Oswald Rant: RTFM!
Like you, I too am a gamer. A simple minded person, who find a game that looks interesting, purchases it, installs it and starts it. Like you, I do not read the instruction manual, or check the FAQ, hell, I doubt I have visited the web site of the software vendor. But when problems arise what do I do? Consult my resources.
Like you, I am lazy. I do not want to bothered with manuals, let alone take the time to actually READ them and solve my problem. I want to play the game and not try to figure out how to play the game. But once again, when problems arise I consult my resources.
When it comes to a wealth of information, gamers are not very resourceful. I thought they were smarter, but I think I have been proven wrong, since becoming involved in Urban Terror. I only say thing from experience, but who knows I still might be wrong. We all know there are always gamers out there to proven something, let alone to prove me wrong. Guess they get a kick out of that.
When it comes to Urban Terror, we have spent time creating simple minded documents in order to assist gamers in solving problems. For some reason, these documents usually go unnoticed. You know the ones, you don’t click on them, but they read, ‘FAQ’ or ‘MANUAL.’ You don’t think you need those, but you do. Even something as simple as a readme.txt file can hold valuable information, that could save you time and an e-mail, such as “Dear Oswald, how do I install Urban Terror?”
Yeah, laugh it up now. But gamers are a very common bunch. Some many have skills and other are “n00bs” but when it comes to manuals and useful documents you avoid them like the plague. That’s okay, I guess.
The Urban Terror Forums are flooded on a daily basis with questions pertaining to simple fixes, if you would just take 5 minutes to do some leg work and search for an answer. I get a few hundred e-mails a week, most of which I answer starting with, “From the FAQ…”
Whoa! You mean there are actually answers in there? You betcha, tiger! While I do my part to help educate those who need a little push in the right direction, some, like myself are just lazy and looking for the “free ride.” But after my experience working on this project, I have gained a new found respect for those documents that are contained in box or on the Internet that accompany software.
While my VCR may flash 12:00 and my cell phone has voicemail I cannot clear, I do know where to go in order to correct those problems. So, when you are confronted by a problem and not sure where to turn, look for those friendly words on the web site, ‘FAQ’ and ‘MANUAL.’ They may save you some time and turn you on to some valuable information.
