As someone who gets told they are too negative, price police, trolling, etc. even I think this thread should be locked.

Pinside isn't rgp, but at the same time there seem to be some very differing opinions on what it should be. Some people want an all positive, heavily moderated forum that is family friendly and kid safe. Others want to be able to discuss/debate/argue and let things get heated. Still others want it to be an adult playground with all the nsfw content that goes with it.

Its robin's sandbox let him decide what he wants it to be. This no trolling thread appears to have turned into a lovely round of finger pointing which isn't doing anyone any good.

It depends on where you are in the hobby. Honestly speaking when I need help with something it is usually something really esoteric and the last few times the help I received was worthless. It isn't because people are unwilling to help. The trouble is there is some stuff that just isn't that well known. Whitestar/Sam board repair can be very difficult because of this. I would imagine Capcom, Alvin G, and spinball would fall into this category as well.

At this point anything bally/williams/DE is a simple matter of going to clays guides, or digging through rgp because you have 20 years of people needing help.

Please note I say this not because I know it all, but rather I have been doing this long enough to know where to look for answers. Most of the people coming on here for help are not asking anything that cannot be found using a google search. Alot of times they are first time owners or its one of their first big repairs. This hobby has a very steep learning curve and given a couple years they will probably be to the point I am at. Then again it really depends on if you want to spend an hour or two digging through the archives or just asking a question and hoping someone responds.

Yeah, because I obviously never help noobies... Seriously abs actually bother to read all my posts. I do help answer questions quite often. Just because you don't happen to agree with my opinions doesn't mean I don't actually help others.