Merging Platform Forums

strumslinger · July 2016

Hey all,

Over the course of the next two weeks, I'll be merging the PC, Xbox and PS4 forums for a few reasons:

1) Foster a better community where we can all discuss in a single location. I've seen discussions happening on PC that would be helpful for Xbox players and vice versa. With PS4 now in the mix, the last thing I want to do is separate the ever-growing community.
2) Ease of access for players and the community team. Right now, the community team has way too many forums to effectively oversee. With less forums, we can more efficiently moderate and add to discussions without being dragged in three directions.

We'll still keep some forums separate like Guilds & Alliances, Moonstone Mask and Patch Notes with forums like Bug Reports requiring a [PC/Xbox/PS4] tag in the beginning.

Thanks!

scathias · July 2016

While I can see what you are saying strum I greatly prefer this current division. Xbox and now PS4 economies are so incredibly different that it is almost a different game. Add into that that xbox and ps4 are nearly a mod behind PC in terms of patches and content.

I am afraid this is going to make finding platform specific content very difficult to find since there are going to be 3x as many posts to look through and 2/3rds of them are not going to have the help you need.

-edit- as metalldjt says, you will have to implement platform specific tags for every player that appear on the threads they make and on their comments so that we can more easily tell what the context of a post is

kolatmaster · July 2016

The real question is, will the Xboxers and PS4ers be able to handle...

scathias · July 2016

@strumslinger, while i think about it. Where is official forum dev tracker at with being implemented? there is still nothing since we were told it was being worked on when the transition to vanilla was made

beckylunatic · July 2016

This is mostly a good move. I agree that it's easier to manage and most discussions of game content and gameplay can apply universally.

There are some key differences where I can see potential for confusion.

Events - You may have finally gotten to a point where event versions will always match (like Summer Fest right now), but PC and XBox have had different event activities and rewards even while running the same event. Event parity addresses this better than separation, IMO.

Event schedules - And sales. PC never ever ever getting 2xAD when it's reasonable to assume PS4 will be bombarded with this event. I think it's unlikely all platforms will have the same schedule for 2x and non-seasonal events, so this is an area to be especially careful with announcements.

Marketplace - Price disparity. Mounts and companions are available indefinitely on PC with the exception of some special offers, but XBox regularly cycles items out. XBox has had items in the Zen store that were only available as promotions or special rewards for PC. PS4 may have yet another purchasing and pricing structure. These differences also bleed into build information, since mounts and companions affect character performance.

Edit: Agreed that economic differences are also major.

loboguild · July 2016

I think it would be helpful to have those PC/Xbox/PS4 tags in every shared forum, not just bugs. Otherwise confusion galore.

strumslinger · July 2016

I agree it might invite some unwanted toxicity, but overall, I feel it would more positive than anything else. I'm working on looking at different options to add flairs or tags to threads - if need be. Events on both PC and consoles SHOULD be the same from now on as they have been for the Jubilee and Summer Festival.

The Preview forums will stay completely separate for obvious reasons.

If it doesn't work out, I can easily revert back to three separate forums.

Thanks for the feedback!

sorce · July 2016

Whilst I can see the positives, I still have this crushing feeling that this isn't going to be as smooth as everyone hopes. The PC community seems to be rather... sharp in they way they communicate with one another.

torontodave · July 2016

It's cool. We'll just be over here in the Foundry subforum. No way the console newbs will find us there. The devs can't even find us there.

deathbeez · July 2016

Or maybe get some new mods?
I only see 1 mod post anymore, like in a long time. Only Kreatyve. Depths is a good indicator.

Gonna be like 7th graders getting tossed into high school.

You got a very cynical and somewhat grumpy crowd. Like your uncle that's finishing his last few years at 'The Mill,' about to be around fresh, bright eyed youngins' with nothing but amazing expectations bursting through their fingers.
I was lurking there a bit. Talking about the class they want to play and stuff.

torontodave said:
It's cool. We'll just be over here in the Foundry subforum. No way the console newbs will find us there. The devs can't even find us there.

LMFAO, I just saw that. Nice one.

bratleyray · July 2016

Just curious why this was only announced on pc forums and not on xbox? If merging them all, shouldn't it be announced in all of them as well? Or are you just testing the waters? My opinion is, yes, it will be beneficial for all. It is also gonna cause many issues as well, as previously posted. There will still be a need for sub forums for each platform, one way or another with all the differences. Also, i know the ultimate goal was to have parity. But to have the same events on all 3 systems isnt cool... us on xbox have been waiting for the portabella campaign for quite some time, as well as a seige event. Not cool to switch this up at this point. Catch us up first, then get your parity...

luigipr31 · July 2016

Hi!! Im from Xbox but I always read the PC forums to see what is happening etc.

"Events on both PC and consoles SHOULD be the same from now on as they have been for the Jubilee and Summer Festival."

I really doubt all events will be the same. There are some updates from PC that introduce something new on an old event and in Xbox 4 or 5 updates gets crammed into one every trimester.

Well that is my opinion. But I will like it. THanks for the heads up

oldbaldyone · July 2016

Be prepared for a hundred posts a day of "I'm on (PC, XB, PS4), we don't have that" and "Which platform are you on?"

This is a very bad idea. If it was a matter of same platform, different servers....fine. This is different servers, different platform. Things that occur on one platform, like bugs, events, companions being available, the way things work.....this is going to get entirely confused.

For example: HRs on XB have shown that a specific build seems to work very well for them on XB, but on PC it results in a loss of damage. Might be buffs, companions, whatever, but its not the same.

Again, expect a TON of posts basically clarifying their platform .....I'm not a developer, but I would expect that even though its the same game across the platforms, the issues for each are going to be separate...a bug on one might not be on another.

If anything, I'd like MORE separation. When I hit "Discussions" to see the latest new posts, all I see now is PS4 stuff basically....

As Luke says: "I have a bad feeling about this."

ecrana · July 2016

magenubbie said:
It's not more user friendly. It's merely easier to moderate.

You nailed it on the head right here.

This will not be easier at all for the end user. It sounds more cumbersome and will most likely make it harder to find information that is useful for your specific platform.

One of the key principles in any good design is a good user experience and this sounds like it is going to fall far short of that.

regenerde · July 2016

Well, the game is different between plattforms, and the forums should also stay that way...
Unless you can "update" the game on same content level across all plattforms with this forum change too.

I also doubt, that you will have less to moderate, i rather think you will have a lot more cleaning up to do. Even when you "mark" posts/threads accordingly to the plattforms, people will overlook them and post on the "wrong" threads.
And then what?
Are you going to throw out infraction points and warnings like candy in a desperate attempt to keep the new forum in a readable state?

This will end up like throwing dogs, cats and hamsters into one big box... it might be "entertaining" for some to watch what happens, but in the end, this is just a very bad idea.

Merging Platform Forums

Comments