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Why are these forums up?

ungratefuldead88ungratefuldead88 Member Posts: 36 Arc User
I'm really surprised Cryptic hasn't shut these official forums down. Anybody who thought to check them before downloading the game would find easily 95% negativity (rather than the typical 75% for any game) and would also get the impression there were even more than the sizeable number of bugs that there are due to the huge number of duplicate threads that pop up due to the lack of response.

Obviously the ideal solution would be active community managers and prompt developer communication, but failing that it's spectacularly poor business that I'm not looking at a "Technical Difficulties" page right now. Somebody is asleep at the wheel big time.
Post edited by ungratefuldead88 on
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  • catjarrettcatjarrett Member Posts: 285 Arc User
    edited October 2014
    I'm really surprised Cryptic hasn't shut these official forums down. Anybody who thought to check them before downloading the game would find easily 95% negativity (rather than the typical 75% for any game) and would also get the impression there were even more than the sizeable number of bugs that there are due to the huge number of duplicate threads that pop up due to the lack of response.

    Obviously the ideal solution would be active community managers and prompt developer communication, but failing that it's spectacularly poor business that I'm not looking at a "Technical Difficulties" page right now.

    You think...they read these forums?

    I used to think that, too.
  • ungratefuldead88ungratefuldead88 Member Posts: 36 Arc User
    edited October 2014
    catjarrett wrote: »
    You think...they read these forums?

    I used to think that, too.
    That's my point though - a neglected forum full of unhappy players is a lot worse than no forum at all. Why are they paying daily hosting fees to actively hurt their reputation? That's not "greed" (as game companies are, usually naively, accused so often of), that's incompetence.
  • tekehdtekehd Member Posts: 2,032 Arc User
    edited October 2014
    I'm really surprised Cryptic hasn't shut these official forums down. Anybody who thought to check them before downloading the game would find easily 95% negativity (rather than the typical 75% for any game) and would also get the impression there were even more than the sizeable number of bugs that there are due to the huge number of duplicate threads that pop up due to the lack of response.

    Obviously the ideal solution would be active community managers and prompt developer communication, but failing that it's spectacularly poor business that I'm not looking at a "Technical Difficulties" page right now. Somebody is asleep at the wheel big time.

    It's so cute how you think most people would read things before starting on stuff.
  • catjarrettcatjarrett Member Posts: 285 Arc User
    edited October 2014
    That's my point though - a neglected forum full of unhappy players is a lot worse than no forum at all. Why are they paying daily hosting fees to actively hurt their reputation? That's not "greed" (as game companies are, usually naively, accused so often of), that's incompetence.

    Like I said, because they're not paying attention. It's become blindingly obvious they have no concept of how important forums are to the gaming community, and how informed players use them to gauge new game possibilities.

    You hit the nail on the head. It's incompetence.

    If they were competent, the community team would have been ALL OVER these forums since DR launched, smoothing ruffled feathers, letting the base know they were being heard, addressing issues that have fixes. That's normal. That's what gaming companies are supposed to do. The forums are the company's face to their player base.

    Cryptic/PWE is apparently Slenderman.

    All we've had are crickets briefly interrupted by the occasional inflammatory news announcement or seemingly ill-prioritized bug response. Duplicate threads are not being closed. Potential flame threads are not being monitored. That's just...not right.
  • cmdrscarletcmdrscarlet Member Posts: 5,137 Arc User
    edited October 2014
    Find a game where the official forums are not lit up with hate to either the game or the posters.

    Man, you would think the EVE Online forum were only for sociopaths, trolls and douchebags. It was a rare nugget to find a helpful reply. But that's an opinion.

    As for STO, the hate is largely focused (in my humble opinion) in this subforum. Don't get me wrong, it's all over, but his place is soaked in it. Look in the shipyards or Academy and there is A LOT of friendly advice. Ten Forward is full of fun, from a certain point of view.

    I guess, it's all relative. I mean, I read up the forums and I still joined. Why? Because the forums is not the game, which itself is the only Star Trek game in town (for now).

    :)
  • rswfiredotcomrswfiredotcom Member Posts: 262 Arc User
    edited October 2014
    That's my point though - a neglected forum full of unhappy players is a lot worse than no forum at all. Why are they paying daily hosting fees to actively hurt their reputation? That's not "greed" (as game companies are, usually naively, accused so often of), that's incompetence.

