So, in a fit of curiosity, I decided to see if it was my imagination or if the communication levels had, indeed, slacked off.

 

August 8th - We get the "new and improved communication era" and 31 dev/community team posts on the Dev Tracker. Of those, two are what I'd consider housekeeping posts (maintenance, Q&A, servers are back up, reposting announcements from the main page). So that's 29 posts of some sort of substance.

 

August 8 - 31 posts, 2 housekeeping = 29

August 9 - 15 posts, 1 housekeeping = 14

August 10 - 13 posts, 2 housekeeping = 11

August 11 & 12 - weekend

August 13 - 17 posts, 2 housekeeping = 15

August 14 - 9 posts, 1 housekeeping = 8

August 15 - 8 posts, 2 housekeeping = 6

August 16 - 8 posts, 3 housekeeping = 5

August 17 - 4 posts, 1 housekeeping = 3

August 18 & 19 - weekend

August 20 = 2 posts, 0 housekeeping = 2

 

In 9 days we've gone from 29 posts per day to 2. Two. Color me not impressed with the stamina of the "new and improved communication."

 

Look, I'm not even counting the number of "we have no new information, please check back later" responses. I'm just counting the number of posts total. If you want us to have confidence in your willingness to communicate then promises need to be backed up by actions.

Very interesting post, I hope their promises of "new and improved communication." were not empty after all.

People are asking the same questions over and over again. What are the devs supposed to talk about that they haven't already covered? Once they have updated information, and they are given the go to let us know, there will be a big burst of communication again.

people are asking the same questions over and over because bioware hasnt answered them yet. the q&a's are a complete joke, since they only choose the easiest fluff questions

it really is disappointing that this game is following this path. it had so much potential, and was so poorly managed. it really makes you wonder what kind of credentials you actually need to become a lead developer for an mmo

I think maybe it is time to set some context on behalf of the community support team. So I'm going to just lay this out for you......

They let a lot of good people go in July, as part of the restructuring I'm sure. Don't believe me? You can follow the bread crumbs via linked-in where there are some very positive recommendations by Allison and Joveth for community staff members at Bioware. Clearly fine people doing fine work that had to be let go because so many people just could not stand to keep subscribing to this MMO.

So begining in late July, they now operate with a much smaller staff, as most of us can observe by their more limited coverage during weekends and off-hours.

At the same time, they stepped up and took on a more active role of being the information channel between the forum membership and the developemnt teams. And it was not lip service, they have been walking the talk and scouring the forums for questions and things that warrant clarifications and then working inside Bioware to bring those to you.

And all of this in an environment of ungratefullness each day in the forums by some of the membership.

So personally, I'm going to encourage everyone to step back a couple steps an cut them a good slice of slack and consideration. Becasue they are doing more, with less staff and resources, and doing it better.

So if you want to ignore all of this and just go on being critical.... nobody can stop you. But I encourage you to think about what I have shared here, and maybe temper your approach to the community support team and show them some gratitude.

And no.. I am not a Bioware insider. But I am observant, can analyze and can put the pieces together fairly well using publicly available information.

I think maybe it is time to set some context on behalf of the community support team. So I'm going to just lay this out for you......

 

They let a lot of good people go in July, as part of the restructuring I'm sure. Don't believe me? You can follow the bread crumbs via linked-in where there are some very positive recommendations by Allison and Joveth for community staff members at Bioware. Clearly fine people doing fine work that had to be let go because so many people just could not stand to keep subscribing to this MMO.

 

So begining in late July, they now operate with a much smaller staff, as most of us can observe by their more limited coverage during weekends and off-hours.

 

At the same time, they stepped up and took on a more active role of being the information channel between the forum membership and the developemnt teams. And it was not lip service, they have been walking the talk and scouring the forums for questions and things that warrant clarifications and then working inside Bioware to bring those to you.

 

And all of this in an environment of ungratefullness each day in the forums by some of the membership.

 

So personally, I'm going to encourage everyone to step back a couple steps an cut them a good slice of slack and consideration. Becasue they are doing more, with less staff and resources, and doing it better.

 

So if you want to ignore all of this and just go on being critical.... nobody can stop you. But I encourage you to think about what I have shared here, and maybe temper your approach to the community support team and show them some gratitude.

 

And no.. I am not a Bioware insider. But I am observant, can analyze and can put the pieces together fairly well using publicly available information.

Say what you will, Andryah, downplay all you want (and you will, according to your past posts).

The OP HAS A VALID POINT.

Bioware... deliver what you promise. Keep the communication going.

I think maybe it is time to set some context on behalf of the community support team. So I'm going to just lay this out for you......

 

They let a lot of good people go in July, as part of the restructuring I'm sure. Don't believe me? You can follow the bread crumbs via linked-in where there are some very positive recommendations by Allison and Joveth for community staff members at Bioware. Clearly fine people doing fine work that had to be let go because so many people just could not stand to keep subscribing to this MMO.

 

So begining in late July, they now operate with a much smaller staff, as most of us can observe by their more limited coverage during weekends and off-hours.

