I'm not sure how many times I have to say the same thing, but I really, REALLY don't mind hearing negative comments, criticisms of the game, etc. I really DO mind when those comments and criticisms are not civil or respectful. I don't only want to hear good things, or have my ego stroked. I just want that feedback to be constructive, not bilious.
People keep saying that the forum sigs are a joke, and are meant to affect change. . . but change what? The signatures say nothing of what you want. What they do, is make a cheap jab at the devs. It's clear that you don't like something, but the signatures do nothing to tell me (or anyone) what it is.
You want us to interact like adults? Great! Let's do that. Using our words. In a polite, respectful manner (on BOTH sides).
Making a passive aggressive meme is not helping anything, IMHO.
Edit: The thing with the sigs, is it isn't any one sig that's so terrible I cry myself to sleep at night. It's that the abundance and persistence of them is just grating over time. Like I said, they feel like little jabs at the whole dev team for a single comment most of us had nothing to do with. That is wearing, and after a while, makes me not want to subject myself to it anymore.
Eidt 2: For what it's worth, I'm an ESFP last I checked. . .
Sorry, but the forums are like this beacose we were ignored before. We tryed the "adult talk" and nothing came from it. There are millons of post with good feedback and nothing came from it and we all know that will never came. Not even a "why" just silent.
Like I said, your boss open this pandora box and he is not intresting on close in it. He does not care about feedback and is clear that most STO devs eather.
What they want is to know WHY you are unhappy in detailed statements so that maybe they can take it to the people in charge and show what is up and what needs to be fixed.
Thank you for taking the time to read my post and reply. I'd like to comment on the emphasized portion above if you don't mind.
Our signatures may not have specifics, but our posts do. I can't speak for everyone with a sig pic, but I know I've posted several times over the years as to the specifics of what I find you ALL have done extremely well. I've also posted specifics about things that IMHO you all could be doing much, much better. Of course, I can't squeeze all that into a sig pic. I can put it into forum posts. The words I chose might not always be as sugar coated as some may like, but they are there.
Anyhoo, point taken. I appreciate the acknowledgement that respect goes both ways too. Now if you'll excuse me, I'm off to make a nicer sig pic as a show of good faith. :P
I really don't think that there is or ever was any lack of clear expressions of what people don't or do like. Criticism of DR was very clear from the beginning for example. Lack of true story content, huge xp gaps and so on.
If I may add, and this is not directed at you: Cryptic senior management needs to re-define the intent of these community forums.
I'm used to enterprise-level (no pun intended) forums where civility and professionalism are expected. Obviously, this is a consumer forum -- and gamers tend to be an especially vocal lot, particularly when relatively anonymous. I've had my share of sounding off, although I strive to be more constructive than not.
I'll be blunt: As a player and customer, I'm hugely disappointed how this forum is managed. There is a hands-off approach most of the time. It urks me repeatedly to see actual Cryptic employees go to reddit or Twitter to post -- AND NOT HERE.
This is a major, massive breakdown in communications which a community manager should be tasked with fixing, not avoiding.
Since there's no indicator of Cryptic (or PWE/PWI) changing the forum software, here's what I'd suggest:
* Take every single sticky forum post by Cryptic and RE-DO/RE-POST them. It's time to update or delete.
* Post an open letter to the STO community. RE-DEFINE the forum/give it a missiom statement.
- Start using the forum to make announcements. Not solely on Twitter, Facebook or within the Arcgames client. Use the forum as the starting point. New ship art? Post to the forum. New map for the Foundry? Post to the forum. New ship skin? Post to the forum.
- Start a bi-weekly dev Q&A. Solicit for questions on a specific topic in one thread; aggregate and respond. Conduct a dev livestream to showcase examples, eg. when Borticus reviewed the Intel powers via Priority One Podcasts' YouTube interview post. (THAT should have been a livestream!)
- Post a calendar or monthly announcement in advance about which Dev(s) is participating.
* Start conducting QA (Quality Assurance) testing on Tribble differently! Create a positive process where the feedback is being listened to. Specifically: provide a specific format for submitting Q&A feedback. Cryptic has guidelines around bug report feedback on the forum; do the same for QA.
