Toxic, filled with conspiracy theories, and misinformation.
@CG_JohnSaleraCG_JohnSalera wrote: »Hey guys -
And now, on to what happened here:
- People who didn't want to Activate or Promote any of the characters currently available in the GW Shipments didn't spend their GW Tokens. Cool.
- They amassed some number of these Tokens. Cool. (BTW - I have no idea how many people had more or fewer of these tokens. It's not relevant. Perhaps someone on the team knows this, or knew it at one time, but it's really not something we talk or think about a lot. Just wanted to clarify that because some of the conspiracy theorists have asserted that their high balances had something to do with this. "You knew I was stockpiling and wanted to punish me!" or somesuch variant. That's frankly story they made up in their heads and has no bearing on reality.)
- We fixed this bug and brought this Refresh in alignment with every other Refresh in the game. We didn't message or "warn" anyone about this because we honestly figured it was obviously a bug. Apparently, not cool.
- We saw the forums heat up and the toxicity flow. (And seriously folks, these forums are way too toxic, filled with conspiracy theories, and misinformation. I'm hoping we can work together to bring the tenor of the conversation to a healthier, more productive and positive posture.)
- We decided to enact this one week hiatus so people who were upset and frankly calling us all forms of insulting things could spend away as they see fit.
- Some people rejoiced, some said it was a good move, some still found a way to be upset. I know it's a fools errand to try to make everyone happy, but it is starting to feel like some number of people are going to rise up in fury regardless what we do, change, or add. But that's a longer-term problem related to the toxicity levels.
Respectfully,
You are 100% right from a certain point of view. Everything you said was correct. I would have to agree with the statement, "the official forums are fairly toxic".
And yet there is another layer to this that you might not be considering. When developers hide so much of the information and mechanics that run under the hood people are going to do one of two things; 1) speculate and try and develop theories, 2) lose interest. The community engagement has been lacking. Frankly when there is as little community engagement as we have, it is unfair to lay all the blame for misinformation on the feet of those who are passionate about the game.
For example Team Instinct's Speed Guide is fundamental to understanding how things work. Is that misinformation? Is it accurate? Frankly someone from CG should acknowledge and either confirm or correct it.
Twice @EA_Jesse has promised a Q&A session and asked for questions. Twice we haven't seen anything. Not once have we gotten any information more than one hour before a change was rolled out. The game is filled with typographical errors and bugs (I have to wonder why so few were caught and fixed during the soft launch, but that is another issue), so much so that I have to wonder if many of the behaviors I see are bugs or intended (I have no idea how Ventriss is supposed to work)?
I have been working slowly on getting my Poe and IG-86 up to 7*. Is he going to be worthless two days after I finally star him? I am also going to stop spending effort on my 86 as I don't want to waste shards. In a game that takes a ton of planning to play competitively we lack basic, basic information. Based on the track record I expect Poe to be nerfed right as I finish him up. Given the lack of depth to the game at this point (I understand the game is still young, but except for two more levels and a few stars I am done) so little gameplay coupled with a lack of communication will lead to toxicity in the forums.
You really need to step up your game in regards to community engagement, and stop hiding things until the last possible minute. @EA_Jesse should really have at least twice as many posts as he does if he is indeed a community manager. My last online FTP game was from 5th Planet Games. Now those guys had good outreach. Heck they even had a player council where changes were vetted with a group of players with a NDA and attended meeting via Skype.
Most of us understand needing to make money, a lot of us understand that changing a number in a database from 5 to 50 (a la Dooku) is a trivial fix, whereas the problems you have with the logic order in combat is a major reworking (to fix things like Ventress not gaining buffs from her kills). However all we are left with is speculation.
TLDR; Step up your community engagement. Most of the toxicity grows from the vacuum of silence from CG.
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I think it'd be great if we would be able to see all posts a member of the forum made, like it is now with the topics created.
That way I could just go to CGJohnSalera's profile and see if he posted something interesting recently, because posts in regular topics that they made are often very useful.
I had almost unlocked Kylo when he came out, and gladly paid $60 for now 5* Kylo that I can already use in line up instantly. Nobody of 7* lineup will use 4* character, even if it is as good as Rey. However, 5* Rey another matter. Do it fast, before people get her enough for 5*.
I would pay $50 for Rey, if it is available. So take note.
I'm sure they want more. People will be crazy to open more Chromium pack.
It honestly doesn't take a whole lot to reverse the toxic trend in the forum. That next update needs to address a lot of the glaring character bugs which have been effecting the most used heroes for months. In the meantime give us insight on to what the cryptic character stats mean and throw us a little bone by making some of the rare equipment a bit more farmable. Then everyone can go in their merry way for a day or two until the next anti-cg/ea post occurs.
The latest. You did make some very good points in your original post @AnotherMolEliza . Even though this is off topic, his latest post did alleviate some of my train of thought with regards to bug prioritizing and motives. I also think the posting of the patch notes "ahead" of time will be a step in the right direction so people can make preparations as necessary, even if its only a 2-3 day head start. However, I am still a bit perturbed that they are releasing minor bug fixes, claim they have major bug fixes done, but are holding out to release it with a "content update" when bug fix releases should be happening on the fly depending on bug severity.
I do think more communication needs to occur and deliverable's need to happen, which is why I am hoping when this Dev QA post comes, it will be extremely fruitful and answer many of the questions we have as a community about the underlying mechanics of the game.
Another thing that might help is to have a compiled sticky of all the current bugs of the game that is ACTIVELY updated by the mods, so that we are aware of mechanics that are really "bugs" and know that changes will occur eventually. Many of us didn't think the GW shipment refresh was a bug, but if this was on a master list then some of us wouldn't have been stocking up on GW tokens this whole time.
