Something to concider as Trion reboots its priorities

It is well known that most games' forum populations are only a small percentage of their playerbase. For some time now there has been a haze of negativity on this forum that has driven users away or pushed them into lurker status. I think Trion may have made a mistake in the past of only hearing the loudest voices in the tiny minority of players that actively post here.

I would encourage Trion to try to find other means of checking the pulse of this game. Surveys or polls via email or the website, maybe? Even just an announcement on the in game login screens seeking ideas and input. I think there are valid complaints and good ideas out there that are not being heard because people don't want to come here and have their post torn apart by haters and rabid fanboys alike.

Yes this is also my concern, I've seen it with other games. Developers paying attention to the vocal minority and not engaging the rest of the players. About 10 years ago I enjoyed it when Dark Age of Camelot had a popup poll on their launcher for all players, short simple questions receiving almost the entirety of the population votes.

So, you want them to take the pulse of the game, but you want them to ignore their most passionate fans - you know the ones who criticize, call out, discuss, and occasionally defend the game. The people who bother to try to learn the more hidden mechanics and pass on or make knowledge accessible and can make suggestions on somewhat decent data. Even if they send out an e-mail, the few that answer will typically be the vocal minority anyway. I remember when a survey was sent out, and we had a good laugh the link was broken.

They already have a method with the feedback system in game. Post something on start page asking for few things we would like and after week or two compile, post & discuss the list.

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Originally Posted by fang1192

So, you want them to take the pulse of the game, but you want them to ignore their most passionate fans - you know the ones who criticize, call out, discuss, and occasionally defend the game. The people who bother to try to learn the more hidden mechanics and pass on or make knowledge accessible and can make suggestions on somewhat decent data. Even if they send out an e-mail, the few that answer will typically be the vocal minority anyway. I remember when a survey was sent out, and we had a good laugh the link was broken.

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I'm pretty sure OP didn't ask for Trion to ignore anyone...

The feedback system in game is nice, but it's buried inside that clunky UI. I think a call out on login would be nice to encourage people to send feedback.

This sounds like a smart idea. I personally love forums and find lots of usefull info from them, but they are notorious for negativity. Not just the Defiance forum either. Just seems to be the nature of the beast.

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Originally Posted by Conceit

It is well known that most games' forum populations are only a small percentage of their playerbase. For some time now there has been a haze of negativity on this forum that has driven users away or pushed them into lurker status. I think Trion may have made a mistake in the past of only hearing the loudest voices in the tiny minority of players that actively post here.

I would encourage Trion to try to find other means of checking the pulse of this game. Surveys or polls via email or the website, maybe? Even just an announcement on the in game login screens seeking ideas and input. I think there are valid complaints and good ideas out there that are not being heard because people don't want to come here and have their post torn apart by haters and rabid fanboys alike.

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This here is a wise man!

We have done this and will continue to do this but it's not something you would know. In general, forums are about 10ish percent of the overall userbase (that's a very rough average) and the vocal generally represent the most hardcore and passionate. This place is important, though, because it's a dialogue and it's an official please - many, many more people read than post. We look at all those metrics and not just the posts.

We also use places like neogaf, reddit, comments on sites that post news, and fan sites for feedback. On top of that, we have customer service and we do utilize surveys. With all of that, we have a team of folks who analyze the data and can prioritize so it's not just a dump of information.

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Originally Posted by fang1192

So, you want them to take the pulse of the game, but you want them to ignore their most passionate fans - you know the ones who criticize, call out, discuss, and occasionally defend the game. The people who bother to try to learn the more hidden mechanics and pass on or make knowledge accessible and can make suggestions on somewhat decent data. Even if they send out an e-mail, the few that answer will typically be the vocal minority anyway. I remember when a survey was sent out, and we had a good laugh the link was broken.

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Ignore the forum community? No. But take their opinions and wants as development guidance without consulting the majority of the player base? Also, no.

Sorry, but it has been stated by Developers for the past 10 years that a majority of the player base do not visit the forums. They either play the game and enjoy it, or don't enjoy it and quietly move on. A game's forums really is the vocal minority, and using their input to the sole degree that far too many developers have come to rely upon in the past 7-8 years is ridiculous.

Also, do you even read the forums? There are more posts about what I want from any given complainer than what might be overall better for the game. That's another thing the vocal minority is famous for doing.

Edit: See Dahanese, above.

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Surveys or polls via email or the website, maybe?

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It would be a significant saving of time. Asking specific questions makes easier to get accurate answers. And if it be in the form of the survey, information is easier to obtain.

Dahanese, thank you for the response. I would also like to thank you and your team for the yeoman's work you guys have been doing trying to bring some much needed order to these forums.

I would like to second Yewa's point real quick. The in game feedback system is more than a little hard to stumble across. Maybe a little in game nudge towards it would not be a bad idea. Just please, no more full screen system messages. :)