README / ASF Support

[JustArchi]

Before creating a new thread, asking a question, reporting an issue and otherwise participating in any form of activity in GitHub discussions, please show some respect for our free time that we've spent on ASF and read resources that are already available for you. You can start with ASF wiki for help regarding usage of the application, frequently asked questions, or solutions related to possible issues. We recommend starting from setting up page.

Frequent issues, questions and problems are covered in FAQ, which is constantly being updated. This is the first thing you should read before posting a thread, as it lists the most common problems you can deal with while using ASF. Take a look if your case is already covered - if not, feel free to ask, and we'll do our best to help you, including adding your question to the FAQ (if needed).

If you disregard all of that and ask a question which is clearly answered in the FAQ, we'll kindly tell you to read that FAQ anyway, so save both you and us some time, and read it prior to asking, unless you want to waste twice as much time writing a thread, just to hear FAQ as your reply. Yes, we know what is included in our FAQ and what is not, if you put 0% effort into your thread, we'll put 0% effort into the answer.

ASF is a free application that is being developed during our free time, and support is offered on the same rules as well. If you won't respect it by either demanding the answer, spamming or in any other way disrespecting any ASF developer, staff member, people that are trying to help you, or massive amount of time that was put into ASF in the first place, we'll simply block you because nobody asked for that - you're the one with the problem, and you want to solve it, not us. If you decide to take part in our GitHub discussions activity, you're a guest here, and we expect from you to follow our rules. ASF support is a privilege, not a right. Respect people and their time, and they'll respect you and do their best to help you. We're very sensitive in this regard - attacking the program, people behind it, or people that are trying to help you is a direct sign that you're not worth our time - we're not paid neither obligated to help you, remember about that.

This also includes disregarding the program or other people by posting false or outright harmful information, such as claiming that ASF causes VAC bans, is stealing account credentials or installs malware, all of which is false and clearly stated in the FAQ. People claiming that this has happened to them do not want to solve the problem in our eyes, but bash the program that isn't responsible for it in the first place and spread misinformation - something we're also very sensitive about, especially if it conflicts directly with what we state on the wiki. GitHub discussions is not a proper place for throwing accusations or resolving account problems, as ASF is not a cause of it. You can still ask about all matters that you find questionable or suspicious, as long as they're not covered in the FAQ yet and you indeed intend to receive a helpful answer to your concerns.

Above doesn't mean that you should be afraid of asking a question, posting a suggestion or reporting a bug. We're only trying to say that you should do some bare effort in checking the wiki prior to making a thread, and ensuring that your post doesn't sound like an attack directed at any person directly or indirectly involved in the discussion. That's really the only thing we're asking you to do - putting some effort and showing respect to people thanks to whom you can use ASF for free. Thank you.

There is no support of any kind for users that are entirely outside of our support scope according to the wiki. This means that if you're running custom/outdated ASF version, using custom plugins, having over 10 accounts, running ASF in an unsupported environment, or otherwise using ASF outside of our support scope, then you're on your own and we don't want you to confuse our community with the issues that supported ASF users do not encounter, you can use offtopic category for that purpose instead. Any attempts of hiding or otherwise omitting crucial info that would render your setup unsupported will result in a permanent ban.

We offer support only for the latest stable version of ASF at the time of posting. If you're using any older version, you're on your own and you should not expect to receive help. ASF is constantly being updated, with new features getting implemented and bugs being fixed - you have the right to use any version you want, and we're not making it harder for you as every single released version will remain available on the GitHub, however, we're not supporting older versions actively, which means that if you decide to use them, you're on your own. Do not confuse users and developers with the issues that are not related to latest ASF release.

If you're reporting a bug or asking about specific issue, always include full log.txt in your post, which was recorded while reproducing the problem. Bug requests without full log will be instantly ignored - ASF records log for you, so it's as simple as copy pasting, or putting it somewhere such as on hastebin. You should also include full log.txt in your post if you're having other issue and you suspect that doing so can help to locate the culprit and help you. As usual, the more data you provide, the more likely you'll get your issue fixed, and this is probably what you want.

We're always happy to help people with their issues, as long as they respect us and our time. But at the same time we're humans, not capable of mind-reading, doing magical tricks or blindly fixing the bug we have no idea about - please keep that in mind. If you do that by respecting the fact that you can use ASF for free, reading FAQ prior to making the thread, and asking nicely in it, I'm sure you'll get answer to your question in notime while making people that are helping you content 🙂.

