[font=Lucida Console]HOW TO POST IN THIS FORUM[/font]
[i]A guide to posting like a boss[/i]
I've been noticing bogus topics and answers more and more lately, causing threads to de-rail and leaving support for the people asking for help. Therefore, I'm writing a simple guide on how to post in this forum. After all, I had this forum made so that people could discuss tech in a pro way along with receiving good support from knowledgeable members, and it'd help to have the people here listen to this a bit.
I'll make a few examples, after which I explain whats wrong and whats good. Should be easy enough to follow, right?
Issue: Didn't even bother to read the topic. Really, there is no such thing as custom-building a laptop unless you're willing to build it entirely yourself FROM THE CORE. As in, make your own case and try to fit hardware in it. Eventually you end up paying more for less.
HOW IT SHOULD'VE BEEN:
Suggest a model or two, do a tiny bit of research and warn the OP of the stuff he shouldn't get. (for example, intel gpu's) It's not that hard, really.
This is a pretty recent one, and the topic in question ended up as a pointless discussion involving some fight between linux and linux.... yep.
Issue: This isn't even [i]near[/i] a good solution. If you suggest replacing windows with mac/linux because they have little to no viruses, you are posting a completely deceitful suggestion and it's not only arrogant, but it also doesn't help the OP at all. Its like suggesting the owner of a Delorean to buy a Yamaha bike after one of the car's tires burst.
HOW IT SHOULD'VE BEEN:
Suggesting the software you are using yourself and are happy with is always a good idea. This answer provides the OP with a possible solution to his problem and is fuel for a worthy discussion; Other posters might have better suggestions as well as feedback on mentioned answers. I mean, for all we know anti-zombie is a bad craftsmanship, and skelet-on might be a much better choice.
Pretty much stating the obvious here. Note the often-used word; "OS WARS". Fighting about operating systems is just silly, because everyone has its own taste and everyone uses different versions. What may be amazing to one poster might be horrible for the other. Besides, all operating systems have its good sides and its bad sides. There is no such "thing" as a perfect OS, because they all update and change every day.
However, if one were to ask something like
[/i] then people could perfectly suggest systems that fit to these specs. Same goes for new releases, people can easily express their opinions about the new versions, explain new features and trade tweaks.
Discussing OS's is completely cool. Fighting about them because you're a fanboy is not a viable reason, and you should be ashamed if you show this kind of attitude.
[i]Note: This also applies to browsers and consoles. They are all awesome and they all suck - there is no king of the kings.[/i]
As you may imagine, discussing p2p, torrents, usenet and such is quite the risky topic. However, if done correctly, then there should be no harm done at all. Tools of the trade:
Don't post a link to the torrent, unless the content is legal to distribute freely. Linux iso's fall under this, for example.
Are you unsure if its okay to post? Then its probably not okay.
If your post somehow [font=Arial]contributes[/font] to piracy, you really just shouldn't post it.
Discussing piracy on its own is cool, as long as you keep it civil (this just in: keep it civil everywhere) and back your arguments up with facts and reason. This post for example, is fully acceptable:
but a post like this...
Is, quite obviously, not a good post. [/font][/font]
[font=Lucida Console]EXAMPLE #5 - LAZYNESS[/font]
A lot of questions are actually really easy to solve by yourself. The best example for this is the magic that's called Google. A person looking for newer versions of the catalyst driver would enter something like this
amd catalyst driver download
and he'd get the right result straight away. Googling isn't hard at all! And when you need specific stuff? Add quotes! The query
"Super Mario World" spritesheet
would give a lot more accurate results than
super mario world spritesheet
simply because it'll treat the words between the quotation marks as one word.
An other source of getting help with, for example, windows features is using (you guess it) the help function. It updates itself every once in a while and when using simple terms you can find the stuff you need. If you're a twitter user, you can also contact @MicrosoftHelps, who help windows users for free. (for xbox help, use @xboxsupport)
[font=Lucida Console]EXAMPLE #6 - I AM A GAME DEVELOPER[/font]
Alright kids, I'll be honest with you: You're not going to develop a game with less than a week of coding experience. And no, creating an HTML site doesn't count. (and neither does RPG maker, damnit)
You see, when you come into this forum and post something like this:
The majority of users here will just slam their face on their desk. The reality is that you don't go straight into game development, but do some basic programs first. I'm learning C# myself for months now and I only just made a small blackjack game. Before doing this, I first made some simple console apps, a calculator, hangman, and some other basic things.
Don't jump right in, learn the basics first and when you're experienced enough you go and try something 2D.
[font=Lucida Console]EXAMPLE #7 - MY HARDWARE IS BETTER THAN YOUR HARDWARE[/font]
It's similar to the OS wars I guess. Basically it goes like this:
After which a guy stumbles in and posts this:
Issue: Now, it might be quite obvious what the issue here is. "PC" is an acronym for "Personal Computer". Now as far as I know, Macintosh machines are personal computers. Try to prove me wrong buddy, its not going to work.
But lets get serious here; Seriously? In this topic, the poster is requesting help with an issue on his Mac computer. The problem here is that little Billy feels the need of posting in a topic in such a non-contributing way that it'll only lead to a fight, delaying the actual answer. Not cool, bro!
How it should go instead:
This user approaches the poster in a much friendlier way and actually provides help. Sure, he may not use Mac on his PC, but the problem sounds familiar and the user suggests some things to do that usually help. Since the problem does sound like an overheating issue, cleaning out the machine may very well help it. If it doesn't, the poster should consider Apple's support service and see if they can help. Everyone's happy.
This example can also be applied to people having problems with their Linux, Windows, DOS, etc. machines. Don't tell the posters to off and use a different OS, but approach the problem in way that may also apply to your own OS. If you can't help at all and can't suggest possible sources for help, then don't post at all. It's really not that hard.
[font=Lucida Console]TRIVIA[/font]
[i]HEY GUYS HOW DO I START THE MINECRAFT SERV-[/i] NO. This forum is for tech discussion only. While servers fit to this requirement, Minecraft servers do not. They go into the Minecraft Server forum. Yeah, its that easy.
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I will add more examples later on. Remember guys, read this and take note to not post like you'd be ignorant and unfriendly, and you, too, will be a boss at posting.
That's exactly what I was thinking good going man friend me
That's exactly what I was thinking good going man friend me
smh tbh fam