Creating empty, useless topics

[Jim]

People should be treating others with respect and being helpful anyway,no matter if they are a new or old (*cough Jim*).

You are absolutely right, each EB member should be treated with respect.

However, there are some things that will help a beginner gain respect. Some of them still seem to be intimidated by the "pro" builders. In my opinion the single most imortant thing for a beginner to do, is create a topic with proper information and acceptable pictures. Even if you are not good at building and you think your English is not good enough (which most of the time is hardly the case) it's best to write a little introductory text. By starting with some text/information you kind of build a relationship with the reader. The reader understands what the person is trying to accomplish.

What often happens, is that a beginner creates a topic with a single picture, or with a link to another website. You can't expect people to post a constructive response , because there's nothing to respond to. There's no request, there's no information, etc. So my advice is, always post some information supporting your pics. And post decent pics. Every modern phone can take pretty decent pictures, especially outdoors. And if you see that the picture is blurry, don't use it. Shoot it again, with proper focus. Wait till your phone shows the autofocus rectangle and shoot. It's really not that hard, you just need to take a little time.

It's not a big deal if you ain't the best builder in the world, but take a little time and put some effort into your topic. No extra skills required. People will have a lot more respect and be more helpful when you do that. Try to do better than some guys on Facebook "have EV3 need help", "want to build car with suspension. need instructions. for free" or "here is my picture of car, what you think?".

Regarding collection topics, for example the topic about "compact designs" we had recently.

The first step is to research the topic and present a summary of what you've found, instead of asking everyone else to do your work. The proper approach would be:

"I am interested in compact designs because of how much more complex it is to make functions at a small scale. I have scoured Eurobricks and found the following 6 designs that I feel are good examples. I'd like this topic to be a collector for these and other ideas."

(thanks to Blakbird for this suggestion)

When you start reading a topic which already has 6 designs, you see that the OP has put some effort into it. It's a matter of mutual respect, which you gain by showing you've tried yourself. The pro (and not so pro) builders are in fact very helpful. EB is actually one of the friendliest online communities I know!

My 2 cents on beginners, topic creation and respect.

[Richard Dower]

Well time to chime in....i have held my tongue long enough, i have tried to be respectful and not start flame wars, but i personally have been targeted by certain members here for what THEY deem to be usless topics.

Personally i find certain members downright rude...every topic is legit imo, despite clutter and regular poster annoyance.

[Alasdair Ryan]

Well time to chime in....i have held my tongue long enough, i have tried to be respectful and not start flame wars, but i personally have been targeted by certain members here for what THEY deem to be usless topics.

Personally i find certain members downright rude...every topic is legit imo, despite clutter and regular poster annoyance.

Sometimes members can post before they think,hindsight is a wonderful thing, but sadly it comes after the action you have done.

Before posting read over what you have said,making sure is confines to the site-guidelines,its in the right forum section and its clear and tidy to your best of your ability.

Just because you are posting about selling a technic pin does not mean that you should post this in the technic section.

Or if I can not find my favourite 5420 -1 soft rattle in any lego shop does not necessary mean it belongs in the action figure section.