A poll on organizing and improving our TOXIC forum
July 9, 2016 5:29PM
edited July 2016
I know I'm not alone when I say I now pay less attention to the forum. I read the updates and other participation is now limited. Some might say the Moderators have gone too far recently but with a little empathy you can imagine it would not be fun to be a mod these days. The trolling is rampant. Deserved or not, the negativity is rampant. The forum is difficult to read.
We need to include a LIVE CHART.
Rows of known issues and bugs.
Columns for the status and a place to VOTE.
The VOTE button would be like signing a petition. Adding your name to the list that you agree this item is an issue, with the option to remove your name, i.e. an UNvote.
Columns to include something like: Reported, Investigation Opened, Testing, Rejected, Resolved
A specific thread for requesting topics be added to the Chart. Only a Moderator can add items to the chart. Trolling posts on the Chart request thread will be deleted without explanation.
Pros:
Confirm that certain topics have not fallen on deaf ears.
Put posters at ease to reduce the need to make 50 negative posts about the same thing.
Help curb the trolling.
Reduce the constant ranting about the same topics ad nauseam.
Save time over searching and reading thru multiple threads.
Let organized people feel more organized.
Simplicity.
Cons:
???
EA_JESSE the only downside I can think of is a perceived public acknowledgement of known issues. The forum community needs to know that concerns are noted for the forum to be a productive place.
I would assume the CG studios already have something like this for internal use. We need one here.
We need to include a LIVE CHART.
Rows of known issues and bugs.
Columns for the status and a place to VOTE.
The VOTE button would be like signing a petition. Adding your name to the list that you agree this item is an issue, with the option to remove your name, i.e. an UNvote.
Columns to include something like: Reported, Investigation Opened, Testing, Rejected, Resolved
A specific thread for requesting topics be added to the Chart. Only a Moderator can add items to the chart. Trolling posts on the Chart request thread will be deleted without explanation.
Pros:
Confirm that certain topics have not fallen on deaf ears.
Put posters at ease to reduce the need to make 50 negative posts about the same thing.
Help curb the trolling.
Reduce the constant ranting about the same topics ad nauseam.
Save time over searching and reading thru multiple threads.
Let organized people feel more organized.
Simplicity.
Cons:
???
EA_JESSE the only downside I can think of is a perceived public acknowledgement of known issues. The forum community needs to know that concerns are noted for the forum to be a productive place.
I would assume the CG studios already have something like this for internal use. We need one here.
~ There is a great disturbance in the forum. ~
A poll on organizing and improving our TOXIC forum 109 votes
Yes I think this would help the forum be less toxic & more productive
57%
63 votes
No it wouldn't matter
35%
39 votes
Other (just for the contrarians)
6%
7 votes
0
Replies
the dev's have already pretty much abandoned the forum, jesse only posts when he has to and he is the community manager....
seriously think about that for a minute, the community manager interacts with the community less than any of the Devs who currently post on reddit.
though to be fair they have backed off over there from the negativity as well.
To be fair i dont blame him, id stop doing my job too if it was to respond to this toxic waste pit.
I don't believe Jesse or John have stopped reading the forum - less posting yes but not less reading.
they need to listen thoroughly from their playerbase and adjust accordingly instead doing the opposite.
GW is really hard since the update
If you believe they've stopped paying attention to the forum because of negativity, then simplifying it so they can check in w/out wading thru the trash would be a good thing.
The recent actions of CG/EA lead me to believe they're actively spiting their players. So we're spite them right back.
They want toxicity? They WILL get it.
When all the changes were made, it became a monument of disappointed and angry players, whales and f2p alike. I'm not against change, but I am against making a great game trash and that's where this is heading.
You must remember about 10% of the actual player base visits the forums & if you were to add a vote option, the game would be dictated by just a select few, most of whose just come into the forums because they can't get their ugnaught team through GW.
What I feel needs to happen is that if the discussion or comment isn't relating to anything of any real interest, it should be close or deleted immediately! Sadly, you'll get a lot of people that will complain that their whining isn't complaining & that it actually has a place on the forums but I feel it's the only way to get rid of the constant b****ing.
I personally think they should have a forum rule that allows you to post a thread/comment ONLY if it's constructive & contains structure.
If its broken it might get fixed in a timely manor and often times not.
Again I'm cool with that as well.
This is not a mmo with a monthly fee and for those games I chose to close my wallet and walk away. This game is my relax time away from the stress at work as well as the stress at home...
My Sunday coffee free time sitting on the porch listening to the birds playing star wars time.
If this game cha yes in such a drastic way ( for those that played star wars galaxies and remember) as the nge changed the entire game then I walk away.
Until something lime that happens I am content and I don't follow the fotm play anyway. So I am fine with the small changes. And wont be crying about how low the sky has fallen or grabbing a pitchfork because of some one just doing their job that their boss told them to do.
