So,
@Beavercreek Dan , I really want to understand what is the root cause of your opinion. First, I want to say I take this criticism very seriously because I want new members to feel welcome, we do put efforts in this and also tried to pack them in some stickies. Maybe there's something I should change in my job here.
In my view, there are several aspects to this, some of which already addressed by some fellow members above.
You are focused on the answers but are not considering the questions nor the attitude of the members making their questions. MY favourite analogy:
Let's get back to your late teens or early twenties. There's a party, a big one with a lot of people you do not really know but you want to be there (you want to be here if you became a member, right?). The party's in a private home, but you know you can come even if you don't know the host. Now you enter the house, go to the first person you see and say "show me the booze". What reaction do you expect? I would give you directions to the next pub by way of the entrance/exit door (I'm the patient one,
@eBoy would flip you the bird). What about if, instead, you looked around a bit and then started a conversation, maybe with the host himself, by ways of: "Hi, I'm Dan, thanks for having me here and getting to know you guys, you got a really nice place here". Bet a hundred bucks you'd have at least 3 people offering you a drink without even asking. Remember, this is a private party.
You ask me it's all about the attitude. I've seen members actually getting an answer to the question "Who makes the best sub?". How? They were charming, they were open, they were smart. They put some effort in formulating the question. They showed some genuine rep-engagement (did you see what I did there?
). They were welcomed as peers.
Now, as in your youth's party, you'll meet a lot of different people here. Among others, the occasional "bully", yes, we have some. But here a substantial difference comes into play: we're (mostly) grown-ups. You don't need a thick skin to "survive the RWI jungle". You just have to be a grown up and take responsibility of your conscious actions. Reasonability has never been mocked. If you're bullied, keep cool, stay reasonable and you may experience that it is actually the bully who's in minority. Be smart. And please, PLEASE, don't take yourself too seriously, it's still an internet forum, not a court of justice (EXCEPT IN THE M2M SECTION!!!!).
The common traits most members are allergic to are entitlement, self-righteousness, over-sensitiveness (we're grown ups, for heaven's sake, we're supposed to be able to deal with some written internet chatter).
There's a huge amount of extraordinary human beings here, intelligent, funny, knowledgeable, cultivated. There's enough people ready to welcome you if you don't act like a prick.