Welcome :-)
I recently had the last straw with EQ, and i closed my account. I've cleaned off my linux box and sold it, and am now cleaning out my bookmark file getting rid of the EQ sites i will no longer need, and i thought i'd just put one last post here before i delete this one two.
Firstly i have to say thanks to the developesr of showeq, you did a brilliant job, and i enjoyed your product it's the only thing that kept me playing as long as i did, keep up the good work. It's so nice to see such devotion and hard work put into a free product, as well as the outstanding way in which you listen to your user base and develop it as your users want (although i guess if a lot of your developers are also your user base then not so supprising :-). If only the people that made the commercial products could do this well!
Secondly, well done to those people that are posting usefull information here on the boards, both in the form of help, and also FAQ's and user guides, as well as ideas for future features.
But, the one thing i do see here (and although i see it on other boards it it most prevalent on thses boards, maybe something to do with the linux tech environment?) is the Board Natzi. By this i mean people that cruise the boards, looking for fresh posts to pounce on with the good old "learn to use search" reply.
Now i agree, the search feature is a very handy tool, and should be used. When used right It can often find the answer you are looking for, saving you time and not filling the board up with repetative questions.
But you should also remember most of the questions come from people that are new to seq, and are probably new to the forum thing as well (i know i was when i first started using seq) The search button is not prominent on this board (it is much easier to see on some other types of forum) and a newbie can often not realize it's true power. I still have trouble finding the best search phrases top use.
So rather than leaning down from our ivory towers, commanding those ignorant worms to use the tools they were offered, lets try and be a bit friendlier. How about you tell em what they want to know, then explain that if they used the search engine they wouldn't have had to wait for the answer. Maybe give them an example of search strings to use, in case thay run into trouble. IE try giving positive reinforcement.
Lets face it, if you have nothing better to do that cruise the boards adding 'use the search' replies, you have the time to add something a little more constructive. Yes, let them know they can search, but let them know we as a community do care and can help (we know you can: most of the people i have seen post 'use the search' messages have also provided very helpfull replies on occasion too!)
Please remember, unless you are dilbert, you were new to all this too, and you had to learn the ropes. Why not make it as pleasant for others as you whish it had been for you. If you have the energy to come to the board, read the posts, and place a reply, is it that much more effort to add some encoragement?
For all those of you that say you are sick of the same old questions, i say to you why are you reading these these new posts then replying? If you bother to reply, you either want to help the person or piss em off. if you want to piss em off then you must be able to do a better job than 'use the search'. If you want to help then provide some decent help.
Some people use the old "Give the man a fish and he eats once, but teach a man to fish and he will eat for the rest of his life", how about "Feed the man and Teach him to fish, and he will understand what a gift the skill of fishing will mean to him"
In summary, if you can't think of anything more usefull to put in a reply other than 'use search' (ie don't know the answer yourself, couldn't be arsed to type it in etc) then at least be nice about it, or just don't bother.
Anyway, thanks for reading. I hope SEQ goes on for a long long time, and my thanks again to the whole seq community for it's help in the past. All the best
Gungadin
an Ex EQ'er
PS: I'll be deleting this bookmark after this post so wont be able to participate in flame wars, sorry :-)