Eliminating the forums

I don't think that this is a best course of action, given all the flammers and spammers and such the best course would be to manage user accounts differently maybe to not allow new users without verification and be able to delete ignorant posters, those which are abusive to the forums and other people, all they really want is to say a bunch of crap which you guys don't need to take. I understand that closing the forums would be a way out, it is usually a final resort and if it seems that bad to you by all means take whatever actions seem nessicary to get rid of the flammers.

NO WAYY! i check the forums here every day! i'd be lost without them!

lost. your whole life revolves around this forum.

Shouldn't we at least wait until the new forums arrive? From what Dark-Star has said, they're already working on them. If they go smoothly, then surely there is some advantage to keeping them here? The dev responses have ALWAYS been higher than any other site, notable by the fact that you are the #1 poster and commenter throughout the entire site, and that's something that attracts a lot of people first to the site, then to the game. The responses from you and everyone else at Stardock mean a lot to us here, and has always been something I've told people when I'm persuading them to buy the game.

However, I do see the other hand. There have been trolling attacks, which still echo (the other day I ran into ANOTHER Psycho post for example). There are idiots running around saying how much they hate you, using the site as their target. In the case of Darth Griffin and a few others, it was the fact that people haven't even seen a response. A "we're working on it" or "we don't have the time, but we know" helps a huge amount, even if you can't get to them all, but the fact is when people haven't seen a Stardock name for about 2 weeks while they have problems with the site, they start to lose some of the respect they have. Rightly or wrongly, entitlement or not, it IS nice to see developers dropping in just to say "Yeah, we know, we'll try getting around to it in about a week, but we're really busy right now". Most of the people here don't even know that there IS a new forum being designed, and they think everything is being ignored while all the game developers move on to society.

I still think it might be worth waiting it out, making a sticky saying "We're working on it", and seeing if the new forums work. If not, then delete them. But I quite like these forums myself, so I would like them to stay if possible.

/shrug.

IMHO leave them here. Perhaps getting rid of general replys in some forums might help reduce flaming.

Should you use an off site service you no longer have the same level of input and some disconnect begins to grow between you and your customers.

Think of it this way. Why do you bank where you do? If a local bank, would you be upset if the service was done elsewhere? Would it upset you to not have a person you can go see if a problem comes up? That is kind of what sending folks to a different site would do.

While I like the idea of the forums, I do have to say that I agree they aren't as great as they should be. However, bugs, modding, ideas - I read quite a bit of things every day.

If they had to go, an official (and hopefully more honest than other companies) version for Known Issues, Upcoming Patch Changes, etc would still remain here.

I would have to see what "new forums elsewhere" would bring before I could give a fully educated response to the question.

To be honest, please dont.

While a pain to control and deal with considering limited time and resources this is YOUR site. From a marketing perspective what does it say that you no longer want to host it?
Why not enrole more moderators? Different verification system for fighting abuse, etc.

I deffinetly wouldnt like the forums to be closed down, even if they are a bit...excentric

I take the time to browse them daily just to be up to date on all things GalaCiv. So my vote would be no, finish your new version you're working on and if it doesnt work out the way you hope, then maby revisit turning it off.

Nothing wrong with having a forum, in fact it's better to have one than not. I prefer anything that's stable, like those nice forums over at Egosoft:

http://forum2.egosoft.com

I think getting rid of the forums is pretty extreme; they have their problems, but nothing that can't be solved if Stardock makes it a priority. It seems to me that if a relatively small amount of time and money were budgeted to clearing up lingering issues in the forums and in the Metaverse programming, both the number of complaints and the amount of whining (at least I see those as separate categories) would decrease rapidly.

I know it's hard for a company that is trying to turn a profit to schedule time to go back and work on these sorts of things when they don't generate tangible revenue. Frogboy, I feel your frustration with the deluge of complaints and I understand the impulse to cut the albatross loose. I also think that much would be lost.

It would be the end of the Metaverse bling (forum medals). On top of all of the other Metaverse issues, I think this would seriously diminish some people's (mine included) desire to compete in the Metaverse. That competetive impulse is about the only thing that gives me the incentive to actually finish my games rather than dump it and start over when the challenge is gone and I know I've got the win. Unless you're equally frustrated with the Metaverse's problems and looking to ditch it, too, this should be a major concern.

