While you have certainly had a memorable first day at the Monastery, I am really not sure exactly how you expected to be rewarded for your participation so far. I have therefore decided to point you to two of our many excellent resources, in the hopes that one of them accurately reflects your intended destination.

The first resource assumes you really do want your "monk status" to move in a positive direction. It also assumes that while you state you are willing to "do anything," hard work and contributing to the PM community are probably not terribly high on your list of priorities. (Feel free to prove me wrong by gung-ho posts filled to the brim with high-quality Perl code and other gems of wisdom.) If on the other hand you think the paycheck just gets you in your employer's door, begin your journey here: Sainthood via Seniority Simulation

If, on the other hand, you plan on continuing your precipituous descent into the abyss, let this be your guide to the lower levels of Hell, and the denizens you may expect to encounter therein.

Do let us know if there is anything else we can do to assist you in your quest, whichever direction your fortunes lie.

"do anything"...?

An attractive young woman, a college freshman, approaches her professor after class on the day before the midterm. She tells the professor how badly she needs to pass his class. She then says, "I'll do anything to pass this course," emphasising the word "anything" in as sultry of a voice as she can. The professor raises an eyebrow with a hint of a smile and asks, "Anything?" The student smiles and replies in an even sultrier voice, "Anything."

The professor then asks, "Even .... study?"

Somehow, that old joke seemed relevant here. :-)

I also want to take part in the honorable process of enlightening the original poster. My best attemt in this quest is to point him to my homenode where I host some Selected Nodes for Newbies that include Guidance for a beginner with a bad reputation and Everyone Hates Me.


holli, /regexed monk/

First, as you've probably just learned, don't post anything complaining about the XP system in general. We all know it has flaws and stuff, but anything that sounds even half-related to a whine is going to get voted down. Consistantly.

Second, when you post follow-ons to 5 year old posts, post something of value to the thread. Your post is going to have nearly no context anymore, meaning that anyone who follows the link in Newest Nodes is going to need to then click on the "In reply to..." or "in thread ..." links to get that context. Further, a lot of people won't even click on your post at all since they don't recognise the thread. Others may click on it, but they'll be a bit confused as to why you posted there. Thus, you need to have something reasonably insightful or some other significantly positive contribution to make in order for someone to give you an upvote.

Third, it's pretty rare that a thread on someone's signature makes it too far, unless that thread is really funny or really perl-oriented and on-topic for that thread. Some people will get inspired to write a new meditation or SoPW based on others' signatures, but then it's on-topic for that thread, because the original post is about that signature. Again, it still needs to be perl-oriented. Instead, send the person a "/msg" in the chatterbox. For example, just type /msg anniyan Pretty scary, (CREATED in HELL by DEVIL for EVILS in WORLD) what does it mean? into the chatterbox input line, and hit talk. Then anniyan can respond privately.

Fourth, and probably most importantly, lurk. Learn the customs of this site prior to participating. Some customs are simple (SoPW's just have to be about perl) and thus it shouldn't take long before you can participate there (just read a couple - especially ones that have hit the Best Nodes page). Some are a bit more complex - a bit of lurking in PerlMonks Discussion may have saved you from losing all those XPs ;-}

Easy: Log in daily. Vote when you can.

Harder: write useful responses to Seekers of Perl Wisdom questions / ask interesting questions.

Hardest: write an interesting meditation.

The harder options can also give you the quickest rise in XP if you do it right :-) In short: be interesting / helpful and respect the other monks and the XP will come.

I will do anything that does not violate my primitive moral code.

Write lots of posts with relevant and interesting information. It's the easiest way.

They say whoring is the oldest profession in the word, so I don't think that would violate your "primitive" morals. Some do it for peanuts, you do it for points. With the meatspace faire le trottoir you have the advantage of earning real calories IMO, and you know, without food you can't survive to see the next sunrise. Good luck.

The best way to improve your status here is to acquire knowledge, then share that knowledge with others, they, along with other monks, will assist by elevating your status.

If your moral code is primitive enough, The Skinless One can always use an extra grunt.

XP is the result of your Perlmonks Maturity, not the other way around. Ignore the XP: focus on bettering your own Perl, and helping others better their Perl. Doing so is it's own reward, but after you do it a while, you may notice your XP has grown. And as it does so, you'll put less and less emphasis on it, which is the correct attitude.

Meditate on these things for a fortnight, Acolyte. May your journey to wisdom begin today!

I am desperate to raise my monk status.

Unfortunately you are not exactly picking one of the good ways of doing that.

The right way is to

• Post interesting SOPW questions that don't fit into any of the categories (not limited to) but fall under:
  • Homework questions
  • RTFM questions
  • Whining, complaining, etc.
• Answer other folks questions with inciteful and correct answers
• Post CUFP code that works and is interesting

In other words contribute to the community and don't just take up space. Desperation is not enough.

Are you working?