I’ve spent some time here now, and one thing I find myself missing is the “Question / Answered” feature of sites like msdn forums. It is clear there are a lot of questions - and even more people willing to help. Maybe something along the lines of “Problem / Solution”

For those that don’t know what I mean; when you start a new thread, you can designate it as a “Problem” (msdn=Question) or as a “Comment” and people can reply. When the OP reads a reply that has helped or solved the problem, s/he can mark it as a “Solution” (msdn=Answered) If the OP marks the post as a Comment - then s/he is simply sharing knowledge or proposing a topic of conversation.

Well that alone is (with the addition of some icons) is a good step forward - I think the real benefit is being able to search for “Solutions” as well as search for unanswered “Problems”, streamlining both the search for, and sharing of, resources.

One last step further, “Abandoned” posts. There’s more then a few here (as it is everywhere), and it would help the above even more. If a person posts a problem and no one replies (except for the OP asking why no one is replying), it can remain an open problem. But if people do reply, and the OP does not return to confirm/deny a solution, the message can move on to Abandoned status where it won’t be involved in further default searches.

I’m well aware of the technical aspects of this, as well as the fact that its not a new idea. I think getting something like this in place now will only benefit a community that I’m sure will see explosive growth over the next decade.

Ok, I’m done, thanks for reading - no get back to work you slackers!

Max 2009, 2010 32/64
VistaP 64 SP1
Intel Q9550 8GB
ATI 4870x2
Patriot 128GB SSD

There’s a proper place - AREA website support Forum - for this kind of suggestion. This forum is for “things you’d like to see in Max”. Ask an [FA] to move the thread for you.

Oh, and The Area V3 is not too far away. You never know what they’ll come up with (NNTP anyone?)

Max 4.2 through 2013.
XP-64 (SP2)
NVidia 9800GTX-512 (Driver 266.58).
Core 2 Quad Q6600 2.4GHz, 8Gb Ram, DX9.0c.

Yup, that would be a better place. I guess it would help if I ventured past Maxscript.

Max 2009, 2010 32/64
VistaP 64 SP1
Intel Q9550 8GB
ATI 4870x2
Patriot 128GB SSD

Yep - there’s a lot more forums here than meets the eye (at least initially).

The problem with a Q&A forum is that instead of being a simple FAQ, folks will post questions in it - it will end up like all the others. Make it sticky? Who reads the stickies that are there now? You only have to look at the lame topics, repeated questions etc etc to see that nobody reads them. Everyone reads the last post in a thread and replies to it - ignoring the rest of the thread - just look at the “suspected bugs” thread in the 2009 forum for a perfect example. It would have to be a read only forum (which is undoubtedly possible), but then someone will have to maintain it. Then multiply that work for Maya, Combustion, FBX and so on - that’s not a small job. Remember that (most of) the [FA]s are not AME employees - they are just users like you or I - just that they’ve been been longer and are sufficiently respected that they have been given (limited) admin capabilities. I suspect they simply don’t have the time to consider such an undertaking.

Nice try though :)

Max 4.2 through 2013.
XP-64 (SP2)
NVidia 9800GTX-512 (Driver 266.58).
Core 2 Quad Q6600 2.4GHz, 8Gb Ram, DX9.0c.

I really don’t want to clog up this thread before it’s moved to its proper spot (but as you can see, I will :) )

Everything you wrote is completely valid ( and exactly what I expected ) but I guess I didn’t explain it the way I was thinking it. The reason there are so many duplicate questions ( and that is very different from the bug section) is because finding an answer in these threads is a crap shoot. You may get 20 matches to your search, but 19 of them lead nowhere or is still unanswered by the time you read the 20th page of a thread.

In its simplest form, a checkbox at the top of each reply that the OP (or anyone) can check to signify an answer - giving the search engine something to look for. So when someone comes looking for an answer - one of the search options can be “Answered Only” or the likes.

Certainly I wouldn’t want or expect volunteers to have do anything to make it work - that would be up to the mature people using these forums.

I hope I explained it better.
PS How do I get someone to move this.?

Max 2009, 2010 32/64
VistaP 64 SP1
Intel Q9550 8GB
ATI 4870x2
Patriot 128GB SSD

I don’t disagree with the concepts, I do disagree (somewhat) that it would make much difference.because it’s quite clear (at least to me) that people simply do not search. They jump straight in with a new thread - often in completely the wrong forum (Max forum for a Maya question is the favourite). While the search can be an bit quirky, it does find the posts with your search terms in them - knowing what to actually search for helps narrow down the results.

If it hasn’t been moved in the next day or so I’ll PM one of the [FA]s and ask them to move it. One of them may well happen to read it and move it anyway.

Max 4.2 through 2013.
XP-64 (SP2)
NVidia 9800GTX-512 (Driver 266.58).
Core 2 Quad Q6600 2.4GHz, 8Gb Ram, DX9.0c.

I’d appreciate that, thank-you.

And just as some friendly banter between the two of us; It’s in peoples nature to to find the easiest way to do something. If starting a new thread is easier then finding an existing answer… it says as much about the search tools as it does the people using them.

But in the end you’re right, on a scale of 1 to 10 this ‘feature’ ranks a firm 2… 2 1/2 tops :)

Max 2009, 2010 32/64
VistaP 64 SP1
Intel Q9550 8GB
ATI 4870x2
Patriot 128GB SSD