A certain level of toxicity is inevitable, that is probably the nature of the internet... I have seen it in Path of Exile forums (great RPG game, completely free with only vanity stuff paid, much better communication...), after a change, maybe even removing an exploit but I don't really remember exactly, there was an enormous outcry and someone even threatened to take down the servers... Sadly, the "you ruined the whole game" and such comments will always pop up...
@AnotherMolEliza has made excellent points, which will likely be ignored, as will mine.
Here's another gem with regard to communication that shouldn't be forgotten: That was 6 weeks ago. Dozens of character bugs persist; a tiny handful have been fixed. Aaron hasn't even posted here in over 2 weeks.
I saw you post. I think it was very constructive and the furthest thing from "toxic" because your acknowledging what they are doing right and not freaking our cursing at what they are doing wrong.
Hadn't seen Aaron's post until now. 6 weeks ago and nothing eh? Even though I think this is an amazing idea, I wonder if Aaron got yelled at by the men in suits.
Aaron's last post was the day of the big GW change, when he posted implying that the change was made because of people force-closing, right before John said (stop me if you've heard this one before) that what they changed it to now is what they always intended. I'm sure that's just a coincidence.
https://forums.galaxy-of-heroes.starwars.ea.com/discussion/8961/game-update-1-28-2016/p7
I'm just trying to be as constructive as possible. Good community management is difficult. Very difficult. However going radio silent is widely acknowledged as poor management in all fields.
@CG_JohnSalera did man up though, and came to the forum with the events as he perceived them. In reality the truth is somewhere in the middle. Yes everything was correct. From a certain perspective.
I do feel the need to call out his point that the forums are full of conspiracy and misinformation. Yes he is right, BUT only one side has access to the information and are holding all their cards close to their chest. I don't think it is the case, but from a certain point of view one could see their forum responses as taunting us. However in reality it is just two (more really) groups looking at a forest, one on the ground, another flying above in a helicopter.
He doesnt need to post, and we all know that wasnt abug.
--Keep profanity and insults out, please.
FashionFett.
The overall perception is that GMs are relaying to us what in a polite way can be called a "PR pulp" - the decision to "come clean" can only be done at higher management levels, and these being EA is very unlikely to happen.
Reasonable solution would probably be stay away from posting here and just try to enjoy the game....
All of this could have been avioded, and quite simple,
"Hey we have just discovered the refresh in GW is bugged so it don't cost the 50 crystals, as the other refreshes, we are working on something else, but it will be fixed down the road, enjoy it while it last
Or something like that, and many of those who are "angry" would be defendig CG instead
It feels more than a job than a game after a time. The "fun" is in leveling toons and compete in arenas, where you have to compete against those who spent more money than you. This game is clearly P2W.
My 2 biggest complaints: GW got ridiculously difficult.
Today, i am lv 61 with 1 team 60/61, some 59-60 chars, some 50s, some 30s.
6. fight:
Since then every fight was against such teams. I reached and i am stuck at 9. Then i thought about it. Why do i waste so much time into this game? Sunday doing 6 events x3-5, takes me 30m, doing missions with 3-5 energy refills all by SIM, another 15m. GW, 30m with occasional breaks. Then arena sniping starting 1 hour before 18h, logging in to buy shipments...
I play that game about 2h a day only to realize, i have no chance because others spend more money and i cant catch up, never. When you got your team high enough to finally compete, they release lv 80 and gear 9 and the gap will get even bigger. You HAVE to spend more money and even more time to compete what is just too much.
2nd complaint: arena. I am working and i cant do the snipe every day. I would prefer to have that changed to a different way, probably getting some trophies every hour for your rank.
I play **** and what i miss in SWGoH: wars, clan chatting, replays. Real PvP not player vs a RNG favoured AI.
--> there have to be serious changes to keep me playing. I know, nobody cares, but i am sure a big number of other people feel similar and in the end, a successful game needs to make the crowd happy, not the whales.
Changes:
GW difficulty and extreme randomness must be changed
Arena (see above)
Social tools, wars, replays
Slower the pace so not-whales can compete (i also spend money, but i wont and cant spend hundreds a month)
Thx for reading.
2. If you can't beat that GW team I feel sorry for you man, I do. I pray for teams like that.
3. If you are a casual player in any game, you shouldn't expect to compete in arena. This game involves careful planning and high strategy for a f2p to do well. You can't just throw 5 heroes you like in a team and win.
With the next update or the update after that they will add guilds and other stuff. The game is 3 months old now, give it some time.
Insanely true...
PROACTIVE is always better than REACTIVE!
Its not that i couldnt beat the team nr6 but dont forget, my best team (arena team) is lv60 purple (half gear 7) 4-7*. And i only have ONE such a team. This opponent already nr6 is just too difficult for me, because almost the same team has to go nr7, 8,.... its just too difficult too early! If that would be nr10 it would be ok for me.
This is where i am stuck now. I just havent got enough and fresh chars to beat it. Its not that on fight alone is the problem, its that 4 in the row just way above me with damaged chars and CD not ready... IMPOSSIBLE.
Your point 3 is correct. Probably i have to chill down and be glad to beat gw half and stay in arena 1000 and dont play every day. But my arena complaint isnt really about p2w only, its also that its not easy to compete when you work the whole day. 18h is the wrong time and in my opinion its wrong as a whole the way it is now.
The fun in playing competitive games for me is being competitive. Just being nr789-guy i will lose motivation. I will ask myself What for? In other games, playing the game is fun, but playing swgoh is just a task, except the thinking and tweaking your squad, to be ... Competitive. You got the point?