Minecraft Forums

The thing that inspired this rant was a post entitled simply "Minecraft." It's only one of many, though. I often see posts on this and other forums with titles like "help me plzplzplz!!!" which, after being ignored for a day or so, get further posts from the OP saying "why no one hlp?" The reason why no one "hlps" is, to a great extent, an effect of the post, especially its title. Hence this rather long post explaining how to do it effectively.

Do you want good, useful responses to your topic? Here's how to do it:

1. Post in the right section. If you need to know how to install mods for the PC version, posting on the XBox Discussion board will get your post moved, locked, or ignored. On other forums, I've seen people justify posting on a totally inappropriate board because "more people will see it here." Well, yes, they will... but that's a bit like advertising your gourmet cheesesteaks at a vegetarian gathering: a lot of people might see it, but they're not the people you need. Sheer number of eyeballs means nothing; you need to get it in front of the right eyeballs, which in the context of the forums means in the right section. If there are two similar posts, one in Discussion where 1000 people saw it but none responded, and the other in, say, Support where only 10 people read it, but 5 responded, which is more successful?

2. Use a clear, informative thread title. "Minecraft" is right out. Taking a look at the support board, I see "I would like some help please." Can I help that person? I have no clue ... so if I wasn't writing this, I'd probably pass right by. (it's a crashing problem) By using an informative thread title -- right next to that one, at the moment, is "1.6.2 no sounds" so at least the reader has some idea of what kind of problem it is, and with what -- you attract the attention of the people most able to help you, people who might otherwise skip over the post as a potential waste of their time. Again, it's not the sheer number of eyeballs that counts -- it's the right eyeballs. Likewise, "New redstone device: spring" is much better than "Great idea" or even "Redstone idea" and "Seed with 3 temples, 2 adjacent monster spawners, near spawn" is far more informative than "Epic seed!!!!" Your title is your advertisement for your thread -- give people a reason to want to read it.

3. Put in all the details. If you need help with something, explain all the circumstances around the problem, when it occurs, what you've tried so far, what results you got, and what type of help you need. If you have a suggestion for an improvement, describe how it would work, how it would change the game, and how it would improve things. Etc. Remember, people can't see what's inside your head; the only way we'll know what you're thinking -- what you've done to fix your problem, why your suggestion would make the game better, whatever -- is if you tell us. So tell us! If people have to extract details from you with tweezers, most of them won't bother; your supporters, problem-solvers, etc., just went away and read another post.

4. Make it easy for other people to understand your post. This includes everything from not posting in hard-to-read fonts and colors (you know who you are, you with the cyan!) to using correct English -- which is, I should point out, a communications protocol like any more technical one, and exists for the same reason. Nobody wants to read a multi-hundred-word run-on sentence with no capitalization, no punctuation, and very, um, "imaginative" spelling. The people you want to answer you will almost certainly skip that. Instead of useful, thoughtful responses, you'll only get "lol me 2", which probably isn't what you're looking for.

5. Make it clear what kind of response you need. That might be "put this banner in your sig to support this idea" or "list the steps for installing this mod" or "tell me what to try next because these things haven't fixed my problem" or whatever else, but you need to let people know what kind of response you want. Otherwise, people will look at the subject and just say "Huh? Okay, but what was that about?" (this is not always applicable, of course; some posts, like this one, aren't requesting a specific sort of response)

6. This should go without saying, but apparently it doesn't: Don't insult your readers. This can be either overt ("you're all jerks and haters") or subtle ("if you care about Minecraft you'll agree with me") but either way, it's rude. If you want people to respond to you in a positive way, being rude to them is not a good start. If you want people to help you or support your idea, being rude is right out. Seriously, folks, you want something out of these people -- help, support, just a civilized conversation. Insulting random strangers will rarely get you anything you want, and far more often the virtual equivalent of a boot to the head.

