Hello, I have been on the 3ds scene for quite a long time now, and have been using gbatemp for almost a year now. I'm not a dev or anything, but I have decent understand of the 3ds hacking scene. I just made an account, and I feel the need to address how to post, as I have been seeing a lot of threads recently that obliviously have authors that don't know what they are talking about. I will go over some of the posts I think are useless/unnecessary/harmful and how to fix them. Just follow these steps, and you will be making everyone's life better at gbatemp. Please give any suggestions for this post if you think it will make it better!
STEP 1: If you have a question, please see if you can find an answer for it first
Google is your friend if you are new to the scene. Look around gbatemp, there are great resources available to you. As a general rule, if you can't find anything in 20 minutes, post a question. Chances its a valid question that hasn't been asked a million times and people will be more than happy to answer you.
STEP 2: If someone does ask a nooby question, just answer it
If someone does ask a question that is easily found, like "can I run cfw on 11.0", and you know the answer to it, answer it politely.Please don't just say "use google".0 You can also tell them to just use google to find answer to a question, or better yet, link them to this post. But don't just say, "google it". Its an asshole move, and cy just answering you are helping the community.
STEP 3: Please search if you can access the homebrew launcher before you ask if you can
This would also solve a good portion of the questions asked. Check this chart I made first to see if an exploit is available on your firmware. To find if you are exploitable, you should end at a word that ends in -hax. To find how to install your exploit, just do a google search of "how to install [insert exploit name here] 3ds" and if it involves a powersave dongle, just search "how to install [insert exploit name here] powersave 3ds" If there isn't one available for you, I would advise to follow smealum on twitter (here's a link) and check this forum every once in a while to get the fastest news. 3ds devs are relatively quick at finding new exploits now a days, so just be patient
STEP 4: Please do not ask for a new exploit
Just stop with this one. The 3ds devs are working as hard as they can to find new exploits, and this kind of post does nothing but use up space
STEP 5: If you don't have a lot of experience with the 3ds hacking scene, refrain from posting ideas you haven't researched about.
This is a biggie. I have seen a lot of posts saying to sneak in a game to the eshop with an exploit hidden in it, and the base of their argument is that emulators have sneaked into the ios app store. This is a flawed argument for many, many, reasons. Even if you have experience with hacking before, a lot of your knowledge probably isn't useful as different hacking scenes are completely different.
STEP 6: Don't ask for [x] emulator or [x] game port
Chances are that is an emulator or game port doesn't exist, it probably won't exist. For old 3ds, don't expect anything more complex than a snes emulator. For new 3ds, don't expect much past a ps1 emulator. The limitation is simply raw power, and no amount of tinkering will fix that (a.k.a. no "gacube emeleter"). As for game ports, if you can find the source code for the game, go right ahead and ask for it. Without the source code it's nearly impossible to make a port for 3ds and extremely impractical
STEP 7: Don't post troll/joke posts
Just don't do it. You are wasting in the time of everyone who is trying to help you. If you see one of these posts, report the author. You will save everyone a headache
STEP 8: Don't ask for useless or harmful homebrew apps
Not sure how common this one is, but I have seen requests for a homebrew app that bricks devices (not a fake brick, a real brick) when it launches and a request for another one that deletes pokemon save data. No dev is going to make this, and your just wasting space on the forum
STEP 9: Don't target/attack devs EVER
Just remember devs do have feelings and lives outside of 3ds hacking. Almost all of the devs on gbatemp ask for nothing except for maybe a donation and they provide you completely free tools/apps. I have heard of devs considering leaving the scene due to a lack of respect. Please just help these awesome people, we would have nothing without them
STEP 10: When requesting, use some common sense
Please just think before you post. I have already seen a request for a skyrim port.
STEP 11: If you have an exploit idea, make sure it has reason backing it to make it a possible exploit
An idea without any reasons it would work is a wish. Here is a nice forum post if you are serious about finding exploits.
STEP 12: Be truthful
If you are developing, be truthful (and reasonable) about your project's plans and progress. The people on gbatemp don't care if your project is amazing, the 3ds homebrew scene doesn't have a whole lot of apps/games and anything is a great contribution. If you lie about your development, you will just piss people off, because your project didn't meet the expectations you set up. If you aren't a dev, and you lie about being one to get a response from gbatempers, you can get out
STEP 13: Just be nice
That will make everyone's day better.
