Miss Manners Returns (Part II)

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Forgive me dear readers for the extended passage of time between this and my last post; I have been quite busy! You see, Nascar season has begun and no one is in greater need of advice than fans of the the racing car variety! Now then, let us take up the subject of posting to the Trainz forums from where we left off, shall we?

Inevitably you will read a thread and see a screenshot in which you spy a perfect piece of content. This is exciting, but remember that the owner of the thread started it with a different subject in mind. It's not proper nor admired to reply with "Hey, where did you get that fence in that screenshot?" Many do respond in such a fashion, but it's always more courteous, and more topic oriented to comment on the subject matter first, like so: "That's a beautiful route you're making, I really wish I could do as well. You seem to have a fine eye for content, such as the fence in your second screenshot. Could I be so bold as to ask where you found such a gem, and if it's not too much to ask, what is the kuid? I would really like to use such fine content in my own route, as your screenshots have inspired me to become a better route builder!" See how nice that response is? Any poster would be more than happy to provide you with the answer after receiving such fine praise! Of course, don't forget to post your grateful thanks when they do! (Editor's Note: Yeah, that's going to happen! )

Of course, many content creators and route builders are quite pleased when an inquiry concerning their work begins with a simple "I'm curious..." Those two magic words go a long way to opening the hearts of the notoriously stingy and miserly, and are almost guaranteed to provide you access to all sorts of content including, but not limited to custom DEMs, unreleased meshes, and route works in progress. It is a little known secret that many route builders, after toiling for five or more years on their masterpiece are just desperate for someone to come along and finish off their route for them! (Editor's Note: Kill me....kill me now! )

The last advice I will dispense today dear readers is to avoid the practice of quoting screenshots when replying to a thread. This is wholly unnecessary, and can be quite troublesome, especially to those with slower internet speeds. Let's assume I post in the forums like so:

Dear Readers, here is a picture of my rose garden behind my cottage, of which I am quite proud:

96f9705ef7a6c2e97f718029d347a64f.jpg


I do hope you like it, Sincerely, Miss Manners

Well the last thing we want to see in the forums is this:

Dear Readers, here is a picture of my rose garden behind my cottage, of which I am quite proud:

96f9705ef7a6c2e97f718029d347a64f.jpg


I do hope you like it, Sincerely, Miss Manners

"Hey babe, whered ya get the howse?"


Dear Readers, here is a picture of my rose garden behind my cottage, of which I am quite proud:

96f9705ef7a6c2e97f718029d347a64f.jpg


I do hope you like it, Sincerely, Miss Manners

"Nice! Good screenshot! I likes it!"

Dear Readers, here is a picture of my rose garden behind my cottage, of which I am quite proud:

96f9705ef7a6c2e97f718029d347a64f.jpg


I do hope you like it, Sincerely, Miss Manners

"Anybody know what fence that is?"

And so on. Do take the time to remove the screenshot(s) from your reply. If you just leave a bit of the text from the original post, surely the members will be able to discern the screenshot to which you are referring! If the original picture is posted without text, you can simply remove the picture, type in (picture removed), or a short description of the picture. A more imaginative poster could even post a link to the picture rather than the picture itself.

Gentle Readers it has come time for me to take my leave of you once again, please do join me next time when we discuss the proper use of screenshots and signature banners.

Sincerely, Miss Manners


(Editor's Note: Jeez, I'm glad that's over! I picked a bad day to quit drinking!)

Oh yeah:

Dear Readers, here is a picture of my rose garden behind my cottage, of which I am quite proud:

96f9705ef7a6c2e97f718029d347a64f.jpg


I do hope you like it, Sincerely, Miss Manners

"I'm coming by tonight with my hedge clippers!"
 
Of course, many content creators and route builders are quite pleased when an inquiry concerning their work begins with a simple "I'm curious..."


Yes!
:) I can relate to that.

p.s. You can't possibly have a rose garden that good and do Trainz stuff and watch car races. Unless you are super rich and have your own gardener.:hehe:

I do Trainz stuff, watch F1, MotoGP, Tour de France and football starts this weekend. I'm also the cook, buy the groceries, cleaner and dog minder. My garden is overgrown, weedy and my tools are rusting in the shed.

Paul
 
Ed
I was wondering when Part II was going to show up and now that it's here, the wait was worth it. Some great advice. If only more would follow the advice. I've also noticed the trend by some to ask where someone got a piece of content in a great screenshot and it always seems to get the thread off topic. Not really what the OP wanted to happen. It's happened quite a bit in some of my threads and it's really quite annoying when a creator is trying to get advice on a piece of content and the thread goes off on a tangent never to return. A PM to the OP would probably be my preferred solution in posing the question.

Again, entertaining and enlightening, but I would expect no less from our guru.

