Guild Wars 2

Anyone have any suggestions on how to write a forum thread on the topic of wanting more playable content in game, in such a way that it wont be sent to the trashcan?

edited: links to important responses.
https://forum-en.gw2archive.eu/forum/game/gw2/How-to-write-so-as-to-not-get-removed/4666126
https://forum-en.gw2archive.eu/forum/game/gw2/How-to-write-so-as-to-not-get-removed/4666361
https://forum-en.gw2archive.eu/forum/game/gw2/How-to-write-so-as-to-not-get-removed/4670127

Register for an account on Reddit. Post there. Problem solved.

Sticky post:

https://forum-en.gw2archive.eu/forum/game/gw2/How-to-Give-Good-Feedback

Also, rather than posting duplicate threads it’s recommended to add to existing topics if there is already a thread that discusses the topic.

Reanne.5462:

Anyone have any suggestions on how to write a forum thread on the topic of wanting more playable content in game, in such a way that it wont be sent to the trashcan?

Don’t call people out. Don’t be toxic. Conduct yourself in an adult manner. State what you like about the game, and the content you do enjoy and would like to see more of and some ideas how to make the content you don’t better.

Bashing other posters and Anet serves no purpose other than to annoy everyone involved.

Make sure it’s a new topic that isn’t already under discussion and be specific on what you are asking for or suggesting.

And after seeing your forum signature, I feel the need to point out that a negative or divisive topic that starts arguments will be closed down.

Karizee.8076:

Also, rather than posting duplicate threads it’s recommended to add to existing topics if there is already a thread that discusses the topic.

I’ll echo this as well.

Posting another topic that is just repeating another topic will not make anything better.
Your* thoughts on the matter can just as easily be put into the existing topic.

There’s nothing more special about your* thoughts cluttering up the boards with multiple threads all dealing with one issue.

Yes that means posts are just added to a great big thread, but honestly they’re going to be moved there anyways.

*You and your all in the generic sense, this post is not specifically targeting anyone.

so any topic asking for more playable content will be deemed a negative thread as it is not ‘good feedback’ and is a request, as opposed to an affirmation of what already exsists? How do you have a ‘Forum’ without a debate, conflict is not inherently bad.

I notice many times people equate having an opposing view as ‘calling out’ someone. Such as when I made a reference to Vaynes responses in that last thread that got deleted, (which many of the people responding to this post replied to also.)

What is that term called when you can hold two opposing thoughts in your head at the same time?

Reanne.5462:

so any topic asking for more playable content will be deemed a negative thread as it is not ‘good feedback’ and is a request, as opposed to an affirmation of what already exsists? How do you have a ‘Forum’ without a debate, conflict is not inherently bad.

I notice many times people equate having an opposing view as ‘calling out’ someone. Such as when I made a reference to Vaynes responses in that last thread that got deleted, (which many of the people responding to this post replied to also.)

What is that term called when you can hold two opposing thoughts in your head at the same time?

It’s all in HOW you ask for it.

If you yell and demand more content from ANet because they’ve only released poor LS content that you’re sick and tired of, then ANet may be inclined to delete the thread. It’s not polite and it’s not constructive.

But if you go:

“I enjoy the fact that you are releasing some content fairly regularly, but the amount is not enough for me and I’m not really a fan of the instanced LS. I would really love it if there was more content and permanent content at that put into the game for those of us who do not like the LS for whatever reason.”

That would be more likely to remain up.

Reanne.5462:

so any topic asking for more playable content will be deemed a negative thread as it is not ‘good feedback’ and is a request, as opposed to an affirmation of what already exsists? How do you have a ‘Forum’ without a debate, conflict is not inherently bad.

It is all in how the ideas are presented.
There are plenty of posts which are respectful and comment on the apparent lack of content.
Then there are posts which can be hyperbolically summed up as “Dis gaem is dead, Xpac naow or I’m leaving.”

ANet is aware that some folks feel the content is lacking.
There are also folks that think we have just the right amount.
If they feel that there needs to be more content after listening to various posts, then they’ll take whatever actions they can or want to do.

