[quote] These threads usually have a lot of joking around in them (oftentimes even the OP is a joke), but all joking aside, I think that every once in awhile it's a good idea to remind folks of some of the facts behind all the fiction, if for no other reason than to inform some of the newbies about the way things work. So look, this is a website for gamers. Obviously, most folks here have a gamer mentality, which means that no matter what we say, some users here inevitably are going to see these forums as a game and "Ninja" as a rank to be obtained in that game. Even the way you've phrased your OP -- "how would you gain experience to become a Ninja?" -- sounds like something that is more applicable to an RPG than to a online forum. We've said before that this is not the case, yet these myths persist. Sometimes, community members have posted sets of "tasks" or experiences that they think -- in all seriousness and without joking -- are part of some kind of checklist to become a Forum Ninja. You know the kinds of things I'm talking about; so-called guidelines to become a Forum Ninja: (1) "Follow the rules and don't get banned for a certain number of years"; (2) "never ask about becoming a Forum Ninja"; (3) "attend PAX and meet other Forum Ninjas in person"; (4) "build up a certain number of followers"; (5) "play a certain number of games with current Forum Ninjas and/or DeeJ and/or Achronos." As if becoming a Forum Ninja is as formulaic and rigorous as gaining a certain rank in Halo or WoW or Elder Scrolls. And some users have actually taken the time to complete whatever they think the "checklist" is supposed to be, only to become jaded and cynical when they are not asked to become a Forum Ninja. You've probably seen these "jaded/cynical forum veterans" around if you've spent much time on the site. Despite this being a gamer website, I promise that this is the wrong way to look at it. It's okay to want to be a Forum Ninja, but there is no better way to ensure that you will NOT be chosen to become a Forum Ninja than by viewing "Forum Ninja" as the end-goal of a game, some high-level rank or trophy that can be obtained just by following a specific set of guidelines and completing particular tasks. This isn't an RPG video game and that's not how it works. And for people who view it in that way, they might find themselves feeling like they have suffered some kind of injustice/unfairness because they were not asked to be a Forum Ninja. Which of course sounds ridiculous when you see it written down and yet is a persistent problem we have in this community. As you know, Forum Ninjas are just community members who have taken on some additional volunteer duties in enforcing forum rules. And when we need to add more people to that role, we look for community members with the personality traits and habits that we've noticed tend to create good Forum Ninjas: diehard Bungie fans with demonstrated good judgment, intelligence, discretion, and teamwork. It's literally that simple -- there is no formula, no set of tasks to be completed. To be sure, you have to be active in the community in order to be noticed at all, but beyond that there's nothing you can do. Your personality traits and forum habits do all the talking, and if your personality traits and forum habits don't fit the Forum Ninja role, it doesn't mean you've "lost," it doesn't mean you're a bad person, and it doesn't make you a less valuable voice in our community. In fact, I'd go so far as to say that many of the most valuable Bungie community members are not and will never be Forum Ninjas. So you might as well just hang out and enjoy yourself here. Just please don't think that there is some formula you can follow that results in becoming a Forum Ninja. That's gamer-style thinking, which is great in gaming situations, but inapplicable here.[/quote] Courtesy of Foman^