"It doesn't work" - that's no help!

[Lord_Chris 212]

We have seen this phrase many, many times across the internet based on observations from several places. There are many variations of "it doesn't work".

 

"It stops loading"

"I get a message"

"I get an error"

"It doesn't run"

"It fails"

"It crashes"

 

But they all mean the same thing. Because they all tell us nothing!

 

I understand people may not speak English as their first language, mine isn't German, and I can certainly understand how foreign languages can look gibberish to people - so spelling mistakes unless you can tell they are deliberate will be accepted generally. But it really doesn't make much difference when you're talking about what is wrong. You must provide a clear list of what is working and is not. If you have to, use Google Translate. Most of the time unless it's complete gibberish, people will understand what you are talking about.

 

If you get a message or an error when doing something during the game, why not post the error in the forum in the first place? Errors will likely tell us exactly where the problem lies, but you insist on giving the minimum amount of information possible, and make us drag it out of you. You must provide clear and relevant information on your problem if you want help! We really cannot stress this enough.

 

For those people who don't get errors or messages of any kind, this doesn't exclude you either. If it's a modification or technical issue, what are you actually trying to do? "I'm playing online" doesn't suffice, because that still tells us nothing.

 

What are you doing prior to it "not working"? Most errors or bugs only happen on one specific type of PC, operating system or game version, so you can help us help you by providing the following details:

 

Your operating system

 

Your game version

 

Your basic OS information

 

Your version of DirectX

 

In some cases, your monitor resolution may be useful

 

Have you installed software recently that could be affecting it?

 

Have you noticed any other problems in addition?

 

A dxdiag file is useful for troubleshooting issues.

 

If it is a map file:

 

Are you using a Firefly made map, or is it a custom made one? - nine times out of ten when a custom map crashes it is due to a trigger/event error that you scripted in.

 

Don't be a help vampire - what have you tried to solve the problem? Though it may seem patronising, many people do not say what they have tried to solve their problem, so we end up telling them to try things they have already attempted. If you say nothing, we'll assume you've tried nothing so that won't help either of us! We're not going to scream at you if you haven't tried anything because you are too stuck and don't understand what to try, that's the purpose of you asking us. But wouldn't it just be easier to provide that information in the first place?

 

Once we give you a possible solution, we expect you to at least try it. It's like you're scared of breaking something. You can't break something that already doesn't work, so why not try the suggestions given?

 

Why make it hard on us? We are all volunteers, we are not getting paid, and it is much easier to just ignore such posts and help someone who actually provides useful information on their problem.

 

You now know what to provide, but you may not necessarily see when you're doing it still. Here are a few recent examples:

 

(Translated from German into English)

 

Find my homemade map not as a file?

that was all, desperately need help

 

Not as a file???? Do they mean they want to find where the maps are stored within the game? - do they mean that they want to find where the directory of the maps are? (mydocuments/stronghold 2/maps/)

 

Another example:

 

please help I'm having problems running the game on my windows 8 system it installs fine but when I load it is stops and gives me a message stronghold 2 has stopped loading.

 

When does it exactly crash? What version of windows 8 do you have? Is it the same point that it crashes every time? Have you noticed any other problems? Is it the on the load or after the load it crashes? Has it always done this or only started recently? Have you attempted to modify the game at all? Does it instantly crash and not load at all?

 

None of us are psychics - we can only help based on what you tell us!