GBA Roms

[gnu]

@Llorean: How many times have you installed a program without reading the terms first?

[Febs]

I can honestly say that I have NEVER posted in a forum without first reading its posting guidelines.

[Llorean]

@gnu: Honestly, the point is not whether they have or haven't initially read them, the point is that they clicked that they agreed to. If they didn't, it's their fault, and not ours, and they don't have any ground to stand on when we point out that they're in violation of the rules.

Simply put, "ignorance isn't an excuse." We don't ban immediately for the first breach of the rules, or often even the fifth, but we do have an expectation that they will be followed, and when someone isn't following them, it will be pointed out and remembered.

The "most people just click through" excuse isn't an excuse at all: If someone hasn't bothered to read the rules it doesn't mean that they haven't broken them, it just means that they didn't care enough to be respectful and read them before posting. Honestly, that makes me even less likely to feel sympathetic in most cases.

[Booher6194]

No to sound mean or anything but I almost 99% of people don't read the rules, like when you buy a new program from Microsoft or somewhere and they have that long agreement I know most people don't read that and when they have a question they call and ask, they will help you and most of the time it's in there, or the Read Me file that came with it. But I'm the first person to call when something is wrong but I know most of us don't read them, so we shouldn't pick on someone for not reading it.

[Llorean]

If we're not going to enforce rules, why have them?

If someone doesn't read the rules, they will have it pointed out to them that the rules are enforced here. The fact that they're too lazy to read them is not an excuse.

In regards to the rule that you need to search or read the manual, they're still likely to receive help. But there are other rules that are much, much more strict, and have resulted in many bannings in the past. The first time someone breaks any of the rules, they get a warning that they should read them. If they don't, that's their choice, but we remember that they've been made aware that the rules exist, and are enforced. The next time, they might break a more serious rule that they weren't aware of, since they've been told about the rules at this point, they might not get a second warning.

Rules exist. Read them, and follow them. If you're not really happy with that, suggest improvements to the rules, or deal with whatever consequences might come from it.

[ColdSphinx]

Just post a link with a "What to do before asking"

Stolen from a link in Febs' signature

Before You Ask

Before asking a technical question by e-mail, or in a newsgroup, or on a website chat board, do the following:

Try to find an answer by searching the archives of the forum you plan to post to.

Try to find an answer by searching the Web.

Try to find an answer by reading the manual.

Try to find an answer by reading a FAQ.

Try to find an answer by inspection or experimentation.

Try to find an answer by asking a skilled friend.

If you're a programmer, try to find an answer by reading the source code.

And please don't discuss too much.

[Llorean]

You mean like the Forum Posting Guidelines post in the Announcements forums that everyone is TOLD to read during the sign up process for our forums?

I thought the whole point was that *I* think people should read it, and Booher thinks it's perfectly normal for people not to read the rules, and that we shouldn't point out that they need to.

A post like that would just fall under the same discussion.