I am wondering what peoples thoughts are on giving a new member, especially in the INTRO section, advice on combining products right off the bat???
I’ve seen a few members who rarely if ever participate on this side of the forum spend all day giving advice and its of the cut and paste variety. It is my opinion those user should be warned for spamming and not be able to participate. Of course the person introducing themselves gets to choose the best response, but they don’t know better.
Anytime I give any kind of advice or respond to an intro I tailor it to the needs of the user and what they’ve mentioned in their intro.
Do we tell newbies to mix products in the introduction section, or are we recommending products to them that may meet their needs? For instance someone says they are looking to stand out in a club and maybe improve their opening skills. I would recommend they buy AMMO, IS, and IO and explain what they do. Do you think that is recommending combining products?
In all fairness the advice given in there is usually of the cut and paste variety because as far as we know, when a new user signs up it’s just a new customer and not somebody that might become a potential hobbyist who might be helping with research and reports just yet. For the most part these are just people that want a product that will work for their needs and more often than not those needs are attraction based.
Putatives, MX’s and various combinations of product are really more beneficial for research purposes if used by a more experienced user that already understands what the various molecules can do and how to spot/identify hits.
Advice I give to a new poster that just wants to seem more attractive to the girls at his school will seem very basic and almost identical to a new guy that wants to attract one particular girl. However somebody that expresses an interest in learning about pheromones, or expresses a level of skepticism about them, I’ll give more detailed advice as this person might become a reporting user
General products will give noticeable but general effects and that’s what most new people are looking for. They’re not reporting users yet and may not be interested in becoming RU’s. They just want to spend their money on something that will work and work fairly easily.
Off track, but…
Nice new pic, RAD! She seems like an attractive latina 
I like her better than the previous girl, haha
Plus, you do look younger than your age, which might be a good thing, heh
Most people guess me to be about 28-30 which is great for being just this side of 40!
Let’s not get started on that side of the forum.
There are some responses that can get cut and paste (to be fair) and those are the ones that are one liners. It’s so much to type when someone says, “hello please let me know about pheros” than someone who gives a detailed intro.
It pisses me off to no end, when I see people type up as a response “Hello and welcome to pherotalk”, then go post it and edit the responses later. Then type up a cookie cutter response. Does no one any good.
But for people who do give a good recommendation, I’ve suggested mixes.
I.E. 22 year old using A314 but needs some buffering (instant shine, etc..)
You gotta make that call based on your experience and personal knowledge. IMO I believe certain things warrant it and certain things don’t. Like if they want a general attractant for women, I’d say AMMO alone.
No that isn’t recommending combos IMHO. I’m talking more along the lines of saying 3 of this + 2 of this + an additional 5 sprays of this without first recommending to try products individually. Pointing someone to a specific 3 or 4 products isn’t combining them. Either is explaining why you WOULD/could combined them in the future. How good is advice that tells someone who hasn’t even tried anything yet to do things this way???
My point really was exactly this! I think giving newbie advice can basically be cookie cutter to some degree. THE OVERALL INTENTION being to ACTUALLY HELP that person regardless of it being cookie cutter or not should be what the responses should be based on and NOT TO RECEIVE POINTS.
IMO telling someone in their initial post to just “spray and pray” is against the whole concept of helping that person.
I’m not saying there is malicious intent by these posts. I just think it goes VERY much against the “basic principles” of phero use.
No people shouldn’t be suggesting that a new member “mix” products.
They should not be suggesting that they use the advanced stuff either.
And TUTH is not the answer to everything.
It is a bit cut and paste up there. Mick just dosent have the time I did when I did the GC’s to keep track of that part. Her job consists of a lot more then meets the eye. If people cut and pasted or didnt personalize the response they didnt get points. Its a much bigger job keeping track of that then people realize. I give Mick a lot of credit for doing that on top of her regular job.
I think some people just look at it as a way to get free stuff. They forget your supposed to be helping not only AD but helping the new person be successful with pheromones. I notice a handful of people dont even bother to find out what the persons needs are and just suggest the same thing over and over.
I think if AD is gracious and generous enough to give away all those free points that those of us responding should put more thought into what the person is saying even if it means you dont get top spot.
What ??? I hope you reported that to Mick. That is a major violation of the program. Like I said she cant see everything that go’s on like I did. Talking to people in the forum, squashing spam and doing the GC’s was all I did so I would catch people cheating. Mick and Steve both have tons of other responsibilities on top of that.
I know there is one member that does nothing but cut and paste and never participates in the forum otherwise. Lets just say he is damn lucky I stepped sown when I did.
Tisha
What about a newbie forum that only moderators can reply in. I’ve seen a couple of newbies give recommendations that are just wrong. I once saw someone tell a newbie to get mx301. When someone else responed that it was discontinued, the original responder listed the formula and advised the newbie to mix up his own batch.
