At what point does one stop being a newbie here and become an old-timer? Is it the post count? Is it a combination post count and Membership date?
Like age, it’s how old do you feel.
Some are born old, some attain age, and some have antiquity thrust upon them. ~ Winston Churchild 
Personally, I still feel like a newbie sometimes. 
But if I had to give a semi-helpful answer I’d say that it’s when you start to really recognize at least a handful of the other posters and can recall stuff about them from their previous posts, and when at least a handful of other posters can do the same for you. Post count seems like a really arbitrary marker to me, simply because some people show up and post 3000-4000 times within a month which throws off the whole curve. Registration date is a bit more telling, but then again a lot of people register, post, dissapear for a while, return, dissapear, etc. so it can make it hard to keep track. I’ve been here over three years now (two posting, one 1/2 lurking) and I still come across posters sometimes whose names I don’t recognize but who have been registered even longer than me.
Don’t take that personally. Some of us end up posting so much it ends up being some sort of twisted con ersation (read the 740 posts in the Spit or Swallow thread)
It’s nice to have some new voices - welcome aboard
I am still a newb… I would think at least a good 500…
Ooops, I meant to add–Welcome to the Boards Simple Dreamer and outburst! Enjoy!
Thank you for the welcome and the insights.
There’s no set number. As long as you think you’re a newbie, you’re a newbie. Once you forget, you aren’t one anymore.
After your 317th post. 
I think it’s just when you feel like you belong. I registered about two weeks before you did, Simple Dreamer, and I have over a thousand more posts than you do in the past six (gah… I can’t believe it’s been that long. It feels more like two) months.
I just found my niche. You can find yours too.
I think it’s just when you feel like you belong. I registered about two weeks before you did, Simple Dreamer, and I have over a thousand more posts than you do in the past six (gah… I can’t believe it’s been that long. It feels more like two) months.
I just found my niche. You can find yours too.
My totally made-up rules of thumb
Like ultrafilter said, you’re a newbie as long as you think you are, and then you’re not. But if you’re not sure, and you’re looking for some quick-and-dirty rules of thumb, then you’re probably not a newbie if at least two things on this list are true about you:
[ul][li]You registered more than six months ago.[/li][li]Your post count exceeds 500 (per merge, although I can also see a case for 317 as World Eater suggests).[/li][li]You have posted in at least 100 different threads (which excludes the case where a member posts often, but in only a handful of ongoing threads, like what mipiace was talking about).[/li][li]You have posted in at least six out of the nine forums.[/li][li]You have been the subject of a serious Pitting.[/li]You have been referred to by name in at least a dozen threads that you haven’t posted in.[/ul]JMHO.
Hmmm… looks like you need to provoke a pitting, Simple Dreamer.
I’d be happy to give you a few pointers.
David
brianmelendez Thanks! That’s a great short/dirty list.
Aesiron I had to get the feel of the place and lurk a bit before I could bring myself to post much.
SoulFrost :eek: The Pitt??? Yikes!
Well, I still feel like a newbie, sometimes, despite my post count. A lot of my posts have been in the same threads, as some have mentioned. (Hi, miapiace!) But, my feeling is, I’m here for my enjoyment; no one’s paying me to post, here, and I doubt they’re paying you, either. So, don’t worry about it. Just post when and where you want, and have fun. When you no longer feel like a newbie, you aren’t.
If you really feel the need for a rule of thumb, I’d say, when you feel like you’ve made a friend, or two, here, you’re no longer a newbie. And, you can count me as one, if you’d like.
I appreciate the thoughts presented here, especially the ones which go beyond post count. Sometimes I see an interesting post, but there are already many replies that mine would be quite similar to that I don’t bother—how many people really want to read the same thing over and over, maybe with a smilie added, KWIM?
Thanks Davebear.
I feel the same way. I read a lot of threads that I never end up posting in. If I don’t feel I have anything useful or amusing to add, I don’t post.
You’re welcome.
Oh, and this kind of post is an exception to the general rule I just quoted to Lorene. I don’t always respond for things like Thank Yous, but I feel they’re worth making an exception for, depending on the thread.
I think it all depends on the individual, as mentioned above. Some new posters give great first threads. FWIW. Oh, and that reminds me. Maybe when you feel you know all the acronyms…
I’m a confirmed lurker, as you can see by my post count versus registration date, so I fall into the odd category of knowing other posters, being able to recall various details about them, but no-one knows who I am. I also have posted in most forums, know most acronyms, have been around for a while, but still, newbie. Definite newbie, and I begin to feel it’s a permanent state of mind.