The value of reading all these forum messages

[Uhfgood]

I usually just read the few i'm interested in or personally started. Would there be value in reading nearly every thread that comes up as it comes up? once you got it down it would merely be reading the messages as they arrived, and not really reading all the old messages.

Keith

[Sunshine]

I think this thread shows that there is no value in that. :p Besides who has all that free-time!?

[Pkeod]

There is a lot that you can learn from the Dexterity archives. You don't have to read everything, but if you don't know what has already been asked/explained/problems solved then you are wasting time, and time is worth a whole lot of money :) (if you actually value your time!)

[SonSon]

When I join a forum I try to dig sometimes into the archives. But not every day of course, it would be too time consuming.
Then I try to skim through every new thread. There always might be something (very) interesting you didn't thought of.
I think it's important to gather as much info as possible, your brain can and will support it. :)

[GBGames]

And make use of the indie wiki (http://www.indiewiki.org) which has some threads linked for easy searching.

Personally, I haven't made use of the search function on this site much. Perhaps my questions have wasted some time, but I've found that people in general are very helpful and are quick to help out. This is not to say that you should just ask questions without thinking about it, but I'll at least make sure it isn't some basic question in the FAQ or in the threads immediately visible. And I really should search the archives from now on myself. B-)

[Uhfgood]

Note I wasn't suggesting not looking in the archives, i meant I wouldn't be reading the whole of the archives. It should be easy to keep up with threads once you've read the whole thread through, as you'd only have to deal with the new posts each day.

I guess I thought of it since I'm getting these free computer graphic world mags, and since I started reading them I am able to recognize the lingo, and sort of know what someone is talking about when someone talks about computer generated imagery.

So i'm thinking maybe all around i should just start reading the threads even if they aren't that interesting to me.

Keith

[GBGames]

Maybe only if you think they may be interesting later on. I read threads about marketing, technical development related to porting, etc. But I tend to ignore DirectX-specific discussions and discussions about web-based games. I don't mean ignore in that I stay away from them like the plague. I mean that they aren't nearly as important to me, so if I miss the discussion, I presume I didn't miss too much. I can always look them up again later if I want to.

So no, I don't think it is important to read through every thread, but if you feel like you're missing out on something, read it.

[stan]

I just spent around 4 hours reading this forum (I hadn't read it since a few days). Didn't get much work done today.

So I'd say: DON'T read all posts :). Personnally I try to read mostly posts by known/successful devs/publishers. "I think" posts are nice, but I'm not sure of their value, and since free time isn't an infinite thing... I'd rather read "I did this and it worked" posts :).

I keep downloading demos from the Announcements forum, but barely have time for trying them...