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Bioware please make weekly polls


Ayelinna

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Either way, i dont really trust your "reason" for not hosting polls. I think its more a matter of not wanting to highlight player "wants" publically because BW knows tthey have a history of failing to deliver any of the poll options.

I have to know where you bought your tin foil hat and do they make them in different sizes? I have an uncle that always responds to honest answers the same way.

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Do you really mean to tell me that SWTORs most dedicated players and those who want to influence the games direction, do not check the forums for news every week? lol...

Players who love the game stay AWAY from the forums because of things that people like you and I say in them. They would rather just play the game and have fun, because it is just a game. If something doesn't happen, it is not the end of the world as they know it.

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Players who love the game stay AWAY from the forums because of things that people like you and I say in them. They would rather just play the game and have fun, because it is just a game. If something doesn't happen, it is not the end of the world as they know it.

 

Are you saying that everyone on the forum hates the game? What about people who use the forums AND use the game huh?

 

If its just a game, why are you here?

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Are you saying that everyone on the forum hates the game? What about people who use the forums AND use the game huh?

 

If its just a game, why are you here?

 

lol, yeah i guess he failed to see the irony of his own posts huh? =)

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I have to know where you bought your tin foil hat and do they make them in different sizes? I have an uncle that always responds to honest answers the same way.

 

Orly? Because BW usually lives up to their promises? Please tell me more about how you dont pvp.

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Orly? Because BW usually lives up to their promises? Please tell me more about how you dont pvp.

PvP is for kids who are bored with playing Call of Duty. Also, living in the REAL WORLD, you find out early on that promises are worth less than the paper they are written on. Maybe if people spent more time playing a game they claim to like, and less time shouting at the rain in a forum, and blaming everyone else for their problems, we'd have fewer threads like this, and even fewer whiners like you.

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The ppl who use forums are the ones that also are most interested in the game and it's development. If someone can't bother to look at a poll once per week - they dont deserve a say in "what spieces" gets implemented either imo.

 

Either way, i dont really trust your "reason" for not hosting polls. I think its more a matter of not wanting to highlight player "wants" publically because BW knows tthey have a history of failing to deliver any of the poll options.

 

Prove me wrong by showing me some grand plans for open world pvp, as per this poll you actually did host. Which of these options is in the works to be implemented eh?

 

That's complete BS.

 

People who don't use these forums directly are just as concerned as any other soap boxer on this forum. Some more, some less. Its a wash.

 

See, what YOU don't understand is that YOU aren't that important. Bioware needs to appeal to a much larger base then just the critical vocalists on the forums. You might "care" about the game more (but really you don't) but Bioware doesn't care. Your caring about the game doesn't translate into a good business model. Its the silent majority that needs to be happy.

 

Bioware will make decisions that benefit the game, not just the 12 people who think they know how to design an MMO.

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PvP is for kids who are bored with playing Call of Duty. Also, living in the REAL WORLD, you find out early on that promises are worth less than the paper they are written on. Maybe if people spent more time playing a game they claim to like, and less time shouting at the rain in a forum, and blaming everyone else for their problems, we'd have fewer threads like this, and even fewer whiners like you.

 

Aww, so cute! <3

 

And i dont know about you, but when i make a promise irl i tend to keep it. Same goes for everyone i know. Glad you agree with me that BW's promises are worth less than the paper they are written on though! =)

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That's complete BS.

 

People who don't use these forums directly are just as concerned as any other soap boxer on this forum. Some more, some less. Its a wash.

 

See, what YOU don't understand is that YOU aren't that important. Bioware needs to appeal to a much larger base then just the critical vocalists on the forums. You might "care" about the game more (but really you don't) but Bioware doesn't care. Your caring about the game doesn't translate into a good business model. Its the silent majority that needs to be happy.

 

Bioware will make decisions that benefit the game, not just the 12 people who think they know how to design an MMO.

 

No they are not. What im saying is; If BW hosted weekly polls, every "monday" where we actually could influence the games diretion in various areas - then the most dedicated players would vote in that poll for sure.

 

And according to you that would mean that shipload of new ppl would log into the forums and vote - while i think the difference would be marginal because the most dedicated players that wants to influence the game, they are allready here.

 

Please elaborate why a commited and dedicated player that wants to influence the games direction wouldn't read the forum at least once per week.

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Eric-

 

None of your explanations hold water for me. First, if only a small number of people read your forums, then why do you bother? Why are you even employed as a community manager, if you are only helping 5% of the player base? Seems like BW could put your salary to better use by killing your job and hiring another developer/designer. That would make 95% of the player base happier, with more content for their money.

 

Second, you've done a decent job of saying when something isn't a "guarantee". Like today's patch, that's coming out tomorrow. The forums will talk about it, of course. But I'd rather bad news, than no news.

