Note from the Community Manager - 12/22/2015

EA_Jesse

Hey Everyone,

Thank you all for your posts on the forums, we’ve received a lot of great feedback and I’ve seen quite a few interesting topics.
I wanted to take a minute to share with you my thoughts on the types of posts I want (and don’t want) to see. These forums are meant to be a place where we can share our passion for Star Wars: Galaxy of Heroes, for both veteran and new players.

Types of posts I want to see:

• Character strategies - have an awesome new squad strategy you want to share? Go for it!
• Assisting new players - newer players will constantly be coming to the forums looking for advice, let's all try to be helpful and make them feel at home.
• Feedback on game mechanics – this can be talk of things you don’t like in the game, things you do like, things you think can be improved, etc. Please do keep feedback constructive if it is about something you don't agree with or like.
• Gameplay Bugs or issues – things such as abilities not working correctly or display issues.

Types of posts I don’t want to see:

• Hateful comments towards Capital Games or EA – I flat out I don’t want to see any posts about this. These types of posts will be removed.
• Anything relating to refunds – these posts have to stop, the forums are not the place for these types of discussions. If you want a refund it is your right to do so, we’re not going to stop you, but I do ask that you try to let us address what your issue might be first.
• Customer Support for purchases – there is nothing that can be done about these on the forums, please submit a ticket in game if you are having problems with a purchase.
• Posting a private conversation between you and an EA or CG representative - please do not do this, when myself or other CG or EA reps are speaking with you 1 on 1 it is meant to be a private conversation.

Things I’d like to happen:

• Before making a new topic search to see if a thread already exists for what you are about to make one for.
• Stop the negative posts – if you are coming to the forums just to attack other players or complain about the game, my recommendation to you is….don’t.
• Check https://help.ea.com/en/star-wars-galaxy-heroes/star-wars-galaxy-heroes/ and these boards for a solution to an issue you may be having. If neither of these provide you with the answer you are looking for that is when you should submit a ticket in game.

Thanks for helping make these forums a place where players can share strategies, their stories and come together as an amazing community for Star Wars: Galaxy of Heroes. We’re just getting started and have an amazing road ahead of us

Preemo_Magin

>but I do ask that you try to let us address what your issue might be first.

Jesse, the most read post ever in the forum (ever) when you deleted the thread was the announcement regarding the Barris Offer nerf. With over 10,700 views after a couple of days, and your clarification as Community Manager it's clear this forum is about what you want to read about, and what you don't want to read. Not what the community seems to have chosen to talk about. Thanks for making it straight and clear to everyone so succintly and clearly.

EA_Jesse

I did not delete the other thread, it is just no longer announced at the top. What I mentioned in my post above are examples of what I want to see and not see, it's not a strict guidelines for the only types of posts there can be. These are OUR forums, everyone that plays the game, not mine.

With that said, I do get to put the rules in place, and I will not tolerate posts that hurt the game or the community.

NixHara

Good to hear!

Belg

*shrugs* I think games like this attract a certain type of crowd. P2P gamers who think their wallet earns them the right to demand, and the F2P games that cant stand that they have have a disadvantage.

Nonemo

Yep, all forums thrive on positive vibes and good cheer. It isn't rocket science. I just scroll past all the complaining topics nowadays. They contribute with absolutely nothing. The exception would be character strategy, where there seems to be a few imbalances that might deserve addressing.

But even those can be handled in a more constructive way than the generic "omgOPnerfpls" posts.

Preemo_Magin

Ok, thanks for the clarification. And grant that it's hard to moderate some of the topics without them becoming overheated. Thanks.

Vampire_X

All for more civility and better gamer edicate so +1

Pokebreaker

Sounds reasonable.

Vampire_X wrote: »

All for more civility and better gamer edicate so +1

Etiquette*

See, I'm being constructive already! Who knew forums could be such a nice place?

DanTom

Totally agreed. Flame wars won't achieve anything. But a suggestion for @EA_Jesse maybe you could bring the "controversially charged" threads into one spot or one thread per so that people have a place to sound off and/or rant on that topic and then only allow those posts inside of that thread. Then people get to voice their opinions and rant and we don't have to wade through a dozen different threads in the topic per day. Just a thought. I'm all for more civility and constructive debate but not at the cost of a total shut down of complaints. The restrictions above seem fair though. Seems like only customer service and flaming EA/CG is banned. Hopefully this improves the cancer.

EA_Jesse

Thanks for the suggestion Cpt_Dan! I'm fine with people getting into debates on topics, and I encourage it as long as it stays civil. And yes, if there is a post on let's say, Tusken Raider, I'd like all talk about that character to be in one spot, not 10 new threads a day created about it. This is when the search feature on the forums becomes extra handy.

Not all posts have to be "happy happy I love everything about the game". You can discuss things you don't like, just be sure it's worded in a way that it's constructive, you'll get more attention from me and other members of the team that way.

