Priority of Social Media over official forums

Discussion in 'General Gameplay Discussion' started by Avirodar, Jul 17, 2014.

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  1. Avirodar Well-Known Member

    Source thread : xelgad-wants-to-know-which-aa-prestige-tab-layout-you-like.549741/

    I will take you up on your offer. Can you please explain why social media is so important that it should come first - in the context of posts relating to gameplay targetted at existing customers (like the AA question)?

    As I touched on in the mentioned thread, I believe these forums should be the primary port of call for topics relating to gameplay. I am in no way against social media being used in conjunction with the official forums, but I consider it logical to post about it on the official forums first, THEN relay it all over social media.

    Your ambition to relay any social media posts of importance to these forums is admirable, but I do not believe we should have to rely on you for such, especially when it comes to the initial postings. The desire for increased activity on social media is a worthy goal, but I do not believe it should come at any expense of the utilization of these official forums.

    Quoting someone who often has a different opinion to my own (Feldon) : "I could write a novel about how SOE isn't harnessing its forums as they could be. When Smedley bypasses the forums and posts directly to Reddit, Twitter, even his own blog, that tells me he feels so constrained by forums that he needs to go to a third-party site to engage directly with players. As someone who has administrated forums for 12 years, it's perplexing.".
  2. Mermut Well-Known Member

    I am in agreement with Avirdar. Using social media to reach new and different people is great.. more people who see and are exposed to the game, the more chances we have for new players. I also don't understand why the forums are often the LAST place official information shows up and even to the extent that some information official posted to various social media sites is NEVER seen on the forums.
    In theory, the EQ2 team has a huge amount of control over how the official forums work, look. As a consequence, they should be able to be customized to be maximally useful to the players, the devs and whoever use uses these forums. Social media sites have fixed formats, so how the information is 'posted' is limited by those sites.
    Again, this isn't to say the various social media sites aren't a great way to increase exposure (and get out information when official sites are down), but in most cases they should mirror the information that was first posted in the official forums, rather then the reverse.
    Gash, Naudi, suka and 7 others like this.
  3. Rhodris EQ2Wire Ninja

    Forums first, then social media. When I'm looking for information like the recent DNS problem, I did not go to social media, but went to a forum first for information.

    So it should be for official communication from SOE. Forum first, social media second. Luperza should absolutely not have to replicate information that has gone out on Twitter or Facebook here. It should be here to start with.

    When Smedley bypasses the forums and posts to other sites, it tells me that he has no respect for the playerbase and does not want to engage with us in any way.
    Gash, Siren, Svenone and 11 others like this.
  4. Mindsway Well-Known Member

    I guess they want to encourage us players to like them on Facebook or follow them on Twitter so they can boost those numbers, but they're going about it all wrong. For vital information it definitely needs to be here first. If they want to draw more people to social media they should offer contests and other fun things on there, they've done it in the past. Social media for fun, but yes we need the important info here, definitely. I think this has been brought up with them before but I guess they don't agree with us.
    Naudi, suka, Wirewhisker and 2 others like this.
  5. Malleria Well-Known Member

    Absolutely agree, forums before social media. One of the worst offenders is Holly. There is a ton of information she releases via twitter that never see's these forums. The only way I even find out about them is thanks to the devotion of people like Feldon who meticulously note every announcement.
    Svenone, Naudi, suka and 6 others like this.
  6. Belenos Well-Known Member

    I don't use social media--never have, and never will. I pay a company (SOE) for a service, and it shouldn't require me to do business with another, outside company--especially one which I consider a scourge on our society (Facebook).
  7. Xianthia Well-Known Member

    I am on the other camp on this one (well sort of). I think part of the issue is that 20+ years ago we didn't have twitter, facebook etc. maybe we'd be more accepting of them using these tools if they'd been in use all along?

    They've made it easy to not even have to be a facebook/twitter user by having the feed on the front page of the forums.

    Forums shouldn't be the only (or even main) source of information, all forms of communication should be used. I've seen many posts along the years stating that the forum users are a miniscule part of the actual gamers. In the end the more the game is out there for new/old/current gamers and it triggers someone to try out the game, that's a good thing.
    Luperza, Spindle and Livejazz like this.
  8. Chama Member

    Forums first and then social media networks.

    I personally dislike facebook for security reasons and would never ever register there.
    The fact that you need to show presence in the main social media networks is something i absolutely understand.
    But making them your primary communicating tool is wrong.

    Also events like contests etc i would like rather see being handled via this forums than fb for example - it was a reason for me to not take part in the last screenshot contest.
    You inform people on this forums to go over to fb - it should be quite the opposite in my opinion.
    SayWhat, Gash, Svenone and 10 others like this.
  9. Livejazz Well-Known Member

    I disagree with the "forums FIRST" approach. I think, instead, it should be "forums AND." IOW, you post to the social media at the same time as you post to the forums.

    I'm willing to bet that social media reaches a LOT more players than the forums do.
    Luperza and Spindle like this.
  10. Mezaka Active Member

    I've said this before, and I'll mention it again: what about your player base that, for various job reasons, CAN'T have Facebook, twitter, or other social media accounts? You want to include social media? That's fine, but you should also be posting things on your Official Forums as well.
    SayWhat, Gash, Siren and 12 others like this.
  11. Katz Well-Known Member

    Facebook, twitter, and the like can't be organized like a forum can. They are a disorganized stream of conscious. Some people like that. I find it a waste of time. The only use I see for Facebook or twitter (in regard to games) is when the forums are unavailable. Then I will check Facebook for news (normally AFTER I check eq2wire first).

