I agree with the OP. If a game company wants to use FB and twitter in addition to their website and forums for their patch notes, fine. But not instead of. I also want to see the patch notes somewhere where I don't have to log in first. And definately not Facebook.
Social media is the 'The new norm' lol. Being a product for some commercial company will never be the new norm for me. They need to keep their stinking nose out of my life. Let someone else be the sheep. This is something that I feel very strongly about I guess
There is no "instead of". Have you bothered to read what anyone in the thread is saying? Not only is there links to it on the patcher/client, but there is also a link to the official Wiki right there on heir main page which has the updates. No login required and able to access it from anywhere with internet access.
Originally posted by Mardukk
Originally posted by GamerUntouch They've been posting A LOT on reddit and now the site has the info.
Not having forums/patch notes at launch is annoying and comes off as arrogant. It makes them seem unprepared. Maybe Anet is a much smaller company than I thought and they are so overwhelmed certain functions arent possible. It appears they are implementing some of these core communication items and things will improve. This is really one of the only big faults I've seen with the launch....most everything I don't love are design decisions and not something they can be faulted for.
GW1 has been around for years. No official forum. They allowed the community to actually, you know, build a comminity for themselves via sites like guildwarsguru. They originally planned on doing the same with GW2, but due to whining said they will add forums, but this was shortly before launch and is one of the last and lowest priorites sinc ethere are already various other ways to get your information.
Originally posted by Farzo Sorry, but ArenaNet is one of the best companies that actually communicate A LOT with their costumers, just because you can't bother reading Twitter or Facebook doesn't mean they are bad at it, it's your own fault.
However most folks still refuse to have a Facebook and Twitter, so what your saying is that since I am not a hipster I lose out? It's not that hard to post patch notes, mmo's been doing it for years, Guild Wars is no different. The lack of communication from what I see is pretty shoddy. But hey that's my personal opinion.
Originally posted by Farzo Sorry, but ArenaNet is one of the best companies that actually communicate A LOT with their costumers, just because you can't bother reading Twitter or Facebook doesn't mean they are bad at it, it's your own fault.
However most folks still refuse to have a Facebook and Twitter, so what your saying is that since I am not a hipster I lose out? It's not that hard to post patch notes, mmo's been doing it for years, Guild Wars is no different. The lack of communication from what I see is pretty shoddy. But hey that's my personal opinion.
Originally posted by Farzo Sorry, but ArenaNet is one of the best companies that actually communicate A LOT with their costumers, just because you can't bother reading Twitter or Facebook doesn't mean they are bad at it, it's your own fault.
However most folks still refuse to have a Facebook and Twitter, so what your saying is that since I am not a hipster I lose out? It's not that hard to post patch notes, mmo's been doing it for years, Guild Wars is no different. The lack of communication from what I see is pretty shoddy. But hey that's my personal opinion.
Just consider them links to hosted webpages: No account = you cannot rate/ask/communicate on those pages but you are free to read all the info some people seems to think that they are hiding from non-FB or non-twitter people.
(And yes the links have been posted so many times that me posting them again is bordering on spam!)
We dont need casuals in our games!!! Errm... Well we DO need casuals to fund and populate our games - But the games should be all about "hardcore" because: We dont need casuals in our games!!! (repeat ad infinitum)
However most folks still refuse to have a Facebook and Twitter, so what your saying is that since I am not a hipster I lose out?
Hipsters lose out on life by default. And given hipsters defy what is mainstream, doesn't that imply those that don't have an account are the hipsters?
Otherwise you are only using facebook/twitter ironically, or was using it before it was cool.
As for the rest of the problem, other's have explained you don't need an account to read anything Guild Wars is providing on their site, wiki, facebook, or twitter. You just click to their page and start reading. No logging in, no-nothing.
