Yet another idea for newcomer help...

Ishmael · Thu 22/04/2004 11:19:18

I got thinkin about how the newcomers could more easily gain information about which members are willing/able to help them in technical and other problems related to AGS.

And I came upon the idea of a new sticky thead to the Beginners Technical forum; something like the "Offer Your Services" thead, but into which the helpful members would post what they can help with, contact information such as Email, direct link to PM, and MSN/YIM/ICQ addresses and such, so people can easily see who can help them with what, like if theyy need step by step instructions on how to customize GUIs, they do not need to post on the forum to use bandwith, as they could very well ask someone on MSN, for example.

We'd call it "Newbie Helpers (See this thead before posting basic questions)" or something?

Any opinions?

Wormmaster · Thu 22/04/2004 12:04:06

That's good idea!

spoofer4ever · Thu 22/04/2004 13:00:23

:-\might be crazy enough to work....

Babar · Thu 22/04/2004 13:29:36

hehe... I am seeing potential in this. Each newbie could be assigned a mentor, who would guide the newbie with the way of the AGS. Once the newbie is sufficiently "learned", he can take on his own disciple. This way, through the cycle of master and disciple, the seperate mentor creeds and the way of AGS can be passed on through the generations. I suggest a name for the 1st creed. The creed of Mandarb, with the mentor DARTH MANDARB! Bwahahahahahhahahaha!

LGM · Thu 22/04/2004 13:38:28

I think we tried this idea sometime, and it worked for awhile, but quickly died out.

Ashen · Thu 22/04/2004 13:59:13

I think this is a very good idea, but I see one potential problem. As a lurker in the Beginners forum, I've noticed a lot of posts that can be answered with 'It's in the manual', or 'Read the tutorials tread', and the danger would be that anyone who agreed to be a helper would get an inbox full of this kind of question, lose interest, and not bother helping someone who actually needs it. Alternatively, it might weed out those who bother to read the stickies and follow rules from those who don't, which can't be a bad thing.

DragonRose · Thu 22/04/2004 15:57:05

Well, we do have the tutoring icon now. Maybe just a sticky in the beginners saying "Ask the people with the tutor icon for help!" rather than a new list.

stuh505 · Thu 22/04/2004 16:31:57

by the way what the heck do those icons stand for? it's great and all that you have them, but...it doesn't say what they stand for...and the thread that describes them no longer links to the images.

DragonRose · Thu 22/04/2004 17:52:48

It's all in the "offer your services" sticky at the top of this forum.

Davis · Thu 22/04/2004 18:26:40

Quote from: Ashen on Thu 22/04/2004 13:59:13
I think this is a very good idea, but I see one potential problem. As a lurker in the Beginners forum, I've noticed a lot of posts that can be answered with 'It's in the manual', or 'Read the tutorials tread', and the danger would be that anyone who agreed to be a helper would get an inbox full of this kind of question, lose interest, and not bother helping someone who actually needs it. Alternatively, it might weed out those who bother to read the stickies and follow rules from those who don't, which can't be a bad thing.

Yeah, it's one of those things that sounds good on paper but never pans out, like communism. Or using condoms. Heheh. Just kidding. About communism.

Anyhow, that's a great idea in a perfect world, but out of the apprentices assigned to mentors, there'd be those ass-clowns who would ask HOW DO I MAKE PATHS!!!!HOW DO I MAKE HOTSPOT WHERE DO BABIES COME FROM and they would ruin it for the rest of us.

MrColossal · Thu 22/04/2004 18:51:50

stuh505:

the icons will hopefully make more sense when CJ gets around to implementing them into the forums, so now i guess the l33t are telling the l33t what they can do

Ishmael · Fri 23/04/2004 06:04:57

Quote from: Davis on Thu 22/04/2004 18:26:40
Anyhow, that's a great idea in a perfect world, but out of the apprentices assigned to mentors, there'd be those ass-clowns who would ask HOW DO I MAKE PATHS!!!!HOW DO I MAKE HOTSPOT WHERE DO BABIES COME FROM and they would ruin it for the rest of us.

