A Message from the Community Team

[Typeslice]

Sounds good Joveth Gonzalez. But plis remember, all the communication in the world from a community team

doesnt mean much if the devs keep ignoring what the players want when it comes to an STAR WARS MMO.

 

The whole attitude of, we as developers dont want cross server play because it's bad for the "community"

and we knows best wont go far on a servers with 20 people on a light server.

You want the game to grow bvig actually listen to feedback and give the players what they want.

Not what developers think we want.

 

Simpel little things like toggle hoods up/down that means alot you refuse to fix.

And things like no minigames.

 

And start telling the community what you are working on.The do not talk about it until it's ready is no good.

 

What people fail to understand is that the majority of "feedback" on public forums is provided by the minority of players. Angering the content, if not happy (albeit silent), majority is far more dangerous than making the vocal minority wait.

Edited May 23, 2012 by Typeslice

[YouWishYouWereMe]

If these devs were so good and awesome and unforgettable as you claim, why did you fire them? It's just an insult to them to rub it in their nose how good they were and then fire them anyways. IMO your dev team was already small enough as it is. There are bugs out there that you people refuse to fix and now with an even smaller dev team it is going to take even LONGER for bug fixes, content, and features.

 

I don't know where you are getting this arrogance from Bioware, but just because this MMO says "Star Wars" on it doesn't mean it is incapable of failure. And if you don't shape up, that is exactly what it is going to do.

 

My thoughts exactly. With this new smaller dev team, don't you guys think it would be a good idea to push 1.3 back until mid to late June and put server transfers on the fast track? For instance, next Tuesday would be a great day to implement server transfers. Servers are dying/dead/decaying now, not 2 or 3 weeks from now but right now.

[Apopthis]

With Stephen Reid now gone I'm very curious to see who will be filling those not-so-desired shoes of being the primary buffer between the rabid community and the developers.

 

I'm actually sad about him leaving. I though Mr. Reid did a fantastic job for what he had to do. I sure as hell wouldn't want to deal with us. If you ask me some of the games designers needed to go...not the man taking the heat for everything.

[SketchieGambit]

Another stay tuned message

 

How do we know you've taken anything of what has been said by players in the last 24 hours seriously?

 

Here's some advice: deliver something tangable, then perhaps the next time you issue a statement like this, more of us will to you seriously.

 

Until then, Bioware is taking the heat it deserves.

[Lord_Karsk]

What people fail to understand is that the majority of "feedback" on public forums is provided by the minority of players. Angering the content, if not happy (albeit silent), majority is far more dangerous than making the vocal minority wait.

 

Most players ingame feel the same way as us who is very vocal on the forums. Drops in subs

and listening to what people say ingame in general chat validates that opinion.Players are players

and on most points the all want the same things given the choice.That argument is dead and knowing

MMO players and MMO history what i'm saying is 100%¤ correct.

[BrunoLogan]

Hi everyone,

 

I’ll start off by calling out the elephant in the room: yes, there was some restructuring here at the studio recently and we had to bid farewell to some of our colleagues and yes, we are all deeply saddened by this.

 

Their work and dedication to SWTOR will not be forgotten.

 

Here on the community team, we’ve had a bit of time to process this and we’re beginning to look towards the future of SWTOR’s community and what it means for you and for our team.

 

In the upcoming weeks, we’re going to be making a few changes and working on new initiatives in order to enhance our relationship with you, the fans, and with our developers. We’ll also be reintroducing the team so that you can get to know us a bit more.

 

As Greg Zeschuk mentioned in his forum post, we still have plenty of new, exciting content and features for the game, and we’re going to need your continued involvement and feedback.

 

Rest assured that the community team is still here, still listening: whether it’s here in our forums, on our official twitter account, one of the many fan sites, or the SWTOR subreddit.

 

Thank you all for your continuing support.

 

Good! Looking forward to it. I really like the game and I wish the best future possible for you guys and for the game itself. Enhancements on the relationship with the community can bring good things.

 

As much as you guys can be around there, we, the players, are much more! Some of us can bring up some good ideas or simply points of view that you may miss inside the team. As in every relationship, there will be sparks but with tolerance and communication I believe they can be solved.

 

Be truthful and honest: assume your and/or game limitations. Tell us what's happening! Be technical if you don't see any other way of explaining things. Some of us will understand and will help others to understand too.

