Dear Free to Play
- Thread starter Shft
- Start date
I can help contribute to it
I already have the f2pwowhelp.com domain name paid for, a test server up and running where I can build an offline version of the site for testing, the OS, web server, database, php, and wiki software installed, skinned and patched to handle things like Wowhead tooltips, and a rather complex test page of all the items you might use on an F2P priest, that could be a template for all the other classes/uniquely geared specs.
I haven't done any work on it in about a week precisely because of the issue this thread brings to light, namely:
What is the point in providing people with information, when they are not going to make the effort to look at it (even when it's existence is pointed out to them) and instead they just ask a question in forums or the F2P chat, that has: A. been seen at least a dozen times before; B. could have been answered in under a minute by using Google or the forum search; C. most likely has been answered somewhere, by someone who is sick of seeing the same questions repeatedly.
If people aren't going to make the effort to do this community's equivalent of RTFM (Use The Fucking Search, Read The Fucking Stickies or Learn to Fucking Wowhead, like every twinker should learn to do, before they start making one), then why should anyone else make any effort to help them. Chances are they aren't going to be contributing much to the community, because they are at the level of a 3 year old (who does actually have a valid excuse for asking questions, because they can't read. Someone who earned their high school diploma, should be able to find certain things out for themselves).
I have one simple rule with providing support for the addon: If you obviously haven't read the instructions that I took the time too write (in addition to the considerable time I took writing the addon), that can be found on the same page you downloaded it from, then I am not going to make any effort to reply to you.
I do not want to carry people who are too lazy to look for answers, because from experience, I know that they rarely change, and instead will continue to use you.
What I am willing to do is to help those people, who are willing to make an effort to help themselves.
If there have to be 'entry requirements' to keep the first group out and encourage a community formed mostly of the 2nd, then so be it. That has worked wonders in the the other MMORPG I play, EVE:Online, and EVE University is one of the largest and most respected corporations in the game as a result.
Last edited by a moderator:
OP
OP
Exactly. Just because people are new and have questions doesn't mean they are free from criticism while they act like idiots
A forum can be a library of knowledge, in which you wade through it.
There's a reason why most if not all forums have a search feature cause unless your question is something profound and new, it's been answered most likely multiple times. It clutters the forum and takes up sever space really, hence why many forum mods will say such things as "Please search before posting". It keeps things clean and helps people who have answered that same question over and over again from exploding ;D /nudge, right Shft? ;D
However, I think the bigger issue here is, we have off-topic things in with twink things, since we don't have a separate forum, everything goes in one section. I love off-topic stuff but usually there is a separate section for this kinda stuff, so I think this might be a big part of our problem. We're trying to fit a whole forum community in another forum communities little section :O Box inside a box inside box inside box, kinda thingy.
Also, humanity is just lazy, it's easier to ask
There's a reason why most if not all forums have a search feature cause unless your question is something profound and new, it's been answered most likely multiple times. It clutters the forum and takes up sever space really, hence why many forum mods will say such things as "Please search before posting". It keeps things clean and helps people who have answered that same question over and over again from exploding ;D /nudge, right Shft? ;D
However, I think the bigger issue here is, we have off-topic things in with twink things, since we don't have a separate forum, everything goes in one section. I love off-topic stuff but usually there is a separate section for this kinda stuff, so I think this might be a big part of our problem. We're trying to fit a whole forum community in another forum communities little section :O Box inside a box inside box inside box, kinda thingy.
Also, humanity is just lazy, it's easier to ask
The F2P community is something new to Twink Info but it definitely is not being ignored nor is considered any less important than any other. Your community is growing at a very rapid rate, and if there is any ideas or changes you may have I highly encourage you to voice them Here.
yeah that wowf2p wiki was a joke or at least creating a different website for. I want getting all information related to f2p twinking streamlined so to make it as easy as possible.
Where f2p stands and what to expect (what the community is like)
Faction
classes (pros/cons) everything u need to know
races (pros/cons)
gear--->where to get gear (including how to get it and for what class/spec/pvp role)
what server to go to and why
All of this should be under one roof and not spread across threads which isnt bad but can be better.
hmm this should keep me busy for a while and when its done i will spam this baby's link in bg chat.. .
Where f2p stands and what to expect (what the community is like)
Faction
classes (pros/cons) everything u need to know
races (pros/cons)
gear--->where to get gear (including how to get it and for what class/spec/pvp role)
what server to go to and why
All of this should be under one roof and not spread across threads which isnt bad but can be better.
hmm this should keep me busy for a while and when its done i will spam this baby's link in bg chat.. .
I think Yasueh's wiki might be good for that. Several people have attempted or are attempting to write a complete guide, and on a wiki of interlinked articles all that effort could be combined. I don't think that this would take away from or invalidate the forum here. I imagine it'd be a nice place to learn about aspects of F2P or classes one is unfamiliar with.
While I agree with that in theory, in practice it's much different.
I may have a question about Topic A and then search for it. I see 12 matches and spend 30 minutes looking through them all. None of them answer my question. Then I rephrase the search and find a thread that kind of answers it. Maybe I've already invested an hour in this!
