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Do we make any impact at all here ?
delete5230
Member EpicPosts: 7,081
I'm kind of simple when it comes to the internet. I log on and have very few sites I view and maybe one mmo I'll play at any given time. Mmorpg.com being one of them. I have over two thousand post here so that proves that I enjoy this site.
Mmorpg.com has 2,002,487 members, 579 games and 5,247,799 post. This is a good site to find out whats going on in the mmo market, finding out about batas, and if you know how to read between the lines you can tell a lot about a game by reading fan made threads and post. Now we need sites like this because at times it's us against the developers or we would have to rely on the back of the box or the front page of there site.
Now something happened recently that made me sit back and really think. I got a 24 hour band because I found a great private server thats becoming very popular, and I came here to tell others about it. I understand that its against the rules here. But it was a disappointment never the less. It makes me step back and really think. What good are we really doing as fans here?
Do we have any impact at all ?....Are developers ever reading this?..... I'm sure most would agree that of 579 games 570 are disappointments. And of the 9 or so games that are liked 6 of them have changed to our un-liking. Mmoprg.com solves half our problem. We can vent, we can learn off others mistakes, we can correct each other on bad information along with a few other perks of reading players post. BUT HOW ABOUT IMPACT or REAL FEED BACK TO DEVELOPERS ?
Comments
First.. don't put too much faith into numbers.. I would guess that of the 2 million members since inception, 1.9 million of those member accounds have been dead for years (meaning not actively on the site).. I know I have generated accounts in lifetime that I no longer use but I'm sure they are still listed out there.. As to your question "Do we make any impact?".. Honestly, I don't think so.. At least nothing that is measurable or substantial.. I have read some great post here that reflect similar post elsewhere, and go completely ignored.. I'm sure there are times a complany like Blizzard will make reference to a post somewhere about an new development, but I don't belive it was because of the post that a company makes those changes.. It was a change that was going to occur anyways, but often companies are willing to toss the public a bone to give the impression they had a voice.. This tactic is used countless times in the business and govt. areas..
I know there have been thousands of post on this site alone asking for something MORE, then these linear themepark gear grinds, and have we truely gotten anything from it? NOPE.. not really..
To answer the threads question, "Do we make any impact at all here?'
Absolutely not. To think otherwise is foolish bordering on egomanical.
You have opinions, and Ihave opinions,are either of us the "majority" that most
developers are chasing after? Doubtful.
"It's a sandbox, if you are not willing to create a castle then all you have is sand" - jtcgs
Nope, no difference whatsoever. The numbers on MMORPG.com are ridiculously over-inflated anyhow. Note, the OP said there are over 2 million members and about 5.5 million posts. How many people have you seen with 2.5 posts? The number of *ACTIVE* accounts here is relatively small, most of those memberships are either lurkers or inactive, people who got an account and never used it, or left the site and never deleted their account. MMORPG.com keeps them around to make their numbers look good. I'd say there are under 1000 actual active accounts here.
And no, the industry realizes that and pays virtually no attention to anything that happens here.
Played: UO, EQ, WoW, DDO, SWG, AO, CoH, EvE, TR, AoC, GW, GA, Aion, Allods, lots more
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Hope: None
I'm of the opinion that forum goers, both on community and developer sites, have little if any influence over the direction the market is headed. Public opinion is established by the majority, and minority voices are simply ignored. Even public opinion itself is ignored when a developer / publisher cannot accept that the public doesn't like the direction taken.
However, the few forum goers who are sufficiently open minded to look at both sides of issues, rather than just battle over them, do gain from the experience. This doesn't change the industry nor the public opinion by any significant amount. But it can be, and in my experience often is, helpful to the individual.
I use this page and others to gather information and opinions. That's about it. I also express mine when I think there's a reason for doing so.
But no, I don't think devs give a dime about this site. Heh, I often think they don't even check their respective official game's forums.
The biggest effect we have on games is after they are developed. Our opinions are considered "white noise" by game developers who have already decided for us, what we like. When we respond with our gripes, the number of complaints gets attention, instead of the content:
"500,000 people are complaining on forums about [insert game mechanic]. It's time to go free to play."
www.mmorpg.com as sad as it may sound is merely a mean for it owners to earn money as their popularity grows - nothing more anymore. Perhaps at some point it was a site that could give You a honest and insightful glimpse about a mmorpg but it's no longer so. Unfortunately this post will probably be deleted as it is uncomfortable to mmorpg mods but the fact stands : with every passing year this site becomes more of an Origin leaflet than a serious gamers site.
Pretty much this, but, let's be honest they aren't the only ones
.
^This and as another poster said, many members use the site mainly for beta keys or whatever giveaways are going down that month.
Don't let the mods fool ya otherwise. However, even the info and opinions tend to be skewed here as well so take most with a grain of salt as they say.
This. Can spread the word on a game you enjoy and can ward others of games you may have a problem with. May result in some purchases or the lack of some purchases.
I don't think so-- not in the least. Cept maybe the odd small mom 'n pop game or indie gaming house. Otherwise if a game publisher comes here it's probably searching for a bug or exploit or something similar.
Look at the average pageviews of a thread. Miniscule at best.
www.thedragon13.com - Become a Dragon. What have you done to change our world?
You're just trying to get people to private message you about the private server.
I can not remember winning or losing a single debate on the internet.
true
the stuff written by the staff has no meaning to me. they cant criticise games because then they will lose their advertising contracts or potential to get advertising contracts. i wish there was a mmo watchdog site or something like that.
Yes i am sure a very high number of the advertisers here read comments.
As far as impact,i would say nope,devs do what they want to do.Some will LIE to you and tell you they listen to feedback,but that is bullshit,they would be changing the game every 10 minutes if listended to 50k>15 million gamers.
The guy from AOC said it right,when asked that same question and it was a breathe of fresh air to finally hear one dev PR guy speak the truth.Other devs instead like to make claims that are not true and tell the readers what they want to hear,not the truth.
Once in a while you will see a dev team respond to threads but not often,they don't want to get caught up in bickering.
I remember when Sigils MCQuaid was a rampant enthusiast in forums,but people just used it to insult him and it really turned me off.After that it was obvious that dev teams won't get involved,they instead just ban threads/posts that have any negative impact on their marketing/game.I know there was a lot to complain about in Vanguard but McQuaid did not deserve insults,his game delivered what it promised,it just had bugs.
Never forget 3 mile Island and never trust a government official or company spokesman.
Playing: FFXIV, DnL, and World of Warships
Waiting on: Ashes of Creation
Dude, this is a fan board where people that enjoy MMORPGs hang out and share their minds on a variety of topics. It's not some serious undertaking to change the world and you really shouldn't take it so seriously. Posting here is just a fun thing to do with fellow players outside of the ever seeing corporate eye's reach. Developers have their own game plans. I know developers actually do read their forums and do consider feedback on their own sites but really, most things are changed based on what players actually do inside the game or spend money on.
+1, thanks, saved me lots of extra typing. This site is for entertainment purposes only, not saving the MMORPG genre one game at a time.
"True friends stab you in the front." | Oscar Wilde
"I need to finish" - Christian Wolff: The Accountant
Just trying to live long enough to play a new, released MMORPG, playing New Worlds atm
Fools find no pleasure in understanding but delight in airing their own opinions. Pvbs 18:2, NIV
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"This is the most intelligent, well qualified and articulate response to a post I have ever seen on these forums. It's a shame most people here won't have the attention span to read past the second line." - Anon