156 ответов в этой теме

[the_one_54321]

BioWare staff,

Your original fanbase has expressed a general displeasure concerning the recent arrivals in the social site. We feel slighted and abused that you have allowed such insulting, vulgar, disrespectful behavior go on with so little moderation and even less reprimanding.

We remember the old BioWare forums where someone who posted against the rules was warned once or twice and then banned. We remember the old BioWare forums where this kind of thing was viewed as unacceptable by the community managers and the moderators. We cannot help but feel a bit betrayed that you have turned over such a new leaf simply through the changes in style and desired customer base. We are, in general, very displeased with you over this.

We would like our old forums back. Or, at least, to have the same kind of respect, behavior, and "all-in-good-fun" and helpful attitude that used to be prevelant on the old forums.

[the_one_54321]

In specific, I have seen a whole lot of locked topics. Frankly I (and a number of others have expressed this as well) would like to see people simply get banned outright for this kind of stuff. The BioWare forums used to be a worthwhile place to socialize online. With the new "community" it's just like any other forum on the internet. We are not happy about this.

[Rodro Lliv]

I partially agree. It's true that the new forums receive more spam, and some people's behaviour is getting annoying, but I think moderators are doing a good job in general. In any case, these issues should probably be discussed via PM with the coordinators (Priestly and Wachter).

[Ponce de Leon]

Yes, I agree as well. There isn't much left to say, but I wanted to point out some things that happened in the past.

I won't make any names here, but I saw someone posting a link to a porn site in a thread. Normally, I wouldn't see that person again, since the thing that he/she has done is NOT funny, useful and it simply breaks the community. I think someone reported this person, but I can still see it around.

A second fact, much more present, is the vulgarity on the forums. On the old boards, it was nice to see most of the people calm and not vulgar. We knew our places, and we were keeping the forums as clean as possible. Here, there is either a censorship in almost all posts made, but some people won't even censor the "big" word. Not even an auto-censor in some occasions.

I usually don't get offended, but being called an "idiot" or a "gay" or even worse is simply very annoying when said by someone that I don't know.



So, is there a general fear to ban users, or what else? I can see these forums appear to be much more active than the old ones were, but still, you people should keep a sharper eye on some members. And be more evil.

[Fhaileas]

Thank you for finally articulating my feelings about this new "community". The level of vulgarity, crass off-topic retorts and personal attacks is appalling. The Mass Effect forum in particular in it's current state is a virtual cesspool rife with (seemingly) angst ridden adolescents. I guess its natural that as Bioware games become more popular the forums will attract a more "mainstream" crowd, however the level of moderation should expand accordingly. Yet, even if the past few months on the old ME2 forums is anything to go by even the old forums were losing whatever modicum of sophistication and substance they had once possessed.

[the_one_54321]

Thank you for adding. I know that I am not the only old community member that feels this way. Everyone, this is your opportunity to share how you feel about the new "community." Please do so.

[Punahedan]

To be honest, I don't even go to the forum section of the site anymore; I stick to the statuses and group discussions. The main forums have become so... I don't really have a sufficient word to describe them anymore. They've become terrible. It's like when a really boring teacher is absent and is replaced by a lame substitute teacher - everyone starts chewing gum, throwing things, yelling, hitting each other, drawing nasty pictures on the chalkboard...



I'm fairly content in the groups, but it shouldn't come to the point where I just lose interest in visiting the forums because it's so devoid of respect and good conversation. I'm not saying that the BioFolks and mods aren't doing their jobs, I know they are, it just seems like they're being a little too nice and tolerant of things they wouldn't have before.

[Deviija]

I dread entering the forums. I have resigned myself to the sanctuary of a few groups where I know my friends are. This isn't like the old forums where it was heavily moderated and some semblance of control was had. We could have our silly humor but we'd also have serious discussion and would be enforced to be respectful. No hate-mongering and no overuse of swear words (or purposely trying to get around the censors with swear words) and the abundance of insults. It is unfortunate.



I met some very interesting people in my time on the old forums, but I do not see this happening on the new forums due to the atmosphere and behavior that's allow to multiply.

