Changes to the bulletin board

[_______________Intra]

I was thinking...

if the bumps without anything constructive to add do bother the moderators, then why not bring back the 'rate this thread' feature? and tell people that bumping is against forum policy.

allow the rate this thread feature to only be done once per thread by each person.
that way you would probably sort out the useful threads from the not so useful threads a bit easier.
they would no longer have mindless bumps, so the thread (in theory) should be full of input and additions. and those who agree that the thread should get some attention could rate the thread accordingly.

or those threads, which people think are just senseless can be given a bad rating?

well.. its a possibility anyway,
could remove the bumps but allow people to feel they have given their support to an idea and would encourage more actual discussion.
and since it is against the rules to bump then you may not feel so bad deleting any bumps that appaeared

[_______________Intra]

I just posted a response to the player council, which I also feel should be put here as it highlights more ideas on how to possibly increase the use of the community.

"My opinions (posted in a calm and civilised manner.. just thought i would mention it incase anyone wants to jump to conclusions)

I do appreciate the effort that the players are putting in.
I do dissagree with the concept of a player run council though for many of the reasons stated.

one of the things I would like to point out...
the council already exsists in the form of Cz, Dai-galean and Cosmik.
we are community members and they are community leaders.
we give our concerns and feedback to them through this board, through IRC, through email through player run fan sites. They take those concerns to the devs.
these forums do get read and I often feel sorry for Cosmik who has to trall through it all to get information.

I say...
instead of creating yet another middle man, we should make an effort to find a way to streamline the methods of communication already put in place.
a way to help them out, go to the 'community corner' forum and post your suggestions of ways that this board could be streamlined. ask how we can help them to help us.

Funcom do need to talk to us more, that much is obvious. They have already given us the methods to use to talk to them.
we just need to get an organised way of getting information back from them.

for instance, go back to the weekly reports that used to be posted.
every week we could get a summary from the devs on where they are on certain issues
and where they are looking for in the future.

a trusted and voted in member of each profession could be given powers to delete things like bumps and create a sticky thread through which they post all of the concerns that have been raised that week.

this streamlines the information in that, it is a one stop place for the devs to look, it removes bumps and duplications

I dont think an in game council that exsists on 1 of the 2 soon to be 3 dimensions will work out correctly.
the tools are here for us to use already.. I just think we need to work out how to use them"

[_____________Natelie]

True, and VERY well said and thought through.

However no body ever uses the "rating" system because they remain anonymous.

Poeple bump to have the poster and other poeple know they support this and that. Like if Gummizluv supports a notion, then other players know that the notion is being supported by someone who ahs respect.

A simple rating is like giving the crowd a mask.

But i do understand what u mean, workload- wise.

I believe Cz, Dai-Galaen and Cosmik should assign/ vote who should be the representitives of the different classes for ALL 3 dimensions.

Besides Intra, why have 3 different representitives represent fixers per server? why not have ONE representitive represent ALL fixers on ALL servers? It's not like Rubi_Ka 1 should have other rights then Rubi-Ka 2. =)

The person who is being voted can be:
Hired staff? (Addition board personell, who have a VAST knowledge of AO)

Or

A player, who is extremely dedicated and serious. Ask this player, if he/she desclines then find another. However if that individual does agree, then that fixes the problem. That player is then doing it as a Volunteer. In return he/she get's the respect and get's famous. =)

Their duty, like Intra said, is to sort out and work at community corner.

However, I still believe there still should be a "why?" forum implemented, because the community corner is the parliament and inner sanctium of Cz, Cosmik and Dai-Galaen.

Remember they saying that TIME is the problem and not their willingness to operate the "Why" forum?

Well have those voltuneers work at the "Why" forums, doing what Intra suggested (Sorting out the posts and answering them). They should have close contact with Cz/Dai-Galaen or Cosmik OR to save those 3 some slack and time, close contact with the Devs themselves, so they can make sure that thsoe things which they ANSWER is true.

The representitives can then file arguments and summarise what players are suggesting or asking etc to Cosmik, Cz and Dai, THUS ALSO saving them some slack.

The representitives work at:
Future Anarchy> Next Patch >Suggestions

Cosmik, Cz and Dai can work at:
Community> Why?

Or sort out the workload urselves... but this saves Cz and co some slack and time and ALSO brings heaps of order into the boards, WHILST promoting a feeling of community.

Co-operation between FC and the players to make AO a better place. Sounds too hard to do? Think players can't handle it?

Givit a try. If it's too risky, then i sappose we should follow Intra's suggestion.

And danm Intra.... Ur good. heh. I SSOOO don't wanna have u as an opponent in an open debate. lol

[Whiterrabbit]

to be honest with you guys, i want answers, i want FC reps to tell us stuff, i want the weekly updates, i want the return of official answers (why has this vanished anyhow?) i want player reps.

i also want a sandwich, excuse me.

[_____________Natelie]

http://dimensions-qwest.anarchy-onli...her/patch.html

Knock urself out, Reel. =)

[___________Evilspork]

Originally posted by Natelie
http://dimensions-qwest.anarchy-onli...her/patch.html

Knock urself out, Reel. =)

Patch notes != talking to their customers.

[_____________Natelie]

U got that right, Lafinjack.