    Clearly, they're not a very competent company. You expected something else?
  • khan5000khan5000 Member Posts: 3,008 Arc User
    edited October 2014
    It's because the main community manager, smirk, is on vacation. I'm not sure what Trendy does but she's not here as much as he is. If I remember correctly the actual board mod is not on as much dealing with personal issues....so it's a case of when the cat is away the mice will play.
    Your pain runs deep.
    Let us explore it... together. Each man hides a secret pain. It must be exposed and reckoned with. It must be dragged from the darkness and forced into the light. Share your pain. Share your pain with me... and gain strength from the sharing.
  • rswfiredotcomrswfiredotcom Member Posts: 262 Arc User
    edited October 2014
    khan5000 wrote: »
    It's because the main community manager, smirk, is on vacation. I'm not sure what Trendy does but she's not here as much as he is. If I remember correctly the actual board mod is not on as much dealing with personal issues....so it's a case of when the cat is away the mice will play.

    The timing of his vacation is awfully suspicious, don't you think?
  • catjarrettcatjarrett Member Posts: 285 Arc User
    edited October 2014
    The timing of his vacation is awfully suspicious, don't you think?

    The fact that he did take vacation around the time of a major expansion expected to be rife with bugs (most MMO expansions and major updates are, that's not yet another shot across their bow, it's the nature of the beast) made me seriously raise an eyebrow.

    I'm hoping it IS an actual vacation, though, and not some sort of family emergency or something bad.
  • anazondaanazonda Member Posts: 8,399 Arc User
    edited October 2014
    98% of all people I asked think that only 10% of the forum users are representative of the players, while 50% believe that the forums are actually western users.

    See..? I can make up numbers too.
    Don't look silly... Don't call it the "Z-Store/Zen Store"...
    Let me put the rumors to rest: it's definitely still the C-Store (Cryptic Store) It just takes ZEN.
    Like Duty Officers? Support effords to gather ideas
  • khan5000khan5000 Member Posts: 3,008 Arc User
    edited October 2014
    Find a game where the official forums are not lit up with hate to either the game or the posters.

    Man, you would think the EVE Online forum were only for sociopaths, trolls and douchebags. It was a rare nugget to find a helpful reply. But that's an opinion.

    As for STO, the hate is largely focused (in my humble opinion) in this subforum. Don't get me wrong, it's all over, but his place is soaked in it. Look in the shipyards or Academy and there is A LOT of friendly advice. Ten Forward is full of fun, from a certain point of view.

    I guess, it's all relative. I mean, I read up the forums and I still joined. Why? Because the forums is not the game, which itself is the only Star Trek game in town (for now).

    :)

    Yeah the boards is not the game population...I was in the Delta Quadrant yesterday and someone brought up a boycott and was promptly talked down from the edge by a few players.
    People with no issues with the game aren't on the boards....they're playing.
    Your pain runs deep.
    Let us explore it... together. Each man hides a secret pain. It must be exposed and reckoned with. It must be dragged from the darkness and forced into the light. Share your pain. Share your pain with me... and gain strength from the sharing.
  • thutmosis85thutmosis85 Member Posts: 2,358 Arc User
    edited October 2014
    khan5000 wrote: »
    It's because the main community manager, smirk, is on vacation.

    "Community Managers" are "on vacation" since Branflakes left ... all that's left are Scapegoats using "Copy & Paste" ...
    Patch Notes : Resolved an Issue, where people would accidently experience Fun.
  • rswfiredotcomrswfiredotcom Member Posts: 262 Arc User
    edited October 2014
    catjarrett wrote: »
    The fact that he did take vacation around the time of a major expansion expected to be rife with bugs (most MMO expansions and major updates are, that's not yet another shot across their bow, it's the nature of the beast) made me seriously raise an eyebrow.

    I'm hoping it IS an actual vacation, though, and not some sort of family emergency or something bad.

    Yeah, that's what I mean. He couldn't have known about the things that happened these past few days, but to take a vacation right when an expansion is being released is just very odd timing. I had not considered personal matters; agreed, hope that all is well.
  • smokeybacon90smokeybacon90 Member Posts: 2,252 Arc User
    edited October 2014
    khan5000 wrote: »
    It's because the main community manager, smirk, is on vacation. I'm not sure what Trendy does but she's not here as much as he is. If I remember correctly the actual board mod is not on as much dealing with personal issues....so it's a case of when the cat is away the mice will play.

    Trendy is a Community Management Specialist for all PWE games and probably has a busy enough time already with Champions and Neverwinter.
    EnYn9p9.jpg
  • rswfiredotcomrswfiredotcom Member Posts: 262 Arc User
    edited October 2014
    Man, you would think the EVE Online forum were only for sociopaths, trolls and douchebags. It was a rare nugget to find a helpful reply. But that's an opinion.

    The EVE forums are made up of only trolls and sociopaths...as is the game itself...but they are a riot to play with!
  • rswfiredotcomrswfiredotcom Member Posts: 262 Arc User
    edited October 2014
    Trendy is a Community Management Specialist for all PWE games and probably has a busy enough time already with Champions and Neverwinter.