I know the medals will still show up in the Stardock forums, but their look and feel is limited and generic. Having a forum that carries over the look and feel of the game is a great way to visually bring the game experience into the interactive, online experience.

I'd go on, but this post is long enough already. I hope you will consider putting some work into what is basically a good, solid program before you scrap it. Try adding forum elimination as a poll question next week; I think you might be surprised.

I AGREE!!!!!!!! KEEP THE FORUMS!!!!!

Despite their flaws and weaknesses (if it weren't for that we would all complain to you about something else...to paraphrase another saying, a b****ing gamer is a happy gamer) they do provide a great service.

From a business perspective, and I know Stardock doesn't do it (entirely) for the love of the game (although they have shown very clearly that their hearts are in it), it does make some sense.

You need a thick hide to host the forums as the developer because the silent majority that loves the game will for the most part be silent. It is the 5% or less who have complaints about the game that you do see. And most of those haven't a clue about what it takes to program, put together, and tune a world class game like GalCiv2.

There develops a closeness and rapport and loyalty between the developer and the gamer. We all know that resources are finite and that you cannot please everyone, but at least hosting the forum here we know that you at least read them! This can't be said if the forum were hosted somewhere else.

I like Civ4, but I don't go to the forums. I like other strategy games, but I don't go to the forums. GalCiv2 is the only forum I do go to...because I know that you people care. I'm not sure the other game developers do care.

Yea, you may not be as polished as some of your competition, but you show that you care. I love the game. I love the developers. I love Frogboy. Keep up the great work and I look forward to Dark Avatar. Can't wait to see how the story plays out.

One suggestion--that you "hire" moderators for the forum (like it seems you have recently done) that are not regular employees, but rather highly motivated semi-volunteers (who may get free expansion packs for their labor of love?). They can do the sifting of the wheat from the chaff and give you good feedback on the state of the game.

D: I dislike these forums.

These forums are one of the main reasons I bought the game, having never heard of Galciv 1, before researching a good game to get(I used to be into consoles before). The support available is awesome, not just from you guys at Stardock, but from the general users of the game. Whilst you are always going to get some idiots saying you are useless, or you must do that, we all know them for what they are: idiots. This forum must be considered an amazing advertising tool for you guys promoting this game. And thanks for all the hard work.

Well seen as the majority of the 'bugs' in the forum (if not all of them) are now fixed is this not just a tad ridiculous, even bordering on overreaction?

I dont remember seeing one post where the user stated they wanted the forums shut, do you? Yes the forums are not the best out there even compared to the old GCI forum, however they are used by a large number of people who enjoy posting here day in day out so why the talk on removing that aspect of the community spirit?

I mean more people have complained that they dont like the game than have actually complained about the forums, so is your next consideration to stop supporting the game too? Now the basics are back in place most of the complaints should dry-up. One thing about people who have purchased your game is that a good percentage of them have questions that they need answering. Those answers have mostly been rectified by members of these forums, or the member with the issue has been pointed in the correct direction to rectify the issue. Remove the capacity to do this and you will actually increase the amount of workload you guys have and hugely increase the traffic to the support people. As it is we know they are snowed under with requests for assistance and you want to increase that?

So please, enough about removing the forums and head back to doing what you guys do best.. Making us great games to play!!

PS good luck with the new arrival!!!

I'm one of those silent people. Played the game since it's come out. I'm a BIG lurker on these forums and the others - especially Apolyton. I sit and view most of the banter that comes and goes but never feel the need to comment.

My only comment now - like the previous posters - have more moderators that give feed-back to the people who have issues that they feel aren't being addressed. Do a poll if you feel that you've lost heart a little. It's like that old adage that people will only speak out when things are wrong. We'll always complain but we won't be bothered to praise when things are rosy.

Urgh, no. Game's own forums = good. There's just a certain detachment in being made a subsection of somewhere else. It's a turn-off. People who dislike the forums don't HAVE to use them, after all.

And it's not like you'll stop hearing complaints on a new forum, either.