=P

[Tyndel]

What i would like to see added in this new forum thingie is a place where i could go and see any official replies from cz/cosmik/funcom employees.
I.e a thread where just the answers are posted, and a link to the thread where they originally replied.
I could ofc find this by using the search, but that is a lot of work, and having all the official replies in one place would be nice.

[_______________Intra]

they had that for a while. in the funcom talks about forum.
it was really good.. but kinda died off.
I am not sure why, but I would love to see it come back too

[Cz]

Frostmusha, a flame / vent board has been considered and decided against. We fear too many would use this as an excuse to post whatever they please, aimed at both Funcom as a company, single employees at Funcom and other players and groups of players. This is not something we want - not even in a forum dedicated to it - hence no flame forum.

Intra, we'll look into the rating system soon. We actually got an internal hack on it, which might be interesting to check out, with rating of posts, threads and users.

/me hands ReelBigFish a sandwich.

Ok, gonna start doing the changes in a bit, crossing fingers that I don't mess anything up too much.

[Lazz]

Rating of users sounds very interesting... Player and/or profession representatives could also maybe work out if you find the truely dedicated ones.

I also miss the weekly updates. I guess they created a lot of work for you guys but if you feel weekly is to much, make them bi-weekly or something. Today I have to dig around the forums to find the official things that's been told. A regular summary of those could be a good idea.

[_______________Intra]

Originally posted by Cz
Intra, we'll look into the rating system soon. We actually got an internal hack on it, which might be interesting to check out, with rating of posts, threads and users.

you lost me Cz,
what do you mean 'an internal hack on it?'
do you mean you already have someone who rates threads, posts and users?

if so... I wanna see!!

[_____________Natelie]

*Cries, feeling left out now*

*Sniff* =(

*crawls to her lil corner now*

[Cz]

Originally posted by Intra
what do you mean 'an internal hack on it?'
do you mean you already have someone who rates threads, posts and users?

No, I meant we have a software change that allows for that kind of rating instead of the normal vBulletin rating (threads only). It's not implemented on this bulletin board though.

[Inocybe]

Cz,
Please please please reply as I have run out of places to turn to and I am getting extremely disappointed and frustrated and I fear I may have to disappoint my fellow Adventurers (who are particpating at the polls) which I do not wish to do.

I have posted at the Adventurer Prof board and I have emailed to Funcom Support .... about my feeback gathering open-ended polls on Adventurers. This project is called Fire-Breath. My mention of the project at the Advy prof aboard has been totally ignored by FC even up til now. As for email from Support, I finally got a response (other than a canned reply):

Hello,
Thanks for the suggestions. I do not know why we have not posted there yet, but all I can say is that the adventurers is up for a lot of love soon and its really cool what they will have.

Unfortunately, this email tells me nothing new and my previous queries went unanswered. I sent a follow-up and I have not received any reply whatsoever. I won't quote the whole long email but just one portion, the most important, to which I would really a clarification:

1) I started Project Fire-Breath with the intention of gathering all the Adventurer feedback and concerns in one place so that in the end Funcom is aware of the issues and problems we Adventurers face every time we play. We have not heard anything major and official for a long time about our profession, so naturally we are very worried that our problems are not being looked into. Is there anything you can tell me that I go back to assure my fellow Adventurers that Funcom is interested in the feedback we give via Project Fire-Breath? Is there anyway I can improve the Project Polls so that it is more useful as feedback? Will anyone from Funcom come visit the Project Fire-Breath forum to at least acknowledge our problems and issues?

As it is already, the latest poll response to new IPR change indicates that many Adventurers are worried and disappointed about their future simply because we do not know what lies ahead. You have no idea how forgotten and left out we feel.

Inocybe Matusz
Chief Langel
Tribunal Langels
inocybe@omni-tribunal.com

Links to Project Fire-Breath:
Here or Here

[_______________Intra]

Originally posted by Cz

No, I meant we have a software change that allows for that kind of rating instead of the normal vBulletin rating (threads only). It's not implemented on this bulletin board though.

Cz

ah! ok yes, and until recently it was still theer are the bottom of each thread... I know because I would sometimes use it just on the offchance that it would make a difference like on some of the other boards I used to Troll

[________BrontoCowboy]

Overall, the changes look good.

When I first started visiting the boards, I visited every forum searching for information. Then, it tapered off to just visiting "Next Patch," and two profession forums... I think having fewer forums/less forum clutter will promote better discussions and more interaction among the players.

And Natalie, thanks for looking out for the trolls...

Lol!!

[___________Evilspork]

Originally posted by Cz
Frostmusha, a flame / vent board has been considered and decided against. We fear too many would use this as an excuse to post whatever they please, aimed at [...] Funcom as a company

I completely agree. All of the current forums share the load of these kinds of posts nicely, no need for a dedicated board.

Originally posted by Inocybe
As for email from Support, I finally got a response (other than a canned reply):

Hello,
Thanks for the suggestions. I do not know why we have not posted there yet, but all I can say is that the adventurers is up for a lot of love soon and its really cool what they will have.

Sounds like the response that we fixers got in November, so you're in luck! The adventurer patch is no more than a year away!

[___________Stercoral]

good for me !

The more important thing is official response, even the shortest tiniest response. As is the info on what's going on.

[Cz]

Ok, changes are done, and have been up a few days. Looks like it's working ok (since I've had no flames here yet ).

I'll close this thread now, and move on to other discussions as soon as I get my desk cleaned and my inbox emptied.