When did we get so mean?

Again, it's not nit-picking. It's simple debate. That is all. If someone is going to make an accusation they should be able to stand by that no matter what time of year it is.

You are projecting, FD. There is a difference between not knowing and not trying. I'm not going to bash someone for not searching the forums because search is horribly anemic. This has nothing to do with search. The one thread that got a truly sarcastic response had an OP who was like "wow that looks cool tell me how to do it" to starting a business instead of taking a more thoughtful approach to what it is she wanted to do. We don't even know what it is she wants to do.

A lot of people here take their businesses very seriously, and people that don't approach it with the same kind of thoughtfulness may get a more sarcastic response when they ask omnibus "tell me how to do everything" questions that indicate a complete lack of business sense or common sense.

Whose been giving these answers? That job is generally done by SL Mentors (in which I'm a coach) and as far as I know, they do a good job.(Or at least I teach the mentors to do so.)

Hands bradley the chill pill and egg nog

I will make up a list probably tomorrow when I am not on the way out the door to go to my own Birthday party. Relax till then.

I think they are refering to the forums, not in world

the forums are not limited to only mentors, it is resident to resident

so anyone can answer the questions here

not everything reflects on the mentors, no one mentioned mentors until you posted this comment

Thank you, Darkness, but I don't need the pill. I will enjoy the egg nog. I am relaxed and enjoy a good round of debate and lively discussion in here. The only thing that gets my goat I'd say are those who get uncomfortable when it gets a little heated and try to get everyone to chill out. They would never survive when my family gets together.

HAPPY BIRTHDAY!

/me finds a little ignore list goes a long way.

I really don't post here often... and the reason I don't is the theme of this thread. I do have questions from time to time, but posting them here has moved to the "last resort" category in my go-to list. I don't want to spend $ being premium - perfectly happy with my basic account. Don't want to own land, don't particularly want to build vast amazing things, don't want to start a business... I just run into a small thing or two on a personal level (designing certain clothes or "how-to's" that have stumped me). I read the new posts here every few days to see if I can catch a clue on something I've been wondering about... (and have been doing so for the 10 months I've been in SL) but have seen too many folks blasted for basic questions. I have to agree with those that say "If you don't want to answer the question, then don't". Especially questions for first-time posters... what a way to turn them away from what should be a very valuable resource. If you can't or won't help, please move on to something you think is more worthy of your time.

Noob! get the box of your head!!!

heh, seriously though I don't think it's the holidays. It's cynisism about SL itself. Things like Cory being fired or quitting might not really be noticed by people, but it's noticed by enough to change the mood for sure. Windlight not working on a fairly high percentage of hardware, the inability to find anything in search without already knowing what it's called, the daunting task of finding like minded people and avoiding the jackasses, the cliff like learning curve that's not just hard to get up but from the top it feels roughly like yelling directions to people at the bottom about every single handhold from the base to the top.

I know, I know, old gripes. They're getting more apparent though. The more things like windlight, sculpties, and landmass they add, the higher the top of the learning curve, the more the client breaks, and it seems with all that the CTO quitting takes on even more import.

There should be a manual at least half an inch thick for SL, available for download in pdf format on the front page. There should be a tutorial when you start that's quite a bit more solid than the existing ones, or any that might even be possible using HUDs. Preferably it would be offline rather than logged into SL itself. The GUI needs to be much much much more intuitive, pretty, and verbose.

On top of all that, the world's 99% uuuuuuugly. That just can't be fixed. The only solution I can even imagine is to spread it out more, hehe, but that's one of the few things I will go ahead say will NEVER happen in SL, regardless of the timeframe. It'll take something else just starting up.

I trully believe that to fix SL would cost more than creating a startup from scratch. SL would kill itself in the attempt by breaking so many people's content that it would end up almost at square one anyway. That makes it a little hard to be encouraging to new people. Personally I don't get snarky though, I just avoid newbs.

Merry Christmas

The OP did not mention any threads in particular nor did he accuse 'the boards' of being all mean all the time. He also didn't name names or point fingers (exemples and links would have done that).
I personally thought most of the answers on those 2 threads to be fantastic and yes, honest and to the point. But at times, the words people choose to use do convey a sense of impatience or 'snarkiness' when answering questions they obviously do not feel like answering. Insulting? No, but also unnecessary since no one HAS to answer.

