"Ask the Minotaur"

[firemeboy]

Some members have noticed (and some have had pre-mid life crises) that many people post questions in the "Ask Minotaur" section rather than the visitor submitted puzzles.

I was trying to understand why this might be and realized that maybe the way itis worked on the main GL page is part of the problem. We have this section which is to ask the minotaur for feature requests, and then we have the section where we "ask the minotaur". What do we ask him? What is the weather going to be like tomorrow? Why does my love life suck? Is the little man who comes in my room at night to dance on my head something that I need to be concerned about?

I guess what I am asking is what exactly is that section for? Most of us have used it to report problems with the site, or other odds and ends, but the way it is worded, it sounds like it is perfectly natural to post a riddle to the minotaur there.

So I suggest we either change the wording so it is very clear what is to be posted there, or we ease off when somebody posts a puzzle there. In fact, maybe we could have a disclaimer or something that says feel free to post your puzzles here, but if you want a quick answer, try over in the visitor submitted puzzle area.

It seems to me that most of the puzzles there are from people who do not frequent the site, and the puzzles are usually repeats of previous puzzles.

[Ghost Post]

I think we're all on board here. The "Ask The Minotaur" section is not used properly. However, I think we've started to ease up on newcomers posting problems there (mostly because they've broken our collective will). I just did a little survey of the threads in that section and find that they fall into about five categories:

1. Feature requests--which should got here, not there.

2. Visitor submitted puzzles--which should (duh) go in "Visitor Submitted Puzzles."

3. Answers to the current GL puzzle--which should go in "Grey Labyrinth Puzzles."

4. Bug reports--which could just as well go here.

5. AcidFast wishing the Minotaur a happy birthday--that was nice of you AcidFast.

Here's what the Minotaur says the "Ask The Minotaur" forum is for:

quote:

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This forum is to help the Minotaur keep up with the amount of incoming e-mail, by allowing him to answer questions in a public forum. Since many of the e-mails received ask the same question, answering once can save a lot of time.

The Minotaur reads all the forums semi-regularly, and occasionally posts, but this one he'll make a special point to respond to.

You can ask any question you like, but try to see if someone else has already asked your question first by reading previous posts or using the search function (visible just below the post icon in the upper right quadrant of the page).

---

The only people who seem to be using that forum for that kind of info are the regulars. And, more often than not, whatever the question is, it's usually answered by another member of the forum, because there are gobs of us patrolling the forum and only one Minotaur. We're just more likely to see it before he does.

If that's the case, then the "Ask The Minotaur" forum is not serving any practical purpose, and it might be best to just get rid of it.

Unless the Minotaur is finding it helpful.

[HyToFry]

When i first started using the forums, i thought the "ask the Minotaur" Forum was kindof a "if you can't solve a riddle that you heard then...." "Ask the Minotaur."

Maybe this is why there is such confusion... maybe it should be changed to "Frequently asked questions" or something of that nature? no?

[firemeboy]

I agree with both posts. It is confusing to new comers, and even confusing to regulars. I have not see many pratical applications of it. The serious posts would just as easily be asked here. It should either be renamed, or killed.

[HyToFry]

bump.

I personally wouldn't mind getting rid of it.

I read all the forums, and Kevin is away now.