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I assume you are reading this because you are new. We want you to do a quick read-through of this guide, to know how to start your new Sixthsphere career. Before getting too far, let's take a step back here, and have you get to know who we are.
We are Sixthsphere. A tight-knit Saturn enthusiast community. We all own, or have owned a Saturn and enjoyed the community to the point where even people who don't own a Saturn anymore still stick around. A good portion of us have met multiple times out in the real world, but even those whom haven't met anyone are still very close to the group. A lot of us have knowledge in different aspects to your Saturn, and most likely have answers to your questions that you have.
As we are a tight-knit community, we have imposed certain restrictions for new members. Think of this as a "getting to trust you" kind of situation, when you are just getting to know a certain group of friends. These restrictions include the following:
- Your posts MUST be approved by a Welcome Center lifeguard, moderator or administrator -
- You will not be able to view any media such as uploaded pictures and videos -
So let's get started! You're new, and in the Welcome Center. What should you do first? You should create an intro thread. Here is how! Create a new thread in the Welcome Center, and introduce yourself properly. Include a bit of a back story, some information about you and your car, and definitely some pictures. Make sure you let us get the whole idea of who you are! Need some ideas on an intro? Check out our Ultimate Intro Thread, which involves our older members introducing ourselves to you guys, the Sixthsphere new recruits!
-> Sixthsphere's Ultimate Intro Thread <-
Some rules now!
You are in the Welcome Center, and therefore, as previously mentioned, your posts have to be approved. Please do not post over and over asking where your posts are. Our staff will get to your post and approve it as soon as they can, but be understanding that there could be a delay.
You cannot post in the for sale section to buy or sell items. You must be let out of the Welcome Center before you can post in the For Sale section. Our minimum requirements are 5 posts and 7 days of being here. This is for SPAM avoidance
Are you new to forums in general? Then please read further!
I'm seeing more and more people complaining about the "SixthSphere mentality" where "everyone hates everything." I've been thinking about it, and I think I've found the root of the problem. There are many written rules, but there are also a number of unwritten rules of etiquette that need to be addressed. When these rules aren't followed, flaming occurs and people get their feelings hurt. There is no secret council of old members who try to follow you around and make you feel bad about yourself, there are simply a lot of people on this website who get very tired of running into the same problems over and over again.
Following these eight simple rules will ensure that you get the most out of your car and your forum experience.
Use Proper Punctuation and Grammar
SixthSphere is an English-language forum. This isn't difficult to figure out, either. The fact is, people are less inclined to help you if you seem like a fool. Typing things out correctly is very easy, even on a tiny little cellphone keyboard. Most internet browsers have a "spell check" feature. Please use it. If you expect help from people, please do them the courtesy of making your posts clear and concise. This is very, very hard to understand:
"Hey guys.just havinga problems with.my.car"
The period key "." is not your space bar. We've all seen posts that look like this, stop doing that.
Be Wise With the Search Function
It really is better to start a new thread about an issue or question you have than to bump a thread from 2004. If anyone tells you to "SEARCH N00B!!!!!1!" it's because your question has been asked recently, your specific answer is actually shown in an older post, or because the person telling you to search has an itch they can't scratch in public, making them cranky.
...(what, that doesn't happen to you guys?)
Ask Technical Questions in the Appropriate Forums
The "Noob" forum is a bad place to ask technical questions, due to the fact that it's full of noobs. People who know as little about the car as you do. I've heard the following:
"HID Kits are okay as long as you paint your headlights black."
"Saturn's can't be grounded anywhere due to them being made of plastic."
"An aftermarket twin fan radiator is better than your stock engine fan for N/A builds."
"On Saturn's you can cut the springs right down with relatively no consequence, since the car is so light."
All of these statements are complete and obvious crap. The technical forums, found HERE are much better suited to helping you with any problems you may have with your car.
Don't Pretend to Know More Than You Do
The people who made the above statements thought they were entirely correct. Please note that people listed as "Level 5 Member," "Level 4 Member," and "Level 3 Member" are classified only by post counts, not actual knowledge. If you're like some members here, myself included, you probably got to that number by calling people idiots on a regular basis. Please try to figure out who you're taking your advice from. Credibility isn't hard to reason out. If the person telling you which oil to run has a bunch of threads on blowing their motors, you probably shouldn't take their advice. Similarly, if someone who knows more than you corrects you, don't do something like this:
"I don't care, I know my Saturn can take large amounts of boost with no modifications to the engine! I'm going to run my car the way I want my car to run."
Because that's not a good way to make friends. Similarly, respect your elders and your moderators.