It is as simple as that.

As for conduct against other posters, it is usually best not to single out people by name.
One of the rules in the forum states,
“Be respectful. Be pleasant to forum members, staff members, and moderators.”
Calling someone by username a white knight\whiner\troll\etc isn’t really respectful, no matter what intentions the author had (good or ill).

Then there’s another which further goes into not personally attacking anyone.

Disagree with someone’s stance all you want, but calling someone names won’t help anything.

I try not to say anything so negative about another user other than describing the behavior they demonstrate, that I believe they themselves would agree they portray. I hope we agree that there are people who post on this forum who will always highlight a silverlining, and ignore the larger grey cloud underneath.

Just as there are usernames that see only darkness.
Which make others wonder why they even stay if the game is just so horrible.

There will always be fans, haters, and hater-fans* out there for every title.
That’s never a new thing.

Hater-fan: Something a friend defined as those who hate practically everything about something, but still love it regardless. Which in a form could be cognitive dissonance (the stress felt by an individual who holds two or more contradictory beliefs, ideas, or values at the same time.)

timmyf.1490:

Register for an account on Reddit. Post there. Problem solved.

Would be nice if this was an accurate statement, but the same trolls and white knights run reddit like their personal playground. Anything they don’t like gets downvoted into oblivion before it has a chance to be seen.

cognitive dissonance , That is what I was looking for, tyvm.

I do like this game, which is why I play it in all my free time, while at the same time kittening and moaning about the stuff that drives me nuts in the game, that I wish anet would change. I don’t want free loots, or mounts or any of that other crap. I just need some stronger heroin, to use a terrible metaphor.

Reanne.5462:

I try not to say anything so negative about another user other than describing the behavior they demonstrate

Well, you may just have hit the nail on the head there Because that’s really a bit like calling someone ‘Big Nose’ or like the mean girls at school doing sarky impressions of someone.

By all means, disagree with what somebody says, but once you get into what you think they ‘always’ do, or how you think they behave in general, then it’s getting personal, and is no longer a debate.

Reanne.5462:

I try not to say anything so negative about another user other than describing the behavior they demonstrate, that I believe they themselves would agree they portray. I hope we agree that there are people who post on this forum who will always highlight a silverlining, and ignore the larger grey cloud underneath.

The moment you respond to someone in your thread where you describe their behavior rather than address the points of their argument is the moment you derail your own thread and start fights in it. This will lead, at best, to posts being deleted and at worse to locked threads.

There are undoubtably people who will always highlight a silver lining but truthfully, I haven’t seen many of them on this forum. More likely this person is someone who is good at pointing out flaws in arguments or is quick to jump on posts that are negative without being constructive. Someone who points out the flaws in arguments or who picks apart negative posts is not a white knight, no matter how much he irritates the people who make these posts.

Reanne.5462:

I try not to say anything so negative about another user other than describing the behavior they demonstrate, that I believe they themselves would agree they portray. I hope we agree that there are people who post on this forum who will always highlight a silverlining, and ignore the larger grey cloud underneath.

I have a few names (employee/players) that I just skip over their posts, not worth the read; non dev payroll opinions, players that white knight everything for the sake of a forum joust, and the sky is falling crowd. Unfortunately we don’t have a forum ignore feature.

Other than that follow some of the suggestions given in this post for constructive feedback, and speak with your wallet/word of mouth. Those quarterly reports say more then anything you can in these forums if you don’t support/agree with the “larger grey cloud”.

I’d post my thoughts on this here, but… yeah, you know.

However, as Gaile is reading this thread, I’d like to take a moment to address a Moderator “problem”.

The problem is that the Mods are “faceless minions”, if you’ll forgive the phrase. This makes them really easy to hate. Have you (given that this seems as if it should fall under your control) considered giving them different names so we can tell them apart, and letting them post more than canned replies?

Even if it’s just “Moderator 8” or “Moderator Sigma”, separate names would let us know who we’re dealing with, make them seem less faceless. By the same token, having them post something in a thread before it’s closed or edited so they can say why they’re doing that will make them seem more open, especially if it’s not a canned response.

