Unhelpful Help Sections

[Galkon]

Today we all know that one big "issue" for some of us is people asking for help in the shoutbox. We refer them to the help section, encouraging them to make a help thread. But the so-called "help" they receive in the help section, is less useful than what they're told on the shoutbox.

Considering that I wrote the help section rules, and they've been in place for months and months now, I think they should be enforced. People are constantly replying with things such as:

• "rofl", "lol", "u mad", "noob", "l2code", etcetera. Short, useless, rude replies.
• Irrelevant replies, that oftentimes aren't even directed towards the OP.
• Idiotic, demeaning, discouraging replies.
• Postcount++.
• Flame.

The rules clearly state, if you can't help, don't reply. The amount of "bullying" that goes on in the help section is ridiculous. Not everybody is a Java guru, and 95% of the time, those criticizing don't have ANY room to criticize others.

I'm making a complaint about the fact the rules for this section in particular aren't enforced in the least bit, and that members of the community aren't making it any better. It's a HELP section, you can't expect everybody who needs help to know everything. Be nice, grow up, and stay off the thread if you aren't there to help.

I'd like to see these rules enforced much more, and infractions handed out, as well as the section moderated apart from reported posts.

Threads with examples of what I'm talking about:
[Only registered and activated users can see links. ]
[Only registered and activated users can see links. ]
[Only registered and activated users can see links. ]
[Only registered and activated users can see links. ]
[Only registered and activated users can see links. ]
[Only registered and activated users can see links. ]
[Only registered and activated users can see links. ]
[Only registered and activated users can see links. ]

That's just a small portion of what happens. I understand moderators can't catch everything, which is why the community needs to help, because this is ridiculous. When I needed help, I could always receive some. Now, it's rare to find someone that's actually helping people. If we all try to do our best to help, and report the posts that aren't helpful, that alone can do a lot. If you have the knowledge, and have some spare time, just give them a little help.

If you can't help, don't post. If you can't contribute positively, don't post. If you see someone being rude or breaking rules, report it, don't reply. The moderators will do their part if we do ours too.

[Jesse]

Prob because some of these kids are dicks and there post count but ur 100% correct when i post on the help thread all i get is kids flaming lol be great if it could end

[Discardedx2]

Support. Most people act as if they are java guru's themselves when in fact they can only follow tutorials. The best thing someone could do in the help section is give someone tips without "spoonfeeding" them code as we used to call it.

[Galkon]

Okay the thread is back. I'd like to clarify this isn't raging at the mods, this is aimed at the entire community.

[Aeterna]

probably has something to do with the fact that people don't do stuff for themselves anymore, and just steal whatever they can and call it their own, then when they ask for help people can't help but to laugh at their stupidity.

half of the time help threads aren't even constructed properly so it's not even worth anyone's time to post something constructive.

[Galkon]

probably has something to do with the fact that people don't do stuff for themselves anymore, and just steal whatever they can and call it their own, then when they ask for help people can't help but to laugh at their stupidity.

half of the time help threads aren't even constructed properly so it's not even worth anyone's time to post something constructive.

I think it has something to do with the fact people have your kind of attitude. How else are they supposed to do something? They don't have the knowledge to do it for themselves, so they ask for help. That's what the section is for. And even so, it's breaking the rules, and shows how big of an idiot you are if you posted and make fun of them for their lack of knowledge.

[Streetwave]

Maybe more Moderators should be added, or like some rank called "RSPS Helper" which allows you to moderate that section too for cleaning. Maybe combine that with the RSPS Cleaner rank.

Offtopic: In your thread it says "If you can't contribute positively, don't post.". If this complaint isn't valid (not the case in this subject), we have to reply negatively to show you it's invalid, uh?

[Aeterna]

I think it has something to do with the fact people have your kind of attitude. How else are they supposed to do something? They don't have the knowledge to do it for themselves, so they ask for help. That's what the section is for. And even so, it's breaking the rules, and shows how big of an idiot you are if you posted and make fun of them for their lack of knowledge.

where did i say people shouldn't ask for help? they shouldn't steal all the work they can and then ask for help when something isn't in plain writing for them. they don't need to know anything about programming to construct a proper thread, so what's stopping them from doing so?

[cube]

Usually they won't bother trying to fix by themselves either, it's not exactly hard to look for solved threads with same problem or do some googling with the error to find out how to fix so sometimes it's posters fault

[Whired]

I have to agree that this help thing works both ways..

Some common problems for people that try to help (discouraging)
- Lack of information about the problem ([Only registered and activated users can see links. ])
- Client problems in server section ([Only registered and activated users can see links. ])
- Stubborn people that won't listen even when you are trying to help them ([Only registered and activated users can see links. ])
- Complete lack of Java knowledge (we all have room to learn, but sometimes it's unbelievable) ([Only registered and activated users can see links. ])

And I get where you're coming from, I really do. Just reminding you that trying to help people that are impossible to help can be frustrating.

There isn't a layout (compile error? runtime error? code that causes the error? adjacent code?)
There isn't any visible attempt to keep client help threads out of the help section
Links to the [Only registered and activated users can see links. ] should not be considered flaming..some people just NEED it.

Sorry if I used you as a negative example, just trying to keep it real.
</ My two cents >