The Ultimate Vampire Resource and Directory

(Brace yourself for Episode Three of Railings, Ramblings, Rantings and Ravings Royale!)

Again, I'm putting THIS in the General Discussions so that everyone would know and also it concerns ONE BIG of the site; The Acolytes.

A friend of mine, who's an Acolyte, helped someone who was DESPERATE in finding a solution to his BIG problem. After my friend fried her brains out in helping THAT person instead of a "THANK YOU" she got a BIG, FAT "B.S." message instead.

Which made me wonder: Why are SOME people like that? Why are some people rude, even if they're the ones being helped?

Newsflash! Acolytes are just members too, just like YOU and me. It doesn't mean they have ALL the knowledge in the world that we can just ask them practically about EVERYTHING.

And also, just because The Prince/Mr Cancer approved that they'd be put in THAT position doesn't mean He wired all of his knowledge to them thru a virtual I.V. or something.

Please bear in mind that they have lives too. And even if they WANT to say NO to someone who's asking for help, they CAN'T because it's their JOB, it says so in the Manual!

And after the time they've spent, using all the ingenuity they have in HELPING, all they get is a SQUAT of a thank you message? And a get a rude and obscene message? Where's the love in that?

They're like 911 emergency in America. There to aid and assist whenever things go in a bit of a jam. But it doesn't mean they can SOLVE everything. They're NOT super-heroes! And hey, even super-heroes have problems too!

Also, please be civil and polite in your asking a question. There is NOTHING wrong with being polite. Put yourself in their shoes; someone asks you a question RUDELY,would you just grin and bear it and then answer the guy anyway? Of course NOT!

And when asking your questions, please make sure they're SENSIBLE ones. NOT inane ones like: How do I become a REAL vampire? and also, some people ask VERY simple questions like: How do I log out? The answer is just there in front of you. Even a first grader can do it.

Bottom-line: (I'm ALMOST done) is that make your asking an Acolyte or ANYONE else, a last resort. If the problem can still be aided by YOU first, then by all means, do it! Figure it out if the matter's THAT simple. But if the need be, ask for help, no fuss about that, just press that "Emergency Button" if all else fails. And an Acolyte or anyone who's assigned to help, will come to your aid.

So, the next time you need help from an acolyte or ANYONE, ask yourself first, Is THIS REALLY a sensible matter? Will be WORTH bothering with by anyone? Ask yourself those things first, and everything will turn out just fine.

To the Acolytes, Dominars, Procurators and The Admins, or to ANYONE who has helped someone in a jam. Kudos to you! Keep it up!

All is NOT in vain!

†

Usually I get a 'thank you' when I help someone out.

Once I had a long drawn out session, because I was searching for the answers myself- and in this back and forth messaging we had going on- every other message he'd ask me what the hell I was talking about because he didn't remember submitting an Acolyte question- and that he had short-term memory. LOL, I wasn't laughing then. By the end of the discussion (that took a few days) He put me on his block list. Although he also put me in his friend's list. Whatever!

I agree with you 100%. Until Cancer gets the Acolyte test rolled out and people are screened on their VR Manual savy- we know for sure that Acolytes are simply members volunteering help if they happen to know the answer, thats all. And if they are using their own time to help you, be appreciative!

And again I agree with you King.

By being put in that position you have to help always,some just like to have the name Acolyte under their name.

But I agree with you on the questions asked.

Those questions were asked to me and am not even an Acolyte!

Or am left comments like:

I'm new and need help.

First of all something like that should bei n private,second it's written that if you need any help you have the Help option.

Oh and yes a thank you is very appriciated and questions are more answered volutely if asked in a nice way.

But certain peple belive it's not trendy to be well mannered.

King was said.....I try to help everyone who asks me..some people never even reply back with a thanks...

Well said.
They deserve respect cause it's like you said, they don't know everything.

PREACH IT BATMAN!!!!

Well said...we are all but human....we are not perfect and I always live by the motto " treat others the way you want to be treated"...If you treat someone badly you shouldn't expect to be treated fairly...stop and think "what if I was in their position?" before you treat anyone badly who is trying to help or otherwise.

Again, I have to express my fears that the Acolyte population is becoming unmanageable. They appear to be spreading faster than roaches. Everywhere I turn there stands an acolyte.

Now, there is a growing resentment in their quarter as they believe they do not receive the necessary praise and adulation that they are entitled to. What next, whispers of plots and conspiracy against the empire.

Beware the Acolyte Conspiracy

A thank you should be a minimum, even if all is not solve, since at least work as been done and effort has been done. Help should always be thank, its the civil thing to do.