Heh, if they come to ask you that, I guess you're enrighted to tell them to get a life?

Anyway, The mentor idea seems a bit odd to me... This system would rely on trust and patience also.

Here is an example I just thought of:

I give my MSN address and like to PM me, along with a discription of what I can do for people, for ex. scripting help and genral AGS tech help. The next day I log into MSN, I see someone has added me to their contact list. Ok, this person asks me how to make a custom save/load GUI. As I am not a professional in coding save/load functions, I call politely tell them this, and find them a link to a tutorial or template that could help them. And the next day, another person has added me, and asks how to display the player's score on the upper-right corner of the screen. As I am into it, I call very well tell him the basics, and notify that it can also be done by the instructions in the manual.

There should maybe be some kind of rules in it too... like:

- Keep instant messager programs prior to PM and email, as people have limited inbox sizes.
- Be sure to check the manual one more time before asking very simple-seeming guestions.
- Notice that people are doing this for their free will, are not obligated to be reachable all day, and might not always have time to help.
- Stick to proper english - or if you find someone skilled in some other same language as you, that then - so everybody can understand what you need to know.

Or something, and, once again, adding links to all the usual tutorial, program, FAQ etc. theads.

And yet another idea... #agstech.

Farsight · Sat 24/04/2004 20:51:51

I think it would be a good idea as newbies would pick up the basics quicker and then be able to build on them. But before they go emailing us, they should have to read and complete the tutorial and go through the help section before coming to us.

Rave · Mon 26/04/2004 12:59:07

HI! I'm a newbie!

Who wants to be my mentor. ................well gosh, don't all raise your hands at once.

(Actually, I'm only half kidding in my question)

Ginny · Mon 26/04/2004 13:26:08

What do you mean by half-kidding?

I'm thinking, maybe if someone new wants to have a mentor, they would post in a thread and a willing mentor will volounteer or something, but the newbies need to write what is the most problematic issue for them (if any, it could just be general need for logical help), and maybe what they're goals are, how advanced they wish to be..

I really like the #ags-tech/#agstech channel idea for not wasting bandwith on simple questions. if a question is asked and isn't that simple, the person who asked it could also post in the forums, with whatever replies he got on irc, and if it's a helpful question it might get moved to the archive (the main reason for posting it - so others may use it).

Ishmael · Mon 26/04/2004 15:10:14

Yay, go #agstech!

Rave · Mon 26/04/2004 22:37:26

by half-kidding is that it was sort of meant to be funny, but I seriously need help and if someone wiser and smarter would mentor me, that would be spiffy.

Ginny · Mon 26/04/2004 22:47:48

In that case, yeah why not, I'll mentor you

. It'll be fun! I have pretty good knowledge of ags, and what i don't know I can figure out..

PM me.

Which reminds me, some people in the Offer your Services thread have posted that they can tutor, though not always ags-related, so that's a step forward.

InCreator · Tue 27/04/2004 09:50:48

Mentoring, as many other things on this planet - has two sides. Yes, there are nice noobs who ask politely for a hand at the start. And then continue working-learning on by themselves.
Then again, there's some of them, who just keep bugging and asking and this all becomes "make my game" situation. People like this is only bad thing about this idea: It's damn sure that they'll flood in.

Well, whoever manages to learn by them own, more potentionally becomes a productive expert game maker too.

I think that There could be some sticky thread presenting all expert members who are willing to help noobs at the moment. With MSN adresseses or whatsoever. And whenever they decide to stop that, they could remove themselves easily from that list so they won't be bugged anymore.

Andail · Tue 27/04/2004 10:09:04

Yepp, the mentoring system has been tried out pretty seriously, but there wasn't enough interest from the newbies. I'm not saying it will never work again, though

PS:
And, hm, if you're gonna create a mentor-service, I'd recommend setting up pretty strict criteria for the mentors-to-be, to ensure the newbies that they get someone who actually knows something, and who's been around for a good while.