    The current forums are artificially limited. You can't maintain helpful stickied posts (such as tips for beginners) because you can't edit your posts. Some of the people who are regulars on the forums are naturally helpful people. They are encouraged to post by maintaining the helpful threads. The limitations on editing discourages and frustrates them.

    Please add more functionality to the forums and post important game information and news here.
    Livejazz, Ragna, suka and 3 others like this.
  12. Deveryn Well-Known Member

    I think you're blowing this way out of proportion, especially considering the fact that when things like the DNS problem occured, there was no forum access. I would encourage people to get over their little stigma with social media and get on twitter. You don't have to commit much in the way of info and you only have to follow SOE, EQ2 and maybe a few others.
    Livejazz and Spindle like this.
  13. Avahlynn Well-Known Member

    The need for this conversation confuses me.

    Social media use is awesome, go for it. Get those new members.

    But why even have a forum if you're not going to post ALL info there first?
    Livejazz, Naudi, Belenos and 3 others like this.
  14. Avirodar Well-Known Member

    Just a reminder...

    In the OP, I express that I have no concerns with social media being used in conjunction with the official forums.

    When SOE shut down their servers after hacking incident, social media was a helpful means of communication. When SOE forgot to renew their DNS servers, social media was a helpful means of communication. But those two examples are what I consider to be the exceptions, not the standard. It is my belief that if someone chooses to not use a non-SOE website (for any reason they deem fit), they should not risk missing out on any important SOE material.

    My intention with this thread, is not to berate any of the staff at SOE. Luperza made an offer to create a new thread if we wanted to discuss this topic, where she will explain why social media is so important. I decided to create a thread and ask the question, in what I hope was a civil manner.

    My goal is to promote better utilization of the EQ2 forums, in conjunction with social media, where topics relating to gameplay and promotions get posted on the official forums prior to branching out into social media.
    Svenone, Livejazz, Naudi and 5 others like this.
  15. Deveryn Well-Known Member

    I have to correct myself: You don't even need to follow anyone on Twitter, as their posts get filtered into the sidebar on the main forum page.
    Luperza likes this.
  16. Katz Well-Known Member

    In rereading my post, it may seem I am against using the social media. I'm not against it. I just want everything important to be posted on the forums. I don't have loads of free time to scan through facebook and twitter looking for important things. I'd rather come here and find it quickly then get back in game.
    Belenos, suka and Sandyfoot like this.
  17. Avahlynn Well-Known Member

    I doubt anyone is againt SOE employing social media to grab the attention of potential new players. Far from, we are likely all thrilled to bits when we see an influx of new and fresh faces here. I love sharing this game with new folks, and introducing my Norrath to them. I love love love it when SOE advertises and brings in people.

    I just don't see why this forum, the official forum, doesn't serve as the springboard from which all announcements originate.
    Gash, Svenone, Naudi and 9 others like this.
  18. Deveryn Well-Known Member

    The thing about social media (especially twitter) is it's very convenient. You don't have to be at your computer and you don't have to go through a login process to get information out there. It can be done in a matter of seconds, where posting something here will take a lot more time and generally involve more detailed postings.
    Luperza likes this.
  19. Feara Well-Known Member

    Yes, this is how I see it.
    Svenone, Naudi, Belenos and 2 others like this.
  20. Maltaros Active Member

    First, how does social media help them get new players? You aren't going to see EQ2 specific posts unless you have already "Liked" the necessary pages or people. Not a way to grab new players. They aren't going to follow Holly or Luperza or EQ2 unless they already play the game or are know them. It's actually a limited pool of people that will see the posts there to start with and in no way increases new people coming to the game. I would say it is more about the really dumb line of thought that no matter how logically useless it is, every business needs to have a big presence in social media.

    Second, Facebook is too random on what it shows you and the order you see it. I have had EQ2 "Liked" since way before they did the big push for Facebook users. I never see their posts pop-up on my page because of how that site tries to decide for me what I want to see. I have mostly liked local businesses I really like but all I ever see is baby pictures from my wife's cousin or right wing ramblings passed on by the guy I liked that I knew in High School - never the businesses I want to follow or even my wife. For that reason Facebook sucks as a social media tool. Since I come here and to EQ2Wire everyday, why should I also have to go searching out their specific Facebook page to see if there is any news?

    Third, if you follow more than a dozen or so busy people on Twitter it starts getting hard to read it often enough in a day to catch the important stuff. I stopped looking at that waste of time site after I realized it is impossible to keep up with it at all unless you do nothing but read it all day. I don't have time for that. I bet most people don't.

    Fourth, the whole putting social media above your own site shows how little respect you have for these forums. If you really want to reach people, drive them to this site first. This is the place where you have a chance to make a real EQ2 community with a real EQ2 stamp to it. The other places do not have an EQ2 personality. They have the personality of those specific sites. You can make the official forums have an EQ2 personality that you can be proud of. Instead it seems like you all have given up on them.
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