I don't mind helping people...but

[tubachris85x]

Please do your part. I honestly have no problem with helping people when they ask, however, lately I've been getting really peaved. If your new to costuming in general, just read. I don't think I did anything but research my first prop before I actually posted about it, even then, only posted about something that I couldn't find.

I've been having a large number of people contacting me outside of the site through various means in regards to halo costuming. Thats fine, as I don't mind it. I don't have a completed suit yet but I'm not a stranger to the game in the least.

What I'm getting annoyed with is when they ask "how did you make your (masterchief) suit?" remember, I don't have a finished one yet, and I give them a straight answer. Dosnt get through to them. I link them to here, they say they've already been here. Still get the question henceforth "where/how can I make it/buy it," and then get the typical "I'll pay you $30 to build me a full suit."

Guys, I know your young, I know I was naieve about somethings, but come on. You go to school for a reason. Do you write an essay before you read the prompt? Do you compose a piece of music before you learn music theory? If you can logically answer those, then you are fully capable of understanding how to do research and just use some common sense. Don't be stuck on stupid.

As for costs, you need to realize this is not a cheap hobby. My Snowtrooper from star wars at cost was just over $800 and that's cheap for an almost screen accurate costume!

Just think before you ask. I don't want to answer the same questions as posted above. I get it, you want to start somewhere. Ask me who has a good armor kit, decent helmet, what techniques to clean up details with a dremel. Heck, I can help you wire an electric oven to help guide you to build a vaccum forming machine. I just need you to understand the basics of the hobby in general, please! I did my research, so please do everyone else a favor and do the same.

/rant

 

[Varsity]

i agree. sucks that this happens to most of 405th members

 

[Boba Fett]

Most kids have never learned etiquette, I am fortunately one that has. I trolled through threads on this forum for over 6 months before posting, looking for information and reading and observing. It's the problem of instant gratification, kids always have it. Most kids don;t have real hobbies anymore, I build plastic scale models that I routinely pour 30+ hours into. I'm wrapping up a Mogadishu era MH-60 Blackhawk, super 68 and the entire passenger cabin is scratchbuilt. took me 10 hours on that section alone.

 

[Xtreme TACTICS 101]

This is why I keep my posting to a minimal here now. I lost patients with the newer members here, so I have withdrawn my help completely from the entire costuming community. I don't even bother replying to E-mails anymore because I received and currently am receiving so many from members (Literally 80-150 separate E-mails daily) here after offering my help so openly. I'm tuckered out from the same darn questions over-and-over again. No sense in helping those who can't help themselves.

And this is coming from a 16 year-old who already has a part-time job, and a second on the way (Canadian Armed Forces Reserves), aswell as school, a girlfriend and a dog to take care of (Girlfriend helps eats all the darn food in our house, have to pay for it somehow… And your own dog isn‘t cheep yeah know- especially a husky).

I personally don’t refer to myself as a kid. I’m fairly self-dependant as I pay my share of the house-hold bills, cook my own food and earn my own money. I also juggle a few hobbies around, so I’m pretty much stripped of time. And no offence to the pour newb who gets caught in the crossfire, but I’m finding it hard to be helpful when I’m fighting a losing battle against a freaking battalion of enemy troops (AKA, the ungrateful newer members who want everything served to them first-class on a solid gold platter.)

Tough luck is on kiddies, get over it!

Jake
Xtreme TACTICS 101

 

[ivapabla]

Of course we should help others, by this way we are known that we are real human being........

 

[Liq]

I keep my email private, and only help in threads when I feel like it. I do get a few questions each week on my Youtube channel, but it isn't that bad. If you don't want to help out then make yourself unreachable, simple. I think many of these whiny "I'm tired of helping people" threads is mostly for attention. This is especially true when you plaster all your information where you can be reached all over the forums.

 

[bobbio555]

Personally, I'd love it if people asked me more questions. I am young, and I haven't been on the site too long, but I still do have lots of experience under my belt, that goes, for the most part, untapped. But hey, to each his own.
Maybe next time some of you guys can refer your nublets to me to deal with

 

[Nintendude]

I like to help the new members and just about anyone who needs the help but I have to agree with you when it gets to a point of irratation. I usually do 3-5 3D Requests for people a day, but with some of the people on here they expect more out of me, I get about 20 e-mails a day asking me to unfold or model something for someone, people just don't get it I don't do modelling, I do ripping and editing to get a half way usable model for pepakura. The only reason I still come here is to help people I'm not really building any peps at the moment but that's soon to change because I have something I am building for D*C 2011 that I want to be perfect and I would like to get a Iron Man suit built for the release of either the next Iron Man movie ot The Avanegers, once I start working on either one of those suits it's going to go from me doing 3-5 models a day to 1 or none, or unfolding none at all because I will be so busy at work on the suits I'm planning to work on. I don't mind one e-mail asking for me to get a file it's when I'm continually asked over and over it starts to get on my nerves and I'll help someone else before that person who asked me more than 3 times to do it for them. It really gets old , but I'll continue helping as much as I can.

 

[Walter Spase]

If they are asking you questions about topics they should be able to answer on their own if they looked just a little bit, then the likely hood they would stumble upon this thread about them not reading threads is not very likely.

