The dangers of contributing in the "Discussion" thread

[Cdr Voorheez]

I've been away from the game and the community for some time now due to work commitments and thought a sensible reintroduction would be through the dangerous discussion thread. How wrong I was. The community is clearly upset and at a bit of an impasse at the minute. Even Obsidian Ant's words of wisdom in his posted YouTube message on the state of ED has been met with mixed responses. what the heck is going on?
I'm going to stay here where it is safe and friendly and hope that the bad man at the door with the axe will go away if i put my head under the pillow.

 

[[VR] optimal_909]

The usual stuff, I don't think it's got worse. I was checking those threads lately mainly because of story-related stuff and I'm still making the mistake of opening some of the toxic ones from time-to-time. There was a story related event you may have heard about - Drew Wagar organised it to provide a setting for his upcoming book. And guess what happened - he was abused and trolled to no end that he has rigged the event. To such an extent, that he is now not visible on the forums and he is reconsidering his future involvement.
This isn't an issue with the game, some people are crazy or battling with real-life issues and venting off here - where else, than on a gaming forum where the abused side (developer) is not supposed to strike back.

Sure, some criticism is justified, but I don't blame FDev for not hinting on anything when there is an army of angry, frustrated people areound.

I think OA is also clickbaiting a bit with such videos. How can he completely disregard Elite's launch on PS4 as if it were nothing?

 

[Cdr Voorheez]

I'm just staying out of it. I play ED and visit these forums to chill not to get "negged out" Time to get lost in the creepiest deepest black i think.

 

[Diostar50]

you only need look at the Formindine rift thread to see how bad things are now. thread used to be the best thread on general discussion with friendly chat. but 4 or 5 regular posters have turned it into toxic place with constant saltiness toward cor and drew. disgraceful behavior. I don't blame him for not posting there anymore. General discussion has always been full of entitled special snowflakes, but last few months have been worst ever.

 

[bookmite]

And we have a whole new raft of corvette kids about to hit the game...politeness and common decency costs nothing, why do they insist on acting like a phyallic symbol of immaturity

I've stuck my head in many a thread and just not risen to the bait...life's too short for that shaz , leave them to wallow in their own toxicity, I prefer the newcomers section for general stuff , at least you don't get eaten alive in there .

Fly safe Cmdrs o7

 

[Cdr Voorheez]

Wise words. May stellar winds bless your sails o7

 

[Minoo Minou]

The "community"? What a joke. Classic gaming forum content, mostly childish behavior.

 

[varonica]

The "community"? What a joke. Classic gaming forum content, mostly childish behavior.

That's the problem though, the "general" thread is not a community thread, it's a reflection of the real world, and we all know exactly what that's like. This forum is a community forum, the sub-threads such as the geyser and fumarole thread where I spend most of my time is just a small community discussing something they enjoy doing. Specific targeted sub-forums are where the community is best, the large general game threads are just not very nice places and should be avoided. People who aren't nice should be restricted in where they can post, so they can still be heard and discuss stuff, but not destroy what other people are enjoying.

 

[Straha Yeagar]

The general discussion sub forum has always been a pretty rough place, but there is indeed a different tone since 2.3 and everything surrounding it. Longtime players and posters, ones who have traditionally been quiet, or defended different things in the game, who have been largely objective and level headed have begun to make some very salient points about the confidence level of the broader community with regards to Frontier and the future of Elite Dangerous. It is very hard to hear through all the normal noise, but it is there.

 

[-VR- pipestein]

The general discussion sub forum has always been a pretty rough place, but there is indeed a different tone since 2.3 and everything surrounding it. Longtime players and posters, ones who have traditionally been quiet, or defended different things in the game, who have been largely objective and level headed have begun to make some very salient points about the confidence level of the broader community with regards to Frontier and the future of Elite Dangerous. It is very hard to hear through all the normal noise, but it is there.

Yep it is. General discussion is awash in a sea of virgins tears. I understand some of the stuff being said there, however that does not excuse the general tone for me. Then again I have usually avoided Dangerous Discussion. That being said I do not agree that there has been no progress in the game as is widely stated in general boards. That's me though. I enjoy E a lot. I keep coming back to it and I will continue to do so. The points there that I agree with are that some of the existing "features" of the game are in need of some serious polishing... read: multi crew, exploration mechanics, and useful non third party tools to tie together trade, locations, and economy.

Despite that the game is gaining depth engineers in spite of the RNG nature has introduced crafting of a sort. Passenger missions add a layer of depth outside of running smuggling missions and A-B trade loops, and honk and scoop exploring. While I have not as yet taken part I love the idea of power play. I dig that there is some form of smuggling in the game. there is much to love. The more polite folks in general agree with that sentiment and I agree with them that those things I mention need to be fleshed out, shined up, and re-presented to the community.

I just wish that poeople in general would do more than cry and gnash their teeth. What is need is an honest discussion of what people would like to see happen, maybe then Frontier would actually respond you know since they would not be getting roasted and all.