I realize the response to this is most likely “no”, if you even read it before one of the mods takes their own action against this post. Gods know they don’t seem to like me lately. Still, I think it’s something worth considering and it might help to slow some of the bad feelings that build up on these boards when the moderators come to call.

write it on a piece of paper, tie it to a balloon, and fly it over the wires and concrete

Use tact. Problem solved.

Neural.1824:

timmyf.1490:

Register for an account on Reddit. Post there. Problem solved.

Would be nice if this was an accurate statement, but the same trolls and white knights run reddit like their personal playground. Anything they don’t like gets downvoted into oblivion before it has a chance to be seen.

Or some people really like the game and think that negative comments for the sake of being negative (as the OP’s thread was) is not worth their time and energy.

People who claim the game is dead or dying aren’t just exaggerating. They’re lying.

But even it were true, it’s not helpful. And anything born of that, do this or the game will die, do that or the game will die…again not helpful.

For one thing, I don’t trust a random forumite more than Anet. I think they know how the game is doing more than most posters.

Legitimate issues get upvoted on Reddit. Doom and gloom posts, rightfully, get downvoted.

Anyone who downvotes a post like the OP made on Reddit is less of a troll than the person posting that opinion.

And it’s entirely possible that people who are posting that opinion are trolling themselves.

Everyone gets infractions. People are unused to being held to standards with their every word. Even at work you can say things to coworkers that you can’t “officially” say. Combine that with posting from your home where you are used to saying whatever you want and it’s easy to forget that your words are being scrutinized by people who are paid to hold your speech to their standards.

The best I can suggest is, every time you post keep in mind you are posting on someone else’s property, not yours, and that they have rules you have to follow. Be careful with emotions in your post. Be logical and constructive. Don’t get into arguments (not the same as disagreements). Write the same type of post as if you are writing a paper for school or work.

There’s the old joke with the punch line. Location. Location. Location. The “punch line” here is Constructive. Constructive. Constructive. Keep that in mind and it will keep infractions to a minimum.

If you find yourself getting into an argument with someone responding to you, it might be a good idea to set a timer for an hour. Wait, before you respond. You can type out your first response to get it out of your system if that helps. Then delete, wait, cool off, think it over. Then respond.

Gaile Gray.6029:

• Named Moderators: Named moderators can put a more human face on the mod team, it’s true. However, using names — even generic names — can make individual moderators targets of forum member dissatisfaction. No matter how prudent and reasonable the decisions, you could see comments like, “Moderator A is reasonable, but every time Moderator B gets involved, too many threads are locked.” “Moderator M seems to be having a bad day.” “Fire Moderator X, s/he is ban-happy!” If a mod errs we want to address it. But in my experience (about 16 years in forum administration) allowing the focus to become “Moderator B actioned me” (instead of “I made an error and was actioned”) isn’t productive. It distracts from the actual function of the team, may make moderators uncomfortable in doing their job, and may serve as a form of attempted invalidation of very accurate decisions. (RW analogy: If a student can point to “my teacher was having a bad day,” then maybe s/he can avoid answering the real question of “How did you get a ‘D’ on your term paper?” )

Honestly Gaile, if CCP (Eve Online) can make it work, it should be a breeze for Anet to do so. Their mods have names/faces, and they also have a system in place by which people can file complaints against given mods.

I think a lot of users would simply be happy to see more consistency in moderation, and not what appears to be favoritism towards people who are enamored with the game.

Gaile Gray.6029:

Palador — you’re sounding a tad sensitive about the whole moderator thing. Don’t worry, no one’s going to remove your post — it’s sensible, moderate in tone, and presents a couple of valid questions. It’s fine!

Gaile, I can’t talk about what the Mods may or may not have done (against the rules, you know), but I can (hopefully) state that I have recently sent in two infraction appeals. Look at the most recent and tell me if you see something seriously wrong there or not.

THAT is why I’m “a tad sensitive”. Paranoia.

Palador, I think you may be getting automated messages saying you’re infracted when in fact you have not been (this happened to me, and Gaile set me straight). I posit a software issue, not moderators being putzes. I did a followup on my appeal to let them know there might be a problem there.

