IRC channel #WOWUIDEV

Artimidrous121 · 05-06-10, 05:30 AM

Unfortunately i cannot recommend to anyone using this IRC channel for help but if you want to talk about anything not wow addon related apparently thats ok but when you ask a question about addon development you'll most likely get ignored.

was on there for 2 hours last night trying to get someone to help me understand how to resize a frame and make the background image static or at least seem to be static so clipping of the frame and image would accrue. and all i got was ignored and the night b4 i got the go look on wowprogramming.com bot no reference as to what commands could do what i wanted so yes they pointed my a website but no where to start on a website so i go to that site looking but not finding.

so finally i decided to go to another website IRC channel #wowace and within 10 min got a guy who was currently doing a raid that helped me more in 2 min than the people on #WOWUIDEV did in 2 hours.

while i was typing this this is what was going on on the #WOWUIDEV channel.

--- Information removed. Violates Blizzards NDA ---

no matter what time you get on there never on topic and from what i have seen never helpfull. with the exception of one person who unfortunately i cant remember his name and my log doesn't go back that far.

haste · 05-06-10, 06:34 AM

1. People have different things to do at different time. How much time they can delegate to help others is quite the random factor. People aren't inclined to help you just because you asked either.
2. Both channels have off-topic talk. It usually happens in waves (due to timezones, external events and so on).
3. Cataclysm is clearly the most off-topic topic you can have in a WoW related channel. Especially after mmoc had posted a set of screenshots.
4. Time zones. You were asking your question at a time which is late/early for most people.
5. You should stay longer than 20 minutes in a channel if you want to expect an answer, especially small channels.[1][2]
6. Your post is flamebait for anyone who idle/help in #wowuidev.
7. If you want a concentrated discussion about a subject: Use the forums.

[1]

Bornabe · 05-06-10, 06:46 AM

How do the kids now-a-days say it? *Burned!*

Wobin · 05-06-10, 07:23 AM

Lets see now.

1) No-one is being paid to help you. Everyone that -does- help is doing it out of the goodness of their own heart. If, for example, you were paying a fee to recieve technical support, people on the channel would be beholden to answering your questions. As nobody -is- getting paid, you should perhaps treat the channel more as a social location in which you can converse candidly with fellow addon authors, and, if you ask at the right time, or intrigue one of the listeners with a cunning problem, you will get assistance.

2) the wowprogramming site probably had the answer to your question. What we are trying to do, by having that site available, is to teach you to learn how to find out the information for yourself. Again, we are there to chat to one another, socialize, and discuss upcoming changes in WoW, of which Caty is a fairly major one. We are not there to lead you by the hand and write the addon for you. The whole teach a man to fish thing, you see. The faster new authors discover the material available, and actually take the time to read through it, the more knowledgeable people there are at hand.

3) if you went to a convention of medical practitioners who were discussing the latest pandemic, would you immediately demand that one of them treat you this instant for your gout? No, if you were polite, you'd try to join in on their discussion, and, only then, would you slip in a question about "Hey, my legs keep hurting..."

4) and finally, you may not have noticed, but a large majority of those in #wowuidev are also in #wowace.

PS. Dropping into the channel for 5 min to take a 'snapshot' of what 'things are going on' in a social channel isn't really hard evidence of any sort. We're not bad people for actually -chatting- with one another. Heaven forbid we SOCIALIZE on a social channel. Perhaps if you tried to socialize more, there'd be more help forthcoming.

Zyonin · 05-06-10, 07:38 AM

I can back up Haste on this one. If you really want an a detailed answer to your problem, you use the forums (such as ours or WoWAce). However most of the veterans will have expected that you have done a fair bit of Googling. They generally will not simply hand you the answers to your issues unless they in a good mood and you have some respect.

Joining a channel and then immediately asking your question is not the way to get on everyone's good side. If you are not going to show a shred of patience, then they are not going to display a shred of patience for you.

Plus you have picked likely one of the worst possible days to be asking questions on either IRC channel. As Haste mentioned, MMO-C has dropped a metric town of screenshots of Cataclysm (including maps, zone pics, and mobs/NPCs). Plus more is coming. It's going to be the main topic (even if it is off-topic) for some time. Plus we are going to be having Cataclysm code coming in as well (such as new UI strings). Cataclysm talk is going to dominate the IRC channels and various forums for quite some time. I have been around for the BC Alpha/Beta and Wrath Alpha/Beta chatter and know how things are going to work (at least in the chatter department). Cataclysm is going to attract more chatter than Wrath or BC because so much of the game world is changing, stuff that we have seen for the last five or so years is transforming or getting wiped out. Thus, there is much interest in the current Alpha.

Both #WoWUIDeve and #WoWAce are not totally dedicated to talking code. It's place for the coders and geeks to chat and socialize in addition to "talking shop". Coding and UI stuff is only one of the topics.

Again, as Haste has mentioned, time zones play a big part of the channel. We get different "shifts" depend on what part of the world is awake. Right now (as I post this), it's mid afternoon in my part of the world (Italy/Europe), yet the US based geeks are either just waking up or in the middle of their work mornings (depending what coast they are on). The Asians coders are raiding or thinking about bed. Us EU types are generally at work.

No one in the channels is paid to monitor the channels or help others. Not even us MMOI staff. We all volunteer our time. Respect that.

***Dolby*** · 05-06-10, 12:42 PM

This is off topic but since we are an official blizzard fan site we have been reminded by Blizzard that any NDA-covered piece of information must be removed from our site asap or we could loose our official fanclub status among other things. So if you notice your post is edited or a link isn't working, thats why.

This thread has been closed as its only going to go down a bad path. I've seen thousands of people helped by the #WOWUIDEV channel. You have just logged in at a bad time and dont stay long enough Artimidrous121. I am glad you were able to find an answer to your questions though.

Thanks for your understanding.