I have no idea how many posts and threads are on RC Universe. I know it’s a Lot. Many times I will have a question and will do a search and find where someone has asked the same question I am interested in. Yet when I go up there I won’t get an answer. Why? Because there will always be people who apparently stay on RC Universe 24 hours a day telling you, “This has been discussed many times, just do a search” and they will write a page or two complaining that it has been answered before and it’s wasting their time reading these questions.
Why can’t people just answer the question or at least give a link to the answer instead of spending all their “wasted” time berating someone who needs an answer?
Some threads have hundreds of posts. If someone hasn’t been reading that thread every day for the last 10 years it isn’t feasible to go through hundreds of pages to try to find a specific answer. I agree they should at least try a search before starting a new topic, but sometimes it is hard to find your particular problem. Also some searches bring up more pages than you could possibly look through in a month.
A number of years ago when I first joined RC Universe someone actually jumped down my throat for stating my opinion on his thread because I had never posted on RCU before. Kind of caught in a Catch 22 on that one.

I want to say though, there are far more friendly helpful people here than there are the other kind. Most of the time on posts that have been “Asked a million times before” someone will give a helpful answer. But there always seems to be one or two that just can’t stand Newbies, and want everyone to know how smart they themselves are without telling anyone anything.

(Now if I get chewed out posting this in the wrong forum, I’m sorry, but I did go through them three times)

The clubhouse is the right place for this.

I agree that some things can be answered in the same time it takes to write a rant about searching.

The ones that get really old are 'What is the best xxxxx?' since there is no actual answer.

I agree Roy. In fact, this is how I got started writing "How-To" articles. People would ask a question and I would give a detailed answer - Then a week or so later someone else would ask the same question and I would give a slightly less detailed answer.

After four or five times I realized that it wasn't fair that this guy got the "Reader's Digest Condensed Version" just because he wasn't the first to ask the question, so I wrote a very detailed "How-To", and put it in the RCU Magazine. After that anytime someone asked, I could just link them to the article.

I agree with RoyR 100%. It is also my number one pet peeve with RCU. The diametrically opposed opinions to most topics is just kind of amusing as are the arguments, but the guys ranting at us for asking a question that has already been asked is downright irritating. I think they need to realize the limitations of a search in this forum and assume that the OP has already gone that route and got nowhere for whatever reason. And sometimes the OP just wants dialog with another entity with a body temp somewhere around 98 degrees. There is nothing wrong with that. JUST ANSWER THE DAMNED QUESTION OR DON'T BOTHER TO POST ANY RESPONSE WHATSOEVER.

I'm done. [8D]

I could not agree with you guys more, but what can be done? Nothing. Imagine if there were 5,000 guys at the flying field when you had a problem. Your problem would be handled, but how much rhetoric would you have to hear in the process?

david

Dave, you are right. Sometime free advise is worth every penny.


Roy,
Teenagers are the worst at putting people down to prop themselves up,, but some of our RCU Brothers are a close second
Just try and ignore it

FWIW, I did a search for pet peeves before I posted.

I have to disagree, because I need to know, what is the best xxxx?

“This has been discussed many times, just do a search”

They are called pompous A-holes. They should just go away and let the thread continue on it's own. Maybe something new will come up, and it's always fun reviewing something interesting. Go away pompous A-holes !

ed

My RCU PET PEEVE,,, stupid posts like these,

http://www.rcuniverse.com/forum/m_10545822/tm.htm


BV

Bill, did you actually do a search to find that one? LOL

It's not just RCU. It happens on every forum. It's even worse if the forum is small, and there is a 'clique' of frequent posters who will usually brutalize a newbie who asks the 'same old question'.

If these cretins have kids, do they tell the second child of theirs when the kid asks a question about life "this has been discussed before, go do a search!"