 

And that's what you are saying. You 5% don't matter enough for us to ask your opinion, because the negative backlash isn't worth it. Ummmm...honestly, is that really the message you were hoping to send? I sure hope not.

 

Hey Kurin!

 

Forums are a place for discussion, more so than any other medium (such as social media), so the forums are a great place for the Community team to communicate and have conversations with players. That is why you see our activity here. Just in case there was any confusion though, our role as a Community team goes well beyond just the forums, this is where our impact is just most visible (yellow posts!). We also help give feedback and coordinate all marketing publishes to the site, provide feedback to the development team on bugs and future Game Updates, and coordinate and run all Cantina events just to name a few. :rak_03:

 

To your second question, we absolutely value feedback from the forums. In fact, we regularly pass on suggestions, bugs, and questions from the forums onto our development team. This is also why we continue to communicate with players as often as we do.

 

This is very different than a poll though. Even with me setting the precedent that something is not a guarantee, players on the forums will often look at a poll as something which "validates an opinion." In using the species example from before, I saw someone propose a great example which I am going to steal :p

 

Let's say we make a poll about which species players would like to see added next on the forums, and 70% of the poll answers Togruta. Then, in our metrics and data gathering from multiple sources outside the forums, we see that 70% of that data, which is of a higher volume, says players want Gungans. When we announce the next species is Gungans, players on the forums will only look at that poll which was posted here and try to exclaim that "everyone wants Togruta."

 

Certainly we could explain that it is not that way, and that we have other means of gathering data. We could say polls are just a way to gauge opinions from one audience. We could say polls are never a guarantee of a choice being made. Even with all of that, polls by their very nature set a mindset that "this thing won, so you should go with it."

 

-eric

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Let's say we make a poll about which species players would like to see added next on the forums, and 70% of the poll answers Togruta. Then, in our metrics and data gathering from multiple sources outside the forums, we see that 70% of that data, which is of a higher volume, says players want Gungans. When we announce the next species is Gungans, players on the forums will only look at that poll which was posted here and try to exclaim that "everyone wants Togruta."

 

-eric

 

Well, make both then? And let the subscribers on the forums decide which one they would rather have for free, the other would be on the CM and tradeable and therefore available to everyone.

 

I see you make items and weapons and blasters all the time with the cartel packs. How about take some of the really cool ones out...make a poll and ask the forum members (or poll voters) which one they would like as a gift....because all forum members are subscribers right? And keep the other ones in game....still...available to everyone.

Edited by Ayelinna
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Well, make both then? And let the subscribers on the forums decide which one they would rather have for free, the other would be on the CM and tradeable and therefore available to everyone.

 

I see you make items and weapons and blasters all the time with the cartel packs. How about take some of the really cool ones out...make a poll and ask the forum members (or poll voters) which one they would like as a gift....because all forum members are subscribers right? And keep the other ones in game....still...available to everyone.

 

Will you stop trying to make everything about Subscriber Exclusivity? Get over it. You weren't born special. You will probably never be special. You will probably be average like everyone else in the world. Deal with it like everyone else does who wanted to be special and never did.

 

Force your children into show business and live vicariously through them!

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Will you stop trying to make everything about Subscriber Exclusivity? Get over it. You weren't born special. You will probably never be special. You will probably be average like everyone else in the world. Deal with it like everyone else does who wanted to be special and never did.

 

Force your children into show business and live vicariously through them!

 

By your ignorance I assume you've never heard of "role players" and /or "feeling like a valued customer".

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Eric-

 

None of your explanations hold water for me. First, if only a small number of people read your forums, then why do you bother? Why are you even employed as a community manager, if you are only helping 5% of the player base? Seems like BW could put your salary to better use by killing your job and hiring another developer/designer. That would make 95% of the player base happier, with more content for their money.

 

Second, you've done a decent job of saying when something isn't a "guarantee". Like today's patch, that's coming out tomorrow. The forums will talk about it, of course. But I'd rather bad news, than no news.

 

And that's what you are saying. You 5% don't matter enough for us to ask your opinion, because the negative backlash isn't worth it. Ummmm...honestly, is that really the message you were hoping to send? I sure hope not.

You obviously don't know what the community team does if you think it's just the forums.

 

Has there ever been a problem with people on the forums expressing their opinions? That's basically all the general discussion section of the forums is these days. All he's saying is that BW creating a poll for forum users will give the wrong impression the results of the poll are more important and represent more players than it actually does. Frankly, an in-game poll or an email poll would be the way to go if they were going to do any kind of poll.

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By your ignorance I assume you've never heard of "role players" and /or "feeling like a valued customer".

