Thanks! Appreciate the tip. I spend a few hours a day reading efour threads and try not to post too much because I know my knowledge base is well below most here. But I am learning- and trying not to piss my pants in the sandbox.
1 Like
@matthewevan, I understand you’re upset, and I do agree that there is a gap between the experienced collectors here and new members, but that gap is natural. As someone earlier in this thread stated, it’s like entering a new school district in senior year - you have to make new friends while everyone else formed their cliques years ago.
I think the idea you proposed sounds a lot like reddit. I don’t think it would work here and here’s why: this forum was created to be a place of in-depth discussion, facilitate the exchange of knowledge and overall serve as a haven for the most discerning and emotionally invested collectors. Reddit, on the other hand, is easily available to a larger amount of people. Members here sometimes frequent those subs, but a majority of people on Reddit don’t even know about this forum. So it wouldn’t make sense to create a “new-members-only” section because it would probably end up like most subreddits do, with arguments over flippers, people buying “too much product”, constant Zard spam and “what is this worth?” posts. The culture would be too different from the culture of this forum, and therefore would distract new members from the whole reason this forum exists.
I’ve been on this forum for probably only half a year now, but I’ve seen plenty of people come and go. Most of the arguments happen in the market threads, and I’ve seen new members on the forum (but seasoned, decades-long collectors) present facts, logic and heavily researched graphical evidence and STILL get told off by others here. That said, at the end of the day everyone comes together and welcomes new members if they are truly vested in the hobby and aren’t just trying to troll or get free information.
Not everyone can fit in to every group, so if its not working out for you I would encourage you to still remain a member and at least use the forum as the resource that it is. There is so much knowledge and information here that you won’t find anywhere else, and it is all easily accessible too. However, I can assure you that if you ever want to talk about anything other than market trends, there will absolutely be someone here that is anxiously waiting to discuss that topic with someone else as well, and that is something you might have a hard time finding on other platforms.
6 Likes
Hi! I’m a new member joined I believe 2 months ago now and I have to say that this forum has been such a wonderful place to have discussions and make new internet friends! While I understand the difficulty of not being included per say, I think its an important thing to note that experience and information maybe not directly, but indirectly translate to money in a market like collectibles. I’m all for talking unique art work and such, but I think if we were in a different hobby, say, playing a sport it would be a different attitude. You would understand that there is a lot to learn when first joining and therefore you would practice and study, or in forum terms search and read older discussions and threads.
One of the reasons I really gravitate to this forum is the lack of social media algorithm that there would be on reddit, instagram, facebook. Here its just, “chronologically what’s new folks?” and it makes the experience really fun! Especially using it on the computer. 
To also be transparent, I came into Pokemon as an investor and recently I too have been thinking of parting with some cards since they have grown in value, but these past 2 months have also opened myself up to the idea of being a collector and its become a bit of a dilemma. This point is just to show that peoples intentions can change in their experience, flippers can become long term investors, or just straight collectors. Its all fluid, but to maintain a unique style of conversation it also does require unique knowledge. Some of that is through bulbapedia or just searching on here and poking in very specific questions.
And lastly, @matthewevan, if you would like to change your profile picture you would click the “Profile” tab at the top of the site. Click edit profile on the right side of the smaller menu, and then “upload or link your own avatar image”. Some really high quality pictures may be too large for the site, but images off of google can be dragged and dropped on your desktop/main screen and then selected. Feel free to message me if you have any further questions and I would be happy to help!
7 Likes
I’ll give my experience as someone coming back into the hobby in 2018, so relatively new and only onto e4 this year. I already had a long childhood entrenched in pokemon so I *THOUGHT* I knew a fair bit coming back into the hobby in 2018. Fair being basically nothing compared to most e4 members but I wasn’t clueless. That being said compared to now, I was basically clueless. I learned so much my first year back into the hobby. I remember watching videos on youtube and not knowing what people meant when they said “wot-see”. I was learning a ton out of passion for knowing more and collecting more through my own research and participation in the hobby to the point where I eventually wasn’t satisfied with just reddit and youtube for the hobby. I wanted deeper more involved and experience conversation. This eventually led me to e4 where in this past year I’d say I learned about the same this past year as my year and a half in the hobby beforehand. BUT had I joined e4 right when I got back into the hobby, the learning curve would have been much steeper. And I’m sure if I expressed any of my naïve views back in 2018 on e4, I would have rightfully gotten roasted.
So I’d definitely echo the sentiment of many of the other posts on this thread, e4 isn’t for newbies in the hobby. And experienced people can still have very heated debates about the more complicated aspects of the hobby so if you say some dumb or uniformed opinion, people will roast you. 
I’d say as long as you keep an open mind and humble attitude, e4 can be an amazing place to learn and experience the hobby. When I learn about some aspect of the hobby like nuanced pull rates from decades old sets that I didn’t know shit about, I’m just excited to be learning something like that.
