Why Bioware doesn't talk to us?

[ratty]

I was just reading this thread only to see so much unnecessary discussion about FB and TW.

 

I'm certainly not going to argue about which mediums should be used for communication but I feel like saying that anything worth mentioning in one of those forms of medium should be stated in all forms of medium used in communication.

 

By stating something only in FB they are missing out on sections of their audience that don't use FB.

By stating something only in TW they are missing out on sections of their audience that don't use TW.

By stating something only in these forums they are missing out on sections of their audience that don't use the forums.

 

Therefore, if they have something to communicate, why don't they communicate the exact same thing (after all, it doesn't take much effort to copy and paste messages either) across all the differnet types of medium they use rather than just thinking "Today I will only mention something on Facebook."

 

I don't use FB or TW either and people may say it's my choice not to use those sites but I also say that anything worth mentioning on FB or TW should also be mentioned here on this site in these forums.

 

You certainly don't reach the majority of your customer base by restricting lines of communication to only one type of medium. You reach the majority of your customer base by utilising all the different types of medium to broadcast the same messages and not just state something on one medium but not on others.

 

It may be considered our choice not to use FB or TW but it's also their choice not to try and reach out to the majority of their customer base. If they can post something on TW or FB then they can easily post something on these forums too because that's what they're paid to do.

 

If they don't want to communicate on these forums then they are alienating part of the customer base they rely on to keep the subscribers subscribing. You certainly don't win people over by alienating them or creating the perception that people aren't worth talking to.

 

If they don't post stuff on these forums then they accept the consequences for not doing so.

[Kikkelipoika]

Making announcements is not communication. Bioware has to open up a dialog with the players if it is ever to get anything right. My estimation is that they're either just plain arrogant, or the problems are caused by some EA internal policy. I personally believe that there is a lot of both going on.

[The_Butler]

These forums never seem to fail to make me sad. Game forums are not the place to have any type of relevant conversations any more.

 

They are like an angry mob who gather up around a issue or thread they support and egg each other on and the bigger the group the freer people feel to shout stupid things that if they would never even consider saying to the Devs face. I bet if a Dev or Community member turned up on each persons doorstep to discuss each and every post those people wouldn't dream of shouting at them that their game sucked and they sucked and didn't know what they were doing - which lets face it is pretty much 99% of posts on the forums.

 

The anonimity of a crowd which is how forums work just brings out the worst in people.

 

Which is why FB and Twitter have a big advantage because contacting someone from a personal account that you use to speak with your friends, family etc. from is a great way of moderating communication into a mature and useful manner unlike the childish nature of name-calling and self-entitlement that just hiding behind the safety of a SWToR account brings.

 

And as to the ridiculousness of Twitter and FB not being "official", well if I get told of a Car Product Recall via TV News or read in the papers I don't just pretend it's not their because it's a "3rd Party". You choosing not to use Twitter and Facebook is fine but then that's no difference to complaining you haven't been informed of something because you choose not to read a newspaper, turn on a TV or listen to the Radio. There are mutliple means of communication online - use them all and don't complain if you limit themselves.

 

That being said I do agree with the above poster that *everything* that is deemed worthy of a Twitter or Facebook post should be a Sticky.

[Yogol]

Because they laid off half of their customer support staff.

 

Yes There has not been one single DEV post this week, except for the horror that was the weekly maintenance. Clearly, more than half of their testing staff got laid off too.

 

Nice way to treat your customers!

 

And yes, I don't care if they use FB & Twitter. But stuff should get posted in all places. Now, it's FB & Twitter only.

Edited July 5, 2012 by Yogol

[chimunga]

There is communication, but it's mostly either fluff or telling us the same thing ten times but in a different way.

 

A.) Facebook is useless. There is no communication there at all, just some announcements about patches and polling you about what advance class you play.

 

B.) Twitter is even worse, because all it is is fluff. There are some real answers there, but not much conversation at all. It's mostly someone congratulating a player on reaching 50 or finishing a chapter or sending someone to either CS or the Suggestion Box. Scan through the twitter for a few minutes. You'll probably reach the same conclusion. Quotes from the twitter that pretty much Sum it up:

-- "@jaygurley Feel free to drop that feedback in our Suggestion Box forum: http://bit.ly/znT0db Thanks! ^JJ"

--"@maowin Congrats on reaching level 50! ^JJ"

--"@BrokeBH I see nothing wrong with that. Declare your independence from Republic scum and/or vile Imperials (character choice dependent)! ^MD"

--"@ausiellomxnpq0 Glad to hear it was a smooth process! Enjoy your new server! ^JJ"

 

C.) Forums=meh. There's some information, but I find it mostly fluff as well. The Q&A's can be good, and have been lately, but 10 questions a week is a bit weak. You can't do 15 or twenty? Scanning though the Q&A thread I always find some really interesting questions I would like the answer to as well. I'd really like the Q&A to be filled with less fluff, but I think they've been doing *much* better with that lately. I also think that we'd like some conversation in the forums. What I've noticed is that Devs usually answer one question in the forums and then disappear. Not always, of course, but usually. And I think that's what everyone is looking for. Conversations with Devs. Actually talking about the game, and how it can be improved. More explanation about how things are the way they are.

