Browsing through the Advanced Users Only forum makes me feel weird. In thought , it was supposed to be
'This forum is for advanced users who are skilled with GML scripting, but need suggestions or tips about their existing scripts. '
meaning scripts related to 3D/Surface functions , and improving scripts built for a particular purpose. In application however , the forum is treated as a 'not-that-related to Game Maker' forum. Most common questions there are:
"How do I use my <consolename> controller with my Game Maker game?"
"How can I implement force feedback in my Game Maker?"
etc.
Very often , these questions aren't even related to GML , but are DLL problems , which according to the administration should be discussed via PM or on the creator's forum/website , or as a last resort in the DLL topic. While the Advanced topic is swamped with such questions , the real advanced questions about scripts go into the Novice Q/A forum and again , are lost among a swarm of 'simple' questions , therefore decreasing the chance of them being answered.
So , isn't it time for a little reconsideration about what the Novice and Advanced forums are and what their rules are?

The rules are clear. That doesn't mean everybody always adheres to them, though. Instead of making a whole new topic, just report the ones you see that "break the rules".

Even though many of the things that people may discuss over there goes on about things other than GML, that doesn't necessarily mean that they aren't part of Game Maker at all. (Besides, topics like the one you mentioned are a form of a tutorial to others browsing and wanting the same question.) Another "besides:" Most of GML programming (or at the very least the well-known parts of it) are all ready mentioned in the Novice-Intermediate Q+A.

All in all we have to remember that the 2 are very different, and we have to honor our users (and mods!) with respect and responsibility to entrust that rules are enforced.

Agreed , that such topics are useful as 'sort of tutorials' , but it is usually better to have one (official) tutorial isn't it?
Essentialy what I mean by this topic is that since the Advanced forum is for GML , it should be GML . At present , the novice q/a is 'knowledge based' whereas the advanced users forum is more 'application based' . However it should be exactly the opposite. DLL q/a should still be in the staff suggested places ie. by PM / Creator's Forum / DLL Topic .
Till date , I haven't seen a DLL which doesn't include some help information or a tutorial.
Long story short ,
a)I'm not that strict about following rules , but-
b)If me (and others) wish for a little entertainment by solving gml challenging problems , we need to search hard for it.
(Imagine Sherlock Holmes searching for a case to solve! )

Just because one of the requirements of advanced is GML, doesn't mean that GML is advanced. You know it's that, all tigers are cats, but not all cats are tigers, thing.

There are plenty of questions in the Novice and Intermediate forum that are solely GML only. I'd say that D&D only question are a tiny minority.


This is simply not true.

Hmmm.. I don't agree with that, there are plenty of gml problems in the various questions forums.

I think the rules for these forums are clear, but as gmXpert2000 said well, some people don't always stick to them when forming topics, the same is true in the Game Ideas forum. All you can try and do is usher people into making more interesting and related topics, like I do, in the hope that one day you won't need to.

Here's my take on it. Learning to program is a steep learning curve. I remember when I was first starting to program simple things would throw me off completely. As stupid as it may sound I couldn't get my head around arrays for ages. However it is only the initial stage that is difficult. After that it becomes easier and easier to do more advanced things because all the programming techniques that you've used before all gradually build on each other. This causes your skill to increase at an exponential rate. Not only that but you also stop relying on other people to help you. You become better able to research your problem by yourself.

It's not surprising then that the advanced q&a forum sees a lot less use then the novice q and a. The time when you need the most help is when you're first learning; when you're learning the fundamentals of programming. By the time you're doing anything advanced enough to warrant a topic in advanced q&a you've already got a sound enough understanding of what you have to do to achieve your goal.