Questions.

[Saarai]

i've been doing alot of reading, days worth actually, and i'm noticing some people responding annoyingly towards some peoples questions.
As if they're asking questions is beneath and at times belittling them. Like I said I've done alot of reading, and found some answers, and still looking for others. My point is a person can read and read, and still may not find the answer they're looking for. Either because the answer is in a thread that has a last post in like '05, or the subject may not exactly represent the answer they're looking for.

My question is this, what are these forums for, but to answer questions and help someone new to building a lightsaber. If you don't want to answer the question, or you think it's a stupid question, why say something? Why belittle someone for trying to find an answer? Stupid people don't ask questions, and wouldn't it be better for someone to ask and get the answer, then to not ask, and just try to do it themselves, possibly ruining their saber because they were afraid to ask a question for fear of being publicly belittled and humiliated? If you feel that way then just dont' respond. Responding negagtively and belittling people is counterproductive.

I honestly have questions I am almost afraid to ask because of some of the responses i've been seeing to similar questions. One thread the person practically belittled someone and told them what they were trying to do is obviously above their skill set and they shouldn't even attempt it. I thought these forums are for helping people learn how to do these things.

[duncan29793]

amen... it seems some people here are like the troll under the bridge. If you have nothing constructive to give other than a smart a$$ answer then leave it to others more willing to help out. But that advice won't be taken because this is "thier" forum and it gives them a sense of power I guess.

Yes I am sure they are sick of seeing the same old questions. They have been here long enough to have that happen, but the new people haven't seen the threads, posts or answers. Yes some of them haven't bothered looking long enough, some don't quite get it and need a little more clarification... whatever. Instead of smacking them down, let someone else with more willingness and manners help them out. Why waste your precious time to respond to such a ridiculous question.

[Onli-Won Kanomi]

Saarai you raise some good points and sometimes we old timers can indeed be a bit too quick to 'roast the noobs' and we should strive to do better than that because it is indeed better to ask questions than ruin a saber and we don't want you or anyone to 'fail' at this hobby we all love. We want you to succeed at it and enjoy building sabers and saberplay. That is good for you, good for any friends that you bring into this hobby through your success at it [afterall if you find you can build a saber maybe you will encourage a friend to build one to join you as a dueling partner eh?] and is good for all of us to grow this hobby and good for TCSS sales for that reason too.

So we truly don't want to discourage you.

You should also understand that this is a 'Do it Yourself' kind of forum so we want to encourage people to 'learn by doing'. Sometimes that translates into some folks here feeling they dob't want to 'spoon feed' noobs with information they could easily learn by reading through the tutorials and prevent them from making their own progress through building...its one reason most of us encourage noobs to start off 'small' with a simple build of a simple 'stunt' saber without sound before moving up to more ambitious designs with all the bells and whistles.

Yes there is a LOT of information here and even though most questions may have already been answered long ago sometimes the particular answer to a particular question may be buried amidst the sheer volume of many thousands of threads here.

But if you search, and if that doesnt work look through the thread index, and be sure to read the tutorials thoroughly and still cant find an answer then it is probably not the kind of question that will get you or anyone flamed...the kind of questions where that happens are usually the ones where the answer is readily available in the tutes or elsewhere on the forums and it appears the questioner isnt willing to make the effort to learn for themselves.

But we certainly should watch our demeanor so as not to seem unfriendly...I can assure you that though we are all fallible most people here want to be helpful to new saber fans.

Welcome and very best of luck with your saber building.

[Saarai]

I understand that I really do. I totally and completely understand what you mean and where you're comming from. I guess my feelin is this, and it's the only thing that leaves a very bad taste in my mouth, is when someone takes the time to, not just say "Hey, your question is covered in a tutorial." But, to belittle the person for asking the question. It's not like a face to face conversation, the person litterally makes the decision to hit reply, to type out the nastiness, and hit submit. And in the same breadth acting like it's a waste of their time for doing that. No one tied them down to the chair with a gun to thier head to and said, "Answer or I'll blow your brains out." They decided to be nasty, they made the decision to deride and belittle someone, instead of simply moving on. That to me takes it a step further and tells me they made the decision to be nasty.

Maybe creating a forum for begginners, intermediate and advance users may be the answer. That way those who want to help beginners, and won't be offended by simple questions can help them, and the intermediate/advance users can read and deal with topics more suited to their time and effort.

And I know its a DIY community, but the point of DIYing is to learn how to do it yourself. Look at the DIY network, they teach paitently, and show people how to do things so they do it right and learn in the process.

