saffeine
Member
i want to preface this post firstly with a disclaimer: this is not meant to target an individual, group of individuals, or a specific corner of the community. if you feel like this is targeted at you, then please consider why you believe that to be the case. likewise, if you feel as though this is targeted towards somebody else and a name comes to mind, please keep it to yourself. i don't wish to stir up drama so much as i just want to address an issue that i've noticed across several threads. with that out of the way, here are the thoughts i want to spew.
i feel as though members of the community are developing some real nasty attitudes towards others, and it's disheartening to see. this is more so in regards to the 'please help' threads. new gamemaker users are barely given a palpable response unless it's laced with bigotry, elitism, needless criticism, or just some other form of response that serves as anything but an answer to their questions. this is just one example of bad attitude, with another being conversation between members on various other threads whether it's on topic or not.
i get it, i really do. time is precious, we don't want to spend it on helping someone, or bickering with somebody else, but it isn't a warrant for condescension.
i've seen users ask questions like 'is x possible in gamemaker', or 'how can i do y in gamemaker', and in fairness a hefty amount of answers are quite helpful.
on the other hand, i've seen responses that boil down to 'no. you aren't ready.' with no actual basis to the claim other than the fact that the way they type doesn't meet someone else's standards, or that they haven't yet figured out how to do one thing, so tackling another thing is already a lost cause until they become 'a better programmer'.
i can understand that inexperienced users shouldn't be trying to sprint before they can crawl, but why must we give them a hard 'no.' without a pointer in the right direction?
i've been using gamemaker since i was somewhere around the age of 11, and i understood barely anything about programming.
occasionally i would come to the forums ( on an older account, long since lost ) and appeal for help, to which i would get either somebody putting the time into doing the work for me, or at the very least telling me where to go.
don't get me wrong, i don't think any experienced programmer should be doing someone else's work for them. you don't learn by copy + pasting a script that someone else spoon fed to you on the forums, but some actual help wouldn't go amiss.
if i came to these forums as they currently are at the age of 11 and was criticised on my harmless mannerisms by somebody with no interest in actually helping me, i don't think i would have ever pursued game development as a hobby.
even now, i type in all lowercase because it's just something i prefer to do, but that isn't something that should be detracting from my value as a wannabe developer, nor should any lack of experience in the field.
if somebody is asking for help, then make a choice. help them, or don't help them.
if you aren't willing to sink the time into holding somebody's hand for a few posts, then don't engage.
if you are willing to sink the time into holding somebody's hand for a while, then try to be clear with them. tell them where they're going wrong, show them the correct practice, be constructive.
if somebody is clearly not ready to tackle something they're asking about, let them know, but additionally tell them where they should start, and where they need to be before trying again.
you don't have to write somebody else's code to be a respectable human being, just don't be condescending, and don't play all high and mighty just because you can.
i'm not going to sit here and beg for people to change the way they speak to each other. after all, i'm just some random person on the internet with no credibility.
this isn't my place to say what people should or shouldn't do. everyone has their free will, they can do with it what they please.
all i hope is that maybe we can all reflect on where we are as a community, and strive to cultivate something far more pleasant than what i currently see in it.
if anyone has any further input, then i'm all ears. but again, please don't name any names, or use this point to attack anybody else.
oh, and mods, if this thread is in the wrong place or somehow breaks the guidelines of which i couldn't find a broken rule in, then by all means send it to the grave.
i feel as though members of the community are developing some real nasty attitudes towards others, and it's disheartening to see. this is more so in regards to the 'please help' threads. new gamemaker users are barely given a palpable response unless it's laced with bigotry, elitism, needless criticism, or just some other form of response that serves as anything but an answer to their questions. this is just one example of bad attitude, with another being conversation between members on various other threads whether it's on topic or not.
i get it, i really do. time is precious, we don't want to spend it on helping someone, or bickering with somebody else, but it isn't a warrant for condescension.
i've seen users ask questions like 'is x possible in gamemaker', or 'how can i do y in gamemaker', and in fairness a hefty amount of answers are quite helpful.
on the other hand, i've seen responses that boil down to 'no. you aren't ready.' with no actual basis to the claim other than the fact that the way they type doesn't meet someone else's standards, or that they haven't yet figured out how to do one thing, so tackling another thing is already a lost cause until they become 'a better programmer'.
i can understand that inexperienced users shouldn't be trying to sprint before they can crawl, but why must we give them a hard 'no.' without a pointer in the right direction?
i've been using gamemaker since i was somewhere around the age of 11, and i understood barely anything about programming.
occasionally i would come to the forums ( on an older account, long since lost ) and appeal for help, to which i would get either somebody putting the time into doing the work for me, or at the very least telling me where to go.
don't get me wrong, i don't think any experienced programmer should be doing someone else's work for them. you don't learn by copy + pasting a script that someone else spoon fed to you on the forums, but some actual help wouldn't go amiss.
if i came to these forums as they currently are at the age of 11 and was criticised on my harmless mannerisms by somebody with no interest in actually helping me, i don't think i would have ever pursued game development as a hobby.
even now, i type in all lowercase because it's just something i prefer to do, but that isn't something that should be detracting from my value as a wannabe developer, nor should any lack of experience in the field.
if somebody is asking for help, then make a choice. help them, or don't help them.
if you aren't willing to sink the time into holding somebody's hand for a few posts, then don't engage.
if you are willing to sink the time into holding somebody's hand for a while, then try to be clear with them. tell them where they're going wrong, show them the correct practice, be constructive.
if somebody is clearly not ready to tackle something they're asking about, let them know, but additionally tell them where they should start, and where they need to be before trying again.
you don't have to write somebody else's code to be a respectable human being, just don't be condescending, and don't play all high and mighty just because you can.
i'm not going to sit here and beg for people to change the way they speak to each other. after all, i'm just some random person on the internet with no credibility.
this isn't my place to say what people should or shouldn't do. everyone has their free will, they can do with it what they please.
all i hope is that maybe we can all reflect on where we are as a community, and strive to cultivate something far more pleasant than what i currently see in it.
if anyone has any further input, then i'm all ears. but again, please don't name any names, or use this point to attack anybody else.
oh, and mods, if this thread is in the wrong place or somehow breaks the guidelines of which i couldn't find a broken rule in, then by all means send it to the grave.