Lately I’ve noticed that more and more forum posts from new members are filled with titles like “Blender noob! I need help!” titles. To be honest I think it’s rather frustrating. I remember a time when people would truly spend time working on a problem before looking for help, instead of jumping to a forum the first time they couldn’t find the button they wanted.
I was browsing a particular forum earlier today and I found a thread with the title “Python noob!”. The post basically contained a blend file and a description of what the user wanted to do, but I think they inferred they wanted someone to show them how to do it. In my opinion, this isn’t a thread I would justify by responding to. There’s no need for the world to know that your a “noob”. People do not treat people differently based on how well they know a program. Granted, there are times when saying you’re new to a program is helpful, but lately it seems like it’s become a crutch for new users, even if they don’t realize it.
Take the following fictional thread for example:
Noob making first FPS game! Need help!
Hey everyone! I just starting learning Blender and I love it! I have this great idea for a first person shooter game and I want to get a team together to work on it! It’ll be great! I kind of have an idea of what I want to do, but we can work out the details as a group. So far I know I want it to be multiplayer across a network. Is this even possible in Blender? Hope to hear from people!
This thread is full of mistakes made by beginners – the first is the poorly written title. Threads should have a point, and their titles should reflect that point. Pointing out that you’re a “noob” doesn’t change whether or not someone will answer your post or even help you in a constructive manner. Also introductions, although nice, aren’t necessary. We don’t care how much you love the program – we assume you like it well enough because you’re on a forum dedicated to help people learn how to use it. Sucking up doesn’t help any.
The next mistake is proposing a group project without properly showing some previous planning work. This tells other users that you basically want them to do your project for you. In this case it’s also a mistake proposing a project that is ridiculously beyond the users skill level. There’s nothing wrong with starting small and learning the basics before diving into a ground-breaking new project.
Here is the same post, rewritten in a way that would be more widely accepted in a forum.
Blender Game Logic Questions
Hey everyone! I’ve been playing around with Blender’s game engine – I’ve followed some tutorials and gone through the Wiki but I still have some questions. I’m working on a small game project to familiarize myself with the engine – you basically maneuver a cube through a maze. I’m still confused on what actuators do – can someone either explain or point me toward a good tutorial? I’m also interested in how Blender’s game engine works across networks – does anyone know if Blender supports this or if that would be something I’d have to look into developing on my own later?
This post is more concise and to the point – not to mention feasible. You can still get the information you want without making a fool of yourself and establishing yourself as “that guy” on the forum.
I guess when posting on a forum it really all comes down to these things:
- be concise
- be professional
- avoid phrases like “noob” or “need help!!”
- if proposing a project, propose something feasible and doable – and for goodness sake, make sure you can already do a lot of it on your own
- if you’re not sure how to go about a project you’re proposing, be sure to have a development/research plan for other users to read – this shows you at least put work into developing a problem-solving approach
- use common sense
Punctuation is also a huge factor. The last thing people will do is constructively answer the thread of a guy who has poor grammar.
I hope this sheds some light on what I believe to be good forum posting behavior. It’d be nice to see more people problem solving before posting on a forum – it would save a lot of people a lot of time and embarrassment in the long run. Happy posting!
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nothing too fancy right now. The next step is to organize my portfolio and get it up there – right now there’s just an anticipation page
. Even so, I’ve had a really exciting summer! I’m working on a film project with a production company in Upstate New York and I’m having a blast. I can’t say much but when I can I’ll definitely let people know more – I can say we’re using Blender though! I also got a writing contract to write a book on lighting and rendering with Blender (using the upcoming v2.50) – it’s projected to come out mid-2010, so keep your eyes open. How’s everyone else’s summer been going? Send me a comment, I’d love to hear from you!