Actually, this attitude is nothing new. It's been around for quite some time. Not only in this forum but especially in the Texturing forum. I'm only vaguely aware of one of the recent threads everyone seems to be alluding to since I thought the question was a little over the top from the get go.........so I never read anything else in it. But I have seen many legimate yet for most of us simple questions asked by someone new...........only to get scolded for not doing the "proper" research before asking. Sometimes a link to some ancient thread (or a group of threads) with the apparent intent of showing just how many times that question has been asked and sometimes answered. That, for the most part, only makes the person asking the question feel somewhat stupid for asking in a forum where anyone would expect to get a reasonable answer...........many times the question never gets answered at all. When someone is new to SL with it's seemingly overwhelming learning curve the search feature is next to useless.............you can't find something if you are not sure exactly what it is you are wanting to find. And when someone links to something similar but not really what was asked (because the person doing the linking is making an asumption about what the asking resident is thinking about). Quite often the person is asking because he/she is confused...........and links that do not answer a question leads to more confusion. That is in no way helping..........and when you sneaker and pat yourself on the back for being so smart to show the newbie "how's done" you are being mean. Very mean.

*pokes the OP with a pin*

*tries to look innocent*

As far as newbies asking questions that's a different story. They should be helped in their quest for answers. But for certain questions they should also be made aware of both sides of the coin not just the happy side or the nice things, if you will. Tell them the real deal of both sides. The truth.

If you go by what some people say here, you would think anything and everything is worry free. That sl is home free without cheats, scumbags, thieves and all that sort of things going on. This isn't the way it is so why deny speaking out on it? Especially to newbies coming in. And also when discussing it.

I also think many people don't like hearing the truth or like I already mentioned, the other side of the coin. The misconception is they feel if someone says something to the contrary of what the rest are saying then that person is viewed as a malcontent or as rude. Why? Because they don't follow what the rest say? There's very few of these in here.

I have more respect for someone who tells it like it is then those who are just followers. Cause followers don't think for themselves, they do just that, they follow what others say no matter what it is. And there's a whole lot of them in these forums.

Saying what you view and what you feel isn't being mean or rude. It's simply having the guts to speak your mind regardless how unpopular your views seems to others. Now saying what others do simply because you don't want to be seen as an outsider, that's being phony and you can't trust a phony person, ever.

There's a big difference in being mean and being honest in what you feel and say. The sooner you learn to tell the difference, the better off you'll be. But then again I can understand, the world needs followers, even in forums.

The truth? You can't handle the truth!

maybe it is just me, but I really did not find SL all that hard to learn

now mastering the skills I have developed in SL is a totally different story

but actually learning how to walk, talk, search, and even create a prim (build on the basic level) is not a high learning curve by any means

there is not a ton of key combinations to remember, or quests to fulfill which require one to know which spells or attacks will work etc

SL is in my opinion, not high learning curve to learn as far as using the platform

only when it gets more in depth, like prim torture and clothing design, THEN it MIGHT have a high learning curve, again depends on the person

I would not say my curve for learning SL is high

more like I am too picky and never totally happy with my work
I KNOW how to do something, learning curve passed, however, doing that something as well as I would like, is not a matter of learning, as it is honing and mastering

*vent off*

PS can you tell I get tired of ppl saying SL has a high learning curve LOL

Ahem.. as I was saying.

you have pm's turned off so placing my comment here

If you ever have a question and do not want to post it, give me a shout, in here or in game, I will do my best to assist, and if I do not know the answer I will find it for you

Good one.

So true. There is so little you HAVE to learn to get started. Just the basics. An hour or two is all you need. The rest is predicated on your needs and desires and talents, much like RL. Again the "I want it now" and "What's the Objective?" gamer mentality comes into play. We each determine the steepness of our own learning curve. Sometimes I think the "Learning Curve" myth is the product of smug elitism.

/me lights a fire under every one`s bum...

c`mon, i can keep up with reading so pickup the pace, don`t want to do lsl lol


btw, where`s the pie?

14:24:23hrs 21/7/03

*nods* If I find that I'm tempted to repeatedly answer in a hostile way, the person goes onto the ignore list until I either forget what the person did to wind up on there, or until I chill out. While I value the right of others to have an opinion, I value my right to not have to read them even more.

So, I cannot say I'm guiltless when it comes to the hostilities, although I do find myself using the back button a lot more than I used to.

amen fd

I guess "the store one" was mine. If you read the posts in my history you'll see I've been snarky, like...once. Sorry, but "I just joined, tell me how to set up a store" is not worthy of the time people spent answering it. Frankly, a snarky response was appropriate. This from someone who is, like, never snarky.

I like to think that being brutally honest will save the OP some time and money.

I've been guilty of getting sucked into a debate myself here, as much as I try to avoid it.

Thing is, this isn't supposed to be a forum for debate - its supposed to be a place where residents can answer each other's SL-related questions.

There are some folks that take debate very seriously, and can be very competitive about it. For those who aren't coming here for that, and are simply looking for answers - it can seem a very hostile place, which defeats the purpose of having this forum in the first place.

I think debate can be intellectually challenging & fun. But it belongs on one of the wide array of third-party forums that welcome and encourage that sort of thing. Not here in resident answers.