Is having an Official Forums good for FFXIV?

[Lienn]

I see no benefit at all in having this forum...it would be extremely productive if we had a large amount od population taking part of it...but right now we have just a few users, most of them from same "group" of players and that aren't even close to reflect the real opinion of the playerbase.

That's why i always though both polls and forums should never been taken seriously...while they can be good for suggestions and feedback, its not even close to be a decent enough sample of population to base decisions on...and this is why the PS3 release potentially might fail...because they used that poll to base all the changes regardless of population sample size.

[darkstarpoet1]

I see no benefit at all in having this forum...it would be extremely productive if we had a large amount od population taking part of it...but right now we have just a few users, most of them from same "group" of players and that aren't even close to reflect the real opinion of the playerbase.

That's why i always though both polls and forums should never been taken seriously...while they can be good for suggestions and feedback, its not even close to be a decent enough sample of population to base decisions on...and this is why the PS3 release potentially might fail...because they used that poll to base all the changes regardless of population sample size.

i agree with you in part.

the forums are more of a divisive form of communication than anything else. if someone posts any opinion it becomes a flame fest regardless of the topic. if it's a complaint it's "QQ MOAR" and if its positive it's "shut up whiteknight". the forums are good for getting information from the reps and hearing what yoshi himself has to say, but i see no other positive coming out of it.

there's a very small minority of even the few k players that actually play the game that will even visit the forums. i've heard repeatedly in game people talking about they have an issue and when suggested to bring it to the forums they say they don't feel like getting personally attacked.

the part is disagree with is about the polls.

the polls are a very good representation of the players. they can at least figure out from the polls what the people that actually play the game like and dislike and what they want to see make it into the game to make it better. granted, it's not going to be 100% correct in what the mmo genre in general wants, but it does give alot more insight into what the players want.

in other words i will use auto attack for an example. i hate auto attack and i see many people that did do battle that have either stopped playing or have decided to do only dol/doh classes. if they had a poll and asked would people rather have seen auto attack or them to made changes to the system in place to make it more strategic and fluid i could have actually looked at the poll results and and seen if i was in the majority or minority.

i am more willing to accept something if i see the majority feels one way. i can look at the poll results and say " i may not agree with it, but since the majority wants it then it's probably better for the future of the game"

so, yes, i do agree for the most part that the forums are counterproductive they do have some good points, but i completely disagree about player polls. i believe if we had more polls with more direct questions on the direction to take the game we would have had alot less threads complaining when parts of the game people liked were removed or changed if the majority was for the change.

[Lienn]

the part is disagree with is about the polls.

the polls are a very good representation of the players. they can at least figure out from the polls what the people that actually play the game like and dislike and what they want to see make it into the game to make it better. granted, it's not going to be 100% correct in what the mmo genre in general wants, but it does give alot more insight into what the players want.

in other words i will use auto attack for an example. i hate auto attack and i see many people that did do battle that have either stopped playing or have decided to do only dol/doh classes. if they had a poll and asked would people rather have seen auto attack or them to made changes to the system in place to make it more strategic and fluid i could have actually looked at the poll results and and seen if i was in the majority or minority.

i am more willing to accept something if i see the majority feels one way. i can look at the poll results and say " i may not agree with it, but since the majority wants it then it's probably better for the future of the game"

so, yes, i do agree for the most part that the forums are counterproductive they do have some good points, but i completely disagree about player polls. i believe if we had more polls with more direct questions on the direction to take the game we would have had alot less threads complaining when parts of the game people liked were removed or changed if the majority was for the change.

The thing about the poll is that it actually, just like the forum, does not reflect the playerbase will. Its just the same people that post here but, this time, voting annonymously...sometimes using mules too to inflate results and stuff.

IMO poll would only be valid if they were made ingame. Like placing an NPC, you answer his survey, receive a prize (prize to stimulate participation) and gogo...but a poll here, like last 2, have no real value.

And about what you said regarding AA, i agree completely...so much i'm one of those that just don't fight anymore...now i only craft and do gathering...and what you said is what i'm afraid that will happen...over time people might just leave because they are not pleased to the game...and right now i see this game collapsing the moment they decide charging...not because they're doing the wrong things, but because they're basing the decisions on a minority opinion.

I REALLY wanted to see how many players answered the first and second polls.

[darkstarpoet1]

The thing about the poll is that it actually, just like the forum, does not reflect the playerbase will. Its just the same people that post here but, this time, voting annonymously...sometimes using mules too to inflate results and stuff.

IMO poll would only be valid if they were made ingame. Like placing an NPC, you answer his survey, receive a prize (prize to stimulate participation) and gogo...but a poll here, like last 2, have no real value.

And about what you said regarding AA, i agree completely...so much i'm one of those that just don't fight anymore...now i only craft and do gathering...and what you said is what i'm afraid that will happen...over time people might just leave because they are not pleased to the game...and right now i see this game collapsing the moment they decide charging...not because they're doing the wrong things, but because they're basing the decisions on a minority opinion.

I REALLY wanted to see how many players answered the first and second polls.

my post about the polls was the original one that they actually linked while in game. every player that i knew of actually filled out the poll. it actually gave a good representation on the people that were playing and not the small vocal minority that plays on the forums.

to me the polls should be in game and leave them up for a few weeks, but ask more specific questions before they take the time to do major changes to the system. it would save them putting alot of time into something that people do not like. the reason i say leave them up for a few weeks is that it gives more of a chance for the people that don't play daily a chance to get on and actually have their opinions heard or get people that have taken breaks to get their voices heard.

i am like you in that i am not a fan of the polls being on the forums when i know alot of people that won't even take the time to visit the forum because they are actually in game, but they would do the poll if it was in game.

[Lienn]

my post about the polls was the original one that they actually linked while in game. every player that i knew of actually filled out the poll. it actually gave a good representation on the people that were playing and not the small vocal minority that plays on the forums.

to me the polls should be in game and leave them up for a few weeks, but ask more specific questions before they take the time to do major changes to the system. it would save them putting alot of time into something that people do not like. the reason i say leave them up for a few weeks is that it gives more of a chance for the people that don't play daily a chance to get on and actually have their opinions heard or get people that have taken breaks to get their voices heard.

i am like you in that i am not a fan of the polls being on the forums when i know alot of people that won't even take the time to visit the forum because they are actually in game, but they would do the poll if it was in game.

Indeed! I'd surely support they having the polls ingame. Maybe making the 3 tribunes ingame and once every 2~4 weeks we have a brand new poll there. This would be way better because, while here you only find a minimal portion of players, ingame you will give access to polls to nearly the entire playerbase.

I know many people that didn't answer any of the polls, that don't take part in this forum and, still, are active players of FFXIV and, just like me, aren't very pleased with the changes...but not everyone has the time/will to come here toss their 2 cents regarding every aspect of the game...its much easier just quit and find another game that pleases him more...and when all decisions are taken based on a such restricted group of players, like the forum active ones, they have a potential risk of losing these unpleased players...because even if they come here and say (as example-ish) "Hey! GTFO Casuals! It's under new management and the new boss like e-peens!" there are people that bought the game based on the original proposal of it and never ever even came to lodestone...some didn't even read that "An important announcement to all FFXIV fans" that still appears when we log in...they just log in, play the game and log out.

So, after all this random QQ, yep...i do agree polls should be taken ingame instead of here.