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Lycus -> RE: Do the devs read the forum threads ? (6/2/2014 17:38:55)
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I know there have been multiple staff weighing in, including NightWraith, thought I'd just jump on the band wagon!
First off, on the forum note, as already covered - the rules are REALLY simple and for the most part, very generic to the usual game forums. However it is easy for any discussion to get heated between certain players, since this is the case whenever there are a lot of different people with different opinions, different reactions to those opinions and different thought processes all in the same place posting. Though it may seem topics get locked up easy and some feel 'I can never seem to post right in the eyes of the AKs/Mods', the key to it is, almost anything can be discussed as long as it is to do with the game and in the relevant section as long as it is not phrased as an attack on anyone or is clearly something that will only lead to flaming. For example, this topic is one that poses a question on the staff, I know a few people will have seen it and thought that it'd be locked up super quick, but it's politely written and the posts within it take a fair reasonable tone, no one out right attacks any one and people are responding and debating opinions very reasonably. If a topic is handled like this one, I do not see many people hitting trouble, it's just about making sure that your posts are on topic, cannot be perceived as rude or offensive and overall, is reasonable. If you follow those simple rules (though make sure you know the full set of rules also), you usually will not go far wrong, just basic etiquette!
Moving on... I know that almost everyone loves the Devs and like the idea of seeing them around a lot, but doing so can be much harder than it may seem, let me give you a few reasons for this. If a Dev posts on a suggestion, saying it is a good idea, some people will instantly think that it's a promise that that suggestion will be implemented and go in-game. This leads to moaning and word twisting into 'NW promised my idea would go in, but it hasn't, Devs lie', yes that is a minor thing, but it has happened and it can cause problems. Furthermore, if a Dev posts on an idea saying it is cannot be implemented, then it can lead to that player not bothering to suggest anything else, since they've lost hope and can no longer bother.
Now that's just in the suggestions forum, in any forum, if a Dev posts, then people begin to ask 'why have they just posted in that topic, but not mine, not fair'. Once people see Devs posting, they sometimes begin to refuse any answers to questions or their topics unless it is from Devs themselves and multiple times have I seen this happen with topics being full of perfectly good answers but the OP just saying 'I only want an answer from the Devs'. Other issues that arise is that Devs get pulled into discussions, people get hurt when they do not reply back to replies to their post. People who see a Dev post an answer to someone else's answer but not theirs begin to repeatedly post the same question over and over again until it is answered, or begin to flame the devs or others if it is not. Trust me, each of these things have happened on these forums and the last one used to happen frequently in the Design Note Topics.
As already stated, some discussions come to a standstill as soon as a Dev posts and this certainly is not what is wanted! The Developer's read the forums as frequently as they can, but there is a reason that Moderators, AK's and so on are around. The Developers job is in their name, they develop, when they are at work, that is exactly what they do. When they finish work, they have a life and they live like a normal person (yes they are people!), though I know NW, Titan, Charfade and quite a few other members of staff work a lot in their free time, free time is there to relax in and the forums can certainly cause stress! Due to this I assume any reading of the forums for the most part is in work hours, time which is jam packed full of development etc. - though posting on a forums may not seem like a hard task when the Devs are already reading them, it takes a lot more time than you would think sometimes. On twitter, you have a 140 character limit that takes about 20 seconds or so to fill up at max, not much thought has to go into it, since it is all about getting straight to the point. Here however, messages from the Devs have have to be carefully worded so they are not misconstrued, they also tend to have to be much longer.
This likely is being read and thought of as a load of excuses, possibly a number of weak points are in there (I know a few are) - however, at the end of the day, all of these factors together have to come into consideration and sometimes it can lead to more trouble than good if a Developer posts in the 'wrong' way or in a certain topic. Of course, it is great for the Developers to show their faces, but rest assured they frequently read through the topics and if they post, they do so because it will add to the discussion and benefit it. For all those other times, the Moderators and AKs whose positions it is to control and to some extent act as a bridge between forums and developers, and many can give the same answers the Devs would and pass any messages needed back to the Devs (though I know for a fact that if I point out something on the forums to the Devs, they've usually already seen it themselves and taken note!). Though, maybe the Devs could post more, there are reasons they do not post super regularly and that list could go on and on.
Just to finish, there is one final example that may shed more light on it (possibly, this may be really bad :P) - When in a restaurant, and let's say this is a typical restaurant, you give your order, the waiter then takes your order to the chef and the chef cooks up the food. Once the food is served, you eat it, at the end you sometimes give compliments to the chef or sometimes complaints or suggestions, these are passed on by the waiter to the chef. Usually, at no point are you in contact with the chef or vice versa, the waiter is there to act as a bridge between you as a customer and the chef, whose job it is to make the food. The waiter is there to clear up any problems you may have and try to make sure to the best of their ability your experience is the best possible. The chef is there to make the food, sometimes they will come out to accept compliments, complaints or suggestions directly, but this is only when it is possible, since the waiter is there to take those message for them. Yes, you can be pedantic and point out not all restaurants work like that, but that is your traditional and general way of how one runs.
Now to translate that; this is the forums, players come on make suggestions, have discussions and ask questions, the Moderators/AKs where possible and when necessary take these and give them to the developers and the developers make and update the game. Once the game is updated, the players play it, at the end they may have suggestions, complaints or compliments, these are sometimes put on the forums and passed on by the Moderators/AKs. The AKs/Moderators are there to make sure, to the best of their ability the experience is safe, fair and accessible for everyone to the best they possibly can. The developers are there to make the game and update it, sometimes they can make it on to the forums to post replies and directly respond to said suggestions, discussions or complaints, but only when possible and when absolutely neccessary because the Moderators/AKs have there positions to post replies and deal with issues on their behalf. The change here is that the developers do actually listen/read to almost everything said here, however do not reply frequantly for all the long reasons listed thus far and many more.
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