They are not obligated to respond to any of us.
But why? Is the Bioware Twitter account mostly for fans to talk to each other? Is the DA Facebook page?
No, these are used as means to convey information and foster a sense of communication between Bioware and the fanbase. I don't understand why the forums would be different. Especially since the format is much more conducive to conversations that take longer than 140 characters.
I know this isn't your call and I appreciate the response, but as I said earlier in this thread - having you or Mark or Allan randomly drop into a thread and do a forum "photo bomb," while appreciated, rarely does more good than harm. A more concerted effort by the Community team to organize, catalogue and schedule things like Dev Q&A's or topics about the game or discussions on the future... those would all help bring some sense of consistency and order. Rather than the crazy rain dance fans think they have to do to get someone from the company to show signs of life.
The bolded is where the problem lies, unfortunately.
This forum, and countless other forums all over the net, show that conversation is much, much rarer than back-and-forth arguing with more or less vitriol. Let us be completely honest here; how many threads on the BSN could we really claim to be only composed of productive (such as it is) discussion, and not people with different opinions posturing and slinging filth at each other? We see more these days since the rancor has died down, but still precious little. I see absolutely no reasons that this would be different if some devs came to have a chat, and indeed I wouldn't be surprised if it became worse.
On Twitter, you have a certain control of the message. it's good for announcements since it is instant and updates to everyone who is following. Same deal with a Facebook page. When you start conversations, well, the more you say, the higher chance you have of saying something that gets X persons mad, or could be interpreted to mean Y thing, or would be seen as a broken promise when Z game releases, so on and so forth. And people often hate when it happens. And no, I don't think I'm exagerating here, given the state of many video game communities on the internet. Saying nothing is very probably more beneficial than saying something that riles up some people.
You spoke of sites that did that before, Best Buy and such; the thing is, I believe a big part of why it works is because people are evaluationg the quality of a service which is usually more straightforward. You got what you needed or not. A video game (hell any piece of media really) is potentially far more controversial thanks to the wildly different tastes, expectations, interpretations, marketing hype, promises, etc. If there's one thing the ME3 ending incident showed, it,s that people can get very up in arms about such things. because of this, and of other reactions I've seen here and elsewhere, I very much understand why devs often refuse to talk to fans directly. It's too big of a can of worms to open.
I mean, it's not like only the pawns of EA do this or whatever. Even studios in the same genre with pretty stellar reputations, such as CD Projeckt RED or Larian, don't post on their own forums very often, and certanly don't routinely play twenty questions with fans on forums. It's an industry-wide thing and it's probably there for a good reason.
From what I recall, there was more than one community manager for different parts of the fandom last I checked.
After Mrs. Merizan left, I never found out who took her role, if anyone did. Basically, whoever handles the BSN, along with whatever else is under their umbrella.
I'd like to know.
I get it, I do. That's not the response we should get though.
I mean come on!
Hey Toyota, thanks for giving me an awesome new Prius. It looks and drives incredible but the airbag popped on me while on the freeway after catching fire from a poorly insulated wire. What should I do?
Toyota "we're not obligated to give you an answer"
I see what you're getting at, but that example is way too extreme for comparison.
I get it, I do. That's not the response we should get though.
I mean come on!
Hey Toyota, thanks for giving me an awesome new Prius. It looks and drives incredible but the airbag popped on me while on the freeway after catching fire from a poorly insulated wire. What should I do?
Toyota "we're not obligated to give you an answer"
So is it better that they come here and speak personally, where an influx of complaints will ensue, or they actually just read feedback and give us patches to fix issues?
Using a car as an analogy is stupid, a car on the road that is not a finished product can endanger lives if it is borked. **** sake.
So.. would you drop 5 grand on an unfinished car?
I see what you're getting at, but that example is way too extreme for comparison.
You obviously never had a near death experience playing this game lol
The point is, they sold us a product and don't talk to their base customers who can and do affect personal opinions about a future product so it would be in their best interest to address direct concerns. Especially ones that cause so much stress and disappointment such as the banter getting worse for a lot of people or the dupe glitch being removed on consoles.
Minor things like male elf arms don't matter as much as major gameplay issues. While they affect immersion, they don't really truly matter in the end.
Some issues hurt more and they should see that, but if they aren't reading the boards regularly they WONT see that.
You don't know how often they read the boards and you don't know who is reading them. The writers, at least, do communicate with different groups (see again: Krem's development). What you want is acknowledgment that you've been heard.
We are a small portion of their fanbase. They have interacted with us in the past, and will do so in the future at their leisure most likely. They don't owe us their online presence and time.
... Some issues hurt more and they should see that, but if they aren't reading the boards regularly they WONT see that.
As an example, even a fairly vanilla response to (as an example) the patched exploit along the lines of one of:
Would have saved many pages of debate and angry words, and then you would have some idea, without promises...
Guest_Roly Voly_*
"patched exploit" being controversial says more about the crap they have to deal with and why they probably don't want to hang out here than any post I've read.
Exploits are for the lazy gamers who want everything ten minutes ago. Never happy.
To be honest I am kinda surprised at Mr Gaider's response. I don't understand why they think the developers need to answer our questions. I understand the hastle they need to go through if they engaged in conversation here.You don't know how often they read the boards and you don't know who is reading them. The writers, at least, do communicate with different groups (see again: Krem's development). What you want is acknowledgment that you've been heard.
