Keys to Surviving the Forum
1. Post in the correct fora. Have a technical issue? Post in “Technical Issues and Bugs”. Want to declaim on why Ops are better than Engies? “General Discussion” would be your place. If someone is looking for a guild, they’re much more likely to go browsing through the “Guilds” section, so you might want to plant your post about your new guild there. Want to discuss your favorite or least favorite school class/movie/book? Off-Topic Discussions are where you want to head for.
2. Use a descriptive title. Let’s say your device has been acting up. Things are laggy and your ping is through the roof. You very properly head over to “Technical Issues...” and post there. It would help if you titled it something like, “My Android has lag/ping issues” or “iPhone Lag/Ping” or something similar instead of, “What I did on my summer vacation” “Help!” or “Please read!”. Clever titles are fun, admittedly, but a clear title will get more interested people to view it and possibly give some suggestions for your problem. If you use a title like, “Free Coffee!!” of course I’m going to look, but I’m going to be very cranky-ish if no free coffee is forthcoming.
3. Give complete info when reporting a problem/bug/typo/etc. You put your post in the right spot, but your post consisted of, “It doesn’t play right.” Instead of making people post 27 replies trying to pull information out of you so they can help or, even worse, not bothering to reply at all, give a complete rundown--what device are you using? What exactly is happening? What connection do you use? What have you tried to fix the problem? If it’s a typo--where is it and what does it say? If it’s something that looks odd, can you post a screen-shot? Big kudos to EllyIdol for reminding me to put down device type the other day--it turned out the problem was only affecting IOS users.
4. A quick scan down the page is your friend. Before you post about a technical issue or a bug, take a quick scan down the page. Someone else may have posted about it recently (this is especially true of outages). No need to start another thread, just post a reply in the extant thread if you have additional info.
“But I don’t have a problem,” you say, “I have a question.” Very well; head on down to the next topic at hand.
5. The search function is your friend. Chances are, if you have a question someone else may have asked the same or a similar one. Or not--new questions get asked every day. But before you post, take a second and use the search function. Instead of having to wait for an answer, you might just get a little immediate gratification and there’s no point in asking something that’s been answered a couple hundred times. That being said....
6. Don’t be afraid to ask questions. You’ve done a quick glance, you’ve done a search and weren’t able to find the answer. Ask. Please ask. Really. There are tons of helpful people here eager to answer your question. Even if it turns out to be something asked before, someone can give you a link to the thread. But please do a quick search first.
7. What you “hear” may not be what was “said”. Someone posts something. Someone else replies, “What do you mean by that?” Think about it a sec...what does that “sound like” in your head? Does it sound sarcastic? Challenging? Somewhat rude? Or is it a simple, interested request for more information? There’s no “tone” to written communications, so try to be clear when posting or responding to someone else’s post. I fall back on, “I’m not trying to be snarky, I just want to know....” just to make sure what I’m saying doesn’t come across the wrong way. You know how what you’re trying to say “sounds” in your head--how will the other person “hear” what you’re saying?
8. Subpoint to #7 - Not everyone speaks English. I have to remind myself frequently of this in-game. The guy that just PMed me, “Give my your antenna”, may not be being rude. He may be trying to say, “Say, old thing, love the antenna and it would be ever-so thoughtful of you to share the bounty thereof”, but it’s coming out as an imperative because he doesn’t have the vocabulary. Try to err on the side of believing people are trying to be polite and are falling short for other reasons. If nothing else, being polite back shocks and/or frightens the rude, which is a nice side-effect.
9. Polite and factual is always the perfect fall-back position. You’ve made your position known on the importance of widgets for Commandos. Someone replies to your post and you “hear” it as a particularly snarky response (whether it was meant that way or not). If you reply back, be factual. Be polite. This has several advantages: First, you’re seen as taking the high road--you’re not getting pulled into a flame war (or instigating one if the response wasn’t snarky). Second, you’re clarifying your position for others reading the thread. Third, you’re adhering to the number one rule in the game and on the Forum--”Be nice.” Fourth, if the other person *was* trying to get something started, you’ve just spoiled their idea of “fun”. Fifth, if they weren’t trying to be snarky, you don’t wind up looking like a fool. Lastly, you won’t have to cringe 2 months down the road when you remember that goofy thing you said to someone and how you totally misunderstood their point.