We appreciate a lot other people helping us with answering common threads, so please do not be afraid to respond if you feel like you could help, even if not with the entire question but only a part of it. It makes our lifes much easier if we can simply approve what somebody else said already, instead of writing it ourselves. It also makes it possible to receive support faster, in much better atmosphere, as it's not always possible to stay calm when it comes to answering the same question over and over again 🙂.

Support is offered officially only in English language. There is a dedicated support section for some other selected languages, such as Ukrainian. You should stick with the language of the section you're posting in, as every message in English section that is not written in English will be either moved, removed, or banned, depending on our mood. If you care about a response from us, then use a language that we can understand and post in appropriate section, as we won't bother trying to respond otherwise - you can do that much.

Do not hijack threads created by other users, instead, post a new thread with all required details. ASF issues very rarely are generic enough to the point of several people dealing with exactly the same case - if there was one universal solution to a problem, then either ASF would already include appropriate fix for that, or it'd be at least mentioned in the FAQ as a common problem. If your response does not contribute anything supportive to the support thread (as in, doesn't help OP in any way to solve his own problem), then it should not be posted as it's nothing else than pure irrelevant spam. This also applies to general responses such as "me too" that do not help in the slightest. Every thread posted in our support section should be dedicated to a single case/issue, and every response in such thread should head towards solution of the problem. The only exception from this rule is related to global Steam issues that affect everybody, those threads will be pinned for the duration of the problem, so you can check the pinned threads if you suspect this to be the case.

Please follow our code of conduct, especially the point about respecting every user participating in the discussion. We reserve the right to close or delete every form of uwanted behaviour, especially spamming, insulting, being rude or disrespectful (also towards gigantic amount of work put into ASF) - with appropriate reward in form of ban, if needed, as ASF support is a privilege, not a right, like stated above. It's not our intention to implement censorship, we're trying to be respectful and lenient, but we also have several rules that should be followed if you expect to receive a response. Leaving an impression of being a selfish jerk won't get you anywhere but outside of this place, since nobody asked for such people to come here. On the other hand, if you'll be polite and understanding, then even complaints are welcome, as long as they're done in constructive manner in which we can take your message into account and actually improve something or respond appropriately to your concerns. Stay civil, and we'll be happy to respond in the same manner. If you can't do that much, then we're not interested in what you have to say.

In short:

• Make sure that you're using latest version of ASF. Read changelogs that are available together with the release - maybe a thing you're having problem with simply changed between one ASF version and another. It's also a good idea to read pre-release changelogs, since it's possible that we already updated wiki for new behaviour while latest stable release isn't included yet (that's what you can use GitHub revisions for, they allow you to access all historic versions of all wiki pages, use them if needed).
• Check ASF wiki before making a thread, at least reading FAQ is mandatory. We won't repeat the same answers over and over again - that's exactly what FAQ is for. Trying to find an answer on your own first is very much appreciated, but if you read the FAQ and can't locate the right page, feel free to ask, that's what we're here for, as long as you put enough effort into trying on your own first. We really won't answer questions that could be answered by spending 30 seconds reading the very first question in the FAQ.
• Use English language if you're posting in English support section. You have other support sections if you for some reason can't or don't want to use English. Just don't expect us to visit those sections if we don't speak your language.
• Follow our code of conduct. Respect everybody participating in the discussion - especially developers that put their time and knowledge into making ASF happen, and people that are trying to help you. Directly or indirectly attacking the program, especially in selfish self-entitled attitude is not a good idea. If you don't like the program then you don't have to use it. If you can't express yourself without acting like a jerk towards people that put their free time into the project, then we're not interested in hearing what you have to say.
• Always keep in mind that you're using ASF for free and that ASF support is a privilege, not a right. Nobody here is obligated to help you - accept help as a gift, be kind and respectful.

Nothing specified above goes against common sense or general courtesy. In a perfect world we wouldn't even need this thread to begin with, but sadly people tend to forget that ASF team is not your typical customer service that is paid to do its best to help you, we're all volunteers here, happy to help, but only as long as you follow our guidelines, which shouldn't be very demanding for any human being 🙂.