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Other How to increase Beta forum participation

DeletedUser

Guest
I do not go on this forum simply because it serves me nothing ... I do not get the answers to my questions and
for news there is more information on facebook and Gems of Knowledge ... so no more participations in this forum for me ...
 

SoggyShorts

Well-Known Member
I do not go on this forum simply because it serves me nothing ... I do not get the answers to my questions and
for news there is more information on facebook and Gems of Knowledge ... so no more participations in this forum for me ...
Nothing you said is true.
You constantly ask questions that have already been answered and then players still answer you again.
Just because you don't get the answer that you want doesn't mean you aren't getting answers.
You also threaten to "never post again" almost every month.
 
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maxiqbert

Well-Known Member
:mad:although biloute's posts weren't very interesting, ad hominem attacks aren't a good way to increase forum participation!

I think a lot of good ideas are already there.
Let me put some more salt ;)

1) It's a marketing issue here. Technically the forum is quite good.
2) Beta players aren't newbies (we all know the permanoob here, I think he's a troll, so please don't feed him). So beta forumers would look for something else than "live" forumers. I think the testing part of the beta server is not sufficently (is that a word?) focused on. I would be pleased to help testing, if we did get the means for it. That should IMHO be a serious subject, generating loads of posts and data. This would require a subforum with specific moderation, and as @SoggyShorts suggested could be rewarded.
I see a testing theme of the week/day with prizes in diamonds, just like for bug reporting. Could take the form of polls and be about ergonomy, balance, and not only about new features.
3) Many players are too lazy to translate. I got bug report diamonds several times from a fellow player who wouldn't go all the way into the procedure in english. So it's not a small issue, it's a real thing. The funny part is that many players are from germany, and have to translate to english for german devs:rolleyes:
I'm french and like to think my english is rather good, but I'm not the target here (i'm already posting!). Maybe have sections in a few major languages?
 

Hugs

Active Member
Quite some time ago I created a beta account, because I felt I had input to the forum and I wanted those ideas to be responded on, and hopefully lead to some changes being implemented in Elvenar. I posted my ideas, and - yes it is true, I did not spend 200 hours reading every thread before I posted... - so what happened? - I was met with grumpy responses that what I said had been posted before... - sometimes showing me a link to it, sometimes not.
That was not the worst though... - the worst was those that just came out killing my ideas. They did not like it because it did not suit their play style - or what they had learned about the game. Also I had those that was already discouraged because there is really way too little feedback from developers - they would discourage me too by saying something like - "don't believe that it will ever be implemented, the developers do not listen to us"...

I believe that the main problem is not to make more people use the forums, the main problem is to make sure that those that ARE posting on the forums feel welcomed and listened to. I believe that if one random player feel he is listened to in the forums, he will tell his frends and those in his fellowship about it, and more people will come to the forums and post their ideas.

Then, there are elements or players on the beta forums that are efficiently hindering ideas by scourging those that dare post. When you post your idea you are vulnerable, because you are giving a part of yourself. If you want to have a living forum where people are inspired to post, there is a huge need to make sure people who post feel it is ok - and stay inspired. There are quite some ways to respond to a thread in an inspiring way even if you do not agree with everything.

I tend to stay away from the forums, and rarely post anymore, and ... I see here - even in this thread - people who have hurt me a lot with previous posts I have made, so I changed my mind on posting an idea I had that I thought I was going to post. I do not want to have a new round of beatings.
 

Deleted User - 56274

Guest
Hugs, keep posting, don't let things get personal. I started the game before 1.0 dropped - and it was the reason I stopped playing for four years. Many people were extremely unhappy with how it was implemented.
I am still dismayed by how quickly things go through beta into live, they do not always feel polished. I hope that there is an alpha test of some sort that proceeds at a faster rate.
The more people participating on the beta server the more likely issues are found and hopefully highlights some of the things like goods balance.

Just because something was suggested before does not mean that it should not be revisited.
You know the #1 complaint and thing that had a slew of suggestions prior to 1.0 - Neighborly Help. This is an item that STILL has yet to be addressed. The only upside is that they released the App version which has a NH version very similar to some of the suggestions that I recall back then.

That being said, do keep in mind that certain things being revisited like rotating buildings or building storage I believe have been said will not happen from dev or during a QA session.
What might be helpful to have is a pinned QA Session Notes thread so that there is an easy reference to check for certain subjects. The game has been around 5 years or so and the forums have been active that long. This means there is a lot of stuff to go through and really.... like you, I have other uses for my time :)
 

DeletedUser

Guest
When I first started playing MMOs years ago, I learned very quickly to have a very thick skin. A fair number of people are mean by nature, and when you're in an environment that grants anonymity, they'll be even meaner. They're empowered to be snots, because you can't swing on them from behind your computer screen. Don't let that stop you from posting though. Just keep in mind that everyone is different, and that no matter how good your ideas are in your head, they're not always going to fit well inside everyone else's. And also, that some ideas just won't work in this particular game.
 

Hugs

Active Member
Well, I am a creative one, that means I do not have thick skin. If I had thick skin, I would be stubborn, and claim that my idea are excellent regardless. But, I am not so stupid I believe that everything I post is wise. The thing is, when you are smart you realize that for the brilliant ideas to pop out, you gotta come with stupid ideas too... - and - when the stupid ideas are stomped on by mean people, well, then the brilliant ideas won't come out, because vulnerable people like me will simply stop posting. Also, some ideas even if they start out as pretty stupid, by helpful feedback from others can grow and morph into something that is really great. You never know.

I can use my creativity and skills on other things, in situations where I do not get destroyed just because I tried to add value.
And, rather than tell what could make the game better, in my opinion, I can just accept how the game is, without changes, and when I do not think it gives more than it takes anymore - I can simply stop playing it. There are lots of other stuff availiable that I can spend my time on. I simply do not want to spend my time on trying to put my head forth when I experience people try to chop it off.

Unless this issue gets addressed in the forums, I predict that the activity in the forums is going to stay fairly low.

If you then want to close off the beta for only those who are posting on the forums, well, fine, then I just stop playing on the beta.
why should I care? - it is just a game. Maybe I will even thank you for releasing me from something that was not good for me :)
 

Marindor

Well-Known Member
@Hugs Maybe it helps to know, but regardless of what other players might think of your idea, we read all ideas you post and sometimes one idea eventually even leads to a next one and so on, and after quite some alterations, you suddely see parts of your idea implemented. So even if an idea gets archived, doesn't make it through the voting etc, it has at least been seen, read, considered and might have been the spark to a new way of thinking, so please never let it feel as if you put the time in for nothing :)
 

DeletedUser2989

Guest
Hello, to drum up support for the Beta forum, an idea that we used in other games of this genre is to hold contests on the forum. Any kind of contest with some sort of small prize will do. You will be surprised sometimes at the attendance ! Thank you, and good luck !
 

Marindor

Well-Known Member
Currently the Ideas section is actually working as intended. If we have a higher number of general participants, we'll also have to raise the minimum needed numbers of voters for we simply can't forward all the ideas. So this way we have a pretty good selection on which topics are really hot within the community and which ideas are nice, but don't "live" enough among the players to give priority to right now :) We're also not in favor of naming an "idea of the week" or stuff like that, since as staff we want to remain objective and not give certain ideas more attention than others. I'll now archive this thread. :)
 
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