We Get It
You love your car. You think the last generation of Saturn Vue's are ugly. You want to know how to drive like Ken Block. You wonder if we've seen the video of the 4x4 Saturn in the mud / the Saturn commercials of "Likes Jelly Donuts" / the screenshot of the movie where a Saturn totally gets knocked the hell off the screen and destroyed. We get it. These are things that have been beaten to death and really aren't worth making threads about. Please do your part to keep the forum clean and easy to navigate.
We're All Friends Here, But...
Even friends disagree. If someone says they don't like the way you modified your car, or if someone informs you you're doing something incorrectly or illegally, do not respond like the person mentioned in point number four. There is no rule that says we all have to like each others' cars. We're here as a community to shoot the **** and talk about cars. Please do not PM people death threats if you don't like their opinion. Similarly, please do not spend five pages of a thread talking about how you want to do socially unacceptable things to their exhaust.
Take the Advice People Give You
I see far too many threads that go like this:
OP: "Hey guys, my car isn't working, I'm throwing the following codes and recently did the following modifications, what should I do to fix it?"
Helper: "Do x, y, and z."
OP: "Okay, I did a, b, and c, and it still isn't working, should I maybe try doing d and e?"
Helper: "Do x, y, and z. Seriously."
OP: "Okay, well, that didn't work, but, I tried doing r, l, and q..."
Helper: "Did you do x, y, and z?"
OP: "no, but I just tried m, pi, and tractor."
For the love of God, if you ask for help, please take it. Oh, and be sure to give us all the information. About half the time, that thread will end like this:
OP: "Oh, I forgot to mention I just changed my timing belt in sub-zero temperatures with a hammer" - Which is, of course, causing the problem.
Don't give product opinions..give product reviews
Don't say what you've heard/saw on TEH INTERWEBZ, only those that have had experience with said product should give their full review/opinions. I've seen way too many people say, "That product is crap!! Look at this and that (making retarded observations), and look at what happened to my brother's, friend's, uncle's, bro!!!!"
Yes not all products are great, some are crap, while some are actually a "decent" value for the money. We are not helping anyone when there are 4 honest non biased reviews and 50 other posts spewing uneducated dribble bashing something they have absolutely NO experience with, other than what other Sixthsphere members said. Stop forming mythical opinions...we've all done it, but lets try to start cracking down on it.
Still with me?
That about wraps it up! Thank you for reading through this guide, and go out there and introduce yourself to our community, and let me be the first to welcome you to Sixthsphere.com!
Please keep in mind this guide is subject to change at any time, due to updates, changes in rules, etc
We are Sixthsphere. A tight-knit Saturn enthusiast community. We all own, or have owned a Saturn and enjoyed the community to the point where even people who don't own a Saturn anymore still stick around. A good portion of us have met multiple times out in the real world, but even those whom haven't met anyone are still very close to the group. A lot of us have knowledge in different aspects to your Saturn, and most likely have answers to your questions that you have.
As we are a tight-knit community, we have imposed certain restrictions for new members. Think of this as a "getting to trust you" kind of situation, when you are just getting to know a certain group of friends. These restrictions include the following:
- Your posts MUST be approved by a Welcome Center lifeguard, moderator or administrator -
- You will not be able to view any media such as uploaded pictures and videos -
So let's get started! You're new, and in the Welcome Center. What should you do first? You should create an intro thread. Here is how! Create a new thread in the Welcome Center, and introduce yourself properly. Include a bit of a back story, some information about you and your car, and definitely some pictures. Make sure you let us get the whole idea of who you are! Need some ideas on an intro? Check out our Ultimate Intro Thread, which involves our older members introducing ourselves to you guys, the Sixthsphere new recruits!
-> Sixthsphere's Ultimate Intro Thread <-
Some rules now!
You are in the Welcome Center, and therefore, as previously mentioned, your posts have to be approved. Please do not post over and over asking where your posts are. Our staff will get to your post and approve it as soon as they can, but be understanding that there could be a delay.
You cannot post in the for sale section to buy or sell items. You must be let out of the Welcome Center before you can post in the For Sale section. Our minimum requirements are 5 posts and 7 days of being here. This is for SPAM avoidance
Are you new to forums in general? Then please read further!
I'm seeing more and more people complaining about the "SixthSphere mentality" where "everyone hates everything." I've been thinking about it, and I think I've found the root of the problem. There are many written rules, but there are also a number of unwritten rules of etiquette that need to be addressed. When these rules aren't followed, flaming occurs and people get their feelings hurt. There is no secret council of old members who try to follow you around and make you feel bad about yourself, there are simply a lot of people on this website who get very tired of running into the same problems over and over again.
Following these eight simple rules will ensure that you get the most out of your car and your forum experience.