[acerocket]

Saarai. You are new here and it is only natural that you will have questions. Some of the members have been here for 4 to 5 years now and are the pioneers of this hobby. You are correct in thinking these forums are for asking questions and getting build tips and such. As a general rule, the senior members will answer your questions. But asking basic questions or questions that have been asked countless times before (and answered countless times), you can't honestly expect an answer without getting some grief. I myself, will try and answer your questions if I feel that you have at least done some reading, researching and searching. There is a lot of information here and it is sometimes hard to find - I will admit that. As long as I can help, I try if you have made an effort. I have seen too many instances where a new member is so lazy they will post their basic (and probably answered a half dozen times already) question and preface their post with the ever popular "I searched but I couldn't find the answer". That means either two things. A, they have never searched in the first place. Or B, the searched for red LED in hopes of finding out how many volts and amps a Seoul P4 red Led needs to be driven at 20% overdirve. They ended up with 400 topics and were too lazy to try and read any of them or search more specific. Why should I take the time out of my day to search the answer for them if they are too lazy to even attempt a search in the first place? This forum is a DIY forum and we try and instill that in the newer members. If you want to build a saber, you will have to do some work. If you choose not to do any work, don't expect to be spoonfed.

Put youself in my (or any senior member's) shoes for a little bit. I have been here long enough to see many technologies grow and advance. I have spent countless hours reading, researching and buying products to experiment with in hopes of having just a 'little better than the last one' saber. I have invested alot of time and money in this hobby. I have posted my results (failures and successes), I have posted new technologies to look into and I have built many sabers. I see new members sign up every week. Most do read and research. But some insist on having everything handed to them. It is these members who usually incur the wrath of the senior members. It is not that hard to find them. The questions they ask (and to a lesser extent, the way they are asked) tells us a lot about whether or not you have made the effort to look for the answer. It is not our job as senior members to answer every question that gets asked. We answer when we can, or try and point you in the right direction. But we grow very tired of answering the basic questions over and over again.

If you have a legitimate question, than by all means, please ask it. We don't want people to feel frightened of asking a question. But if you ask 'what is a blade holder' (yes, this has been asked before), then don't be shocked if you get insulted. Likewise, if you ask how many lumens a red Lux III has, don't be suprised if someone tells you to search for it as it has been asked and answered about 100 times by now.

[Saarai]

I'm not saying there aren't stupid questions out there, you can simply choose not to answer those though if it pisses you off that much. And I respect all the work and research you and others have done, but when someone makes a derivitive comment about someone being on disability and having time on their hands (and this was the comment/straw that broke the camels back and spurred this topic) that's over the line. And that's what I'm addressing. I don't care if you simply say, "dude, it's been posted look for it." But when you get personal like that on someone, that is uncalled for. I am disabled, and recieve a disability check, and while yes i may not work, that doesn't mean i'm not dealing with pain, or other things most people wouldn't understand. So to make a derivitive comment about someones free time, is quite frankly bull and unneccessary.

[acerocket]

I do usually ignore those who ask the basic or endlessly asked questions. If I didn't, I would have a lot more than 317 posts. I don't recall any time that I have insulted a member over a question that they have asked. I may have been short and said "google that" or "search is your friend". But I don't think I have insulted anyone. I am curious as to which thread you speak where a member was insulted about being on disability. Can you please post a link to this so that I may see it? It may be something that needs to be addressed by the council members here.

[Onli-Won Kanomi]

I agree that if one doesn't want to answer a question it is better to just not answer than to answer in an insulting matter and that it makes no sense for a respondent to insult the questioner saying they are wasting one's time when the respondent could have saved that time if it was of such concern to them by simply not answering at all.

Certainly we shouldn't be insulting other members over such things as disabilities or other personal matters that are none of our business.

[Darth Biff]

Greetings all,

Saarai: I think you're right in a sense, but I also think you are reacting to a particularly bad experience that really isn't that common here.

I haven't seen or read the response you mentioned, and if it was phrased as you said, then it was completely inappropiate, and I'm sorry you had to read something like that. But please believe me, as one nOOb to another, the vast majority of people here, the "old timers" as it were, are not that hard on us.

It has a lot to do with intention. Asking about something or starting a thread in the wrong place will get some of the veterans snapping at you, but it is 95% benign. From a new guy perspective, I'm still waiting for Jedi Lorleen to come after me about something

New people always, and I mean ALWAYS ask questions that the vets have seen before, and if you are unlucky enough to have the last person to ask it be an @ss-hat, then you'll probably get yelled at. Please don't take it to heart.

Insults and demeaning comments notwithstanding, of course.

Anyway, welcome. I hope your experiences will be more enjoyable from now on.

[Jedi-Loreen]

Who's Jedi "Lorleen"?