Long Way – Point Seven – Support

Nobody is omniscient and nobody also knows everything. Second Life is very wide and structured world. That is precisely why it is not simple to orientate inside for the first time. Of course, basic (advanced) knowledge to work with PC, Internet, or playing MMORPG right to knowledge of foreign language, mainly English, this all is the big advantage at newbie entrance into SL.

However, what about the newbies those are not adept in above mentioned things? This is an example, where I remembered an advance of my high school professor of chemistry. I follow this advice from my professor whole my life. And what does the advice say? “Student does not know then student consults something.” Since somebody already answered our question sometime. This question already was solved somewhere. Before I ask, then:

1. Try to find an answer by searching the Web.
   
2. Try to find an answer by reading the manual.
   
3. Try to find an answer by reading a FAQ.
   
4. Try to find an answer by inspection or experimentation.
   
5. Try to find an answer by asking a skilled friend.
   
6. If you're a programmer, try to find an answer by reading the source code.
   

Application in SL is surely possibly, maybe with one exception. Item 1 unambiguously covers different web sites, blogs and discussion forums about SL.

Item 1 can be linked with items 2 and 3, i.e. 1 + 2 + 3 = www.secondlife.com, so it is an official web. It offers also SL official blogs and mainly illustrative videotutorials that it is possible to see directly on web, on YouTube or to download to PC for later replay.

Item 4 is definitely interesting. I myself have used it several times. There is nothing like you yourself can find something and it works! Well, it is fantastic! But, you must not abandon it just by the first fiasco. For example, in scientific research, if you reach a blind alley that it means fiasco. No! It is unambiguously positive result, which says that this is not that way. It needs to analyze the whole procedure and find a mistake.

Item 5 is also important. But even if you ask good friend, you have to ask her/him right to do not look as an idiot. It would pass by your good friend, but others will consider you to be a looser.

Item 6 is perhaps for programmers, e.g. in the case of scripting fo SL objects.

Whole this thing is applicable to the Technical Support Service that works at our sim in city Bohemia. Every evening, one team member (inclusive me) sweats there and tries to answer also question that are primitive and easy, even if the answers can be found elsewhere. In spite of that the team members answer with a big long-suffering.

In conclusion, I would like to recommend some article on the web – How to Ask Question the Smart Way. It is probably focused to bit other subject, but it is fully applicable to asking in SL. You can find it here. I recommend reading it.