Official forums after launch?

Areel

I know that there aren't any official forums for Warhammer Online at the moment, but will that change after the game is released?  I was checking out the Vanguard forum here, and some people were upset that Sigil had closed the official forums for that game.  Now, the community is spread out amongst affiliates and fansites, and no one is certain where they can go to discuss problems and give feedback that will be heard by the developers (other than ingame messages to the GMs).  Some even claim that it is a cop-out on Sigil's part, allowing them to ignore any negative discussions.

In my personal view, it's a mistake to not have an official forum for an MMO.  Forcing people to rely on third party sites, only guarantees that many people won't be able to find what they are looking for.  Or, people will have to travel to multiple sites to find various tidbits of information and then have to piece it all together.  I don't know, it just seems to make more sense to have a centralized location for the community to chat with each other outside of the game.  At the very least, the community managers wouldn't have to go to over a dozen sites just to get a consencious on what the players are saying.

Distortion0

You shouldn't have to search through any forums to find essentual information anyway. It should be all on the website. I'm sure there will be Beta forums for feedback and such and hopefully a feedback feature intigrated right into the the game(like CoH does) for launch. Personally, forums cost money. Money comes from subs. I'd rather my subs go to the game rather than forums.

quietwolf

Correct me if I'm wrong, but there aren't any official forums for DAoC. So, chances are there will not be any official forums for WAR.

The Devs will post info on the official website, but no official forums to interact with.

Dowie

"Q: Can you point me to the game's official forum?

A: Mythic does not run its own forums, but we strongly support the efforts of the community and their many forums and fan sites. We will regularly check-in with these sites to share news and information about the development process, and hear from the community regarding their hopes and desires for the game. Please visit our Forums & Fansites page for a list of sites."



From the official FAQ

Deathpooper

This sucks:(

Adythiel

Why? It didn't have an adverse affect on DAoC by not having any forums available. And the primary forums were on IGN. All that existed werre threads of nothing but complaining, whining and general unpleasantness. I can't blame Mythic for not wanting to host forums for WAR. I actually understand Sigil's decision to remove the forums. The WoW forums are a rotting cesspool. Why should Mythic and EA put up with the crap you know will show up on the forums? It will require resources to moderate the forums. Resources that could go to a much better area, such as in-game CS, development and other more useful purposes. I'm glad Mythic chooses not to host their own forums. I got all the information I needed from the Camelot Herald and the WARHerald is already in place.

Noctique

I know DAoC didn't have any forums, and sure that was fine I suppose.



But on a thinking note, now that Mythic is now EA mythic, do EA have there own forums? (EA Nation) they are forums for there games, so prehaps there will end up being forums there for WAR.



Just a thought, never know.

Areel

Originally posted by Adythiel

All that existed werre threads of nothing but complaining, whining and general unpleasantness. I can't blame Mythic for not wanting to host forums for WAR. I actually understand Sigil's decision to remove the forums. The WoW forums are a rotting cesspool. Why should Mythic and EA put up with the crap you know will show up on the forums?

I always find this an interesting arguement against official forums.  When I played WoW, I visited the official forums every other day.  I always found helpful people to answer my questions.  There was plenty of discussion on gameplay mechanics and talent specs in the Class forums, and useful information on gathering materials in the Crafting forums.  And my server forum was a great way to advertise for my quild.  Sure, there were some idiots and trolls.  But only a newb lets them ruin their forum experience.  You don't have to read every post, or even every thread.  And you don't have to care what the flamers and trolls are saying.  It's like people replying to "coma" here on this forum.  Why get upset when he bashes every game and then advertises for WoW?

Oh, above someone stated that all important information would be posted on the main website, and you shouldn't need to search a forum for that kind of thing.  Well, there's also important "player" discussions to consider.  The official site may post patch notes and announce upcoming events.  But it's in the fourms that people discuss those patch notes.  Where strategy is debated, where people can post the name of a ninja looter on their server, where guilds can recruit with highest number of people seeing them, where people can brag that they took down Uber Boss 3.  Split that all up amongst a dozen fansites, and the offline community is diminished.

 

sl4y3r6363

Well i really hope it does because all games need their forum to go with them and im very sure WAR will have one too!

Veiled_light

Warhammer alliance is good, but it just doesn't give that impression that the devs are listening.