My suggestion? Find a more stable forum software and stick it in! The forums don't work AT ALL for me on Firefox or Opera, and they have a number of bugs all their own, so it'd be better to simply find something that works. Really, the only particular thing I like about the software used for this forum is the medals at the bottom, and I'm sure you could somehow fake that in other software (possibly by overwriting the normal "signature" programming with something that puts in your icons).

I personally read the fourms about once a day. There is normally funny information if not always good info. People will bitch and moan nonstop when given a chance and sometimes the bad eggs out drown out the people that are happy with the fourms. It seems to me that most of the problems are fixed, so why kill them now? Please don't get rid of them.

I doubt you could find a company where the developers are more actively involved with the customers than Stardock. While there have been a few complaints about the slowness of the forums and the Metaverse, by and large most people (like me) love it. The medal system is also great, but seeing how active the game developers are in helping the customers is very warming.

It is easier for me, as a customer, to have everything consolidated onto one website - I can browse the forums, and easily check information about the game and about the Metaverse while I'm browsing.

And given that everyone who has posted so far has supported the forums, or at least recommended waiting, I suggest that you keep the forums, at least temporarily. As someone else suggested above, do a poll about whether or not to keep the forums before it gets to that point.

A few more moderators with good heads on their shoulders, with some hope, a couple weeks should be fine.

I'd hate to see some of the nice features with this integrated site go to waste. I.E> The medal system

Man, I really like this forum, please don't kill it. That would be dissapointing. If you don't want to deal with the physical overhead, maybe you can find a new host for an "official forum". Just leave the "forums.galciv2.com" address intact. There are lots of forum hosts around with pretty slick software and using one would off-load your overhead. My only complaint about this forum is the interface is lacking a few features compared to other systems (like message search), but that could be resolved by using a hosting service. But, the Medal system is really cool and I'd hate to lose that. So, maybe not.

- Craig

I like this forum and would prefer to see it stay.

It's in people's nature to complain, rather then praise. The fact that they complain about aspects of the game, stardock or the forum is a sign that they care, are interested and just want to see it improved.


Having said that, if its a choice between concentrating resources on future game development, design or keeping this forum. Then I would always vote on future development and design.

The civfanatics forum is good and everyone would get used to posting there about GC2, I have seen Brad posting on the GC2 civfanatics forum, so we would still get developers input.

Lastly, how about a poll on this question?

Here's my idea of forum-guidelines/policy

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Galciv 2 Forums Policy/Guidelines

1. Respect is important not just for moderators but for fellow users as well. Please respect eachother and attempt not to cause flame-wars on the forums; if such a thing happens or is going to happen play some GC2 and blast your least-favorite race to oblivion.

2. Use the search feature to find what might allready be there.

3. Post in the appropriate forum

4. If you have a problem with a certain moderator's actions providing you havn't been the recipient and have noticed something questionable contact Cari_Elf or Frogboy.

5. Be considerate

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Moderator Guidelines

1. If a user is found to be regularily causing trouble report to the Head-Moderator (Or in any Case a Stardock Employee and point them to the threads of where the action is ... provocative/pestulant)

2. Do not involve personal feelings with moderation. Moderate as if you were moderating a freind or stranger; the forums is a big place and no one should be moderated for what you feel emotionally. If you have a problem with someone it's best to ask another moderator for feedback, before acting.

3.Move topics to the appropriate places + help users out whenever possible; it's important that a moderator is prepared to help new users as well as moderate the forums.




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Anyone like what I've come up with? I spent about 10 minutes trying to carefully write this up.

I've always liked the forums. I don't post much, but I enjoy seeing what others have to say about the games, and I've learned a lot from some of the better posters. The forums and the enthusiasm of the customers in them were part of the reason that I bought the game.

YEESH. Yes these forums have annoying problems but when faced with THAT alternative I'll just shut my mouth and endure it.

WE NEED THE FORUMS!!!

there is no question bout it where else will we post bug reports get developer help, and all that jazz? if u just use another sites forums ull never get the amount of info that u can get if u have your own forums

look ill admit there are definenlty some promblems with the forums but that dosnt mean that u just ax em