Attention All Forum Users: Bringing Order to the PlanetSide 2 Forums

GW Phazaar Top stuff

Good...because sometimes I really feel like Forumsiders are just a bunch of monkeys throwing poo at each other to get a point across

Ceiling Maggie is watching your mass debate.

Can we have the default sorting order for the gameplay bugs forum fixed? It's currently Score, and should be last message time.

Sorting by "score" doesn't make sense if old threads aren't removed, as many old threads about long-since-fixed bugs are stuck at the top.

Or, even better, could the gameplay bugs forum be changed to a link to a proper issue tracker? Maybe that's asking too much

Actually, I haven't exactly. I have seen a lot of posts showing frusteration with certain aspects of the game that were lagging. Seriously, both people's reactions and the fact that the game has had some rather, what? Shocking? Suprising? Basic, flaws? Well however you look at it, I believe this happens in any game company these days because it seems everyone runs such a tight ship. "Little things" get overlooked because one guy is doing 3 peoples work. As long as people can log in, and content is generating cash, that's the things will be. it was good to see the cleaning up of things to get the game running more smoothly, but on the other hand, it sounded like there some things that should have been resolved ages ago. I seriously wish you guys could haul more peoplein to help with the work load, but I think i understand why it hasn't and won't happen.

I know people do blurt posts in frusteration over things that can't be helped like if a server is down etc. I know people on forums usually seem to be composed of bullies and trolls in a lot of cases, 50/50 with people just trying to communicate properly. I don't think the SOE personel should be bullied, but what little I've fooled around in forums, I have seen it happen. Likewise, I've seen posts elsewhere deleted (cough, WoW), and they WERE just constructive critical comments or justly deserved complaints. It happens, so people, SOE and everyuone else, please keep these things in mind.

I was in one big name WoW guild, and the guild leader was a forum monster. Actually, he just turned out to be a monster, period. That was my first experience with gaming forums, and a bad one. It was litterally embarrassing to be associated with the man. My only other attempt to really be involved in gaming forums was with EQN. I gave up on that after being forced to modify a post because it apparently offended one of the players who wanted EQN to be a EQ clone insead of the modern social MMO SOE is building. I said there were a lot of people being ridiculous, (walking everywhere etc. IS stupid. Come on.) A lot of other ideas were stupid. Funny, that's the same attitude I got from watching the offical video from SOE. They just didn't come out and use the word stupid.

Personally, I think we should all work on having a bit thicker hides and not getting so upset just because people disagree or think we arent doing such a hot job sometimes. I don't forum post anymore for EQN, but I do tweet and check the main pages. I think it would be pretty silly on my part to let a handful of forum trolls ruin EQN for me before it ever even came out. So, SOE, and everyone else, stick to your guns. There needs to be order, just don't let it grow into tyranny. I'm sure a little self discipline could help us all.

People get understandably frustrated when there is absolutely no communication for weeks, there are many rather severe issues which have been pointed out in multiple different ways yet we still have no clue if you are even working to fix them.

For example the following issues have not been acknowledged at all

- Game crashes while flying
- Reflex sights are bugged with TR carbines and some other guns

I posted a 'petition' the other week and I didn't realise that this was against the rules.

But I posted it with the intention of getting a list of people who were affected by the lag and on what servers. Just simple and to the point so that SOE could use the information to see where the problems lay. Instead I got a warning message (fair enough, ignorance is not an excuse) from a GM and my thread locked.

So I replied to the GM and apologised because I didn't know I was breaking the rules and I asked how I could have done this better as it really wasn't my intention to do something bad, but to create something good (I just went about it the wrong way). Did the GM reply? No.

I didn't think this sent a good message to me at all. I understand that there may be some frustration with the way forums are going but it comes to something when these guys don't want to encourage the good behaviors and only police the bad.

A vicious circle TBH ..

Minimal Dev interaction with the player base on their own forums >>
Players feel their issues and concerns are being ignored and post from frustration >>
Dev's become reluctant to post due to said frustrated players >>
Players feel their issues and concerns are being ignored >>
Rinse repeat

Really only two ways to fix it ..

One is more direct correspondence on these forums from the Dev's .. Letting the players know what concerns are valid and are being listened to . Once the players know and see that, we ourselves have a much firmer basis for constructive conversation and debate .

Two is the Perfect World Entertainment route of more draconian forum moderation to sweep any issues under the carpet ..

I really hope you go with the former

You would not see the hue and cry over stuff being posted to Reddit/Twitter/Facebook if it would *also* be posted here at the same time. We don't mind that you're using other forums (it's good PR), we just want the benefit of getting the same information here rather then chasing all over the internet for it.