Arath

While I agree that a game can get by without official forums (Final Fantasy XI) having a centralized community really does help the players (as Areel mentioned). I really think as per the thread stating what mistakes Mythic should have learnt from from Dark Age Of Camelot that one of them should be hosting their own forums. While sites like Warhammer Alliance, (these forums) and others are always capable of offering a good community for the game, I find that having a definte source to talk with other players is must otherwise you end up with a fractured community (although its always possible most players gravitate towards a single all inclusive site, like Allkhazam).

Yes the resources that are put towards the forum can be put towards other things, but I really believe the pros out-weigh the cons, not to mention I think it will be a requirement when BETA steps into high gear. Also while the FAQ states that no official forums exist I believe this is not necessarily indictive of whether there will (or will not) be any official forums available. We've all seen the horrible whine and flaming that goes on in these, but theres a lot of solid information and discussion, especially in realm/server specific forums. (class forums aside, which more often than not, yell for nerfs or buffs).

Knightblast

Forums are a great way also for developers and players to interact and give and receive feedback.  It's always worrying to me when a game does not have an official forum, because that forum serves as a central clearinghouse for communication, rather than having to search through 5 fansite forums.

Xennith

forums are also a good place for people to go and insult each other. for this reason im not too much of a fan of warhammer alliance. its the biggest WAR forum out there (because its first on the list...) but i dont really want to post there, i lurk a bit.

RJCox

Originally posted by Novaseeker

Forums are a great way also for developers and players to interact and give and receive feedback.  It's always worrying to me when a game does not have an official forum, because that forum serves as a central clearinghouse for communication, rather than having to search through 5 fansite forums.

But if I'm out lurking on all of the fansites, what would be the difference if there were official forums? This way you get to frequent the community that suits you best rather than being lumped in together with everyone.

Xennith

Originally posted by Richard_Mythic

Originally posted by Novaseeker

Forums are a great way also for developers and players to interact and give and receive feedback.  It's always worrying to me when a game does not have an official forum, because that forum serves as a central clearinghouse for communication, rather than having to search through 5 fansite forums.

But if I'm out lurking on all of the fansites, what would be the difference if there were official forums? This way you get to frequent the community that suits you best rather than being lumped in together with everyone. problem is rich, communities dont want to know that you are reading, they want to see you post on each and every topic, and soon every topic is prefixed with "DEVS PLEASE READ <- IMPORTANT STUFF". Showing a community that you are listening without it dissolving into a spamfest is hard. Best bet, listen, but dont let anyone know, or only ever post to start new threads saying stuff like "any cool ideas for the map?" etc.



sorry, im starting to do exactly what i was complaining about.



i do however wish you the best of luck, i just hope you realise that no matter how well you do your job, someone somewhere is going to be mad. =D

Adythiel

Personally, I was very glad to see Mythic not put up any official forums for DAoC when it released. EQ tried that and it turned into the cesspool I talked about in the WoW forums. People want direct access to the devs and they think getting official forums will give them that. They feel like their idea should be heard by the developers. They expect dev responses to their idea threads. When they don't get it, they begin to spam. Let's take the WoW forums as an example. Look at most of what the Blizzard employee's post on for threads. They are more often than not game related, and they are never on any threads that are non-constructive. It's usually the fun, entertaining threads that get attention. So, when people see "colored text" posting on what they feel are not important threads, the CM/GMWhatever get flamed because people don't think they care about the game. What these players fail to realize is...about 90% of the time the employees can't post on those threads because the player base takes it as gospel and holds the developers to it. Sanya has become very intelligent in all her posts on the Camelot Herald and WAR Herald. She specifically states she can't tell us things or that she doesn't have an ETA on other things. She purposely leaves things vague so the players can't come back and flame her with it. It's the players that have turned the whole situation into what it is.



I don't want to have to go to an official forum to get information. I like having it broken out. If a specific site goes downhill with the flaming, trolling, you name it, I can just stop visiting that site and move onto a more pleasant site. With official forums, people don't really visit the communities so when the official forums turn to crap, you are kind of stuck.

Akkaido

Adythiel, that was a very well thought out post, and I pretty much agree with you.

People think that "official" forums means that Devs are reading everything (which someone would) but really Devs usually can not say much anyways. Sanya is great. I hate the flame fests that forums often turn into.

FreddyNoNose

Considering the overall quality of most forums, I think the trend to not have them (ie vangaurd) is a good move.