Official: Forum Revamp

[Methais]

Aulis got right down to work and managed to get the revamp in place already! We still have to do some tidying up, as well as get some of the topics visible. Give us a day or so to get the final touches in place.


Wyrom, PM

This message was originally posted in Help for Players, Official Website, Wiki, and Forums. To discuss the above, follow the link below.

http://forums.play.net/forums/19/210/3361/view/1



http://forums.play.net/forums/GemStone%20IV/GemStone%20IV%20Announcements/Important%20Announcements/view/3161

[Astray]

I'm gonna laugh if they just get the ability to see topics now. Like a normal fucking forum but it reverts back to that shitty old format when you click a topic.

Oh God, I'd shit myself laughing.

[Taernath]

So, uh, what did they change?

DOES IT HAVE TAGGING?!?!

[Methais]

I think all they did was consolidate folders. Everything else seems to be the same old garbage forum so far.

[Astray]

I think all they did was consolidate folders. Everything else seems to be the same old garbage forum so far.

Wow.

[Taernath]

I hope they didn't get rid of that '9/11 check-in' folder.

[Methais]

I hope they didn't get rid of that '9/11 check-in' folder.

If they did, Al Qaeda wins.

[Maerit]

The forums were hard to navigate before, now it seems like all the previous posts are gone. What a mess.

[Wrathbringer]

Yeah I didn't notice anything different except that a lot of topics are missing now. He said they'd fix that, but what is actually different? I see nothing?

[Maerit]

Yeah I didn't notice anything different except that a lot of topics are missing now. He said they'd fix that, but what is actually different? I see nothing?

Category consolidation basically. There's maybe 1/3 of the categories still on the forums now.

[Wrathbringer]

Category consolidation basically. There's maybe 1/3 of the categories still on the forums now.

Not impressed.

[Donquix]

it doesn't even seem like that many less topics. they just added another top layer of categorization? Great use of time guys.

https://i.imgur.com/xdEGj4d.jpg

[khorpulent]

Right now it just looks like they deleted all historical posts so that nobody can see what a lousy job they do with development and customer feedback. The only conclusion I can draw is that Alastir is now the moderator over there.

[gilchristr]

Forum consolidation would have been good back in AOL days. At $3.50 an hour, you needed to be careful.

[Taernath]

Some extra insight as to why the officials are so shitty:


>>I hope the forum revamp doesn't entail losing history of old messages. The loss of thousands of ideas (good or bad) and questions (answered or otherwise) and great stories posted by players would be tragic.

All those posts are still there. Nothing was "deleted", per say. Just out of view without having a certain account access.

On that note, or at least very related to it, there's a hard-coded part of the forum software where messages already "decay" after X amount of time and are no longer view-able by customers. This decay timer used to be changeable for each category/topic, and then there was an update--that was quite a few years ago--where it was no longer possible to change it from the default. It's actually been so long ago that I forget what the default timer was; my best guess is ~900 days.

So even if the forums hadn't gone through a revamp, eventually there would have been a time where messages would have decayed and been lost from view. This is why we've always tried to recommend saving messages to other areas, such as the wiki.

One of the major concerns that sparked the need for a forum revamp was already complaints/concerns from brand new, returning, or current players that information wasn't easily found on the forums in its previous state. Too much time was spent, and frustration generated, from having to wade through thousands of posts to find useful information in a timely manner.


~Aulis
Platinum Co-Guru
Forums Manager
QC'er

Once messages hit the ~2.5 year mark, they're hidden and even the GMs can't figure out how to stop it. What an absolute joke.

[Viekn]

Once messages hit the ~2.5 year mark, they're hidden and even the GMs can't figure out how to stop it. What an absolute joke.

I get they've got their own issues with how big a deal it would be for them to have to change the officials because of legacy systems they're tied to, but at this point they probably need to consider taking that project on, no matter how big a headache it is for them. You can say what you want about development, but the official forums are an embarrassment. I get the game is from the late 80's, it doesn't mean your forums should still be.

[Gelston]

They should just update to newer software. They won't because it is so important that it interfaces with billing for some reason.

[Taernath]

They should just update to newer software. They won't because it is so important that it interfaces with billing for some reason.

It's about control, and I get it. If someone has a meltdown and violates TOS by, say, impersonating people and calling everyone a cunt, you want to be able to handle that guy at the source. Or if someone has a billing issue the GM can just glance at their username and know know which account to look up.

There HAS to be a way to have that control and use a new/updated system that has basic forum features. Use vBulletin and make people register with play.net addresses, I dunno. Fuck.

[Gelston]

It's about control, and I get it. If someone has a meltdown and violates TOS by, say, impersonating people and calling everyone a cunt, you want to be able to handle that guy at the source. Or if someone has a billing issue the GM can just glance at their username and know know which account to look up.

