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[monk12]

Maybe a simple "Who is this Toady guy?" question at the top of the FAQ would serve as a nice introduction? I've noticed that quite a few of those asking redundant questions (particularly the UI one) don't know how DF development works or who's behind it. Just a short explanation about who the brothers Adams are to put the later answers in perspective would work.

This is probably a good one. Many of the FAQs arise because people expect DF development to be closer to mainstream game development, or even regular indie development- at lot of the idiosyncrasies of DF development arise from who Tarn is and what he wants out of the game. It'd tie everything together nice, as most of the answers are directly related to who Tarn is and why he does what he does. Maybe throw the link to the NY Times article in there.


EDIT: Ninja'd by the thread creator. Last time I decide to check out Mantis mid-post.

[G-Flex]

Note, however, that many new DF players don't even know that the game is developed by Toady; they assume more of a team is involved. A better idea might be to frame the opening question less in terms of who Toady is, and more in terms of who the game's developer is. More "About the developer" than "About Toady", since people reading this won't even necessarily know that it's (mostly) a one-man show.

[Gatleos]

If this extremely useful thread is going to die, I want it to be because Toady gave a reason for it to. Even a post that just says "No" coupled with a mod lock of the thread would be preferable to silence.

And so I hereby bump this thread for great truth and justice.

[Farmerbob]

Sticky please.

[HiEv]

FYI, Toady's most recent comment on 64-bit changes:

haven't done large addresses because I'm not sure how many weird bugs are going to crop up, although I'll have to do it eventually for 64 bit anyway.  Not something I'm eager to plunge into, but it'll have to be done.  I don't know how up to specs my libraries are for large addresses.  Some of them like FMOD I won't be able to upgrade if necessary because if I remember they've changed the license.

[Urist_McArathos]

If this extremely useful thread is going to die, I want it to be because Toady gave a reason for it to. Even a post that just says "No" coupled with a mod lock of the thread would be preferable to silence.

And so I hereby bump this thread for great truth and justice.

Toady has responded to me with some reasons for why he is hesitant to sticky it at the moment.  I replied to him, to continue this discussion, but he hasn't answered me yet.  I'm sure he's still busy with emails, crayon art, and bug fixing at the moment.

His two main reasons for not stickying yet are: he'd like the thread title changed to be something that doesn't imply it's HIS faq, but a community or fan maintained one (easily accomplished, I'm just waiting for his approval on some suggested ideas); and he's concerned the thread will get bogged down by derailing arguments about the questions, as has already happened once.  He's not eager to have a thread that needs to be constantly cleaned of arguments and fighting to keep it on track and free of report-worthy posts.

The second issue is less simply handled; aside from promising him I'll do my best to monitor the posts here and hoping everyone is really, really good about not derailing, I'm not sure what to do.  I -could- lock the thread and only open it to edit the OP, but that wouldn't allow people to discuss which questions should be added to the FAQ, or to easily add links and references for me to add to the OP.

[dirty foot]

If this extremely useful thread is going to die, I want it to be because Toady gave a reason for it to. Even a post that just says "No" coupled with a mod lock of the thread would be preferable to silence.

And so I hereby bump this thread for great truth and justice.

Toady has responded to me with some reasons for why he is hesitant to sticky it at the moment.  I replied to him, to continue this discussion, but he hasn't answered me yet.  I'm sure he's still busy with emails, crayon art, and bug fixing at the moment.

His two main reasons for not stickying yet are: he'd like the thread title changed to be something that doesn't imply it's HIS faq, but a community or fan maintained one (easily accomplished, I'm just waiting for his approval on some suggested ideas); and he's concerned the thread will get bogged down by derailing arguments about the questions, as has already happened once.  He's not eager to have a thread that needs to be constantly cleaned of arguments and fighting to keep it on track and free of report-worthy posts.

The second issue is less simply handled; aside from promising him I'll do my best to monitor the posts here and hoping everyone is really, really good about not derailing, I'm not sure what to do.  I -could- lock the thread and only open it to edit the OP, but that wouldn't allow people to discuss which questions should be added to the FAQ, or to easily add links and references for me to add to the OP.

Honestly, argumentation and debate only make things better on a long enough time line. What better place to have it than the FAQ thread?

Chances are it saves Toady from having to deal with angry emails about things people disagree with.

[HiEv]

The second issue is less simply handled; aside from promising him I'll do my best to monitor the posts here and hoping everyone is really, really good about not derailing, I'm not sure what to do.  I -could- lock the thread and only open it to edit the OP, but that wouldn't allow people to discuss which questions should be added to the FAQ, or to easily add links and references for me to add to the OP.