"The knowledge of the theory of logic has no tendency whatever to make men good reasoners." - Thomas B. Macaulay
"The greatest enemy of knowledge is not ignorance, it is the illusion of knowledge." - Daniel J. Boorstin
If you go to guildwars2.com, the very first item under news is called "State of the Game Update."
If you load up the game's launcher, the very first item right under where it says "Welcome, <yourusername>!" is called "State of the Game Update," with a handy link if you would like to read more.
These state of the game updates get updated daily and contain everything you would want to know about the current goings on with the game. On top of that, GW2 developers are very active not only on their forums but also on certain third party sites like GW2Guru and Reddit, as well as, Facebook and Twitter.
What else do you want? A daily personal phone call from the CEO giving you updates on the game's developments, employee morale and what is being served in the cafeteria for lunch?
Is the lack of communcation from ArenaNet to the community. Everyday I log into and there is some small patch/files I download before playing. What are these? Whats being fixed? I don't know because there is no patch notes.
There is no official forum to communicate the issues the games has either. Why?
I understand the Trading Post is down and thats fine I guess, but they need to have a place where they can communicate with us and say "We know its not working, we are doing this and it should be ready at this estimated time".
I don't believe a combination of Facebook/twitter posts is the proper place to do these things.
Is the lack of communcation from ArenaNet to the community. Everyday I log into and there is some small patch/files I download before playing. What are these? Whats being fixed? I don't know because there is no patch notes.
There is no official forum to communicate the issues the games has either. Why?
I understand the Trading Post is down and thats fine I guess, but they need to have a place where they can communicate with us and say "We know its not working, we are doing this and it should be ready at this estimated time".
I don't believe a combination of Facebook/twitter posts is the proper place to do these things.
Don't get me started on Facebook grrr,that outfit should be burned to the ground.The FBI uses it as their MAIN resource tool,ok enough said.
I do agree with the OP,not just Anet but ALL developers have been lacking with community interaction.
I do however want to bring us back in time to Vanguard.
Remember that game and Brad McQuaid?He was the ONLY guy i have ever seen that took his time to communicate and interact with the community and he took nothing but RUDE comments,yes even here on MMORPG.COM.
It is one thing to point out flaws in a game,but direct rudeness to Brad was uncalled for.So really if i was a PR/community relations person,i would be hestitant as well.However it IS their job so go figure the yremain invisible.
You know when these guys actually pop up?When fansites submit their questions ahead of time for them to proof reads and pick out the ones they accept.Then they turn it into a hype,marketing plug.
We have had some even on this site,but of course a controlled environment.We will never see another Brad McQuaid type relations guy.
Never forget 3 mile Island and never trust a government official or company spokesman.
I don't believe a combination of Facebook/twitter posts is the proper place to do these things.
Why not?
Because not everyone wants to use Facebook/Twitter and they shouldn't have to in order to get information about the game they are playing. They game should provide the information on their website.
Not everyone wants to register for a forum. They update their Wiki. They can do what they like. One thing that is good about the facebook is the anominity trolls are not as prevalent.
I still don't feel it's very professional. I bought the game, the forums were supposed to come with it. Their forums have been up over previous beta weekends as a READ only, why can't they atleast give us that with the patch notes? I'm fine if they are ok with using twitter and faceplant, but i'm not huge into, and i'm only 20 years old. Social media is a debate for another forum, but from a professional company I expect a tad more.
Atleast give us read only forums with patch notes and support.
EDIT: seems we were given EXACTLY what I was asking for, haha, thanks for the wiki link above i didn't know that existed, and it lead me to a temporary GW2 support forum with everything i'm looking for.
Who told you you're buying the access to forums? You bought your right to play their game. That's it. Just like you buy skyrim to play it. Do you expect forum access with it?
I know I read somewhere in blizzards TOA that the account which you're playing the game on is actually their property and they can shut it down without any warning and/or reason. I think it's pretty much the same with every major mmorpg out there.
"Happiness is not a destination. It is a method of life." -------------------------------
Can't believe people are actually defending the no-forums argument.