Keaven

EA_Jesse wrote: »

...
Types of posts I don’t want to see:

• Complaining about Capital Games or EA – I flat out I don’t want to see any posts about this. These types of posts will be removed.
• Anything relating to refunds – these posts have to stop, the forums are not the place for these types of discussions. If you want a refund it is your right to do so, we’re not going to stop you, but I do ask that you try to let us address what your issue might be first.
• Customer Support for purchases – there is nothing that can be done about these on the forums, please submit a ticket in game if you are having problems with a purchase.
• Posting a private conversation between you and an EA or CG representative - please do not do this, when myself or other CG or EA reps are speaking with you 1 on 1 it is meant to be a private conversation.

...

So if customer support closes a ticket with an unresponsive reply and then directs us to these forums if we persist, what should we do then?

EA_Jesse

Customer support should not be directing players to the forums because 99% of the time there is nothing we can do here to help when it comes to purchase problems. We're taking steps to make sure our customer support teams are providing our players with the support they need.

Now, if a player writes in a ticket to customer support saying something along the lines of "hey, Talia tries to heal herself in AI battles and instead kills herself", this is the type of thing that should instead be on the forums.

Zarithi

@EA_Jesse I was going to say the same thing as @Keaven as it stands now almost every initial response to a ticket I've put in has been to close it and suggest I post in the forums here. I only get the ticket reopened and elevated at times once I strongly respond to the closing of my ticket without any resolution.

Ravage

@EA_Jesse how do we handle situations where a GM has NOT responded to you on over 3 days? No posting on the forums, I under stand but what do we do in these situations?

EA_Jesse

You guys bring up some good points. Let me get back to you on this tomorrow once I've had a chance to chat with a few people.

Geddre

The clearly overseas people handling tickets have been 100% useless in my experience. Actual support is non existent. Until that's improved you're going to get frustrated people coming here seeking any kind of help.

Keaven

EA_Jesse wrote: »

You guys bring up some good points. Let me get back to you on this tomorrow once I've had a chance to chat with a few people.

Appreciate this reply, as your initial response did not answer my question. I was starting to think, here we go again, until I read this.

Look forward to a response.

To elaborate, it appears that the customer support are not at all trained for this product as some of their suggestions are obviously generic and unrelated to this game, such as making sure facebook is connected, which does absolutely nothing.

That, and tickets are closed after these generic responses so another ticket needs to be made for the initial problem, and then the mishandling of the first ticket.

Falen_Lacer

I'm not saying it is likely, and it hasn't happened to me yet; but a bad day can get the better of anyone at times. If an EA / CG / Support representative is talking to us on a 1:1 basis and starts to get very disrespectful, there should be some way to post that / get it taken care of. Even if it's a section of the forum where your post is hidden from non-devs.

Skye

EA_Jesse wrote: »

Hey Everyone,



Types of posts I don’t want to see:

• Complaining about Capital Games or EA – I flat out I don’t want to see any posts about this. These types of posts will be removed.

This bit makes me wonder if this covers a post I had been thinking about for a while... I feel what happened in the past week or so could have been handled differently... It does mean I will be critical of actions taken, but I offer potentially a different solution that I feel would have minimised the outcry. IS it safe to post this or should I just keep it to myself?

DanTom

You should be fine as long as you aren't just being petty and insulting ea or CG. Be civil and we can complain properly when warranted.

Falen_Lacer

Skye wrote: »

EA_Jesse wrote: »

Hey Everyone,



Types of posts I don’t want to see:

• Complaining about Capital Games or EA – I flat out I don’t want to see any posts about this. These types of posts will be removed.

This bit makes me wonder if this covers a post I had been thinking about for a while... I feel what happened in the past week or so could have been handled differently... It does mean I will be critical of actions taken, but I offer potentially a different solution that I feel would have minimised the outcry. IS it safe to post this or should I just keep it to myself?

My impression of that was that it's fine to disagree with them / offer what you think would work better, but not to complain about them as a whole. E.G You can say that you think someone was overbuffed or overnerfed, and offer a different change that you believe to be more balanced. However you would not be able to make a post that says "EA sucks cause they nerfed my hero".

Basically, I think it would come down to wording it in a way that is constructive rather than ripping on the people that work on the game. The best way to know for sure is to write it up and then PM a CM a copy of it before posting (EA Jesse is the only one I know of). I don't have much experience with the CMs here, but in general they're rather nice people that are willing to look stuff over and let you know if it's fine or not. Sometimes they even work with you and let you know what might be worded differently to get it from breaking the rules to acceptable to post.

Just be mindful that there are holidays going on and they may not be able to respond to you for a few days.

Qeltar

EA_Jesse wrote: »

Types of posts I don’t want to see:

• Complaining about Capital Games or EA – I flat out I don’t want to see any posts about this. These types of posts will be removed.

