I don’t think it’s a hostile environment, I just think it’s difficult for new developers to actually start developing. When’s the last time you heard of a developer who joined roblox in the last 3 years? I can’t think of one person.
In the early days everyone was a noob and opportunity was everywhere, but I can see why a new developer would be scared to start developing with giants like Mad Games and Phantom Forces dominating the front page. The lack of new developers here reflects that, I think.
From what i’ve seen this is a very friendly, supportive community. I haven’t seen any major hostility- though I have seen some people share more “critical” opinions. Personally I just don’t have a lot to say, my actions aren’t really influenced by intimidation or fear of failure. I only create posts if I really need input/attention* (i.e. bug reports); but I do try to reply to posts so long as I understand the topic and am interested in responding.
I was referring more to people’s join date on the forums than when they joined ROBLOX. These new forum members have already started developing and already have some really cool stuff to show for it (or they wouldn’t have been added). You bring up a good point, but I don’t think it’s related to recent additions to the forums not participating.
I think its because a lot of the users in here are big named developers and super famous people, to a newbie member who isn’t famous it’s kinda intimidating to be around those kind of users… So @OP, I think its more of the fact that newbie members feel intimidated, not that the community is unfriendly. (Except in the lounge)
I think the community is awesome for the most part and I love being on here. The only reason I don’t really post much is because I’m pretty much just a builder and there aren’t too many building questions or discussions that have caught my attention. However, I do read (skim depending on topic) just about every single thread that is made.
I look up to everyone in this forum. From GuestCapone to Kmansong2 to EchoReaper to ScriptOn. I want to get more involved in this community but i’m afraid that i could hurt my reputation by saying stupid things (which i do a lot). Having arguments with people is something i really don’t like, but in here people do it on a daily basis. Overall, the community isn’t unfriendly, but it can be a bit scary at times.
I think it’s because people prefer to use the Dev Forums as a badge or a goal rather than a resource.
Which is why I think things like Tutorial Requests & Bounties - #36 by EchoReaper are really important if we are wanting more people to contribute. Through either teaching or learning, both are ways to interact with and benefit the community.
Well, I’ve been here for a while and I rarely post (although now that it’s summer I’m doing so a lot more than usual), but I try to read everything. As to why people don’t post? I have no idea. It might be, as Sharksie said, that it’s kind of a moot point to try and develop something if it’s not going to get any attention (at least to some people), or it could be, like GuestCapone said, that people are intimidated.
It’s probably somewhere in between. We should probably do a better job of ensuring newer members are welcomed in some way, or at least acknowledged beyond them being added.
… Thinking about it, actually, it might be because the average developer won’t have the sort of problems that a lot of the people on this forum have, or even be able to really relate to most content. If someone was accepted because of their building skills, it’d be hard for them to look at all of the posts about Rays or GET Requests and think “I can actively participate in this discussion.”
When I joined (maybe a few months after the original forum was released or something), I kinda avoided posting things. Not because it was hostile or unfriendly. I just didn’t want to post until I was more familiar.
Now I post off and on. I read pretty much everything though. Most of the time, my comment was already said, so there’s no point in posting it again.
I’ve been here for quite some time (heh) and I’ve come to the following conclusions on this topic:
A lot of people are afraid to post out of fear that they don’t fully understand what they’re talking about and be ridiculed, even though that’s usually not the case
Many RBXDev accounts are inactive, meaning their owners just… don’t use them, for whatever reason
Some people tend to post about things of which they’re not really knowledgeable and it leads to dull discussion and even just the lack of desire to reply to them, as it’s so clear that they have no idea what they’re talking about that you have no idea how to convey this without seeming insulting
Most of the time, I only post in the lounge because I fall into the first category - if I post outside of the lounge it’s usually in Bugs & Exploit Reports and I’ll fact-check myself and have someone more knowledgeable proofread my post just to make sure.
When I first joined, I thought we’d be closer than we are. I thought we’d be more like a little family; and luckily some people on here I feel like we are, but others I get the impression are always on the offence because they feel insecure in some way, shape or form. This, in turn, causes others to be prepared and gather their torches, shields and pitchforks and become overly-defensive when on the forums.
