Call to Arms - Keeping a Valued Resource Valuable

[Richard Sennett 2,499]

I agree with that!  Brings back lots of memories too....

 

Must be said you do an amazing job Jim explaining to members how to fix and resolve problems thanks so much for that - one other point yah questions are asked and have been answered in other post but new posts often lead down other interesting paths and or something new comes of it not mentioned in older posts - just my 2 cents - I always search before posting but I have been doing this a long time unlike many others

[gfd 15]

So where have we got to? Answer questions that have been asked a thousand times or encourage people to think for themselves a bit? :unsure:

 

Good point. But quite often someone starting a thread doesn't even quite know what the right question is. If folks feel uncomfortable asking questions here, they'll find somewhere else to ask them.

[StoneEyes 1]

Just today I read a post on searching for something and learned how to use the Google search button.  Had no clue, but didn't want to ask the stupid question because at age 74 I don't like getting a snotty response from someone unless they also have the info I need. 

 

 

Chuck Nance

[BeechPapa 32]

A while ago, on some thread, I started helping a man with Saitek hardware issues and it immediately became apparent I should be talking with him on the phone to expedite the solution. We traded numbers, and what started as tech help evolved into a friendship that spanned many different interests (far more than Flight Simming) and multiple generations. Bill is in his 70’s, I am in my 30’s. Quite a separation in generations, yet Bill is easily the younger spirited person between us. His constant curiosity for new experiences has pushed me out of my old, stodgy ways on many occasions, convincing me to relinquish by FPS obsession and enjoy the joyful aspects of flight simming, and new addons that expand those horizons. It was Bill who finally convinced me to install AI ships (which has been extremely rewarding) and to finally get the GTN750 (also rewarding). His openness to new experiences extends to far more than flight sim, he is an avid gamer, and a man with many experiences in life and stories to tell. And I can’t begin to tell you how nice it is to finally have a real human being to talk to who is actually interested in this stuff. Unfortunately, we are located on the East and West coast of the USA, so talking on phone is our only option - though we have flown together in multiplayer.   

 

Though Bill used to sell computers, some of the aspects of the modern computer world are beyond his current technical expertise. And with many of the addons that I convince him to buy or addons he eventually convinces me to buy (we are sort of like enablers for each other, which has been mutually bad for our wallets) there’s a good chance he’ll need some kind of guidance. Some of the information he needs is available in the manuals (some of those manuals being over 1000 pages long), and some of it is just in community knowledge found in threads (which are admittedly locatable by Google search, but would take possibly hours of sifting). Bill certainly has more wisdom than me by a long, long shot – wish I could have that kind of wisdom myself, life would be a lot easier for me - but I do have the ability to find new information more quickly, and absorb it into memory. He could spend hours digging for some morsel of info in a manual that a 5 minute phone call (that I would personally enjoy) could take care of. My point is this… if I were to point Bill to Google whenever he needed help, including when he originally asked the question about his Saitek hardware as a “stranger” on the forum, I wouldn’t have the incredible friendship that I do with him now. And every time he needs some help figuring out an FMC or GPS that gives me another excuse to chat with him and catch up on life. By denying people help, you deny your own possibilities of having new experiences in life, meeting new people, or bringing those people into the community.

 

And on a final note, just looking at this issue pragmatically, if Google search was capable enough to answer every single question – the Oz of the Flight Sim world  – why have a forum anyway? I can’t tell you how many times I have Googled information only to find multiple threads filled with “Google it” posts. Oh, the irony.

[Richard Sennett 2,499]

 

A while ago, on some thread, I started helping a man with Saitek hardware issues

 

Great story - thanks for sharing

[Jim Young 2,356]

if Google search was capable enough to answer every single question – the Oz of the Flight Sim world – why have a forum anyway?

Agree with Rich and your comments!!

 

Best regards,

[n4gix 4,947]

And on a final note, just looking at this issue pragmatically, if Google search was capable enough to answer every single question – the Oz of the Flight Sim world  – why have a forum anyway? I can’t tell you how many times I have Googled information only to find multiple threads filled with “Google it” posts. Oh, the irony.

Thanks for sharing the story!. The simple (and correct) answer to your somewhat rhetorical question is that without the forums, Google wouldn't have the data available to scan and index...

 

You have zeroed in on the single largest hurdle anyone faces when needing to conduct a search; the ability to narrow down and focus on cogent 'keywords'.

 

Alternatively, it is rather amazing how well clearly typing out one's actual question will yield quick results...

 

Not surprisingly to me at least, quite often the links that show up nearest the top are AVSIM... :Applause:

[Guest]

Agree, I use Google search for my research and AVSIM is the one that comes up the most often and at the top of the search list.  A little sifting thru the jibber jabber to find what I was looking for ... doesn't take too long.

 

As far as trying to get others to search before posting ... just not gonna happen.  In some cases if I even try to point out the search they'll come back at me annoyed saying "are you going to help or not" ... it's generation "me me me me".  I've since given up trying to make some people realize their time isn't more valuable than my time or anyone else's time ... I usually just get involved in new questions and/or retorting huge technical errors and/or wrong information ... and sometimes get sucked into trolling posts (I just need to learn how to get better at avoiding those).

