Answered vs. Not Answered Forum Posts?

[Gorgopis]

After scanning through many posts on the forums, we are a bit puzzled by why some relevant posts earn no replies. By relevant, we mean the posts seem appropriate to a specific forum.

 

It's a bit sad to see an unanswered relevant post sitting for many weeks with no reply--even if it's NOT one of ours.

 

We certainly appreciate that people may not have the time, nor the inclination, nor the knowledge to elect to reply to posts.

 

I guess what we're asking is this: are there some well-known and community-understood commonalities among why some seemingly relevant posts may go un-replied?

 

As an example, we can't personally reply to all posts, largely because we don't have the knowledge-base, but we do see many posts with zero replies.

 

Community forum and guidelines offer a few explanations, but not all. Thanks for anyone who clarify.

 

 

 

 

[showler]

Anyone who doesn't even attempt to format their post in an easily readable manner, skips posting details out of laziness, is excessively rude or vulgar, or uses an annoying to read font gets ignored by me.

[anjenthedog]

Shrug. I respond to those queries to which I believe I can offer something favorable to advance a solution, be it an "answer" or a technique for finding a solution.

And at least when it comes to SE, I do my fair share of responding to queries.

 

I don't respond for those I don't. If I don't use <insert mod name> and never have, I'm not sure how I'm gonna help someone asking about it, other than potentially advising them to perform a widenet search or check the mod page posts tab, etc, ie, stuff I get tired of posting into poorly formed queries over and over (especially when half the time I get some curt reply basically saying how my efforts were a waste of my time or worse, no response whatsoever, just a dead thread.

 

And I don't respond to gibberease posts either. I don't expect a formatted, research-grade report, but rilly, some (quite a few frankly) of these "queries" are preteen-grade, even though they're coming from people who are clearly adults. (And no, imnsho, foreign language is no excuse. Today's translators are pretty amazing, even if not perfect)

 

"So I installed a mod (not named) and now the game doan werk. wut I do to fix? This game is stoopit and I'm gonna delete if someone doesn't fix it for me NOW! " (ok bub,y"yer" wish is granted... Delete to your heart's content, m'cuz I ain't saying nuffin to hep youz.) << and yes, I've read posts exactly like that (the quoted part) in content at dozens of times over the past couple years. I've even come to regret answering queries like that in the past.

 

People asking these questions could solve a lot of their own problems just by reading the mod descriptions, requirements list, etc and following their guidance.(that's not to say that those descriptions are always "clear" and straightforward, but at least imo, most times they are), before and while installing their mods, and then, if/when they do need help, by posting a clear description of their problem, adding snapshots if needed, describe what they've already done to try to solve it, provide their mod list (in a spoiler tag!) or other file content as specified by their issue, a short list of any mods they just installed prior to the problem occurrence, etc. AND...by being humble.

Of course, a sizeable fraction of problems could also be solved by not installing mods in bulk groups, (which for some reason often leads to player frustration when the game suddenly, inexplicably, almost magically no longer chooses to run), but that's another kick-the-dead-horse item I grow tired of saying over and over.

 

Who is this "we" you keep referring to? I post replies. "WE" do not. Are you Borg? :wink:

[wfandrews]

Evidently Gorgopis is a group of people who interact with Nexus as one. The "we" threw me too, I thought they were using the Royal we until I looked at the profile.

 

As for their question. In my experience it is usually because they are using mods that I have never used and so do not feel qualified to answer. Often there is just not enough information given to attempt an answer and when you ask for clarification it never comes.

[BrotherShamus]

I like to think people do what they can. It's not a lack of caring or apathy... just (as mentioned above) sometimes a lack of relevant information. Personally... although not every question I post gets a response... the people on these forums have saved me on a number of occasions.

[Gorgopis]

As journey-person modders, we can do some things, but cannot do others. When we try something new, we start with a widenet search for tuts, or examples, but that search-labyrinth often leads to out-dated steps, or long vids that can benefit by serious time-editing, that experienced more current modders have likely since improved.

 

So we naturally wondered if some posts--not just ours--were really producing thoughts like, "Hey, you can search that and find a tutorial or vid," so no answer.

 

(Perhaps some clever programmer could create an autobot that would search forums for repeated questions/strings, identify unanswered posts, and then "insert" latest advice or tips?)