The mods have a crappy job however, they do more than just read forums and quash fires.
Pros: huge positive long term but not viable without a proper plan
I think it would just be more confusing overall, people are mostly mad over miscommunication which is understandable but who has the time to check forums 24/7, this idea wouldn't help that problem... But it would help overall
This is me every morning, except sometimes I scare the birds away from screaming about GW.
If moderators are adding concerns to the list based on posts by a user, after the mod adds the concern they could make it part of the workflow to privately message the original user to confirm that the issue was represented correctly to the board. This ensures issues are accurately represented and that concerns have been heard and considered rather than simply copy pasted.
I think this is a great idea. As fun as all the negativity was to watch for about an evening, it has become truly toxic to a point that real discussion cannot actually be had on this board. Every serious thread about the game is inevitably hijacked and made about the same grievances every other thread is about.
I don't think it would make much of a difference. It's not like their forum admins and mods are coding the game.
lol - I quit reading the forums cause I need a stress ball AFTERWARDS.
I do agree with the 2nd part - the # of people that just decide it's no longer worth the investment and shut it off... is growing.
Sounds like some of the no votes are voting no simply because you just think it's too far gone and not worth improving?
I'm wondering, if that's the case, why are you still here?
You knowing that they heard your concern is a huge part of what the Chart would be about. I'm gonna go out on a limb and assume you don't actually think the moderators of this forum are coding the game...
A charting/voting system would allow people to express their frustration and declutter comments leaving more room for dialog and constructive criticism. However that's not addressing the negativity, merely covering it up, in favor of a calmer response. I believe a lot of the negativity is derived from a lack of communication and the perception that what the vocal user base sees as major issues are being routinely ignored. With that in mind, for it to succeed, it would need to be an active 2-way street - constructive forum feedback met with timely and insightful responses from CG/EA.
It would also help in assuring users that issues won't "disappear" as there won't be anywhere for them to disappear to. Properly moderated, duplicate issues will simply rise back to the top and would provide clear basis for complaint if no acknowledgement/update has been posted. And If successful, at some point, could engage average user feedback - not just forum users, at least as in the form of binary, multiple choice, or short scale indication of preference on major/high volume issues.
All in all external/user feedback and internal reporting to active projects can be frustrating, time consuming, and potentially a PR nightmare. However, even with those caveats, it can be a goldmine of insight.
Anything to improve the forums would be welcome in my book, and while I'd rather have resources spent on making actual improvements to the game, I think that the highly toxic prevailing attitudes on the forums need to be checked somehow. If the players won't do it themselves, then the mods needs to do it for them.
Trying to define someone else's post as whining or trolling is very subjective. In many forums a person going against the popular opinion is more than enough for that person to be labeled a troll. Someone's complaints are JUST as valid as another's compliments. Any intelligent business would welcome ANY feedback, as most customers never provide anything. However, for certain low reputation companies I can see whY they would want to limit mire negative exposure.
More people need to grow up and realize they DO NOT have to read every thread, especially if you know you have sensitive emotions or are afraid of confrontation.
You can only expect people to take so much s*** before they erupt. The brash attitude towards the feedback being provided just adds fuel to the fire.
You have almost 2k posts about how people feel about the stealth GW change. It has almost what.. 20k views? All we got was them telling us to go f*** ourselves, but in a nice way.
You can't expect paying (and to an extent non paying) customers to not have a reaction to that. It has been pretty much failure after failure. Guild hopping/alt factory, raid rewards "exploit", updates breaking things for people.. that's just what has happened in the past month or so.
All we want is to enjoy the game. With what amounts to rampant cheating, updates ruining our sources for credits and gear, then instead of fixing known bugs they implement new content that is just going to increase frustration amongst it's playerbase, it's no wonder the amount being spent on this game has dropped over 100% over the last month.
What's even worse is ever single solution that has been implemented by these guys involves US paying to fix it. Pre-crafting? OK. We'll put furnaces in shipments. Raid rewards exploit? Ok. We will rotate all raid gear in shipments. Also we will over price one of the items and then lower it back, but then not be able to refund everyone who over paid. Every. Single. Fix. Involves. Us. Spending. Premium. Currency. When will there be a fix that doesn't cost US anything?
Source?
A lot of people seem to focus on the "it wouldn't matter" part because they've already thrown their arms up in the air. Lesson learned.
For those of you that think nobody is paying attention, you might like to know this thread was acknowledged in a PM. They are definitely paying attention.
I thought the same thing. And I thought the 10% would improve if there were a meaningful feedback/rating system to the forums. The problem right now is the forums are nearly without meaning AT ALL, if 10% of players had more voice, this would be an improvement from 0%.
Or if we had a strict 18 and up no holds barred page even if only available occasionally where we could vent and rage it might help to get frustration out and keep the main forums more productive.
Reddit
Reddit is worse
Welcome to the forum @fed_up -using my 300th post to acknowledge your 1st -ha