Thanks for reading, hopefully this makes a positive effect on the scene!
Thanks to @gamesquest1 and @WeedZ for ideas for this post
Thanks to @justinjustin7 for being a massive help with this post
STEP 1: If you have a question, please see if you can find an answer for it first
Google is your friend if you are new to the scene. Look around gbatemp, there are great resources available to you. As a general rule, if you can't find anything in 20 minutes, post a question. Chances its a valid question that hasn't been asked a million times and people will be more than happy to answer you.
STEP 2: If someone does ask a nooby question, just answer it
If someone does ask a question that is easily found, like "can I run cfw on 11.0", and you know the answer to it, answer it politely.Please don't just say "use google".0 You can also tell them to just use google to find answer to a question, or better yet, link them to this post. But don't just say, "google it". Its an asshole move, and cy just answering you are helping the community.
STEP 3: Please search if you can access the homebrew launcher before you ask if you can
This would also solve a good portion of the questions asked. Check this chart I made first to see if an exploit is available on your firmware. To find if you are exploitable, you should end at a word that ends in -hax. To find how to install your exploit, just do a google search of "how to install [insert exploit name here] 3ds" and if it involves a powersave dongle, just search "how to install [insert exploit name here] powersave 3ds" If there isn't one available for you, I would advise to follow smealum on twitter (here's a link) and check this forum every once in a while to get the fastest news. 3ds devs are relatively quick at finding new exploits now a days, so just be patient
STEP 4: Please do not ask for a new exploit
Just stop with this one. The 3ds devs are working as hard as they can to find new exploits, and this kind of post does nothing but use up space
STEP 5: If you don't have a lot of experience with the 3ds hacking scene, refrain from posting ideas you haven't researched about.
This is a biggie. I have seen a lot of posts saying to sneak in a game to the eshop with an exploit hidden in it, and the base of their argument is that emulators have sneaked into the ios app store. This is a flawed argument for many, many, reasons. Even if you have experience with hacking before, a lot of your knowledge probably isn't useful as different hacking scenes are completely different.
STEP 6: Don't ask for [x] emulator or [x] game port
Chances are that is an emulator or game port doesn't exist, it probably won't exist. For old 3ds, don't expect anything more complex than a snes emulator. For new 3ds, don't expect much past a ps1 emulator. The limitation is simply raw power, and no amount of tinkering will fix that (a.k.a. no "gacube emeleter"). As for game ports, if you can find the source code for the game, go right ahead and ask for it. Without the source code it's nearly impossible to make a port for 3ds and extremely impractical
STEP 7: Don't post troll/joke posts
Just don't do it. You are wasting in the time of everyone who is trying to help you. If you see one of these posts, report the author. You will save everyone a headache
STEP 8: Don't ask for useless or harmful homebrew apps
Not sure how common this one is, but I have seen requests for a homebrew app that bricks devices (not a fake brick, a real brick) when it launches and a request for another one that deletes pokemon save data. No dev is going to make this, and your just wasting space on the forum
STEP 9: Don't target/attack devs EVER
Just remember devs do have feelings and lives outside of 3ds hacking. Almost all of the devs on gbatemp ask for nothing except for maybe a donation and they provide you completely free tools/apps. I have heard of devs considering leaving the scene due to a lack of respect. Please just help these awesome people, we would have nothing without them
STEP 10: When requesting, use some common sense
Please just think before you post. I have already seen a request for a skyrim port.
STEP 11: If you have an exploit idea, make sure it has reason backing it to make it a possible exploit
An idea without any reasons it would work is a wish. Here is a nice forum post if you are serious about finding exploits.
STEP 12: Be truthful
If you are developing, be truthful (and reasonable) about your project's plans and progress. The people on gbatemp don't care if your project is amazing, the 3ds homebrew scene doesn't have a whole lot of apps/games and anything is a great contribution. If you lie about your development, you will just piss people off, because your project didn't meet the expectations you set up. If you aren't a dev, and you lie about being one to get a response from gbatempers, you can get out
STEP 13: Just be nice
That will make everyone's day better.
Thanks for reading, hopefully this makes a positive effect on the scene!
Thanks to @gamesquest1 and @WeedZ for ideas for this post
Thanks to @justinjustin7 for being a massive help with this post
Last edited by SimplyFedorable,