My suggestion, copy some links, make a standard response letter, and just respond to everyone with the same information. You then are both helpful, and you've saved yourself an immense amount of time.

 

[tubachris85x]

If they are asking you questions about topics they should be able to answer on their own if they looked just a little bit, then the likely hood they would stumble upon this thread about them not reading threads is not very likely.

My suggestion, copy some links, make a standard response letter, and just respond to everyone with the same information. You then are both helpful, and you've saved yourself an immense amount of time.

I should just respond to those with just a screen shot of the search function on the site

 

[Roadkiller]

Here is a draft of a "canned" response to questions:

Good day and welcome to the 405th, where Spartans are made!

There is a very good chance that your questions about a specific area of the hobby of Halo costuming has already been asked on our forums. Therefore the more experienced members of the 405th have written down their tips, hints, tricks and advice in a series of “help” threads (commonly refered to as “stickies”) by folks on the forums.

Before you post questions on the forum, or e-mail members directly, please ensure you have read at least the following Help "stickie" discussions:

First, a message from the founder of the 405th with some great advice to those newly interested in the hobby of Halo costuming:
http://www.405th.com/showthread.php/15735-New-Recruit-Orientation-Video

Complete NOOB List:
http://www.405th.com/showthread.php/14613-Complete-Noob-List

Help for Papercraft or Pepakura:
http://www.405th.com/showthread.php/26848-quot-Help!-quot-for-Papercraft-or-Pepakura

Help for Fiberglassing, Resin and Bondo:
http://www.405th.com/showthread.php/26849-quot-Help!-quot-for-Fiberglassing-Resin-amp-Bondo

How to Rescale Pepakura Models:
http://www.405th.com/showthread.php/27929-How-to-Rescale-Pepakura-models

There are many more help “stickies” on the 405th, but those I have just pointed out will give you the basic knowledge to start creating your own armor costume. Once you have read and understood these, you will have more questions, and I suggest you use the “Search” feature of the 405th's forums, available in the upper right hand corner of the boards, to determine if your question has already been answered.

Once you have read the basics, I encourage you to start making your costume. So much becomes obvious once you start building, that many of your questions will be answered by your own efforts. This discovery is part of the fun of the hobby.

Again, welcome to the 405th and best of luck building your own Spartan!​

 

[bobbio555]

I should just respond to those with just a screen shot of the search function on the site

Maybe you can write "Insert working search function here" or something funny like that, too!
Sarcasm aside, the searchbar is next to useless now, links to stickies would probably be of better use.

 

[tubachris85x]

Maybe you can write "Insert working search function here" or something funny like that, too!
Sarcasm aside, the searchbar is next to useless now, links to stickies would probably be of better use.

Not necessarily, I've used the search on this site since I first joined. The information your looking for is there, you just have to have the patience to sift through it. Heck, you'll probably find alot of other cool stuff on your search there.

It comes down to patience and not being lazy about it. If you really want to learn something, you should be able to get off your rear and take initiative instead of going to one person and asking them for everything, then whinning and crying about no one helping you cause you were to freaking lazy to research it yourself

 

[Cirkob5477]

I like helping people, but before I stopped just over a month ago (too tiring to write everything over and over again).
I say the generic response is a good idea, but a more precise one could be helpful too....

And about helping people, think about Adam who had to search all over the Internet to find how to make armor cheaply, relatively fast and easily. He helped his share of people too, and he's been doing this for years!
I don't even know how much time it took him to find all of the resources and piece together techniques for this....
Hats off to him, the founder of this wonderful site which is slowly being corrupted by people who don't want to work and have everything handed to them. I used to be like that. But I at least learned not to ask, but to earn. When someone releases I file that I might need, I try to unfold it myself rather then wait. I'd model myself, but I find that I do not have the time to learn modeling. When I request something from Rhinoc or whomever it falls on, I always offer to unfold it myself so to not have him or her do it for me when I know full well that I can do it instead. So either this keeps going on, or we make a sticky that is mandatory to read fully with some sort of quiz before having full access to the site as to prevent people from posting a thread saying "Hi, my name is x and I'd like to buy x for x amount of money". I'd say it could be a good idea, but some people might find it frustrating and would rather not join then read, but then again, it would separate the ones that really have the determination to work from those who don't.

Sorry for the long rant and thank you for reading it.

 

[Chantelle]

and then get the typical "I'll pay you $30 to build me a full suit."As for costs, you need to realize this is not a cheap hobby.

Working in Special Effects Make-Up, I know exactly what you mean. I always have people asking me to do dramatic make-ups on them for free, ranging from Avatar bodypaints (which cost over $400 to do full with film-grade products, and that's assuming you have usable hair) to Hellboy (which is just a nightmare) to a full-blown Dalek.

People don't realise that my medical-grade (as in, sterile, safe for all skin types including those with contraindications, and with a good lifespan) cost $130 for a pot the size of a lipgloss tub - and consisting of an applicator and a base, you need two tubs to do anything. They still want it for free....

I also get the requests for advice, which I now refuse to give by and large. Especially with webdesign, argh, I am so sick of design clients ringing me at 1-6am because their printer/mouse/misc.-gadget has done something weird and they want me to fix it.