There HAS to be a way to have that control and use a new/updated system that has basic forum features. Use vBulletin and make people register with play.net addresses, I dunno. Fuck.

I mean, ESO manages it just fine. I imagine they aren't spending millions of dollars on their forums. Simu is just being super, duper cheap.

[Mikalmas]

This just doesn't make sense or add up. I was on the Simutronics folder last week (one I never read), and there were still readable posts from as far back as 2001 on there. I read a bunch of them. So yeah, that excuse just doesn't fly.

[Methais]

Simu taking scrubbing lessons from pk

[Taernath]

This just doesn't make sense or add up. I was on the Simutronics folder last week (one I never read), and there were still readable posts from as far back as 2001 on there. I read a bunch of them. So yeah, that excuse just doesn't fly.

Good catch. That folder with the 9/11 Bloodwrath hoax is still there. Had a great time reading it over again.

Here's an article about it that Elonka saved:

http://elonka.com/mirrors/CFT/coverstory.html


If ever someone personified Winston Churchill's famous phrase, "a riddle wrapped in a mystery inside an enigma", it must be David Dunn, the 28-year-old North Olmsted waiter who perpetrated what may be the most baffling hoax to emerge from the rubble of September 11. Even now, several months after he first fooled Cleveland's daily newspaper and garnered worldwide attention, no one, perhaps not even he, can say for sure where the truth ends and the lies begin. His story has more skins than an onion and has produced just as many false tears.

...

The success of Simutronics is due in no small part to the rabidity of its fan base. It's not uncommon for players to spend eight hours online in a given day, the amount of time most of us devote to a full-time job. During "quests" that cost extra money, players go on 20-hour-a-day online binges. Although it's not the norm, wives have called Simutronics to beg the company to suspend their husbands' accounts. Neil Harris, an executive vice-president at Simutronics, is unapologetic.

"Well, you know, they could be smoking crack," he says. "We're certainly offering something a whole lot healthier."

...

During a recent cross-country jaunt, Jester and Dipali visited Elonka and the Simutronics gang and went with them to see the opening of Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone. While waiting in the winding line, they happened to end up in the vicinity of David Whatley, CEO of Simutronics and co-creator of Gemstone III. Jester and Dipali are avid fans of the game and decided to express their gratitude to its creator. Jester tapped Whatley on the shoulder.

"You ruined our lives, you know," Jester said.

Jester recalls that Whatley chuckled and said, "Glad to hear it."

This fucking article man.

[AnOrdim]

My meltdown is gone along with the other feedback areas.

Welp

[Fortybox]

My meltdown is gone along with the other feedback areas.

Welp

Hopefully you got help.

[Tgo01]

This just doesn't make sense or add up. I was on the Simutronics folder last week (one I never read), and there were still readable posts from as far back as 2001 on there. I read a bunch of them. So yeah, that excuse just doesn't fly.

She did say it was changeable at one point and after an update it was set to default. It's possible this decay timer isn't retroactive so if the timer was set to 20 years when a post was made then it's safe for 20 years but all posts since it was set to the default are hidden after 900 days.

That's my best guess anyways.

[Riltus]

The problem is ubiquitous.


http://forums.play.net/forums/CyberStrike%202/Welcome%20to%20CyberStrike%202/Welcome/view/5

Re: Welcome on 12/08/1998 04:42 PM EST

There are so many folders that people get lost and leave without posting:-)

Nick

Mark

[caelric]

This is just sad.

[AnOrdim]

Hopefully you got help.

I knew you cared. :3


This sounds like an attempt to cover up past embarassing Simu moments under the guise of a “forum improvement”. Forgive me if I’m stating the obvious.
The current PM would NEVER do anything like that...

[Fortybox]

This sounds like an attempt to cover up past embarassing Simu moments under the guise of a “forum improvement”. Forgive me if I’m stating the obvious.

I couldn't immediately find the discussions with Simu folder anymore.

Guess Wyrom is trying to hide consumer complaints.

[IorakeWarhammer]

Some extra insight as to why the officials are so shitty:



Once messages hit the ~2.5 year mark, they're hidden and even the GMs can't figure out how to stop it. What an absolute joke.

Can you imagine if we had that here? all of my legacy would be ruined.

[Methais]

Can you imagine if we had that here? all of my legacy would be ruined.

Your legacy is “I pretended to be a Muslim for a while” and literally nothing else.

[Donquix]

Your legacy is “I pretended to be a Muslim for a while” and literally nothing else.

aforum as i like-uh make em'

[Tisket]

Can you imagine if we had that here? all of my legacy would be ruined.

I only remember you as tangentially involved in the Marlu takedown. The rest is vague at best. Sorry, man.