[Kepha]

Honestly I don't think its a new forum versus old forum thing, I think its the fact that forums while the game is in development attract a different set of people than the mass free for all you get once the game is released or close to released. I've seen it happen before.



It may also be that there are things about this forum setup that make it more difficult to moderate, as I think in general there aren't fewer mods, it just may be more difficult for the mods that there are to keep up.

[Maria Caliban]

I've mostly flead the forums as well. I used to love hanging out on the DA forums and Off-Topic, but now those places are unfriendly. Most of the old posters seem to hide out in the groups as well.

[the_one_54321]

They have like 30 mods now. They used to have only one or two per forum before, with some working across several forums. Honestly, I think it's more a matter of choice than being overwhelmed. I see Stan lock so many threads, and no ban a single one of the members that start them. Even the ones that talk openly about pirating BioWares games. I don't understand this at all.

[DaySeeker]

I think this is how people talk to each other in multi player games, this strange overly testosterone-y pwnrship where one takes delight in humiliating one's opponent, joy in mimicking rude behavior, and that the crassest is the strongest. It seems like many don't even know how to talk with others or perhaps that if everyone is a fictionalized representation of oneself then you can be whatever you want and no one is real.



I hope that if those of us who know how to have a dialogue remain respectful and ignore those who are not while supporting each other they will see an alternative or be embarassed into seeing their own behavior.

[Odd Bet]

Was just thinking this exact same thought.



I used to read the forums daily, and post occasionally, then I had to take a break because work got hectic. Now I return to find that even browsing the forums will only result in me being disgusted by the kind of behavior that goes on. The only reason I even found this thread was because I saw it in my little news feed.



Hopefully after the ME2 launch, BioWare will be able to rein things in a bit.

[CerebraLArsenaL]

Yeah I was kind of disheartened when I posted about getting games early, and many people missed the soul of my post, and resorted to sophmoric name calling

[Kevin Lynch]

I forwarded on a link to this thread to Victor to make sure that it gets seen. BioWare and we moderators want and need to hear this type of feedback.



I definitely get what y'all are saying and I think you may notice some leniency going by the wayside. The balance that has to be maintained is keeping customers while maintaining a welcoming site with civil and respectful discussion for members of the forum, but perhaps there has been too much erring on the side of caution so far.

[Andarthiel_Demigod]

Hmm I haven't really noticed excessive abuse on the forums. Does it usually happen on all of them or just specific ones?
I only read Off-Topic.

[Whitewolf]

As being a side viewer myself (mostly), i have to agree. I enjoyed reading topics in these forums but lately i'm rather just checking that if there have come up any new posts from devs. It's not actually enjoyable anymore to read insulting posts or countless topics made regarding RtO's delay.

Also like said, there were lots of users that actually wrote something good to read but have gone to their own groups now.

To me, these forums have been also great practice for english aswell, but it seems that nowadays these forums are full of those inmature posts whichsoon will make me to just stick with my own groups (if just there would be a life that is). And it's not encouraging me to post anything while the most likely response would be an insult.

Cheers!

[Leanansidhe]

Unfortunately, I feel the same.  I used to come on the forums every day just to see what was up and "watch" the fun.  I don't post often, though.  I'm one of those people who always second guesses everything they say, so I angst about my posts so much, I usually just end up deleting them.

All I can say is thank god for the ignore feature.  The sad thing is, I never would have needed it before.

Later,
Sidhe

[Ecaiki]

Now that you mention it, the forums do remind me more and more of the ones for World of Warcraft.

Well at least now I know why the urge to read and post in them has dropped since DA was released.

I too miss the old forums, it was nice to have a discussion or a debate with someone and have it remain civil.  Now it seems to just devolve into "no u!" style back and forth.

[Lakmoots]

I would like to counter this argument.

I have been an avid Bioware fan since BG1, and was a regular forumite in the BG2 days. I have only recently returned since purchasing the excellent DA:O.

This place has less freedom than a police state. I was attacked and locked the first day of my posts because I mentioned the word "piracy" - in fact I was complaining about it...

