get better. All we want here is quality, not quantity... right? We don't have to tell newbies that they are great and end up with thousands of aqua/fire/ice filtered pics. It's not about getting as much members online at the same time... it's about being part of a nice community where people can learn of eachother.

I'm sick of all the look-at-this-pic-i-made-it-with-filters threads, and most of the time don't even comment on those kind of threads. I guess what i'm trying to say is that people should look at what they post a bit more, both graphic as feedback wise.

Yay a very nice thread by Spectra!
I think I have been a pretty good boy when it comes to this.
I try to write what's good and bad in everythin I type...
And sometimes I have even felt a bit bad when everyone else have typed. "that's a nice site"...and I have told the person what I think is good and bad.
But most of my threads become pretty negative...
That's just because it's just easier pointing out the things I would change or make better, than going trough all the stuff that is nice.

When it comes to typing more stuff for your own work.
Uhm I can't really do that.
My threads are usually 2 lines of explanations and then the link.
But you can pretty much see what I'm going at when you see my work.
I usually don't post stuff that is just something I worked with for 10 minutes.
As many other people does.

But sometimes it's really hard to give good comments on stuff...at least on the images people post that is just a filter someone used.
Is it good or bad.
Well it's a click on a button so it's hard to say.
But I do understand the people that does this...
If you have really no idea about design and you have just started to get interested in this kind of stuff...
All these stuff looks COOL!
And for us who have been doing this a bit longer is like..hmm yes...

I do think it's a bit sad that this place don't have that many really great designers on it anymore.
There is a few that I really look up to...but many new ones that really doesn't teach me any new stuff.
I think one reason is because when you get better you need better designers to actually give critique that you can use.
So people like Kid Crackle, the awsome illustrator...
I think he left because he didn't get any crituique that he could improve his skills from.
I still see him at theroots forum...

I'm sick of all the look-at-this-pic-i-made-it-with-filters threads

when i see theese threads/pictures i can actually get irritated quite easily, considering my mood .. there are so many people out there thinking that its so cool to use filters, and the effects are "so amazing" .. And theese type of people get easily annoyed and mad over critique ..

I know we all have to start somewhere, heck i sucked badly when i began (and yes, i actually DO think that i have improved ;)), and im not saying to keep the new-photshoppers away .. guess im agreeing on beeing a little more harsh and give a little more volume in the feedback ..

I think I can speak for the noobs here – being almost one myself. I first saw teamps a few years back when I was looking for “cool” effects for a poster I was making. I remember back then I went “whoa” I could never compete with those guys. I discovered the forum later – I was just looking at the answers of Mr Photoshop and at Pank’s tuts. Then I went the other way – been a trendwhore (not ashamed to admit) – looking up to cubadust and all the other abstract masters… Then as time passed I grew a little bit wiser (at least I hope so) and a little more experienced (yeah, I know - tooting my horn here). So at a certain point – not so long ago – I got to teamps by accident. I think the first thing I saw on the forum was one of Paavo’s doodles. I thought it looked cute as heck and figured I’d drop a line to the author… from there on…it’s history:D
There’s a lot of people here I look up to and a lot I could live without. I guess this is the same everywhere. The hardest part for me is when I really like a design or I find a very useful post made by a guy I really dislike as a person. Kinda’ like learning that your favorite author is a child molester – God knows it’s nothing that drastic but still…. Graphicsguy said some people here are better pals that others – I really like this idea – making friends can’t be a bad thing. I wouldn’t like the forum to be just a sterile place where you write politically correct statements and pass judgement only when if hold a degree in that field. Even if you’re a noob – you’re entitled to your opinion. Sure it would be great if everyone actually knew what his level is and listen to his betters (if any). Some do. Otherwise half of the people here would say to themselves “Who am I to pass judgement, am I better?” and the other half would go like “ I am sooo much better than this – this guy is really crappy and I must tell him to bug off.”
The truth I think lies somewhere in the middle (shades of grey and all that …) I don’t have enough time to post on other forums. I make friends real hard and I like this community (most of it anyway). I don’t have a social life – so I live a little of what you guys post here – so yeah I check out the misc section a lot and I get jittery when teamps is down. I also look at the digital art section and the photo section a lot though. I’m not here just for the gossip. I try to give meaningful input. If it profits someone – all the better. If not – well… I also post stuff like “nice pic.” But I ask you – what more can you say to a sig or to an obvious “made in tutorial“ pic? Should we elaborate the use of lensflare and bevel? Yes one can point out that it’s not very professional to use too many filters or too many tutorials but how often must one say it?

This is a good thread. Worth posting. Maybe the ones who act childishly and noobishly will read it, become ashamed and get better…me included hihi.


Uh – oh – I also have a personal beef: I really don’t like posts that say “I made this in 15 minutes” or “10 mins sig” – any with a time duration …. I think it shows just how lazy that guy is – “Sure it could have been better but for 12 minutes work I think it works.” – If you don’t have enough time – make it in installments – and post when it’s better in your opinion. I don’t want to appraise a design based on time – it’s not against the clock. I also must (respectfully) disagree with deker – on another thread he said don’t use names – just state your opinion on the thread subject. Why? Are we not allowed to get personal? I think deker was referring to the flame-ish turn of events and tried to keep the guys cool – and I agree – in that instance. But generally I think it’s nice to get personal. One of the reasons I come to this forum (not the first and foremost – that is to become better at PS) is to find people I like and maybe become friends…I can’t do that if I don’t get personal.

Well that was what I had to say. - Beat me with a stick and throw me in the oven.