 

Oh don't try to drag us Roleplayers into your delusional dreams of stardom. We are not affiliated with you.

 

WE ARE NOT AFFILIATED WITH HER! ATTENTION EVERYONE! WE ROLEPLAYERS ARE NO AFFILIATED WITH AYELINNA!SHE DOES NOT REPRESENT US! SHE DOES NOT SPEAK ON OUR BEHALF! THANK YOU!

 

You're not dragging us in the mud with you. Go claim your interests in the name of PVP, those guys stopped caring about their image a long time ago.

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Hey Kurin!

 

Forums are a place for discussion, more so than any other medium (such as social media), so the forums are a great place for the Community team to communicate and have conversations with players. That is why you see our activity here. Just in case there was any confusion though, our role as a Community team goes well beyond just the forums, this is where our impact is just most visible (yellow posts!). We also help give feedback and coordinate all marketing publishes to the site, provide feedback to the development team on bugs and future Game Updates, and coordinate and run all Cantina events just to name a few. :rak_03:

 

To your second question, we absolutely value feedback from the forums. In fact, we regularly pass on suggestions, bugs, and questions from the forums onto our development team. This is also why we continue to communicate with players as often as we do.

 

This is very different than a poll though. Even with me setting the precedent that something is not a guarantee, players on the forums will often look at a poll as something which "validates an opinion." In using the species example from before, I saw someone propose a great example which I am going to steal :p

 

Let's say we make a poll about which species players would like to see added next on the forums, and 70% of the poll answers Togruta. Then, in our metrics and data gathering from multiple sources outside the forums, we see that 70% of that data, which is of a higher volume, says players want Gungans. When we announce the next species is Gungans, players on the forums will only look at that poll which was posted here and try to exclaim that "everyone wants Togruta."

 

Certainly we could explain that it is not that way, and that we have other means of gathering data. We could say polls are just a way to gauge opinions from one audience. We could say polls are never a guarantee of a choice being made. Even with all of that, polls by their very nature set a mindset that "this thing won, so you should go with it."

 

-eric

 

First off, I'd like to say, your posts are great, and I agree 100% with what you said.

 

However...

 

I believe the problem here is that the Community Team has been more "reactive" than "proactive".

 

The forum users need the same love & attention that your Facebook users get. What gets done on other social sites for SW:TOR by Bioware should also be here, not just pointed to from the SW:TOR website.

 

So far, you guys are on the defensive all the time, that has to change.

 

I wish I could suggest how, though, I am not running a business and won't pretend how.

 

One suggestion I did see, though, that seems like a VERY good one to me. Stop announcing you're going to do something, and just do it, surprise us. Don't taunt us with "something is coming" because you're hoping to keep us playing until "it" comes.

 

Start surprising us, then let your pleasantly surprised players spread word on different media social sites about how you rain little gifts upon subscribers and F2Pers alike. Heck, you guys could do things like that for reasons such as, "Its a holiday, somewhere" to "It was a very good day at Bioware offices, we felt like spreading the joy".

 

Surprises. I see no other way Bioware can go on the offensive, instead of always playing defense.

Edited by CaptRavenous
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Tell us some more stuff you "know." Who was on the Grassy Knoll? The moon landings were faked?

 

How about you telling me why a commited, interested and dedicated player that wishes to influence the games direction, would not read the forums at least once per week?

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How about you telling me why a commited, interested and dedicated player that wishes to influence the games direction, would not read the forums at least once per week?

 

I've been playing MMOs for nigh on 15 years now. The majority of the people I played with never touched the forums. Those of us that did, well you might say we are bit touched, like, in the head.

 

To that end, a great many of the people who do come this way tend to be passers by looking for help from customer service and tend to get trapped here. It's quite easy to get wrapped up in the forums, you see a glimmering jewel, you think, of a thread. So you reply. Next thing you know, you're getting emails from CS bots telling you about your fourth offense and that you will soon be banned from the forums. It's a vicious thing, But, I've seen it for 15 years now.

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So, we've moved on from people just wanting to be snowflakes, to people wanting to be snowflakes who have a voice.

 

FML at the modern gamer.

 

Unforunately the modern gamer doesn't want to spend time playing the game, and would rather pay real money to get things instead of actually play the game.

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Hey Kurin!

 

Forums are a place for discussion, more so than any other medium (such as social media), so the forums are a great place for the Community team to communicate and have conversations with players. That is why you see our activity here. Just in case there was any confusion though, our role as a Community team goes well beyond just the forums, this is where our impact is just most visible (yellow posts!). We also help give feedback and coordinate all marketing publishes to the site, provide feedback to the development team on bugs and future Game Updates, and coordinate and run all Cantina events just to name a few. :rak_03:

 

To your second question, we absolutely value feedback from the forums. In fact, we regularly pass on suggestions, bugs, and questions from the forums onto our development team. This is also why we continue to communicate with players as often as we do.

