most who can actually figure out this stuff just move on to pc...
and the rest hide their work...
we have more than a couple in the group who will GLADLY use what someone else has made to make their own stuff, then keep that secret... since they don't want to share their work, they will not say they are using yours...
we have so few truly open-source people here...
there is one member that is a great example...
he REFUSES to share his work or keep up with anyone else's... so, he is constantly asking me dumb questions, and spending alot of energy "re-inventing the wheel"...
he sends me a link to his "genius project", i send him a link to where we did the project months ago, and better because we all worked on it, and his attitude is something like "well, why did no one tell me!" even though he never asked and went to great pains to hide his work...
it sounds conceited on my part, but, everyone seems to think they just need to do a little work and they will have something worth hiding...
so, those who will use stuff the most will almost never say so...
i bet if i went and made a poll asking who is using my dreamkey login button on the group page, i might get one or two...
yet, my log shows it is being used ALOT...
people don't say thank you...
people don't say they are being helped...
maybe because it means they needed help in the first place... and they just can't live with that...
this is a frustrating thing we do...
the people who benefit most usually would just steal it from us if we weren't giving it away...
so many people want to be the ones with the answers instead of just needing answers...
here is what i think is the one of the best examples of this attitude...
one day in pso, i am standing around in a lobby watching people talk...
two guys come in (they obviously had agreed to meet here, and it was apparent they had only recently met) and one is saying he will give the other a certain cheat code... a pk code... a player killer code... you really only use this code to harm people...
so, the guy is about to tell him how to do it, well the guy says "wait, tell me in a private message so no one hears"
well, let's look at this...
this is free info, freely given...
he does not want to share it... he has found food and rather than share the food or tell others where the food is ("hey, this guy will give you the pk code if you ask for it"), he just keeps it to himself...
now, it could be said that he does not want to be pk'd himself by someone over hearing it...
and i would be willing to buy that, BUT...
BUT...
by odd coincidence, i was in another lobby on another ship an hour or so later when suddenly in comes the guy and within seconds just "casually" brings up the fact that he can pk...
well, people start asking him if they will tell him... he says no 50 different ways...
so... why is he not off pk'ing people and taking all their stuff?
because that is not even what he wants...
he wants to be "the keeper of the secret"...
he wants to have people beg him...
this all makes him feel valuable...
he has already forgotten the name of the guy who gave him the info...
well, i think this is true of the juvenile mind in most aspects of life...
they do not thank, and in alot of cases, they don't even USE what they get...
this is about glory...
if everyone loves our sites, WHY are there not more people coming??? ("hey, i heard from so-and-so how cool it was over here") it is because so many are sitting on the secret... or, it does not occur to them that others might benefit or something...
so...
all the above PLUS the fact that most people who can figure out how to make webpages and such usually move on to a pc...
there are a few exceptions, but, that is what you will usually encounter...
and i wasn't even sure of all this before...
but, now i am certain... most of them would steal what we provide if we did not give it away... we have over a hundred members at vgso... i figured most were people who came once looking or an answer, signed up because they thought they had to, got their answer (or didn't) and moved along...
but, no... when we moved to dcbg, over 60 people came from the vgso in 72 hours...
now, do i want people to be helped? yes...
is it free? yes...
is it open? yes...
do i plan on closing until they lavish us with praise? of course not...
will we ever know how many people we have helped? no...
but, it IS possible to steal free stuff...
it is all in how you go about it...
after doing this almost a year, i have come to the conclusion i would rather assume i am helping many anonymously...
if i make them acknowledge the help, they won't take the help and development will stagnate...
one in 20 or 30 steps up and contributes SOMETHING sooner or later...
anyway, the point is to never gauge success or usefulness by feedback...