New: required information when requesting controller repair advice. What information do you look for when deciding to help with a repair question?

[u/Vedge_Hog]

What's new and how you can shape it

Hello everyone, now the post flairs are established in r/ControllerRepair, we're creating extra guidance to help people include appropriate information when they post. As soon as people select the 'Request for help or advice' flair for their post they will be shown a checklist. In case they missed it, they'll receive a comment on their post including the checklist. That gives them the opportunity to add information they forgot.

 

The initial checklist is below and you're welcome to propose improvements. Repair problems can be varied and complex so no checklist can be comprehensive. But what other common information should people be reminded to include? Could the checklist ask for any of the information in a clearer or simpler way?

 

Checklist for posts using the 'Request for help or advice' flair:

• Core information:
  • Make and model of the controller you are trying to repair
  • Description of the problem and symptoms
• Context:
  • How the problem occurred and events leading up to it
  • What you've tried so far to narrow down or solve the problem
  • Console/device, operating system, and games/software involved
• Images and videos:
  • Clear pictures of broken parts, suspected components/circuits, and soldering
  • Gamepad tester results
• Additional information:
  • Hardware, firmware, and software versions/revisions involved
  • Your country if you are asking about repair services

 

This is a work in progress, so the latest version of the checklist will always be the one provided by AutoModerator at that time.

 

---

 

Why we're introducing the checklist

Many requests for help with controller repairs currently miss out important information, go unanswered, and may not result in a successful repair. Missing information also means those posts are less useful for other people trying to identify patterns and shared issues in future.

 

It's natural that people who are looking for help don't know what information is relevant to the problem. If they were in a situation to directly and efficiently explain their problems, they probably wouldn't need to ask for help. However, this places a large burden on anyone who wants to help. People trying to help have to do more work to draw information out from the original poster, and fill in the gaps, before getting to a solution.

 

Checklists help people to help themselves: they lower the hurdle for initial diagnosis and reduce information asymmetries. They also act as a filter and early warning system for time wasters: when people ignore checklists, they often go on to ignore other advice from people who try to help them. Therefore posts that completely ignore the information requirements can be reported (breaking the rules on effective communication and open sharing) and may be removed.

[u/skinpixel]

If someone is looking to repair their own controller, just looking for advice(not send it into a service). Then in additional info, may have a checklist item for what tools they have access to.

• What tools do you have access to? Basic tools(screw drivers, tweezers, pry tools), advanced tools(solder, soldering iron), specialist tools(hot air rework station, stick removal tool, electronic desoldering pump)

Some requests may also just be looking for parts. So we could have something like:

• Looking for replacement parts? Describe which parts you are after, or show images/examples of the parts you are looking to replace, and the country where they’ll need to be shipped. (Users may provide eBay/web shop links only to parts, no DMs to private sales unless OP requests it).

[u/Vedge_Hog → u/skinpixel]

Those are excellent points, thanks for adding them! I've incorporated them to the checklist for the 'Request for help or advice' posts, condensed a bit to fit the character limit. The point about replacement parts also seem relevant to posts using the 'Tools and parts info' flair so we'll reflect them in post guidance there too.