If only they had a weekly newsletter that they could use for one way communication and drip feed us info!
FDev, please don't be shy/ or so reticent about communicating.
- Thread starter Strangepork
- Start date
If only they had a weekly newsletter that they could use for one way communication and drip feed us info!
Well maybe cause otherwise they are going to loose customers?
It won't bother anyone who enjoys the game as it is, we know stuff is coming and there's new free stuff in the meantime so no worries and be positive about the future.
If it makes serial whingers leave and robs the more persistent ones of things to whine about then it's probably a good thing.
Will was in the stream chat, so I asked him just before the JWE content started as I wanted to know, and he answered. He didn't 'decide' to give the information out in that forum, he answered a question, which was good of him.
Ideally they would update threads when dates are changed, but ¯\_(ツ)_/¯
It is very curious. I've never seen the Official Channel become the least favoured to communicate before, although there have been a couple of instances where that has been avoided. Both times it was down to an assumption by the organisation that the "owned" chnnel as it were was getting on fine and they needed to concentrate efforts elsewhere, learned to when it as you say should have been the other way around. Once they learned the premise of owning information through official channels things worked out. It's been a constant issue with FD over the years.
Did you happen to see the reaction to the last time they communicated a change? Maybe a horde of writhing, shrieking eels isn't something you can reliably communicate with? I think it's a bit rich demanding endless updates, when the very first response to such, is immediate confected outrage and demands for the developer to desist at once.
Good day sir. I said good day!
Me? I don't blame them. Frankly they should communicate directly via existing means (blog, social media, youtube, email, etc) so the broader community (you know, the vast bulk of the player base) is kept informed; trying to provide a constructive update here is akin to a news wire reporter in a war zone trying to provide an update under a hail of fire and a bunch of snipers trying to line up a shot.
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I just don't get how people can support the abandonment of a primary communication channel, just because of the way people "react" to announcements. It's an internet forum, ergo one can assume from a business perspective that there will always be an element of crazy in the user base (I know that you appreciate this basic premise more than most).
However the debate over whether (A) the Official Forums should be a primary method of communication by the system owners to the user base, (B) the perceived activities of the system owners by the user base and (C) the policies put in place by the system owners over the behaviours of the the user base, while linked, are absolutely separate issues and don't have to be addressed in one lump by simply ignoring the forum. There are a myriad of other factors to consider also, but let's not get too complex.
If in employing the Official Forums as a communication channel, people go nuts then maybe they should start thinking about the reasons for that, and possibly do something about it...or not (not, it's usually not)
If choosing the former, they might find things will change...or not (see point above)
If the latter, then ignoring the problem won't progress anything, including the game and the culture surrounding it. Hiding in Twitter and Facebook with a larger, less interested user base, who don't offer such detailed commentary on the product development, is what organisations such as Blockbuster or AOL did. They ignored the market too.
If they have employees that are so thin skinned as to having to be warned off using the forums, or making decisions that are so bad, those who's job it is to engage using the forums aren't...then they ether need better talent or a better strategy.
Pick one.
Then again, maybe this is all a part of the plan? Watering down the effectiveness of the Forum as a primary channel, in order to move to a "Forum Reboot", more in line with the Business Strategy as a whole...moving further away from ED, the KS days...and more of a Frontier Developments platform.
Who knows? The point being we can speculate until the cows lie down. FD won't be communicating anything to provide relevant debate, that's for sure.
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They have not abandoned the forums, Genus. They simply don't just use the forums. Of course, just like anything else, it's intolerable and how very dare they. Holy god.
It seems to me the prevailing attitude now, is just to harp on and whine about literally everything. And when that doesn't work, just start insulting the integrity of the developer, and when that doesn't work just throw Sandy under the bus.
There's a reason there is little respect for the forums, outside of the forums, m8. How the mods can even function without wanting to gouge their eyes out, I will never know. Let alone the developer; they are made of much greater material than I.
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Abandon was used as a use case. I happen to agree, I don't think FD should abandon the forums (although many others seem to support the premise to avoid choking on a quinoa smoothie).
However it's hard to argue against the Official Forums becoming the poor cousin to FB and Twitter, which as has been suggested previously in the thread should absolutely not be the case.
FD should be out and proud about their product.
Or making changes so they can be.
As for the mods, for my experience, they do a good job. Just the right amount of humour.
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verminstar
Banned
While I agree with yer point, I just sorta wanna point out that the continued silence isnt making the situation any better, its making it worse. Thats called escalation and thats on FD.
As to not handling criticism too well...either they have a not very thick skin or their ego got bruised, something like that cos ye know, this is the internet and this is what happens in a lotta game communities when the devs go into stealth mode...the bitterness and salt builds up and up to the point where community/dev relations break down entirely.
In every single case, its the developers fault that things get to that point because they choose not to engage. This isnt the first game Ive played where this exact same thing has happened..didnt end well fer those other games and its beginning to feel like a well travelled road now. Starting to think frontier are no different and no more special than any other game devs Ive come across...despite the many claims to the contrary ^
No communication goes unpunished on this forum!
In all honesty the reaction shouldn't matter nor factor into the decision, what's important is the communicating itself. Whether it's good news or bad news, it's still paramount to keep paying customers informed.
If Frontier appears to lack confidence or interest in their own product then how can they expect the players to?
Well, actually the beige planet issue did, after a 100 pages, someone from Fdev responded, people thanked them then started bickering amongst themselves (as is their wont), but people responded to not such great news with reasonable aplomb, same with the new Guardian grind, another (was it?) hundred pages with a response they would look into it and people seemed to take that pretty well. I noticed no death threats or copious tears after the response, but actual thanks from a few regulars, the white knights changed their stock responses to tie in more with what fdev had said and the world continued to turn.
It's possible all these vociferous responses were in threads I didn't read.
For those of you who don't think official methods of communication should be important, we will delete the National Weather Service, and STRATCOM's Missile Warning system.
For those of you who don't think official methods of communication should be important, we will delete the National Weather Service, and STRATCOM's Missile Warning system.
I'm not really sure free updates bug fixes and upcoming DLC for a video game are in quite the same league as natural disasters and/or world war 3.
For those of you who don't think official methods of communication should be important, we will delete the National Weather Service, and STRATCOM's Missile Warning system.
Oh I'm sure they'll claim to still operate.
It's just that there will be no weather reports when it has the audacity to rain, and we'll never get the two minute warning out of General embarrassment.
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It's been like this for, essentially, five years. Radio silence as they go into an update launch. Every time. Every. Single. Time.
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For those of you who don't think official methods of communication should be important, we will delete the National Weather Service, and STRATCOM's Missile Warning system.
I do think they are important? I am confused by this? Do I think the developer should work to the forum's demands with respect to when and the manner in which communication must occur.
HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA.. oh god no.
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So it s their problem in communication which has nothing to do with user of this forum
verminstar
Banned
It never did, thats just white knight noise protecting their beloved precious who can do no wrong and constantly blame other players instead...which obviously doesnt help matters at all ^