 

This is very different than a poll though. Even with me setting the precedent that something is not a guarantee, players on the forums will often look at a poll as something which "validates an opinion." In using the species example from before, I saw someone propose a great example which I am going to steal :p

 

Let's say we make a poll about which species players would like to see added next on the forums, and 70% of the poll answers Togruta. Then, in our metrics and data gathering from multiple sources outside the forums, we see that 70% of that data, which is of a higher volume, says players want Gungans. When we announce the next species is Gungans, players on the forums will only look at that poll which was posted here and try to exclaim that "everyone wants Togruta."

 

Certainly we could explain that it is not that way, and that we have other means of gathering data. We could say polls are just a way to gauge opinions from one audience. We could say polls are never a guarantee of a choice being made. Even with all of that, polls by their very nature set a mindset that "this thing won, so you should go with it."

 

-eric

 

Hi Eric-

 

First, let me say thank you for replying to my post. I truly appreciate it.

 

Second, I hope that at least you understood that my comment on you being fired was meant to make a point, and not anything specific about you, the work you do, or your worth to the company. I was poking a hole in your argument, which I feel like you took correctly, but just in case you didn't, I wanted to make that was clear.

 

To put my point another way, I'm pretty confident that your work on the forums, and the impact of the forums reaches far more than 5% of the player base. It reaches players that have never once logged into the forums. Information starts here, or on facebook, or on a fan site, as a result of your efforts, and eventually gets in game, via guild officers, general chat, etc. It's simply NOT true that the forums and their discussions are noticed by 5% of the player base.

 

Now, would only 5% of the total player base respond to a poll? Probably not even that many. If SWTOR has 500k active players, 5% would mean 25k respondents. No way would a poll get that. It still doesn't inherently mean that polls are worthless.

 

You've mentioned that you do bring player feedback to the developers as part of your role as a community manager. When you do that, doesn't it inherently mean that it's the feedback from a really, really small sample size...and gleaned from a relatively small number of posts on the forums, not necessarily meant to shape developer direction.

 

The issue you are pointing out, and one II'll grant has merit, but which you should be using to your advantage, is that a poll could force BW to implement the winner. Surely, there are decisions that BW has in front of them, where you absolutely can implement the winner of a poll. Even something like a future race decision, a future planet decision, etc. Why would developers care that much what playable race is next, so long as it was POPULAR. And a poll winner would likely mean it's popular.

 

Honestly, I can think of a zillion things that you could make polls about, where there is no "loser" regarding what players choose, especially given the cartel market, and how everything in there is cosmetic....a poll that affects future cartel market content simply cannot have a bad outcome for BW.

 

Here's some more polls that really cannot have a bad outcome: What is your favorite tanking class? What is your favorite healing class? What is your favorite dps class? What is your favorite pvp dps class? What is your favorite pvp healing class? Do tanks have a roll in pvp? What is your favorite warzone? What is your favorite operation boss fight? What is your favorite planet story-arc?

 

Now, there are some polls I can understand you don't want to do: For example: Should we implement feature A or feature B first? Should we nerf class A? Should we buff class B? Should we remove bolster from lvl 55 pvp? Should we (insert strategic design goal here)?

 

None of those types of polls are likely to end well for BW.

 

I guess what I'm saying, is that if you are creative with polls, you could have a gold mine with the results.

Edited by Kurin
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Stop announcing you're going to do something, and just do it, surprise us. Don't taunt us with "something is coming" because you're hoping to keep us playing until "it" comes.

 

Start surprising us, then let your pleasantly surprised players spread word on different media social sites about how you rain little gifts upon subscribers and F2Pers alike. Heck, you guys could do things like that for reasons such as, "Its a holiday, somewhere" to "It was a very good day at Bioware offices, we felt like spreading the joy".

 

This is a case of "Damned if you do, Damned if you don't."

 

When the Devs stop announcing what they're doing, the forums go CRAZY! "You don't communicate with us, you don't care what we think, the game is shutting down, this is a slap in the face, you didn't give us a chance to say whether we want that or not, we are unsatisfied customers!!!"

 

So you suggestion simply will NOT work. At least when they announce things in advance it gives some of the forumites something positive to look forward to. Of course, some people will STILL complain that X isn't coming soon enough, they don't want Y, the Devs hate (PvP/PvE take your pick), why does it take so long, oh will this be a disaster like the last time, etc.

 

There is no way to win with this crowd. Literally NOTHING will satisfy the beast; they even complain when they get Free Stuff because they would have preferred OTHER Free Stuff.

 

No win scenario.

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