Open letter to PS2 producer, Sites

They probably still have all their forums still on Sony servers.... so... they need to migrate all that **** out, and it's mixed in with Sony ****... and yeah, they prolly have some longer plan for a slower, methodical, transfer of everything with contracts in place that Sony can't just pull the plug.

Maybe if/when the forums get moved from the sony servers they can get a reddit-like makeover so devs can start posting here? I do not understand why, if the devs prefer a certain layout for their communications, why do they not use said layout for their official forums? It does not make sense to me why this has become an issue. As you said yourself, other companies do it.

I am personally not a huge fan of the reddit layout, but if the official PS2 forums were where devs and the community could communicate together without needing 3rd party tracker sites to figure out what the heck is going on it would be a welcome change in my opinion.

I am very tired of the community feeling so split and neglected, and as it becomes smaller the problem feels so much worse. I hope you all figure out how to make this work out.

The forums may or may not be on Sony servers.

we can deduce that there is some kind of separation that there wasn't several years ago. Why? Several years ago Sony was hacked and that impacted on all Sony and SOE services. All their games were down for around 4 weeks or so.

However in the more recent hacking episode SOE services were not impacted.

Now it may be that the servers are located in the same place. It may be that the server SOE used SOE paid for and therefore they have transferred over to the new company. I don't know it may even be that neither Sony nor SOE 'own' the servers but that they are managed by a hosting company.

In any case, it may be that all that needs to happen if the Daybreak games domain whatever it is is 'pointed' at the servers and the SOE one is removed. If so the biggest impact will be on customers who have to update their browser links.

You know you have hit a luxury level of [fill in item] if people start to discuss where to get it instead of how much.

I'm glad enough we have that level of transparency. Also I know a lot of games where devs & PR's use social media sites. Especially Twitter and Facebook and I am happy that this company does not involve Facebook that much. (Special promo stuff on facebook only - **** you! [secret company])

Usually Reddit is where all the informations the users can gather is shared (Official forum website, news site, social media sites, blogs, secret stuff) This is nothing new nor wrong. It's more surprising for me that DBG is actually on there, in the middle of the jerk festival, with very limited power to censor or direct the media in their direction. They step out of their comfort zone to deal face to face with their users, I like that. Now it is your turn to do the same if you want to be part of it.

The biggest problem people don't get: If the devs would not use any social media and only have the official forums to post into - you wouldn't see more dev posts here. This is not a result of a "meh" official forum, it's natural. There are different forms of communication platforms and they all have their benefits and disadvantages. You can not put all the advantages on one site because they contradict each other.

I rather have the awesome picture of the new weapon model posted on twitter by a dev, cross-posted on reddit by an user, listed in the devtracker, and later posted in the official patch notes when it is done and shipped than only the last one because the dev is not allowed to post internal stuff in social media. That is ofc my opinion - decide for yourself.

These forums don't have to be the end point.

If Reddit is really superior then make Reddit the end point, and only put links in these forums?

I must say that I don't really agree with the devs using Reddit/Twitter over their own forums, but I understand the fact that they would be more comfortable with using Reddit/Twitter anyway. I mean, the forums only have one purpose for an account, which would be to discuss PS2 stuff, while a Reddit account will let you explore the entire wonderful world of Reddit, and Twitter will let you speak with pretty much the whole darn world. Honestly, just because of those simple facts, I'm very tempted to create a Reddit account (I've used it a lot lately anyway, and it's stupidly easy to make an account there).

I've honestly given up at this point. I'm not really into the Redditside scene from what I've seen (I swear I've gone to the site, and the next day, all of the topics I saw the day before were gone), but I'll give in, I guess. I personally prefer Warframe's strategy of using the living hell out of their forums, but that's a personal preference, and one that seems to be in the minority of the current gaming world.

I suggest you guys do so as well. I mean, you probably will get a lot more utility from a Reddit or Twitter account anyway. The devs aren't going to change, so we should just adapt. I don't think you should quit the game over this, the game will play whether the devs use Twitter, Reddit, VK, or whatever else they choose.

Anyway, can anyone point me to a good Reddit app for Android? Thanks.

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P.S.: A question to RadarX: do you think that fact that the strategy of using different social media platforms in different proportions may have caused the friction between Forumside and Redditside we see today? Maybe the fact that the devs chose to use one platform over the other has caused an "us-versus-them" mentality and makes certain players feel that they are treated better because they use a certain website of the other.

I'm just a bit curious as to what your thoughts are on that. Thanks a bunch for your interaction here with us, I really appreciate it.