    They should probably hire more people, then. Expansions are a big deal -- especially in STO given their rarity. No fanfare? Odd, I say. Something is amiss...
  • khan5000khan5000 Member Posts: 3,008 Arc User
    edited October 2014
    The timing of his vacation is awfully suspicious, don't you think?

    Not really....when I was in the Navy we were given leave before and after deployment. Looking at Cryptic the same way...these guys probably have been working extra hours, nights and weekends on DR (yeah sure it's bugged but they still put in the work). I imagine at the end of working hard like that a few people were granted vacations to unplug.
    Your pain runs deep.
    Let us explore it... together. Each man hides a secret pain. It must be exposed and reckoned with. It must be dragged from the darkness and forced into the light. Share your pain. Share your pain with me... and gain strength from the sharing.
  • khan5000khan5000 Member Posts: 3,008 Arc User
    edited October 2014
    They should probably hire more people, then. Expansions are a big deal -- especially in STO given their rarity. No fanfare? Odd, I say. Something is amiss...

    From what I understand they are a small company.
    Your pain runs deep.
    Let us explore it... together. Each man hides a secret pain. It must be exposed and reckoned with. It must be dragged from the darkness and forced into the light. Share your pain. Share your pain with me... and gain strength from the sharing.
  • rswfiredotcomrswfiredotcom Member Posts: 262 Arc User
    edited October 2014
    khan5000 wrote: »
    Not really....when I was in the Navy we were given leave before and after deployment. Looking at Cryptic the same way...these guys probably have been working extra hours, nights and weekends on DR (yeah sure it's bugged but they still put in the work). I imagine at the end of working hard like that a few people were granted vacations to unplug.

    I've been programming all of my life so I understand.

    I doubt the forum moderator has a very difficult job. Unless he does other things...?

    It is odd. It is silly to say otherwise. It is at least odd that no one is here. They have lost complete control of the narrative and upset many people and their silence only makes it worse. They are a business that seems to make a lot of bad decisions.
  • knockyknocky Member Posts: 0 Arc User
    edited October 2014
    tekehd wrote: »
    It's so cute how you think most people would read things before starting on stuff.

    I just looked at teh hunter's forums over at WoW to see if it was worth going back.

    Sadly it does not appear to be.

    Guess it is back to Star trek Armada 3 for me till next Tue.
    [SIGPIC][/SIGPIC]
  • khan5000khan5000 Member Posts: 3,008 Arc User
    edited October 2014
    I've been programming all of my life so I understand.

    I doubt the forum moderator has a very difficult job. Unless he does other things...?

    It is odd. It is silly to say otherwise. It is at least odd that no one is here. They have lost complete control of the narrative and upset many people and their silence only makes it worse. They are a business that seems to make a lot of bad decisions.

    If he can't take a vacation because the company is busy..when will he?
    "You can't take a vacation now because we need you to put out all the pre-DR info."
    " You can't take a vacation now because DR just came out?"
    "You can't take a vacation because the winter event is about to start"
    "You can't take a vacation now because the winter event started"

    I just think a perfect storm happened where a bunch of non connected thing happened and the boards are on fire.
    I'm more troubled by the actual board mod not having been around in a while
    Your pain runs deep.
    Let us explore it... together. Each man hides a secret pain. It must be exposed and reckoned with. It must be dragged from the darkness and forced into the light. Share your pain. Share your pain with me... and gain strength from the sharing.
  • rswfiredotcomrswfiredotcom Member Posts: 262 Arc User
    edited October 2014
    khan5000 wrote: »
    If he can't take a vacation because the company is busy..when will he?
    "You can't take a vacation now because we need you to put out all the pre-DR info."
    " You can't take a vacation now because DR just came out?"
    "You can't take a vacation because the winter event is about to start"
    "You can't take a vacation now because the winter event started"

    I just think a perfect storm happened where a bunch of non connected thing happened and the boards are on fire.
    I'm more troubled by the actual board mod not having been around in a while

    This is why I said they should hire someone. If one person cannot do the job, they need to hire another. They can afford it, despite what anyone says.
  • ungratefuldead88ungratefuldead88 Member Posts: 36 Arc User
    edited October 2014
    I've got no problem with a guy being on vacation - he's a person just like anybody else, he needs to relax - but that's still a big oversight not to have somebody filling in for him. I mean, community manager isn't even a technical position, you could literally hire a temporary fill-in off the street and it would have made a pretty huge difference as far as having somebody around to close duplicate threads, etc.