Anet also is not obligated to have servers up 24/7. How would you feel if they'd work 5 hours a day? I bet there would still be people claiming that's Anet right because you are only "renting" and Anet is such a great company made of angels themselves to make any wrong decision.
It is just common sense that forums and community support comes with any game, let alone AAA title like GW2.
It is just unbeliveable to what extent this fanboism goes.
You should NEVER have to go through 3rd party sources to get information. Its a very poor way to handle things. I get why they are doing it, its all due to getting more attention on their twitter and facebook to hopefully get more players. Shunning away conveience to get more customers is asking for trouble.
Its like if you get a newspaper (Remember those?) and when you go to read an article it simple says "To see the article, check our rival newspapers article at...." minus actually even telling you that. Even if they would give at least brief glimpses in the patcher or something it would make things better, but they don't even bother with any of that.
Originally posted by Jason1989Is the lack of communcation from ArenaNet to the community. Everyday I log into and there is some small patch/files I download before playing. What are these? Whats being fixed? I don't know because there is no patch notes.There is no official forum to communicate the issues the games has either. Why?I understand the Trading Post is down and thats fine I guess, but they need to have a place where they can communicate with us and say "We know its not working, we are doing this and it should be ready at this estimated time".I don't believe a combination of Facebook/twitter posts is the proper place to do these things.
Until there is a major patch that adds content or changes how skills operate there isn't a need for detailed patch notes. I really don't need to see updates everyday saying server code dealing with line 60 of quest x was tweaked to work better
Originally posted by fixifCan't believe people are actually defending the no-forums argument.Anet also is not obligated to have servers up 24/7. How would you feel if they'd work 5 hours a day? I bet there would still be people claiming that's Anet right because you are only "renting" and Anet is such a great company made of angels themselves to make any wrong decision.It is just common sense that forums and community support comes with any game, let alone AAA title like GW2.It is just unbeliveable to what extent this fanboism goes.
Offical forums do nothing to improve the quality of a game or communication there of. There reddit channel, twitter, and facebook feeds all serve the same purpose and are MORE PUBLIC. Hell, the official wiki serves the same purpose.
Can't believe people are actually defending the no-forums argument.
Anet also is not obligated to have servers up 24/7. How would you feel if they'd work 5 hours a day? I bet there would still be people claiming that's Anet right because you are only "renting" and Anet is such a great company made of angels themselves to make any wrong decision.
It is just common sense that forums and community support comes with any game, let alone AAA title like GW2.
It is just unbeliveable to what extent this fanboism goes.
I wasn't defending the "no-forums" I simply said you bought the game not the forum access which they provide to you. That's simply their decision to run forums. GW1 had no "official" forums instead they had gwguru as their "official" forums and alot more fan forums where they were posting just like they would on their official forums. So what's common sence to you, isn't for someone else on the internet. More to the point that everyone can see their official wiki or reddit channel, and anyone who uses facebook/twitter can see their facebook/twitter page.
They are obligated to provide you the service which you payed for, that is the access to the game. Since you can not access the game without servers being up it's a must to have them up and running. I'd be pissed if I couldn't access the game when I want to after the initial launch rush, so I'd probably ask for a refund immediatly.
"Happiness is not a destination. It is a method of life." -------------------------------
I don't believe a combination of Facebook/twitter posts is the proper place to do these things.
Why not?
Because not everyone wants to use Facebook/Twitter and they shouldn't have to in order to get information about the game they are playing. They game should provide the information on their website.
Not everybody wants to maintain 50-accounts on 50 gaming sites, either.
The real issue is communication. They communicate the state of the game when you start it and log on. They tell us what the fixed and why on the OFFICIAL WIKI on a daily basis. They have Reddit, Facebook and Twitter.
If you chose to not participate in this modern world... It's your problem as they're not going to write you letters sealed with a loving kiss...
I don't believe a combination of Facebook/twitter posts is the proper place to do these things.