Be wise: try to differentiate which members of the community care about the game and which are here to make disturbance. Consume the feedback from those members accordingly.

And for the players: be tolerant. This kind of games are very complex and major changes take time.

[Typeslice]

Most players ingame feel the same way as us who is very vocal on the forums. Drops in subs

and listening to what people say ingame in general chat validates that opinion.Players are players

and on most points the all want the same things given the choice.That argument is dead and knowing

MMO players and MMO history what i'm saying is 100%¤ correct.

 

Well i suppose if what you say is 100%correct, I can't argue with that. But then again, you start off by calling it your opinion??

 

Whiners on here = same people who whine in general chat in-game.

Edited May 23, 2012 by Typeslice

[HobbeWan]

What people fail to understand is that the majority of "feedback" on public forums is provided by the minority of players. Angering the content, if not happy (albeit silent), majority is far more dangerous than making the vocal minority wait.

 

An individual poster is always in a minority of one and not having acess to the forum stats makes it difficult to provide evidence to the contrary.

 

Like all political shenanegans when these comments are made they make a few fundamental errors:

 

1) To assume that all people who do not post disagree with the comments made is a bit erroneous and frankly somewhat arrogant. Sometimes the silent majority are silent simply because they do not believe that posting will make a difference or that they dont use this kind of media as a means of communication.

 

2) No everyone bothers to post on these kind of forums because they may have no desire to do so. Those who use forums in this game are often the kind of people who actively use these kinds of communication in all areas of life to spread ideas and discuss issues. You have to assume that the posting population is a representative segment of the playing population for statistical purposes.

 

3) If a lot of people who post are angry over something then that usually means someting is wrong. You are not always dealing with illiterate children here. Many are seasoned MMORPG gamers who look for particular features which make a game attractive to them. The most important is a vibrant community IMHO. Non Server specific forums were a big mistake imho and the half baked patch up where you still have to scroll through non server posts to find the bits you want is innefective. That also speaks volumes about how the forums are organised and may also indicate why some dont bother to view them or post on them.

 

4) Assuming all the silent majority is on your side there is still an quote by Lao Tzu which is appropriate.....

"If 50 million people stood up and said a wrong thing ......... it is still a wrong thing"!

[ZaRree]

Sounds good.

 

So far the support I've gotten has been supreme.

today i made a bug-report 5 min later I got a chat with an admin, to me that pretty good service.

 

Now I hope the communication out side of the game will improve

[Varteras]

First, I would just like to say that I'm sorry certain members of the team lost their jobs. Regardless of their quality of work it is never a moment of joy to see someone get layed off. I hope they find work quickly. That being said since it seems as though Bioware wants to open up to the community a bit more I'd like to give some suggestions.

 

1) More consistent communication with your players and forum crowd. Even if it is to just toss a joke out now and then or even jump into forum conversations as a person and not just some robot giving robot responses would probably lighten the mood quite a bit.

 

2) As someone else mentioned, a road map for this game's development would be greatly appreciated by many around here. You have been very tight lipped about what is being worked on, its progress, and a timeframe for when you expect things to be done. A sticky thread with all of the things being worked on, roughly how far along they are, and when you feel they will be ready with a disclaimer making sure we're told that none of these things are promised and could change at any time would go quite a long way to easing some anxieties and maybe even win back some people you lost.

 

Even giving us a rough list of longterm plans would be great. Being so guarded about what you're doing has put many of us in a limbo and many others have become fed up with things being so secretive. If you want to do that with a game that has maintained millions of subs for a few years that's fine because that obviously means whatever you have is working just fine. I think it should be fairly clear at this point that is not the case. People around here seem to be done with surprises. They don't want you holding something behind your back, teasing us that it is a wad of cash in your hand that you're about to give us, and then when you finally do show us what you have it's nothing more than a few dimes and nickels.

 

For gawd's sake tell us what we can expect in 1.4 or 1.5 instead of focusing your communication only on what's coming next. This is that road map thing only on a smaller scale. If we know what you're working on for the next couple of content patches it may ease the tension of knowing what we're NOT getting in the content patch coming up.

 

3) This is less about communication and more about something I find silly. Now I don't claim to have any inside knowledge about how your process works or what is already done while you're working on other things. That being said, is it really necessary to make us wait months for truthfully small changes that are probably ready to go by now? Adaptive social gear for example. Is something like that really not going to be ready until LFG and character transfers are? I can't imagine that something like that is taking you just as long to finish up. Making players wait months for small improvements that seriously add up over time doesn't seem like a good idea to me.