 

But, fsdeveloper.com wiki is a well organized source ... don't shoot the messenger!  However there are many many times where I've thought the SDK docs are more about "this is how we want it to work" and not "this is how it actually works or doesn't".  But fsdeveloper.com wiki does have it's weak points ... for example if I type in "HDR" in the search I get nothing, nada, zippo!  However, it does encourage user contribution but I'm not sure how the user information is filtered and who filters it.

 

Cheers, Rob.

[n4gix 4,947]

But fsdeveloper.com wiki does have it's weak points ... for example if I type in "HDR" in the search I get nothing, nada, zippo!  However, it does encourage user contribution but I'm not sure how the user information is filtered and who filters it.

Like any Wiki, the content is created by interested individuals, and may be edited by anyone. On the other hand, every article submitted is reviewed for accuracy by Jon, Arno, and maybe a half-dozen others.

 

Any "edits" made are likewise reviewed. Not too long ago there was an instance where a person made some questionable changes to one of the articles and it came up for discussion very quickly in one of the forums. It was rather quickly restored to its original format.

[mgh 89]

FlightSim's FSX forum helpfully has a sticky at the top:
 

A note to those creating threads regarding FSX crashes
Many people face this problem, i.e. FSX Crashes. Before you start a thread regarding your problem, make sure you include the following information as its very helpful in detecting the problem. Maybe you can solve it yourself after checking the details.

Go to Start. Search for Events Logs. Open View event logs. Navigate to Custom Views and then Administrative Events and locate the error by FSX.

I'll show you an example of the error details : .....

 

Despite threads like this appear:
 

MSFX won't start all of a sudden
mfsx has stopped working
A problem caused the program to stop working correctly.
Windows will close the program and notify you if a solution is available

Above is the message I get when I try to start MSFX Gold Edition.
I ran repair but no success.

System is ASUS Sabertooth 990FX MB 8 Core Processor 4.33 Gig - 16 Gig mem
Asus GTX 760 2 mb GDDR 5 - Asus VG278 Monitor 3D - 64 Bit MS Win 7 professional

xxxx is hoping to get back in the air SOON - HELP!!!

and
 

FSX Crashing Problem
Hey guys!

My FSX runs perfectly. My computer has great specs, and i can run almost everything in FSX without lag. But, there's one thing, that freaks me out: Very often, when i play FSX, it just crashed in mid-flight saying: Microsoft Flight Simulator has stopped working. I'm using Windows 8. Hope you can/will help me.

-yyyyy from Denmark.

 

[HUSSAR 263]

@ Gerry:  Great post.... brings back memories.

 

I remember posting a few questions like that when I first started with Flight Sim Gerry.  Fortunately I found some useful information on the net but it wasn't until 2003 that that I found AVSIM and I got the help I needed.  AVSIM has come a long way since I first started here and has been a valuable resource to find what I need and to give help to those that need it.

[Jim Young 2,356]

FlightSim's FSX forum helpfully has a sticky at the top

 

AVSIM has a pinned topic too in the CTD Forum directing everyone to the AVSIM CTD Guide before posting.  You think anyone checked out the guide before posting?  Well, some have but not many.  Many topics are one-liners stating something like "I was flying between New York and Paris in the PMDG and FSX suddenly shutdown and crashed.  I need help immediately!"

 

Thanks for posting some great posts from FlightSim Gerry!  We always wondered what their posts were like!  :rolleyes:

 

Best regards,

[dgraham1284 92]

I haven't read anything, but this is how I operate. Online or in a retail store. I look first myself and if I can't find it, I ask for help.  Maybe that is the same mentality of refusing to ask for directions and get more lost. Or not reading directions of a manual. Just my .02

[rquick 19]

So someone does a search and finds a thread that kinda, sorta answers their question, but not completely, they are likely to add a post to the thread looking for more information. If that thread happens to be a year or so old, they may then be scolded for posting on an old thread. "Seriously? Dude, did you even look at the date on that thread?"... Pick your poison I guess.

[JD-Slow-Thumbs 0]

***** Quote - n4gix (Moderator) - Post #15 - Posted 20 February 2015 - 09:33 AM
First of all, it's all fine and dandy to suggest "searching" as a first step in anyone's quest for answers. However, that presupposes two conditions, (1) that one knows how to frame their question(s) precisely, and (2) that they know how to generate the "keywords" required to even begin their "search."
***** CloseQuote

 

This bit about just asking a question in a way that can be answered,

it is very important, and not to be taken for granted in a world that has gone from books, to magazine articles, to facebook entries, to tweets, to text messages. 

 

A while ago I asked a question "Noob Seeking Fast Single",
and received several good answers (many suggesting the RealAir Lancair Legacy),
but I knew that "fast" and "single" would be worthless as keywords to a search engine

 

Also, when somebody asks what is the hotest plane for VFR / IFR / ATC / CrossCountry / etc...
This years answer might be different from the "answer" from ten years ago.  

 

On the flipside of this discussion...
If somebody describes a "Crash To Desktop" maybe they should spend ten minutes looking around the site to see if it is a major topic of discussion. 

 

Mea Culpa, yes, even I have asked a dumb question "Cliffnotes for G-1000" and got told that it came packaged with FSX in the learning topics, oops

 

Just a small and late contribution

JD