[Sprint Samsung Galaxy Note 3] topherk:
Woah! I'm going to try to defuse the situation, but I'm afraid I'm going to get caught in the explosion, so I'll address each one of you separately...

AndroidWarrior

Ok, I know you were just asking a question, but there are ways to ask which will (hopefully) prevent some of these types of responses. Note, I am not excusing Epix4G's posts, but just trying to help you (and hopefully the community) get "real" answers to their questions.

Now, let's look at your post

At first glance, this follows a pretty good standard of questions. It is short, relatively clear, and polite.

What I would change is the following:

Show you're not a "noob"

Add a bit more back story to where you heard of these rumors and your search for answers. One of the reasons that people like Epix4G (and if I'm honest, myself) get upset about is answering the same question 50 times by people who have not searched for the answers themselves. If you show that you're capable of searching and finding answers, you're more likely to get an answer, if that makes any sense.

Don't bump your thread with "???"

I know you hadn't had an answer within two days. This is frustrating when you have a legitimate question. But bumping is a way to get negative attention to your post, especially if you don't add anything to the original question. In my perspective, if a question I ask isn't answered within a day or two, I either need to clarify or adjust what I'm asking. Just posting a "???" is saying "Hey, you didn't pay attention to my original question and I need an answer ASAP!!!" Personally, I would be less inclined to answer a bumped thread like that.

But if you had bumped with "Hey, I haven't received any responses yet and have been searching a lot trying to find an answer. Here is a link to something I found: LINK. Has anyone seen anything further on this?" That would be a much more compelling bump/question to reply to.

Don't feed the trolls

I know it's tough, but replying to a snarky comment will just derail a conversation and make the thread lose focus. No one wants that. Everyone involved looks like either a jerk or immature (or both). One think I do when receiving criticism (even if it's disguised in insult) is step back and evaluate if the criticism is valid. Epix4G's comment was:

From that, I see that he is assuming that you hadn't searched for an existing thread. Well, had you? If you hadn't, then that could be your bad. You could have found that information without asking a question. If you had searched prior to asking, maybe it'd be good to note that in your question, so that in the future you don't have those type of replies.

Don't take things too personally

Remember, to Epix4G, you're just another random name on the internet. He doesn't live next to you or see you day-to-day. He's not insulting the entirety of your being. He saw a question you posted on the internet and thought badly of it. His comment, while no one could call polite, is meant as a corrective suggestion. In his own way, he's trying to make XDA a better place. You have two ways you can respond to it: take insult, or try to learn from it.

Epix4G

Let me start be saying this: I see XDA as a community of people. I believe if people search before posting, the XDA community will be a better place. I also believe that belittling or insulting comments will hurt the community.

I, too, get tired of people asking questions without searching. I also want to tell them to get off their butts and actually search before asking. But there are ways to do that which help the community and those which hurt the community. Comedy is great and has it's place, but remember, we're not at The Ice House watching Don Rickles rail on a heckler. We're at XDA, a place where people come to collaborate and have fun messing around with their phones (and tablets).

In my opinion, a much more constructive comment would be the following:

or the following:

Short, succinct, doesn't make it a personal attack on the OP. I think the mistaken line of thinking is the following: "I need to really impress upon this person that they need to search before posting. I should do something snarky or sardonic in order to convey this." I understand that in real life, sarcasm is a great way to convey importance, but it isn't translated well into the digital space. I've found that a clear answer to their question with a short corrective statement works a lot better than a rebuff. Let's face it, people are more likely to listen to a person who is willing to help them.

In Summary

Let's all try to make XDA a better place, but let's be smart about it:

Search before asking questions

Be clear of your questions

Dont feed the trolls

Sincere help is better for a community than snarky replies.