Forum Structure

[(PSN)D4nnyZ_47]

Hi,

I have been using the forum for quite some time now snd would like to give my feedback.

I really appreciate that this forum exists and feedback can be given, yet to thosw providing feedback, there are s number of things that are problematic.

For one, the missing feedback.

If we post an idea or a bug, we do not get any feedback from those who matter: DE.

Nothing shows us if a bug has been read, nothing shows us if a bug is qued for processing, being worked on or resolved. Likewise, we never hear anything back from DE positioning themselves towards an idea we bring up, neither any form of acknowledgement nor any statement whether the proposed idea stands in line or contradictory to how DE see the game while this information is the most importar of all in everything there is about the game. Otherwide we're just left talking to the walls and feel like we're not taken serious at all.

Secondly and thereby going hand in hand with the firet point, is the lack of strucutre.

I like that anyone can post at all times but this can be done in such a lose structure it is impossible to keep track and I'm sure we players are not the only ones affected by that, DE are too.

This would be a solution:

Why don't you change the structure of the forum so that people cannot create new topics but posts in DE-predefined topics in order to assure that all belonging posts are in on place without players being able to create new topics?

The warframe feedback section would be split into one topic per warframe. Each warframe would be split into ablilities, looks (Art and Animation) and sound. Since bugs are feedback too, each of these three sections would have a bug section, a feedback section and an idea-sandbox for future development.

Weapons would be setup the same way, one topic for each weapon in which anybody can post feedback, setup in three further subcategories of handling, looks and sound, which each are subdivided into the same 3 sections (bugs, feedback, ideas).

Missions and Levels would be another independent section pre-split into each planet and within each planet list each mission, and so on.

What it comes down to is how you DE see the forum. If it is something for you DE, then the forum should not change at all and I am really thankful for the steps towards players you have already incorporated.

If that is however not the intention and it is intended for players, the forum needs to be designed from user point of view, not developer point of view adjusting to what you think players' PoVs are.

[Mk.1]

30 minutes ago, (PS4)D4nnyZ_47 said:

If we post an idea or a bug, we do not get any feedback from those who matter: DE.

I've seen [DE]Rebecca, [DE]Danielle and [DE]Megan respond to replies on the patch notes a couple of times, and we do occasionally see them link certain forum threads in the patch notes, so we know they're active in them. 

 

32 minutes ago, (PS4)D4nnyZ_47 said:

Why don't you change the structure of the forum so that people cannot create new topics but posts in DE-predefined topics in order to assure that all belonging posts are in on place without players being able to create new topics?

There are already specific places to talk about specific things, no reason to take free-speech away from the player.

 

33 minutes ago, (PS4)D4nnyZ_47 said:

The warframe feedback section would be split into one topic per warframe. Each warframe would be split into ablilities, looks (Art and Animation) and sound. Since bugs are feedback too, each of these three sections would have a bug section, a feedback section and an idea-sandbox for future development.

Weapons would be setup the same way, one topic for each weapon in which anybody can post feedback, setup in three further subcategories of handling, looks and sound, which each are subdivided into the same 3 sections (bugs, feedback, ideas).

This doesn't sound bad in theory, but I would imagine it would cause a lot of clutter and possibly make things run worse. I don't have much knowledge of the mechanics and inner workings of forums, but I'd imagine it'd be a lot of stress to have so many sub-categories. Warframes would have 230 different threads, 46 Warframes with 5x (the 5 you listed) per. Primary weapons alone would have over 255 separate threads, 3 per weapon for 85+ weapons.

[(PSN)D4nnyZ_47]

All you do is see negative things, awesome

[MagPrime]

Mk-1, How is limiting redundant threads removing free speech? Posters are still able to post, they just cant make their own special, one line topic about the same thing as 100 other posters. Are you also claiming to have your free speech taken away with the new guidelines?

And while you are correct that there are specific sub forums for specific topics, have you taken the time to look at how many misplaced topics there are?  I wind up reporting Players Helping Players topics that have been put in General Feedback, General Discussion and even Off Topic.  And that's not touching on the intentionally misplaced topics where the OP feels they'll get more community notice, to make a point or simply dont care that it's in the wrong place.

OP, I would like to see some kind of acknowledgement system that lets players see their topics have been viewed by staff, be it volunteer Com Mods or DE.  The only downside is that we would see a resurgence of "I know you saw this why is there no fix yet?!" topics.

 

[Datsher]

The problem with merged topics or megathreads is that feedback there is usually merged to cram it all into one place, causing it to look like a giant mess (be it intentional or unintentional). These kinds of threads is usually where feedback goes to die as they are rarely addressed. 

I see your point though and it might work, I just don't have the optimism for it.

Edited February 13, 2017 by Skycook3y

[[DE]Drew]

We read a huge number of threads, but we don't have the bandwidth to reply to them all - sorry! (we would if we could)

[--Q--uixotic]

The bugs section could use more attention. I've posted several issues there but haven't seen any responses from DE, and several months later those issues haven't been fixed.

Issues I care about right now:

Also, walking while crouched while holding a throwing weapon has a higher stance, which triggers the horizontal sensor beam in grineer spy missions.

 

 

[Khlamydia]

On 2/24/2017 at 8:59 AM, [DE]Drew said:

We read a huge number of threads, but we don't have the bandwidth to reply to them all - sorry! (we would if we could)

Maybe what might help players feel like they are being heard more would be two changes to the forum system. If you added a special flag to DE forum accounts so when they browse and read various topic it automatically adds a tiny check-mark on the side of any posts that a DE developer forum account has at least scrolled over. It would let us know that even if you don't have time to reply at least we know some Dev's eyes at least might have noticed what we're trying to tell them is broken or upsetting us? If you give the players a visual icon that lets them know their concerns were at least noticed in some way it would do wonders for making us feel like we aren't just talking to the void of nothingness over and over.

Another thing that we would love to see is a pinned "We acknowledge that the following bugs exist in game" Dev megathread locked from player replys in the bugs section that gets updated on every hotfix or patch. A thread that lists every single bug that Dev is aware exists, with lines crossing out things as they are fixed, and perhaps the newest reported ones being added to the top of the list. That alone would clear mountains of clutter and repeat posts from the various forums and make us feel like DE knows what is broken in Warframe and also clues us in so we know what the Dev's haven't noticed yet.

[--Q--uixotic]

The problem is that they're using the forums as a player-facing substitute for a bug tracking system, but they rarely acknowledge those issues, which leads to low player confidence. Having them periodically update a thread with the current list of known issues would be a start, but we'd still be annoyed when the issue we've been reporting for months still isn't on that list.

I assume that they have an internal system for tracking known issues, planned features, etc. The ideal manual workflow with them running the two systems separately would be for them to read the bug report forum, create a ticket/story/issue in their tracking system, copy the details over, acknowledge the forum post, then return to the forum post to comment on the planned fix. To improve the workflow they could automate that by integrating the forums/tracking system and recording the forum post that needs an automated update as they capture/work the issue.

I'd prefer to have them expose a limited view of their issue tracking system that only exposes bugs, not new features or story elements. This way the current state would be displayed, you could see when it's being worked on, etc. Voting on issues would also be nice.

Edited February 26, 2017 by chrisx1125