A long story that may or may not inspire everyone to play nice.

I arrived in this country (Ireland) two years ago as a refugee with the equivalent of 22 dollars in my pocket and a bag with some clothes. I decided to start my life over and become a 3D animator. It took me a while, and two full time jobs (90 hours a week), to buy a computer, and then to buy all the programs.

In the last six months I have completed my first commercial video for a band, learnt to use Poser and Vue, and all the associated programs like UVMapper, etc. I have started pre-production on an independent film project to be launched in June.

Now comes the part about playing nice.

The last six months would not have been possible without these forums. I buy all the 3D magazines and work through all the tutorials, but this forum is where I learn the most, get the most help, and meet some really amazing people. These forums may be owned by Renderosity and be based in America, but these forums actually belong to the people who use them, and they are truly one of the most international, useful and friendly places I have ever seen on the net.

These forums are what we make them. And what we make of them. Without the users, there would have no forums. I have seen some amazing and helpful people leave these forums, for various reasons, and this saddens me. We have here a global community of 200 000 people, and not once have I seen political or religious arguments. The arguments on nudity have mostly been humorous (or have been turned humorous by the answers) but we all know that if someone really wants nudity they always have Renderotica to go to, so that shouldnt be an issue.

I need this community, and so do many others, and it would be a shame to see this trend continue of people leaving over disagreements with other users or with the sites TOS. We may not like certain aspects, and we may not agree with the implementation sometimes, but hey, its better than trying to decipher the Poser manual on your own. (My Greek is very poor, so the Poser manual is very limiting to me).

So how do we play nice?

1. By remembering that behind every silly name like Numanoid or Groingrinder (sorry, couldnt resist) is a person, and in a different time and place he/she could be your best friend/boss/employee/life partner

2. By talking to the moderators directly if we have a problem instead of venting in the forums

3. By using humour

4. By apologising if we make kaka (hope you understand that word, lol)

5. By getting all the facts before we give our opinions

6. By using simple words like please and thank you

7. By being patient

8. By understanding that the moderators are one of us that has been given a job to do, and remembering that we are not perfect, and not expecting them to be

9. By obeying the rules, whether we like them or not. (I dont like paying for things I take from the shops, but I have to do that, so I might as well follow the rules here too)

10. By not getting involved in someone elses arguments

So here is a special thank you to:
Dr Geep, Questor, PhilC, Gebe, Xantor, Little Dragon, Sharen, Anton, Stewer and every other person who has taken the time to answer a stupid question, made me laugh, made me think, made a freebie, made a picture and played nice.

And thanks to Renderosity, who havent made a cent from me (yet), but still allow me to come and bug you all whenever I want to, and give me a soapbox on which to stand and proclaim things such as the above post.

PS. I am not English, so I hope I wrote this all correctly.