5445 réponses à ce sujet

[LPPrince]

Just weird how they're closing the place with the most control so they can instead be in places with the least control

 

I assume because they'd rather just not control anything

 

That or they like block features over suspensions/bans

[LPPrince]

So let me get this straight,

 

You say you care about your community of fans, but here you are ready to destroy/fragment the community. Twitter and Facebook (both hold absolutely no appeal to me) are not suitable replacements.

 

It is extremely narcissistic to assume that we come the these forums just to talk to YOU. We don't. We are here to talk to each other about your games.

 

I fear this is the beginning of the end of the Bioware that we used to love so much.

 

1. They already fragmented their community years ago

2. The Bioware that we used to love so much died a looong time ago

 

The Bioware thats around now should've made, "Earn our fans love/trust" priority #1 after all the mishaps over the years.

 

Instead we've had the opposite happen as more and more mishaps happen(though I'd argue Inquisition was a step in the right direction).

 

This forum closure is but another one of those mishaps.

[gothpunkboy89]

This is rather idiotic and that is putting it nicely.

 

Smart phones it is equally easy to be on a forum as it is any other social media. I don't think any person expect to get into a one on one topic with any developers. That doesn't happen with literally any other game in existence. They might comment on stuff but that is about as far as it goes.

 

Twitter has such a small character limit you can't even call it feed back.

 

Facebook can block anyone who says literally anything on the page. Insomniac Games muted me from posting on their page after the launch of Resistance 3 and I was criticizing it for it's flaws on it. They literally shut me up to prevent anyone from making the game look bad.

 

Youtube is troll fest and any feed back would be lost under the troll set up.

 

Not everyone is interested in Reddit. 

 

So what is the real reason? Cost? How much does it actually cost you per month to keep forums running?

 

Just because I think this needs repeating

[gothpunkboy89]

Yea even a day after reading this still not seeing the logic behind it.

 

They value players and their feed back.

 

Rather then consolidate that feed back in a centralized location so developers can spend more time in one area then half a dozen places. And utilizing the other possible set ups like twitter/youtube for announcements and Reddit as a lesser forum to browse to get some extra feed back.

 

But rather then doing what literally every game developer in existence does they are closing the centralized location and spreading the players to the four corners of the internet. So instead of any developers needing to spend 20-30 minutes on one website they now need to spend 20-30 minutes on half a dozen websites to achieve the same level of feed back compared to having it all centralized.

 

This isn't logic. This is the opposite of logic. Anti logic.  I mean seriously as bad as some people think the ending to ME 3 is. This attempt at an idea is x3 worse then that.

 

I think we have all actually gotten a bit stupider after reading this. Our brain cells killing themselves to preserve our brains from trying to think to deeply about this black hole of logic.

 

This needs repeating as well

[FlyingSquirrel]

Now we can travel around the world, meeting with you face-to-face at events like PAX, SDCC, and even shows in our own backyard. We can share stories with you on the go, giving you a look behind the scenes on sites like Facebook, Twitter, YouTube, and Instagram.

 

Just wanted to point a few things out here:

 

1) Many of us don't go to these face-to-face events. Never been to PAX, and I'm not sure what "SDCC" even is. Anyway, is the number of people attending in-person events really comparable to the number posting on a forum? I'd tend to think not, but maybe I'm wrong.

 

2) I tend to limit my public Facebook activity simply because it's linked to my real name, and not everyone who knows me in person needs to know my opinions about video games, politics, amusing cat videos, or anything else that I feel more free to talk about in forums where I have some measure of anonymity.

 

3) I can see using YouTube for behind-the-scenes features and other promotional or tech support Q&A content, but not so much for feedback. The format of YouTube comments isn't particularly friendly to longer postings, and they probably have even more issues with trolling and arguing than these forums do.

 

4) Instagram seems to me like it would be borderline-useless for the purpose of feedback on video games - it's mostly for pictures and very short videos, and the comment system is even more skewed towards very short comments. I can't imagine, for example, having a worthwhile discussion about Bhelen vs. Harrowmont in DA:O or what to do with the Collector Base in ME2 in the context of an Instagram post. 

 

 

In turn, you’ve built your own fantastic communities in places like Tumblr and Reddit. You’ve created comprehensive Wikis and countless pieces of fantastic art, fiction, and cosplay.

With so many great things so widely available, our developers today find themselves spending more time on other sites, and less time in our own forums. And to our fans and players who came to those boards looking to talk to us, it was a great disservice.

