Are we too harsh?

[Kaynin]

I feel the need to quest! (This thread doesn't count! XD Buddy! )

[jettmartinez]

My $.02 ....

When some one comes in with "Haiz guyz! I wants to multpwn but puters are too hard, now givs me leetz skills!"
Harsh away

But to be fair on the other side, the stickes are a mess (and the moves to a wikki just jumbled it more). The new mult-boxers forum has 4 or 5 stickies that basically say START HERE! ALL you need to know! Then each have separate bits and pieces. The 4 other's that are 6 layers down the technical chain and bound to scare off the timid. Jump to the macro fourm and there's another 4 or 5 that seem to be the same things done different ways. It certainly not the clear and concise starting point one might expect.

But to flip back to the other side, if they're going to be the type of person who enjoys multi-boxing and all it's tinkering, they'll be the type to plow the the spaghetti pile of stickies to get what they need. It is there, just not always obvious where to start.

[Kaynin]

So, what we need is this.

The sticky of all stickies!

One sticky, crying, pointing, screaming to people to read first. With in it a categorised overview to... Other stickies!

Hey hey hey... That might work!

[Boylston]

Here's my opinion on things:

I think some of our more dedicated members go a little "over the top" at times. Fursphere is a great example!! If you ask a question that hasn't been asked (and answered) 10,000 times in a very easy to find place (e.g. wiki or search), provide good details, he's likely to really unload and give you some super interesting advice or feedback. (Same is true of me-- I got so worked up trying to help someone understand how arena points work that I ended up writing a 2 page tutorial on the topic.) However, Fursphere goes equally over the top with posts like the one majoho started ("Tell me what is best", but no other qualifiers) in his capacity to not actually be helpful.

Getting the same poorly-researched question with not enough background information over and over is frustrating. In the case of multiboxing, it may be better for us to scare off a few people who want to be spoon-fed, because it's not like there's a really hard part at the beginning and then it's easy. The "what class should I roll" and the "how can I get a cracked copy of Keyclone" and the "please set all my macros up" requests can be followed on by an endless seas of questions like "how do I get 2000 rating in 5v5 now that I dinged 70" and "plz tell me how to 10-box Karazhan".

On the whole, I think the forums are pretty helpful. If you can't deal with an occasionally over-the-top Fursphere, you're ill-equipped to handle the people on your server who are going to report you or accuse you of having no life.

What a lot of folks fail to account for is exactly how rude it is for someone to waltz into a community forum space, skip the process of understanding the social norms that may exist, and selfishly ask for help with a problem that may be well-documented or discussed. Imagine meeting your new neighbor by having him break down the front door, walk into your living room, plop down on your couch, and ask for your spouse to get him a drink. That's a far cry different from, "<Ding dong> Hi, I wanted to introduce myself. I'm Chip, your new neighbor. I just moved in and the water company seems to have forgotten to turn on my service. Could I trouble you for a glass of water?"

[Gallo]

I've been in this community for about a year now, and about every 2 months this exact topic comes up. Here is a summary of what happens, and what always will happen:

- Someone asks if we're too harsh to people
- Someone points out that hardly anyone reads stickies before posting
- Someone points out that we should be nice
- Everyone loses interest in thread

[OzPhoenix]

Ok, well, I'm pretty new to these forums and not much less newer to multiboxing as my signature shows, but I've tried as hard as I could to avoid asking the sort of "what does [insert sticky-answered topic] do?" questions.

That said, much of the stickied information - and the wiki's for that matter - isn't terribly well laid out. It's been an exercise in determined trolling to find some of the information I needed, and despite the titles to the contrary, I've yet to find any single authoratative "New 5 Boxer Go Here" thread/sticky/wiki. There's some that go close, but not one that you could say, start from scratch, print this out, and having a 5-box team up and running, levelling etc.

So, guess I'll take a shot at writing one, from go to woah, for a 5-box Shammy team (which seems to be the predominant starters choice). Will post it when I'm done.

[Ken]

As a result of this discussion(and earlier consideration), I decided it was time to create a better "getting started" guide on the wiki. The previous one was very specific about hardware and software considerations, where the current one is more of a generic guide with simple practical samples and most of all: links to all the relevant pages with specific/detailed information.
http://www.dual-boxing.com/wiki/inde...etting_started

(the old article is still mentioned in the introduction)

[Greythan]

I'm new to the multi-boxing realm. (Team is levels 19/20 atm)

This site has been invaluable in getting me rolling. Keyclone was an easy purchase for me (I can afford it). The stickies/wiki are all very helpful.

I would say this: the best message boards I've seen for "technical" gaming topics like this one adopt an /ignore feature for posts containing questions that can easily be answered by reading stickies/wiki. Flaming them or bumping them, or maybe worse (answering them) only fans the fire. My two coppers.

I'd also say that our wiki and stickies could use some work. (Not a criticism as building those resources takes EFFORT and TIME from the most experienced end of this community's membership.) There seems to be a ton of really great content buried in posts. Everyone loves to flame the official class forums, but some of those stickies server to really filter the basic to intermediate queries. As the stickies/wiki mature here, the posts by well-intentioned, researching newbies (like myself) will decrease. That will generally leave just the "hold my hand" posts that can be ignored.

[Gallo]

I've yet to find any single authoratative "New 5 Boxer Go Here" thread/sticky/wiki. There's some that go close, but not one that you could say, start from scratch, print this out, and having a 5-box team up and running, levelling etc.

So, guess I'll take a shot at writing one, from go to woah, for a 5-box Shammy team (which seems to be the predominant starters choice). Will post it when I'm done.

There are a couple of stickied posts labeled "How to 2,3,4 or 5 Box" and 2 Wiki Posts about leveling/PVEing with 5x Shaman groups. So I guess it's not "New Boxer go here", but it's damn near a synonym.

[jettmartinez]

As a result of this discussion(and earlier consideration), I decided it was time to create a better "getting started" guide on the wiki. The previous one was very specific about hardware and software considerations, where the current one is more of a generic guide with simple practical samples and most of all: links to all the relevant pages with specific/detailed information.
http://www.dual-boxing.com/wiki/inde...etting_started

(the old article is still mentioned in the introduction)

Now that's a good starting place. Nice work. :thumbsup: