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FLS Deleting Forum Threads
ReaperUk
Member UncommonPosts: 759
A number of threads where people had mentioned they were leaving because of the broken PVE/Economy game have been quietly deleted.
Are they getting worried about a snowball effect?
Comments
oh please, where were you on the 28th Jan when TB was eco-bombed by the Spanish on Roberts?
a total of 28 threads were deleted in that one week, most due to flaming or mentioning the "e" word; exploit. Which is, of course, against the forum rules.
no discussion even if it's not an exploit...
nothing underhand at all, annoying... i've had quite a large number of threads deleted and have seen even more disapear. If you actually point out which threads and what were in them, you'd probably see the point
now if you'll excuse me i have another 8 bugs to report *rolls eyes*, curious to see 1.2 notes.. hope they finally fix "stay alive" and actually put in a turn in point for "finer things". And a few dozen others, there's even an NPC who gives out a total of 12 quests - none with rewards or anything - "sounds like a bug" the GM said, well no duh.
won't hold my breath.
The reason they delete those threads is because there's so many of them about the same thing. They don't want 25 "The economy sucks" threads, one is suffice.
I've never heard of a forum that deletes threads. Nope, not a one.
Well it is the official forum owned and operated by FLS, so they can do what they see is fit. Doesn't make sense to have possible negative statements, which could affect business.
That is why there are official forums (mostly regulated) and public forums (mostly unregulated).
And that is why...
Conservatives' pessimism is conducive to their happiness in three ways. First, they are rarely surprised -- they are right more often than not about the course of events. Second, when they are wrong they are happy to be so. Third, because pessimistic conservatives put not their faith in princes -- government -- they accept that happiness is a function of fending for oneself. They believe that happiness is an activity -- it is inseparable from the pursuit of happiness.
The problem is that the censorship there is becoming more and more endemic while remaining completely arbitrary. Some threads get deleted because there is one or two comments considered out of bounds in several pages of posts, others get closed for being repetitive or for any other reason, yet some threads remain open while discussing the same thing over and over and over again.
Then you have the professional flamers, who seemingly post strictly to see threads deleted or closed -- and it's working. I don't trust the FLS forums anymore, but there is really no alternative board to discuss the game (and no, not here).
A certain Mod over there has always been VERY inconsistant with her judgement / moderation.
It's not a good thing because of the way people percieve this type of moderation style.
It's also not good because this person joined FLS about the time the SOE contract was signed - this lead many to believe she was some kind of SOE plant. While that isn't true, it certainly did not look good when almost every thread that mentioned SOE in any context was locked and referred to a single thread.
Often this was inappropriate as some of the threads concerned contained valid topics and questions in their own right.
The FLS Fanbois rapidly realised that there were certain tactics they could use which practically guarenteed any thread they did not like would be locked and / or deleted.
They began to use this to their advantage and the Moderator concerned did not appear to realise that she had in fact become a 'tool' for their ends. As you say here:
This is the alternate forums. The moderation here is at least consistant.
If FLS want to stay in business and build a community around PotBS they need to realise the important role Forums play in a MMORPG.
This is far more important than in a Single Player game where the comments and obeservations of one poster do not and can not effect another.
MMOs are about community and the forum (and in many cases forumS - including guild forums) are an important part of that.
The maturity and attitude of the players in game is reflected in the forum and vice-versa.
In fact, I would go so far as to say that buy encouraging certain standards within the forum this can spill over to the game and cause a change there too.
Regardless of the problems with the game, if FLS can build a community around it they can assure its survival for years to come.
Nothing says irony like spelling ideot wrong.
Very true.
However there are few points that make this a sore spot.
First, according to FLS official stand the forums are semi irrelevant for business and sales. If that is so why heavy handed moderation?
Second, one of the big marketing hypes was how FLS is commited to open communication. Now, most people understood that it meant good and bad cooments will be allowed together. As it stands now only good comments are allowed and that is a double standard.
Third, the deleting of the threads comes after removing the option to see how many players are online and after tweaking the login screen. Some people see this as a pattern and not unlike one alredy known to be used by SOE with a goal of coverup.
There is nothing more irritating than losing a preceived freedom because the end results don't correspond with giver's wishes.
At any rate there is no need to delete whole threads as it is clearly a heavy handed conduct. Threads could be locked, individual posts can be deleted or individual posters locked for a period of time. Not to mention that "I love the game" trolls and flamers don't seem to be treated the same way.
I'm so broke. I can't even pay attention.
"You have the right not to be killed"
The deleted threads I'm referring to aren't being started by the same people and they are not full of flame posts either. The PotBS forums are actually very civilized. The thing the threads being deleted have in common is that they are full of very well thought out discussions of what's wrong with the game. In particicular, these are ones that have included a number of posts from people who happen to mention they are intending to cancel their subscription because of perceived shortcomings with the game.
Even though it may not be what the thread is about, it seems once someone has mentioned in a reply that they are intending to cancel their account, the whole thread gets deleted. Not only that, if someone asks why a thread was deleted as happened earlier today, that thread gets deleted too!
There is no comment from a moderator. The thread just quietly disappears and presumably, it's hoped that nobody will notice! ........ but of course we do.
I've played lots of mmorpg's and seen many threads get locked through flaming, being off topic etc. I can't remember seeing whole threads being deleted this way before just for being critical of aspects of the game.
On any forum official or not, you will have people deleting non rose colored fanboi posts. That's all there is to it, get used to it. They only place where your opinion is safe is the alt news groups. But they are so overrun by spammers its not even worth visiting anymore.
You are a member of 2 forums?
Old Skool Ultima Online Junky
Bring back the OLD UO so I can play again
I'd agree having your official forum full of "negative" posts isn't going to help the company.
Then again if you are already hurting for population within the first 30 days of "live". Then a new person comes in and makes a frustrated post and it gets deleted... you aren't helping your company either.
That "new and slightly frustrated customer" will not be an ex customer.
Then again if you believe all those "moderate" and "heavy" rose colored pop numbers that have been up almost 24/7 since that one downtime. Deleting threads has brought them a ton of new subs...
A bump for this thread because I just found this thread over at the FLS forums
http://www.burningsea.com/forums/showthread.php?t=17490
in particular note the post by Aether ( # 19 )
Aether[FLS]
I'll take the blame for this situation- you see, there have been a spate of abusive "OMG I HATE YOU AND YOUR GAME AND YOU'VE KILLED MY CREATIVE SPIRIT AND I'M QUITTING!" posts, which have been contributing to an increasingly negative and hostile environment on our forums.
And so, I asked our forum moderators to be on the lookout for these kinds of threads, and once discovered, to move them to that special place where we store... well, those special threads.
However, not every "I'm Leaving" thread is a bad one- I just spent some time looking over the thread you are discussing here, and it appears very reasonable with some thoughtful insight.
We are going to make an extra effort to discern between reasonable departure discussions, and those incendiary threads where folks are simply looking to draw some blood.
In the meantime, please also understand that Danicia isn't the only moderator here on the PotBS forums. I've noticed some misplaced ire of late, but Dani is far too much of a professional to engage in a debate or correct people's misconceptions on how forum moderation works. That's a tough spot to be in, but our forum moderators knew that coming in.
The bottom line is this: At the end of the day, the buck stops with me. If you don't agree with a policy or the way something was handled, don't take it out on our fantastic forum team. They are just doing as they have been asked- a damn fine job of it, if you don't mind my saying so.
So there you have it, if you really feel the need to kick someone in their soft-parts, aim for mine. Or, better yet, you can accept our combined apology and re-engage with the interrupted thread, already in progress: Thanks for all the fish
Either way, I'm wearing a cup.
Best,
Aether
http://www.burningsea.com/forums/showpost.php?p=188916&postcount=19
Interesting huh?
EDIT: And while on that subject I stumbled on this Forum Moderating 101 ROTFL.
Maybe it could help some of the Moderators here? *Runs*
Nothing says irony like spelling ideot wrong.
I remember Brad McQuade saying something similiar in the weeks leading up to the parking lot fiasco. So, lets just cut to the chase this time...When does SOE acquire PoTBS?
I remember Brad McQuade saying something similiar in the weeks leading up to the parking lot fiasco. So, lets just cut to the chase this time...When does SOE acquire PoTBS?
shhhhhhh, soe has nothing to do with potbs.
could we please get correspondent writers and moderators, on the eve forum at mmorpg.com, who are well-versed on eve-online and aren't just passersby pushing buttons? pretty please?
It's getting silly. now. I've never seen so many "I'm leaving" posts in a game's forums before. Mostly, I think people writing that kind of post are just attention seekers but in this case, it's clear that there are a huge number of players that feel let down by the misleading description of the game's key elements in advertising and the description on the retail box.
I've played lots of mmorpg's and I expect flaming and trolling posts to be locked but I've never seen whole threads removed for being critical of a game before. I'd guess half of all the threads (edit: In general discussion) are being removed for that reason at the moment. Unbelievable! Why don't they just fix the issues instead?
Some of the people posting here use the same forum names as in the PotBS ones. I know they understand what I'm saying.