Done. Account cancelled, i's dotted and t's crossed. Any group of Developers that won't cater to their own product via their own Official Forums serves no purpose to me as a gamer. That is solely my opinion and other options in the gaming world are far more viable and I will have no problem focusing my attention elsewhere.

I cancelled my account a month ago. This apathetic attitude by the devs is discouraging and it doesn't deserve our money.

I swear they DayBreak at this point is just trying to advertise for Reddit, maybe we should invest in them instead!

I love the fact that we were somehow able to receive another response. See, that wasn't so hard after all.
And suddenly we are communicating. We don't have to agree, all the time, we just have to keep up the conversation.
We are just asking for a bit more, not much, but a bit more.
Thank you RadarX.

It's an interesting question. In my professional/personal opinion I believe the rift goes deeper than just forums vs reddit. Interaction with developers and companies have fundamentally changed over the last 5 years. This is more about traditional expectations from veteran gamers vs a slightly newer generation who didn't play PS1 or online games 15 years ago or those able to adapt.

Balance might have made a difference but the teams primary job is to make the game and much of their interaction is outside their normal duties. We need to make it as flexible as we can for them. I know some folks disagree and we respect it, we have just chosen this road.

No longer supporting the game because of that seems like an exaggerated response but as a gamer myself I vote with my wallet too.

Although I do look at both reddit and the forum, I'm quite disappointed. But:

Helps me understand the situation. So I'm disappointed, but I can understand and not judge.

You aren't the only one.

It's just that nobody is really considerate enough to consider that maybe we don't want to be involved in those sites.

Thanks for your insight. You make a pretty interesting point, but I must say that there probably are a lot of gamers, noobs or vets, that just expect the devs to use their own site. It's just kind of intuitive. But that's just from my own experience as a rather young gamer.

But I didn't really come here to argue. Again, thanks for the response and for sticking around and putting up with all the craziness we as PS2 players give you sometimes.

Thanks for looking at it from my point of view (which is just my opinion). I'm of course generalizing as I've seen plenty of PS1 vets on Reddit but I really think this is something that goes much bigger than Forums and Reddit.

I hope that excludes the Roadmap ..

It would be extremely poor form to ask

And then expect us to find any answers to our feedback and ideas on a 3rd party site ..

That's ofc if any feedback and ideas are going to be replied to rather than just the " We read them " PR

What has been said is sad indeed. Essentially the Road chosen by the entire Team has been to use third party outlets to pass information along. The current interaction we are getting from RadarX is above and beyond what we have received in the past and that has been sparse at it's best. I have written a letter to Andrew Intrater expressing my disappointment that we would be forced to get Twitter and Reddit accounts in order to have access to the Development Team as they would not be using The Official Forums to have discussions or interact with players who don't subscribe to those mediums.

I can understand the need to cast a wide net and put information out through as many channels as possible to gain exposure and create feedback for future evaluation. Unfortunately, you cast a net that doesn't include your own Forums. I thought maybe someone at Columbus Nova would at least like to know what has happened in the past and what the current mindset of their newly acquired Team is. Food for thought I guess.

Godspeed my friends. Keep your sticks on the ice.

/Thread.
#notmissingHigbyyet

I don't go to reddit. I don't have a twitter or face book or a tumbler account, so I don't use those. I come to the Planetside 2 forums for info, updates, and discussions relating to planetside 2, because these are the OFFICIAL FORUMS FOR PLANETSIDE 2 and as such, I would figure that is what these forums have been created and used for.

I think this thread is awesome. This is the most amount of dialog on the PS2 forums I've seen with SOE/DBG since...ever.

I'm encouraged there is conversation going on, even if we don't necessarily agree. At least we are getting feedback.

It has to start somewhere.

RadarX, keep up the dialog...this is good stuff! While you are at it, tell the team to chime in!

It's not exagerated if you consider that some gamers are attracted to more than just the game itself. If you look through the EQ/EQ2/EQ Next/Landmark forums there are plenty of people that view the social experience, and in particuar, having exchanges with the people that work on the games as an important part of the experience. Often it keeps people playing and paying long after interest in the game itself has waned.

Don't forget that "crusty old PS1 vets" like myself play a lot of other games besides PS2 and have a healthy disposable income that they're willing to part with if the product package is palatable enough. I'd vouch that it's you guys that actually need to move with the times. You need to be more creative with your critical thinking when it comes to community matters and realise that there are now several groups of gamers to market your prodcuts at, not the just ADHD instant gratification crowd that follows the latest social media trend and then moves on to some other game.

You can have our money if the package is right. If not we'll spend it elsewhere. Ironically, it's probably the "crusty old PS1 vets" that are the more lucrative crowd and will probably stick around the longest.