Hey Vic, long time no chat,,,


Nope, took about 2 sec's to find it on this forum,,, can t think of the name of that movie where they say,,,

"there're every where man",,, or I think I typed in "Stupid Posts" in the search window and got that


BV

" It's not just RCU. It happens on every forum. It's even worse if the forum is small, and there is a 'clique' of frequent posters who will usually brutalize a newbie who asks the 'same old question'. "

You got that one right vicman ! Worst that I ever experienced are the pompous A-holes over on Knife Edge. It's unbelieveable how the moderator permits them to treat newbies. Shamefull .... not a class act ! []

Just do a search. That's been answered at least a thousand times.

I guess I need to make an addendum to my post. And really, I apologize for this becoming so long. So if your pet peeve is Long posts, then be warned, here it is.

There are many helpful people on here and many people make the new guy feel at home. I have read many posts that responded to questions asked somewhere else without the “This has been discussed a million times” attitude. It’s just those “others” that yell loudest which gets the most notice.
I understand answering the same question over and over can get irritating, but Minnflyer found a solution to that.

I did a Google search the other day and found a link to another forum that asked the question I was interested in. The post was started by a guy new to RC and also new to that forum. (not RCU)
After a few answering posts complaining that it had been discussed a million times before and others basically calling him stupid for not knowing the answer to the questions he asked, he finally came back with this. “ (name of the forum) is Not for the Newbie interested in this exciting hobby. Thanks for making me feel like a jerk guys. See ya at the field...”

Really, how many new people are going to stay around after getting responses like he did? I really don’t mind someone saying the topic has been discussed before, but at least be nice enough to give a link.

This doesn’t bug me because of my own experiences. I do try to search before I start a new thread. Also, I’m not a ‘newbie’, I have around 40 years experience in RC, but I still find myself hesitant to ask certain questions on the forum because of the response I may get.

During my years of learning and flying RC I have run into quite a few people who have the attitude that if you’re dumb enough to ask a question you should be humiliated. When I was young I went into one hobby shop only once because the man that ran it made me feel like a fool and even made fun of my Texas accent. (the hobby shop was in Amarillo, so go figure)

After building my very first RC in the 70s, a man offered to test fly it for me. He did a ground check, took off and made a couple of patterns. After flying it for 4 or 5 minutes with no problems he got it inverted without realizing it and crashed. He told me I had installed servos backward and up was down. (Seems that also happens when a plane is inverted, but he wouldn’t hear of that)
He offered no apology, just that it was my fault because I was inexperienced and didn’t know what I was doing when I built the plane.

This ‘shunning’ of new people carries over onto the internet, and I see no reason for that attitude. For the most part the people in RC are fun to be around and the “Real” RCer is always glad to help a new guy. And the helpful guys far outnumber the A holes. But running into one of two of them at the wrong time can even stop someone from pursuing this hobby..
When I started in RC I flew big helicopters for a living, had flown Control line since I was little and since aviation of all kinds is like a disease, I couldn’t stop flying big or small if I wanted so I continued in RC after the grief I had run into. But for some this treatment can end a fun hobby for them.
It’s like this hobby has two extremes with very few in the middle. For the most part people are super nice, super helpful, and ready to give advice. Yet it also has the rare other extreme, super jerks. And it seems you will always remember the bad before the good.

RC has been a fun great hobby for all of us. Think of all the enjoyment you have had learning and then practicing everything you know now. (I emphasize the joy in learning)

Yet I think that is only half the enjoyment of RC. It’s also great to see someone new get into the hobby, and to be able to help them learn.

If you want to put a selfish spin on this. Without new people coming in to buy them, they are going to stop making and selling all the fun airplanes, motors, Radios etc that we all enjoy and no one will have any fun.

That was a joke. Sorry you did'nt get it...