Use Proper Punctuation and Grammar
SixthSphere is an English-language forum. This isn't difficult to figure out, either. The fact is, people are less inclined to help you if you seem like a fool. Typing things out correctly is very easy, even on a tiny little cellphone keyboard. Most internet browsers have a "spell check" feature. Please use it. If you expect help from people, please do them the courtesy of making your posts clear and concise. This is very, very hard to understand:
"Hey guys.just havinga problems with.my.car"
The period key "." is not your space bar. We've all seen posts that look like this, stop doing that.
Be Wise With the Search Function
It really is better to start a new thread about an issue or question you have than to bump a thread from 2004. If anyone tells you to "SEARCH N00B!!!!!1!" it's because your question has been asked recently, your specific answer is actually shown in an older post, or because the person telling you to search has an itch they can't scratch in public, making them cranky.
...(what, that doesn't happen to you guys?)
Ask Technical Questions in the Appropriate Forums
The "Noob" forum is a bad place to ask technical questions, due to the fact that it's full of noobs. People who know as little about the car as you do. I've heard the following:
"HID Kits are okay as long as you paint your headlights black."
"Saturn's can't be grounded anywhere due to them being made of plastic."
"An aftermarket twin fan radiator is better than your stock engine fan for N/A builds."
"On Saturn's you can cut the springs right down with relatively no consequence, since the car is so light."
All of these statements are complete and obvious crap. The technical forums, found HERE are much better suited to helping you with any problems you may have with your car.
Don't Pretend to Know More Than You Do
The people who made the above statements thought they were entirely correct. Please note that people listed as "Level 5 Member," "Level 4 Member," and "Level 3 Member" are classified only by post counts, not actual knowledge. If you're like some members here, myself included, you probably got to that number by calling people idiots on a regular basis. Please try to figure out who you're taking your advice from. Credibility isn't hard to reason out. If the person telling you which oil to run has a bunch of threads on blowing their motors, you probably shouldn't take their advice. Similarly, if someone who knows more than you corrects you, don't do something like this:
"I don't care, I know my Saturn can take large amounts of boost with no modifications to the engine! I'm going to run my car the way I want my car to run."
Because that's not a good way to make friends. Similarly, respect your elders and your moderators.
We Get It
You love your car. You think the last generation of Saturn Vue's are ugly. You want to know how to drive like Ken Block. You wonder if we've seen the video of the 4x4 Saturn in the mud / the Saturn commercials of "Likes Jelly Donuts" / the screenshot of the movie where a Saturn totally gets knocked the hell off the screen and destroyed. We get it. These are things that have been beaten to death and really aren't worth making threads about. Please do your part to keep the forum clean and easy to navigate.
We're All Friends Here, But...
Even friends disagree. If someone says they don't like the way you modified your car, or if someone informs you you're doing something incorrectly or illegally, do not respond like the person mentioned in point number four. There is no rule that says we all have to like each others' cars. We're here as a community to shoot the **** and talk about cars. Please do not PM people death threats if you don't like their opinion. Similarly, please do not spend five pages of a thread talking about how you want to do socially unacceptable things to their exhaust.
Take the Advice People Give You
I see far too many threads that go like this:
OP: "Hey guys, my car isn't working, I'm throwing the following codes and recently did the following modifications, what should I do to fix it?"
Helper: "Do x, y, and z."
OP: "Okay, I did a, b, and c, and it still isn't working, should I maybe try doing d and e?"
Helper: "Do x, y, and z. Seriously."
OP: "Okay, well, that didn't work, but, I tried doing r, l, and q..."
Helper: "Did you do x, y, and z?"
OP: "no, but I just tried m, pi, and tractor."
For the love of God, if you ask for help, please take it. Oh, and be sure to give us all the information. About half the time, that thread will end like this:
OP: "Oh, I forgot to mention I just changed my timing belt in sub-zero temperatures with a hammer" - Which is, of course, causing the problem.
Don't give product opinions..give product reviews
Don't say what you've heard/saw on TEH INTERWEBZ, only those that have had experience with said product should give their full review/opinions. I've seen way too many people say, "That product is crap!! Look at this and that (making retarded observations), and look at what happened to my brother's, friend's, uncle's, bro!!!!"
Yes not all products are great, some are crap, while some are actually a "decent" value for the money. We are not helping anyone when there are 4 honest non biased reviews and 50 other posts spewing uneducated dribble bashing something they have absolutely NO experience with, other than what other Sixthsphere members said. Stop forming mythical opinions...we've all done it, but lets try to start cracking down on it.
Still with me?
That about wraps it up! Thank you for reading through this guide, and go out there and introduce yourself to our community, and let me be the first to welcome you to Sixthsphere.com!
Please keep in mind this guide is subject to change at any time, due to updates, changes in rules, etc