Example: The Delta Rising QA feedback soliciting was VERY mismanaged. Devs should NOT ask for feedback if they cannot interact or acknowledge the feedback provided. If you aren't getting the kinds of constructive, detailed feedback, then give the community the "tools" (specific submission/feedback ask) -- and follow up!
DO NOT ask for feedback, like Geko's Captain's Table ask, then completely ignore it (lack of any public follow up discussions or acknowledgments).
* Enough of "the forum is hostile, the forum is the gutter of STO, etc." RISE ABOVE IT. Cryptic needs to reclaim their own forum with a better hands-on approach, more active community engagement and RE-DEFINING what the forum should be. Fresh information, more transparency, more interactivity.
Or start cloning Tacofangs because HE GETS IT. And we need more interactivity from Cryptic.
Hmmm...I hope people will recognize that you are serious with that since all the rest of those sigs are sarcastic...?
Christian Gaming Community Fleets--Faith, Fun, and Fellowship! See the website and PM for more. :-) Proudly F2P.Signature image by gulberat. Avatar image by balsavor.deviantart.com.
THe signature is easily interpreted as saying that Delta Rising sucks, a project the entire STO Cryptic team worked on.
It tells every Cryptic member that if he is not very, very careful, the next time it could be a sentence made by him in such a signature.
It still doesn't say what is wrong.
When that sentence quoted in the signature was made, it was made in the context of a lot of other things. That allowed seeing it in that context and not overinterpreting it in any manner.
The signature itself however - they have no context. They are just everywhere.
---
I suppose I should make my own "positive example critique" signature. 2 or 3 things I would like to improve in STO. That's it.
Something like
"Delta Rising: Make Upgrading on Alts easier. Make gaining Specializations on Alts easier. Adjust Advanced Difficulty Queued Mission to be easier achievable."
If everoyne did something like that, it will probably be not offensive at all and instead a constant reminder of your constructive feedback.
Thank you for taking the time to read my post and reply. I'd like to comment on the emphasized portion above if you don't mind.
Our signatures may not have specifics, but our posts do. I can't speak for everyone with a sig pic, but I know I've posted several times over the years as to the specifics of what I find you ALL have done extremely well. I've also posted specifics about things that IMHO you all could be doing much, much better. Of course, I can't squeeze all that into a sig pic. I can put it into forum posts. The words I chose might not always be as sugar coated as some may like, but they are there.
Anyhoo, point taken. I appreciate the acknowledgement that respect goes both ways too. Now if you'll excuse me, I'm off to make a nicer sig pic as a show of good faith. :P
I too have created a new sig to express my feelings about what I think is important at the moment...
STO Member since February 2009. I Was A Trekkie Before It Was Cool ... Sept. 8th, 1966 ... Not To Mention Before Most Folks Around Here Were Born! Forever a STO Veteran-Minion
I meant every word. Hey, Taco takes the time to read and respond when there are a lot of folk who claim the Devs never do. That makes him ok in my book.
You and I get it. I would just hate to see the message get lost in the sarcastic other sigs.
Christian Gaming Community Fleets--Faith, Fun, and Fellowship! See the website and PM for more. :-) Proudly F2P.Signature image by gulberat. Avatar image by balsavor.deviantart.com.
I'm not sure how many times I have to say the same thing, but I really, REALLY don't mind hearing negative comments, criticisms of the game, etc. I really DO mind when those comments and criticisms are not civil or respectful. I don't only want to hear good things, or have my ego stroked. I just want that feedback to be constructive, not bilious.
People keep saying that the forum sigs are a joke, and are meant to affect change. . . but change what? The signatures say nothing of what you want. What they do, is make a cheap jab at the devs. It's clear that you don't like something, but the signatures do nothing to tell me (or anyone) what it is.
You want us to interact like adults? Great! Let's do that. Using our words. In a polite, respectful manner (on BOTH sides).
Making a passive aggressive meme is not helping anything, IMHO.
