Guild Wars 2

Any reason why the forum search still doesn’t work in a game that was released over 2 years ago? I remember seeing a Dev respond on the forums a little over a year ago saying they would look into it and I would post a link for reference if I could find it… but obviously…

Andred.1087:

JustTrogdor.7892:

They have stated they cannot fix it.

https://forum-en.gw2archive.eu/forum/game/gw2/Questions-on-Forum-Reorganization/first#post4600233

https://forum-en.gw2archive.eu/forum/game/players/Forum-s-search-feature-doesn-t-work-A-tip/first#post4612877

This is very disappointing to hear. They did hire programmers for their website, right? And I would be very interested to hear why it is “impossible.”

To quote a from a link I provided above:

The problem is deep within the technology behind the forum structure itself. Yes, we had a search engine in the beginning, but it was broken by our forum contractor in the course of working on other things. We no longer have a relationship with that contractor or his company, and someone else is not able to step into the system and fix the search engine because (1) our programmers are tasked with other essential work, (2) the forums run on a web framework with which most of our programmers are not familiar and (3) we’re investigating other options for forums and it would not be prudent to pour money into hiring someone to fix this as a short-term solution.

They have stated they cannot fix it.

https://forum-en.gw2archive.eu/forum/game/players/Forum-s-search-feature-doesn-t-work-A-tip/first#post4612877

https://forum-en.gw2archive.eu/forum/game/gw2/Questions-on-Forum-Reorganization/first#post4600233

It never has, and unless they change the system like Gaile talked about in a forum thread for the reorganization it never will.

JustTrogdor.7892:

They have stated they cannot fix it.

https://forum-en.gw2archive.eu/forum/game/gw2/Questions-on-Forum-Reorganization/first#post4600233

https://forum-en.gw2archive.eu/forum/game/players/Forum-s-search-feature-doesn-t-work-A-tip/first#post4612877

This is very disappointing to hear. They did hire programmers for their website, right? And I would be very interested to hear why it is “impossible.”

I don’t know what anyone ever called it “impossible,” and it probably isn’t, but it might be impractical:

Gaile Gray.6029:

The problem is deep within the technology behind the forum structure itself. Yes, we had a search engine in the beginning, but it was broken by our forum contractor in the course of working on other things. We no longer have a relationship with that contractor or his company, and someone else is not able to step into the system and fix the search engine because (1) our programmers are tasked with other essential work, (2) the forums run on a web framework with which most of our programmers are not familiar and (3) we’re investigating other options for forums and it would not be prudent to pour money into hiring someone to fix this as a short-term solution.

My team agrees that it would be great to share the system that is outlined in the OP, and we’re going to figure out a way to do that. It won’t be as simple as “plumbing” the current search window to go to Google — each of us still will need to input the search manually, but it’s better than the current “poke and prod” to find a particular post!

Evidently they did hire a programmer. And that programmer broke the search. Aaaand they no longer work with that programmer. They could pull person(s) from other projects to figure it out and work on it, but then there’s the question of how much good money to throw after bad if they’re considering a change in software anyway.

I think it’s ridiculous that the forum search has been in this state for so long, but I’m sympathetic to the problem. It should have been fixed sooner, but maybe the behind-the-scenes situation wasn’t settled until it was too late to fix it without looming questions about the rest of the forum software hanging over the investment to fix it.

If they’re going to switch forum software, though, the sooner the better. These forums look nice, but I’ve never been too crazy about how they actually function.

Thankfully Google still works even if Anet didn’t pay to have it integrated

drop this in Google search

site:https://forum-en.gw2archive.eu/forum +"your search term"

I don’t know what anyone ever called it “impossible"

In the first link, Gaile said: “it’s not possible for us to do”. ;P If, however, by saying “us”, Gaile implied the Customer Support/Communications/Whatever Team, then surely it is impossible for them to “fix”. Those crafty little communicators…

I would be very interested to hear why it is “impossible.”

Sometimes, developers don’t leave behind a nice cohesive breadcrumb-trail for future developers to follow. If you’re only taking a small walk into the forest, then that’s not a problem. However, in this case, if the forum engine needs critical components redesigned/rewritten, then you’re going to have to walk almost every inch of that forest to best do your job. To make matters worse (“the forums run on a web framework with which most of our programmers are not familiar”), then you’re going to first need to learn how to walk in that forest at all, and that might take quite some time. If you try to take any shortcuts in any of this, then expect to run into the Big Bad Wolf. ;P

It’s quite reasonable to replace the entire forum in this situation, but then they’d have to find a solution that could integrate with their systems, and that’s probably a… big obstacle. I’m assuming their relations with the previous contractor didn’t end gracefully, either, as that should’ve been a fairly cheap alternative (vs. replacement software, or a complete rewrite by another contractor).

Barfoi.9537:

I would be very interested to hear why it is “impossible.”

Sometimes, developers don’t leave behind a nice cohesive breadcrumb-trail for future developers to follow.

Believe me, I know. At my job I am often handed projects that were not well done the first time. I’m just so shocked that they’ve yet to hire anybody else to fix it. Is it just not worth their money to have a functional search feature? The least they could do is have somebody remove the box…

Is it just not worth their money to have a functional search feature?

Probably not… ;P I’d say the biggest impact is on public-image (e.g., consider Microsoft having a broken website for 2~ years), but that’s far beyond repairing. For example, I’m already going to always remember this game for having a broken forum. :-)

Besides, it’s not like their playerbase doesn’t complain about a broken product every day instead, so why focus on a little problem that mostly everyone has accepted by now, when they have “bigger fish to fry”.

The least they could do is have somebody remove the box…

Yes, they should’ve at least done that. I’d assume the forum uses templates for the UI, so it should only be a matter of minutes to find & update. But… the same could be said about many quality-of-life changes that are put on the back-burner (in/out of game).

They (collectively, GW2, ANet, NCSoft, etc.) prioritize how they see fit, and that’s probably the most direct answer to everything.