Guild Wars 2

In fairness to those who are saying, wiki it. There are times when map chat is like this
Player 1: asks question
(Gets answer) a minute passes
Player 2: asks same question
(Gets answer) a minute passes
Player 3: asks same question
(Gets answer) a minute passes
Player 4: asks same question
WIKI IT!

Granted these people are getting on the map after the questions have been asked and are asking innocently. It still can be the same question over and over again until people’s patience has run out. So, it depends on what you want to ask. If it’s a general question about Guild Wars 2 then asking in map chat, imo, is fine. If it’s a question such as whether The Behemoth (or some other boss) has spawned yet, then wiki it or ask how to find the information if you don’t know.

Just a flesh wound says it well. I’ll add that the way to wiki something is to type in chat “/wiki (thing I want to know about)” so e.g. /wiki mystic stone will bring up a browser window with the mystic stone page. It does alt tab you if you don’t have two monitors.

The best answer you can get is to look it up on the wiki if your questions are fact-based. Especially after you’ve asked more than a couple at a time.

As for not being familiar with the game’s terminology—the wiki deals with that quite well. It does have a search engine. A new player can find a ton more information just tracing the wiki from item to item (and the info is going to be more reliable and complete) than they’ll get from rattling off questions in chat.

But that’s more or less expected, as wikis aren’t some new animal. They exist for the very purpose of answering questions. The thing that irks me about your complaint is that you’re complaining at all. No player has an obligation to take time to answer anything you ask. That’s a courtesy. If someone bothers to direct you to the most comprehensive source of information—one I’d personally say you should expect to exist and unless you’re an internet neophyte, should be expected to check out by default—you should appreciate it rather than griping because you prefer being fed rather than feeding yourself.

You know the adage regarding giving a man a fish vs. teaching him to fish, right?

LilMissBossy.1467:

In my defence I did use wiki and it didn’t have all the information. I was asking in chat what the thing was called so I could wiki it and was told to wiki it even though I said I needed to know what was it called so that I could wiki it. The passive aggression from a lot of people in map chat is why I hardly talk at all unless I am absolutely stumped.

This is my first real mmo so I don’t understand yet most of what other people know instinctively from playing computer games.

Well, occasionally people will be rude. It’s one of the things being anonymous does to people. All you can do is remain calm and polite and point out that you are asking for information so that you can wiki it. If they still are rude about it, just assume you have a bad map and ask somewhere else. If you really can’t figure out how to look it up, you can post a question here in the Players Helping Players Forum.

Forget Wiki dump ppl just use wiki like a reason for their laziness

I added you i will answer any question of your !! End of discussion.

if i’m sure i know the answer i will answer the question if i’m not sure i will say wiki it and usually add a little note about /wiki

As a veteran player I’ve tried to empower people in terms of ‘give a man a fish and you feed him for a day; teach a man to fish and you feed him for a lifetime’.

That is go into detail to explain something and inform them of resources such as wiki.

Only to be told “Yea i know i just cba looking it up/minimising my game”

This has happened on more than one occasion.

I’m a bit more passive aggressive. I say “The wiki is your friend”.

I try to answer most questions I see. However, for complicated topics like “how do I get Mawdrey?” I usually tell them it’s a complicated process and direct them to the wiki.

I usually tell people to use the wiki but before that I check out it myself IF you can actually answer the question via the wiki. Most of the time I’ll post the /wiki [word to find the answer].

give a man a fish and you feed him for a day; teach a man to fish and you feed him for a lifetime

So a while ago someone who returned to the game was asking questions about ascended armor and slot infusions. There was “wiki it” and some short replyes but i decided what the heck, i’ll whisper him. So we exchanged whisps for a half an hour and i explained him all i can explain, he said thank you and in a few seconds i got a mail with 30 gold in it. I returned it and said to him : dude no need to send gold advice is free!

So next time before you write: wiki it! Just take a few min off your gameplay and write an actual answer, you may get some token of graditude from lost players. But help even if you don’t get one.

By the way the wiki’s search function also works with partial names, part of the text from something like an achievement and even vague terms.

For example I just searched for “text on screen”. The first result is about a specific event, the second is World vs. World, the 3rd is Dynamic Event which is a good starting point for finding out what all the stuff on the screen is, then there’s 3 more specific events and then the Graphical User Interface page, which explains everything that appears ‘in front’ of the game world. So even with a vague search term it only takes a bit of trial and error to find an answer.

Incidentally the first result if you search for ‘popup’ is Achievement.

For me whether I answer or direct them to the wiki depends on the question. If it’s something simple, or something that’s actually easier to answer in-game (like “how do I get to this vista?”) I’ll answer it.

But often new players are asking what seems like a simple question, but is actually the GW2 equivalent of “How long is a piece of string?” a question that doesn’t have one answer but rather many different ones depending on the situation.

For example “What do I do with this sword that just dropped?”
Possible answers include, but are not limited to:

• Equip it
• Save it to equip later
• Save it to give to another character
• Give it to a friend who can use it
• Sell it on the trading post
• Salvage it for crafting materials
  And the best/‘right’ answer depends on a lot of factors, not just about that sword but their character(s), play style and motivations.

By far the best way for them to get an answer is to read up on item rarity, stats, salvaging and the related systems. It’s a lot to take in to decide what to do with one sword, but it also means they’ll be able to make their own decision on every other item that comes their way, which is a huge part of the game.

Oxidia.8103:

So a while ago someone who returned to the game was asking questions about ascended armor and slot infusions. There was “wiki it” and some short replyes but i decided what the heck, i’ll whisper him. So we exchanged whisps for a half an hour and i explained him all i can explain, he said thank you and in a few seconds i got a mail with 30 gold in it. I returned it and said to him : dude no need to send gold advice is free!

So next time before you write: wiki it! Just take a few min off your gameplay and write an actual answer, you may get some token of graditude from lost players. But help even if you don’t get one.

And chances are high that he already forgot half of the stuff you told him. What’s so wrong about telling someone to use the wiki? I mean players created that wiki to help other players.