 

[Cdr Voorheez]

Agree, as a returning CMDR I'm amazed at how MUCH has changed (positively) since my absence. It's why I personally have posted quite a few "in defence of FD" posts on general discussion and have been met with unmoderated venom for my positivity.
I personally love the game and also see the huge importance the community plays in its health and more importantly it's future. I hope the childish ungrateful crowd of infantile bleeding hearts quiten down soon. For the older and bolder here we can definitely reflect OA's sentiment that there has been a tremendous positive shift in gameplay since v1.0. Almost everything that has been requested has been delivered. The community need to remember that.

 

[Traesha]

It's weird that in one forum, the attitude changes just because you can be in a different section.

It's probably because explorers are, for 99% or more of their game time away from the bubble doing what they like, explore systems.
It doesn't matter for us if we get another update in 6 months.

And thats the thing with general discussion, a lot of players never left the bubble and play now and then, and after playing now and then they wait for a new update which isn't arriving in another 6 months... which makes them complain on general discussion on the forum. I can't say they are wrong, they are not but elite dangerous, the way it is now, isn't for them.

 

[Agony_Aunt]

FD keep developing the game and adding to it.

However, as FD keep developing, more and more people find a) FD are not going as fast as they want and b) they are not adding what they want.

Nothing FD can really do about this. With regards to (a) its doubtful FD can magic up more dev effort, they have budgets and plans and other IPs to develop. We might like more, but DB loves ED we can be sure of that, and is dedicating as many resources as he can realistically do. With regards to (b) this is just typical and normal in a developing game. We all have our wants and needs. Some of us accept that we don't always get what we want and that FD have never promised any of us anything specific in relation to development plans and timelines, while others get salty because the devs don't do what they want.

This is of course exabberated by there being a bit of an information drought at the moment. FD are not being forthcoming with what 2.4 is going to be about (although the suspicion is aliens) and no mention of 3.0 yet. I'm sure most of us would like more info about the future development plans, but hey, its coming sooner or later, and we know how the community reacts if FD say something then decide to change their plans.

So yeah, i'm just sitting back, playing the game, enjoying it, and waiting for news.

I think the people that annoy me the most are those who complain after FD add something, and say it gives them nothing, so they are stopping playing (yeah, right, i bet). Presumably they were enjoing the game before, so nothing has changed in terms of how they could play prior to that so they can still do what they did.... but for some reason the addition of Holo-me, ship names, or multicrew cause people to stop playing because they don't want those... bizarre in the extreme, and smacks of throwing the baby out with the bathwater.

 

[Jackie Silver]

I avoid DD because it makes me want to post angry replies. As a great philosopher once wrote, screw that noise.

 

[marx]

It's only natural that in a much larger crowd, the most negative or at least angry voices will stand out. Also natural that during a content drought, people would get more impatient.
In regards to content drought, Elite has actually done very well in that regard so far. Which is why the current situation stands out more. Well, no amount of forum / Reddit / etc complaining will make a company change their PR strategies that are already in place for the next update - maybe (maybe) for futures ones.

But you know, I wonder if people aren't just more patient here and with each other not just because it's a much smaller subforum, but also because exploration in Elite requires more patience. By which I don't mean that exploration updates have been slow to trickle in since 2.0, but that the in-game activity requires a good measure of patience. That might act as something of a filter here too.
Plus the subforum is not very visible from the main page, heh.

 

[PanTast]

I think the mods should be more agressive. Provocative posts and insults should be moderated. And there is only one really civilized community on the web: ATAG



o7

 

[Brett C]

I think the mods should be more agressive. Provocative posts and insults should be moderated. And there is only one really civilized community on the web: ATAG



o7

People are welcome to their opinions on the forums, so long as it is constructive and doesn't violate the forum rules.

 

[Allitnil]

I guess it's down to venting anger / disappointment / frustration or giving up. Which would the devs prefer? Do my EDD stats look like something FDev want to see?

Spoiler

The garden is looking good though

 

[Barking_Mad]

I don't understand it personally. I run a blog that's sole purpose is to provide latest development news for the game, so I actively look forward to new info. But despite the fact that there's not been much to speak of for a while I don't let it bother me. It's just a game. Some folk are way too invested.

Ant is great, but it's hardly surprising he could get a bit jaded considering the amount of time he must spend in game either playing and/or creating content.

 

[ChiefRedCloud]

I have to say as a fairly new player to E D that it's kind of refreshing to hear calm collective discussion over what seems in many a thread to be mob mentality. No I have not been here long enough to really criticize or have a real gripe so this is not directed at anyone in particular.

I was fortunate enough to get a benefactors help in the beginning so I'm not as lost as some who start. But I am enjoying the game and trying to make heads or tails of some of these toxic threads. Some want more content in the game others want the content that exists to be fixed and still others want things changed from what they are. While still others are arguing politics in a gaming forum. The last is something most gaming forums that I've known avoid with a pation.

While I can perhaps understand some of this, as is mentioned above, we are all entitled to our opinions but at what point do we cross that invisible line? ED has some strong completion out there with Roberts Industry but what little I've seen puts ED in front. I have no desire to have to buy each and every ship in game with REAL money.

I'm rambling now so I'll stop.

Chief