FAQs helpful?

[ctdabomb]

I was wondering. do people find FAQs for games or any website helpful? just an off topic poll.
as for me, they are almost never helpful.

[Arthur]

It really depends. If the game is simple to get into, and no issues arise, then you probably won't need to check any FAQ. On the other hand, if you want to know something, reading the FAQ before asking can save you both time and embarassment.

[qubodup]

Do you mean this like a "do people read the manual" question?

FAQ/Guideline/Manual/Instructions, these terms are not very well separated.

README and INSTALL text files help me when I compile games to test them.

The freesound faq http://www.freesound.org/help/faq/ helps answering common license questions on the forums there.

Sometimes projects put their licensing information in their FAQ, then it's helpful when I google for "PROJECTNAME + License" to find out how open source an open source game is...

[Tranberry]

The problem with FAQ's seems to be that they answer questions no-one asks.. I think that's because people tend to write the FAQ before they start getting any questions at all.

[charlie]

The problem with FAQ's seems to be that they answer questions no-one asks.. I think that's because people tend to write the FAQ before they start getting any questions at all.

Definitely, a great point. FAQs should be populated as the questions get asked.

I have found some brilliant technical help in FAQs, where a common bug is addressed.