Forum update

[weretiger302]

And so all good things come to an end...Sifie will be remembered as the best thing to happen to the forums, and the thread will be closed....

[Foxcat]

I agree, it will probably not happen, but there is always hope as it takes no effort to make. I hope they will spend more time on it than I have, I'm sure they can come up with something better. Anyway, was just my 10 cents on one way to improve the looks.

Cheers!

[Halfdead]

I agree, it will probably not happen, but there is always hope as it takes no effort to make. I hope they will spend more time on it than I have, I'm sure they can come up with something better. Anyway, was just my 10 cents on one way to improve the looks.

Cheers!

Or they could allow people to design the themes and have the community vote on the them and then the implement!

[twinklez3]

Or they could allow people to design the themes and have the community vote on the them and then the implement!

That's not how it works. Now because you asked, it will never happen.

[Valicard]

Sure you can make a lot of cool stuff to make it look special and hyboria immersive.

I just illustrate how posts without the divider lines and a better quote background would be more readable. And show that it can be done in less than half a lunchbreak.

But sure, a more colorful version. And agreed, its not perfect but thats what you get from another 10 minutes spend.

This looks ridiculously good. I've been staring at it thinking there might be some hidden downside to how it looks but I just can't see it. Great work Sifie! Hire this person!

[Khaletohep]

That's not how it works. Now because you asked, it will never happen.

That is an impression I get a lot with Funcom, or at least their forum/marketing department. Even if you suggest how to turn lead into gold, they ignore or even ridicule it. I wonder why that is? It springs to mind that many people see following advice as a kind of submission, as you implicitly admit that somebody had an idea that you did not have, which in turn questions one's own omniscience and superiority to all mankind. However, I do not really believe this to be the only or even primary cause. The pattern has repeated itself over and over again without much change - hard to believe that they all had / have the issue mentioned above.

And sometimes, suggestions are indeed picked right off the forum, questions are asnwered and explanations are given. But that apparently happens not through the forum/marketing crew, but due to direct developer action.

This leads me to the idea that it's an issue with the forum/marketing department. One factor most certainly is the common misunderstanding that admin/mod rights are akin to legal or moral to "rule" over subjects. If they can just ban somebody from the forum, some people might tend to forget that they have the ability to cancel their account and, ultimately, ban them from their job. Another factor is the harshness in communication typical for forums, of which this one is a very good example. That new guy in my opinion doesn't have the stomach for that - ridiculing paying customers is contrary to what one should be doing when working PR.

But I think there's more to it. Maybe there's a certain level of disconnection between the forum/marketing and the development departments. Maybe the low level PR people don't dare to disturb the dev guys? Or maybe it's the other way around? Or maybe they just have no clear guideline what information to pass on? Or doesn't Funcom spent the money to hire qualified people? Or do they have to pass everything by a boss who isn't big into accepting new ideas?

If somebody feels unable or are unwilling to implement an idea, follow a suggestion, fulfill a wish and so on, some people tend to attack the idea so as to explain why they don't implement it instead of admitting the real reason, as that can be embarrassing ("Bad idea, will not be done." instead of "Great idea, but sorry, cannot do it, don't have the money/time/skillz / don't want to bother my boss with it / takes a lot of effort to explain to department X."). I think that is why talking to these guys/gals always feels like a good old fashioned flamewar.

The current issue (forum design), for example, appears to be about willingness and ability to produce something more pleasing to the eye - hence, we get that... well, for lack of a better word: "answer" from their new guy ("They want me to do stuff I cannot do = they stupid = I tell them they stupid, so they hurt bad.").

Issues of that kind should be easily fixed, e. g. by having all posts run through a colleague first to stop people from posting stuff hurtful to the business in a moment of passion or a mandatory 24 h waiting period before posting any reply.

Honesty, politeness and openess would help the company and the game so much. Or maybe one should say would have helped at this point in time.

Oh... to have the money to buy their legally troubled company and reorganize them. And to have the technology to travel back in time and do all that in 2007... A man can dream, a man can dream...

P. S.: Just to show that it doesn't hurt: I, personally, am really bad at web design or design in general. Everything looks more awful than before when I start changing things. Putting together a nice looking forum color scheme is above my level of skill. If I had that job at Funcom currently, I'd try to get help at that. And yes, I'd even ask a lowly common forum poster for that, when (s)he is, like Silfie, clearly superior in that. When I had to this (twice so far), I actually did ask somebody else, and it turned out really great both times.

[Halfdead]

That's not how it works. Now because you asked, it will never happen.

Tomium asked in another thread how he could help the community. I don't see why he couldn't ignore something as important as this?

[weretiger302]

Tomium asked in another thread how he could help the community. I don't see why he couldn't ignore something as important as this?

You, my good sir, have obviously never been in charge of something. If you were, you'd know that accepting another's idea is tantamount to admitting failure. Additionally, this is Funcom we're talking about. Tomium's good intentions aside, making changes requires money-money that apparently is better spent on teh Lego game.

[Halfdead]

You, my good sir, have obviously never been in charge of something. If you were, you'd know that accepting another's idea is tantamount to admitting failure. Additionally, this is Funcom we're talking about. Tomium's good intentions aside, making changes requires money-money that apparently is better spent on teh Lego game.

Apparently not. Make me a community manager. Then we'll see.

[ATN575]

I like the idea of making a contest out of it. Let the forum community submit themes and let the best idea win! No more bitching!