Most of the threads that get closed/deleted nowadays are either too simliar to others in content or people ignore GW2 and start discussing other MMORPGs.

Donari.5237:

Palador, I think you may be getting automated messages saying you’re infracted when in fact you have not been (this happened to me, and Gaile set me straight). I posit a software issue, not moderators being putzes. I did a followup on my appeal to let them know there might be a problem there.

Until I know, can you blame me for feeling paranoid?

The biggest problem with this idea of combining threads or replying in one already there, is that, from what most of us can see, once Anet sees the thread, it often becomes an ‘ignore this thread’ for all intents and purposes. I could, quite easily, name at least 3 threads currently active, where there has been NO response from Anet in them for ages. They have become nothing but echo chambers, where those who are in them just echo back and forth on how nothing is changing, nothing is being read, nothing is cared for by Anet, and how Anet isn’t reading any of it, anymore.

So, Gail and whomever, if you want us to reply in current threads, instead of starting new ones (that get deleted or merged, anyway), then show us that you are in them too. Comment now and again. Instead of commenting ABOUT the thread in another one, entirely, or not showing any recognition of it existing at all.

Gaile Gray.6029:

The developers read these forums virtually every day, but they derive the greatest benefit from reading a concise, combined set of comments from a wide range of forum members. Imagine reading the 12th or 20th thread that says virtually the same thing. Does that speak towards something positive: “This is definitely something we need to do?” Or does it point away from reading the forums, when there’s so much redundancy and so little value in repeated/duplicated comments? The devs are busy people.

I personally agree with this 100%.

And that’s why I am always so confused to see forum rules such as “Don’t necro and old thread! Make a new one!” Even these forums here discourage players from posting in existing threads (bump override). Not to mention all the threads that had those combined, concise sets of comments from a wide range of forum members, but were archived away in locked subforums instead of carried over. Sometimes threads are merged but most times they’re not. Lastly, when there’s only one thread going, and parts of it become “toxic”, sometimes the entire thread is locked (and in many forums, the rule is that you’re not supposed to create a new, similar thread) – but when the discussion is going on in three different threads, only the toxic one is locked, which allows the other two threads to continue the discussion itself.

I don’t mean to rant, but it is a bit mixed-message here on the topic of “use existing” vs. “create your own”. A clear ruleset (ideally supported by the forum software, for example “are you sure you want to create this as a new thread? Here is some similar-sounding titles:” instead of the bump-override) would really, really help.

Gaile Gray.6029:

You asked “So I should post my thoughts in an existing thread?” and suggested those thoughts would be “buried.” On the contrary. If every forum member decided his/her feedback was so important that it needed — nay deserved! — its own thread, we’d never have a discussion but a series of singular posts, like side discussions without volume or significant substance.
[…]
The developers read these forums virtually every day, but they derive the greatest benefit from reading a concise, combined set of comments from a wide range of forum members. Imagine reading the 12th or 20th thread that says virtually the same thing.

Those huge merged threads are huge graveyards of feedback. Feedback dies in these threads. If you merge every feedback in such threads, only singular topics are picked from the readers and are discussed. From 10 different topics, two are replied to by two readers, and only one reply is starting an actual discussion that is longer than just these 1 or 2 replies. It is simply not possible to discuss 10 different topics simultaneously in one large thread. One survives, and the other 9 die.

On the other hand, if you allow feedback threads with different topics as different threads, the members gain the ability to discuss all the different topics in parallel. All topics survive and get discussed (if it is worth discussing from the community’s point of view), not just one.

If you want this feedback as input to the developers, it’s your task to consolidate it before it reaches the developers. Don’t force the forum members into a format they are not familiar with. Adjust the format of the discussions to a format suitable for the developers afterwards. Don’t give the developers the task to browse the whole forum by themselves to get input.

Employ a person whose task it is to browse the forum and find the threads with original topics. Let him mark these threads and give the developers these threads to read.