 

I understand that the forums are filled with stupid threads, trolls, and whiners, but that doesn't mean that the people who aren't among those should get punished for that.

[Neoeve]

Heh, most tickets over there take, quite literally, days. I'm no Blizzard basher - they simply don't make bad games, and WoW is no exception. But let's be realistic here - their in-game services have only grown worse and more ineffective as time goes on.

 

Hmm must be something that fell in decline then....used to be quite good in WotLK times =\.

Still for a game that's quite new, customer service should be one of the top priorities, in SWTOR that doesnt really happens.

[monkgryphon]

There is communication, but it's mostly either fluff or telling us the same thing ten times but in a different way.

 

A.) Facebook is useless. There is no communication there at all, just some announcements about patches and polling you about what advance class you play.

 

B.) Twitter is even worse, because all it is is fluff. There are some real answers there, but not much conversation at all. It's mostly someone congratulating a player on reaching 50 or finishing a chapter or sending someone to either CS or the Suggestion Box. Scan through the twitter for a few minutes. You'll probably reach the same conclusion. Quotes from the twitter that pretty much Sum it up:

-- "@jaygurley Feel free to drop that feedback in our Suggestion Box forum: http://bit.ly/znT0db Thanks! ^JJ"

--"@maowin Congrats on reaching level 50! ^JJ"

--"@BrokeBH I see nothing wrong with that. Declare your independence from Republic scum and/or vile Imperials (character choice dependent)! ^MD"

--"@ausiellomxnpq0 Glad to hear it was a smooth process! Enjoy your new server! ^JJ"

 

C.) Forums=meh. There's some information, but I find it mostly fluff as well. The Q&A's can be good, and have been lately, but 10 questions a week is a bit weak. You can't do 15 or twenty? Scanning though the Q&A thread I always find some really interesting questions I would like the answer to as well. I'd really like the Q&A to be filled with less fluff, but I think they've been doing *much* better with that lately. I also think that we'd like some conversation in the forums. What I've noticed is that Devs usually answer one question in the forums and then disappear. Not always, of course, but usually. And I think that's what everyone is looking for. Conversations with Devs. Actually talking about the game, and how it can be improved. More explanation about how things are the way they are.

 

I understand that the forums are filled with stupid threads, trolls, and whiners, but that doesn't mean that the people who aren't among those should get punished for that.

 

I agree completely with this. I can only hope it does get better.

[Asiyah]

Communication on hot as well as general topics is limited to non-existent.

 

When the restructure at Bioware went ahead there was an overabundance of chat from the community team, now nothing.

 

A non-engaged community will not continue to sub.

Edited July 8, 2012 by Asiyah

[Esproc]

I don't do any facebook, twitter, yahway or any other type of that ....

 

The Q & A is lame at best with the weak topics that avoid any truly important issues, some are just repeated rehashed questions with even weaker answers that are often missing the mark of the questions, or are totally irrelevant to some of the player base altogether.

 

The Forums are weak, normally either a canned response to post / moved post to " forum area", or "check here" for information (that is worthless).

 

The Launcher is for the update of fixes, patches, updated content, and not much else, so just a heads up and no actual information otherwise.

 

Sad, but true. (You know, that reminds me of a song )

[timmyw]

There is communication, but it's mostly either fluff or telling us the same thing ten times but in a different way.

 

A.) Facebook is useless. There is no communication there at all, just some announcements about patches and polling you about what advance class you play.

 

B.) Twitter is even worse, because all it is is fluff. There are some real answers there, but not much conversation at all. It's mostly someone congratulating a player on reaching 50 or finishing a chapter or sending someone to either CS or the Suggestion Box. Scan through the twitter for a few minutes. You'll probably reach the same conclusion. Quotes from the twitter that pretty much Sum it up:

-- "@jaygurley Feel free to drop that feedback in our Suggestion Box forum: http://bit.ly/znT0db Thanks! ^JJ"

--"@maowin Congrats on reaching level 50! ^JJ"

--"@BrokeBH I see nothing wrong with that. Declare your independence from Republic scum and/or vile Imperials (character choice dependent)! ^MD"

--"@ausiellomxnpq0 Glad to hear it was a smooth process! Enjoy your new server! ^JJ"

 

C.) Forums=meh. There's some information, but I find it mostly fluff as well. The Q&A's can be good, and have been lately, but 10 questions a week is a bit weak. You can't do 15 or twenty? Scanning though the Q&A thread I always find some really interesting questions I would like the answer to as well. I'd really like the Q&A to be filled with less fluff, but I think they've been doing *much* better with that lately. I also think that we'd like some conversation in the forums. What I've noticed is that Devs usually answer one question in the forums and then disappear. Not always, of course, but usually. And I think that's what everyone is looking for. Conversations with Devs. Actually talking about the game, and how it can be improved. More explanation about how things are the way they are.