Thanks

Mike
 
leeferr;bt431 said:
I would expect no less from our guru.

Me too, I just wish he would post something!:hehe: Thanks Mike, your input is always valuable and appreciated.
 
Yeah, I keep waiting. Kind of like Forrest Gump when everyone was running with him waiting for those great words of wisdom. The anticipation is there, but it's often anti-climatic.

Mike
 
Dear Readers, here is a picture of my rose garden behind my cottage, of which I am quite proud:

96f9705ef7a6c2e97f718029d347a64f.jpg


I do hope you like it, Sincerely, Miss Manners

:evilgrin:

The only time I for see it welcome to quote a screenshot is when you are asking a question that pertains to a single screenshot in a post of a couple. In which however you still need to edit the quote down to just show the screenshot; and at that point you might as well just make it a link instead of an image posting.
However I think most people who quote screenshots don't pay any attention to the quote message in their reply & just hit the "quote" button and start typing.

Now on to the content asking part. Something I tend to do after posting screenshots is to avoid posting reply's to peoples questions for a day or two as usually I get a few "where did ya get that?" questions. Then use the multi-quote to quote them all and answer them in one post. I think the most sincere 'gimmie' posts are worded something like: "Nice screenshots! Where did you get the ______?" If someone were to post something like what you "suggested" I think I'd be a little put off & would wonder if there was some alterier motive. Alternatively the "Can you send me your _____?" posts do seem fairly rude & I tend to dislike answering them in a helpful manner (it usually ends up being answered with a "No."

peter

PS: I just discovered these tools & wanted to try them out, they have nothing to do with the blog or my comments.
WoahThis
is atable!

f=2x[SUP]4[/SUP]
 
Thanks for making the point with good humour Ed. I hate multiple image posting and have been moved to point out the error of the ways of members on more than one occasion. A gentle prompt seem to nip things in the bud.

Totally off topic, but out of interest, why am I one of very few members who can post in these blogs without hiding behind my avatar? Some are completely hidden; others are sneaking a peek round the back end of their piece of rolling stock. Few seem to be fully facing up to the mob.

I’ve never assumed that I was one of the chosen ones. I guess I’ve simply been being singled out and exposed for some other reason!

Casper

p.s. <image removed> Where did you get that fence?
 
mezzoprezzo;bt435 said:
Totally off topic, but out of interest, why am I one of very few members who can post in these blogs without hiding behind my avatar? Some are completely hidden; others are sneaking a peek round the back end of their piece of rolling stock. Few seem to be fully facing up to the mob.

I think it has to do with the size of the avatar. Yours is relatively short and so your nick can appear next to it, whereas mine is pretty long and covers my nick.

peter
 
mezzoprezzo;bt435 said:
Totally off topic, but out of interest, why am I one of very few members who can post in these blogs without hiding behind my avatar?

p.s. <image removed> Where did you get that fence?

Thanks Casper. I can't help you with the avatar question, I think Peter may be right. It's a shame you have to suffer with large avatar envy, but we can't all sport large avatars, can we?:p

I got the fence at Home Depot!
 
PerRock;bt436 said:
I think it has to do with the size of the avatar. Yours is relatively short and so your nick can appear next to it, whereas mine is pretty long and covers my nick.

peter

Speaking of avatars, why do you use the one you have chosen, when I thought you were all about Amtrak?
 
It's currently my favorite steamer, the BR 9F Evening Star. If I'm not sporting it however I'm usually sporting a CTA car.

peter
 
I once had a comment on one of my pieces of content that was so polite in pointing out my error, that other people posted about how unusual it was.

Chris.
 
Hi Ed, I just hope that more Forum readers will click on this blog, I enjoy reading it
along with your wit and humor. Miss Manners is right on traget... politeness is the key
to getting your answer (and using spellcheck).:hehe: Keep up the good work.
Thanks Ed, -Robert-
 
jordon412;bt454 said:
I just can't help but chucke and grin when I look at the picture at the top and the caption with it.

Thank you for your comment, at least I now know it wasn't a waste of my time.:)
 
chrisaw;bt457 said:
I once had a comment on one of my pieces of content that was so polite in pointing out my error, that other people posted about how unusual it was.

Chris.

That's a sad state of affairs, isn't it? Thanks for reading, and for leaving a comment!
 
steamrodder;bt469 said:
Hi Ed, I just hope that more Forum readers will click on this blog, I enjoy reading it
along with your wit and humor. Miss Manners is right on traget... politeness is the key
to getting your answer (and using spellcheck).:hehe: Keep up the good work.
Thanks Ed, -Robert-

Thanks Robert, for reading and posting a comment. Remember, it's all rather "tongue in cheek" commentary, politeness will still only get you so far...
 
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