Why not?
Because not everyone wants to use Facebook/Twitter and they shouldn't have to in order to get information about the game they are playing. They game should provide the information on their website.
Not everyone wants to register for a forum. They update their Wiki. They can do what they like. One thing that is good about the facebook is the anominity trolls are not as prevalent.
Originally posted by Frongarde I think you're complaining about the wrong stuff... what about their costumers service being rubbish considering there's still people waiting for their hacked accounts to be fixed after weeks... some of those not even being able to log in since they first bought the product... i think this is more of a hot spot then patch notes that you can easly find on wiki...http://wiki.guildwars2.com/wiki/Game_status_updates
I don't believe a combination of Facebook/twitter posts is the proper place to do these things.
Why not?
Because not everyone wants to use Facebook/Twitter and they shouldn't have to in order to get information about the game they are playing. They game should provide the information on their website.
Why not? It's being provided. You're on the internet and that is how the information is being communicated. They also provide periodic updates on their wiki. If you want up to date information then use Facebook and Twitter if not then do without.
What if I don't want to have to surf the internet for info? Maybe they should call me personally and explain each update since some of us don't like browsing the net.
Because 3rd party social media sites are not professional means of communication, and you shouldn't expect your costumers to use myspace, twitter, facebook, or whatever the current fad that teenage american girls are flocking to is.
If they can make a bazillion twitter comments each day, and post pictures on Facebook, then they can create a simple HTML page with up-to-date information and link it from the launcher. It's not that hard, heck, use the Wiki and link it if you have to. At this point even a link to forum announcements will do.
Wow. Because businesses everywhere are learning to use social media. There a seminars, courses, specialists in the area and I thought that YOU, a self-proclaimed 'business expert' (thread after thread you make all these 'business' claims (all of which have been laughably wrong) about what 'real' and 'professional' businesses woud do) would know that....
Heck, my new business (an otherwise traditional business) is 100% marketed through social media like FaceBook, twitter, etc. I let my clients know what's going on daily. And without social media, I (and everyone in our market sub-niche) would be less competitive against the big-boys (nationals) who have huge marketing budgets we can't touch.
Can't believe people are actually defending the no-forums argument.
Anet also is not obligated to have servers up 24/7. How would you feel if they'd work 5 hours a day? I bet there would still be people claiming that's Anet right because you are only "renting" and Anet is such a great company made of angels themselves to make any wrong decision.
It is just common sense that forums and community support comes with any game, let alone AAA title like GW2.
It is just unbeliveable to what extent this fanboism goes.
I wasn't defending the "no-forums" I simply said you bought the game not the forum access which they provide to you. That's simply their decision to run forums. GW1 had no "official" forums instead they had gwguru as their "official" forums and alot more fan forums where they were posting just like they would on their official forums. So what's common sence to you, isn't for someone else on the internet. More to the point that everyone can see their official wiki or reddit channel, and anyone who uses facebook/twitter can see their facebook/twitter page.
They are obligated to provide you the service which you payed for, that is the access to the game. Since you can not access the game without servers being up it's a must to have them up and running. I'd be pissed if I couldn't access the game when I want to after the initial launch rush, so I'd probably ask for a refund immediatly.
Did they specify how often you would have access to the game? Don't they have the right to temporarily ban you for any or no reason? Sure you can ask for a refund, but that doesn't automatically imply that they are breaking the terms of your contract with them, it just means that you are severely dissatisfied.
I don't believe a combination of Facebook/twitter posts is the proper place to do these things.
Why not?
Because not everyone wants to use Facebook/Twitter and they shouldn't have to in order to get information about the game they are playing. They game should provide the information on their website.
Why not? It's being provided. You're on the internet and that is how the information is being communicated. They also provide periodic updates on their wiki. If you want up to date information then use Facebook and Twitter if not then do without.
What if I don't want to have to surf the internet for info? Maybe they should call me personally and explain each update since some of us don't like browsing the net.
