Totally positively agree.

Sorry that happens. Life or frustration probably gets in the way. But from someone who sees all the help generous folks like you give others here..Thank You!!

Helping fellow Pinheads is all part of being on a forum. There are plenty of time differences so people may just be going to sleep or have their head stuck in their pinball machine all day and night. I do agree with you that a thank you here and there could go a long way. We have received some top notch help in diagnosing issues on our machines from this site and without Pinside I am sure that getting some of the machines going would have been near impossible. Remember, there are plenty of good people on Pinside with plenty of help to be had. We appreciate that.

When I help someone out, I'm definitely looking to at least get fed, but some beer would be really nice.

While a positive feed back or thank you would be nice. Don't hold your breath. Your lucky if they even post back that you fixed their issue or worse give up-vote to the guy who said the same thing you did but afterwards.

Good deeds are like giving to charity. Their own reward. Unless they offered a beer. Got to collect that.

(see, I stole the beer thing from o-din)

I try to post back every time I make progress. I also try to help when/where I can to keep things as balanced s possible.

I rarely post for help. Not because I am that good at fixing, I'm good at searching. When it comes to a problem I figure I am not the first.

Just kidding, I'm that good

I never expect anything. I help because I like to.

The personal research for how to do something is part of the fun for me. Maybe I saw the ops and others advice and it helped me at a different time. So really you are unselfishly paying it forward to all pinsiders collectively ......like say the Borg do it.

Sincerely
Steve J

I was happy to have helped a few others. The fact that I could help anyone and was correct with my diagnosis was all the thanks I needed. As I'm new in the fixing and diagnosing part of this addiction so it made me feel really good and just maybe one day I will have this stuff down.

I always just assume they gave up.

I always make a point to express how much I appreciate it since I'm trying to learn as much as I can and pay it forward where I can too. I've offered to mail some beer but have yet to be taken up on it

If you're that curious about updates just send a pm. People have shit to do, and keeping Pinsiders up to date about a repair status may not be high on that list.

When someone help me here on Pinside I ALWAYS say thank you and sometimes I invite them to stop in and play.

I try to help out because it enriches me as well as others in the hobby.
I expect nothing in return other than a resolution to a particular problem by either myself or someone else.
I am very happy to just be part of the process and this hobby.

Asking for more doesnt seem to sit right with me at least...

When I help someone out... I'm definitely looking to at least get beer (but some food would be really nice).

That's because you are Superman. It's not a fair comparison!

I also like to help because I was brought up that way. You know, Lloyd taught me decades ago

But before you post anything about a garbled DMD please check those ribbon cables

When I help people I at least like to hear how it turned out. It's kind of rude to not even send a follow up message. I do take note of the...um...impolite people when it comes time to offer more help.

As others have said, a helpful answer not only benefits the OP but all those who read your post.

A pinball problem is almost never unique. I have fixed many problems by searching through old posts but I am not going to bring a thread that is years old back from the grave just to say "worked for me". I would not want to clutter up new posts.

So please keep answering questions, not just because it helps the OP but countless other silent searchers.

This......

This....

This... but to be honest.. Paul has in the past extended an invite to play at his place including beer and steak but never offered to put up the cash for fuel or airfare so he does NOT count !!!

Thata boy !!! hahaha

Oh man, I hope you're not talking about me. I know you have helped me in the past and I certainly appreciate it!

As I'm fairly new to the hobby I find it difficult to isolate issues and often get side tracked. So again, if I left you hanging, no disrespect meant.

On the swing side, what little direction I can give I give freely, just happy to help someone else get up and running. If can help solve any issue or get one step closer that makes me feel good. I get you though, a thanks goes a long way.

Funny you write this as I recently was going through pms and forgot to reply to someone from a month ago! I made sure to reply with apologies

I also hate that, it happens offline too. I'm now somewhat known locally as "the pinball guy", and I occasionally get unsolicited emails and phone calls from complete strangers with dead machines of all kinds (incl EM, bowlers, arcades, pachinko, etc) that want help. I'll try to help them, or point them to a resource to get them started helping themselves, and often never get any feedback from them again. In some cases I've followed up with them and they haven't made any attempts on their own. I think many people just don't want to try to deal with it themselves whether they don't think they're capable or just don't want to, so they put it off til later and never get back to it.

Don't get discouraged though, every once in a while you help someone troubleshoot something successfully, and they are also responsive, and you make a new pinball friend.

I know what you are saying. I could point to several threads where there was a problem and various people gave the OP things to try. It went back and forth as the OP tried some things that didn't work, but then after some progress some advice was posted that I think had a really good chance of fixing it.

And, nothing ever comes back....

So you don't know what the heck happened. Did they give up on it? Did they run out of time, or patience? Or, did they actually fix it?

If they did fix it, that would be great. But it would be nice to come back with a short post - "Hey, it worked!"

Its really just for my curiosity more than anything else.

And just to balance that, there have been some threads where the OP has come back and said - "hey everyone, your advice worked! The machine is up and running. Thanks for you help!" Then you are all like:

baby fist pump fixed it (resized).jpg

I help when I can and I do it when I think I have a reasonable idea- for me, motivation is two fold- I learn as much reading help threads as I contribute and I am trying to pay back some of the help i have received over they years. I am probably not as forum savvy in terms of feedback and up voting etc as I don't look at that stuff for the most part- but I hope I at least do what my Mom always said- and say thank you.

That's payment enough- if a beer shows up some day... that's down right friendly.

It is nice to know your advice was right and also helpful when doing research to know what worked and what did not.

Without pinside, I would not be involved in this avocation. Thank you to all who have helped me keep my machines operatingboer spec. They don't get played much but if there is one thing that puts a thorn in my side is having one of the toys not working right

Thank you pinside members

G