 

At the same time, they stepped up and took on a more active role of being the information channel between the forum membership and the developemnt teams. And it was not lip service, they have been walking the talk and scouring the forums for questions and things that warrant clarifications and then working inside Bioware to bring those to you.

 

And all of this in an environment of ungratefullness each day in the forums by some of the membership.

 

So personally, I'm going to encourage everyone to step back a couple steps an cut them a good slice of slack and consideration. Becasue they are doing more, with less staff and resources, and doing it better.

 

So if you want to ignore all of this and just go on being critical.... nobody can stop you. But I encourage you to think about what I have shared here, and maybe temper your approach to the community support team and show them some gratitude.

 

And no.. I am not a Bioware insider. But I am observant, can analyze and can put the pieces together fairly well using publicly available information.

It's like you didn't even read the post and just ran in to defend Bioware...

The numbers do not lie... the OP laid the information out clearly and concisely...

The "new and improved" Community Team have consistently communicated with the subscriber base LESS and LESS as the days have moved on...

It's not difficult to fact check if you'd like...

It's like you didn't even read the post and just ran in to defend Bioware...

 

The numbers do not lie... the OP laid the information out clearly and concisely...

 

The "new and improved" Community Team have consistently communicated with the subscriber base LESS and LESS as the days have moved on...

 

It's not difficult to fact check if you'd like...

That reminds me, what ever happened to Crowe?

So personally, I'm going to encourage everyone to step back a couple steps an cut them a good slice of slack and consideration. Becasue they are doing more, with less staff and resources, and doing it better.

.

I've been on a similar situation and I feel for those guys, but many people look at the forums to see if the game is dead or if it has a future, no interaction with the community, no developers posts give the appearance that this game is dead and it's on maintenance mode.

Belive me, some people decide if they stay subbed or not based on communication at this point, I resubbed because they said there was gonna be a new event this month.

I think maybe it is time to set some context on behalf of the community support team. So I'm going to just lay this out for you......

 

They let a lot of good people go in July, as part of the restructuring I'm sure. Don't believe me? You can follow the bread crumbs via linked-in where there are some very positive recommendations by Allison and Joveth for community staff members at Bioware. Clearly fine people doing fine work that had to be let go because so many people just could not stand to keep subscribing to this MMO.

 

So begining in late July, they now operate with a much smaller staff, as most of us can observe by their more limited coverage during weekends and off-hours.

 

At the same time, they stepped up and took on a more active role of being the information channel between the forum membership and the developemnt teams. And it was not lip service, they have been walking the talk and scouring the forums for questions and things that warrant clarifications and then working inside Bioware to bring those to you.

 

And all of this in an environment of ungratefullness each day in the forums by some of the membership.

 

So personally, I'm going to encourage everyone to step back a couple steps an cut them a good slice of slack and consideration. Becasue they are doing more, with less staff and resources, and doing it better.

 

So if you want to ignore all of this and just go on being critical.... nobody can stop you. But I encourage you to think about what I have shared here, and maybe temper your approach to the community support team and show them some gratitude.

 

And no.. I am not a Bioware insider. But I am observant, can analyze and can put the pieces together fairly well using publicly available information.

In other words those 'fine people' were dead weight since the staff is doing more with less now?

That reminds me, what ever happened to Crowe?

Good point, where is the ultimate defender of all things BW ?

Good point, where is the ultimate defender of all things BW ?

Maybe he was one of the layoffs?

In other words those 'fine people' were dead weight since the staff is doing more with less now?

No. Not really. I have been through this type of thing as well. You adapt and learn to do more with less. It is not ideal to be sure, but unfortunately it is quite common these days.

The reverse is true however, good profits and a good economic outlook loosens the purse strings. New projects and staff are then wanted and needed.

No way, they need all those murky promises and promises-to-look-into-stuff in order to stall just a little bit longer.

Vague hand-waving seems to be all they have at the moment, but unlike the Sith and Jedi they don't have the force of will behind it to make us look the other way. Which says a lot, really.

Guild Summit was in April, correct? It's been a third of the year since then - you would at least anticipate a revision of their announcements there or even acknowledgement that the Summit happened.

Unfortunately this thread isn't going to get any response. It would have been quite interesting to see the spin on this and the lack of Tweets coming out (I disliked the idea, I'll admit as I don't have Twitter, but at least people could chat with the SW:ToR team. Now their twitter account is dead, worse than the Dev Tracker.)

It doesn't help that customer services is now moderating the forum and has absolutely no idea about what needs policing and what doesn't.

Angry people don't need policing. Abusive people do.

It doesn't help that customer services is now moderating the forum and has absolutely no idea about what needs policing and what doesn't.

And there's one topic that if you even so much as brush with your wide, vague, hand-waving questions your topic gets locked and you get re-directed to the sub-basement behind a locked door guarded by an angry leopard*.

*no, I haven't read the book in a while, can't remember the exact quote and can't be bothered to google it. Cookies for those who get the reference though.

