I've read every post in this thread, and though I agree with many points made I'm going to go ahead and ignore the majority of them. Though this account isn't exactly what anyone would refer to as an "old" account, I've been here since Chapter 1. I'm surprised to still see people who call themselves "end game" beating a dead horse. You've been doing it for years. I think you can put down your beating stick now... The staff at FA have seen it.
Repeating the same action over and over and over again is the very definition of insanity. So either every "end game" player on here is insane, or just criminally retar*ed.
Try working with the staff for once. Give it a shot. And not just for a day, a week, or a month. Keep it up as long as you've been bit*hing and moaning at them. Put your focus where there's is, and help them help us improve the game one step at a time.
If this thread is focused on forum development (though I share the sentiments of the masses, that the efforts would be best used elsewhere), I'd like to get this revamp done and over with so they can focus on their next task. Don't hinder them. The more you gripe about issues unrelated to current projects, and the more time you tell them their time is best spent elsewhere, the more time is lost on coming to a great game. Help them help us improve the game in any way they/we can.
As for the forum aspect... I agree with most people. Cut out unused content or group it into a broader sub-forum. The sheer number of subforums within the RoM forums is scary and often difficult to navigate to find just what you're looking for. Broaden the range of "discussion" a particular subforum carries so people who are unsure of the exact, specific, minute details of what they're looking for don't have to go dredging through dozens of offshoots of subforums where their questions *might* be answered, Condense them and make it a more "noob friendly" environment.
Staff, I feel, should also be sending PM's to users that have their posts removed or edited. And instead of just telling us you've seen what we wrote, *PLEASE*, for the love of god... Actively participate in forum discussions. Even if you aren't telling us answers we want (and some demand), tell us you don't know the answers or can't provide them. Seeing a staff member post = "Okay, *now* I know they read what I had to say.". No post = "ARE THEY EVEN F**KING LOOKING AT THE FORUMS ANY MORE?!".
More staff involvement, and explanations for why our posts are edited or removed is a good thing. Even if people aren't happy immediately about some of that stuff... The notion that there is actually staff doing their jobs makes us happy. Even if doing your job makes us unhappy... I'm not sure how to explain that one, but I hope people get it.
Make your presence regular, and not a challenge for us to get a reply. The more active you become, I almost guarantee you will see 80% less bitc*ing and moaning. People will know you are active members within the community, and read our posts, and give either information, details, criticism, or feedback to what we post.
...
Essentially what my post boils down to is make sure you have *active* forum members on staff. And I don't mean active as in "k, you're on the forums? And you're reading their posts?", "Yep.", "Good job.". No... That's wrong... REPLY to us. Having us come up with conclusions on our own, creating theories, and hating on the current aspects of the game, and then just having you read that crap does nothing. What's worse is removing some of those posts altogether with zero explanation given for why. Even if we *know* "why"... TELL us. We're almost challenging you in that aspect . We want to know you know our concerns, understand them, and are taking it personally. We don't want your broad sweeping apologies to every user thats had a post removed... We want individual recognition, and answers specific to our area of concern. Do it enough times, and the complaints will wane.
Consider this period of time the "hard part". This is the grind the Vahtos accessory pieces require. Get through this, and it *should* be smooth sailing.
Sorry for the rant... Didn't mean it in a way that sounds like just another unhappy customer. These are just solid ideas I feel would help improve the forum community for the better.
Best of luck to everyone.
Quoted from "Misheara;490787"
Something I would like to see is a button called "CM Tracker" or something that when clicked does a search and only brings up the threads that CM's or anyone important with FA/RW post, would make weeding through all the posts to get to the important parts much easier.
alenque