 

And for those who care about the royal "we," we indeed share one single account that 'nets' multiple Skryim users\players/modders. Saying "I" or me, under such conditions, might save time, but seems dishonest.

 

Since @anjenthedog has helped us on multiple occasions, we take the "Borg" comment with smiles and humor. Ha, AI, would "capcha" even know?

 

Similarly, we have received valuable advice and tips from @wfandrews, so we appreciate the vote.

[anjenthedog]

tips on that widenet search

 

1) prepend "skyrim special edition" to your queries. This will weed out a whole lot of crap

 

2) string related words. Don't worry about complete sentences >> "skyrim special edition follower sarah sara saira warrior bhunp"

- search engines work (generally) off single words, not conceptual assemblages

 

"skyrim special edition follower sarah sara saira warrior bhunp"

here I'm searching for some hawt follower mod I saw and I remember she was a warrior and only vaguely remember her name and know she has a BHUNP variant. well I'm hoping she has one anyway...

 

"skyrim special edition problem issue error fnis creature t-pose mnc immersive creatures"

this one notes some problem with creatures t-posing and ponders some contention between the two noted mods. Uh oh!

 

Get where I'm going?

 

just append those ideas necessary to find your problem or asset or whatever to the query instead of my made-up query. but make sure to prepend with "skyrim special edition" so you don't end up follow with unnecessary responses.

 

3) skip capitalizations (should be obvious but maybe not. But just in case you weren't aware, search engines - at least in the west - don't care)

 

For more general script and console issues, drop the "special edition" to include Skyrim LE answers as well, since they're often applicable. (sometimes can be indirectly useful for mod searching too)

 

Your idea for a grand application that solves all problems, while "noddable", would be (imo) quite the challenge.

 

banality warning!!!

IMO, the real challenge is learning the lingo, knowing the right skyrim naming and even descriptive (ex: t-pose) words to use to ask. ex: knowing that adding "fnis" to a query has a correlated implication. Many players will cite an FNIS error, so queries including it will return a larger number of posts with that term. isolate it further with symptoms and you get closer. Examine your query results and refine it by appending one more qualifier...until the returns either die or you hit your target. It's just the way it is. This isn't a static environment so the answer is a moving target, and as well, problems are nuances are often dependent on singular installation configurations, ie your game vs mine.

[IsharaMeradin]

The term "outdated tutorial" annoys me. Often times the found tutorial is the "most up to date" even if it is several years old. One must consider the subject at hand. Skyrim LE came out in 2011 and while a few things changed between it and Skyrim SE most things are completely valid.

 

The way one compiles a script is the same. The source directory is different.

The way one sets up a set of armor is the same. The meshes and textures are in the same format but with different settings.

The list goes on.

 

Thus if one runs across an LE tutorial and wonders why they cannot find an SE tutorial it is most likely because the LE tutorial will still work with the final result being "ported" to SE.

 

As to the original question, if I cannot in good faith give assistance to the question at hand, I do not bother responding. I have no desire to lead someone down the wrong path due to my own lack of knowledge.

[Gorgopis]

We apologize for the seemingly pejorative term, "outdated."

 

We used the word in a "uni" sense (university) where profs often want students to find "the latest articles and research."

 

Nonetheless, the helpful note, included above by @IsharaMeradin, who has also helped us on too many occasions, suggests that tutorials that are 5-7 years old, or older, indeed may deserve or need some type of regular updated designations.

 

(Credit Skyrim, even Bethesda, and especially the modding community to still attract new creators and modders, as a journey through all the forums demonstrates.)

 

I.e., "This seven-year-old tutorial by DarkFox/Gopher/Gamerpoet remains relevant for 2022 modders of both Skyrim LE and Skyrim SE."

 

Where could a new modder or potential creator find reasonably quick current confirmation of the relevance of the best historic tutorials? On the WIKI, at TESAlliance, or, etc.?

 

Such a service, which we admit may already exist in some form, might dispel noobs' natural doubts that will arise, save time, manage possible frustrations, and accelerate the creation of new mods and discussions?

[gnarly1]

The "we" threw me too, I thought they were using the Royal we until I looked at the profile.

 

Perhaps they have parasites....