Because 3rd party social media sites are not professional means of communication, and you shouldn't expect your costumers to use myspace, twitter, facebook, or whatever the current fad that teenage american girls are flocking to is.
If they can make a bazillion twitter comments each day, and post pictures on Facebook, then they can create a simple HTML page with up-to-date information and link it from the launcher. It's not that hard, heck, use the Wiki and link it if you have to. At this point even a link to forum announcements will do.
Wow. Because businesses everywhere are learning to use social media. There a seminars, courses, specialists in the area and I thought that YOU, a self-proclaimed 'business expert' (thread after thread you make all these 'business' claims (all of which have been laughably wrong) about what 'real' and 'professional' businesses woud do) would know that....
Heck, my new business (an otherwise traditional business) is 100% marketed through social media like FaceBook, twitter, etc. I let my clients know what's going on daily. And without social media, I (and everyone in our market sub-niche) would be less competitive against the big-boys (nationals) who have huge marketing budgets we can't touch.
Are you saying that 100% of their marketing goes through social media?
I don't believe a combination of Facebook/twitter posts is the proper place to do these things.
Why not?
It's not their official site. I do see they now added "Annoucements" to their official forums.
You got to love mankind... We build up and tear down. AOL was baptized by us because we didn't need a 2nd internet with everything duplicated there. We said then, we want to just go to the official web sites for info. Swing 15 years later, now we are wanting a 2nd internet duplicating everything that is Facebook. Face this, we have marketing people that have to do something and well.... I hear Facebook is hugely popular, we need to get there! That in general is fine with me, but you don't short change the official site of info that is now only available at a secondary site.
That is why. We don't want to fragment, we want to centralize.
This thread is complaining about no ease of acces to patch notes that don't exist?
But not only do patch notes exist, they have a handy link to them on the launcher?
They also have a forum on their site that they keep updated?
And additionally to that they make comments via networking sites to keep up on activity?
...
So, what is being complained about again?
To me from my vantage point, the game is now being treated as if it is in open beta. Since the bugs were big and several, they feel they have an open slate to fix anything at this time, without notice or notes because of it, like an open beta. My guess is once they catch up with the issues, you will start to see standard notes.
What I don't get, why didn't this get locked like 11 pages ago? Everythig the OP complained about isn't true. When you launch the gameand see it downloading, you can click a link in the launcher that tells you why.
Comments
There is no "instead of". Have you bothered to read what anyone in the thread is saying? Not only is there links to it on the patcher/client, but there is also a link to the official Wiki right there on heir main page which has the updates. No login required and able to access it from anywhere with internet access.
GW1 has been around for years. No official forum. They allowed the community to actually, you know, build a comminity for themselves via sites like guildwarsguru. They originally planned on doing the same with GW2, but due to whining said they will add forums, but this was shortly before launch and is one of the last and lowest priorites sinc ethere are already various other ways to get your information.However most folks still refuse to have a Facebook and Twitter, so what your saying is that since I am not a hipster I lose out? It's not that hard to post patch notes, mmo's been doing it for years, Guild Wars is no different. The lack of communication from what I see is pretty shoddy. But hey that's my personal opinion.
I guess it needs to be repeated once again... http://wiki.guildwars2.com/wiki/Game_status_updates
USE IT
Theres also links to it right there on the main GW2 site.
I am not on Facebook but hey: http://www.facebook.com/GuildWars2
Nothing secret about their twitter either: http://twitter.com/guildwars2
Just consider them links to hosted webpages: No account = you cannot rate/ask/communicate on those pages but you are free to read all the info some people seems to think that they are hiding from non-FB or non-twitter people.
(And yes the links have been posted so many times that me posting them again is bordering on spam!)
We dont need casuals in our games!!! Errm... Well we DO need casuals to fund and populate our games - But the games should be all about "hardcore" because: We dont need casuals in our games!!!
