I think no matter what, RS is going to be THE forums for SW and if you guys just cut and run because of idiot newbies you're only doing a disservice to yourself.
Why?
Because there's more people there than other sites? That's not quality, it's quantity, and while that can prove to be a valuable "resource" as opposed to a real "community" that has nothing to do with it being anything "premiere" to me personally... I'd sooner have fewer people see what I had to say but know that I respected those people, than to have more people see what I have to say and know that 85 - 90% of them will be responses I wasted my time reading. To me that's just a popularity contest for those who want people to see their work more than they want valuable input on their work or to build a real friendship with anyone they talk to.
If you want substance, Rebelscum was NEVER the place to go to until Philip took the Bounty Hunter Collective out from under Mike Sullenger during their merger with Collect Star Wars. Scum had no forum activity till that point, and from there on out it was another man's work that was basically taken from him. Hardly anything I hold in high regard.
My first customizing experience was with the Forgotten Force Customizing ListServer... THAT was a valuable community, but it was wholely separate of Rebelscum.com proper, but instead was just a mailing list full of useful users, useful content, and good conversation... until... Basically like everything else Rebelscum touches it turned to lead instead of gold.
There was no moderation, there was no structure, there was no real guidelines or rules that people were held to for the listserver, and subsequently as customizing grew as a hobby that listserver fell apart in disarray with every new poster. It became a place where good customizing conversation was nye on impossible, and people who didn't want to find a forum home took over the listserver as their personal conversation platform about all topics. It killed it, but fortunately
www.FFURG.com have taken the intiative to make a single customizing community for all, it's just that all don't take the time to be a part of said community alongside their other net travels. It could only help everyone though.
Rebelscum lets the same disarray that happens in all facets of their forums take place in the customizing area, so that to me isn't something I personally want to be a part of. The good people there deserve better than to have an essentially lawless discussion area for their hobby. You shouldn't have to "just ignore" the newbies, they should be dealt with and taught how to behave with proper "netiquette". That's how we handle things and we've found our members appreciate that and the site grows subsequently.
I've noticed a lot of people are claiming to move exclusively here but if you do that the idiots are going to just follow you. I've noticed it here already that there's a few spelling and grammatically challenged newbs. You're all better off just taking a stand at RS.
Oh please Owen, don't compare this section's couple of "new" members to Rebelscum's. That's hardly fair, and we actually handle "newbs/newbies" or whatever they may be referred to with due action. I can't say that happens at Scum, nor is it ever worried about much. If the problems follow anyone here, they'll be dealt with, and certainly people "flaming" or trolling over here are dealt with straight away. All it needs is a mention to one of the staff incase we didn't notice it already, and problems will be solved according to the problem being reviewed.
That's not to say that if you want to be at Rebelscum we care one way or the other either. You can go to Rebelscum and stay, or visit both, or whatever... But much like people mentioning ANYTHING to do with JediDefender.com there (even in passing reference) isn't going to be tolerated at Scum anymore, I can safely say that telling people to blatantly flat out NOT come to JD on our own site because it's "not in their best interests" isn't going to be tolerated much here either, so let that be just a simple warning.
If you don't appreciate the site here though at JediDefender.com, that's fine by us really because it's often just a matter of tastes and we still hope anyone visits even if it's not their only site they frequent. We appreciate the people from all sites who visit our customizing forums (and forums in general) to display their wares equally, but considering the activity levels here, the moderating, and the level of interest in quality we take with our forums, we feel we do offer the better community.
And, this is a little pet peeve of mine. If a newbie poster (or anyone for that matter) puts forth a badly spelled or incoherent post, don't reply! Just let it hang there like the piece of nonsense it is.
Shouldn't it be a bigger pet peeve to have someone who actually cares step in and tell the new person to straighten up or fly right? Perhaps it's our attention towards building a more adult-focused community that makes us care about the quality of posters here as opposed to those at other sites, but isn't that something beneficial to a largely adult community/niche aspect of the Star Wars hobby?
And this is true throughout our forums... Our collecting portions of our modern, vintage, and various other aspects of our forums are filled with a more mature, adult edge to them. We take our members seriously, we take our forum seriously, and we want you to have a fun experience here at JediDefender.com... We don't want you to just have to ignore the "kids" or "newbs", but instead we hope they grow into mature posters or they'll just not last here long at all.
In many respects, while we do have a more open nature here at our site and a laid back atmosphere of strong friendships throughout our forums, we also rule here with an iron fist when the need does arise. That's because this is our home, and your home, and we want it treated with respect in all ways because that reflects on us directly. Over yonder though, that's an afterthought at best honestly.
I've always liked the customs you have made Owen, and I think you have valuable customizing input, but in the grand scheme of things I think your logic about why you should stay at a site that is so far downhill is flawed at best. There's no law that says other communities are incapable of becoming what you actually want them to be instead of waiting on a community you are already at to turn into something that it isn't. Closing your ears to problems doesn't make them go away at all, and it doesn't make a community thrive and grow in a healthy way. That's what authority figures are for at forums, to keep the ship straight basically and avert danger.
This customizing community has made huge leaps, and not by my hand, or Jeff's, or Dave's, or Jesse's... It's made huge leaps because of you guys being active here. The same activity you can bring anywhere else within the JediDefeneder.com forums if you want. We are just here making sure these forums stay positive for you guys, and we obviously take note of the conversation in here to make sure everything's going smoothly... I say if you want to make this your home, we welcome you with open arms of course, but we also welcome those of you who have the respect to visit other sites too...
At the same time though, if you aren't happy somewhere turning your senses off to the problems isn't going to fix anything or make your community better, nor is fighting and argument. If your needs aren't met, I do find that it's time to look for a new home. I did that a long time ago, and I found this place... It's my cup of tea, and I drink up quite happily every bit I'm here.