 

All I can say is I don't think I ever posted anything with the expectation that a developer would respond to it. I just wanted to kick around ideas with other Bioware fans.

[Rifneno]

So let me get this straight,
 
You say you care about your community of fans, but here you are ready to destroy/fragment the community. Twitter and Facebook (both hold absolutely no appeal to me) are not suitable replacements.
 
It is extremely narcissistic to assume that we come the these forums just to talk to YOU. We don't. We are here to talk to each other about your games.
 
I fear this is the beginning of the end of the Bioware that we used to love so much.

Don't be silly. The beginning was a LONG time ago. This is, maybe, the middle. Or close to the end. I wouldn't be surprised if ME:A was the end of BW. I'd be surprised but not shocked if ME:A actually ends up canned and BW goes under suddenly. It's uncommon but a lot of games were near finished before being cancelled. Or at least far into development. IIRC, Van Buren (Fallout 3 before the IP was sold to Bethesda) was "all but finished" when they went under. EverQuest Next was an MMO that had been under development for 9 years when it was canned.

Anyway, there's no way the official reason is the real one. Of course it doesn't make sense. Lying is like Bioware's trademark though, why should we expect different now?

[Steelcan]

Did Inquisition seriously under-perform that badly?

[Puddi III]

I would be surprised if they went under, since aside from this place, Mass Effect still has, at least from what I see on the internet, a pretty large fandom. I dunno about Dragon Age, but Inquisition also seemed to be well received overall, and I don't believe the doomsaying about its sales.

They have an issue with how they interact with their fans, but it doesn't seem emblematic of their ability to sell games or have fans.

[Rifneno]

Did Inquisition seriously under-perform that badly?

In before someone links vgchartz's figures that have absolutely no source and are almost certainly made up.

[mousestalker1]

Just wanted to point a few things out here:

 

1) Many of us don't go to these face-to-face events. Never been to PAX, and I'm not sure what "SDCC" even is. Anyway, is the number of people attending in-person events really comparable to the number posting on a forum? I'd tend to think not, but maybe I'm wrong.

 

SDCC is the San Diego Comic Con. Which is huge. We are con-goers. We go to two cons a year, neither of which are SDCC. One is a small lit con and the other is Dragon Con. Dragon Con is also huge, but BW rarely has much of a presence. When they do show, they get mobbed. But even if they do go to a DragonCon, the odds of me getting in the room are next to nil. So by going to the con, they can be heard by maybe 100+ fans and interact with maybe tens of them.

[Steelcan]

SDCC is the San Diego Comic Con. Which is huge. We are con-goers. We go to two cons a year, neither of which are SDCC. One is a small lit con and the other is Dragon Con. Dragon Con is also huge, but BW rarely has much of a presence. When they do show, they get mobbed. But even if they do go to a DragonCon, the odds of me getting in the room are next to nil. So by going to the con, they can be heard by maybe 100+ fans and interact with maybe tens of them.

all of which are extremely unlikely to be providing some in depth criticism

[thesuperdarkone2]

Did Inquisition seriously under-perform that badly?

From what I've seen, inquisition sold rather well. All this talk seems more based on paranoia rather than facts

[llandwynwyn]

@Steelcan

 

From what I've heard, no. But selling well doesn't mean they were pleased, remember Tomb Raider (2013). It's possible there is trouble with ME:A development, and EA isn't feeling generous anymore.

[Steelcan]

From what I've heard, no. But selling well doesn't mean they were please, remember Tomb Raider (2013). It's possible there is trouble with ME:A development, and EA isn't feeling generous anymore.

then you'd think they'd have forced the game to have come out already, not supported what looks like continuing delays (even if they are not announced as such)

[Steelcan]

From what I've seen, inquisition sold rather well. All this talk seems more based on paranoia rather than facts

I'm inclined to agree overall, but still hard to shake paranoid feelings entirely right now

[Vroom Vroom]

There moderation worked for years til the general Internet mentality took over. Should they have prepared and modded better? Yes, but that wouldn't stop it anyway. Other forums have much more strict moderation and yet all people do is create alts to continue to troll and gimmick post and flood the forums with their crap.

Bioware gets a little blame, but it is the general entitled attitude of the community that has led to this forum being burnt to the ground.

I'd argue that it is mostly moderation or lack thereof. If you have an issue, you can PM a Mod, but they won't read it (unless they are named like Conal) because that's their protocol. At least, this is what I have gathered from various users and personally witnessed. I had a friend who joined these forums and it took two whole months for his account to be cleared for posting by the moderation, 2 months.