(repeat ad infinitum)
Hipsters lose out on life by default. And given hipsters defy what is mainstream, doesn't that imply those that don't have an account are the hipsters?
Otherwise you are only using facebook/twitter ironically, or was using it before it was cool.
As for the rest of the problem, other's have explained you don't need an account to read anything Guild Wars is providing on their site, wiki, facebook, or twitter. You just click to their page and start reading. No logging in, no-nothing.
"The knowledge of the theory of logic has no tendency whatever to make men good reasoners." - Thomas B. Macaulay
"The greatest enemy of knowledge is not ignorance, it is the illusion of knowledge." - Daniel J. Boorstin
If you go to guildwars2.com, the very first item under news is called "State of the Game Update."
If you load up the game's launcher, the very first item right under where it says "Welcome, <yourusername>!" is called "State of the Game Update," with a handy link if you would like to read more.
These state of the game updates get updated daily and contain everything you would want to know about the current goings on with the game. On top of that, GW2 developers are very active not only on their forums but also on certain third party sites like GW2Guru and Reddit, as well as, Facebook and Twitter.
What else do you want? A daily personal phone call from the CEO giving you updates on the game's developments, employee morale and what is being served in the cafeteria for lunch?
Game status updates/Archive 1
after that url i can easily say that your thread is BS and you are an attention whore/ drama queen/ stupid troll whatever you want.
Don't get me started on Facebook grrr,that outfit should be burned to the ground.The FBI uses it as their MAIN resource tool,ok enough said.
I do agree with the OP,not just Anet but ALL developers have been lacking with community interaction.
I do however want to bring us back in time to Vanguard.
Remember that game and Brad McQuaid?He was the ONLY guy i have ever seen that took his time to communicate and interact with the community and he took nothing but RUDE comments,yes even here on MMORPG.COM.
It is one thing to point out flaws in a game,but direct rudeness to Brad was uncalled for.So really if i was a PR/community relations person,i would be hestitant as well.However it IS their job so go figure the yremain invisible.
You know when these guys actually pop up?When fansites submit their questions ahead of time for them to proof reads and pick out the ones they accept.Then they turn it into a hype,marketing plug.
We have had some even on this site,but of course a controlled environment.We will never see another Brad McQuaid type relations guy.
Never forget 3 mile Island and never trust a government official or company spokesman.
Who told you you're buying the access to forums? You bought your right to play their game. That's it. Just like you buy skyrim to play it. Do you expect forum access with it?
I know I read somewhere in blizzards TOA that the account which you're playing the game on is actually their property and they can shut it down without any warning and/or reason. I think it's pretty much the same with every major mmorpg out there.
"Happiness is not a destination. It is a method of life."
-------------------------------
Can't believe people are actually defending the no-forums argument.
Anet also is not obligated to have servers up 24/7. How would you feel if they'd work 5 hours a day? I bet there would still be people claiming that's Anet right because you are only "renting" and Anet is such a great company made of angels themselves to make any wrong decision.
It is just common sense that forums and community support comes with any game, let alone AAA title like GW2.
It is just unbeliveable to what extent this fanboism goes.
You should NEVER have to go through 3rd party sources to get information. Its a very poor way to handle things. I get why they are doing it, its all due to getting more attention on their twitter and facebook to hopefully get more players. Shunning away conveience to get more customers is asking for trouble.
Its like if you get a newspaper (Remember those?) and when you go to read an article it simple says "To see the article, check our rival newspapers article at...." minus actually even telling you that. Even if they would give at least brief glimpses in the patcher or something it would make things better, but they don't even bother with any of that.