Remember: You are not the most important person in the world. I am. That's true for every person on this forum, each of whom is the most important person in the world to the person you want to read and respond to your post -- that is, themselves. You need to persuade the most important person in the world (each of us) to give up some of their time to read something written by an insignificant little worm (anyone else). Saying "thank you for reading this" doesn't do it; the most important person in the world doesn't care about thanks from some insignificant worm. Making it clear what you're talking about, making it easy for them to understand, making it obvious what needs to be done, and of course not insulting them, that does it.

These are things that work. You can argue that people should care so much about you that they'll give up their time to read a thread entitled "Hlp me plzplzplz!!!" until you're blue in the face, but the bottom line is that they won't. You can spend your time arguing, or you can write posts and start topics that get results. This is how to do it.

Quote from LiLChris

Great post that most won't read, it's best to keep it simple for tips like this.

Good point. Okay, for the tl;dr crowd, here it is in bullet points:

• Post in the right section.
• Use a clear, informative thread title.
• Put in all the details.
• Make it easy for other people to understand your post
• Make it clear what kind of response you need.
• Don't insult your readers.

These are things that work. You can argue that people should care so much about you that they'll give up their time to read a thread entitled "Hlp me plzplzplz!!!" until you're blue in the face, but the bottom line is that they won't. You can spend your time arguing, or you can write posts and start topics that get results. This is how to do it.

I know ... as always, the only people who will read this are the people who don't need it. But maybe one person will. If I didn't post, then that chance doesn't exist. So, maybe someone will find it useful. One can only hope.

Quote from CreeperCooperBlock

Ugh, i wished people had to fill in some form before joining the forum. Like, questions about the rules so you were FORCED to read them.

For a while, I played a very strange Web game called Kingdom of Loathing. They had a quiz you had to pass before you could use chat -- things like the proper use of apostrophes, etc. It didn't seem to help much.

But yeah, I think there should be some sort of test. "Which section does this topic belong in?" (it gives a sample topic and four possible places to put it) "Which of the following is a good subject line? (four possible subjects, maybe taken from real forum posts) "Insulting other members is a good way to show them you are serious." (True/False) Which word goes in this sentence: "They got _____ kicks playing Minecraft." (there/they're/their)

(okay, that last one's a pet peeve)

We could write questions until the cows despawn and it probably wouldn't help. *sigh* The people responsible for the whole issue would just look up the answers, then go back to being twits. I have some faint hope that, because it's pitched to their self-interest -- "people are more likely to read your post/support your idea/give you help if you do these things" it might have more of an effect than "do this because it's in the rules."

Here's my simple rule for topic titles:

[tag] [neededinfo] (info1) — (info2) : (more info) + (more info)

[Fireworks!] Pyrotechnic Stand—A Simpler Way: Forum Post Overhauled + Custom Pics!

[tag] is where I add something funny/lighter. For example, in my pyrotechnic stand post I say [fireworks!]. It says what the idea is about, but not really a full description.

[neededinfo] is where I add any tags. For example, in texture packs I'd say [16x16] or in a creative build [WIP]. No need for it in the pyrotechnic stand idea though.

[info1] is the literal topic title. In the Pyrotechnic Stand idea it's just Pyrotechnic Stand.

[info2] is a added short descriptor. With it, I can say it's about a simpler way, probably a simpler way to make fireworks.

[more info] is used to add current additions like"Custom Pictures! and Forum Post Overhauled!"



That's generally what I use nowadays. It's not always perfect, but it works often.

Yes, I know this post is very long. The tl;dr version is down at the end. At least read that!

I haven't looked at this thread in a very long time. It was one of the first things I posted here on MCF. Since then, I've made some insane number of posts, become a moderator, and read literally tens of thousands of thread titles. In particular, I've looked at a lot of server thread titles and the associated threads.

As a moderator, one of the things I have to deal with is people breaking the rule against multiple posts by posting a new thread for their server every day or two (or sometimes every few hours!). Most of the time, they're doing this because they didn't get any response to the first one. It's said that the definition of insanity is doing the same thing over and over again expecting different results. I'm not sure about that (this would imply that most politicians are insane!) but it is certainly the a good definition of futility. If it didn't work the first time, doing it again isn't likely to make it work any better.

