tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-556550482796579546.post8864617528868225091..comments2014-07-18T03:29:27.385-07:00Comments on Finding Fiero in Game Design: Official Forums: Yes or NoLisa Boleynhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13164367290626572483noreply@blogger.comBlogger2125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-556550482796579546.post-77574139044018975202008-04-01T19:52:00.000-07:002008-04-01T19:52:00.000-07:00What's amusing to me is the fact that Khatie (the ...What's amusing to me is the fact that Khatie (the Community Manager who asked this question) is also fully in support of Official Forums - the thread in question was in the category of "engendering discussion." The flareup of SGW hate that this caused is kind of sad - if ever there was a studio with good community contact and excellent flexibility vis-a-vis their players, it's CME.<BR/><BR/>That all said, yes, I think Official Forums are pretty darn important as well. As a developer, I enjoy player contact, and enjoy working with players to get to the bottom of various issues. So often, a player will have Problem X, and another player will have Problem Y, and it will turn out that both issues are actually symptoms of the larger disease that is Problem A. Fix Problem A, and a variety of symptoms will be cured. Without a single clearinghouse of data (and patient developers who will sift through the chaff and interpret confusing forum posts), Problem A would not have been identified!<BR/><BR/>CME has a lot riding on Stargate Worlds, and they wouldn't conceive of letting the community down by going dark, especially with such a strong storyline-driven game.Steve Williamshttps://www.blogger.com/profile/16712965776564841251noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-556550482796579546.post-76670276792647295662008-03-29T22:40:00.000-07:002008-03-29T22:40:00.000-07:00I feel like official forums are great and benefici...I feel like official forums are great and beneficial to the game community if they are executed well. They need to allow the members to build a community.<BR/><BR/>An example of very badly executed official forums (in my opinion) is Runescape.<BR/><BR/>I don't want to get any flak for talking about Runescape in general because it always gets a negative reaction, so I'm going to leave the game out of this.<BR/><BR/>The forums don't allow for any community bonding at all. It starts with just the layout - the pages move by SO fast that it's impossible to keep up on a topic. I guess it's a good thing that they're so popular, but topics can literally drop to the fourth page in 5 minutes. You aren't allowed to post links, or talk about other games, or anything other than strictly discussion about the game.<BR/><BR/>That being said - the RunescapeCommunity forums are a perfect example of why forums are a good idea. They are a great community for players and clans to get together and discuss things in an open fashion. If only they were official, it would be a great system.<BR/><BR/>My experience with MMOs has been fairly limited to Runescape and WoW (and I never went to the WoW forums), but I feel like they can be very beneficial if done right. Allow for players to make friends, talk about things in a not-overmoderated fashion, and it can be a big asset to the game.APassivePokehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/00683002110020904282noreply@blogger.com