Quote:Original post by Kest If you ask me, some people, especially more intelligent people, are arrogant, unhappy, and unfriendly to just about everyone.
So many idiots, so little ammo...
Quote:It doesn't matter if you're on the internet, on the phone, or face to face. They're asses, and there's no dancing around that fact.
Have you considered the possibility that being constantly asked stupid questions makes people unhappy and unfriendly?
I used to write manuals and user guides for a living. Nobody ever, EVER, reads them. So I stopped doing it.
Quote:However, if you need expert advice, and most experts happen to be asses, then you're just going to have to learn to deal with it. Suck it up and try not to take the knifing in the side so personally. They do it to just about everyone.
Exactly. Don't take it personally: I detest everybody with equal venom and vitriol. I don't even know why I bother coming here. I'm sure there was a reason for it, but it's been lost in the red, red haze of my universal, cosmic hatred of all things Homo Sapiens*.
If I could find a decent cave with central heating, a nearby Tesco and broadband, I'd be living in it right now. In the meantime, I'll make do with this basement flat in Gravesend.
*(If ever there was a case for suing under the Trades Descriptions Act, it's this.)
Sean Timarco Baggaley (Est. 1971.)Warning: May contain bollocks.
Quote:Original post by Nurgle You are without a doubt the most offensive person ever to be given a position of authority at GDNet. I seem to remember you once bragging about how you were always the first to flame people?
No, what I said is that I have no compunctions about responding in kind. (I largely still don't.) When I first joined GDNet, I was much more confrontational, but it's been eight years. Give a dude a break.
For the most part, these days, I can't be bothered to wade into anything that isn't a straightforward technical discussion. I'm terse and a bit profane, but I don't aim to insult anyone.
For that matter, participating in the forums is increasingly a tedious affair. It's the same thing, over and over, ad infinitum. I've decided to just write a book, after which I can either point people to a specific chapter/paragraph and focus on genuinely interesting questions, or just move on to other interests (ie, leave the community).
I'm just posting to (respectfully!) disagree with those who feel that the GDNet community is not, in general, friendly and polite, or that some people get away with too much here, or that the rating system is broken or ineffectual and should be removed.
This is anecdotal of course, but when I first got interested in game programming and started participating in forums such as this one, I made some 'newbie' errors in a few posts, and got called on it. On at least a couple of occasions, I even experienced the type of behavior some of you are desribing here - I was patronized and condenscended to in a way that, I'll admit, made me pretty angry at the time.
But you know what? Miraculously, I survived. Furthermore, in the years since I've learned quite a bit and have become a reasonably competent programmer. And furthermore, at least half of what I know I've learned on this forum and others like it. No, I didn't like being condescended to, but I can tell you that after that, I quickly became unconfused about the things I had been confused about and firmly corrected on!
In short, I got over my hurt feelings, took whatever knowledge I could gain from the experience, and moved on, and that's what I recommend to others who find their feathers getting ruffled by some of our more illustrious posters in 'For Beginners' or elsewhere.
I'll also say that, after having done a quite a bit of posting here, I find my posts becoming increasingly terse and to the point (as Oluseyi said, we often end up addressing many of the same points over and over here). I can imagine that maybe this 'terseness' could be interpreted as rudeness in some cases, but it's really just intended to be direct and efficient. Looking back at some of the times when I took offense at others' posts, I can see now that maybe they, too, were just being direct and efficient. This is another thing to keep in mind when participating in these forums.
As for the rating system, the mods and administrators have said on a number of occasions that the rating system has served, and continues to serve, its intended purpose. Some people don't like it, but I think most people either like it, or don't have strong feelings either way. Many of the things people complain about - reprisal ratings, 'popularity' ratings - are fairly rare, I think, and almost certainly end up being nothing more than noise. And speaking for myself, at least, I've found the system effective. I'm a fairly polite poster in general, but the fact that I have a rating associated with my profile, and that I care about that rating, motivates me to think just a little more carefully before posting than I otherwise might to make sure that the quality of my post is high, and that I'm being 'friendly and helpful', as they say. That in turn, I believe, improves the quality of the site as a whole, so in that way, I think the rating system does (or at least can) serve its intended purpose.
