(Suggestion) Re-organize the Forums

Dear DBG person that deals with these forums,

One would think that labeling this area of the forums as TLE would clue people in that it's meant for posting about TLE. Apparently, many people can't figure that out. Please do something to fix this. I think the options are:

• Just rename this forum as TLE General Discussion and move it under the EverQuest2 Discussion section.
• Under the TLE Discussion Forums create a robust set of forums specific to TLE issues (e.g. crafting, events, etc.)
• Something else that I haven't thought of.

Thanks for your consideration,
Dude

Radar, can you put in a feral halfling that jumps out of the screen and screams "WRONG FORUM!" over and over while hitting the poster with an inflatable cartoon mallet every time they create a post about ethereals in the TLE forum?

I believe Radar no longer works here?

Well damn. Ok then.

The rules of these forums prevent me from accurately reflecting my opinions on this statement.

His absence will not go unnoticed.

I would tremendously enjoy seeing this in game as well as on the forums, and then perhaps a temporary in game title that cannot be removed for say a week before poofing that says, I cannot read or follow directions.

Cyrrena

If we see any significant change to the forums, it will be outsourcing them or eliminating them altogether.

Yeah, my money is on outsourcing.

I'm leaning a bit more on the side of eliminating.

Just sayin...

Come on, EQ still has its forums. They aren't going to just shut these down.

To be honest, message boards are starting to become a bit of a relic compared to other modern forms of social media.

That is alright if they are relics. We are all relics as well, we are playing very old games and most of us are alright too.

Cyrrena

I'm just saying that I wouldn't be surprised if they were phased out.

Mostly because the people who run forums have to work really hard to foster and guide a successful forum. They cannot just cross their fingers and hope anymore. So many forums languish on ancient software (this site hasn't upgraded the software in over 3 years) that's lacking social features, integration, etc. I see so many people setup phpBB 3 forums and are surprised that they just sit there. phpBB 3 is 11 years old. It has a lot of features but it is missing the few things Facebook does very well. Facebook makes it stupidly easy to share what's going on with your day with your friends. Forums, it's always a multi-step process. Also many forums (including this one) look poor on mobile devices. Over 50% of internet use in the USA is mobile now.

It's not forums that are failing. It's the people running them.

Comparing this forum to Facebook is like comparing my elderly sedan that still works fine to a graffiti-covered, vomit-floored NYC subway car. WTF would I want to trade down to a forum that strips all my privacy, mines my not-so-private data for info to sell to advertisers, is a cluttered mess visually, and makes me know my relatives' politics, for which "ignorance is bliss at family reunions"? I avoid the likes of Facebook and Twitter like the plagues they are.

Upgrade to newer forum software that can grok mobile devices and display properly? Sure, great, go for it. That's only a ten-year-old "cutting edge" requirement. Make sharing an easier option? Sure, why not? Force gamers onto a "real names" platform? Screw that. Ask Blizzard how well that went when they tried it.

There are a billion people on Facebook. The barrier to entry is extremely low. Because all your friends and family are there, the discoverability and marketing capabilities are insane. Forums are silos of information separated by different login systems. It's amazing how many people won't spend the 45 seconds to sign up for a new forum.

And it's amazing how many companies balk at spending $200 for upgraded forum software. Why should they pay when there's free software out there, and the people making the decisions are incapable of understanding the finer points of why using 15 year old forum software is a bad idea.

You ask the question: "Why should they pay when there's free software out there"
You answer the question: "the discoverability and marketing capabilities are insane."

I will never join Facebook as long as the cost for entry is my privacy.

Wasn't the plan to move over to reddit and forget about this forum?

And the devs said "over our dead body".

Good for them!

But I thought they'd all moved to this chat thingy?
Starts with a "D" I think.

Anyway, it's nice to have a permanent, searchable forum.