Everyone should be shown respect at all times.... No matter if you have a title or not.... That is how I was bought up... You treat people how you want to be treated. And shown someone respect is one way.... It all has to do with home training....


~*~ One Love ~*~

I agree with this. Respect is a must. They try their best and if people can't respect that then they shouldn't ask the Acolytes for help. I have requested help a few times. I am sure that I said thank you or ty each time.

Even when I was sure that they were wrong I said thank you. That case happened to be an error on my part, something to do with my computer, not VR.

When I was a Machine Operator, the Maintainance men always told us that 95% of the problems with the machine was the operator not them.

Take that and change Machine Operator to VR user. Now change Maintainance men to Acolytes and it is the same thing happening here.

I have to agree with all of you. I try IF I ask for help to always ask politely and end with a "thanks in advance". I have not asked for help from an acolyte yet but anytime I recieve the help asked for I send a "thanks for all your help" message. I may not bend down and kiss someone's feet but I do try to let them know that their help is appreciated. Everyone should let anyone that helps them know that they did not help in vain.

Just my 2 cents.

You people get THANK YOUS? I have never once gotten anything back from anyone asking a question. I figure I'm either brilliant enough to answer the question in full, or I'm a drooling idiot and they're too stunned by my stupidity to find a coherent response other than calling me a bad name. (I like to think it's the former option)

I would also like to add that we are not here to give tips on spells, witchcraft, good new music or what kind of food to feed your dog (ok I made that last one up - but not the other ones).

Acolytes are here to help with information pertaining to the workings of Vampire Rave. If you want information on religion, magic/k, music, dogs, the boogeyman - find someone who discusses it in their profile and message them through something other than the acolyte box, or hop into the Vamp Box and see if anyone can help. Or, I dunno - start a discussion (in the appropriate section) in the forums.

And remember - always thank your Acolyte.

as i sometimes need acolytes i only say a BIG THANK YOU and wise the words they speak most time.

I too have seeked advice from an acolyte before, and all I can say is bravo! It's not an easy job, as I can imagine, and since they volunteer, it's that much more of an amazing job that they do. Way to go people!

I understand what you mean Tarq sort of. Not being an Acolyte but just a general member, people do not have polite manners these days. Sad fact. I hope you friend doesn't give up on the precious few that do have some decorum of manners and human civility.

(I think the rant was great by the way)

I think that being an Acolyte is harder than being a Dominar or a Procurator! After all, they are the first line of defense against the fire of questions. Those people are like the Red Cross..they try to help you as much as they can , they volunteer and sometimes they are killed ( this meaning they do not receive thanks or they receive harsh words insted) in the combat. Don`t be mean to them, please!
Also, I tried to bother them only when I couldn`t find the answer to what I was looking for or when I didn`t understand some rules...
So, if I forgot to thank someone for their help, including Dominars, Procurators or Administrators, I appologise and I thank you for all your help!
P.S. Good thread!

Has anyone stopped to think......that all the acolyte's started off in the same postition as anyone of us a regular member..........do we all want respect and to be treated how we all expect to be treated....

So if someone helped you....its curtious to say thank you......to me it is....

I was always brought up a little bit of help is worth more than a shitload of hassle.

So for me I havent yet met one bad mannered acolyte.....

some people are like that you have many kinds of people i hate people like that

I Moderate and Admin a few sites and the ungrateful bastards that get pissed off usually get muted for a while. If they can't speak politely they don't speak at all!

I have yet had to ask them for help but im glad to know they are they if you need help. So i agree they should be showed proper respect because they are offering assistance. And it never hurts to use good manners.

I agree totally, anyone on VR, no matter what their status, deserves common courtesy, nothing wrong with that.

Amen to that BatBoy!!! *snicker* Ok, Batman. :)

Well said huhn.

Amen. lol. It's amazing how some people can't be greatful if they try. If they are being helped... they need to say thank you and not "bs". People are taking their own precious time, to help you. They have to, but i'm sure if they had a choice, they'd weed out all the ungreatful and leave them to figure it out for themselves. Even if they don't do what you ask, the way you want it, appreciate that they tried or figure it out for yourselves!

On the odd occasions i've used acolytes, i've always found them to be friendly, courteous people. So whats wrong with treating them the same? I just can't understand people who are rude to others for no apparent reason...

Even if they don`t anwer you right now or give you exactly what you want, they save time for you so you can do other things in order to improve yourself here...

i think that the acolytes are vr saints so to speak thank you all in advance for if i should ever need to bug you and its crap that some ppl are so rude to you its like working in retail..... sucky.