How about a stickied thread with one to three posts in it (room for expansion, if need be) that is locked and points to an unlocked thread with suggestions for additions and changes?

[Gatleos]

I think the first issue would be better solved with a Bold and Italicized Disclaimer at the Top of the OP.

As for the second, it's a good point. But I think that, given a professional-enough atmosphere in the thread, people will be less inclined to start arguments here. The other stickied threads are proof of this. Tell anyone who tries to start an argument to move it to its own thread, and we should be fine.

[Farmerbob]

If this extremely useful thread is going to die, I want it to be because Toady gave a reason for it to. Even a post that just says "No" coupled with a mod lock of the thread would be preferable to silence.

And so I hereby bump this thread for great truth and justice.

Toady has responded to me with some reasons for why he is hesitant to sticky it at the moment.  I replied to him, to continue this discussion, but he hasn't answered me yet.  I'm sure he's still busy with emails, crayon art, and bug fixing at the moment.

His two main reasons for not stickying yet are: he'd like the thread title changed to be something that doesn't imply it's HIS faq, but a community or fan maintained one (easily accomplished, I'm just waiting for his approval on some suggested ideas); and he's concerned the thread will get bogged down by derailing arguments about the questions, as has already happened once.  He's not eager to have a thread that needs to be constantly cleaned of arguments and fighting to keep it on track and free of report-worthy posts.

The second issue is less simply handled; aside from promising him I'll do my best to monitor the posts here and hoping everyone is really, really good about not derailing, I'm not sure what to do.  I -could- lock the thread and only open it to edit the OP, but that wouldn't allow people to discuss which questions should be added to the FAQ, or to easily add links and references for me to add to the OP.

Sticky it, AND lock it.

[Flying Dice]

If this extremely useful thread is going to die, I want it to be because Toady gave a reason for it to. Even a post that just says "No" coupled with a mod lock of the thread would be preferable to silence.

And so I hereby bump this thread for great truth and justice.

Toady has responded to me with some reasons for why he is hesitant to sticky it at the moment.  I replied to him, to continue this discussion, but he hasn't answered me yet.  I'm sure he's still busy with emails, crayon art, and bug fixing at the moment.

His two main reasons for not stickying yet are: he'd like the thread title changed to be something that doesn't imply it's HIS faq, but a community or fan maintained one (easily accomplished, I'm just waiting for his approval on some suggested ideas); and he's concerned the thread will get bogged down by derailing arguments about the questions, as has already happened once.  He's not eager to have a thread that needs to be constantly cleaned of arguments and fighting to keep it on track and free of report-worthy posts.

The second issue is less simply handled; aside from promising him I'll do my best to monitor the posts here and hoping everyone is really, really good about not derailing, I'm not sure what to do.  I -could- lock the thread and only open it to edit the OP, but that wouldn't allow people to discuss which questions should be added to the FAQ, or to easily add links and references for me to add to the OP.

Sticky it, AND lock it.

This, and have a second, unstickied thread linked in the OP for discussion of what to add, perhaps.

[Neonivek]

Why lock a thread that is ONLY USEFUL so long as it keeps updating?

[HiEv]

Why lock a thread that is ONLY USEFUL so long as it keeps updating?

It could still be unlocked, updated, and then relocked when necessary.

[Scoops Novel]

I'm for a sticky. This answered untold questions and would doubtless prevent an infinity of aggravating questions by newbies like myself.

If this extremely useful thread is going to die, I want it to be because Toady gave a reason for it to. Even a post that just says "No" coupled with a mod lock of the thread would be preferable to silence.

And so I hereby bump this thread for great truth and justice.

This, and have a second, unstickied thread linked in the OP for discussion of what to add, perhaps.

This indeed.

[Urist_McArathos]

Slight necro to point out that I'm currently figuring out a proposal to send to Toady that would satisfy his reservations about stickying this thread, and waiting for things to settle a bit before bothering him with an email (now that the bugfixing cycle has ended it seems like a better time to try and email him).

The idea I'm leaning towards is, to prevent derails and this thread being a source of frequent reported posts as arguments are renewed (his biggest concern), having this thread locked by me and only updated when new questions are added to be answered.  The OP would contain a link to a "Suggestions for the Community FAQ" thread where we could post questions that should be added, and debate about why or why not they should be added, and post relevant links and commentary to expand on them.

Any better solutions or ideas are welcome; until I get the okay from Toady on my (or another) proposal, this thread will remain unlocked and unstickied.