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Forum Structure & Organization
nitocris83
Member, Cryptic Developer, Administrator Posts: 4,498Cryptic Developer › Cryptic Developer
Greetings!
With the new year and the recent addition of the CDP subforum, we have been thing of ways to better organize all forum topics. There is some redundancy in certain categories and over and under-use of others; the PC subforums get heavier use and first responses on issues (especially live ones pertaining to features or events they may get before Console). This, in turn, can create both confusion and an unintended feeling of neglect for some platform users.
Keeping in mind that we would not be changing the forum software and integration and we would like to preserve all threads, I'm curious as to what suggestions people may have to change the forum structure in order to optimize engagement/streamline topics. What sections do you engage with most? What sections do you not use? If you are a console user, do you check out the PC subforums for info before posting or checking console?
Thanks!
With the new year and the recent addition of the CDP subforum, we have been thing of ways to better organize all forum topics. There is some redundancy in certain categories and over and under-use of others; the PC subforums get heavier use and first responses on issues (especially live ones pertaining to features or events they may get before Console). This, in turn, can create both confusion and an unintended feeling of neglect for some platform users.
Keeping in mind that we would not be changing the forum software and integration and we would like to preserve all threads, I'm curious as to what suggestions people may have to change the forum structure in order to optimize engagement/streamline topics. What sections do you engage with most? What sections do you not use? If you are a console user, do you check out the PC subforums for info before posting or checking console?
Thanks!
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Comments
Like masterwork issues, longstanding bugs, stuff like "I can't find the MW alchemy potions to unlock xy Tier". Thats why I can sometimes answer in console threads without it feeling too awkward.
But wouldn't a workaround be even more difficult? As in considering some topics "All platforms" and some topics "XY platform only" wouldn't be too (new-) user friendly.
- If you decide to combine the platform sub forums please consider linking forum accounts to the platform the player is on. Some kind of badge or icon in the header would work well.
- Please consider changing to a more reddit like approach to rating posts so that trolls can be voted down and good ideas or comments rise to the top. Obviously you would need to exempt admin and developer accounts from this form of rating but I think it would go a long way in helping the forum "police" itself. There would be abuse at first but those individuals can be dealt with by moderators and administrators.
- Archive everything that is more than 2 years old, but make that archive searchable and linked as a subforum.
- Enforce formats for feedback and bug reporting but also do a better job of explaining how to use the different formatting options you require. You could even go as far as providing/embedding templates in each subforum so that for example all bug reports have to answer the same questions.
- Consider putting a thread in the CDP subforum to allow users to request or suggest topics for future CDPs.
- Consider putting a LOCKED thread in the CPD subforum announcing a road map of future CDP discussion topics. This way people will know that their pet peeve / passion project is on the list and not feel the need to hijack current discussions to feel they are being heard.
- Consider adding an administrator function to mark Bug report threads as "Escalated for review" that would change the color of the heading or add an icon to the thread so that it is distinguishable from the other threads in the subforum view. This way players who come to the forums to report bugs can quickly identify if the bug they have is already known and if it is being reviewed / worked on.
I think the structure of the forums is fine as it is. I do feel that the forums need to be streamlined into ONE forum for all platforms and regions so that the information and effort is not fragmented. Players should have some sort of icon or title that represents platform and region.Any of my comments not posted in orange are based on my own personal opinion and not official.
Any messages written in orange are official moderation messages. Signature images are now fixed!
All the best,
OPTank_
While I believe there is room for streamlining I think there needs to be a clear division between the platforms. Maybe it's a general discussion area for all, but bugs and feedback need to be either kept separate or clearly identified by platform.
Keeping that info separate is the better option in my opinion. I can only see the confusion build up as PC users report bugs that don't apply to console in a general bug area that doesn't clearly divide the platforms. Multi platform forums can get out of hand for sure so there has to be a balance between simplification in branches and ease of finding the right information.
Figuring out the best way to split things up while consolidating is a larger undertaking than someone can handle in the span of minutes though so I will move along now.
That being said, maybe bugs should have stay within it's on board but stuff like PVE, General Discussion and Feedback should really be confined to one board as this would help reduce people posting about the same non-critical issues in different places.
But, IMO, no issues should be addressed solely by popularity or volume as it's really unfair. Some players who get items that are relatively scarce, like certain lego mounts, have issues that are just as important to them as people having with rare or epic items, but just because they are rarer (Lego mounts) they may not get as much complaints posted.
I'm an xbox player and I read all the forums.
Jade - Cleric - Healer Main - The Freak Core - Xbone
Magnus - Fighter - Tank for queues - The Freak Core - Xbone
Loverboy - Ranger - Alt - 9 3/4 Unbuffed - Xbone
Nomnomnommm - Wizard - Alt - Droppin Crits on Fools - Xbone
I Am The Wall - Paladin - Alt - Droppin Crits on Fools - Xbone
Xeros - Rogue - Alt - 9 3/4 Unbuffed - Xbone
RIP bad name - Warlock - Alt - 9 3/4 Unbuffed - Xbone
Bardholomew - Bard - Alt - 9 3/4 Unbuffed - Xbone
Sirona - Cleric - Alt - 9 3/4 Unbuffed - Xbone
Jade - DC - Shadows of Gauntlgrym - PC
Personally I don't see a problem with the way they are now.
> Greetings!
>
> With the new year and the recent addition of the CDP subforum, we have been thing of ways to better organize all forum topics. There is some redundancy in certain categories and over and under-use of others; the PC subforums get heavier use and first responses on issues (especially live ones pertaining to features or events they may get before Console). This, in turn, can create both confusion and an unintended feeling of neglect for some platform users.
>
> Keeping in mind that we would not be changing the forum software and integration and we would like to preserve all threads, I'm curious as to what suggestions people may have to change the forum structure in order to optimize engagement/streamline topics. What sections do you engage with most? What sections do you not use? If you are a console user, do you check out the PC subforums for info before posting or checking console?
>
> Thanks!
I think current system is nice what we need is answers to our questions and everything will be ok.