It's not jerkish behavior to tell a lazy newbie to use the search feature or to read the stickys. I read the beginner forum regularly, and sometimes there will be two or three different threads on the exact same basic question all on the first page! It clutters up the forum and actually makes finding information harder. Case in point: there is a thread there now asking what the best trainer is. That thread comes up at least once a week, so much so that there is a sticky at the top of the page to list appropriate starter planes. Answering that question or any other FAQ item yet again is like giving a bum money for panhandling on the side of the road. All you do is encourage more of the same behavior, and you actually impede the newbie from learning how to research things himself.
I do anything I can to help new guys, but the best way to help them is to teach them how to mine the forum for the immense wealth of information that is here. If they still have questions after that, then by all means they should post.

You'd be surprised how much some of the moderators on here let their buddies get away with too.

Just write a post about how you sometimes fly at a non-AMA field and watch the breaking of every RCU rule begin with little input from most moderators.

It most certainly can be. Not everyone reads the forums regularly.

It reminds me of a documentary I saw once about what goes on behind the scenes at Disnyland. They were training new employees and told them, "Remember, if you get asked the same question 50 times in a row, it may be the 50th time you've heard the question, but it's the first time that particular person asked it."

Very often for a newbee the terminology is not what fits a search engine or the experienced hobbiest. It is nice for some one to have the grace to help him.

I know that in a lot of forums here on RCU it can be a problem like what the OP is complaining about. I wish I could do something to fix all of RCU and prevent that from happening. However, there is a small corner where several of us go out of our way to try and stop this. In the Airplane Beginner's Forum there is a core group of experienced pilots that stay there to help. We realize what was said above is very true, if a beginner gets yelled at about "search before asking" they may very well get upset and leave the hobby altogether (not just leave RCU). For this reason we try to answer every question that is asked like it was the first time it was asked. We try to avoid the "go search for it" answer. Do we succeed 100% of the time? Of course we don't, but I wish we could. However, we do try the best we can. I know that many of us have answered some questions hundreds of times over the years!! And we will continue to answer those same questions everytime they are asked. Like Minnflyer said, the question is the first time it was asked for a beginner. So we treat it that way. It's our way of helping the hobby out, by trying to help out people getting started in the hobby!!

Ken

I agree totally. What is hard, sometimes, is terminology and wording gets in the way. Beginners may not know what "that item" is called, or how to make it work correctly so they will ask the question as best as they can. At times, it gets very confusing when they ask a question about something, refer to it by some name, but what they mean is nothing like what they asked about.

A good example is what is going on in one of the threads in the Beginners Forum. The original question was about a spar but the item that the person put in a picture a day later was what looked like a pushrod or a strut with wire ends, not even close to a "spar". Then the original wording was poor with what I thought was "internet lingo" which further added to the confusion. After the picture was posted, I thought it was a pushrod but someone else came in and said it looked more like a strut. So, where do you go with that?

The best answer is to give an answer, or to ask for clarification. Sure, we get confused at times, and give an answer to something that is way off the mark, but at least it gives someone somewhere to go.

Another way to help is that if you do know where it is, what forum the issue may be, then simply provide a link for the person to go to.

CGr.

I do understand about the new guy being the new guy and deserving some patience, but we can do him more good if we show him how to use the forum right. The recurring "what's the best first airplane" thread is a great example. The sticky at the top of the page has more information in it than anyone is going to bother typing out again. A beginner can be better informed by being redirected than to wade through the 25 "the one I learned on is best" responses.

I think it is a wonderful thing to take the the time to answer a persons questions just as if he were standing there in front of you ... Why it bothers somebody that they ask is beyond me..If you don't feel like answering don't answer...There is always answers to our questions if we know where to look . The guys asking these questions don't know that a little way back there is an answer to their question and making them feel bad in any way is taking the chance of chasing them away from a wonderful hobby that they might enjoy for the rest of their lives...The more welcoming and friendly we are the better...I never like seeing rude replies in any forum but especially not in the beginner forum ...One of the reasons I have enjoyed this hobby so much is because of the quality of the people in it and their eagerness to help each other  and their willingness to share.time and knowledge...