The requirement for this person who selects these threads is that he is able to understand what people write. Do you remember the community sometimes complained that the developers are out of touch with the community? This person must not be out of touch – he must be able to understand the significance of topics. He must play the game, and not only open world till level 60. He will know what is definitely worth discussing and will point the developers to the corresponding threads. Threads with less significance has to be used as feedback as well of course, but don’t give those threads directly to the developers but write summaries of them and give the summaries the developers. This person must be an employee of Arenanet – not an unpaid community member doing this in his free time.

Don’t say the truth in sarcastic/mocking manner …

Keysha.2815:

The biggest problem with this idea of combining threads or replying in one already there, is that, from what most of us can see, once Anet sees the thread, it often becomes an ‘ignore this thread’ for all intents and purposes. I could, quite easily, name at least 3 threads currently active, where there has been NO response from Anet in them for ages. They have become nothing but echo chambers, where those who are in them just echo back and forth on how nothing is changing, nothing is being read, nothing is cared for by Anet, and how Anet isn’t reading any of it, anymore.

So, Gail and whomever, if you want us to reply in current threads, instead of starting new ones (that get deleted or merged, anyway), then show us that you are in them too. Comment now and again. Instead of commenting ABOUT the thread in another one, entirely, or not showing any recognition of it existing at all.

Should they respond if they have nothing new to say? Do posters really need to hear someone say, “Hey, I’ve got nothing new to say, but I’m here.”? I sure don’t need that amount of reassurance.

IndigoSundown.5419:

Should they respond if they have nothing new to say? Do posters really need to hear someone say, “Hey, I’ve got nothing new to say, but I’m here.”? I sure don’t need that amount of reassurance.

It is far better to at least know they are in the threads than to go to a thread like the trait thread, where they commented on page 42 or 43, and it is now on something like 71 or 72, It isn’t even on the front page very often. It is now often found on page 3 or so, so all these pages of comments are not in a short span. Those of us in that thread now feel Anet doesn’t even look in it anymore. A response of “I understand what you are saying, and we have read it. Still can’t give you new info, but we ARE here!” would be much preferable to the absence of even knowledge if they still read it.

Thank you, though. Your comment will be read, and it will be Anet’s justification for NOT commenting, even when those IN the thread are begging for crumbs.

Keysha.2815:

IndigoSundown.5419:

Should they respond if they have nothing new to say? Do posters really need to hear someone say, “Hey, I’ve got nothing new to say, but I’m here.”? I sure don’t need that amount of reassurance.

It is far better to at least know they are in the threads than to go to a thread like the trait thread, where they commented on page 42 or 43, and it is now on something like 71 or 72, It isn’t even on the front page very often. It is now often found on page 3 or so, so all these pages of comments are not in a short span. Those of us in that thread now feel Anet doesn’t even look in it anymore. A response of “I understand what you are saying, and we have read it. Still can’t give you new info, but we ARE here!” would be much preferable to the absence of even knowledge if they still read it.

Thank you, though. Your comment will be read, and it will be Anet’s justification for NOT commenting, even when those IN the thread are begging for crumbs.

You say Anet doesn’t look at it anymore. Source? Or are you just fabricating.

Anet may or may not be looking at it, but not posting is not a sign that they’re not looking at it. You just don’t know. You’re talking about you feel like Anet isn’t looking at it anymore.

On the other hand, nothing, absolutely nothing new has been said in 30 pages. It’s a reiteration of what’s been said over and over. Even if Anet weren’t looking at it, and I don’t believe that’s true, they’re not likely getting anything new from it.

They have information from the thread and they’re making decisions, not just based on the thread, but based on what they see people doing in game.

Vayne.8563:

Keysha.2815:

IndigoSundown.5419:

Should they respond if they have nothing new to say? Do posters really need to hear someone say, “Hey, I’ve got nothing new to say, but I’m here.”? I sure don’t need that amount of reassurance.

It is far better to at least know they are in the threads than to go to a thread like the trait thread, where they commented on page 42 or 43, and it is now on something like 71 or 72, It isn’t even on the front page very often. It is now often found on page 3 or so, so all these pages of comments are not in a short span. Those of us in that thread now feel Anet doesn’t even look in it anymore. A response of “I understand what you are saying, and we have read it. Still can’t give you new info, but we ARE here!” would be much preferable to the absence of even knowledge if they still read it.