Edit: The thing with the sigs, is it isn't any one sig that's so terrible I cry myself to sleep at night. It's that the abundance and persistence of them is just grating over time. Like I said, they feel like little jabs at the whole dev team for a single comment most of us had nothing to do with. That is wearing, and after a while, makes me not want to subject myself to it anymore.
Eidt 2: For what it's worth, I'm an ESFP last I checked. . .
Well maybe you wasnt reading the forums at all, since is pretty obvios what got people upset, DELTA RISING. you want more specific? THE GRIND, the DILITHIUM SINK, the BUGS, AND GECKO telling TRIBBLE like best expansion ever when as yourself have said that devs dont even dare to show in the forum because the unrest in player base.
If was best expansion ever, ¿why devs don even want to come to talk in the forums?
If the game is healty and growing ¿why is there so much rant in the forum?
And what can players who give feedback expect from devs if the guy that come here to talk is the artist and not even a dev nor even the comunity manager.
Hmmm...I hope people will recognize that you are serious with that since all the rest of those sigs are sarcastic...?
Well crazy "brain-TRIBBLE" here ... why does everyone assume all of these "previous" Sigs are supposed to be sarcastic ... if there is no "constructive Feedback" about "what's actually wrong" with DR to back it up ??? Sure some Pics are obvious Indicators, but most of them are not ...
This whole meme wouldn't even work, if people didn't specify on what they dislike ....
Patch Notes : Resolved an Issue, where people would accidently experience Fun.
Well, there are some problems, not that great, but there is some... but Taco, i think no one in the forum, as we are almost the same people all the time has any problem with you, quite the contrary, we truly love your work and how you go lengths for us, to answer, and mostly be there for the community.
I don't want to left behind many devs that are always roaming the forums and answering what they can when they can, we all care for you guys and I, personally, think you all are doing a great job.
I meant every word. Hey, Taco takes the time to read and respond when there are a lot of folk who claim the Devs never do. That makes him ok in my book.
True, he also has nothing to do with all the things people criticise. At least I'm not seeing five threads per day about how terrible a tree he designed is. :P
I meant every word. Hey, Taco takes the time to read and respond when there are a lot of folk who claim the Devs never do. That makes him ok in my book.
I know you actually feel what you wrote in that sig but please remove it. It comes across as very sarcastic even to someone who knows what you mean.
Nobody has ever said that the signatures are jabs at the entire team.
My personal sig is a jab at the person or persons who decided to make the Delta Quadrant's patrols pay out waaaaay more XP/SP than patrols in the rest of the game.
If that person wasn't you then I'm not sure why you'd even give it a second's thought.
I think it's the medium that is betraying your intent. By making a sig, which is simply omnipresent in all of your posts, and lacking a direction at any given individual, the message comes across as being directed at everyone.
The sigs are a shotgun, not a scalpel.
The point being, it doesn't matter if you intend for it to be directed at a single individual. If that individual is someone I work with, someone I see on a daily basis, it's hard to not feel the hits, even when they aren't aimed directly at me.
Admittedly, I don't know what the scalpel would be in this case. I just don't feel that the sigs are accomplishing what you might have intended.
As for the signatures...That's kind of like a civil protest in some ways. The line 'Delta Rising is the best expansion...' is the rallying cry, and the signatures are the 'picket signs'.
Sure, I get that, and I don't disagree. However, the signatures are the equivalent of standing outside of the Cryptic office holding signs that say "This sucks!"
. . . uh. . . ok. . . WHAT sucks? Without expounding on the issue you are protesting, it comes across as protesting the everything.
You haven't actually looked at my signature have you?
I have, but your signature isn't simply stating what's wrong, it's implying that the devs are slave masters, and forcing you to do things. Your signature is imbued with emotion. It's dripping with hate, which makes it very easy to dismiss. Yes, it's clear you don't like the grind, nor the metrics, but that is hardly constructive.
Our signatures may not have specifics, but our posts do. I can't speak for everyone with a sig pic, but I know I've posted several times over the years as to the specifics of what I find you ALL have done extremely well. I've also posted specifics about things that IMHO you all could be doing much, much better. Of course, I can't squeeze all that into a sig pic. I can put it into forum posts. The words I chose might not always be as sugar coated as some may like, but they are there.
