Well crap, five minutes into signing on here in the first time in half a decade and I see this. Glad to see my intent to contribute was wasted.
uTried?
I heard the news that BioWare is closing the forums, so I dredged up my account to say a few things.
For those here who aren't ancient like me, my name is Chris Priestly (some used to call me "Evil Chris") and I worked at BioWare for over 12 years. Basically from the end of BG2 till the start of DA:I. I started at BioWare in the QA department and became a prolific poster on the old BioBoards helping people out on Neverwinter Nights, KotOR and Jade Empire. Remember, this was back when the only real way to dialog between studio and fans was message boards. There was no Facebook, Twitter, blogs, YouTube, etc. As DA:O and ME1 came closer, the CM at the time (Jay Watamaniuk who is still a writer at BioWare) asked me to join the Community team. Together, along with many staff posters, amazing volunteer moderators and excellent fans, we created a great community on the BioWare forums that ran for years. Not everything was always rosey and there were always bumps in the road when fans/customers would question BioWare decisions, but overall we had a great time. Sadly, DA2 and the endings of ME3 weren't enjoyed by everyone (I'm not bring this up more, you know what I'm talking about if you were here) and things turned much more negative than they had been in the past. Still BioWare and its fans worked to keep these forums going. It wasn't easy. There were people in the studio, some quite powerful, who wanted the forums closed. Yet, there were also those, like me, who wanted the boards to stay open and after much discussion, they remained. And BioWare continues strong with the excellent Dragon Age: Inquisition game restoring fan's faith in the series and the intriguing Mass Effect Andromeda on the horizon (more details on this ASAP BioWare please).
My time at BioWare ended, but I am pleased the forums remained and the community here continues to thrive and grow. I'll always be a huge BioWare fan myself, I loved DA:I and can't wait for Andromeda to come out, and I am sad that the forums will finally be closing. Yet, I have faith in Conal and the rest of BioWare to have a plan ready for what will come next. Remember, these forums were started because there was no other way to talk with fans. Now there are lots of ways and I know Conal and the teams will be talking full advantage of them in time. I know this won't stop fans from worrying because that is in our nature until we see proof, but that's my 2 cents on it.
One last thank you to all of the amazing fans and friends I made during my time at BioWare here on the forums. I was fortunate enough to travel the world for BioWare meeting people including some who met on the boards (more than a few couples who met on the boards only to fall in love and marry in real life) who told me of the strong friendships they have made via the forums over the years. I look forward to being a fan of BioWare in whatever comes next. And a thank you to BioWare for running these forums and they joy they brought me over the years. Cheers.
Former Community Manager for CD PROJEKT RED & BioWare. Currently seeking employment.
From his twitter. Have both Bioware and CD PROJEKT RED fired Chris Priestly? I'm not surprised he's defending a decision to close forums.
From his twitter. Have both Bioware and CD PROJEKT RED fired Chris Priestly? I'm not surprised he's defending a decision to close forums.
It used to be that I'd have to catch up on around 100 posts on this thread after being away or sleeping.
Now barely 30.
(I passed 1000 likes myself.
)
Yeah, bummer. But when you tell people you're closing it only makes sense that they'll bail.
Yeah, bummer. But when you tell people you're closing it only makes sense that they'll bail.
True. I'm not really posting anywhere other than this thread (rarely it's just silly posts elsewhere).
And then, there's also people that have rage-quit, because reason.
This article (indirectly) shows how useful the forums can be compared to EA and Bioware support.
http://arstechnica.c...sers-right-now/
True. I'm not really posting anywhere other than this thread (rarely it's just silly posts elsewhere).
And then, there's also people that have rage-quit, because reason.
Its depressing.
I wonder who's going to get the last post before the forums get locked or go into read only mode?
I wonder who's going to get the last post before the forums get locked or go into read only mode?
The race for last place. Should be some funny posts provided they're not banned already. ![]()
Oleaginous mawkishness is another good reason to close this forum.
Passed 10K likes! hahaha
Cheers Vargeisa and Biotic Apostitute
Well done! ![]()
It used to be that I'd have to catch up on around 100 posts on this thread after being away or sleeping.
Now barely 30.
(I passed 1000 likes myself.
)
Hey, if you have more likes than posts, I'd say you're doing very well
![]()
I'm experimenting with one of the new "new spaces" to "foster conversations".
I've written some of my thoughts on the close down controversy in the "discussion" area of Bioware's Youtube channel. I wonder where it ends up in that page, because its position is not ordered by date. So, if you cannot find it, then this is what I said:
I don't agree with Bioware's decision to close down and purge their forums. The alternatives (the social media, like Youtube) do not allow in-depth discussion. It seems that Bioware cannot take critique and doesn't know how to handle it (DA2 and the ME3-ending come to mind). Mentioning that Bioware listens to their users and that it wants to foster conversations in an announcement on BW's forum and blog to close down the forums doesn't make sense. Especially since none of the users are notified by e-mail. Summer is convenient to pull that trick, isn't it? Let's see how long it takes, before this message gets "toxic" replies.
Of course the message is too long, so, depending on your brower and its settings, you'll probably need to click the "Read more" button.
Edit: The comment doesn't show up at the time of writing, unless I'm logged in. Interesting.
Here's some importing info, which is totally on topic because it pertains to how we're losing everything after BSN closes.
Hi everyone
Thank you for the encouragement! I'm super happy to see some new pictures posted to the ported over thread too (yay)
It's a big project and I lost 8 inquisition topics in the import, and I don't know which they are. I just saw 8 corrupted strands. If anyone notices a "big" thread missing let me know
Regarding post history, your post count will show up only if your posts are attributed to your username (ie. if you have two accounts you must tell me both, and if you recently changed your name you must tell me both too!) - Also they count will go up per forum imported.
We have imported:
Working on:
Mass Effect 3
Mass Effect 2
Dragon Age 2
Legacy Games
Off-Topic
Considering:
"franchise" subforums.
To get your posts associated, claim your account here as they must be synchronized for the posts to show.
so still on board with a terrible idea.
Why are you kiddies so upset? Haven't you heard? Desecrating your legacy when you change employees is the new hip thing in the games industry.
BiowEAr are just trying to catch up to Konami and their new business of converting all their franchises into wonderful pachinko machines.
Oleaginous mawkishness is another good reason to close this forum.
But if they do, how am I going to mawk people?
Oleaginous mawkishness is another good reason to close this forum.