2 Likes
As a relatively new member, I found E4 to be very inviting.
Like many have said, I think the intent of the new members is what will often sway their experience here. Very often you see posts of new members looking to save themselves time by asking more experienced people. They’re asking others to give their time by reading and replying rather than sacrifice their own by researching. That’s not necessarily a bad thing, but when they stop there and don’t look to engage or contribute in anyway it’s hard to expect people to be particularly welcoming.
Tbf I stay pretty clear of market discussion in general, but this has been my experience for the most
6 Likes
People here are very helpful! I’ve made abunch of friends here. I love just talking about collection goals. Visiting collection threads. Doing polls etc. Sometimes I even keep up with the market discussion thread.
Sometimes I make a post of my thoughts and get quoted three times in the matter of minutes which gets slightly annoying from time to time. But it’s simply people responding to what I said. It’s a great place you just have to make the best of it and not let things bother you.
P.s what was the Logan Paul comment about?
5 Likes
I get 300-400 messages a day on Instagram. A large percentage are asking the same things stated above or where can they get more info/advice. I always refer them to efour and suggest they read and research here prior to asking those questions.
You see, when e4 started it was to create a home for serious collectors. Most of us came from the PokeGym that was cluttered with boring stuff.
I would suggest not belittling or bullying newbies but directing them to other sources like, if they say how much is this card direct them to eBay. If graded, then pokemonprice.
10 Likes
Another new member here-
One way you could look at E4 is that, among many other things, it’s a central hub for progressing the hobby - or at least the interest in it, and of course sharing of mutual passions. E4 is already equipped to help those who are new to the hobby with an articles & resources page that provides answers to many FAQs as well as valuable niche knowledge. As others have said, asking questions that can be answered by those articles, or that aren’t conducive to provoking thought or discussion in the hobby are usually met with similar responses to how they would be met on any other forum online. In fact, this forum is a lot more forgiving to new members than most - I mean look at Reddit; if you ask a question that’s been answered in the FAQs or doesn’t meet the strict criteria for question-asking or debate-raising, it’ll simply be auto-removed.
I’ve definitely found that even though I’m a new member, if I post things that are thought-provoking or further a discussion, they’re given similar attention to posts that are made by veteran members/hobbyists, which is really quite encouraging and the main reason I disagree with the idea that anyone here is elitist in the way that’s insinuated by the OP. Of course there’s been a couple of occasions where I’ve been met with abrasiveness or trolling, but as fourthstar said this is still the internet after all, wave goodbye to any protective bubbles. I’ve been casually on-and-off in the hobby since 2011, and the reason I joined is so I had the opportunity to engage in discussion with, and learn from, the people who have the greatest knowledge and experience as well as to discover new passions for myself. (JK it was just so I could DM Gary). If you make an effort to progress discussion, share an interesting passion, or create spicy memes then Efour is a very welcoming place.
7 Likes
As a fellow relatively new member, I’m going to have to disagree on this one. E4 is not a random facebook group, nor a subreddit, nor a youtube channel. But that’s what I appreciate about E4, the conversation is much more intelligent and well thought out than most communities on the internet nowadays. There are some of the most knowledgable experts in Pokemon collecting who share tons of valuable, free advice and information on a regular basis. Taking all that into account, I totally understand why some members who have been here for several years might seem impatient when newer members don’t take much time to think before they post.
I’m lacking significantly in both my collection and my knowledge compared to most of the longer term members here, but have been met with nothing but polite, helpful people.
7 Likes
Also consider the fact that many of us well entrenched in the hobby and this community started out as lurkers. I still remember lurking threads as early as 2013 before I joined about a year later. I had been collecting since the hobby started here in the US but didn’t develop the lingo until sifting through threads on the forums and getting up to snuff about the current debates.
Admittedly, I imagine being a lurker nowadays is a bit more difficult since a flood of attention has entered the hobby and thus new members have flocked here in droves - there is more information to parse out, more threads to sift through - it probably seems pretty dizzying. So I acknowledge the inherent difficulty but I promise that if you stick through it, at it’s core you’ll find a bunch of nerds who are just passionate about something most of us have loved since we were kids.
As other (both new and old) members have said, I recommend joining the discord: discord.com/invite/4CVqQdN - It’s a bit more casual than the forums and depending on the time of day, a pretty friendly place if you don’t mind being an egg for a bit (we’re all eggs at heart).
In either case, I hope you and other new members stick around - this place has a lot to offer if you’re looking for more than just price discussion.