Sure, but if that's the case, didn't you just admit that the sig pic was essentially just noise? The sig did nothing to raise the issues you talk about in your posts, and does nothing to attract positive attention to said posts. . . so. . . how is that sig helping get your point across again?
What should be done to reverse the trend is that the moderators should actually enforce the forum rules and not tolerate the personal attacks on employees and remove those posters, including those using the sig, they obviously are unable to interact in adult society and should be removed from it.
1. We do enforce the forum rules, but not every post is reported to us and we obviously can't read every single post because, well, we're not paid to do it and we have personal lives outside the forums. We want a report post or ignore troll feature as much or more as you guys do.
2. We do not tolerate personal attacks on employees and we moderate those posts when we find them. However, as noted, we have to be careful not to squelch legitimate criticism. If it's blatant flaming, they get moderated. Insulting or threatening Geko, for example, since that seems to be one common thread. But that's not the same as stating an opinion that Geko makes questionable design choices, however informed that opinion may or may not be. If Geko takes responsibility for a design and players don't like it, they're still free to state that they don't like it.
3. Mods can remove the posts but not the posters. Only a PWE employee can issue an infraction and it usually takes 3-4 infractions before they get a perma-ban. They don't start issuing infractions unless a person does something really awful or they demonstrate a history of disregard for the rules. That policy hasn't changed in, well, forever.
4. Mods can't touch a forum user's profile, which is where the sig lives. So if we find a bad sig, all we can do is report it and let PWE handle it. This is as it should be. You want a non-PWE employee mucking with your forum profile?
5. It's harder to identify who and who does not need to be removed than you might think. Someone with the poor decision-making abilities to post stuff that's blatantly against the rules is not the main problem. I'm not so sure there even is one main problem.
A prevailing attitude of "I have a right to publicly state my opinions as fact, but your opinions are stupid so shut up" is a big one. Not everyone suffers from that malady, but there's enough of it going around.
My views may not represent those of Cryptic Studios or Perfect World Entertainment. You can file a "forums and website" support ticket here Link: How to PM - Twitter @STOMod_Bluegeek
I can develop the game just fine without visiting the forums.
I disagree.
Or alteast, I think you can develop the game better if you do visit the forums than you could otherwise. I think that applies doubly to those on the system teams. That comment, that perspective, is at the core of the problem.
As is perhaps taking single lines of text out of context. However some things are strict 'do not do that' when communicating with customers. A statement like that comes across as extremely condescending and dismissive even if not intended as such.
I'm not sure how many times I have to say the same thing, but I really, REALLY don't mind hearing negative comments, criticisms of the game, etc. I really DO mind when those comments and criticisms are not civil or respectful. I don't only want to hear good things, or have my ego stroked. I just want that feedback to be constructive, not bilious.
People keep saying that the forum sigs are a joke, and are meant to affect change. . . but change what? The signatures say nothing of what you want. What they do, is make a cheap jab at the devs. It's clear that you don't like something, but the signatures do nothing to tell me (or anyone) what it is.
You want us to interact like adults? Great! Let's do that. Using our words. In a polite, respectful manner (on BOTH sides).
Making a passive aggressive meme is not helping anything, IMHO.
Edit: The thing with the sigs, is it isn't any one sig that's so terrible I cry myself to sleep at night. It's that the abundance and persistence of them is just grating over time. Like I said, they feel like little jabs at the whole dev team for a single comment most of us had nothing to do with. That is wearing, and after a while, makes me not want to subject myself to it anymore.
Eidt 2: For what it's worth, I'm an ESFP last I checked. . .
I get what you're saying Taco; but honestly after hearing one of your Leads (Al Rivera - aka Captain Gekko) state the forums are mostly complaints made by players who hate change; and he often just has a game where he counts "how many posts 'til Hitler" <--- His words; you have a lead basically saying that he doesn't find Forum feedback of any use.
Given that, why would you expect anyone to discuss anything here when one of the Leads who signs off decisions just browses for Godwin'd threads/posts.
Maybe if D'Angelo or Gekko tried ways to solicit info from the players without often dismissing feedback in that manner you would get the occasional nugget of an actual discussion and not just outrage.
