"Read the rules!" ...can it be said enough?

[generalbrando]

Originally Posted by Natchez

General,

We would all agree that everyone should read the rules BUT participating in FIRST is often very overwhelming, especially for rookies, and folks ask these "needless" questions because when overwhelmed with questions, it is very comforting to ask other people for an answer.

I think that reaching out to these folks is much more productive than yelling at them. As a college student, I would hope that you appreciate this the most. I'd bet that 99.9% of the questions that you have concerning your studies is in your text books or can be easily derived from information in those books but where would you be without your professors. In theory, we do not need teachers in this world because we have the written word, but in reality, teachers are one of the most valuable resources, if not the most valuable resource, we have.

Have a great year,
Lucien

Reading that, I didn't know what to think - to be offended or ashamed or what - because what you said I already know and believe. I'm probably not being clear. I'm not upset and I'm glad to help anyone anytime. However, what I'm suggesting is that we somehow detour the kind of traffic on this site that so many of us get frustrated with. Yes, it is comforting and this is not a cold group of people here, by far. But I answered many threads last year in a very short period of time - each one asking how they can get replacement parts. With all these questions and cocerns, I want nothing more than to soothe fellow FIRSTers, but wouldn't you agree that if they actually sat down and read the manual, that would take care of the problem before it happened?

CD is essential to rookies, so don't think for a minute that any one of you should ever shy away from getting help here. What I am saying is that these repeat simple questions about the rules are a problem we can and should avoid. Maybe I should be shot down on this one, but I'm not against helping rookied by any means.

[Cory]

Humoring people who ask question's that the answers to are easily found in the rules has nothing to do with helping rookies.

Every year I consider myself well versed on the rules of the game. I've been in FIRST 4 years, this is my 5th, and I haven't know about this year's game for the last 4, so it's not like I have some advantage when it comes to rookies... Understanding of the game comes from reading the rules... rookie or not, it doesn't really matter.

Basically, being a rookie isn't an excuse for not reading the rules.