Since I'm a moderator for the Other Platforms section -- MCPE and consoles -- I'll use examples that are something I might come across there. With different details, though, they apply to every section.

BAD: Minecraft XBox 360 Server

You'd think that it would be obvious that a thread on the Servers board of the XBox 360 section of the Minecraft forums would be about a server for MC360, no? Yet go to any servers board and you'll see the same. I've seen threads entitled nothing but "Minecraft". This is going to get passed over because it is basically a zero-information title. We already know it's for Minecraft, we already know it's for the 360, we already know it's a server. So the title could just be a blank line for all the good it does.

A thread title is like a book cover. You want to give people a reason to find out more. To do that you have to give them an idea of what they're going to find inside. Take, as a random example, cookbooks. If you see a cookbook entitled "Easy Rustic Italian Cooking" you know what to expect if you open it. It won't be about Chinese cooking, or elaborate French dishes that take all day to prepare, or introductory cooking for college students who aren't quite sure how to boil water. People need to know if what you're offering is for them. If someone is looking for a book of Chinese recipes, there's no reason to try to trick them into opening your book anyway -- they know what they want, and that isn't it, so they're still not going to buy your Italian cookbook, and now they're annoyed, too. So consider what's distinctive and important about your server. Is it a PvP Survival server in a world with nothing but ice? A creative server where players are trying to outdo each other at building awesome pixel art? A medieval RPG on a series of islands? Say so! And use the proper prefixes, too -- you can select them when you're starting the thread (or edit later to include them).

GOOD: (PvP)(Survival) Ice world, 90% frozen
GOOD: (Creative) Anime-themed pixel art
GOOD: (RPG)(Survival) Medieval water world where every island is a barony

As a general rule: your server thread title should not have "Minecraft", the platform name, or the word "server" in it.

Then there are the ones that have too much information, but often not useful information. Take this example:

BAD: Six people max. Mic required. Team-ups are OK but teams must be fair, so 3 people on a team. My username is notarealname.

There's definitely a lot of information there -- the requirements, the server rules, the host's name, etc., plus the fact it's PvP is implied. But it doesn't really give you a reason to want to read anything, let alone play on the server. (even more so when you find the content is just the host's username again) How much of what you see in that title is something you need to know before you read the thread and consider whether you want to play on that server, rather than after? I'd say the fact that it's team-based PvP is enough. If, instead of the content being (only!) "notarealname", it had most of that information, we'd have a more compelling server ad, and something for people to read once they clicked on it, too:

GOOD: (PvP)(Factions) Two factions, one winner!


With the revised version, there's a teaser that gives you a reason to want to look at the thread, if you're looking for a PvP factions server (and if you're looking for a creative city build, for instance, you won't be interested anyway)

Then there are the thread titles that make you look like a slob.

BAD: come play my servivel game plzplzplz steeling aloud

That thread title is all I know about you to begin with. If what it's telling me is that you don't care enough about what you're doing to spell "survival" right, or put in a few capital letters, punctuation marks, etc., where appropriate, what I get from that is that you're probably running a sloppy, badly-planned, and generally pointless server. Running a server (even the shared-game "servers" for the consoles, let alone the real thing for the PC) takes a lot of thought, planning, and flat-out work. When someone sees a host who can't be bothered to put in enough work to write a correct thread title, that implies that he can't be bothered to put in the much greater amount of work that it takes to run a server, either. Of course, it might not be true. The host might really be running an excellent server, and just lazy about how he writes thread titles. That guy who shows up at a job interview in a dirty T-shirt, torn jeans, and smelling like week-old socks might be the best worker the company ever had, too, but few if any companies are going to hire him and find out. Likewise, few people are going to join a server when the first impression they get is one of sloppiness. And yes, even if they write that way themselves, they're still influenced by what they read, just like they would be for something they were buying in a store.

