In SX Microcontrollers, SX/B Compiler and SX-Key Tool, Coriolis wrote: I feel like I need to step in to express my viewpoint. Those members that don't have a (Parallax) next to thier names are volunteers, we receive no pay for our help and do it out of a general feeling of generosity. As such none of us is obligated to help any of you in any way, we do simply out of our own personal pleasure of doing so. Those who ask questions greatly contribute or detract from the amount of pleasure we gain from answering questions. [b][i]Way[/i][/b] too many people come on the forums treating us like a parent who spoils thier child out of fearing the child will dislike us if we don't cater to thier every whim. Those of us who frequently answer questions learned this stuff by doing the grunt work, just getting down to it and figuring it out ourselves, it is not too much for us to expect this from others. We are happy to point the way to get them going, but we simply don't have the time or inclination to do a project for someone without being hired as a consultant. Im not that inclined to even answer someone's question which happens to be identical to a question [i]half way down the page of threads.[/i] If they are too lazy to even read the first page of threads, IMO they are too lazy to follow through with the project. Another common failing is many members throw an entire idea out there for us to comment/fill in the blanks on. We are less likely to participate because of this, instead it is best to ask a specific question on a facet of the project that you are currently working on, to respond to an entire project simply takes too much time, remember we arn't getting paid for this and large overarching design questions can slip our answering because it is just too time intensive to explain everything, especially when reiterative explanations are required (Mike's "dumbing down" scenario). About the level of explaination we provide, we have no way of knowing what a poster's level of skill is at; other than an occasional "Im a complete noob" comment, we have no way of knowing if the questioner already understands the background nessesary to understand the answer to thier question. Again from a time perspective, we don't provide the answer [i]and[/i] the background nessesary to understand the answer. Leaving instead the filling in of missing background through another set of questions by the original questioner, frequently this is not done, leaving us to not know if our answer is understood or not, and we don't have the time to hold hands to make sure it is, it is the questioner's perogative to ask the follow up questions. Ive never known this forum to be clicky as some have called it, if you show respect to the people who participate the most in answering questions, you will receive it in return. Ive never seen a question that we refused to answer outside of the person having a history of disrespect or just being repeatedly bone-headed. Sometimes its simply a matter that not that many people who participate frequently have done what is being asked, Like as far as the Matrix LEDs questions, I know none of the regulars have done projects on this, at least none have said so. There have been other poeple who have done it, but they dissapear once thier questions are answered, and therefore are not around to answer other's questions. Now none of these comments are directed to either Mike or Kevin, I have no memory of either of you doing the things above. Mike will attest that if a person asks me, shows a real interest and is patient, I will reciprocate and continue to explain until the concept is understood. Just remember we are here at our own pleasure, you tipping the balance of that one way or another will affect our desire to help you. ---------- End of Message ---------- You can view the post on-line at: http://forums.parallax.com/forums/default.aspx?f=7&p=1&m=97240#m97308 Need assistance? Send an email to the Forum Administrator at forumadmin@parallax.com The Parallax Forums are powered by dotNetBB Forums, copyright 2002-2005 (http://www.dotNetBB.com)