I assume you're talking about the "Hamburger" Hepler crapstorm? That was a campaign waged elsewhere(Twitter, 4chan and reddit), not here. Here she only faced criticism for being a game developer that doesn't like games.

Okay thanks for clarifying.

But we've actually heard that from devs. Several of them, in fact. Their delicate sensibilities can't handle the sheer "toxicity" of these forums. It's simply too much for delicate snowflakes to handle. When you foster an attitude of victimization and "I'm special because I'm me" this is the result. No one can handle even constructive criticism because they think it's inexcusable to hurt someone's feelings. It's a worse offense to hurt someone's feelings than to make a lousy product, according to BioWare and the worst(but growing) segment of their fanbase. 

And the only other reasonable explanation is that it's an attempt to quell negative feedback. Their stated reasoning is entirely nonsensical and contradictory. 

To be fair I've have seen some posts aim towards the dev's that are down right nasty and inexcusable and the dev's shouldn't have to put up with that (especially with what happened to one of the DA:2 dev's). But other than that I agree with you the best way to deal with "toxicity" is better forum moderation and improved site rules, closing down the forums is counterproductive and will harm Bioware in the long run. A lot of the criticism and feedback I've seen on the forums was very genuine and warranted if Bioware wants to improve their products they should face the music.

With little information, no proper gameplay footage and the closing of the official forums its very hard to get interested in ME:A. Without the official forums Bioware won't be able to apply criticism and feedback to improve ME:A and future Bioware games. The closing of the forums before the release of ME:A also raises doubts about Bioware actually being confident in ME:A.

Looks great so far, I'm looking forward to seeing what the final version looks like keep up the good work.

It's a multi-step process. Some other people have some similar stuff on the works so we are all trying to balance so we don't repeat too much work and can create reliable backups.

 

1. Create bot/scraper that gathers right information

2. Run a test in a smaller subforum and inspect output

3. Run a test import from small sample size into new forum to see how conversion from ip boards > html  > phpbb boards looks like

4. Confirm how user claiming will work for those who want to keep their posting history

5. If everything looks doable, commence run of larger subforums

6. Actual import

 

I'm currently working on step 1, which is one of the hardest as these boards are massive and we need to get the right information saved in the right format. I estimate I have another 8 hours of work. Step 2 should be 1~2 hours depending on which one we try, and 3 should follow in closely. The results of 3 will determine feasibility of the project

Sounds good looking forward to hearing how it turns out regardless.

OP when do you hope to have the forums import system ready?

Said this in the twitter thread...

I understand that there are people in the forums who can say rather nasty things to the dev's (it happened with one of the DA:2 dev's but I don't know her name) and Bioware shouldn't have to put up with it. But closing down the forums altogether is actually counterproductive to dealing with those problems, better moderation of the forums and improving the site rules would've been a more effective solution.

I understand that there are people in the forums who can say rather nasty things to the dev's (it happened with one of the DA:2 dev's but I don't know her name) and Bioware shouldn't have to put up with it. But closing down the forums altogether is actually counterproductive to dealing with those problems, better moderation of the forums and improving the site rules would've been a more effective solution.

The mods must be having the time of their lives.

 

*snip*

Don't know why their bothering to lock down the threads since BSN is going to shutdown anyway so they might as well let us have some fun.

Back when moderation shut down the Lobby an alternative was made, so that those who desired to could continue to enjoy the Lobby and keep in contact with their friends.I never made a massive push in terms of trying to advertise beyond the regulars of the Lobby, because I figured it wouldn't interest everyone and that word would get out to the friends of those that joined anyway, however, since this very forum approaches its final hour, I feel like I should make some attempt of raising awareness toward its existence. So if you wish, then feel free to join the VSN which has 200 plus members and counting: http://vroomvroom.freeforums.net/

 

I'm wishing everyone the best! The conversations that I've had on here were some of the best that I've ever had on the internet and I'm sad to see this place go, but I am not surprised. 

Haven't been there in while just came back due to today's announcement regarding the closing of BSN and I say its good to be back on your forums.

let it suffice to say I have even less hope for ME:A now

Lack of information about the premise of the game, no proper gameplay footage and now the closing of BSN pretty much paint a grim picture on how the game will turn out. It looks like Bioware doesn't have much confidence in ME:A.

Well, they are making Cyberpunk 2077 that I have been really looking forward to. 

Cyberpunk 2077 looks fantastic, I'm not into fantasy games so Cyberpunk will be my first CDPR game.

