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How to communicate on the forum without getting moderated?
n0vastarone
Member Posts: 389 Arc User
I see a lot of threads get nuked for "Cryptic Bashing" Or complaining about things.
But I gotta ask, how are players supposed to let the company/devs/whoever is in a position to actually listen and make changes know that people are unhappy, if there is nothing but censors, deletions and whatever else?
And if someone tells me, go write a support ticket. Those are largely ignored. Entirely. So how does one actually go about letting cryptic be aware, that an individual, or even a community/segment of a community is unhappy?
(Thread title changed per FCT. - BMR)
But I gotta ask, how are players supposed to let the company/devs/whoever is in a position to actually listen and make changes know that people are unhappy, if there is nothing but censors, deletions and whatever else?
And if someone tells me, go write a support ticket. Those are largely ignored. Entirely. So how does one actually go about letting cryptic be aware, that an individual, or even a community/segment of a community is unhappy?
(Thread title changed per FCT. - BMR)
Join Date. Dec 2007Post edited by baddmoonrizin on
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Might want to check again, as PWE was bought out by Gearbox.
had to remake the toon 2 times before i tried it that way, since it didn't make sense to me how a drag-and-drop would register if a double click didn't... but it just works like that.
but that could also be because i'm a lifetimer tho Iunno
Mwahahahahahahaha
even so, gearbox hasnt made any real changes to PWEs games so far and it doesn't seem they will.
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I can't go into my opinion because literally everything is a violation of some rule on this board, but I will say that the issue is not all of the moderators, it's one specific person. You will need to give your opinions on a site where that person, thankfully, has no power.
And before anyone says it, the question of rather or not feedback is considered any more or less on reddit then it is here is a different topic and starting that discussion will.. of course.. get this thread locked.
Technically they didn't sell to an American company, the actual purchase was done by Embracer Group, which is Swedish, and they placed Cryptic under one of their subsidiaries (Gearbox) that is based in the US. That placement seems to be more for organizational convenience and possibly tax purposes, they said up front that they had no intention of replacing Cryptic's management or otherwise interfering with the company's relative autonomy.
Funny, I can put a complaint across in a civil manner without resorting to bashing anyone and it never gets locked. Someone people think it's an automatic right to pile on and complain/threaten etc. If you can't be civil, that's your issue, not Cryptic's. There are people that do nothing BUT complain for the hell of it and complain about supposed wrongs done to them by staff.
So the answer is (ALWAYS):
Be civil
Be respectful
Be honest
Be factual
Be concise
Be constructive in your criticism
and finally...follow the rules of the forum!
These are not hard rules to follow.
I have to admit that at first glance, I considered locking this thread for discussion of moderation. But then I read it again, and read it a third time, as I often do with seemingly "difficult" topics, and determined that this appears to be more of a sincere concern about how to communicate feedback when one is displeased.
We literally have a thread in this subforum addressing that very thing:
https://account.arcgames.com/en/forums/startrekonline/#/discussion/1264896/a-reminder-on-how-to-have-a-discussion/p1
Of course, threads/posts that are Cryptic bashing are going to get "nuked." It's against the forum rules to do so, and dealt with accordingly. But just complaining about things? No. If we closed every complaint thread, there'd be very few open threads. You might notice, though, that the complaint threads that do stay open are the ones where civil discussion is going on. When a thread devolves into bashing and unconstructive criticism, though, then it will end up getting locked. And if you find yourself getting "censored, deleted, and whatever else," you might want to consider what you said and/or how you said it, because chances are you violated a rule. So, my best advice is don't let it go there.
One can still express displeasure without being rude. If you find it difficult to do so, then perhaps this forum community isn't for you.
Literally, two moderators have commented in this very thread and it has not been locked. Not "everything" is a violation of some rule. And sea, since when have you NOT been able to go into your opinion? As I recall, you're one of the most opinionated forum users we have, and have never held them back before.
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99% of the threads I have had to close over the years have been because of how something was said and not per say what was said. People are free to voice their concerns, likes/dislikes, and issues with the game so long as it's done so in a respectful and civil manor.
If someone comes on here to say they dislike a particular system such as re-engineering and lay out logical reasons such as: "I dislike re-engineering as it is now as I feel it's too limited. We can't pick our mods even at higher dil cost, and we can't re-engineer things like warp cores and many other items" That is a valid post. If someone comes on and every other part of their post is some 4 letter insult against cryptic in 30 different languages and talking about how they think the company sucks or something along those lines, in addition to their complaints about re-engineer, it's going to get locked. Reason it's going to get locked is because you're not presenting anything constructive, you're posting a rage filled rant. Not every decision Cryptic makes is going to be popular and they're well aware of that. However if folks have issues with the game or a decision made, there is a right way and a wrong way to voice that frustration.
