trainz community in general

[patchy]

hi,
i'm quite happy how forums work
but what p@#^es me off is fellow trainzers come in and offer no advice to to trainzers who are asking for problem fixers or advice
you got look a the big picture there's only 3 to 4 thousand active members worldwide

i've had a few issues myself and you get the smart a$^es offering no advice at all. i'm pretty sure some of them want have there say and move on.
remember everyone was a novice when they first started.
i've only done this to get a some feedback of what general trainz community feels


cheers,
patchy

 

[Euphod]

Problem is, everyone falls victim to the urge to post a snide comment and then move on once in awhile, but usually there is the poster right behind him to post the answer and make the snide poster feel remiss.

 

[Johnk]

Hi Patchy, The problem with forums is that many people are scared of them. Even if they're not, they often join up to solve a problem of their own, then vanish forever. A forum with 4,000 active members is pretty good really, but the Trainz forums have lost their impact a bit because lots of people join Trainz community group forums where they can discuss specifics about a particular piece of payware for example.

If Auran was interested, some revamping of these forums wouldn't go astray. They could offer prizes for best hint or best tip, best tutorial, best solution to a problem etc. The prize only needs to be the next release of Trainz so it wouldn't cost them anything. Maybe a star system would even work. I like Yahoo Answers system where people get to vote on the best answer and the recipricant is awarded 10 points. I've collected 8,500 points already, so that means about 800 of my answers have been voted the best. That's a bit of a buzz.

Also consider that some people don't like writing. I do, so that does make a difference. I also guess it depends on what the problem is and how hard it is to answer. A simple five word question may require a book to answer. Take for example the most asked question on Yahoo Answers - "How do I make a web site?" Try to answer that in 100 words or less!

 

[sparky15]

I don't know. Sometimes if you're posting with a problem you're probably frustrated or upset. An off the wall funny response sometimes lightens things up a bit. Hard to cure a problem when you're mad. Have a laugh and calm down some makes it easier to tackle. At least for me anyway.

Dave..

 

[American_Connections]

Thats a good one!

If Auran was interested, some revamping of these forums wouldn't go astray. They could offer prizes for best hint or best tip, best tutorial, best solution to a problem etc.!

Auran paying out money! Think again! They could give FCTs, but then they don't seem to work anyway.

 

[ZapperJet]

Try to answer that in 100 words or less!

One of my favorites is "why r there school?".

One of the biggest turn offs for answering questions is simply because the question doesn't make any logical sense or is so grammatically defunct that no one wants to deal with the person. I'm afraid too many threads begin with "HELP!!!!!", which is too vague for anyone to understand and take the time to click. Secondly, most of them are filled with "OK I haz trouble with this one thing in Trainz could anyone please help here are a few extra words to make a runon sentence!!!!".

Just a thought.

Cheerio,
John

 

[Sourdough]

Auran paying out money! Think again! .....

Didn't say anything about paying out money.....you need to read again...:wave:

but what p@#^es me off is fellow trainzers come in and offer no advice to to trainzers who are asking for problem fixers or advice
you got look a the big picture there's only 3 to 4 thousand active members worldwide

The active meter has never gone to 4k....came close a while ago, but then dropped to the low to mid 3k....and the active member meter is just a count of those who have logged onto the forum in the past 30 days....most of those don't post anything, so actually the number who actively post in in the low hundreds I would guess...
Not every trainzer knows the answer or has any advice....and there are a good number who give answers who probably shouldn't....and as pointed out already, many questions lack enough info and not many want to write out all the possible causes and solutions based on "06 doesn't start, what's wrong?".....

 

[boleyd]

Help

One of my favorites is "why r there school?".

One of the biggest turn offs for answering questions is simply because the question doesn't make any logical sense or is so grammatically defunct that no one wants to deal with the person. I'm afraid too many threads begin with "HELP!!!!!", which is too vague for anyone to understand and take the time to click. Secondly, most of them are filled with "OK I haz trouble with this one thing in Trainz could anyone please help here are a few extra words to make a runon sentence!!!!".

Just a thought.

Cheerio,
John

I agree on the subject line . I see some of them and I would like to grab the person by the neck and ask if they really expected a response. Some odd types in the world. Glad I am normal!:udrool:

 

[amigacooke]

I don't think members have the right to demand assistance, just the opportunity to do so.

 

[davesnow]

I don't know what the big beef is. If I remember correctly, I have ALWAYS gotten an answer to any question or problem I've asked about here. Sometimes I don't LIKE the answers, or perhaps there's no solution to my issue, but, all in all, my experience says the forums here are very helpful.

Yeah, yeah----- there's always a smart-ass in every crowd. And every forum. But you just have to overlook those people... who just like the sound of their own voice, or in this case, their own posts. But that's the internet for you.

 

[NIARTcar]

Hi Patchy, The problem with forums is that many people are scared of them. Even if they're not, they often join up to solve a problem of their own, then vanish forever.

I think John has the right idea, im sure everyone will tend to notice that there is a select group of members that are here at least once a day on average, while there are even more members that sign up, post one problem then disappear off the face of the earth. To be honest, alot of the problem is that this forum tends to un-nerve newer, or less experienced members. I remember when I first joined the forum. I didnt even touch it for the first few months. It seemed like everything that was being disscused was over my head. Of course it didnt help that my first few posts ever recieved quite a few unnecesary remarks from people I have yet to see on the forum again. I think we as a community should move to make this site as user-friendly as possible. just my oppinion

Good day,

Nick