Yeah I’ve noticed more people lately with the post a quick one sentence response so you appear as the first responder and then go back and edit the post. With the particular forum engine AD uses if you edit a post quickly enough it won’t show the “last edited at such and such” etc. so you only see it if you happen to view the thread within that brief period. I wasn’t aware it was actually against the rules but I did think it was pretty cheap and considered making a thread about it but never did.
As far as the actual intros go, as someone who does a decent amount I try to vary every intro at least somewhat and cater the advise to what they said in their post. I’d say a majority of the regulars in that section do the same thing. There are some that do take advantage though which amazes me since AD doesn’t have to give out reward points. Why risk ruining a good thing?
More to the point, I usually try to suggest at least 3 products or so to new members. I don’t always suggest they mix them though and when I do I try to remember to state that they should use them solo first. I also never recommend an exact dosage they should use though there have been a few times where I will give them a ballpark figure of what works best for most users (ex. “most users here find best results with 2-4 sprays of IH”). And I don’t recommend MXes or putatives at all.
I didn’t rat the person out.
I PMed them and explained how that’s not how to do it.
I try to help out there as much as I can, I’ve gotten my share of points and feel obligated to help but with the way things are now at work. I can’t participate in the forum like I used to in the past.
I miss those days when most of the members that gave detailed paragraph posts would help out.
When I say cut and paste, I mean literally that. There has been in the past some users who never participate over in the men’s forum who responded with literally the exact same response over and over suggesting like the same 3 things…word for word. That is what I was referring to.
Because yeah, in most cases it is going to be a similar type response. Try ammo, or IG etc. But when I respond, I do try to explain why it fits their situation, and if I do cut and paste advise anything it was always…“and read these threads…” That way they wouldn’t come over here and start asking the noob questions we see time and time again when people don’t even try to learn.
I’ve recently started to try and greet the new members, partly because that always seems to be the role I take on when I start posting at a forum regularly. I do feel like I’m not ‘qualified’ to do this, though, cause I’m a newbie (and a bit of a n00b) myself! I was kinda surprised when Mick sent me a PM with reward points. However I have to say, I definitely haven’t recommended mixing straight off the bat - what I say is usually just a collective opinion of what I’ve read on the forum, especially because new members are usually male and I’m not. 
I hope my replies have been okay, and if they aren’t I would really appreciate someone pointing it out to me, no hard feelings.
I have seen your replies and they are fine. You try to answer there questions and give advice. You also indicate your fairly new as well.
Your replies are not a issue at least for me.
Some people dont even read what the poster wrote or answer any of there questions. They just tell them what to get with no reasoning. Some people are suggesting products AD dosent even have in stock. Then there are the ones who suggest everything they have in stock just because thats all they have, even if it doesnt fit there needs. (I hate that). I have even seen people suggest the wrong gender products to people which indicates they are not even really reading there post. Sure we can use the opposites genders products but its not good right out of the gate for a new person.
Mixing is a tough word because some new people read it and think we mean mix them together in one bottle which is a big no no for new people. Layering is a better way to say it so no misunderstandings occur and believe me it may seem obvious to us but people do misunderstand.
I think its fine to suggest a few different products. If they ask how to use them then let them know they should start with one product and find there dosage then move to the next. Then they can layer.
You can just refer them to Steve’s introduction to mones link as well. Some people totally miss the sticky sections.
I think people should also return to the thread because lots of times people respond with questions and no one replies. That’s how you can tell the helpful people from the ones just trying to get free stuff. Of course sometimes you miss one or two, I have myself but I make a effort to check.
If I think of any other tips I will suggest them but just your asking for tips shows your desire to be helpful. 
Tisha
I’m a little slow , but are you saying that people get points toward AD store for responding. I never really pasid much attention to reps, thanks, and nominaitions.
Some of my responses in the newbie forum may seem generic in as much as I usually only recommend the consumer line products. I feel that MX’s and Putatives are more for experienced users and AD’s actual research than a guaranteed product for specific results. However I like to get as much info from the new user so I can give specific and detailed advice on how to act and be congruent with the products in order to get the best possible results from them.
Especially since advising somebody to wear a product with the implication that it can give awesome results without informing them that their own behaviors can be a limiting factor is setting a lot of potential repeat business for disappointments.
…as a side note. I don’t know if Jas shared this idea with anyone else but back when she first suggested the possibility of MX297 being the “New Ammo” I PM’d her with the suggestion that for first time buyers that AD might want to include either a direct link PDF download, or an actual hard copy of a small booklet with information on what the various molecules do and how to act in order to get the best possible results from them.
First responders get like 5 pts in the store good for purchases.
Thanks, Alot of the nonsense i’ve been seeing is starting to make sense.