Removal of Chat in Solo Feast Makes the Game Mode Not Fun

[Zojha]

Alright, let me make this as clear as I can:

You do not need to because it's obvious and was obvious from the get-go: You and many other people didn't want it in the first place and now you want it gone ASAP.

That's not hard to understand. As such, "doing something about it" always means exactly one thing and only one thing: Re-instating full chat. Period, full stop. Any other "something" is unacceptable. That's the gist of almost the entire feedback and suggestions given on the forums and on the stream. The 70+ page thread is full of messages with nothing else and that's been the chorus from the start. For this camp, the rest is negotiable, as long as normal chat comes back.

And all that feedback is pointless because for SE, that point was and is non-negotiable. They know full well nobody wants to be muted, you do not need feedback to know nobody likes that. In spite of this, they deem in necessary. They do see your frustrations about not being able to communicate properly however and they are going to do something about it by improving quick chat. They have stated such quite clearly and that is their response to your feedback. And because that is their response, they have asked for suggestions on how to improve it. Something will be done.

But the issue here is clear as day: The something they do about it is not the something you want them to do about it. And thus, it's not a something at all.
That aside, we're not past the point of suggestions, because there has never been a point of suggestions in the first place. The "suggestion" people keep bringing is "Remove it." and SE says "No. We improve quick chat instead." In other words, the suggestion has been denied. Claiming you'd be past the point of suggestions just because your suggestion gets denied only means that you never suggested anything in the first place - you were making a demand, not a suggestion. And this has been the case from the start.

[ThirdChild_ZKI]

So then what you're saying, if I'm understanding it right, is that SE is willfully choosing to ignore all the problems it's caused for the one thing it didn't even manage to fix? I know it's not YOU saying it, I'm merely interpreting your interpretation here. I'd like to point out a large part of the frustration here was that SE was completely silent on the matter for the longest time, thus popping up and asking for suggestions was, yet again, further insult to the community. I'd like to also point out that others have actually suggested using quick chat as a light punishment for people that actually do break the rules. That too, was ignored.

However back to my main point. Are you saying that Square Enix feels Quick Chat should be improved, inflexibly overlooking the fact that:

-Players are still toxic, if not more so now because of the frustration at not being able to communicate properly
-Players are using Quick Chat TO be toxic
-The overall gameplay experience has taken a huge nosedive considering many don't know what to do, can't ask, nor can be told
-Deaf players have no effective means of communication at all, considering VoIPs are not an option for them
-Many of the new players attracted by the change now see the issues it's caused - the very same issues we said would happen
-People are starting to send/receive nasty tells to each other after/between matches - Another issue we said might happen
-Playstation 4 players, who are already at a loss for hotbar space are even further burdened by this, and the "improvements" (in the way of additional commands) will only compound the problem

Well? Are you saying SE is intent on pushing this after it's been so thoroughly proven that it's a bigger problem than a solution? Because if so, now we're dealing with a complete lack of understanding of the community, and a failure to listen to good ideas that could have prevented the situation we now have. Look at the forums. So many threads complaining about this (with only a few misguided ones applauding it). How could anyone at this point be foolish enough to continue trying to push and fix something they know was so bad? Yes we're making demands now. The suggestions and feedback went ignored for months. Then again, there was never much discussion to be had on the matter. Simply, "We're going to make this controversially terrible change to the Feast. The end."

Oh right, "Please give us your feedback on the official forums!" There's always that.

[Zojha]

So then what you're saying, if I'm understanding it right, is that SE is willfully choosing to ignore all the problems it's caused for the one thing it didn't even manage to fix?

Basically. Though I wouldn't say they are ignoring it, they simply think it's the lesser of two evils. What transpired to make them think that, I do not know. Why they keep thinking that, I do not know. I'm not an SE employee, I have no insight in their internal situation before nor after. All I know is that what little they have said and done on the matter can only mean this - They heard you, they know what you think, but they think differently and act accordingly. That's all.