Thank you, though. Your comment will be read, and it will be Anet’s justification for NOT commenting, even when those IN the thread are begging for crumbs.

You say Anet doesn’t look at it anymore.

Not what she said.

We, “feel that Anet doesnt look any more,” is very different than, “Anet doesnt look any more.”

Vayne.8563:

You say Anet doesn’t look at it anymore. Source? Or are you just fabricating.

Anet may or may not be looking at it, but not posting is not a sign that they’re not looking at it. You just don’t know. You’re talking about you feel like Anet isn’t looking at it anymore.

On the other hand, nothing, absolutely nothing new has been said in 30 pages. It’s a reiteration of what’s been said over and over. Even if Anet weren’t looking at it, and I don’t believe that’s true, they’re not likely getting anything new from it.

They have information from the thread and they’re making decisions, not just based on the thread, but based on what they see people doing in game.

Vayne, where did I state, as a fact, that they have not been in? What I said was: “Those of us in that thread now feel Anet doesn’t even look in it anymore”

The fact that you say there has been nothing new in 30 pages shows YOU have not been in there. How about this: https://forum-en.gw2archive.eu/forum/game/gw2/Game-Updates-Traits/page/71#post4665816 ? This is a novel idea, that was put in a new thread, and merged with no comment from Anet.

If you plan on calling ME out on my own words, be sure I have said what you think I have. And back up YOUR sources, too, ok?

Keysha.2815:

IndigoSundown.5419:

Should they respond if they have nothing new to say? Do posters really need to hear someone say, “Hey, I’ve got nothing new to say, but I’m here.”? I sure don’t need that amount of reassurance.

It is far better to at least know they are in the threads than to go to a thread like the trait thread, where they commented on page 42 or 43, and it is now on something like 71 or 72, It isn’t even on the front page very often. It is now often found on page 3 or so, so all these pages of comments are not in a short span. Those of us in that thread now feel Anet doesn’t even look in it anymore. A response of “I understand what you are saying, and we have read it. Still can’t give you new info, but we ARE here!” would be much preferable to the absence of even knowledge if they still read it.

Thank you, though. Your comment will be read, and it will be Anet’s justification for NOT commenting, even when those IN the thread are begging for crumbs.

I’ve posted in that thread, also, multiple times. I don’t feel that they’re not listening. But, thanks for deciding to exclude me from the club.

If an Anet rep tells me on page 40, “We’re following this thread.” I have no reason to believe they have stopped reading just because they haven’t commented by page 71.

I don’t like every design decision Anet makes. I think the “Gag” policy in effect is a mistake. However, I have some understanding of what it’s like to work in a high-pressure environment (lots of hours, lots of deadlines) and I see Anet employees going the extra mile to communicate with the forums. I appreciate the effort, and think that one way I can reciprocate is to take them at their word. It’s the least I can do.

There is no way. Don’t even try, you can make a thread and one of a few things will happen. White Knights will derail it, your posts get reported regardless of content or doom & gloomers muck it up. Even if you post something funny, intelligent and bring great points, the white Knights will get it closed even if the point you’re making is valid because they’ll fight with everyone in the thread.

Even if you ask people to stay on topic you’ll get posts deleted and infracted by certain mods. I noticed in some threads when certain WKs show up and you ask them to stay on topic, suddenly you find yourself infracted and the thread closed/posts deleted. I pretty much stop posting here because of the fact you cannot post any thread here without one of three groups coming down on you. Look at the thread you made and see a certain someone is already causing problems.

It boils down to which moderator you get. I’ve posted two comments in the last month that were very, very similar. One was infracted, the other wasn’t. The default reason given could EASILY have been applied to both, though I would have (obviously) argued against the conclusion in both cases. I suspect that a lot depends on whether some lame-o decides to report it or not. If it gets reported and the mod thinks there’s a rule that COULD be applied, maybe, then they go ahead and apply it. Long story short, if the thread’s OP is overly sensitive, your chances of being modded are much higher than normal.