There is an absolute fervour by the moderators to sanction discussion and conversation in these forums that has really disgusted me.

I will agree, however, that there is certainly a sense of immaturity in many of these posts. However, I was locked for mentioning piracy, whilst a thread of Chuck Norris jokes continues to prosper for ten pages in the DA:O fourms... what the?

I mean, do I need to hear how Duncan's sausage created the Deep Roads? Is this considered a legitimate post, whilst a complaint over the handling of RTO is not?

The moderators here are *censors* and this, not the fact that increased popularity has led children here, is the reason I feel that the standards of discourse have fled...

There are two sides.

[kaff33nd]

I concur that there is an abuse of privelege in the forums. In the "No Spoilers!" section you'll find many spoilers, and off-topic posts litter threads that would otherwise be very enjoyable. Hot topic threads are the worst, as these threads are "hot" only because the majority of posts in them are off-topic one-word posts like "lol" or "that's gay" or "no, yur moms gay!".



I myself started a thread for serious, thoughtful discussion that despite it's nature and subject matter attract off-topic senseless banter. I eventually moved the original post to an appropriate group. A group I felt I HAD to join merely to escape the pointless posts.



I understand, however that moderators have a hard task ahead of them with these forums, and expect that as they evolve and settle down (the forums) this will again be a place we will feel comfortable with.

[swirlwind]

I used to read the forums (ME, DA:O & Off-Topic) on a daily basis before BSN came along. Nowadays I keep to the groups and only check the official forums to see dev posts because of the quality of the discussions. While I'm not a fan of excessive heavy-handedness, I do feel that people who are continuously ignoring the forum rules should be banned. The amount of trolls in the forums at the moment makes the threads pretty much useless: even the ones with interesting discussions get derailed by abusive posters. Also, I see a lot of spoilers even in the no-spoilers sections, which is incredibly irritating for someone who tries hard not to have her gaming experience ruined before the game even comes out. So please, Bioware, show some tough love to your customer base!

[Tamyn]

Deviija wrote...

I dread entering the forums. I have resigned myself to the sanctuary of a few groups where I know my friends are. This isn't like the old forums where it was heavily moderated and some semblance of control was had. We could have our silly humor but we'd also have serious discussion and would be enforced to be respectful. No hate-mongering and no overuse of swear words (or purposely trying to get around the censors with swear words) and the abundance of insults. It is unfortunate.

I met some very interesting people in my time on the old forums, but I do not see this happening on the new forums due to the atmosphere and behavior that's allow to multiply.

I agree with this. I mostly stick to posting in my group forums now. Over the past couple of months on the old Mass Effect forums and the forums here I've noticed a lot more hostility and name-calling in particular. I miss the friendly and respectful environment that I enjoyed for years on the BioWare forums.

[Dennis Carpenter]

Well its been a while since I actually posted in the forums for anything worthwhile and all the above reasons apply. When I first joined up perhaps a week or so after the forum was up and running things were great there was a lot of fun topics and all we really had was the character creator and no game at all. It was immensely enjoyable and i would spend as much of my day as I could on the forum discussing with friends and posting character designs or even discuss game strategies. now I rarely bother and if I do I can rarely find any of my friends on the forum unless they are in a specific social group. Sadly without real moderators doing what mods do the forum was doomed to go downhill and it did. Now with the problems you guys face with the RTO fiasco and the whenever it happens to get released Awakening, your reputation is suffering and going downhill with it. Unfortunately a good reputation is easily lost whereas a bad reputation takes forever to rebuild.



Really like the stuff you guys do and hope you get back on track soon you were a premier group and I certainly hope you dont fall off the mountain by ignoring those who got you there.

[Vaeliorin]

Add me to the list of people who are less than pleased with the current state of the forums. I pretty much only read topics my friends have posted in, and though I check in every, and always glance through the first page or so of topics, but rarely do I actually find a topic worth reading (and this is coming from someone who read every single thread in the DA forums until around the time the social site opened.)



I don't know if more moderation can even solve the problem at this point. The forums just aren't a fun place to be any more, and if it wasn't for the friends I've made here over the years, I probably wouldn't even be here anymore.