I find the wording of this point troubling.
Certainly insults or personal attacks or flaming or trolling should not be allowed.. towards CG or EA or anyone else. But what you are saying here is so broadly worded that it would basically outlaw any and all negative feedback about the game.
Is this really what is wanted? A forum where nobody can ever express anything but positive viewpoints, regardless of how politely it is done?
Maybe I am misunderstanding. Some clarification would be appreciated. As someone who has a history of running communities for about 20 years, I have never found it a good idea to flatly outlaw polite negative feedback.

MackemSLAM

Surely the point of a community forum is that it is for the community to decide what they want to talk about, and not have what they can talk about dictated to them?

To say posts complaining about the companies who make and sell the game are not welcome is somewhat incredible.

I wonder if the (very small) compensation given to players who bought the Barriss pack would ever have come about had it not been for the posts on here complaining about how this package had been sold and asking about refunds, two topics which are apparently now out of bounds.

BosecFett

If you want a dictatorship then make all the form posts to be approved. But your community will go else where. A community is a group of people that have the same intreset even if the opinions are good or bad its the communication that is the key. If everything was rainbows and unicorns you EA would just go about there merry day and not realize there is any issue with there product. No product is ever perfect and to get critical feedback (maybe not the way you would like to recieve it because people are angry) to improve a product is absurd. Otherwise close your forums and everyone that maybe stays can go to Reddit. I personally am struggling with the barrisgate and am trying to overcome anger and frustration to make a clear post. As a 501st boba fett memeber who wears a star wars polo every day to work, i searching for a reason to continue with this game after the ios/andriod differences, barrisgate, and energy costs. EA your our only help. I hate to go Jerry Mcguire and say but Help US HELP you.

When you beat down, take your lickings, get back up and improve.

Kurt_Teller

The only reason I could be okay with an announcement such as this. Is the fact that this is forum for the game made by the games developers with a link within the game leading you here. otherwise this is bull sheet. You don't want a real opinions just praise. Feels like Plasmas telling us to put are helmet back on and get back in line. it's the Internet for Vaders sake. We're gonna troll and complain. The more you tighten your grip, Jesse, the more players will resent you.

Preemo_Magin

I suggest another addition to guidelines which is...try to detach. When you brought up a topic, shared your point of view, don't repeat and repeat the same and reply to every post to reinstate your opinion. Sometimes there's a fine line with expressing discontent, what one feels is unfair. But using the forum as a way to promote an agenda relentlessly is politics or topic hijacking. I've seen too many good threads destroyed by anoying characters like Ewok for example.

Haider

Kurt_Teller wrote: »

The only reason I could be okay with an announcement such as this. Is the fact that this is forum for the game made by the games developers with a link within the game leading you here. otherwise this is bull sheet. You don't want a real opinions just praise. Feels like Plasmas telling us to put are helmet back on and get back in line. it's the Internet for Vaders sake. We're gonna troll and complain. The more you tighten your grip, Jesse, the more players will resent you.

Seriously! This reminds me of the Sesame Credit system in China lol.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lHcTKWiZ8sI

Praise EA and you post won't be deleted.
Complain and your post will vanish.
I feel player complaints are a great source of feedback and can be taken constructively.

EA_Jesse

Some of you are getting the point here, others are looking into this too much. Regarding my comment on "Complaining about EA or Capital Games", I'm not shutting people down from talking about being unhappy, that is fine to do as long as you aren't doing it in a way that is hateful. Here, let me give a good example and a bad one:

Good: "I don't like the recent nerfs CG gave to XYZ character, I feel this was a bit much."

Bad: "Are you kidding me? Those **** at CG nerfed XYZ character? What a bunch of ****, I'm done with this game..."

You can always voice your opinions, we want to hear them, but just keep it civil.

EA_Jesse

I also edited my original post for clarification, it is now: "Hateful comments towards Capital Games or EA".

Fantazy

EA_Jesse wrote: »

Types of posts I don’t want to see:

• Complaining about Capital Games or EA – I flat out I don’t want to see any posts about this. These types of posts will be removed.

Things I’d like to happen:

• Stop the negative posts – if you are coming to the forums just to attack other players or complain about the game, my recommendation to you is….don’t.

Excellent points, @EA_Jesse .

I admit I contributed to the negativity on the forums because negative people make me answer negatively too and rile me up to no end. Vicious circle.

Here's the thing, if you, as admin, do not wish to see this type of posts, then you have to enforce this rule instead of letting it go for fear of (more) negative reactions or some sort of "freedom of expression" reasoning.

Yes, people will most likely complain about this too, but it can't be worse than it is right now; after a bump on the road, this will be the culture of this forums and the newcomers will walk in into this established mindset. Move the negative threads to a special "whining section" where they will get little attention, and send a pm to the poster to warn them. Eventually this will stop.

There's always a way to word things politely, people can learn to communicate without the excess negative tones around their ideas.