Again, this is all said with respect to those who disagree, and is just intended to add another point of view to the discussion.
Quote:Original post by Oluseyi No, what I said is that I have no compunctions about responding in kind. (I largely still don't.) When I first joined GDNet, I was much more confrontational, but it's been eight years. Give a dude a break.
*sigh*
I've been away far too long...
After careful deliberation, I have come to the conclusion that Nazrix is not cool. I am sorry for any inconvienience my previous mistake may have caused. We now return you to the original programming
While a modicum of professional courtesy is certainly desirable (if not required) 1: you are not paying a professional for their services here. If you post a stupid question that you could've taken the time to look up, you will likely experience a backlash. Don't take it to heart, we've all done it. So just look on it as a learning experience and try not to do it again. If you insist on arguing a a blatantly wrong idea to those of us who know better, expect to be called an idiot.
2: even in professional life, there is only so far professional courtesy extends. We've all worked with Wally or even worse still, bob. You're an adult, take criticism like one.
As for the rating system and the "cult of celebrity" within GDNet, I don't have a problem with it. GDNet is a community, those with higher ratings (generally) have put more into the community and so are allowed more leeway. It's the same way you'd let your friends tell you you're being an idiot. The flip-side is that there is a limit. You can take only so much before you have to examine whether you want to be part of the community. But before you run home crying, ask yourself if maybe you're the problem...
if you think programming is like sex, you probably haven't done much of either.-------------- - capn_midnight
Quote:Original post by Nurgle I've been away far too long...
Welcome back, by the way.
(Also, you're the one who recommended me as a moderator (we met on the Indrema forums), to succeed you in Everything Unix. So you foisted this evil on the world! [smile])
Quote:Original post by Nurgle I've been away far too long...
Welcome back, by the way.
(Also, you're the one who recommended me as a moderator (we met on the Indrema forums), to succeed you in Everything Unix. So you foisted this evil on the world! [smile])
Yes. I recommended you so you could continue by unending torment of clueless n00bs while I worked on other diabolical and unmentionable schemes. And what have you achieved? "Blunt" and "Direct" and sometimes "Abrasive". Pathetic. If I had known you would have ended up another castrated newb-helping do-gooder, I would never have recommended you for the position.
I mean, this posted opened with you being compared to Gordon Ramsey. If you did your job properly, the culinary master your visage would invoke should be more along the lines of Jeffrey Dahmer, not bloody Gordan Ramsey.
Sheesh.
After careful deliberation, I have come to the conclusion that Nazrix is not cool. I am sorry for any inconvienience my previous mistake may have caused. We now return you to the original programming
Quote:Original post by Kest If you ask me, some people, especially more intelligent people, are arrogant, unhappy, and unfriendly to just about everyone.
So many idiots, so little ammo...
Quote:It doesn't matter if you're on the internet, on the phone, or face to face. They're asses, and there's no dancing around that fact.
Have you considered the possibility that being constantly asked stupid questions makes people unhappy and unfriendly?
No, but I've considered the possibility that becoming more knowledgeable and more intelligent makes reality seem less wondrous and less impressive. That's enough of a reason to be a little sad.
There's still hope - on the creative side of the universe. Anyone who finds themselves so left-brained that they're getting depressed should try developing the right side.
Quote:Original post by Kest No, but I've considered the possibility that becoming more knowledgeable and more intelligent makes reality seem less wondrous and less impressive. That's enough of a reason to be a little sad.
There's still hope - on the creative side of the universe. Anyone who finds themselves so left-brained that they're getting depressed should try developing the right side.
Quote:Original post by Codeka Wow, that's a great philosophy!
I LOLed. [lol]
Quote:Original post by Kest No, but I've considered the possibility that becoming more knowledgeable and more intelligent makes reality seem less wondrous and less impressive. That's enough of a reason to be a little sad.
There's still hope - on the creative side of the universe. Anyone who finds themselves so left-brained that they're getting depressed should try developing the right side.
You're just making assumptions, don't go touting them as fact. Besides, brain lateralization is not as clear cut as you think it is.