Forum's platform engine is abysmal!

A realization, trying to keep up with the healer strike thread, of how bad the platform is, and one of the main reasons (among many other minor ones) is the lack of an actual live notification feed, the tool that usually stays in the top-right corner of the screen.

It's nearly impossible to keep track of interactions (replies / upvotes) in very busy threads if you're not actively refreshing and reading through. Or even threads you participated days ago and forgot about it. And the tool that remotely resembles that is buried under the Profile page which takes ages to load.

I know there are forum trolls everywhere, but there's still people with genuine points who are worth a good discussion.

If this place is really meant to be an official feedback platform, they need to modernize this tech, but then... XIV is not exactly a great example of UI/UX, so unsurprising that the OF looks like an ancient relic from the 2000's.

I agree. There really should be a system in place for when someone replies directly to your post or quotes you. A visual notification somewhere easily accessible. I understand that there is potential abuse of this feature but I think its worth having.

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Originally Posted by arstoka

I agree. There really should be a system in place for when someone replies directly to your post or quotes you. A visual notification somewhere easily accessible. I understand that there is potential abuse of this feature but I think its worth having.

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How it would be abused? This is kind of a 'default' feature for almost every modern Forums-esque platform out there. Getting easy to see notifications just let you be more active in whatever you're participating.

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Originally Posted by Raikai

How it would be abused? This is kind of a 'default' feature for almost every modern Forums-esque platform out there. Getting easy to see notifications just let you be more active in whatever you're participating.

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I depends on how its handled. If the notification is based on who quotes you, there could be instances of people intentionally quoting you multiple times to fill your notifications arbitrarily.

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Originally Posted by arstoka

I depends on how its handled. If the notification is based on who quotes you, there could be instances of people intentionally quoting you multiple times to fill your notifications arbitrarily.

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That honestly can happen in any platform. Usually you can silence users trolling like this.

I went throuh my profile page to check my posts so I could access the threads more easily... That page literally took 43 seconds to load.

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Originally Posted by arstoka

I agree. There really should be a system in place for when someone replies directly to your post or quotes you. A visual notification somewhere easily accessible. I understand that there is potential abuse of this feature but I think its worth having.

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Yeah it's kind of impractical that one has to search their own name to find out if anyone replied with a quote.

Honestly the biggest improvement would be for the block list to block threads made by the people on it, not just posts in a thread...

That's because the FFXIV forum software is VBulletin, (along with the FFXI forum), which is third-party forum software, and a really old one at that, so SE are limited by the limitations of the software (having been a moderator on an old forum that also used VBulletin years ago, I can vouch how long in the tooth it really is).

Unfortunately, I doubt SE are really interested in spending the money upgrading to newer software or taking the time to actually design their own forum, as forums are kind of outdated compared to modern social media systems.

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Originally Posted by Raikai

That honestly can happen in any platform.

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Not on those without a notification system at all.

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Originally Posted by Enkidoh

That's because the FFXIV forum software is VBulletin, (along with the FFXI forum), which is third-party forum software, and a really old one at that, so SE are limited by the limitations of the software (having been a moderator on an old forum that also used VBulletin years ago, I can vouch how long in the tooth it really is).

Unfortunately, I doubt SE are really interested in spending the money upgrading to newer software or taking the time to actually design their own forum, as forums are kind of outdated compared to modern social media systems.

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Funny that I remember way back in the day when WoW forums were old and a bit clunky and at some point they upgraded the platform and I think it was one of the best investments, even though it had nothing to do with the actual game.

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Originally Posted by Taliriah

Not on those without a notification system at all.

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I meant to imply the ones with notification systems... but tbh, most of the modern ones are like that.

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Originally Posted by Enkidoh

That's because the FFXIV forum software is VBulletin, (along with the FFXI forum), which is third-party forum software, and a really old one at that, so SE are limited by the limitations of the software (having been a moderator on an old forum that also used VBulletin years ago, I can vouch how long in the tooth it really is).

Unfortunately, I doubt SE are really interested in spending the money upgrading to newer software or taking the time to actually design their own forum, as forums are kind of outdated compared to modern social media systems.

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And VBulletin 4.2.x at that. This version hasn't received support in years and also only runs on a long since EOL'd version of PHP.

As you can tell from the forums and how preorders work, web design is Square's passion.

This is a commonly used, cheap forum skin. I've played other games going back nearly twenty years that use the exact same setup.

