Forum attitude adjustment and new moderation policies

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JayMisanthrope
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Re: Forum attitude adjustment and new moderation policies

Post by JayMisanthrope »

DHRifleman wrote:
Does that mean if we are wondering what the official status is of a bug, or missing feature, we should open a ticket in the support section of the game to ask?
When the scopes stopped working and during the MP issues that is what I did. I submitted a ticket in game, I checked the forums and added a post stating it was effecting me as well and waited for the patch to repair it to be released. I still hunted using iron sights and played SP. It was a inconvenience but not a game stopper.

I think many are missing the point about the post and moderation changes. It isn't about hushing the complaints it is about the repeated posts on the same issue with nothing to offer other than a personal attack on the current target. Information that could allow the bug to be recreated and how wide spread it is would be very helpful, threats about not renewing and posting bad reviews do not help find a fix and muddy the water when they view the thread to gather information about the issue.

If the bug has been around a long time maybe another support ticket is needed to gain the attention of the developers. Possibly campaign support tickets and everyone focusing on one issue at a time would get a resolution. I cant see a united front on any one issue at a time here it is shotgun blasts from every direction on many different items. One guy says floating rocks makes the game unplayable while another says its the lack of realistic looking fur on the kangaroo. I would fully support any united attempt to flood the support section in game and on here with a single item at a time until there is a resolution. Maybe its been done before but it is one of many techniques available to us.
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DHRifleman
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Re: Forum attitude adjustment and new moderation policies

Post by DHRifleman »

I am not missing the point about the moderation changes, I am just looking for the correct channel to get answers about the status of game issues, and lost features? I thought it was the forum, but it seems I was mistaken.

I think flooding support with questions about the status of know issues, and lost game features would severely impede support from actually helping those with issues they can resolve, so I am not for this option.
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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TundraPuppy
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Re: Forum attitude adjustment and new moderation policies

Post by TundraPuppy »

Flooding support really isn't going to be helpful. That's just going to a.) make the developers even less likely to interact with the community, and b.) overwhelm support which will result in your other issues taking longer to resolve.

Think about like as if you're cooking food for a bunch of people and you're running late on it. It's not going to help to get everyone yelling at you, or stampeding the kitchen. That's just going to make you want to keep them all out of the kitchen so you can focus, and it's going to overwhelm you which will just make getting dinner ready take even more time. In that case (just like here with the game and developers), it's best for that bunch of people to just talk amongst themselves nicely (no shouts about putting the chef's head on a pike!) and to let you get the food prepared as properly as you can without interruption.

I think a lot of players are misunderstanding the purpose of the forums - the forums are here for the community members to discuss the game amongst themselves, and the developers (or more accurately, the community manager) to interact on occasion with the members of the forum. It is not designed nor intended for there to be a constant "back and forth" communication with the company - that's more time Alena would end up spending tracking down developers and asking them for answers, which then slows down the developers and clogs up their workload.

The best answer I can give you is to make your point concisely and politely, submit bug reports when applicable, and otherwise use the forums as a tool to talk amongst yourselves, brainstorm ideas for the game or talk about stuff you'd like to see, share your stories about your hunting, organize multiplay hunts and competitions, and otherwise communicate with each other about the game.

Information about the game will be released when it's ready, not in response to a drive by the community to demand or force answers to their questions - the twitter feed in particular is a fairly valuable source of information about the issues you specifically talk about DHRifleman; namely, status of game issues.