    I'm also receptive to the idea that forum denizens are by far the most negative of the players (I even made that point in the original post!) but this goes beyond that. It's not just the sky is falling players who threaten to leave every time anything changes that are blowing their tops, a lot of the positive players who are usually talking down and/or mocking the former have been walking away or considering it. It's just bumming me out, I haven't actually lost anything (I was only 54, I mostly level with DOFFing) and have been enjoying the game but I'm seeing a lot of really respected community members taking this pretty hard. I snicker like anybody else when I see the 14-year-olds with the "I WILL SUE YOU" nonsense but when I see people who've written a dozen ship build guides who seem genuinely saddened, not angry but saddened as the game pushes them away, that tells me it's a pretty big deal.
  • tekehdtekehd Member Posts: 2,032 Arc User
    edited October 2014
    I've been programming all of my life so I understand.

    I doubt the forum moderator has a very difficult job. Unless he does other things...?

    It is odd. It is silly to say otherwise. It is at least odd that no one is here. They have lost complete control of the narrative and upset many people and their silence only makes it worse. They are a business that seems to make a lot of bad decisions.

    Smirk is not a forum moderator.... he's a community manager.......management of the forum and managing community moderators is just a small portion of that. He's community manager for PWE, so STO's forum isn't the only one he manages. He also coordinates and plans community activities for players in the various games as well, he's responsible for website content for all the games, marketing of screenshots and its content for distribution, as well as manages all of PWE titles social media presence..... and this is just the community facing elements..... He also has to build reports for presentation to upper management on these things on a regular basis, coordinate with marketing on releases, coordinate with legal on content.... and he's doing this for all Perfect World titles.
  • khan5000khan5000 Member Posts: 3,008 Arc User
    edited October 2014
    tekehd wrote: »
    Smirk is not a forum moderator.... he's a community manager.......management of the forum and managing community moderators is just a small portion of that. He's community manager for PWE, so STO's forum isn't the only one he manages. He also coordinates and plans community activities for players in the various games as well, he's responsible for website content for all the games, marketing of screenshots and its content for distribution, as well as manages all of PWE titles social media presence..... and this is just the community facing elements..... He also has to build reports for presentation to upper management on these things on a regular basis, coordinate with marketing on releases, coordinate with legal on content.... and he's doing this for all Perfect World titles.

    The forum mod is Blue Geek and I believe he's dealing with a family emergency
    Your pain runs deep.
    Let us explore it... together. Each man hides a secret pain. It must be exposed and reckoned with. It must be dragged from the darkness and forced into the light. Share your pain. Share your pain with me... and gain strength from the sharing.
  • bobbydazlersbobbydazlers Member Posts: 4,534 Arc User
    edited October 2014
    even if these forums were not available players could still use many of the alternative sto forums that are knocking about.

    at least with their own forum they can somtimes keep an eye on the chatter, even if they dont respond they do occationally take note, one instace of the devs responding to players gripes is the recent introduction of the disco ball killer or Subspace Party Nullifier as its technically called.

    When I think about everything we've been through together,

    maybe it's not the destination that matters, maybe it's the journey,

     and if that journey takes a little longer,

    so we can do something we all believe in,

     I can't think of any place I'd rather be or any people I'd rather be with.

  • rswfiredotcomrswfiredotcom Member Posts: 262 Arc User
    edited October 2014
    even if these forums were not available players could still use many of the alternative sto forums that are knocking about.

    at least with their own forum they can somtimes keep an eye on the chatter, even if they dont respond they do occationally take note, one instace of the devs responding to players gripes is the recent introduction of the disco ball killer or Subspace Party Nullifier as its technically called.

    They had a device that could kill those stupid disco balls from going off in the exchange area of ESD? Man, I would have stocked up on those!
  • rimmarierimmarie Member Posts: 418 Arc User
    edited October 2014
    The forum Mod is Blue Geek (although I think his official title is 'Community Moderator')

    And last I recall, you are allowed to complain all you want as long you don't break the forum rules

    I'm sure he is watching all the time, its just no one is breaking any rules...yet

    start a petition or make a 'I quit' thread. I guarantee he will show up ;)

    As it was stated before, most of the poor behavior is in General Discussion. The rest of the forums are fairly civil.
  • rswfiredotcomrswfiredotcom Member Posts: 262 Arc User
    edited October 2014
    Just how many people do you think it takes to ignore the stuff that goes on here?

    That made me laugh...because it's so true. Sad but true.
  • mavfinmavfin Member Posts: 48 Arc User
    edited October 2014
    I don't think an MMO forum exists that isn't filled with hate for the game.

    It's simple: the haters post in the forums about everything they don't like, and the happy people are too busy playing the game to bother posting about how happy they are. I'm just reading forums while I wait for patrols to load. :P
This discussion has been closed.