How times change

[Hogan1956]

Some of you know me as Echoes, some as Terry, most as RR_Stampede....any way you put it most of you know me. How you know me if you know me at all dosen't matter. But i got something to say, not to the newbies but to the oldtimers. I'm glad i'm not trying to learn this game these days. People don't seem as friendly as 5 years ago, and they played for money then. I don't have enough fingers and or toes to count the people who helped me when i started playing. These days you ask a question and you get told that question was answered, and instead of getting an answer you get sent to a link which is worse cause then you have to look for the question you asked.or worse have to join a new site.
Those of us who know the game have a responsability to teach those who are just learning they are the future of the game just as we were years ago. Lets put all the marbles out there and teach. afterall the game is bigger than any of us.
RR_Stampede

[jeff1955]

I'm with you Echoes, apart from the unknown number of peeps who simply play this game alone, not connected, and as an 'arcade' version of a real game, never venturing into the tournies, or interacting in the forum, some of the real fun is meeting real people with Links as a common interest. We all want Links to carry on, and Mark is making that happen. It can't prosper without new members joining and this forum is the place many come to to get the help they need to feel comfortable and happy playing the game. I have visited forums for help in other games where my first question gets stamped on so hard I don't go back. Its a characteristic of someone just starting, to post in the wrong place, or ask the same questions which are dealt with over and over again. If the answers were obvious then those questions wouldn't keep getting asked. I have nothing against showing someone a previous thread that fullly answers a question, but in doing so I like to think I would be welcoming and friendly. I also think that mostly people who help on here DO do it in a way that makes new members want to come back. That way we will give this old game the best chance of staying alive for the rest of us to enjoy.

[terrell]

terry, lemme start by saying there's very few on this board (or any board i participate on for that matter) i respect more than you. even with my zillions of posts, you've still made more of a positive impact here than i could ever hope to imagine. that said...

i think there's more of a camaraderie here than there's ever been. probably because there are far fewer of us than back in the heyday. yes, sometimes the answers are short. answering the same thing for the hundredth time will do that. i'm not so concerned responders nail the answer, but i have great respect for those just making the attempt (freefaller, bruce, gibby, you all know who you are).

i'm not a syrupy guy. i'm not gonna pat you on the tail, tell you how good you look if you're just plain b u t t (frelling censor bot!) fugly. there's a serious dumbing down of earth's society that's not beneficial to anyone. schools don't fail kids anymore because it's detrimental to their little psyches. you can't tell someone to pack the dell back into the box and get 'em an xbox, because that's just not pc.

so i respectfully disagree, ter. i think this is an exciting time for us. mark has always been a tremendous contributor to this game even when a cfo was pulling the strings. now it's just off the chart astronomical what he's doing. there's no way you can hurt my feelings by posting a link to a previously (many a hundred times) answered question. and you can't hurt my feelings if i'm a maroon for being snippy with software thieves.

[gibby]

And some peeps are far to lazy to search for a answer themselves.
I kinda like the post the link answer, it allows the person asking to do a little looking.

[canuck]

good to see your back terry , now change your name back to Echoes .

chris

[lstucz]

Yes, times certainly have changed.

Sorry if I offended you by giving what help I was able. Did you find the information you were seeking?

I am not an IT professional and even if I were, I probably would not know off the top of my head exactly which ports you would need to change to which settings, specifically, for playing Links. What I did know, is that Mark had posted all the information almost anyone needed, if they were having trouble. Therefore, I pointed you in the direction of the answers you needed, instead of having to go there myself and then copy and paste several times to spell everything out. Besides I don't think I could make anything clearer than the directions posted in the Port Forwarding site.

In old times, people were grateful for any help someone could give them, even if it was just to point them in the right direction. Today, you have to spoon feed them every little tidbit of information and often times walk them through the process to boot. ( That last part is not directed towards you, but in regards to the last person I tried to help with the same problem.) And gawd forbid you should show any sarcasm for pointing out what would have smacked them in the face if they had just turned around and looked.

