Server forums?

thanks.

This isn't a guild forum. I obviousley am not going to purchase a new server out of my own pocket so running it my Gaming Community server hence the URL.

I'll not spend a great amount on this after all the server are on but atleast it's a place people can go to for the EU servers in one place. if it grows great...if not, it's just hours of my life wasted

Updated my article with interview with Allison Berryman.

http://tor-talk.com/community-fog-of-war/

Its time to speak up.

so, basically fluff speak for, do it yourself, because we don't want to?

Warhammer HAD official forums until they killed their own game. There's no need for server forums when they go from 100+ servers down to 4. You don't need forums when you have no players.

Unofficial forums are ok for a temporary fix, but anyone new coming to the game won't know about them. The community begins on the official site. It expands to outside sites. Without a sense of belonging, the community can never begin in the first place. We each end up in our own world and never really mesh.

I understand the need for moderation, but when selling as many copies as Bioware has, hiring a few people to watch server forums is a small drop in the bucket.

Penny wise, pound foolish.

i understand that Bioware wants to make sure they are providing a good game and the ability to moderate, but once again, they're showing their lack of experience with MMO in their decisions.

they are basing their decisions upon their objectives, rather than the objectives of the players. In a console game, you just have to push out a good game, people buy it once, and you just have to worry about the next game.

In a MMO, you're dealing with subscribers, and that subscription depends upon the happiness of your base.

we're not talking about the run of the mill QQ that happens with every MMO, we're talking about a fundamental part of a MMO, and Bioware, having never done a MMO before, is understandably underestimating the importance of it.

#1 the players want to be able to play the game - the list of "FULL" servers when one logs in is disheartening, and i'm not 100% sure what can be done about it.

#2 the players want to be able to communicate with other players who are "closer to home", ie, their own server. This is a very simple fix, unlike the server launch debacle.

at least get #2 right.

well that was unexpected.

So I'll keep on with my thread on unofficial server forums

(See my sig).

Im a veteran forum user, so will keep it as uptodate as information allows.

Can't agree at all with Bioware on this or their arguments for not having sever forums. Not having them in my opinion is a big mistake, and so it seems do a lot of other players. It helps with community when all the players from one server can hang out and socialize on there own server forum.

I think maybe Bioware should rethink this and for a change just go with what has been the norm.

My 2 cents...

Bioware states that they do not have server forums because they are resource intensive to moderate what would ultimately become a flamefest.

I agree that server forums become a place where people are called out by opposing factions and rival guilds. However, server forums have all the positives that have been previously suggested in this thread. Bioware is a very profitable company and surely knew the scope and cost of entering into the MMO genre (post WoW). MMO's flourish and are centered around the interaction with hundreds of people; its what seperates the genre from others. Why, then, would you exclude such a key aspect and prevent people from interacting in a largely social game?

It hurts the emotional/social attachment that builds great MMOs. People leave, and come back to friends. People find spouses in MMOs. Open world pvp DEPENDS on server forums (at least in this game). There are so many reasons to implement server forums. Hire a few more Canadians Bioware, and ensure the community thrives

this reminds me of one of those people with totally jacked up specs, and coming up with ridiculous reasons for their choices.

there's a "cookie cutter" for a reason. just like there's a reason why all other SUCCESSFUL MMOs have server forums.