10. Attack the facts and not the person. You may think someone’s idea is silly, it’s the oddest thing you’ve ever heard, but remember that doesn’t make the person silly or odd. They might be mistaken, they may be deciding something based on incomplete information, but that’s really as far as you can go. “Your Mama dresses you funny” or “I’ve seen the gear you use” or “Noob!” isn’t a convincing argument--belittling someone doesn’t make what they say any less valid, it just means you don’t have a good counter-argument for your own position. It goes back to the “Factual” part of being polite and factual. Argue the facts and don’t insult the person.
11. Starting/fanning a flame war isn’t helpful. Everybody has off-days. Everybody feels strongly about something. Everyone can take offense. Considering all those things and throwing human nature and a competitive spirit into the mix, it’s *still* not a good idea to start or encourage a flame war. That rule of “Be nice” is going to turn around and bite you, to begin with. Flame wars are not only not constructive, they’re actually destructive. It destroys the free exchange of ideas. It destroys the flow of a useful discussion. It can destroy your reputation amongst your peers and, to put it bluntly, makes you look silly. If you feel you/your guild/your gear/your char type/your friend/your cousin’s-mother’s-brother’s-dog has been insulted, type out everything you’d like to say to the person in full, raging detail and then....erase it. **Do Not Post It** Get it out of your system. Then step away from the forum for a few. Shake your head over how some people will try so hard to get a reaction and then don’t give it to them. Or, if you abso-posilutely have to make a response, fall back on polite and factual. If you notice one particular poster gets your goat, treat them like they’re on your ignore list--and there actually *is* a forum ignore list--you never have to read what they say again. Go to “Settings” and on the left side of the page, in the bar, you’ll see under “My Account”, “Edit Ignore List”. Pop their forum name in there and never be irritated (at least by them) again.
12. Venting probably won’t help. I’m so guilty of this. When I think back to waiting for release on IOS, I bang my head on the wall. *blushes* I’ve even joined a program to try and get help (“Hi, I’m Canonical and I’m a whiny Apple user.” “Hi, Canon!”). Oof. Most of us do it to some degree. Some studies say venting helps us get over irritations/disappointments faster. Some say it actually makes us feel the results longer. Until there’s a good solid study to fall back on, I’m going to try to err on the side of caution about venting. Learn from my mistakes so I can at least serve as a bad example.
13. If it can be handled by PM, handle it by PM. “Skizbits, where you been??!?” “Tookadooka, what about our trade??!?” (I really hope neither of those are actual names!) PM the other party so you don’t clog up the forum with something of interest to just two members and, if they remember to check their notifications, you can be reasonably sure that they’ll see.
14. Why ask unaswerable questions? We all want to know when an update is due, when new gear will be released, when whatever. We also all want to know *now*. If the Devs answered every new, “When is....?” thread, they’d never get any other work done. Keep an eye on the “Announcements” thread. Honestly, the Devs post notice of upcoming events there as soon as they can and try to keep us updated.
15. Try and read a thread in its entirety before posting to it. Sure, there’s an excellent chance that someone will be posting at the same time you were and they may make the same point you were about to make (Ninjas!). At least you won’t be the 16th person in the thread to make the exact same point as the previous 15. If the thread is an Announcement, that first post by a Dev may actually answer the question you were about to post. Save yourself some typing.
