Anybody home?

Sim Architect wrote:I found out we have about 300 unanswered posts (HERE), I'll try my best to see if I can reduce the queue, but it is going to take some time, sorry.

Lady ElDi wrote:Agreed. There's no need to answer all of those. I'd stick to the ones that are recent (no older than 1, maybe 2 weeks) and leave the rest.

Ok, I agree with you two, but shouldn't we reply to those questions that are pending, but not too old, like from two or three months ago? It's totally up to you, of course, to tell me what to do.

I wish there was a way to purge that list from old topics. I really like to use that list to see if there are people looking for help without any answer, but I agree that some discussions are opened with people talking about the subject and without a proper answer "yet".

Thanks for the tips, I will adjust the way I browse the forum for open topics

coolcandy3001 wrote:I'm trying my best to look through answered topics to try and see the fixes and stuff because half the time I have no idea what to suggest to people :c

It happens to me too, I see lots of posts that I do not know how to answer, so I just "move on" and leave them to more experienced users to reply to.

When I have more time, I will try to do more Google researches to find solutions, but right now that's what I am being able to do about those topics, sorry.

coolcandy3001 wrote:I'm trying my best to look through answered topics to try and see the fixes and stuff because half the time I have no idea what to suggest to people :c

Lady ElDi wrote:I'd focus on the latest topics first. If you have time and energy left, you're free to answer older topics of course!

coolcandy3001 wrote:I'm trying my best to look through answered topics to try and see the fixes and stuff because half the time I have no idea what to suggest to people :c

It's always a good idea to start your search for the answer here or here. Most of the common problems are addressed in those 2 sections. Don't be afraid to suggest something. You can also ask another team member to advise you on your answer. 
There's a learning curve involved, so don't be worried about saying something silly.

Thanks!

Sim Architect wrote:Hi there! Place seems a bit empty of helpers/mods lately... Are you all right?

Some tea to all of you...

Not sure I will be able to keep up the rhythm much longer, I will do my best
 

SeoY wrote:I'm here.

(...)

Yeah, it's kind of lonely around here. Still, the team was reduced some time ago, especially the Helpers team.

Just came by again, and thought I should also weigh in on this.   You're right, the place often "feels" empty (which is the reason I am not too excited about things like this here, but that's off-topic).

coolcandy3001 wrote:I'm trying my best to look through answered topics to try and see the fixes and stuff because half the time I have no idea what to suggest to people :c

Carlos wrote:

Sim Architect wrote:Hi there! Place seems a bit empty of helpers/mods lately... Are you all right?

Some tea to all of you...

Not sure I will be able to keep up the rhythm much longer, I will do my best
 

SeoY wrote:I'm here.

(...)

Yeah, it's kind of lonely around here. Still, the team was reduced some time ago, especially the Helpers team.

Just came by again, and thought I should also weigh in on this.   You're right, the place often "feels" empty (which is the reason I am not too excited about things like this here, but that's off-topic).

Most people only come here to get a quick fix for their sims-related issue(s), and virtually all of them leave again once they got a reply. And many people don't even care to post back. Also take into account that the vast majority of new "Helpers" leave already after just a few days, so I would not expect too much of any upcoming "recruiting campaigns"; but maybe I'm just too pessimistic here.

What experience has shown though is - as mentioned - that the majority of users who eventually join the team as "brown Helpers" soon find out that they either don't have enough time/interest for an active position on here. Or, what also happens occasionally is that there is someone who is motivated and willing to put time aside regularly, but simply does not have the necessary abilites/talent for being a Helper. Sorry if that sounds blunt. Personally, I'd rather have a bustling and active community of "regular users", than an army of Helpers/Moderators who may become inactive after a while. But for this type of forum this might not be a realistic wish.

Likewise, you should not expect much in this respect from either me, Phoebe, Shamrock, or in fact any of the other Moderators. 

It's difficult to come up with any substantial tips, but in the end, you'll all need to get used to the notion that the place very often is "empty". You'll then need to make the best of it, for example by visiting the chatbox regularly, and chat with random users that may come to the chat, too. Get to "know" those users who want to chat, speak to them, even about off-topic things. 

And indeed, replying to posts that are too old will mostly be a waste of time. In my experience, you can try and get back to messages that are up to 7 days old. Anything older than that, people will most likely have forgotten already, lol.

coolcandy3001 wrote:I'm trying my best to look through answered topics to try and see the fixes and stuff because half the time I have no idea what to suggest to people :c

Indeed ! Sometimes, it's also a good idea to note down feedback from users, in a .txt file or something. Sometimes users will share their solutions to a problem, but it may only be a small tip that by itself may not be "worthy" of a new topic in a Tips/Fixes-section. And once you compiled enough information and/or can verify it yourself, feel free to open a topic and write down your findings. And/or share them with the other team members.