Well I've been very happy w/ the help i've gotten from them so far. it never took forever and a day to get my questions answered. and even those who i've asked.......and didn't have an answer for me right then and there....did get back to me in a timely matter. I've appreciated every Acolyte that has helped me in any way possible through a concern or a question. I think I've thanked them for helping.....but if i haven't i do appreciate the help though.

Okay, I have asked many Acoylets (sp?) for help and ALWAYS give a thank you. So, not ALL people are rude, thank you very much.

If I need help, I will be sure to ask you people in here that are Alcoy's -- eh! I cant spell it, bare with me!

I have only been a member for a week and a half, and have asked many. :-( Don't ditch me! I'm innocent!

Respect the ones who help, for there are those out there that dont give a shit..My applauds to all those that put forth the time and effort to help individuals like me. I agree w/King..

Kudos to all that keep this site running and updated.

Well said! They have always been quick to respond and if they don't know the answer they usually can tell you who does. Your all appreciated;) (by most of us anyways)

I have asked for help when I was new and got wonderful responses and I was polite back for all the time and effort spent in helping me.....after all, treat others as you would want to be treated, how hard is that???

Ones that vounteer THEIR TIME for OTHERS deserve special consideration for what they do when they could be doing other things in life..

Great rant Batman! Glad you said it

This was great! Oh so true because they go through so much spend there own time which they will never get back and try to help someone even with the simplest of issue.... It is only right to say thank you and personally I think they diserve more than that but it would be kind of hard to give them anything more.... But I say this to all acolytes..... thank you for all the time you have spent in helping each and every one of us during our starting days and even afterwards on vr.....

~Shadowmemory~

And thanks king for posting this up because this was greatly needed!

All I have to say (as always, Tarq'y) is thank you.

You always have the guts to say what so many of us want others to feel.

if it was me, i would ahve thanked the person even if they were all confused too...atleast they tried! g'z, the nerve of sum ppl!

I've never been treated rudely or been blocked.I do my duty as an acolyte and Dominar.When a question comes through I immediately do my best to look and answer the question.No matter what the context is,no matter how simple minded it might come off to others.I have read some wacky stuff and I let that person know in a nice respectful manner the request help button isn't a dear abby deal its for help with site issues and site navigation.I can only imagine what cancers inbox looks like.lol

Thank you to those of you who do appreciate what the acolytes and other staff do on here it means alot to us to know we are being appreciated.To those of you who are rude,nasty and disrespectful do remember if your not kind to a staff member here when you need help most it might give you a deaf ear or blind eye back.Put yourself in anothers shoes and go from there. ;)

Hail to the Acolytes and everyone else who I have nagged since I've been here!!!LOL.... Seriuosly, you all do a superb job....Admins included!!!

Nobody is expected to know everything about everything. It is nice that we have Acolytes and the VR Manual now. I remember asking Cancer about how people in the threads were adding color and gifs. HTML. Imagine that. I wonder how many of those questions he got every day. But, I myself, had no clue.
Many questions may sound simple and plain easy. But to the person asking them, may not. The logout button is not easy to find at first. One would think it would be on the top of the screen. Not somewhere in the middle, out of view. And if you want to hear something really funny, It took me a week to realize that there was four foruum posts. I never saw the bottom two! And had no idea what people were talking about when they said "sandbox." Things are only easy once you know them, not before.

And as wisdom says,
"It is the giver that should be thankful,
not the reciever."

I was thankful for an acolyte replying when I had an issue with referrals. They didn't know exactly what was the deal with it, but hey, it was worth a try! They're just everyday members, who have passed a test set forth by Cancer. They are there to help, and if they can't help you, ask a friend on the site, or even then, ask your friend first! I wouldn't mind being an acolyte, because I've been here a while and know the ins and outs of the site (basically) and will apply once I reach 18 (soon!!!) And if someone gives me a BS response, then BS right back to them, but I'd let them know I at least tried.

oh yeah, great rant babe!

*applauds*

I think more people need to treat their fellow beings with respect, ESPECIALLY when someone tries to help. Yes, you might ask something that they don't know the answer to, at least thank them for trying. For all you know, the reason they took 3 hours to reply is because they were looking for the answer.

However, as we must acknowledge that the Acolytes don't know everything, I would like them to realise that exact same point: You don't, and can't, know absolutely everything. So don't pretend you do.

ok bear with me i am just starting out here i have read the whole faq on everything. and i even know that can be confusising at times. nobody can know the answeres all of the time . even an aqualite as you put it . they would have to ask questions they were not sure of to. and i bet they get alot of them they dont know how to answer .i dont see how people can be so judemental and blame people for not knowing answers they themselves dont know. be pacient and in time someone will have an answer to your question. and rember that thes people are only trying to help and dont always have a answer right on the spot for you.

Agreed, Tarquin.