I really do hope so that this whole thing comes together. I post on these forums because I want to help the game improve, even if it's only a small contribution. But ever since I started posting, I've felt like I've been on deaf ears. I've seen some really fantastic ideas for the game, and no developer has ever commented on them. Am I even getting to anyone? Is anyone?

I'm glad to know you've affirmed you read some of these posts, because up until now, I've felt like SOE didn't even care about the forums or anything posted on it. That direct Q&A on Reddit seemed to send a message that the devs wanted no part on the forums.




I can understand where SOE is coming from; the threads like "OMG THIS GAME SUCKS NERF EVERYTHING" or "X THING ON Y FACTION IS OP" really doesn't help anything, and quite frankly, pisses me off now. All it does is waste time and space. Even if it is trying to be constructive, it's not. Though, you have to know that kind of thing is inevitable when ANY person can just come on here and start posting about what they want to see in the game...



And as for us, the gamers, the community; this could be an opportunity to really communicate with the team on the forums. Don't ruin it.

What many PS2 forumsiders don't realize, is there are many people in the community who have written these forums off entirely. No, not devs, players. There are plenty that would prefer to post on PSU or Reddit, because of the frankly ridiculous, and what I can only describe as xenophobic, attitude towards other community sites. The Planetside 2 Forums Community does not like the Planetside 2 community, and for that reason many people just don't bother. And this is really ONLY on the PS2 forums. PSU might complain occasionally about not getting attention and Reddit might downvote some things into oblivion that should likely at least be given a time of day... but This Site, actively Attacks people who try and inform it by posting things from the other websites, like some kind of unofficial squad of... I don't even know a term, you can call someone a white knight for a cause, so lets call these people the Dark Knights of PS2... no, not Batman, more like that dude from Monty Python who got his arms and legs chopped off. I've had numerous posts I've made derailed by players who hated that I posted information from Reddit... because it was from reddit, that was it. It was information they didn't have, but because it came from Reddit, it was radioactive. This was, and is completely and without equal, the dumbest thing I have ever had the misfortune of dealing with in any gaming community I have been a part of ever, and effectively drove me from regularly posting on these forums with the frequency I had in the past.

+1 to SOE for stepping in and trying to fix the situation. Best of luck.

Luperza, you are such a nice inspiration for me at my work (I'm in the same field), you do such a great job. Please, keep it up!

Honestly though any ill will towards 3rd party sites has been fostered by the Dev's preference for them ..

If they posted on their own forum more often no one would care if they posted on Twitter or Reddit, but when you treat your own forums like the black sheep of the family then yes it will cause hostility towards the places they do post ..

Human nature after all ..

My post from a few days ago:

All players want is some acknowledgement that they've been heard on specific problems and that the problems will be fixed. Players assume from the silence that the devs aren't listening or don't get it, so they make more threads on these problem. I want to assume that the devs know there's a problem, but considering how long some weapons/abilities remained/remain unchanged, players should definitely feel worried about them not caring.

It would be so easy to just make a forum post listing specific weapons/abilities they are looking at. It doesn't have to be a big promise, just something to let people know that they've been heard.

I'd like to see small rewards towards forum users who provide constructive feedback. For example a post that highlights a bug to be fixed or a suggestion that makes it in game. Perhaps an exclusive camo or decal as a Forum contributer.

The toxic state of your forum could be a good indication of the state of the game. Do happy people come to the forums? Not likely as much as unhappy people. So does that mean the majority think the game is fine, and the forum lurkers are the few? I dunno. But i'm pretty sure if the game climbed out of the septic tank, they would have a much cleaner mouth. As it is you are just dropping us into the ****ter inside a hamster ball and saying "Smile or else". OMFG is in part to blame, though it had to be done to get the game stable for launch and out of open beta, i understand, frustrated none the less.

Is the game is an utterly horrible place? No. Are there things that need to be addressed timely that are being put off for months? Yes.

As I recently tried to explain to RadarX in a private message, constructive discussion swings both ways. Telling your users not to be angry and then deleting any angry threads is not "constructive". If you aren't replying to your users in a constructive manner your users aren't going to make constructive posts.

A perfect example is when people post about a legitimate complaint but express their views in a way not deemed suitable by yourselves. Their thread is locked with no explanation, just the ubiquitous "There are other threads about this" post. No attempt is ever made to point them towards a more suitable thread, explain SOE's stance on the subject or inform them of progress on the situation...it's just closed. Do you guys not see how that might cause resentment in your community?

I totally understand that there are a lot of threads and a lot of posts to moderate, but when it's things that are asked every single day surely it wouldn't be too much trouble to have a stock response. For example, instead of endlessly locking ZOE threads...how about telling us what's going on with ZOE balance. Instead of telling us there are other threads...how about telling us which is the one you've decided is acceptable? Instead of telling us to ask our question somewhere else, how about answering it... people have been complaining about ZOE Maxs for months and I don't think I've ever seen anyone from SOE give any feedback on it whatsoever.