*edit= grammar stuff

I agree with mihai about the time stuff, stop doing that! And while I'm at it... stop saying: this is my first ... too.

I don't care if its your first shot at doing vector work or whatever, if you don't feel comfortable with it yet, then it probably isn't worth posting. Try to be satisfied with it first, then post for critique from fellow forum members.

Mihai, by getting "personal" I meant turning what should be a political debate into personal attacks on people's maturity, intelligence, grammar, etc. That does not need to be happening here. But being personal as in developing friendships and things like that is great. It's just namecalling and direct attacks on someone aren't going to be helpful to anyone involved.

On the posts thing... I agree a lot of the newbie posts many times don't deserve a lengthy reply. And by that I mean there really isn't much to talk about. You can only say so much about stock filters... and telling someone to not use filters will most likely go way over their head until they are more experienced and see the cheeziness of it.

I personally just read the Misc. forum most of the time, and computer, the coding section, photography, etc. I rarely pay much attention to the showcases or the help forums, mainly because they are generally all the same stuff. The help forums especially. 80% of the questions have been asked/answered before, and it gets old replying to them after a couple of years... So I mostly just stick to those other forums because of all the friends I've made on the forum.

I don't really think post counts should be taken off, as they give you an idea of who has been around the forum a while. When I go to new forums and ask a question or something, I always seem to respect the posts by people with a higher post count, since they have invested more time in the forum, and are most likely more knowledgeable on whatever topic the forum is about. The post count could be replaced with some other sort of ranking however, I think. Like www.macfora.com doesn't show post counts, but they do have an "apple" system. When you join you have one apple, then as you make more posts and are around longer you get more apples under your name, which has the same advantages as showing a post count, without the negative of people thinking "just one or two more posts and I'll have 200!"

Originally posted by deker
Mihai, by getting "personal" I meant turning what should be a political debate into personal attacks on people's maturity, intelligence, grammar, etc. That does not need to be happening here. But being personal as in developing friendships and things like that is great. It's just namecalling and direct attacks on someone aren't going to be helpful to anyone involved.

I thought so
I was afraid we're gonna turn into one of those nazi forums where nazi soup moderators turn you cheeks red (the cheeks "down there"hi hi) for speaking to another user...

I totally agree with the namecalling and personal attacks stuff though I just remembered you saying it and wanted to "get personal" with you

Yeah, I definitely agree with all of you. When I joined these forums, I was for the most part, relatively well versed in phothshop, but a relative newbie in terms of industry conditions. I have matured on both fronts since I became a regularly posting member here. I should preface the below by saying that I had a far lengthier post written out, but I'm on a school computer, with a God-forsaken microsoft pro mouse, with hair-trigger third and fourth buttons which are hotkeys in function as back and forward keys in IE, thus I lost what I had written previously.

Upon becoming a regularly posting member, I tried to give my best opinion of a given design, although I knowingly abstained from negative feedback. As a result, I seldom voiced my dislike of a design. I think I began to overcome that with this post. I'm sure some of you, specifically Deker and Supasekzy, remember what this one was all about. It seemed that this was the type of thread that warranted a lengthy, carefully worded, well thought out post. And, that is what I wrote. It seemed that this was welcomed in that situation, and congratulated as a meaningful reply to someone who obviously wanted the help of those on the forum. In that case, fortunately, it seems that everyone who replied read it. But I cannot tell you how many times after that that I would leave even shorter posts, and immediately in the next reply I'd read I didn't read all of Pganguly's post, but I agree. I'd almost rather one disagree with for all of what I wrote, than have them agree with me, without hearing what I have to say.

I think that everyone who has posted here ahead of me has pretty much summed up most of my opinions on this issue. I must also say, on the same note as Mihai regarding the whole issue of posts reading This took me 10 minutes I've found that post redundancy is a massive annoyance as well. 15 people telling me to lower the whatever, or increase the contrast on something get to be profoundly irritating. Often, these are 'piggy-backs' off of one person's carefully thought out critique, made by people who just like making posts just for the sake of making posts. These are often newbies, though not always.

Originally posted by !mo0chan!
I think there's also the problem with newbies praising people who still need to work on skills A LOT, which gets their ego going and making them think they're number one; which leads to this egocentric pompous attitude that ultimately ends up in some sort of flame war.

Exactly. They post for the sake of posting, and/or they're impressed by something that ultimately isn't that hard to make.

Also, I think it may be time to think about the posibility of segregating the forum into 'Pro's' and 'Newbies'. Namely for the sake of allowing new members, who are already professionals, from knowing who is an industry professional, with experience under their belt, and who is not, but can offer a valid opinion, that may not bear as much weight upon their final choice for a design amendment, based on member feedback. I guess what I'm saying is that it's Time to separate the men from the boys, specifically to help boost the number of professionals who use the forums as a real tool for networking and getting feedback on real issues that effect their work on a daily basis.

Originally posted by 3jorn
I think one reason is because when you get better you need better designers to actually give critique that you can use.
So people like Kid Crackle, the awsome illustrator...
I think he left because he didn't get any crituique that he could improve his skills from.

Exactly. These are people that I think the forum would benefit from having. I know that being primarily an illustrator, he'd be the type of person that I'd like to learn from. Also, there's no good reason why we don't have design 'superstars' like Feng Zhu or Yanick Dusseault or even the people from 2advanced here.

And all of this is coming from a relative newbie as well. I have the fewest number of posts of anyone who has yet to post on this thread. Thus in all fairness, I don't think it's an issue of the number of posts one has, but rather a display of skill and knowledge, which anyone can show, if they take the time and effort to do so.