 

A steady stream of little additions to the game while we're waiting for the big patches, I feel anyways, would be a great way to give specific groups of players what they want as soon as they are ready and help ease a little more tension from week to week. You mentioned that quest hyperlinking is now in for 1.3 but unless 1.3 is hitting the PTS this week or next week then please by all means slap that into a small Tuesday patch and get it to us along with whatever other little things you're already done with that you seem to think is important to make us wait for. I'm not sure if you're trying to inflate the size of your content patches by doing this but I don't feel it's worth it. I would rather you give us a steady stream of small additions followed by mediocre sized content patches than making me wait months to get it all in one shot and I don't think I'm alone here.

 

One last little request I'd like to make. Please, please, please take off whatever leash you have Daniel Erickson on and let him run wild. That guy gets me more excited for this game than the rest of your team combined.

[Typeslice]

An individual poster is always in a minority of one and not having acess to the forum stats makes it difficult to provide evidence to the contrary.

 

Like all political shenanegans when these comments are made they make a few fundamental errors:

 

1) To assume that all people who do not post disagree with the comments made is a bit erroneous and frankly somewhat arrogant. Sometimes the silent majority are silent simply because they do not believe that posting will make a difference or that they dont use this kind of media as a means of communication.

 

2) No everyone bothers to post on these kind of forums because they may have no desire to do so. Those who use forums in this game are often the kind of people who actively use these kinds of communication in all areas of life to spread ideas and discuss issues. You have to assume that the posting population is a representative segment of the playing population for statistical purposes.

 

3) If a lot of people who post are angry over something then that usually means someting is wrong. You are not always dealing with illiterate children here. Many are seasoned MMORPG gamers who look for particular features which make a game attractive to them. The most important is a vibrant community IMHO. Non Server specific forums were a big mistake imho and the half baked patch up where you still have to scroll through non server posts to find the bits you want is innefective. That also speaks volumes about how the forums are organised and may also indicate why some dont bother to view them or post on them.

 

4) Assuming all the silent majority is on your side there is still an quote by Lao Tzu which is appropriate.....

"If 50 million people stood up and said a wrong thing ......... it is still a wrong thing"!

 

Why do you assume that i believe everyone who is silent is on "my side"? Also, what is my side? Active subs still outweigh subs lost (majority). I never said everyone was happy, but the majority are still content.

[Sir-Coffee]

Another stay tuned message

 

How do we know you've taken anything of what has been said by players in the last 24 hours seriously?

 

Here's some advice: deliver something tangable, then perhaps the next time you issue a statement like this, more of us will to you seriously.

 

Until then, Bioware is taking the heat it deserves.

 

This. It's the same exact thing they always say.....

[HobbeWan]

Why do you assume that i believe everyone who is silent is on "my side"? Also, what is my side? Active subs still outweigh subs lost (majority). I never said everyone was happy, but the majority are still content.

 

Maybe they are, maybe they are not .... you cannot assume either way unless they say so. Your assumption in your post could be construed as implying that those who do not post on this forum all disagree with posts that are made (this can work for those posters who are for the current changes and developments as well as those who are against). As to what side you are on, thats your affair. The "silent majority" argument can be used by both sides to support whatever position they want simply because they are "silent" and therefore cannot be counted as having an informed opinion.

 

Anyway ... its a circular argument .

 

I guess the only way we will know for sure is if they stay or go.

 

My point is that only the posts can be counted and nothing else assumed about those who dont post.

Edited May 23, 2012 by HobbeWan

[Cerion]

Thanks for the update. I sincerely look forward to your initiatives, and while it certainly won't be enough for some on these forums, many of us will appreciate your efforts.

 

Cheers!

[Kalfear]

Hi everyone,

 

In the upcoming weeks, we’re going to be making a few changes and working on new initiatives in order to enhance our relationship with you, the fans, and with our developers. We’ll also be reintroducing the team so that you can get to know us a bit more.

 

As Greg Zeschuk mentioned in his forum post, we still have plenty of new, exciting content and features for the game, and we’re going to need your continued involvement and feedback.

 

Rest assured that the community team is still here, still listening: whether it’s here in our forums, on our official twitter account, one of the many fan sites, or the SWTOR subreddit.

 

Thank you all for your continuing support.