 

Back when the Lobby was open, there was 1 particular user and his/her alt that would get under a lot of people's skin and make the section into a blog about him/her and the mods only ever shut down threads as far as I am aware, but my point is that was the only toxicity that I ever witnessed and were that user and his/her alt properly handled then the Lobby would have been even more of an awesome zone than it already was. Despite that setback, the community as a whole was pretty solidified and able to get along, so while I imagine that the other parts of the forum had more users like that, it probably wasn't all that many. 

 

Inaction breeds toxicity, and that hinged with costs (the mods are third party and paid professionals) probably what is leading to Bioware burning this place to the ground; not the community itself. 

[llandwynwyn]

then you'd think they'd have forced the game to have come out already, not supported what looks like continuing delays (even if they are not announced as such)

 

Let's go straight to unfounded speculation for a moment.

 

Say ME:A is in deep trouble, you really want to cancel it because you've already spent lots of $$ that you don't think you're making back, you don't want to waste more money to fix it,  but E3 is approaching so you say "delayed", make a random video that shows off the cool graphics. Then later you close the centralized forum of the game. Maybe months later you cancel it. Shallow cries on reddit, tumblr and tweetville.

[Rifneno]

then you'd think they'd have forced the game to have come out already, not supported what looks like continuing delays (even if they are not announced as such)

Or rather then pulling on their choke chain by forcing release, they're doing it by slashing its budget and the reason the game is taking longer to build than the goddamn pyramids is because they can't afford the kind of development staff that their games typically have. Thus, smaller staff working fewer hours. Considering all the people that have left the project, this is a reasonable possibility.

[Spectr61]

No, this was not a monetary decision. It also was not an easy one for us to make.
 
We understand that there are people who use and love these boards. And like them, we are sad to see them go. However, many of our players and staff now use other sites and networks outside of these boards, and we want to foster these interactions and support the great fan communities our players have built.
 
As always, we are committed to our players, and will continue to seek out and solicit their feedback. All of you are why we make games and what we love about gaming. This is the end of an era, but we will always, always listen to our players.

What complete, corporate-speak B.S.

"We are committed to our players, ...." Blah Blah Blah.

Seems like if this were true, the forums wouldn't have a date with the guillotine.

Another example highlighting why, in the bigger picture, people are frustrated by not being told the truth.

[thedancingdruid]

Why not speculation for everyone. That is all we can do because apparently straight answers do happen anymore.

[Hazegurl]

The only thing we know is that Inquisition debut at #5 in the UK.  Selling about the same as DA2.  The rest is EA's word that it was the top seeling in Bioware's history.   Somehow I highly doubt it. But I don't think it did terribly.  I'm inclined to think it was about the same as DA2.

 

As for MEA.  I think it'll get released, it just might not be a finished product.

[Rifneno]

The only thing we know is that Inquisition debut at #5 in the UK.  Selling about the same as DA2.  The rest is EA's word that it was the top seeling in Bioware's history.   Somehow I highly doubt it. But I don't think it did terribly.  I'm inclined to think it was about the same as DA2.

Finally, some rationality. The numbers simply aren't publicly available.  Everything we've heard is just uneducated guesses.  Maybe it tripled its budget.  Maybe it actually lost money.  We simply don't know.  There is...

 

No data available.  

[Kantr]

IT's bad enough that there are now, 4? different fan forums for the community with one apparently being a splinter from another. The community gets split and all the interesting posters either head to different ones or not bother at all. Some of them are for the seperate games as well.

 

What is worse is which of these will new people go to when they see 4 plus results for "How to fix shiny hair and scars" new users are how communities stay fresh and grow. It's convinient to visit these forums because you can just log into your origin account. You can also know for sure that the company won't collate information from obscure fan forums that may or may not show up on the first page of google.

[Eternal Dust]

It's kind of shocking to see how other developers try so hard to foster a community while BioWare just willingly throws theirs away. The most fun I've had on these forums was the discussion before the launch of Mass Effect 3. It's with other people! I've never even talked to a dev on here before and it's no great loss if I never do. It's such a selfish notion to destroy something just because you have no use for it but other people still do.

[Steelcan]

Or rather then pulling on their choke chain by forcing release, they're doing it by slashing its budget and the reason the game is taking longer to build than the goddamn pyramids is because they can't afford the kind of development staff that their games typically have. Thus, smaller staff working fewer hours. Considering all the people that have left the project, this is a reasonable possibility.

mhm that's true.  I just don't know if there's even a precedent for something like that