If I stopped posting in the forums, does that mean I'm not working? No. Infact it probably means I'm working more.

lol YES you bunch of dummies

So personally, I'm going to encourage everyone to step back a couple steps an cut them a good slice of slack and consideration. Becasue they are doing more, with less staff and resources, and doing it better.

I'm actually a pretty reasonable person. I like to double-check facts and listen to what people are saying. I'm actually willing to accept "we don't have more information now, please check back later" FROM THE COMMUNITY TEAM because frankly they're messengers to a large extent. What information gets released is the province of devs and marketing.

However, what I'm frankly tired of is 1) promises that have been made and not carried through and 2) being unclear of the direction of this game, what's in the pipeline and what's been scratched. Both of those are issues the community team can address. The first one by following through on THEIR promise of more communication and the second by clarifying what's still on the table in terms of development.

I don't expect 29 posts per day, as they did the first day of this new communication era. The next couple days they hovered around 15; that's fairly reasonable to me. If this slacking of communication is temporary, great, fabulous, let's move on. However, their history when it comes to "new and improved communication" is not fabulous so forgive me if I don't trust quite as quickly.

I believe the CM said on 8/8 that we weren't to give them too much slack. The slack in the rope's been reached. Pick up the pace.

As was said earlier, the dev tracker lit up conveniently around re-sub time. Wonder why so many of us didn't renew? We didn't believe the whole "new and improved" communication that would be coming. This is very similar to how we didn't believe the content roll out/etc schedule promised.

And for all these comments I see about "you're still here" or "you are still subbed, LOL" all over different message threads...

Unsubbed people can post. Also, unsubbed people will STILL get a bunch of Cartel Coins when it goes F2P. So nothing wrong with keeping up to how the scam is going while waiting to see if/when we get our free stuff. Laugh at yourself for paying for something... and having NO idea what you're paying for outside of an interesting single player game. If you think you're paying $15/mo for more than a single player game, let me know what you find so compelling. Maybe I missed something.

If you think you're paying $15/mo for more than a single player game, let me know what you find so compelling. Maybe I missed something.

This thread is about community team communication, however, I like the ops, fps, and leveling alts. What keeps me here is the story, but I spend a lot of time in groups...which would be difficult in a single player game.

At any rate, I would hope that the community team's efforts wouldn't revolve around six month subscriptions.

At any rate, I would hope that the community team's efforts wouldn't revolve around six month subscriptions.

If you like conspiracy theories, check out:

original release date of RWZs, and then when they were pulled

date of starting server transfers/finishing transfers (remember you had to have active account to use)

date of announcing 'increased communication' and 'TFB:soon'

and the other big 'teasers' we have been given.

Then compare the above dates to common subscription dates (notably 2 month cards, 3/6 month subs.) It's pretty eerie. Talking about 4-5 significant date windows(depends how many of them you look at as 'big periods'.) All very small given a few variables.. but 3-5 day windows. Lots of coincidence of what occurs JUST before these 4 windows.

Since you seem to like research, remember to include 30 days free for buying the game and 30 days free we were all given (which also falls into a 'neat' window...). Fun stuff

Maybe he was one of the layoffs?

Or maybe he was just very tired of people obnoxiously labeling him a BioWare employee for having his opinion on things and just left the forums?... /shrug

I gotta be honest, I'm a Bioware fanboy but you really shouldn't be coming out with a grand announcement of improved communication and talk of "We will deliver" and all that only for it to become a sprinkling of "We don't know yet" comments within 2 weeks. I'm sure their hearts are in the right place, but you need more for the community. I get the risks of putting even tentative dates to anything, but this whole communication thing needed to be a company wide goal, not just Joveth and his team. We've heard of Makeb and HK for a while now and still don't have any indication of whether either is coming this year, whether they will be free, paid only to F2P players, etc.

I'm not one of those people who go F2P = failure, because really other than WoW today, what sub only MMO is a raging success? I get that F2P hybrid is the future for every MMO. But, we know very little about how its going to work here and that's a MAJOR thing the whole increased communication should be addressing even to the point of redundancy. And with some more solid answers than a constant barrage of "We will let you know". You still want us to keep subscribing, but right now its a lot on faith. Every announcement I hear says quicker content updates, yet there isn't even a sniff of anything new on the PTS. How about something like "By the end of this month, or end of September the PTS will have 1.4"? Its been almost 2 months since 1.3, which had very little new content although the LFG tool is probably the best thing added to this game since launch. I, honestly am just seeing more talk and less delivering.

I will say though stupid questions like "Tell us if the game will be shutdown if EA is sold" are just that, stupid.

Or maybe he was just very tired of people obnoxiously labeling him a BioWare employee for having his opinion on things and just left the forums?... /shrug

Or maybe he has just lost faith in Bioware? Anyone's guess is as good as mine.

lol YES you bunch of dummies

Unless your job was to communicate to the public. You do know that these people are not the developers; it isn't like some coder is stopping work to come write us a message; it is someone whose job it is to communicate to us...