Do people actually read the postings here?

[PoisonPen]

I'm finding that people on Skyrimforums don't really engage in much discussion. Especially here in the main forum, forum postings tend to be recycled rounds of generic questions like, "What's your favourite weapon?" and "Which perks are the best?" with a bunch of one-sentence replies from people anxious to let everyone know their exciting opinion, usually without bothering to explain said opinion, and clearly uninterested in what anyone else in the thread has written.

There is a distinct lack of interaction around here. Everyone wants to broadcast an opinion at the world, no one seems particularly interested in explaining why they hold that opinion, or in probing the opinions of others.

Has anyone else noticed this? If so, why do you suppose this might be?

 

[sticky runes]

Its easy to say people are lazy and can't be bothered to read through loads of posts, but that's just the way it is with a majority of people who visit a website for whatever reason. They want the info right here, right now. They don't want to read through paragraphs, even though it might be incredibly useful and interesting information. Surely, it would make more sense to check if somebody else has already asked the same question as you before and received the answers you're looking for, but some people just don't have the patience for that. They'd rather ask the question now and get "personalised" help later, than actually do research. That's the way I see it, anyway. I don't blame people for it, I'm not knocking them, it's just the way we absorb information.

Also, with general chat which is about asking for an opinion rather than technical assistance, some users don't really want to dig up an old topic. If you're chatting with a friend, you don't really say "you remember that comment you made months and months ago about that fat chick?" because he might have forgotten about that discussion, or he might have changed his opinion since then, and he might not want to be reminded of when he said it. It feels like digging up the past, and a lot of people don't really appreciate that. They prefer a fresh and current topic.

 

[Spiral Power!]

As a forum dedicated to one specific game (especially a single player one) there's going to be a lot of people who come here for very short-term purposes, such as quick information gathering or complaining, or simply those people who discussed the game until they no longer played it.

It isn't really all that surprising. I think it'd be more surprising if it happened on a more general gaming discussion board.

 

[Skulli]

Although I've only been posting a matter of days, I've had a lot of downtime and put almost 80 hours in the game so far.

I come from 7 years playing WoW and those toxic forums over there. So a lot of my earlier threads and responses were also a little bit of "feeling out" this forum community to get the lay of the land. I have been amazed at how much different people are here, much more considerate, helpful, and good natured.

Now aware of this, I'm trying to return the favor and once I know more about the topics from experiencing what all the game has to offer, I hope I can be more constructive as well.

Also, as one who often does look for other info before posting questions, I have also found many other resources outdated, misinformed, or downright scarce at times. On the other hand, I've rarely posted a question here and not had useful, and most importantly cordial assistance.

Kinda hard to pass that up sometimes as the default help source!