Forum attitude adjustment and new moderation policies

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ChrisMK72
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Re: Forum attitude adjustment and new moderation policies

Post by ChrisMK72 »

Very good written David.
caledonianblues wrote: I believe that a lot of the frustration on the forum is a result of misaligned expectations and I long for the day that the forum becomes a place where players interact without misconceptions about it being a channel straight to the developers.
I think i had wrong expectations too in the past, what causes frustration, but now that i see it the way you described in your posting, David, it's a lot easier for me to be around in the forum, with less and less of the "old bad energy", but more fun again. :-)

I think the course is right.
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GodOfThunder70
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Re: Forum attitude adjustment and new moderation policies

Post by GodOfThunder70 »

what caledonianblues said !
nothing to add
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ronMctube
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Re: Forum attitude adjustment and new moderation policies

Post by ronMctube »

i think some of it stems from the game being small and steadily growing with dev interaction on quite a frequent basis is slowly becoming larger and a more business feel to it .

what was a smaller game and close knit community is now more diverse , open.

so those that were used to the "old" ways see some changes as being ignored or they don't care.


if the game is to grow. it needs to be more open, not so niche.this is what seems to be happening.


some people only play theHunter so maybe don't understand anything about game development.

many things people get upset about are just normal.this sometimes could be explained better.


as david said if you buy a license you are not granted a license to govern what you want tailored into the game but... i see why some are thinking this way as pointed out earlier. when the game started it did have more of a family close quarters feel.


this is common in games as they grow become bigger.
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Alena Rybik
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Re: Forum attitude adjustment and new moderation policies

Post by Alena Rybik »

What caledonianblues, TundraPuppy and ronMctube said above is very, very true. I also feel that the a huge share of frustration is a result of misaligned expectations. I am sorry if you were under impression that the forum is the direct official channel of communication with the developers and every post written here gets read by us. It perhaps used to be the case before, when the community (and company) was much smaller, but right now it's simply impossible.

We communicate all our official news via our blog at news.thehunter.com (which we also post here for you to discuss and share your feedback), events and releases are also shared via banner images on the home page. All the news (both updates and banner images) are posted on our official social media channels. If you don't use Facebook and Twitter, you still have news.thehunter.com for status and game updates and banner images, both channels are featured on our home page and in the launcher, so you won't miss anything if you just check either one of them. You can also sign up to receive a weekly newsletter. If you want to get in touch with developers, you can submit a support ticket. Posting your question here or sending a PM to devs on the forum doesn't guarantee that you'll receive a reply, because we are getting way too many messages for us to be able to answer all of them and still continue doing our jobs. (I currently have 69 unanswered messages in my inbox, sorry to those who are waiting for my reply!)
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Maverick_2014
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Re: Forum attitude adjustment and new moderation policies

Post by Maverick_2014 »

TundraPuppy wrote:I think using the forums to let EW know the priorities you want isn't a bad move. I enjoy reading the polls and the conversations about the reserves and animals that players want. EW does read the forums, so what you say does get heard. I am merely saying that I don't think it's prudent to demand or expect an answer whenever you do this.

Think about it like a suggestion box. Dropping suggestions into it means they get read, but it's silly to stand around next to the box and yell that no one is talking to you about your suggestion.

With that said, I also think Alena and crew want the focus on the forums to be the community itself, not EW.
I've never had an issue with requiring a response, Not only do I recognise it is almost impossible but it can often be deemed as binding, as many here have probably witnessed here and elsewhere.

I would expect however that concerns would be read (and perhaps tabled) OR it needs to be made quite clear that the forum is NOT the conduit we might have expected. Pretty sure most would agree with this line of thought.

I know I keep harping a little here but I'm convinced some kind of official channel for the serious issues could be opened to alleviate much of the "stress". The "issues" being defined by a consensus, not as individual pleas for option X in passing threads. In what guise I couldn't say or even whether any specific issue makes it to the next EW meeting.

It's one thing to say we have a "bug list" (as David pointed out), it's another to know which or what is being addressed. I concur we didn't buy into the company or the decision process but I would ALSO have thought the retention of existing customer goodwill is a high priority too. (WE are in fact EW too - all of us. ;) )

The extraordinary thing is we may ALL be on the same page... but no-one knows it.

Alena is probably best to answer this (and I don't want to appear presumptuous here) but is there any way we can identify the common ground here? IF we (the forum members) knew what was on the table to be fixed and what was absolutely not on the table, perhaps drawn from a list compiled by members, say once a month (quarterly?). Would we be too bold to expect devs/management/the janitor to respond?

No, I (we) did not buy the right to expect it. It'd just be...nice ;)

ie: Tight, specific 2 way feedback? Presented agenda style perhaps?