I wish to become an Acolyte so that I can help out the Acolytes who are overworked.
But as far as people replying to Acolytes and being rude, thats just WRONG.

-.-
If I beocme an Acolyte, and I experience that, im going to like tell them politely and in a civil way that they.. they can't get away with acting like thier better or smarter, or stronger, or more.. worthy, than those of us who work our asses off to help them.

(I Help new members all the frikin' time..)

i think people should be treated how you would like people to treat you

I find most on this site to be very helpful no matter what the status. Very friendly people for the most part too ......But, Ya know there is always that one in every corwd..... Some people go out of their way to be rude which really doesnt even make one question the character. You just take it for granted and figure out what they are about.

I always try to the best of my abilities to help a member out when they submit a question. And yes, I have gotten a few thank you's. It makes you feel good when you know you have helped that person & they show their appreciation.

But, no, we don't know everything. There are some questions I have to leave for another Acolyte to answer because I simply do not know the answer.

see like on myspace i help people make layouts and add me codes and get nothing in return and it's like my job...so like when i need to ask someone for help im at least nice to them...damn rude whores.

xxx
ashley

Why is it that people who are in positions that are designed to help others are seen to be peoples doormats?
Those that volunteer or otherwise, not just here but in general society to some are seen to be vulnerable and easily used as target practice, I don't understand this way of thinking, but it goes on constantly.
Unnacceptable!!!!
Those who are asking for help, sure they have expectations, they want results, but they have to realise that while they have questions, those they seek may not have all the answers. That is not a reason for disrespecting those there to help, rather realise that the question you have is either complex and obscure or maybe just straight out stooopid.
Look at yourself before you start throwing daggers, calm down, and move on. I guess thats what I think about that.

i agree also king...
but i would like to say to those who have acolyte status...and dont help what so ever....
what is the pioint of getting it if your not going to use it???
and to those of you who ask acolytes stupid questions...hello~!!...think before you ask us how to turn you into a vampyre cuz we just hate stupid questions like that!

Yes! Power to the rant!

They deserve respect cause they don't know everything, they offer their time to help out the ones that need it. They make time because they want to. They need the respect and thank you they should get.

A simple thank you would not be to much to ask. The Acolytes are here to help. And of course they don't know everything. No one does. But a thank you should at least be sent. If they didn't want to help you in the first place they wouldn't be an acolyte.

*applaud*
Nothing more than that.

well...everyone deserves to be respected...what if you were the one in their position...how would you feel?

That's True They Don't Know Everthing.... But Nobody Does...But They Do Try And Help The Best They Can

I agree; everyone deserves respect! Those who don`t do that...shame on them! Acolytes, Dominars, Procurators and Administrators...the deserve even greater respect! They make all of this work for the rest of us! And we should thank them! Acolytes, especially, are the ones who create the connection between regular members and the higher ranks of the Vampire Rave...and we should thank them! If they do not provide help...maybe they couldn`t answer your question...If the didn`t want to...well, at least they`ve heard you...

ur right why should they be expected to kno everything?

I'm not an Acolyte, however, I know a few...hell, my owner is one! Be kind to your neighborhood Acolytes. They, in turn, may be more expedient in answering your questions;-)

P.S. KT rocks my whelpy socks off!!

I've never asked an acolyte, but I would right now like to extend a HUGE thank you to these people who give up there time to help others on the Rave.

i read a forum similar to this earlier about he moderators of vr and i will give virtually the same response. some people are just childish assholes and are a waste of perfectly good oxogen

*oxygen*

Well said. ^^ Acolytes are a huge help and they deserve to be respected like anyone else would on VR ^^ Not bashed for not knowing something that the person themselves don't know. I always say thank you ^^ lol.

Dtals Says "Fuck Authority, and People who dont respect authority"

BillytheJust is correct.

The teachers should be thankful there are students. It is more important to pass knowledge on to those who ask than to demand respect for one's knowledge.

Still, I thank the acolytes for the help they have provided me.

There is always something bigger and always something smaller.

to be simple..

i just think that some people are assholes.

re: above

they may or may not be just plain assholes. i think most of them or just ignorant of the way things are and should be. i have come across a lot of people that just didn't know any better.

please do not read this as an excuse for them.

i agree they need to respect and appreciate the help they receive no matter who it comes from... especially the administration!

This has been a great run of your thread, Tarq. Again, thank you for making it.

However, let's move on on this positive note, and remember to be courteous to all admins and persons of level. No, not Sire, Blood Drinker-type levels, but those that give the persons power.

They've eanred in some way that position, and Cancer saw fit to give it to them. Respect them as you'd like to be respected yourself.

Thread closed.