 

This is what should have been happening from word go!

 

This message I like and approve

[Cerion]

4) Assuming all the silent majority is on your side there is still an quote by Lao Tzu which is appropriate.....

"If 50 million people stood up and said a wrong thing ......... it is still a wrong thing"!

 

And assuming you have an objective observer who knows what the right thing is, this makes sense. It is very often the case that the MMO players are in fact wrong about what they want....I mean, they know WHAT they want, but if that thing is implemented, it might have disastrous effects on a game.

 

It's the developers job to try to sort out, in an objective way, what is right and what is wrong for the game. Sometimes the players have a grasp on the bigger picture, sometimes they don't. Developers typically DO have the larger picture in mind...at least the project leads do.

Edited May 23, 2012 by Cerion

[Masturomenos]

Thanks this is the first promising communication. We want to speak to devs and they should want to speak to us. I mean when subs hit 1.6mil migt of been sooner but i think this is more then good news for the players left in the game.

 

The forums are now really bursting with the real isues in game. Before u had a couple threads that may have seemed like good idea no lfg, xserver, nerfing healers and shortining TTK, etc but in the end those were not causing people to leave in masses. What u read now better pvp development, longer ttk, xservr, server mergers, lfg, rated warzones, more raid content 8 per raid not 4 its too easy to get on farm, a working ptr with character transfer of lvl50s and equal ilvl gear available to all where metrics are one tool to adjust but where u also use players fedback from the ptr to make changes, etc is what will make the most people happy and the most people pay more then the least people or minorty.

 

Thanks again and i look forward to this communication

[HobbeWan]

And assuming you have an objective observer who knows what the right thing is, this makes sense. It is very often the case that the MMO players are in fact wrong about what they want....I mean, they know WHAT they want, but if that thing is implemented, it might have disastrous effects on a game.

 

It's the developers job to try to sort out, in an objective way, what is right and what is wrong for the game. Sometimes the players have a grasp on the bigger picture, sometimes they don't. Developers typically DO have the larger picture in mind...at least the project leads do.

 

Lets hope so. Lets also hope that they accept that if the big picture is to be realised & painted, it needs to be a piece of art that people want to look at and enjoy. There is a kind of arrogance which needs to be avoided where you can assume you can tell people what they want and get them to want it.

 

If its snake oil then the seller will usually end up being exposed.

[Fallensbane]

Sucks to hear of people being booted from the 'team', but I think most of us saw it coming a mile away. Good luck to those people in whatever they do next (Please learn from the obvious mistakes made here).

 

As far as the new 'initiative', will believe t when I see the results. I hope I don't see the phrase 'maintenance mode' pop up anytime soon.

[Kellour]

Honestly, having attended PAX East, I cannot say I'm surprised. The one true take away I got from meeting the Devs and CMs was "..man these guys seem smug.." Hopefully they can turn things around, but I think it will take a lot more transparency and far better communication to accomplish that. Don't just tell us you're listening, show us you actually understood what we said.

 

Good luck!

Edited May 24, 2012 by Kellour
Clarity/Sensitivity

[Deewe]

Hello,

 

If I may most of the communication issue lies in two things.

 

The first being the general attitude of self flattering and condescending of a few individuals. IMHO you can't really do anything about that unless not allowing them to post, give interviews or screen everything they say.

 

The second being whatever your initiatives, as long as the devs & leads don't give you meat to share with us and have them seat at the table it will be pointless.

 

 

All in all the communication from your team wasn't bad it was just that you had nothing to say. And we both know it was not your fault (SR included).

[Xterminatz]

All I hear is talk and no action.

 

You need to start delivering more content like you promised and faster like you said. Diablo3 already made a dent in the community in terms of online players, now you need to convince the rest of the players why they should stay here and not go with Guild Wars 2 / Mists of Pandaria when it hits in August.

 

I've been playing since beta and I hope this game pulls through but I think in the next few months you guys have a lot to prove to your customers.

[Vlacke]

Thanks for the info Joveth.

[Costello]

Whats new content that is planned?

 

A good start for the Community team would be to talk more about what the game has planned rather than the usual we can't talk about this until we have already implamented it and its not what anyone playing the game wanted but its too late to change it.

[Elror]

Sorry BW , for me and many other people, its already too late, the ship is sinking. Many better game are coming and you failed in too much way, sad story that i have had so much faith in BW.