Why has the Community Manager virtually abandoned the forums?

[SentineI]

When FDev originally introduced the role of a Community Manager we got lots of interaction on the forums. I believe the idea was to allow the developers to get on with developing the game, rather than wasting time on the forums answering questions:

I'm pleased to welcome Edward Lewis who is our new Community and Social Media manager. He will be taking over from me as the primary Frontier contact here on the forums.

However these days he seems to spend most of his time (preparing for?) making YouTube streams (which I personally have no interest in), rather than posting on the forums answering serious questions about the game :-( . e.g. In the last month he made 35 posts, but 14+ of them were to do with his YouTube videos, so that's less than 5 posts per week about non-video stuff.

So now it is almost impossible to get an answer out of FDev about important issues (e.g. 1, 2).

Am I the only one who wishes he'd spend a bit less time doing (IMHO boring) YouTube streams, and instead answer some serious questions on the forums?

Is there any chance FDev could ask him to allocate a bit more time to the forums? It seems like his role has changed from "Community Manager" to "YouTube PR Manager".

edit:
P.S. Contrary to some speculation, this post is not an attack on Ed, who I have no complaints about (he seems a great guy). It's about how FDev assigns his time, which currently seems 99% YouTube, 1% forums (at best). Also this post is NOT about the beige planet issue, that is just a clear example of the lack of communication from FDev over the past year.

 

[MDHansen]

I'll agree with you on this subject. I'm not interested in his cqc or apprentice videos and would like him to concentrate on communicating with the players.
I don't mind him doing them, but he should be a community manager the rest of the week aswell. As it is now he is a lets-play youtuber and community manager when there is a big content patch/beta


Mads

 

[h347h]

Maybe they don't have enough coffee for him to deal with all the carping. Perhaps the community could adjust it's attitude slightly to make them want to interact with us again.

A good example is the antagonistic above mine.

 

[verminstar]

No yer not the only one who wonders about this...but it is what it is. One has to create a helluva lotta salt to get anything outta them...thats been the only method that seems to work so far as asking nicely is just a waste of time.

I would be just as curious to know specifically which community the guy was hired to manage if not this one...

 

[MDHansen]

If he is a full time employee with a 2hr workweek, 'cept on the big patch livestreams, I would very much want his job

h347h : Good one Now I've been here since the beginning and the sour mood started slowly when FD never communicated with the community. They have gotten way better but still think they could up the game a tad.

Mads

 

[Whitehair]

So, this is a roundabout way to complain again about the "Beige planets" syndrome......

 

[dognosh]

So, this is a roundabout way to complain again about the "Beige planets" syndrome......

No, he is, legitimately, complaining about the lack of communication from FD.

 

[verminstar]

So, this is a roundabout way to complain again about the "Beige planets" syndrome......

And yet nobody so much as mentioned it until you did...well done you ^

 

[DD_Crash]

So, this is a roundabout way to complain again about the "Beige planets" syndrome......

or general lack of developer info like the old peek of the week and developers diary

 

[Alec Turner]

To be honest I think Ed is doing what he does best, and he's doing it BRILLIANTLY. He's not a developer so he's not best placed to answer the sort of questions that come up these days anyway, there are other people far better qualified for that. For what it's worth you can track all the developer posts over here ...

https://elitedevtracker.com/

 

[Doookie Shoes]

How dare this person have a life other than deflecting real world hostility over imaginary world issues.

 

[Rob At Work]

ha ha ha... Eds turn.

 

[SentineI]

So, this is a roundabout way to complain again about the "Beige planets" syndrome......

Nope. The beige planet thread was ONE EXAMPLE about how FDev don't answer our questions anymore.

My post is exactly what it says it is about. Please don't try to change the subject.

 

[verminstar]

or general lack of developer info like the old peek of the week and developers diary

Ah the old peek of the week...I do so miss that one...one the cool features they cancelled with no reason given...shame cos its greatly missed by many ^

 

[Sir.Tj]

When FDev originally introduced the role of a Community Manager we got lots of interaction on the forums. I believe the idea was to allow the developers to get on with developing the game, rather than wasting time on the forums answering questions:


However these days he seems to spend most of his time (preparing for?) making YouTube streams (which I personally have no interest in), rather than posting on the forums answering serious questions about the game :-( . e.g. In the last month he made 35 posts, but 14+ of them were to do with his YouTube videos, so that's less than 5 posts per week about non-video stuff.

So now it is almost impossible to get an answer out of FDev about important issues.

Am I the only one who wishes he'd spend a bit less time doing (IMHO boring) YouTube streams, and instead answer some serious questions on the forums?

Is there any chance FDev could ask him to allocate a bit more time to the forums? It seems like his role has changed from "Community Manager" to "YouTube PR Manager".

Just to reply in a non mod role..

However these days he seems to spend most of his time (preparing for?) making YouTube streams (which I personally have no interest in), rather than posting on the forums answering serious questions about the game :-( . e.g. In the last month he made 35 posts, but 14+ of them were to do with his YouTube videos, so that's less than 5 posts per week about non-video stuff.

There is more than one CM for FD and they are pretty active in my opinion.

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So now it is almost impossible to get an answer out of FDev about important issues.

So, just to clarify.. Important to you? Frontier have stated that that problem is being worked on.

Am I the only one who wishes he'd spend a bit less time doing (IMHO boring) YouTube streams, and instead answer some serious questions on the forums?

Is there any chance FDev could ask him to allocate a bit more time to the forums? It seems like his role has changed from "Community Manager" to "YouTube PR Manager".

I'm reading this as you don't like the YT content FD does so they should stop?

You're entitled to your opinion, but singling out Ed isn't really fair is it?

Back to Mod role..

Any direct personal attacks on any other forum members and or FD enployees wil be dealt with very quickly.

 

[verminstar]

To be honest I think Ed is doing what he does best, and he's doing it BRILLIANTLY. He's not a developer so he's not best placed to answer the sort of questions that come up these days anyway, there are other people far better qualified for that. For what it's worth you can track all the developer posts over here ...

https://elitedevtracker.com/

So who is better qualified to manage the community if not the community manager? Is the job title meaningless?

 

[babelfisch]

I think his hair is also less shiny than it used to be.

 

[SentineI]

To be honest I think Ed is doing what he does best, and he's doing it BRILLIANTLY. He's not a developer so he's not best placed to answer the sort of questions that come up these days anyway, there are other people far better qualified for that.

Nope. At one time Elite Dangerous's developers were very active on the forums, but for whatever reason it seems that has been discouraged. But at about the same time they introduced the post of Community Manager, who FDev themselves state was their main point of contact about game issues.

All Ed has to do is go & ASK the relevant developer, and then use it to answer the question. This is much more efficient than all FDev's developers reading hundreds (thousands?) of forum posts every day, on the off-chance someone asks a question they can answer.

For what it's worth you can track all the developer posts over here ...
https://elitedevtracker.com/

I do. Which is how I know the developers post far less than they used to.

 

[Whitehair]

And yet nobody so much as mentioned it until you did...well done you ^

He linked it in his post - haven't you read it?

 

[Alec Turner]

So who is better qualified to manage the community if not the community manager? Is the job title meaningless?

I think the job role has changed somewhat but its title hasn't.