So I read it and then post a reply asking for clarification. What happens? The same people who are so quick to say "USE THE FORUM SEARCH" will now jump down my throat and instead say "QUIT NECRO'ING THREADS"
It's so much easier to ask a question and get it answered by someone who is clearly not too irritated to answer "can I get a chardev for my class" for the 8th time. If you are one of the irritated people, no one is making you read the post!
Some people seem to prefer to spend more time complaining that people ask an earlier-answered question than it would take to simply answer the question (or post a link to it). And those complaints take up more server space that the actual questions, imo.
I think it's a control issue and a tension that you see on every single internet forum, so I'm not blaming anyone for doing anything that is not basic human nature.
However, a wiki resource could help a lot. Ideally, new people would go read that and get a lot of their noob questions answered before they even realized they had them. An added benefit is that we wouldn't alienate newcomers to the site.
Search function isn't perfect but it's pretty damn good. You got forum tags, search titles only, you can even search just the F2P section, it's kinda that easy
It's not perfect but it works pretty well considering you're narrowing it down to one section of the forum.My search for bis druid gear, f2p. Not even two pages :O
http://twinkinfo.com/search.php?searchid=197223
Whether or not it takes you along time to find your answer, imo is determined by the quality of the posts ie the quality of the community. Also the way you use the search function, me thinks.
I, personally, like the idea for the questions thread, a nice casual thread for people who love to answer questions and for people who love to ask questions
That way people who don't like to answer questions can avoid it and those who don't mind answering questions can answer the same ones over and over again muhahaha >D
OP
OP
You suggest that you favor the waste forum space by making people answer the same questions over and over than have any single person put in just a little bit of effort to use the search bar. So the person looking for information is too lazy to make an effort and find the information themselves like other people have done in the past, and too lazy to find the information using the search bar that someone else, Solvogero for example, kindly collected for the forum.
-
As for people yelling about threads getting necroed, I would disagree.
-If you post in a thread from let's say November and ask a question about a detail of the thread as well as posting that you searched and could not find any other threads clarifying I'm sure people would be happy to answer the question.
-That is not the same as posting in some thread from a month ago about which race of priest to play that is already decided etc, and saying that you think night elf is better than human or gnome.
-
As for complaining: I urge people to take up the opinion that complaining is not the same as whining. Complaining about things, like I have done in this thread, is a way to bring attention to issues and get them addressed. I feel like complaining has an overly negative connotation.
I'm going to draw a rough parallel here - If you found a bug in-game would you rather people complained about it in the past and got it fixed or would you rather they had simply shut up and dealt with it. To me, someone making a thread whining about how much they hate 24s on the wow forums would not be the same as someone making a complaining thread and suggesting that Starter Edition accounts be relegated to their own bracket upon reaching level 20.
Last edited by a moderator:
OP
OP
That's because you answer with retard answers
paraphrasing:
"reroll male blood elf. oh wait"
Much love
PS. Marry me instead of Yde
Is this problem really big enough to warrant a meta solution?
There are two options, as I see it:
1) answer the occasionally repetitive question (or ignore them, if you'd prefer). This problem is only as big as the frequency of repetitive questions.
2) set up a general "Simple Questions" thread. This sounds convenient, but it creates an additional layer of administration. After all, who decides when a question is suitable for that thread or if it deserves its own thread? I make think the latter and start a new post for my question, only to get a bunch of in-thread criticism about how I'm breaking the forum rules or whatever.
Or maybe I post it in the "General Questions" thread, but then it actually turns out to spawn a lengthy discussion, WITHIN THAT THREAD, that starts drowning out other people's simple questions.
I think a catch-all questions thread just replaces one potential headache for another.
Just IMO.
Serious questions warrant serious answers, silly questions warrant silly answers.
I don't think there's really anything more to be discovered by people that have played since the ten day limit was removed. What we're left with is new people that are having difficulty finding the old information, since much of it has been hidden in the 20-24 section, or simply on no longer seen pages of the F2P section. Of course there's also the vets too.
Since none of the events attempted here ever eventuated, you're left with noobs, and the social aspect. I check in every now and then, but I don't really see much point anymore for myself. When F2P first started, there was a lot that was unknown, and this was a good way to exchange information. Now that information is common knowledge for most, it's become something else.
Since none of the events attempted here ever eventuated, you're left with noobs, and the social aspect. I check in every now and then, but I don't really see much point anymore for myself. When F2P first started, there was a lot that was unknown, and this was a good way to exchange information. Now that information is common knowledge for most, it's become something else.
some of you guys must be new to the internet, because the internet is made up of stupid people asking stupid questions, porn, games, and scams. this is never going to change, nor is it a problem that it is set up this way.
the real reason why there seems to be so many dumb questions on this forum now is because all of the trolling has disappeared. there are no interesting threads left. and so that leaves just noobs asking stupid questions. if you don't want this forum to be so boring, bring back the trolling.
the real reason why there seems to be so many dumb questions on this forum now is because all of the trolling has disappeared. there are no interesting threads left. and so that leaves just noobs asking stupid questions. if you don't want this forum to be so boring, bring back the trolling.