16. You could actually be wrong/You could change your mind. You've hotly debated widgets for Commandos. You withstood every argument that came your way and then...then someone does the unimaginable. They do a lot of work, spend a lot of time and come up with actual numbers/screenshots that disprove your position on widgets. What do you do? Well, you could ignore the evidence and hope it goes away or you could say, "I was wrong". It's okay to be wrong. It's okay to be willing to change your mind based on new evidence--scientists do it all the time. You really, honestly won't lose your stubbornness cred by admitting you're wrong--I'll still think you're a stubborn, stick-to-it kind of guy who's willing to change his mind based on facts. Lol--people say, "I love you" are three of the hardest words for people to say. I disagree--I think most of us have a way harder time with, "I was wrong". (Thanks to IBNobody for this one.)
17. The Edit Reply button is your friend. You just finished a reply to someone and left out the word "not" totally changing the meaning of what you wrote? Hit the "edit reply" button and fix it. Typo? Do the same. Had an after-thought? And an after-after-thought? And one more besides? Use "edit reply" and put them all in the same post instead of having four posted replies in a row. Is there a "rule" against having 2 or 3 or 14 replies from one person in a row? No, but it does make reading the thread easier. And it'll save the OP some disappointment if they think their thread has gotten some attention and then find out you posted all of the replies fixing typos, adding forgotten words and clarifying the one point you were trying to make.
18. Posts and threads have dates for a reason. Just like you wouldn't buy a gallon of milk that expired a month ago, don't dig up old threads and post to them. I'm sure there are exceptions to that rule, but there won't be many. You did a forum search or just went reading through threads and found one that said that X was buggy. You hop on the game, check it out and post to the thread how X isn't buggy at all. Then someone points out that you posted a reply to a 5 month old thread, that X *was* buggy at the time, but the Devs have since fixed it and you feel a little embarrassed. Save yourself from embarrassment and check the dates on the posts in a thread before typing in a reply. Digging up old posts just for entertainment is called "necro-ing" or "neccro-ing", it can bump current discussions down to where they're not easily seen and is generally viewed as annoying. C'mon, you don't want to be annoying. :) (Thanks to Drewcapu for this one.)
19. Saying "Thank you" never hurts. Somebody answered your question or helped you figure something out or posted something you find useful. There's a couple ways to say, "Thanks!" and they're all good. You can post a "thank you" in a reply. You can add to that person's "reputation" (that's what the little green bar under their name represents) by clicking on the little greenish "thumbs up" at the bottom left of their post. Or you can now click on the "thumbs up" in the blue box that says, "Thanks" next to it also down at the bottom left of their post. Or you can do all or a combination of those things. Everybody likes a little recognition of the good things they do and it'll make you feel good to do it. It's a win-win. :) (Thanks to BodMaster for this one.)
Okay, grand. We have sort of a list of what to post. What *don’t* I post?
1. Don’t post exploits. You found an exploit or a friend just told you about one. Do not post about it. Go directly to your email and send the info to “support(at)spacetimestudios.com” (replacing (at) with @, obviously). Don’t throw temptation in the path of other forumites.
2. Don’t post screenshots just to embarrass someone. If you need to post a screenie to illustrate a point, at least obscure the names. Public humiliation is a pretty nasty price for someone to pay for a simple mistake. You can always tell the story without any names attached. If it’s more than a simple mistake, if someone is out there scamming, send the screenshot to Support. We can all share your outrage, but Support can bounce them right out of the game if circumstances warrant. You can still describe the nature of the scam in case it’s a new one so people can stay away from it. Post the screen-shot here with name intact and it turns out it wasn’t a scam? Now someone has a terrible reputation for something they didn’t do--not fair to them.
3. Remember that “Be nice” rule. I like it. It’s simple, easily understood and short. Think of the most easily offended person you can think of--family member, teacher, old Mr. Gribbons down the block--if you wouldn’t tell them about it, show them a picture of it, say those sorts of things about them to their face, don’t post it here. If your sole intent behind a post is to belittle, embarrass or shock someone, don't post it. If your real life name were attached to things on the forum, would you post it here? If not, don’t post it.
**Suggestions, additions, and whatnot very gratefully received**