(Hey, humour me. I worked in government for many years - we had meetings to discuss what was going to be in meetings... :geek: )
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Alena Rybik
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Re: Forum attitude adjustment and new moderation policies

Post by Alena Rybik »

Maverick_2014 wrote: I would expect however that concerns would be read (and perhaps tabled) OR it needs to be made quite clear that the forum is NOT the conduit we might have expected. Pretty sure most would agree with this line of thought.
This was addressed in my post above.
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Re: Forum attitude adjustment and new moderation policies

Post by Maverick_2014 »

Alena Rybik wrote:
Maverick_2014 wrote: I would expect however that concerns would be read (and perhaps tabled) OR it needs to be made quite clear that the forum is NOT the conduit we might have expected. Pretty sure most would agree with this line of thought.
This was addressed in my post above.
Sorry Alena. You meant this?
We have only one official communication channel through which you can send your inquiry and where you can always expect a reply from the devs - it is support.
What I meant is where a consensus view could be directed - and responded to - not individual bugs/tech issues. Surely if members can organise to a consensus view about what we think is important there would be a conduit and possibly a considered response to show that people ARE listening? We may all be in agreeance as to what is important or be more accepting as to why it can't/won't be done.

I'm not asking people to change priorities, I'm asking whether our priorities can be responded to as to where they fit in the scheme of things.

ie: One issue a month, collated independently of staff involvement. Tabled and responded. A paragraph a month? Too much?

A quick edit: When I say tabled I do mean at management level. Devs don't generally make decisions but bear the brunt and I'd bet a large chunk of support is tied up on queries about management level decisions.

eg; Why is BRR so devoid of animals (or why was type X chosen) - common themes in recent times. This is neither a bug or tech support issue so where would we get the answers from? Nothing has been said despite the queries and what happens - as a consequence - is exactly why this thread exists. In my considered experience, it's one thing to throw a rule book around, it's another thing to not ask why it has to be done in the first place.
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Alena Rybik
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Re: Forum attitude adjustment and new moderation policies

Post by Alena Rybik »

Maverick_2014 wrote:
Alena Rybik wrote:
Maverick_2014 wrote: I would expect however that concerns would be read (and perhaps tabled) OR it needs to be made quite clear that the forum is NOT the conduit we might have expected. Pretty sure most would agree with this line of thought.
This was addressed in my post above.
Sorry Alena. You meant this?
We have only one official communication channel through which you can send your inquiry and where you can always expect a reply from the devs - it is support.
Rather this:
Alena Rybik wrote:However, this forum is not an official channel of communication between the players and developers.
And this:
Alena Rybik wrote:I am sorry if you were under impression that the forum is the direct official channel of communication with the developers and every post written here gets read by us. It perhaps used to be the case before, when the community (and company) was much smaller, but right now it's simply impossible.
Maverick_2014 wrote:What I meant is where a consensus view could be directed - and responded to - not individual bugs/tech issues. Surely if members can organise to a consensus view about what we think is important there would be a conduit and possibly a considered response to show that people ARE listening? We may all be in agreeance as to what is important or be more accepting as to why it can't/won't be done.

I'm not asking people to change priorities, I'm asking whether our priorities can be responded to as to where they fit in the scheme of things.

ie: One issue a month, collated independently of staff involvement. Tabled and responded. A paragraph a month? Too much?

A quick edit: When I say tabled I do mean at management level. Devs don't generally make decisions but bear the brunt and I'd bet a large chunk of support is tied up on queries about management level decisions.

eg; Why is BRR so devoid of animals (or why was type X chosen) - common themes in recent times. This is neither a bug or tech support issue so where would we get the answers from? Nothing has been said despite the queries and what happens - as a consequence - is exactly why this thread exists. In my considered experience, it's one thing to throw a rule book around, it's another thing to not ask why it has to be done in the first place.
I understand what you're saying but I disagree that we don't address issues discussed in the forum, it's a totally different question whether people are satisfied with the solution (or explanation) we provide, and the topic continues to be brought up again and again. If we come across some topic that gets discussed a lot in the forum, if we see it necessary, we address it either in the next status update or leave a response to the thread. Problems start when people create numerous topics with titles "Devs, why have you screwed up again / added Feral Hog in BRR / didn't add Feral Hog in BRR?" and expect us to respond to all of them. Regarding the example with the BRR, I've left an official response about the feral hog / wild board issue which was the most common one in the forum.

The thread starts to derail again. If you would like to discuss this further Maverick_2014, please create another thread or drop me a private message if you want to talk to me personally.
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DHRifleman
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Re: Forum attitude adjustment and new moderation policies

Post by DHRifleman »

OK, I will use Support from now on for inquiries on the status of game issues and features as directed.
This should help the forums become a more civil place since none of the negative game issues will be mentioned here, as it is no longer the place to do so. Thank you for making this crystal clear.
The above statements are strictly my opinion, and should not be taken as fact, even if I believe them to be true.
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Alena Rybik
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Re: Forum attitude adjustment and new moderation policies

Post by Alena Rybik »

DHRifleman wrote:OK, I will use Support from now on for inquiries on the status of game issues and features as directed.
This should help the forums become a more civil place since none of the negative game issues will be mentioned here, as it is no longer the place to do so. Thank you for making this crystal clear.
You are more than welcome to discuss any issues you have on the forum, as long as you do so in a constructive way, but if you want to receive an official response, support would be the best place to go indeed.
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