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Originally Posted by Raikai

It's nearly impossible to keep track of interactions (replies / upvotes) in very busy threads if you're not actively refreshing and reading through. Or even threads you participated days ago and forgot about it. And the tool that remotely resembles that is buried under the Profile page which takes ages to load.

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Reading a thread shouldn't be a problem if you're honestly trying to discuss a topic with the community. If you're just here to collect updoots and pat yourself on the back you'd have better luck on Reddit.

It also it takes like 3 days to load your profile. Please fix.

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Originally Posted by CidHeiral

Reading a thread shouldn't be a problem if you're honestly trying to discuss a topic with the community. If you're just here to collect updoots and pat yourself on the back you'd have better luck on Reddit.

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Sometimes threads are really slow, especially in the sub-forums, and it's easy to forget about them a couple of days later. And even in busy threads. It's not about 'collecting updoots', but in fact to keep track if somebody actually replied to you and keep the flow of the conversation after intervals. In a thread like the Healer Strike, that gains multiple pages overnight, it's hard to keep getting back to replies and then not even guaranteed that the person you replied to will see that. And it happens because a thread's narrative is hardly linear, with different niches of conversation going at once, sometimes meaningless things about people just arguing about arguing.

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Originally Posted by Raikai

A realization, trying to keep up with the healer strike thread, of how bad the platform is, and one of the main reasons (among many other minor ones) is the lack of an actual live notification feed, the tool that usually stays in the top-right corner of the screen.

It's nearly impossible to keep track of interactions (replies / upvotes) in very busy threads if you're not actively refreshing and reading through. Or even threads you participated days ago and forgot about it. And the tool that remotely resembles that is buried under the Profile page which takes ages to load.

I know there are forum trolls everywhere, but there's still people with genuine points who are worth a good discussion.

If this place is really meant to be an official feedback platform, they need to modernize this tech, but then... XIV is not exactly a great example of UI/UX, so unsurprising that the OF looks like an ancient relic from the 2000's.

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They are using the same version of vbulletin they were using in 2011. They are probably using the same server install from 2011 too.

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Originally Posted by Raikai

Sometimes threads are really slow, especially in the sub-forums, and it's easy to forget about them a couple of days later.

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Threads you've replied to are marked with a little clock icon. If it's in a sub forum it should be even easier to find since they move down the page much more slowly.

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Originally Posted by Raikai

And even in busy threads. It's not about 'collecting updoots', but in fact to keep track if somebody actually replied to you and keep the flow of the conversation after intervals. In a thread like the Healer Strike, that gains multiple pages overnight, it's hard to keep getting back to replies and then not even guaranteed that the person you replied to will see that. And it happens because a thread's narrative is hardly linear, with different niches of conversation going at once, sometimes meaningless things about people just arguing about arguing.

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Your problem is solved entirely by just reading the thread. If you can't be bothered to read what other people have to say then you're not really interested in participating in the discussion.

I assume you skew pretty young because for many years every forum on the internet was exactly like this one and it was fine. It's not a big deal.

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Originally Posted by CidHeiral

I assume you skew pretty young because for many years every forum on the internet was exactly like this one and it was fine. It's not a big deal.

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We also used to have phones that were tethered to the wall at all times. Just because something has existed for a long time doesn't mean it's well designed by today's standards.

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Originally Posted by Reinha

We also used to have phones that were tethered to the wall at all times. Just because something has existed for a long time doesn't mean it's well designed by today's standards.

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Of course, but on that same token it would be ridiculous to argue that the wall phone is just IMPOSSIBLE to use. Inconvenient compared to other solutions, sure, but still perfectly functional.

This forum has always been atrocious. It is embarrassing that it is 2024 and this is what a multi billion dollar company gives us.

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Originally Posted by CidHeiral

Threads you've replied to are marked with a little clock icon. If it's in a sub forum it should be even easier to find since they move down the page much more slowly.



Your problem is solved entirely by just reading the thread. If you can't be bothered to read what other people have to say then you're not really interested in participating in the discussion.

I assume you skew pretty young because for many years every forum on the internet was exactly like this one and it was fine. It's not a big deal.

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Like I said, in many big threads (where the problem is more egregious) there are multiple niches of conversation going on for pages, and sometimes is just people doing personal attacks to each other, or people going offtopic.

Also good for you to assume, but you're wrong. I lived in the 90's early internet days and I know how things worked back then... why I would want to live by those standards when basic technology evolved so much to the point that we can have a much more engaging user experience?

agreed. its insane how long it takes to load

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Originally Posted by sindriiisgaming

agreed. its insane how long it takes to load

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Exactly!!!!!!