Hell, the last few developer blogs on the STO/Arc newsite didn't have the somewhat previously customary link entitled "discuss this on the forums" linking to an official forum thread; so it seems maybe the higher ups have decided they don't want to look at the forums any longer.
I understand in the end, it IS all about cashflow/profit, etc. as PWE IS a business; but the sudden shift to an attitude 'monetization first, fun gameplay if possible" is really starting to wear thin for a lot of players, myself included. And that's the direction I feel STO has been taking since season 8.5.
Formerly known as Armsman from June 2008 to June 20, 2012 PWE ARC Drone says: "Your STO forum community as you have known it is ended...Display names are irrelevant...Any further sense of community is irrelevant...Resistance is futile...You will be assimilated..."
. . . uh. . . ok. . . WHAT sucks? Without expounding on the issue you are protesting, it comes across as protesting the everything.
There are millions of post about that and not a single one of them even got an answerd, but the contrary, each step cryptic has made, was the contrary that we asked for.
So, plz, dont give us the "we need better feedback" beacose we went that road and yet, nothing ever has came, not even a "thank you".
Dont get me wrong, I like you. You are a good dev and it seems that also a good guy, but the company that you work, is not inocent here, in fact, they started this.
Comments
Sorry, but the forums are like this beacose we were ignored before. We tryed the "adult talk" and nothing came from it. There are millons of post with good feedback and nothing came from it and we all know that will never came. Not even a "why" just silent.
Like I said, your boss open this pandora box and he is not intresting on close in it. He does not care about feedback and is clear that most STO devs eather.
[SIGPIC][/SIGPIC]
Then they should actually say that or ask that.
Tell me, is that question anywhere in a dev post in the last actual interaction done in an official manner with the forums here: http://sto-forum.perfectworld.com/showthread.php?t=1330751
No, it is not. Compare and contrast the approach taken with that thread to the one in this thread: http://sto-forum.perfectworld.com/showthread.php?t=1188601
Man I actually miss the Hawk although I think he is in a better place.
And that guy is not longer in STO.. lol
[SIGPIC][/SIGPIC]
Right now that survey felt like a easy way to gather up posters and ban them.
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2) Even your signature doesn't actually tell anyone what you want. It's just a sarcastic remark.
LOL.. and here it cames "you dont like something of the game, then leave.. your feedback is not welcome" coment.. lol..
Lame and low.
[SIGPIC][/SIGPIC]
I really don't think that there is or ever was any lack of clear expressions of what people don't or do like. Criticism of DR was very clear from the beginning for example. Lack of true story content, huge xp gaps and so on.
Where did I say that I don't want to play STO?
If I may add, and this is not directed at you:
Cryptic senior management needs to re-define the intent of these community forums.
I'm used to enterprise-level (no pun intended) forums where civility and professionalism are expected. Obviously, this is a consumer forum -- and gamers tend to be an especially vocal lot, particularly when relatively anonymous. I've had my share of sounding off, although I strive to be more constructive than not.
I'll be blunt: As a player and customer, I'm hugely disappointed how this forum is managed. There is a hands-off approach most of the time. It urks me repeatedly to see actual Cryptic employees go to reddit or Twitter to post -- AND NOT HERE.
This is a major, massive breakdown in communications which a community manager should be tasked with fixing, not avoiding.
Since there's no indicator of Cryptic (or PWE/PWI) changing the forum software, here's what I'd suggest:
* Take every single sticky forum post by Cryptic and RE-DO/RE-POST them. It's time to update or delete.
* Post an open letter to the STO community. RE-DEFINE the forum/give it a missiom statement.
- Start using the forum to make announcements. Not solely on Twitter, Facebook or within the Arcgames client. Use the forum as the starting point. New ship art? Post to the forum. New map for the Foundry? Post to the forum. New ship skin? Post to the forum.
- Start a bi-weekly dev Q&A. Solicit for questions on a specific topic in one thread; aggregate and respond. Conduct a dev livestream to showcase examples, eg. when Borticus reviewed the Intel powers via Priority One Podcasts' YouTube interview post. (THAT should have been a livestream!)