 

I understand that the forums are filled with stupid threads, trolls, and whiners, but that doesn't mean that the people who aren't among those should get punished for that.

 

I also agree with this 100%. There will be whiners and doomsday soothsayers in every game forum. Some real discussion and some real answers about some pretty pressing issues would be great.

[Deewe]

There is communication, but it's mostly either fluff or telling us the same thing ten times but in a different way.

 

A.) Facebook is useless. There is no communication there at all, just some announcements about patches and polling you about what advance class you play.

 

B.) Twitter is even worse, because all it is is fluff. There are some real answers there, but not much conversation at all. It's mostly someone congratulating a player on reaching 50 or finishing a chapter or sending someone to either CS or the Suggestion Box. Scan through the twitter for a few minutes. You'll probably reach the same conclusion. Quotes from the twitter that pretty much Sum it up:

-- "@jaygurley Feel free to drop that feedback in our Suggestion Box forum: http://bit.ly/znT0db Thanks! ^JJ"

--"@maowin Congrats on reaching level 50! ^JJ"

--"@BrokeBH I see nothing wrong with that. Declare your independence from Republic scum and/or vile Imperials (character choice dependent)! ^MD"

--"@ausiellomxnpq0 Glad to hear it was a smooth process! Enjoy your new server! ^JJ"

 

C.) Forums=meh. There's some information, but I find it mostly fluff as well. The Q&A's can be good, and have been lately, but 10 questions a week is a bit weak. You can't do 15 or twenty? Scanning though the Q&A thread I always find some really interesting questions I would like the answer to as well. I'd really like the Q&A to be filled with less fluff, but I think they've been doing *much* better with that lately. I also think that we'd like some conversation in the forums. What I've noticed is that Devs usually answer one question in the forums and then disappear. Not always, of course, but usually. And I think that's what everyone is looking for. Conversations with Devs. Actually talking about the game, and how it can be improved. More explanation about how things are the way they are.

 

I understand that the forums are filled with stupid threads, trolls, and whiners, but that doesn't mean that the people who aren't among those should get punished for that.

Good point.

 

The communication is mostly meaningless.

[Tatebomb]

BW talks plenty. They just don't SAY anything.

[monkgryphon]

I remember pre-launch... fond memories.

[Deewe]

BW talks plenty. They just don't SAY anything.

Quite so

[Valkirus]

Hmm must be something that fell in decline then....used to be quite good in WotLK times =\.

Still for a game that's quite new, customer service should be one of the top priorities, in SWTOR that doesnt really happens.

 

It is still good. Donot listen to the WoW haters. We have had 3 members in our guild the last year who got hacked and when the GM turned in a ticket on them, thier accounts were frozen within 5 mins after he did. And with in a week or so, all the items was returned to those players intact once they got control of thier accounts again. Also, just recently a member deleted by accident a ring she had. She turned in a ticket and it was resolved in less then 30 mins.

Edited July 8, 2012 by Valkirus

[Jakarn]

Well, then why don't they communicate in the other sections then? I cannot agree with you on this. Just because there are bad posters, it should never ruin it for the good posters. Just because there are sniveling brats, they shouldn't just ignore everyone.

 

Most of the brats post in general. I have to disagree with the OP on this. They don't post in the general chat I think because they would be tied up for hours talking crap. Look at how long this thread has gone for.

 

If you go take a look at the customer service section, most of the questions and problems are replied to, which is how it should be. It makes me feel better that their more concerned with helping people having problems with the game than going over and over the same information that can be found in other parts of the web or even on their front page.

 

Did you notice that every Tuesday, after maintenance your launcher screen is updated ? It has links that explains in more detail what is happening with the game.

Did you wonder why the web site shuts down when they are doing maintence ? Because they are updating it with all the new info.

Do you read the blogs that come up when you first open up the forums, after maintenance ?

Click on "Comunity blog" at the top of your screen under "comunity" the old ones are there

Those Q and A blogs that come up every week did you ever wonder who posted them? There is a link in them that takes you to the Q and A thread. You obviously haven't paid attention so here it is :-

http://www.swtor.com/community/showthread.php?t=499546

 

You can ask them questions there, it is more controled, not as random as it would be in general.

For those that say they don't use Twitter or FB most of the important stuff posted on there is either put in the developer tracker section (a blog with the summary of this comes up regurly), or in the comunity roundup blog that comes out regularly.

 

Just looking over all this, these guys talk to us to much just shut up already

Edited July 8, 2012 by Jakarn

[Glower]

https://twitter.com/#!/SWTOR

An hour ago, said something unintelligible and went to lunch.