Plenty of times myself and the other mods have voiced frustrations to Kael and among ourselves. I've voiced my annoyance at certain things to some of the QA guys a few times when reporting bugs. In those instances they have been willing to listen because it was done so in a constructive manor.
Problem comes when people try to hide an obvious rant behind the "I'm just giving criticism" excuse. If people want to give criticism there is a right way and a wrong way to do that. If people feel they're getting modded into oblivion, then as my cohort suggested above, they may wish to step back and ask themselves what they've said and how they've said it. If they're unsure and wish to contest moderation they feel was merited out unfairly, they can always message one of the team or Kael directly to make an appeal.
bruh, since when have you of all people ever been afraid to voice an opinion on here? I've seen you pop into threads plenty of times to drop a note and dash with no issues.
Contrary to popular belief we mods don't sit around all day twirling our ban hammers like we're Thor's apprentices waiting to take someone out. Unless it's a spam bot in which case we nuke those with extreme prejudice and have a point counter for whoever nukes the most bots, but that's a completely different ballgame.
Star Trek Online volunteer Community Moderator
Didn't she take it with her? Or did she leave it so you guys can all dance around it while singing mysterious songs?
[3/25 10:41][Combat (Self)]Your Haymaker deals 26187 (10692) Physical Damage(Critical) to Orinoco.
On the other hand, I've been here for quite some time as well and I've never had one of my threads locked without wanting it.
Literally the only times I remember was when I asked for it myself years ago (people were making all sorts of insinuations about playing Caitians when I asked for clothing to be made available for all genders) and when people were responding in threads that were years old.
I believe that the complaints about locking threads are exaggerated. Likewise, I've never felt that I could not share my thoughts or criticise a decision. I've done so even in stronger wording, like when they removed the Borg ground missions from the random rotation, removed the exploration clusters and a few other things. None of those comments were even ever moderated.
Don't get me wrong, but it's a bit too easy for people to claim they aren't allowed to share their unhappiness here when there is clear evidence that the opposite is true.
[3/25 10:41][Combat (Self)]Your Haymaker deals 26187 (10692) Physical Damage(Critical) to Orinoco.
These kinds of questions are the natural response in any environment in which one class is permitted to take actions under a system of rules that state that no evidence may be presented against them.
In defense of Cryptic/Mods I must point out that this is not exclusive to their forums. All throughout our culture people are held "hostage" by those who would shoot the messenger rather than acknowledge the message. There is a centuries long history of exactly this kind of behavior and today, well, we're all basically born into it.
George Carlin even wrote a bit on this very topic, though on a MUCH smaller scale. He pointed out that our parents have a list of words that we're not supposed to say, but they never give us the list! We have to find out through trial and error what we can and can't say.
He's correct. Oh, sure, there are the big obvious words and topics we're not supposed to use/discuss. It gets more difficult to navigate, however, when we are also somehow expected to predict how someone else will project their own interpretation onto our words without even bothering to ask for clarification before taking action.
Ultimately all we can do is try to communicate our concerns and hope that they find a receptive ear. You miss 100% of the shots that you don't take, after all...
How so?
You literally said:
That is simply not true. Even if posts critical of Cryptic have been removed in the past (which I won't deny), that's no evidence that we are only allowed to praise Cryptic, the Devs, the community manager or whatever.
[3/25 10:41][Combat (Self)]Your Haymaker deals 26187 (10692) Physical Damage(Critical) to Orinoco.
Alternatively, look at the word 'only' in your statement Valoreah.
It is one thing to complain about removal of posts or threads. It's a giant leap from there to take the position that 'only praise and affirmation' are welcome here.
[3/25 10:41][Combat (Self)]Your Haymaker deals 26187 (10692) Physical Damage(Critical) to Orinoco.
Wait we have a point counter? *gasp*
No. Trendy did not have the Ban Hammer. She had...
I'll have to ask Kael sometime if he inherrited the legendary Ban'leth from Trendy...
However over on another Cryptic product's forum.......sterile is the word I'd use, why? Aside from the various large ban waves (one of which was due to a glitch they didn't patch for six months despite knowing of it since it was introduced), any dissent over there is crushed in short order.
There is a way of complaining that doesn't have a need for calling our lovely hosts "buffoons", though one or two might want to think about not openly declaring us glorified ATMs.
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That's easily fixed. Message kael to let Human resources hire someone named Ruth, regardless of the qualifications.
I suppose I am without a Ruth to speak of. 😞
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