http://wiki.guildwars2.com/wiki/Game_status_updates
all updates are there and the wiki is official
Block the trolls, don't answer them, so we can remove the garbage from these forums
Until there is a major patch that adds content or changes how skills operate there isn't a need for detailed patch notes. I really don't need to see updates everyday saying server code dealing with line 60 of quest x was tweaked to work better
Offical forums do nothing to improve the quality of a game or communication there of. There reddit channel, twitter, and facebook feeds all serve the same purpose and are MORE PUBLIC. Hell, the official wiki serves the same purpose.Games:
Currently playing:Nothing
Will play: Darkfall: Unholy Wars
Past games:
Guild Wars 2 - Xpiher Duminous
Xpiher's GW2
GW 1 - Xpiher Duminous
Darkfall - Xpiher Duminous (NA) retired
AoC - Xpiher (Tyranny) retired
Warhammer - Xpiher
I wasn't defending the "no-forums" I simply said you bought the game not the forum access which they provide to you. That's simply their decision to run forums. GW1 had no "official" forums instead they had gwguru as their "official" forums and alot more fan forums where they were posting just like they would on their official forums. So what's common sence to you, isn't for someone else on the internet. More to the point that everyone can see their official wiki or reddit channel, and anyone who uses facebook/twitter can see their facebook/twitter page.
They are obligated to provide you the service which you payed for, that is the access to the game. Since you can not access the game without servers being up it's a must to have them up and running. I'd be pissed if I couldn't access the game when I want to after the initial launch rush, so I'd probably ask for a refund immediatly.
"Happiness is not a destination. It is a method of life."
-------------------------------
Not everybody wants to maintain 50-accounts on 50 gaming sites, either.
The real issue is communication. They communicate the state of the game when you start it and log on. They tell us what the fixed and why on the OFFICIAL WIKI on a daily basis. They have Reddit, Facebook and Twitter.
If you chose to not participate in this modern world... It's your problem as they're not going to write you letters sealed with a loving kiss...
Yes. I really like that feature.
Bull
My theme song.
Wow. Because businesses everywhere are learning to use social media. There a seminars, courses, specialists in the area and I thought that YOU, a self-proclaimed 'business expert' (thread after thread you make all these 'business' claims (all of which have been laughably wrong) about what 'real' and 'professional' businesses woud do) would know that....
http://gigaom.com/collaboration/32-ways-to-use-facebook-for-business/
http://www.pcworld.com/businesscenter/article/249682/use_facebook_timeline_to_promote_your_business.html
https://www.facebook.com/business
http://www.forbes.com/sites/roberthof/2012/09/07/laggards-no-more-big-companies-flock-to-social-media/
http://bootcampdigital.com/tag/facebook-seminars/
Heck, my new business (an otherwise traditional business) is 100% marketed through social media like FaceBook, twitter, etc. I let my clients know what's going on daily. And without social media, I (and everyone in our market sub-niche) would be less competitive against the big-boys (nationals) who have huge marketing budgets we can't touch.
Did they specify how often you would have access to the game? Don't they have the right to temporarily ban you for any or no reason? Sure you can ask for a refund, but that doesn't automatically imply that they are breaking the terms of your contract with them, it just means that you are severely dissatisfied.
Are you saying that 100% of their marketing goes through social media?
It's not their official site. I do see they now added "Annoucements" to their official forums.
You got to love mankind... We build up and tear down. AOL was baptized by us because we didn't need a 2nd internet with everything duplicated there. We said then, we want to just go to the official web sites for info. Swing 15 years later, now we are wanting a 2nd internet duplicating everything that is Facebook. Face this, we have marketing people that have to do something and well.... I hear Facebook is hugely popular, we need to get there! That in general is fine with me, but you don't short change the official site of info that is now only available at a secondary site.
That is why. We don't want to fragment, we want to centralize.
To me from my vantage point, the game is now being treated as if it is in open beta. Since the bugs were big and several, they feel they have an open slate to fix anything at this time, without notice or notes because of it, like an open beta. My guess is once they catch up with the issues, you will start to see standard notes.
What I don't get, why didn't this get locked like 11 pages ago? Everythig the OP complained about isn't true. When you launch the gameand see it downloading, you can click a link in the launcher that tells you why.