We are a small portion of their fanbase. They have interacted with us in the past, and will do so in the future at their leisure most likely. They don't owe us their online presence and time.
"patched exploit" being controversial says more about the crap they have to deal with and why they probably don't want to hang out here than any post I've read.
Exploits are for the lazy gamers who want everything ten minutes ago. Never happy.
I'm correcting you there. The duplication glitch didn't help me solve the game in ten minutes. I finished the game in 112 hours and if I wanted to go back and make new characters, it would still allow me to finish that game in about the same amount of times. If you believe that it was just ten minutes, you are putting yourself your foot in your mouth my dear.
An exploit that has been in every dragon age game. They just happened to remove it from this one. Basically, it's a part of the game and for DAI it assists majorly in replays for those who don't have 200 hours to farm.
Considering it still would take a completionist well over 100 hours to get the fade touched items I would say shaving another 100 hours is worth it.
Also there's not enough mats to craft the armors needed and even so, what's the point if you reload all the dragons to get high roll drops to craft all the best armor? There's nothing left after that.
You really need to be more open minded to those who do not share your views on the matter.
This exploit hurt nobody but benefited many. It was entirely optional and did not ruin the gameplay for people who work for a living or don't want to invest all of their life into 1 game.
I can think of so many more reasons for it and ZERO reasons against it
There is no exploit in the previous games stop talking ****.
Why? None needed because there was no crafting. Now there is crafting and people can't cope it is so disappointing my god.
There is no exploit in the previous games stop talking ****.
Why? None needed because there was no crafting. Now there is crafting and people can't cope it is so disappointing my god.
The exploits are in DAO and DAII, you just never heard of them before or never used them. You can duplicate and sell items for profits in those games as well, only people didn't use those for the crafting aspect of the game, but for the profits and to purchase the better items of the game.
I'm correcting you there. The duplication glitch didn't help me solve the game in ten minutes. I finished the game in 112 hours and if I wanted to go back and make new characters, it would still allow me to finish that game in about the same amount of times. If you believe that it was just ten minutes, you are putting yourself your foot in your mouth my dear.
Did I say people finished the game in ten minutes?
Did I say people finished the game in ten minutes?
You made it sound like people were solving everything in a flash, which is false. We're fixing the broken RNG loot system on our own since it makes the game a chore to us people who have other things to do and wish to have other playthroughs. This made the game less tedious for us and gave us the chance to explore more options with other characters instead of having to suffer through the grinding and farming process of collecting all those rare materials, which probably were forced to be limited to begin with.
Guest_Roly Voly_*
How about you pick and choose which companions get the tier 4 stuff? Just a thought...
Perhaps some of those 'Real Fans™' someone mentioned could come and corral the toxic scum, blighted bringer-downers of this sacred wasteland, scour it and make it pure?
In their twisted imaginations those bottom dwellers must have hallucinated all their troubles with this Annointed RPG of RPG's. The unwashed filth-flingers merely dreamed that they paid their 70/80/90 bucks and got something a tad less than they were promised. That shared delusion: a glitchy console port flogged as "For the PC by the PC of The PC" and the fever-dream of it turning out to be one big fat lie? Okay, not a lie. Marketing. That makes all the difference, indubitably.
No, now that I see it for what it is, indeed, that's nothing to be angry over. Two patches and two hotfixes disguised as patches that broke more than they fixed? The devs condescendingly blessing all to be condescending on occasion over legit concerns? DLC flogged to the consoles first and PC a month later? That's not telling in the slightest. Having to jump through five hundred hoops and "fixes" just to get this dazzling multi-GOTY slog to work for an hour at a time on rigs that surpass the recommended specs? Then they howl like dogs at the sainted devs without reason.
Of course they do. This is the way of things.
Yeah. Screw 'em. It's their own fault. They're just whiny children with their grubby demands and toxic fingers and meaningless problems.
The Real Fans™ are all that matter, whomever they might be.
You made it sound like people were solving everything in a flash, which is false. We're fixing the broken RNG loot system on our own since it makes the game a chore to us people who have other things to do and wish to have other playthroughs. This made the game less tedious for us and gave us the chance to explore more options with other characters instead of having to suffer through the grinding and farming process of collecting all those rare materials, which probably were forced to be limited to begin with.
Why should certain mats be rare?
This is where mods/exploits will ruin gaming nothing will be a reward everything will be handed to you on a ****** platter.
Why should certain mats be rare?
This is where mods/expoits will ruin gaming nothing will be a reward everything will be handed to you on a ****** platter.
There are people who like to play for story and grinding for hundreds of hours isn't fun for them. Why do you care so much about what other people do? 
There are people who like to play for story and grinding for hundreds of hours isn't fun for them. Why do you care so much about what other people do?
I am evil and enjoy de-railing threads.
I am evil and enjoy de-railing threads.
Oh my! In that case...carry on? 
Guest_Roly Voly_*
For the record, I really couldn't care less what they do in a single player game. use an exploit, mod it, whatever. Knock yourselves out. What I find mind blowing is complaining about a company patching a bug in a game. "Hey, we found this bug and we fixed it." "how dare you!!" Uh....
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