GOOD: (PvP) Stealing, raiding, and fun!

Also, a bit about prefixes. They're something new to the new forum software, and they can be really useful if used right. They are selectable as filters, so if someone is looking for a PvP server, for instance, they'll set the filter to display only posts with a (PVP) prefix, so they don't have to dig through pages of non-PvP server listings to find the ones they want. The first two prefixes you select are visible, though the filter works on any of them. (note: do not try using every prefix in the list or something so your thread always shows up; this will lead to warnings from the moderators and severe editing of your prefixes) So choose wisely. Imagine being a player searching for a server like yours and think of the two things you would be most likely to filter for. Then choose those. Under some circumstances you might need more than two. For example, if you're running a minigames server where you do Hunger Games, Spleef, and some other games that don't have prefixes of their own, you'd probably want (Hunger Games) (Spleef) (Minigames). But, in general, you can keep it to just two or three.

Then, when you have chosen your prefixes, try to avoid using the same words in your thread title. The reader already sees them -- highlighted, even -- so you want to use that space to say something attractive about your server, instead.


BAD: (PvP)(Factions) PvP factions server
GOOD: (PVP)(Factions) Two factions, one winner!

tl;dr:

• Don't put "Minecraft", "server", or the relevant platform in your thread title.
• Tell readers what's special about this server.
• Don't waste space putting the rules and such; put those in the post.
• Show that you care about your thread.
• Use prefixes; that's what they're for.
• Pick the best two prefixes, because those will be visible.
• Don't duplicate words from prefixes in the thread title.

It's been over six months since my last post, and, sadly, it seems that a lot of people who should be reading this are not. When I wrote the first part of this, back in 1993, I was a forum newbie. Now I've been a moderator for a year and a half, I've read an awful lot of posts, and, sadly, issued an awful lot of warnings. And, y'know, I'd really rather not.

Many of those warnings are for duplicate threads. And many of those threads would never have been written the way they are if the posters had read this thread. Over in Other Platforms, many of the threads in the Servers section are still entitled something like "Minecraft PS3 Server" with "add SomeGamerName" for content ... or, worse yet, "Minecraft PS3 Server PSN SomeGamerName" and "abcdef" for content. Of course, they don't get many players, so the posters post the exact same thing the next day. And the day after that. And the day after that. And then I see them, and click "Warn" on my little Tools menu, and they just got a warning they could have avoided if they'd followed the rules. What's really depressing, from a mod's point of view, is when I see exactly the same thing from the same person the next day, issue another warning, rinse, repeat. Eventually they get enough warnings to earn a forum suspension, at which point some of them get themselves into real trouble by making alts to evade that suspension and, of course, posting exactly the same thing. Yet they never had to do it in the first place.

The cynical, misanthropic side of me says that the reason people do this is that they know, in their heart of hearts, that they are so special and so important that, if other people saw that they were hosting a server, those people would immediately want to play with them. Therefore, if their "add SomeGamerName" post doesn't get any responses, the problem must be that other people -- the ones who would be flocking to play with SomeGamerName if only they knew he was recruiting -- didn't see it, and therefore posting more threads, bumping some or all of them, etc., will correct the problem.

Of course it doesn't; it just attracts moderators. They themselves probably wouldn't be interested in a thread whose only content was "add SomeOtherGamer" ... and that's true for everyone, most notably the people they want interested in their threads. Remember, the most important person in the world, to each of us, is ourselves. The most important person in the world doesn't care what an insignificant little worm (that is, anyone else) wants, or needs, or thinks about themself; they only care what that worm can do for them. So "add SomeGamerName" doesn't offer them anything of interest, any more than the thread before it "add SomeOtherGamer" or the one after it, "add MeInstead".

So the tl;dr for this one is simple:

Put yourself in the place of the person reading.

They don't know you from Adam. They don't know how good your server is, or why they should play there, or why it's any better than the fifty others that were posted today. They won't know until you tell them. So TELL THEM. Then you won't need to make ten posts about it, because people will be responding to that one.