Dannic, The Prince of Cats

Posted by Dannic on October 30th, 2005 in Rants

I frequently run into amusing encounters while working on the various sites I have. Most of them are usually associated with one of the games I run. Every once in awhile it will be something else but the ones which are most fun happen to come from the games.

I think I am pretty fair most times. Sure, I can be unfair(or at least seem that way) at times. I usually have a very good reason for it. You may not agree with the reasons but that’s why there is freedom of speech.

Generally when you visit a website they have a list of Frequently Asked Questions. It is there for a reason. These are the questions that are frequently asked. Imagine that!

It really amuses me, and irritates at times, that people will not read the FaQ to see if there is an answer to their question. Oh, it is not just one game or one website. It is everywhere I go. All the websites I run.

The question will be asked. I will send back a message suggesting that the user read the FaQ for the answer because it is already there.

Sometimes I get nasty replies back telling me I am rude and they won’t ever come back. YAY!!!

Glad to get rid of them.

Other times I get apologies. No need for that. Just read first, then ask the question. Search for the answer. I don’t mind helping out, but when it is something that can be found on the website already it really is a waste of time actually looking for it.

The one I find most fun though is where the users ask if they can help or become admin.

The first thing I usually do is see how long they have been a member. 90% of the time they have only been a member for a matter of hours.

Now I don’t know what they think they will be helping with or how they can contribute by only being around a game for a couple of hours. Nor do I pretend to understand how they think I can trust anyone who I have never even conversed with before.

I generally string these along with a very long series of questions. Most of the time the answers I get back are “No” or “I don’t know”. It can be very amusing to see how far they are willing to grovel to get a position as staff.

I even had a conversation with someone in Brazil. Had to translate the entire thing. Was a good exersize but I don’t think I really want to do it again. I was willing to actually let them run their own game. It would have been on my server and under my supervision. But it would have been a game specifically for those in Brazil. It could have worked out but wasn’t to be. The guy never returned.

I get the “man this game is lame” because I don’t have a particular feature all the time. This is another one of those cases where the user has only been around for a very short bit. Usually a couple of hours. Of course they don’t last long. They get fed up because they can’t do the things they want to do.

It is my game. I dont’ know why I should cater to those who don’t contribute to the upkeep of the website.

While I don’t mind suggestions, I do think that calling any of the games lame because you don’t have a particular feature that would help you level is all that great. Really makes me want to go out and install it right away(notice the sarcasm please).

If you want a particular feature, play the game for awhile. Suggest it in the forums. Lets discuss it. Maybe I have reasons for not including it.

Then there are those who want to do nothing but cause havok. They generally dont’ get very far. Usually get bored rather quick. Once I figure out who they are they usually are permanently banned from all of my sites through an .htaccess file. Not through the database.

Alright. Enough Ranting I suppose. Get back to work. Er.. playing. I’m off to code more features for the websites and games.