With respect Allan, I said this in another thread and I'll say it here...

Without a effective means of giving feedback, criticism, concern etc. its going to be hard for players to have confidence in their products. By closing down their own forums Bioware is not only making themselves look bad but their also going to make even harder to sell their products. In order to sell a product one must respond to criticism and apply feedback to their products and without that criticism and feedback people are only going to be skeptical of their product.

Allan without BSN its going to be very hard for Bioware to improve their upcoming and future games. People will lose confidence in their ability to develop games since there is a lack of dialogue between the dev's and the community.

Closing down BSN is counterproductive to improving future games as well as upcoming titles. Your not putting much confidence in your games by reducing the means of giving effective feedback.

What you doing Bioware is not only indefensible but also insulting to your fans, closing these forums will only make people see you in a more negative light and be more skeptical of your products.

They did it because Shepard dies and they chose to ignore. Call it what you will but that makes sense. They're politicians. Shep was basically the only one who cared and knew but was killed.

No it doesn't, it makes no sense what-so-ever and if anything it makes the council even more stupid especially since they admitted that sovereign was a reaper at the end of ME1.

Well, there's nothing a DLC can do about that.

Doesn't Citadel make it canon that the Council always did realize that Sovereign was a Reaper?

The problem is that at the end of ME1 they admitted that Sovereign was a reaper, but in ME2 they flat out deny it.

*Your* Shepard. Or *certain people's* Shepard. Having the option doesn't mean you have to take it, or that it is the correct option to take. There were a number of recurring themes in the game and the trilogy as a whole. And Shepard ultimately obeying the Reaper overmind and capitulating by doing what they wanted wasn't one of them. That actually goes against all possible Shepard characters, since he never backed down in the first and didn't do so in the second, never capitulated in the face of the impossible, even when everything and everyone was against him. 

 

Not really as others have said before too much has been committed to the crucible and they have nothing, they should see it through to the end regardless of the result.

Curing the Genophage is horrible, if you don't have everything in place. It's not a simple black and white thing. 

 

Exactly, sabotaging the cure when Wrev is alive makes sense since Wrev makes it very clear he wants to start another Krogan rebellion as soon as possible after the war.

All of which would mean more if it pertained to a single thing I said. Besides, I think we're all pretty much agreed now that there exists no good reason to trust in anything the Catalyst has to say for itself, though the game rewards the player for doing so.

 

That was my earlier contention. That remains one of the many (many, many, many) reasons why the ending blows.

It does, if a game is about unity then why give the option to betray allies on several occasions? The ending was just poorly executed that's all nothing more nothing less.

But he can also cure the Genophage, give the Geth true intelligence and secure peace between the Quarians and the Geth. And if you believe the EMS counter, those are the "correct" choices. Sure, you could take "evil" choices there, but even so you were doing what *you* thought was best to save the galaxy. Shepard is trying to save every living creature in the galaxy, not intentionally being evil and sabotaging the efforts.

 

And if you think the ending gave you 3 evil choices, you're mistaken. Yes, from a moral standpoint all four endings could be considered evil, but the game didn't consider them evil. That's an important distinction. So, what Fandango said still holds true. 

No it isn't, if it was true then Shepard wouldn't been given the option to sabotage the cure and betray Wrex or let the geth die on Rannoch. The whole idea is that is Shepard willing to do what ever it takes to stop the reaper's?

Look, the Catalyst is clearly unreliable and the game rewards those players who are willing to trust in its strange claims and embrace its monstrous solutions. Which isn't to say that Mac and Casey intended to pervert the trilogy so. They just did!

Except it clearly doesn't and at several points in ME3 Shepard can betray his/her allies. For instance Shepard can kill Mordin to ensure the cure is sabotaged and in doing so betray Wrex, On Rannoch Shepard can turn his back on the geth to which Legion/Vi will try to stop him/her and during the coup Shepard can kill the VS.

Bingo. You know, that Mac and Casey turned Mass Effect into a celebration of ignorance and bigotry is just one of the many - entirely legitimate - problems people have with the ending to the trilogy. Indeed, that the furore following the release of that game extended well beyond these boards - and lingers still - is testament to the awful job they did of trying to conclude things. That some people still enjoy the game is great for them, but there really is no defending that ending. There just isn't. 

Except they didn't, it was just a poorly executed ending nothing more. Also there are several instances where Shepard can betray his/her allies i.e. sabotaging the cure while Wrex is alive.

There is nothing really to be excited about since we know next to nothing about the game.