Once more ow forums are ignored in favor of reddit

Well yeah. “Competitive” means esports, not ranked.

That’s no more absurd than excusing an entire forum’s behavior, as you are explicitly doing. You want to absolve them, I’m going to call that out as moral cowardice, because it is. Gamers being awful isn’t some niche opinion by hectoring puritans, it’s literally the most famous thing about gamers, across all demographics. The world doesn’t agree on much, but it certainly agrees gamers are awful, and you want to pretend that’s somehow justified by…game devs not talking to them? It’s so transparently false, it’s laughable.

Really do appreciate your comments on the forums AndyB!

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andy is our boy/girl.

protecc andy

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Well, the more standard feedback approach would be similar to the reddit post. I think there was one from the EU forums whether they had

    1. A questions post, where people are asked to share their questions for the devs.
    1. An answers post by the devs.

And there was probably a day or two between those posts.

Most of which would get shared back over to reddit anyways.

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A few thoughts on this

  • with rare exception, I don’t believe that any community is wholesale more or less toxic than any other community. People are people, and people have complicated personal experiences. Everyone has bad days.
  • Even communities as amazing as the Overwatch community go through difficult times. It’s 100% understandable that extended gaps in communication and engagement would manifest itself in ways that, on the surface, make it look like it’s a “toxic” space.
  • As the team for whom the forums is a valuable community resource, it’s on us to help foster the kind of environment that’s a value add for both players and developers alike.

Different CMs will approach it in different ways. Personally, I appreciate the fact that we’re able to have a straightforward conversation about forum sentiment, and that I’m able to provide additional context to my presence in the community.

I’m normally loathe to call attention to praise, however I think it’s important for you all to know that I see this and have been paying attention. I am confident that together we’re on a path to making the forums a better experience.

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I normally agree with you on things Venus but here I must disagree.

While what you are saying is accurate I don’t think it’s constructive to think that way.

It’s kind of like bringing up stuff from the past when you and your GF have already decided to give it another try.

I’d rather look forward to be honest and I hope the toxicity can be minimized but it is currently not a good environment.

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And that’s not what people are doing. Myself and Jesterskull frequently make threads about support Symmetra.

You spend so much time on here. You can’t hold others to the same standard as yourself. I’m here for casual discussion and entertainment…not as a part time job.

This is my last thread regarding Support Symmetra and arguing why she should be a support.

The type of unhelpful threads Andy has outlined are the ones you are trying to push.

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Oh and further on this, what if there were regular hero-specific posts?

lets say that every X time theres a post “letstalk about X hero”

and it rotates every X time

so lets say you are about to rework, i dont know, bastion,

so you make “letss talk about bastion!” where you explain the developers train of thought on the matter, and ask people to explain their veiwpoints, their suggestions and experiences on the character

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I think it’s important to know where you’ve been to get to where you’re going. It’s not about bringing up negative things to bring them up, but to address a problem in a space where we’re having an open and honest discussion so it can be noted and moved beyond.

I think knowing some of the negative sentiment has been from the forums feeling ignored is something that may be helpful for Blizz to know so that we can work on improving things together.

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I am not absolving anyone. I am just talking about a strategy for improving the tone of the forums in particular (not gamers in general) that I have seen work again and again.

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As someone who works directly with patients in a hospital setting, I feel like this is an excuse. Part of being a game developer (or any artist really), is dealing with outspoken and passionate fans.

If you or your team are not up for that, I have to wonder if you chose the wrong profession.

I wouldn’t go to my chief medical director and demand they protect me from upset patients. That’s part of my job.

If I wasn’t up for that, I wouldn’t have become a doctor.

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Ok - well there has been a post on this from AndyB sharing this responsibility, which I’m sure you’ve missed or you wouldn’t have brought it up.

I think it’s clear that Blizzard does need to take a share of the responsibility of the state of the community.

Just like unmoderated console matches for years has lead to it being a cesspit (but that’s another sad, sad topic).

I still think we can be better but I understand your point.

Yeah, just wanted to respond to my replies. I usually try to respond to anyone who replies me. I quite like his response and am glad to see this from Blizzard. :+1:

Yes but you don’t proactively set up Q&As online with patients you know are going to be insulting to you when you don’t have to as a doctor.

Just like Blizzard doesn’t choose to who buys its games and receives customer feedback I’m sure.

It’s not the same.

Noted.

But at the very least thing you could do is either Sticky this thread; or put up your own Sticky on this forum (and official website which is part of the company you work for) indicating there was an Reddit AMA and link it appropriately with a proper summary of information.

I get you have duties to perform. But notifying and delivering relevant information should be a priority. We really shouldn’t have to go scouring the internet to hear about relevant or new information posted elsewhere.

At the very least, you could put this information through the Battle.net launcher’s Overwatch page.

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Reddit has a downvote system where downvoted comments get hidden, while upvoted comments are put at the top.

That kind of system is great for AMA’s because not only are the most popular questioned brought to light, it also hides the unnecessary and extremely toxic comments.

As good of a feature it is… it obviously wouldn’t work well to implement that sort of feature on the forums due to how different of a community there is on here.

People regularly flag posts that they don’t like. People would just downvote anyone they disagree with. It would only intensify and further seperate the community, and it would actually only further increase toxicity because your feedback that might not be popular just gets hidden… and so you feel hopeless.

I don’t think AMA’s will ever work on the forums, and as easy as it is to point fingers and go “Wow they do AMA’s on Reddit but not their official forums?”… we can all expect how well a forum AMA would go…

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I don’t choose my patients.

If I’m seeing walk-in patients, and a patient walks in, I see them. Their care becomes my responsibility, regardless of how temperamental and belligerent they may be.

That’s part of my job.

Just like it’s part of their job to engage with the community.

Anytime you deal with other people, there are going to be jerks. If you don’t can’t handle that, you shouldn’t have a job that works with people.

Also, as a fun fact, I do telehealth with patients that I know have a track record of being jerks. So yes, I in fact do set up online Q&As with patients I know are going to be less than pleasant.

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This was exactly how it went down. I remember one of my most downvoted comments ever. Someone asked what color was our crosshair. And I said I liked pink. It wasn’t the most down voted but it was up there.

It works for Reddit though. An AMA is easier as a result

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I wish we had a downvote system, but at the same time I don’t…