- Post a calendar or monthly announcement in advance about which Dev(s) is participating.
* Start conducting QA (Quality Assurance) testing on Tribble differently! Create a positive process where the feedback is being listened to. Specifically: provide a specific format for submitting Q&A feedback. Cryptic has guidelines around bug report feedback on the forum; do the same for QA.
Example: The Delta Rising QA feedback soliciting was VERY mismanaged. Devs should NOT ask for feedback if they cannot interact or acknowledge the feedback provided. If you aren't getting the kinds of constructive, detailed feedback, then give the community the "tools" (specific submission/feedback ask) -- and follow up!
DO NOT ask for feedback, like Geko's Captain's Table ask, then completely ignore it (lack of any public follow up discussions or acknowledgments).
* Enough of "the forum is hostile, the forum is the gutter of STO, etc." RISE ABOVE IT. Cryptic needs to reclaim their own forum with a better hands-on approach, more active community engagement and RE-DEFINING what the forum should be. Fresh information, more transparency, more interactivity.
Or start cloning Tacofangs because HE GETS IT. And we need more interactivity from Cryptic.
Christian Gaming Community Fleets--Faith, Fun, and Fellowship! See the website and PM for more. :-)
Proudly F2P. Signature image by gulberat. Avatar image by balsavor.deviantart.com.
I too have created a new sig to express my feelings about what I think is important at the moment...
I Was A Trekkie Before It Was Cool ... Sept. 8th, 1966 ... Not To Mention Before Most Folks Around Here Were Born!
Forever a STO Veteran-Minion
You and I get it. I would just hate to see the message get lost in the sarcastic other sigs.
Christian Gaming Community Fleets--Faith, Fun, and Fellowship! See the website and PM for more. :-)
Proudly F2P. Signature image by gulberat. Avatar image by balsavor.deviantart.com.
Well maybe you wasnt reading the forums at all, since is pretty obvios what got people upset, DELTA RISING. you want more specific? THE GRIND, the DILITHIUM SINK, the BUGS, AND GECKO telling TRIBBLE like best expansion ever when as yourself have said that devs dont even dare to show in the forum because the unrest in player base.
If was best expansion ever, ¿why devs don even want to come to talk in the forums?
If the game is healty and growing ¿why is there so much rant in the forum?
And what can players who give feedback expect from devs if the guy that come here to talk is the artist and not even a dev nor even the comunity manager.
GG Cryptic.
dnirg eht nioj
Well crazy "brain-TRIBBLE" here ... why does everyone assume all of these "previous" Sigs are supposed to be sarcastic ... if there is no "constructive Feedback" about "what's actually wrong" with DR to back it up ??? Sure some Pics are obvious Indicators, but most of them are not ...
This whole meme wouldn't even work, if people didn't specify on what they dislike ....
I don't want to left behind many devs that are always roaming the forums and answering what they can when they can, we all care for you guys and I, personally, think you all are doing a great job.
True, he also has nothing to do with all the things people criticise. At least I'm not seeing five threads per day about how terrible a tree he designed is. :P
I know you actually feel what you wrote in that sig but please remove it. It comes across as very sarcastic even to someone who knows what you mean.
I think it's the medium that is betraying your intent. By making a sig, which is simply omnipresent in all of your posts, and lacking a direction at any given individual, the message comes across as being directed at everyone.
The sigs are a shotgun, not a scalpel.
The point being, it doesn't matter if you intend for it to be directed at a single individual. If that individual is someone I work with, someone I see on a daily basis, it's hard to not feel the hits, even when they aren't aimed directly at me.
Admittedly, I don't know what the scalpel would be in this case. I just don't feel that the sigs are accomplishing what you might have intended.
Sure, I get that, and I don't disagree. However, the signatures are the equivalent of standing outside of the Cryptic office holding signs that say "This sucks!"
. . . uh. . . ok. . . WHAT sucks? Without expounding on the issue you are protesting, it comes across as protesting the everything.
Precisely.