I believe Mark posted the information as a sticky topic in the Games Lobby forum, where it was most readily available to the people who needed it, so that we would not have to keep answering the same question over and over. To quote an old adage,"Look before you leap".

If it weren't for wanting to contribute to the continued success of a game I love, I think I would just give up offering anyone help. Perhaps it would be better to just let everyone sink or swim on their own abilities. Now that is a real old-fashioned way that weeds out the strong from the weak, the way the world used to work.

Yes, times have changed.

Terry, I know you have been around this game longer than I and are a much better player, too. I also know that you have been through some very tough times, recently. I respect all of that and had no interest in hurting your feelings. However, I could not have offered you any better help than what I did give you, sans the bit of extra "commentary".

Sorry!

[Al_Frescoe]

Yes, times certainly have changed.

Sorry if I offended you by giving what help I was able. Did you find the information you were seeking?

I am not an IT professional and even if I were, I probably would not know off the top of my head exactly which ports you would need to change to which settings, specifically, for playing Links. What I did know, is that Mark had posted all the information almost anyone needed, if they were having trouble. Therefore, I pointed you in the direction of the answers you needed, instead of having to go there myself and then copy and paste several times to spell everything out. Besides I don't think I could make anything clearer than the directions posted in the Port Forwarding site.

In old times, people were grateful for any help someone could give them, even if it was just to point them in the right direction. Today, you have to spoon feed them every little tidbit of information and often times walk them through the process to boot. ( That last part is not directed towards you, but in regards to the last person I tried to help with the same problem.) And gawd forbid you should show any sarcasm for pointing out what would have smacked them in the face if they had just turned around and looked.

I believe Mark posted the information as a sticky topic in the Games Lobby forum, where it was most readily available to the people who needed it, so that we would not have to keep answering the same question over and over. To quote an old adage,"Look before you leap".

If it weren't for wanting to contribute to the continued success of a game I love, I think I would just give up offering anyone help. Perhaps it would be better to just let everyone sink or swim on their own abilities. Now that is a real old-fashioned way that weeds out the strong from the weak, the way the world used to work.

Yes, times have changed.

Terry, I know you have been around this game longer than I and are a much better player, too. I also know that you have been through some very tough times, recently. I respect all of that and had no interest in hurting your feelings. However, I could not have offered you any better help than what I did give you, sans the bit of extra "commentary".

Sorry!

I almost responded before you did, but I thought I would give you a chance.

I found absolutely nothing wrong, or condescending, or sarcastic about your helpful post. That site you pointed to is the best info you could give to the OP's question and cutting and pasting it here would be, well, redundant at the least.

Whoever was offended was having a bad day, and I sincerely hope things get better for them. But Your post was spot on.

Keep on keepin on.

Al

[tryandtyoneon]

No need to apologize Lou.......your answer was spot on.........Nothing wrong with letting him know where to look and the fact the place to look was there all along.........it's far better than just slappin' up a link.....right!?

[Larry_Warrilow]

terry was a regular expert tech forum source for the first two years plus of 2k3.

in these days, while it may seem as if the current tech guys are blowing off the newbs with link references, for routine problems this type of response generally has had great success. when the patient reports that the routine solutions haven't worked, the tech forum guys always get to work to find out why. that's why there has been a large population of satisfied customers when it all shakes out.

T-hogan being back wil be a big plus for the tech forum lw

[SteveFr]

What is equally irksome, in terms of manners, is that a large proportion of people that you try to help don't even post back to say if their problem was solved, much less a simple thank you.

[Larry_Warrilow]

steve, it's less than you might think, and the tech regulars regularly quiz guys who solve their own problems. lw

[SteveFr]

Yeah I'm sure you're right Larry, I'm probably just a bit touchy because it's happened to me several times over the last few days in various places.

[ihidive10]

Being litterally brand new to Links, I thought guys were very helpful. I had immediate responses when I asked questions and they got me up and running online in a matter of a few hours. Thank you to all those that helped, it was much appreciated.