7 Likes
I am a new member and have already found very like-minded people that have similar interests and share many of the same goals, with plenty different and often welcomed disagreeing perspectives. I am having a blast. I lurked on the forum for a long time getting information and aid just the way you would looking things up on google. It is when you JOIN that you should be expected to know that it isn’t about people conforming to your ideas of the community, but about being a part of what it is. I agree with all the “elites”. They are absolutely right. It seems you aren’t listening to them at all. It actually seems like you don’t care for their responses unless they agree. They are all giving you, I’ll say it, objective answers that are not defensive in any way. They are reporting facts to you. There are tons of great people. These so called new members are getting “ignored” because they didn’t come in with the mindset and understanding I did, and many other members who were immediately treated very warmly. I have been treated very warmly. I value everyone’s time. I have looked into things I could answer for myself, and have really only asked a couple specific and nuanced questions in a few threads. Otherwise, I have really just come to share and participate in the love of Pokemon and the cultivated hobby as a whole. I, in my little time here, have already seen INNUMERABLE repetitive posts by brand new accounts that are clearly just so… well, not in it. Opportunists. All take and no give. You’ve already been answered that question. The info is already there. The answers are already there. That isn’t even cold treatment. That is just laziness and inconsideration in general–of the people who post them. Enigma’s post a few above this is spot on about that.
Your tone just really comes off as coming in and telling members what to do. Just create a thread of your own–it will be welcomed.
And it is a given that people who do things on the internet, in the depths of it that is, are pretty versed in using the interfaces. You can’t blame people for assuming you know these things. Again, in the same fashion as everyone responding has been saying, you should look into that and improve your abilities before expecting people to conform to you or be so accommodating.
I actually take a lot of opportunities to help newer members like myself with some of the basic questions if they sound sincere. I came in with a lot of experience with cards and PSA and Pokemon already. That’s why I was primed for E4 and welcomed quickly with the guys I have taken a liking to.
1 Like
Only read the first page, so I apologize if others have said similar things, but I have had lots of great experience with the members here, both veteran and new and I’ve only been here a few months. In some ways I feel it’s about building an identity.
Not sure entirely what my identity is, but I know at least part of it revolves around me currently living in Japan. I’ve helped members, with acquisitions or other various inquiries if I can. However, as @slippingjimmy mentioned a good starting point in that identity is to change your profile pic and add some extra flare to your account. That way when someone sees your post they think, “oh, that’s this guy! I’ve seen him post elsewhere.”
Same with discord. I’ve only posted in there a few times, it can be intimidating, but one time joining the voice chat, I heard someone say “ah, Yugi joined!” I had a good chuckle at that, might have been @pkmnflyingmaster who said that, but I don’t remember.
Identity can go a long way to helping establish that aspect of yourself within the community. Of course, your actions will determine whether that is a positive role or not. Either way, hope this helps a little. I tend to post long ranting posts, sorry about that haha!
3 Likes
To be honest, all forums will have such behavior.
You always have the veterans of the hobby who cringe at ignorance.
I made an account for a BMW forum to impulsively check if a car was a good buy or not. Can you imagine how many times that question has probably been asked?
Well, I ended up my own research on what the car is worth at that mileage, common issues, service records, etc.
E4 gets many questions such as “what are my old cards worth?” Which similarly to my BMW forum question, requires somebody to grind out some research about condition/price.
It’s just repetitive ignorance/laziness that ticks off forum vets is all. Intelligent discussion brings everybody together though!
1 Like
I joined about 4 years ago and stopped posting (I found most of my questions answered through searching the forum) but have always found everyone to be very nice, welcoming and open to chat. I’ve made a couple of purchases from people on here when I was a noob and I’m still very grateful for those.
1 Like
The moderators have also got out of control with their banning of posts. There have been several posts that were just askign for advice and were deleted. Almost will be getting as bad as FB Twitter censorship at this rate
1 Like
@mysterydungeongaming, almost all of your posts are about finance & investment. I assume the deleted ones are similar. I for one am glad the mods are clearing the leaves from the gutter before the forum gets flooded. If you don’t like the “censorship”, there are other online communities to join.
There seems to be a pattern where no one who has joined e4 for things like sharing their collection, tracking down rare cards, sharing info on errors and misprints, finding info on original art, or simply talking about what they enjoy collecting, has had a negative experience. Whereas some who have expected people who work full-time to devote their energy to answer investment questions they A) have neither the financial background nor fiduciary responsibility to do so or B) do not care to answer the same question over and over, have experienced being ignored or posts deleted and interpret it as an overly negative forum.
26 Likes
lol. Nothing else to say to that.
I was not the one that removed your thread but I can see it. The forums rules on selling items via this website are pretty straightforward - don’t. I get that your intention probably wasn’t primarily to sell over e4 but there are so many people try to create sneaky threads to skirt that particular rule. Anything that can be perceived as a sales post will be removed at the discretion of the mods. Don’t like it? feel free to use another platform. If you remake it and remove the specifics on what you are selling I don’t think there’s a problem with the thread and I’d lobby on your behalf to the rest of the mods.
5 Likes
lol whatever.
Thank you for being an example to OP
2 Likes