I have, but your signature isn't simply stating what's wrong, it's implying that the devs are slave masters, and forcing you to do things. Your signature is imbued with emotion. It's dripping with hate, which makes it very easy to dismiss. Yes, it's clear you don't like the grind, nor the metrics, but that is hardly constructive.
Precisely.
I can develop the game just fine without visiting the forums.
Sure, but if that's the case, didn't you just admit that the sig pic was essentially just noise? The sig did nothing to raise the issues you talk about in your posts, and does nothing to attract positive attention to said posts. . . so. . . how is that sig helping get your point across again?
Funny, cuz that's essentially what BetaBorg just told me . . .
1. We do enforce the forum rules, but not every post is reported to us and we obviously can't read every single post because, well, we're not paid to do it and we have personal lives outside the forums. We want a report post or ignore troll feature as much or more as you guys do.
2. We do not tolerate personal attacks on employees and we moderate those posts when we find them. However, as noted, we have to be careful not to squelch legitimate criticism. If it's blatant flaming, they get moderated. Insulting or threatening Geko, for example, since that seems to be one common thread. But that's not the same as stating an opinion that Geko makes questionable design choices, however informed that opinion may or may not be. If Geko takes responsibility for a design and players don't like it, they're still free to state that they don't like it.
3. Mods can remove the posts but not the posters. Only a PWE employee can issue an infraction and it usually takes 3-4 infractions before they get a perma-ban. They don't start issuing infractions unless a person does something really awful or they demonstrate a history of disregard for the rules. That policy hasn't changed in, well, forever.
4. Mods can't touch a forum user's profile, which is where the sig lives. So if we find a bad sig, all we can do is report it and let PWE handle it. This is as it should be. You want a non-PWE employee mucking with your forum profile?
5. It's harder to identify who and who does not need to be removed than you might think. Someone with the poor decision-making abilities to post stuff that's blatantly against the rules is not the main problem. I'm not so sure there even is one main problem.
A prevailing attitude of "I have a right to publicly state my opinions as fact, but your opinions are stupid so shut up" is a big one. Not everyone suffers from that malady, but there's enough of it going around.
Link: How to PM - Twitter @STOMod_Bluegeek
I disagree.
Or alteast, I think you can develop the game better if you do visit the forums than you could otherwise. I think that applies doubly to those on the system teams. That comment, that perspective, is at the core of the problem.
As is perhaps taking single lines of text out of context. However some things are strict 'do not do that' when communicating with customers. A statement like that comes across as extremely condescending and dismissive even if not intended as such.
I get what you're saying Taco; but honestly after hearing one of your Leads (Al Rivera - aka Captain Gekko) state the forums are mostly complaints made by players who hate change; and he often just has a game where he counts "how many posts 'til Hitler" <--- His words; you have a lead basically saying that he doesn't find Forum feedback of any use.
Given that, why would you expect anyone to discuss anything here when one of the Leads who signs off decisions just browses for Godwin'd threads/posts.
Maybe if D'Angelo or Gekko tried ways to solicit info from the players without often dismissing feedback in that manner you would get the occasional nugget of an actual discussion and not just outrage.
Hell, the last few developer blogs on the STO/Arc newsite didn't have the somewhat previously customary link entitled "discuss this on the forums" linking to an official forum thread; so it seems maybe the higher ups have decided they don't want to look at the forums any longer.
I understand in the end, it IS all about cashflow/profit, etc. as PWE IS a business; but the sudden shift to an attitude 'monetization first, fun gameplay if possible" is really starting to wear thin for a lot of players, myself included. And that's the direction I feel STO has been taking since season 8.5.
PWE ARC Drone says: "Your STO forum community as you have known it is ended...Display names are irrelevant...Any further sense of community is irrelevant...Resistance is futile...You will be assimilated..."
There are millions of post about that and not a single one of them even got an answerd, but the contrary, each step cryptic has made, was the contrary that we asked for.
So, plz, dont give us the "we need better feedback" beacose we went that road and yet, nothing ever has came, not even a "thank you".
Dont get me wrong, I like you. You are a good dev and it seems that also a good guy, but the company that you work, is not inocent here, in fact, they started this.
[SIGPIC][/SIGPIC]