I'm not trying to turn this into a ZOE whining thread, it's just a good, current example of a trend that's been around since launch. You never tell us anything unless you've already decided what you're going to do about it, which means anything you aren't sure about or you don't think is an issue gets left to fester. People who are annoyed by it just get completely ignored and then when they get pissed off about it they are basically told they aren't allowed to be. It's like when you are pissed off walking down the street and then being told by a random stranger to "cheer up". It's infuriating.

I should point out I've stopped playing Planetside. I just did not like the direction it was taking. I dislike the new resource system that discourages you from having fun. I used to mix up my gameplay to keep it interesting, I'd pull a tank every now and then, or pull a Max for a change of pace or get an ESF and fly around for a bit, or pull a flash just to drive around and do jumps for a laugh. Now I have to save all my ground resources for Sunderers and all my infantry resources go on deployables, I never get to pull anything else on a whim and it makes the game about half as fun as it used to be....and I have premium, I can't imagine how bad it is without the 50% resource boost.

Also the balance in the game right now just isn't enjoyable...it's not fun to fly aircraft as VS or NC when the TR have the Striker. Endlessly having to deal with lock ons is not an enjoyable gameplay experience. And as I mentioned above, the ZOE max, whether you think it's overpowered or not, just makes the infantry combat tedious. You can only deal with them in very specific ways as infantry...get close with C4, pop out from a corner and hip fire rocket launcher or pull your own max, and quite frankly I'm sick of just doing those three things ad-infinitum. That's all infantry combat is now, because every other player you meet when fighting the VS is a ZOE max.

Finally the server I'm on (Woodman) is permanently stacked. The VS got a massive population advantage on Woodman months ago (about the time when ZOE maxs came out...fancy that). The other two factions got fed up with being unable to fight the odds and just gave up. All of the veteran players and clans on the NC/TR either stopped playing, joined the VS or rerolled on another server and Woodman is left with a veteran, organised Vanu player base fighting a zerg of new starts on the other factions. Anyone who knows what they are doing either doesn't start playing on Woodman or they join the Vanu.

There's no competition, no balance and it's just boring. I believe Waterson has a similar problem with TR and it's a problem that is just completely ignored. The only solution SOE has proffered is that someday in the future well be able to pay you to server transfer...you're going to charge us to fix a problem with your game.

Anyway, that was a bit of a rant but the point I was going to make is, I haven't bothered to make threads about any of this stuff because I just don't believe it'd make any difference. The impression you give by your response to forum posts is that you've already decided what you think is best and you will only ever reply informatively to threads which agree with what you were already going to do anyway. Anything that disagrees just gets swept under the carpet. I'm sure you think that I'm wrong and that you do care what people say, but what I'm trying to get across is that that is not how it appears to an outside observer. If you want your community to think otherwise you need to revise how you handle complaints.

I'm going to be Perfectly frank, there are probably about 10-12 people on these forums I listen to (You are one of them HadesR), and while I see what you are saying...

To be perfectly honest though, I think it's a load of crap. The PS2 forums recieved a TON of attention from Codeforge, they have received exclusive information in the past, There has been posts and other things related here easily as much if not more than is seen on PSU... yet regardless of how much attention is given, this same silly thing about how the PS2 forums are neglected is repeatedly dragged out, as if stating it a 100 times in a mirror will make Higby appear and fix the situation.

There are rather annoying trolls in other portions of the PS2 community, but you see more nonsensical ramblings here, per post than anywhere else. You see straight demonization of PSU and Reddit... other portions of this game's Own Community. It's not directed at the devs, as much as the whole dev attention issue is used to mask the most misguided and ridiculous attitude that anything not originating from here is unclean. It's toxic to the community as a whole, it's totally unfounded, unneeded, and it does nothing but drag down these forums even more into obscurity every day it is allowed to continue.

Codeforges post's aside most of the information is not in many cases what the players need or want or have been asking for ..
Let's take the ZOE post's an an example . Players have made countless ( to many ) threads about the issue over a period of months and have received not one whisper in answer ( Still waiting for the Max / AV turret balance thread we were promised ), but today Higby post's on Reddit a plan for the ZOE ...
Rightly or wrongly that will cause people to lash out towards 3rd party sites .. Not because the 3rd party sites are bad, but because the Dev's use them pretty much to the exclusion of their own forums to give feedback players have been asking for on their own forum..

Why couldn't that ZOE answer have been posted in one of the countless ZOE threads here weeks ago ?.. or even a simple " We know of the issue and are changing it "..
Ignore people and they will get pissed off ..


I do agree with you about the troll posts though

I'll be implementing the change to last message time shortly.