As for the suggestions: I read them. In almost all cases, the format was X + Y, with X being "Keep Free Chat" and Y being anything from "Nothing" over "Automated Systems" to "Up your GM staff". The Y was negotiable and varied. The X was not. That's the opposite of SE's apparent position: Restricting Chat is not negotiable, but the rest is. I repeat: They didn't go and say that explicitly. But it's apparent from the fact that they never asked for feedback on that in the first place and their intent to not take it back, but rather improve on quick chat instead, even after hearing all your feedback.

That this results in similar issues as when a socialist and a capitalist argue is not really surprising. What I'm trying to get across is that the conflict in all likelihood is caused by disagreement, not communication issues. And I'm not precluding the possibility that their stance will change. But as of now, in my opinion, that is the status quo, the reasoning for this conclusion being stated above.

[ThirdChild_ZKI]

I think it needs to be said that if choosing the lesser of two evils when there's in fact, a good and better third choice, shows poor decision making/handling skills, and only further casts a poor light on the abilities of the PvP team to do the right thing. While that in and of itself would be a larger issue than what the community wants, it does pose a direct conflict with that, and can't be overlooked. Still, it's out of the community's hands to affect who's assigned to what within SE, but all we can do, and what we've been doing is voicing and showing our disapproval of the change. Purely from a business standpoint, SE and their PvP team need to wake up and start listening to the PvP community, lest they fully alienate them and kill the content.

[Ama_Hamada]

They already did give exactly that response. The first bolded part is very clearly:"We heard you.", while the second bolded part states what they're going to do about it.

I mean, I get it, nobody likes the response, but that doesn't mean it wasn't given.

One response like that on an issue like this is not enough. Also that was AFTER the change, we where completely ignored when talking about it for 3 months? We are owed more detailed response then that

[Llus]

Further, the longer this is in discussion and the more vocal the PvP community is about it the harder it becomes to ignore. As a minority of players are committed to PvP, it generally does take SE a long time to respond. However; the squeaky wheel gets the grease and outcry on a closed forum may become noteworthy and newsworthy across the entire gaming community. SE Doesn't want bad press for their upcoming expansion; so perhaps it's time to move to a more public forum http://gamerescape.com/? http://www.pcgamer.com/? http://www.mmorpg.com/?

[ThirdChild_ZKI]

Llus, you are absolutely correct, and I thank you for that.

The answer isn't simply rolling over and accepting things as is. The squeaky wheel gets the grease; you said it perfectly.
Making it more public is good too. I made a post in General Discussion a while back, even noting that I knew it was in the wrong place, but did so for exposure. . . only to have it shuffled into the PvP section that's apparently so easily ignored. I like your idea VERY much.

[dragonseth07]

You don't NEED to talk shit to other players, you simply get off on trying to be an internet bully.

No, no-one needs to talk shit. But, being able to tell somebody how the game works would be really freaking nice. Feast is full of people who have no idea what they're doing right now, and there's no way to help them figure it out. I scoured the internet for info when the Garo event started so I could learn. I'm an extreme minority. It's like being unable to explain a boss mechanic that keeps wiping you.

[yumeyume]

Removing the chat mode in the feast is hard cause it makes a lot of miscommunication. Then people end up blaming each other for not being on target or attacking the players that the healer tried to sleep. There are so much lost communication in the feast right now. I don't think see good thing of removing the chat to stop bully or toxic in pvp. I think right now it is more toxic because people would just send /tell to another player calling them trash, scrub or name after the match. Instead of resolving it, people are now accusing each other for win trade cause tank accidently picked up 7 stacks cause nobody want to pick up or healer called fall back due to mp and melee didn't see it and not fall back. The community becomes even worst cause people are now taking it really personal because they are sending tell or screaming out in public and call name.

[TiramisuMacaron]

My favorite is when I die as a healer and my Paladin spams "Nice Job!".

My Paladin that has full MP....

My Paladin that hasn't used cover or tetsudo........