Ashen.2907:

Not what she said.

We, “feel that Anet doesnt look any more,” is very different than, “Anet doesnt look any more.”

Anet should create an automated posting bot called AnetSnowflake that will post a random message in every active thread every 48 hours. Something on the order of “You have such wonderful ideas! The devs really appreciate your comments and will get to work on this right away.”

That way everyone can feel like someone appreciates them.

Ardenwolfe.8590:

Use tact. Problem solved.

Also, sarcasm instead of insults, and be okay with people not agreeing with you. It’s a big world, and not everyone sees eye to eye.

Especially about topics which don’t have a “right” answer, which is basically anything not based on mathematics.

Keysha.2815:

I could, quite easily, name at least 3 threads currently active, where there has been NO response from Anet in them for ages.

Developers usually have a policy not to reply on the forums. They have specialized CMs for that (Gaile for example), but obviously these cannot give actual information, not being the developers.

There are exceptions.

• A CM asks a dev for what they can write in response (rare, wastes a lot of office time considering it’s just one thread, and the dev needs to have already read up).
• A dev asks their team manager whether they can reply directly.
• A technical tester does a back-and-forth with a player on a technical matter like recreating a specific client crash they cannot easily reproduce in the office.

In general however, it is very common for developers simply to not reply. What is weird is that ANet has no one shoving hype-information our way, constantly. We have 0 clue what they’re working on, at all. Not on a macroscopic scale, not on a microscopic one.

Compare Ghostwalker in WoW:
He was hired to be what Gaile is, here, but also at the same time the dev team lead. This gave him the unique position to keep telling players potential upcoming stuff, no matter how likely or unlikely it was to ever get implemented. As a result, he became the target of personal vendetta hatred among players (“GW hates my class” was the most common one, I was laughing myself silly when upon leaving he finally said what his main had been all those years, Holy Priest :P ).
I hope they paid him enough. But the upside was, you always heard about what they’re working on. Always. You might not like 90% of it, but at least you heard about it. Oh and ~95% of what he mentioned never made it ingame, ofc.

Carighan.6758:

Keysha.2815:

I could, quite easily, name at least 3 threads currently active, where there has been NO response from Anet in them for ages.

Developers usually have a policy not to reply on the forums. They have specialized CMs for that (Gaile for example), but obviously these cannot give actual information, not being the developers.

There are exceptions.

• A CM asks a dev for what they can write in response (rare, wastes a lot of office time considering it’s just one thread, and the dev needs to have already read up).
• A dev asks their team manager whether they can reply directly.
• A technical tester does a back-and-forth with a player on a technical matter like recreating a specific client crash they cannot easily reproduce in the office.

In general however, it is very common for developers simply to not reply. What is weird is that ANet has no one shoving hype-information our way, constantly. We have 0 clue what they’re working on, at all. Not on a macroscopic scale, not on a microscopic one.

Compare Ghostwalker in WoW:
He was hired to be what Gaile is, here, but also at the same time the dev team lead. This gave him the unique position to keep telling players potential upcoming stuff, no matter how likely or unlikely it was to ever get implemented. As a result, he became the target of personal vendetta hatred among players (“GW hates my class” was the most common one, I was laughing myself silly when upon leaving he finally said what his main had been all those years, Holy Priest :P ).
I hope they paid him enough. But the upside was, you always heard about what they’re working on. Always. You might not like 90% of it, but at least you heard about it. Oh and ~95% of what he mentioned never made it ingame, ofc.

Do you remember Eyonix and the bus shock?

Carighan.6758:

Compare Ghostwalker in WoW:

I’m actually remembering remembering Abashi, and Absor from EverQuest.

Tobias Trueflight.8350:

Ardenwolfe.8590:

Use tact. Problem solved.

Also, sarcasm instead of insults, and be okay with people not agreeing with you. It’s a big world, and not everyone sees eye to eye.

Especially about topics which don’t have a “right” answer, which is basically anything not based on mathematics.

about right lol. Sarcasm is like an insult but the light version of it so idk be cautious of that one but everything else id agree.