If I'm wrong about any of this, I know Alena keeps an eye on this thread, so she can edit and correct my post as needed.
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DHRifleman
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Re: Forum attitude adjustment and new moderation policies

Post by DHRifleman »

Well I am not on twitter, facebook or any other social media site, so I guess that is my problem to deal with, not EW's.
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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Re: Forum attitude adjustment and new moderation policies

Post by Maverick_2014 »

DHRifleman wrote:I didn't realize this forum is not an official channel of communication between the players and developers?
TundraPuppy wrote:I think a lot of players are misunderstanding the purpose of the forums - the forums are here for the community members to discuss the game amongst themselves, and the developers (or more accurately, the community manager) to interact on occasion with the members of the forum. It is not designed nor intended for there to be a constant "back and forth" communication with the company
I'm going to nod in agreement with DHR on this one. I thought the forums WERE the official channel also and hence have obviously wasted a lot of effort suggesting players unite to attempt to highlight our priorities and try to get some direction as averse to just generating lots of white noise. :oops:

Alas... They say you should learn something new every day. That's mine. I can goof off now. :lol:
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Re: Forum attitude adjustment and new moderation policies

Post by Maverick_2014 »

DHRifleman wrote:Well I am not on twitter, facebook or any other social media site, so I guess that is my problem to deal with, not EW's.
Same here. Perhaps that *is* our problem. We don't read the entire ether spectrum. Now I know why I get called grandpa!! :lol:

(Once upon a time, when I was a kid, our house had a telephone installed. It was a BIG day....)
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Re: Forum attitude adjustment and new moderation policies

Post by TundraPuppy »

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.
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JayMisanthrope
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Re: Forum attitude adjustment and new moderation policies

Post by JayMisanthrope »

TundraPuppy wrote:I think using the forums to let EW know the priorities you want isn't a bad move.

You lost me now on how to get an long standing issue resolved. You say this isn't the place for official communication then you say go ahead and post and discuss it here. I am in the same boat as DH now, doesn't seem to be a way to get resolution to the long standing issues. Sadly this will not help the atmosphere here among those who have been asking for it for so long, you highlighted their frustration to me in your last few posts.
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caledonianblues
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Re: Forum attitude adjustment and new moderation policies

Post by caledonianblues »

I think what TundraPuppy is implying is that players are welcome, in fact encouraged, to make suggestions for the game, and to raise bug reports via the forum. However, doing so in no way guarantees that your idea will be implemented, or that the bug you report will be fixed. Nor does it guarantee you will even receive a response or acknowledgement. Which is exactly what I would expect.

The people who expect feedback, all bugs to be fixed, prompt responses and developer interaction are the ones who appear most disgruntled. Expansive Worlds did not set such expectations though. People at some point have just come to expect a certain level of service which, to my knowledge, has never been promised officially.

A large number of suggestions made by community members end up being implemented. A large number of bugs reported via the forum have been resolved.

That being said, there is no obligation on Expansive Worlds' part to respond to every bug report, or even to resolve every bug. There will always be bugs in this game until the company becomes so cash rich that it can afford to cease all feature development, cease all work on other projects and justify paying the entire team to work exclusively on bug fixing.

Similarly, there is no obligation for Expansive Worlds to develop new features for the game just because that feature is commonly asked for on the forum. Take Africa for example. You only have to browse the forums to see that this is a common request. So far there is no sign of Africa. Has Expansive Worlds breached any terms? Are members entitled to a refund because what they want has not been implemented? No, of course not.

When people buy a membership they are not buying 12 months subscription to the game, plus a seat at the development planning meetings and x number of bug fixes. Membership does not entitle the customer to a say in how the profit for that membership gets spent. Subscribing members do not own part of the company, nor should they have any expectations with regards to the future direction of the game.

The company chooses to interact from time to time with the community, which I think is great (and rare in this industry). However, the forum is supposed to be a place for the players to interact.

There are lots of things I would love to see added to the game, so I will make threads for suggestions as and when I think of things, or I will support threads which have already been started. I will then forget about them and if one day something makes it into the game, I'll be happy.

There are bugs I would love to see fixed, but there are already reports open for them. I realise they are not game-breaking issues so I have accepted they may be around for a long time. This may not be ideal but just because I pay a membership does not mean the developers are contractually obliged to fix the bugs.

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.
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Re: Forum attitude adjustment and new moderation policies

Post by HooCairs »

Post of the year, David.

I will send people to this post still in ten years. :)
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