- When you have a Daphne question, what do you do first? (Search documentation, Go to a chat room, Post a message, etc)
I search the docs first and always. Being someone who also writes stuff for the community, it annoys the hell out of me when I spend hours on docs that nobody reads, so when I run into a problem, I try to solve it myself first out of respect for you guys. I've never found daphne terribly difficult to setup (even back in the day) so questions are few and far between though.
- When you have a Daphne question, to whom do to direct the question first? (a Daphne developer, an experienced Daphne user, or an unaffiliated community of friends on a different website or chat room, etc)
Generally I just post it here in the forums. Who ever can best answer it, be it another user or a developer, will be hanging around here, so it makes sense to ask here first. I have noticed that some people seem to ask everywhere but here first (like byoac) and that doesn't make sense to me as the average emulation enthuasist doesn't know about daphne worst-case, or best-case doesn't know enough about it to help. There were like 5 questions over at byoac just last week. I have no clue what they are thinking, as you guys are just too nice and helpful to ignore until last.
- Daphne has some long-standing issues, the most famous one being Goal to Go not working. How do you feel about this? Does this make you frustrated because it's been broken for so many years?
It annoys me to a point, but not completely. I am one of those people who thinks quality is better than quantity. I'm also a guy who thinks that even crappy games nobody wants to play (like gtg) should be emulated just as quickly as the more fun games, because eventually the info/people with the talent needed to implement these broken or missing games will dry up, and they will be lost forever. With that being said, some issues you just don't know how to fix, and seeing as how I have no clue how daphne works, I can understand why you skip over some bugs.
I guess what I am saying is if an issue could be fixed but it would just take time then you should do it, but if it's an issue you don't have a clue about and it's unlikely a solution will be found until new data comes out, then leave it and move on for now.
- Most people have had an experience where they asked a question and got a less-than-welcome response. How does this make you feel? Are you indignant because you were just innocently asking a question, and got mistreated? How do you think you'd respond if the roles were reversed. Would you would gladly help anyone who needed it?
Actually, I'm usually on the other end of the conversation (giving a less than nice response).
It works like this:
If the answer to your question is in the docs and clearly in the docs, then you are wasting everybody's time by asking the question. Generally speaking, I (and others like me) will ignore it if the question is asked nicely enough and the person in question is new or hasn't made a habit of these types of questions. If you keep asking "stupid" questions though on a regular basis then you deserve any flaming you get, especially if you are one of these types that keep nagging (bump!, anyone) until you get a response.
By directing someone to the docs you are helping them, by directing someone to the docs rather than spoon-feeding them the quick answer then you are "teaching them to fish" and thus your answer will help them more in the long-run.
On the other-hand, getting flamed for a legitimate question is in-excuseable.
-edit-
I forgot to mention that "opinion" questions are a totally different animal. For example: When you post "check out my brand new thing I made, do you like it?" And I post "umm no" you shouldn't and cannot get mad or upset about it. Don't ask for an opinion if you only want positive ones or ones that agree with your point of view. That is of course, unless you are a woman, as you do that anyway.
With that being said, I'm a guy that'll respond "well it sucks, but this is why and this is how you can fix it" so I am being constructive, not just rude. But still, someone has every right to just tell you what they think when you ask them to. My "gruffness" is my honesty..... I'm not here to sing camp-fire songs and trade hugs, I'm here to talk about daphne and help out every once in a while when I can. There is a strange trend on the net where users tend to think that support forums double as social clubs, they don't. That is what the "misc" section of forums and chatrooms are for.
- When trying out a new update or feature of Daphne, what is your usual first response? Do you tend to respond favorably to features that work well, ask for help with features that don't seem to be working, etc ?
I'm generally a "yeah yeah this is great, but x, x and x aren't working" type of person. I'm not negative about it at all and I do really appreciate the work you and the other devs do, but the loud sucking sound of 3500 "great job" responses attaching to ya'lls butts tends to bring the complainer out of me a little. I figure you'd rather know about glitches and suggestions for improvements rather than an admission of my un-dying love for you guys and all things daphne anyway.
- What do you think about asking why Daphne is the way it is? Are these types of questions different from asking how to resolve a problem?
It depends upon the question. Sometimes it's just a case of a user not understanding why "x" has to be done this way. In those instances it's just a simple case of ignorance to the inner-workings. (Which is understandable.) Other times, it's more of a feature request. Sometimes programmers are set in their ways, and do things in a manner which seems odd to some. There are instances when questioning why "x" was done this way are completely valid and could lead to better functionality.
- What kind of tech support should a Daphne user expect to receive? Is there a difference between asking for help by using the recommended solution and asking for help trying something off-the-wall ?
Since you guys aren't charging then they should expect zip and squat in terms of tech support. People don't seem to get that when you
give them something then they can't expect a money-back guarantee with it. It angers me that almost everyone that responded to this seems to think they are owed some level of support (however small). Mind you what one should expect compared to what we actually get are totally different as you guys are very helpful, but if I were to ask a question and you guys said, "sorry but I don't know and I'm too busy to figure it out" my response would be "ok, thanks anyway" and I'd move on. No tantrums, no resentment, nothing.
This goes back to the topic of flaming I mentioned earlier..... users who type like they are owed a response tend to get flamed, and so they should. It is dis-respectful to the developers and the community at large when you act like the world owes you a living.
Sorry if my answers are a little blunt, but I just tell it like it is. Gotta keep it real G.