Gaile Gray.6029:

• Named Moderators: Named moderators can put a more human face on the mod team, it’s true. However, using names — even generic names — can make individual moderators targets of forum member dissatisfaction. No matter how prudent and reasonable the decisions, you could see comments like, “Moderator A is reasonable, but every time Moderator B gets involved, too many threads are locked.” “Moderator M seems to be having a bad day.” “Fire Moderator X, s/he is ban-happy!” If a mod errs we want to address it. But in my experience (about 16 years in forum administration) allowing the focus to become “Moderator B actioned me” (instead of “I made an error and was actioned”) isn’t productive. It distracts from the actual function of the team, may make moderators uncomfortable in doing their job, and may serve as a form of attempted invalidation of very accurate decisions. (RW analogy: If a student can point to “my teacher was having a bad day,” then maybe s/he can avoid answering the real question of “How did you get a ‘D’ on your term paper?” )

Then how do you judge individual mods without any feedback? It’s entirely possible to have an over zealous mod whose actions may be alienating your forum player base with no means for those players to lodge complaints? I’m talking about thread closures and mergers, not infractions since there is a way to ask for reconsideration there.

But there have been times when two very dissimilar threads get merged with the result of derailing both because a mod thinks they are similar due to a similar sounding title without reading the OP (or so it seems). I know you probably can’t unscrambled a merge thread but I’ve seen you unlock a previous locked thread.

Behellagh.1468:

Gaile Gray.6029:

• Named Moderators: Named moderators can put a more human face on the mod team, it’s true. However, using names — even generic names — can make individual moderators targets of forum member dissatisfaction. No matter how prudent and reasonable the decisions, you could see comments like, “Moderator A is reasonable, but every time Moderator B gets involved, too many threads are locked.” “Moderator M seems to be having a bad day.” “Fire Moderator X, s/he is ban-happy!” If a mod errs we want to address it. But in my experience (about 16 years in forum administration) allowing the focus to become “Moderator B actioned me” (instead of “I made an error and was actioned”) isn’t productive. It distracts from the actual function of the team, may make moderators uncomfortable in doing their job, and may serve as a form of attempted invalidation of very accurate decisions. (RW analogy: If a student can point to “my teacher was having a bad day,” then maybe s/he can avoid answering the real question of “How did you get a ‘D’ on your term paper?” )

Then how do you judge individual mods without any feedback? It’s entirely possible to have an over zealous mod whose actions may be alienating your forum player base with no means for those players to lodge complaints? I’m talking about thread closures and mergers, not infractions since there is a way to ask for reconsideration there.

But there have been times when two very dissimilar threads get merged with the result of derailing both because a mod thinks they are similar due to a similar sounding title without reading the OP (or so it seems). I know you probably can’t unscrambled a merge thread but I’ve seen you unlock a previous locked thread.

Do we need to know the mod’s name for that? In the event they did allow players to give feedback on mod decisions, players should be able to point to specific decisions to merge/lock threads, etc.

If Anet wants to judge individual mods, I’m sure they’d have a way of tracking exactly who’s done what. Or could implement one. Without letting it be known to the players.

timmyf.1490:

Register for an account on Reddit. Post there. Problem solved.

Also my thinking considering that these forums have all but been ignored for years now and the suggestions folder was thrown in the trash. Making things more public like posting to reddit, facebook, youtube, twitch would certainly get more attention and go viral much more quickly in mediums that can’t easily be snuffed out.

I will rephrase. If this is still offensive please contact me and help me write it in an acceptable way? Thanks.

To answer your question – if you want the devs to notice, post here. Be polite, be concise, be straight to the point. Above all be constructive.

I have noticed many of the people who had great feedback to give struggled to get their thoughts across while adhering to the pointers given by mods in this thread. Gradually those people have migrated to other forums. Thus we’re left with a perceived general consensus on the forums which might not reflect the wider player-base. That is not to say the feedback here is lower quality, just that the users of this forum likely reflect a specific section of the player base. So I’d take that into consideration when pondering what the devs do with this feedback.