Do devs read these forums?

[cap23]

Devs do read the forums, some not many in fact. I'm ex game biz dev for 10 years and left the biz because of this very reason that a team will bust itself making a game for 1 maybe 2 years, sometimes all hours on top only for publisher to release it too early for a quick buck on quaterly budgets. Sadly anyone who says 'hey you can't release this yet it's not done yet' gets fired. There's nothing worse than picking up the pieces of a dev team who get shafted this way. Execs who 'don't play' call the shots and they just don't get it, or give a heck. It's sad though, especially with a quality 4th gen game like this. Same thing has happened with Mark of Chaos too.

[MSB]

Yes, but only Captain Fishpants seems to post here at the moment.

[Monarch]

Devs do read the forums, some not many in fact. I'm ex game biz dev for 10 years and left the biz because of this very reason that a team will bust itself making a game for 1 maybe 2 years, sometimes all hours on top only for publisher to release it too early for a quick buck on quaterly budgets. Sadly anyone who says 'hey you can't release this yet it's not done yet' gets fired. There's nothing worse than picking up the pieces of a dev team who get shafted this way. Execs who 'don't play' call the shots and they just don't get it, or give a heck. It's sad though, especially with a quality 4th gen game like this. Same thing has happened with Mark of Chaos too.

Whats a biz?

[Lusted]

Business.

CA do read all the fan forums, i met the guy who does at the Gold Code day event.

[Veresov]

Business.

CA do read all the fan forums, i met the guy who does at the Gold Code day event.

No one from CA is regularly active in the forums here. If they read them then what is the logic in them not posting?

[Kraggenmor]

No one from CA is regularly active in the forums here. If they read them then what is the logic in them not posting?

Think of it as sending spies into a region. They're there to collect information.

[Darkmoor_Dragon]

No one from CA is regularly active in the forums here. If they read them then what is the logic in them not posting?

Simple: It is pretty impossible for any of them to represent CA as an individual (it's not their job to) - but any reply by them WOULD be treated as a reply from CA, not an individual.

SO the safest and best policy is always to read but not comment unless given express permission on a specific subject and having cleared that through the very top levels.

(Unless the company has a specific job position to post on forums, such as a "online community relations manager". Generally you don't see too many of those outside of online games though.)

[Veresov]

Simple: It is pretty impossible for any of them to represent CA as an individual (it's not their job to) - but any reply by them WOULD be treated as a reply from CA, not an individual.

SO the safest and best policy is always to read but not comment unless given express permission on a specific subject and having cleared that through the very top levels.

(Unless the company has a specific job position to post on forums, such as a "online community relations manager". Generally you don't see too many of those outside of online games though.)

What you are saying is that it is unlikely that anyone from CA is actually reading anything on here on a regular basis.

I would think for example that CA would be interested in asking some questions about some of the bugs people are seeing or asking for some more information.

[Darkmoor_Dragon]

What you are saying is that it is unlikely that anyone from CA is actually reading anything on here on a regular basis.

I would think for example that CA would be interested in asking some questions about some of the bugs people are seeing or asking for some more information.

They'll have plenty of folks reading them, certainly: either on work time or off - you just wont see many responding.

They only need to chase down obscure bugs they cannot reproduce themselves, anything that can be reproduced doesn't need commenting on. And often such "research" can be conducted through the forum owner or Mods rather than direct via a thread (such as a request for bug information gathering into a concise thread)

Or sometimes clarification of something that is WAD and isn't a bug but is heavily perceived to be a bug.

Most games companies have pretty strict policies on responding to forums (BBS/Groups etc) though and you can't blame them for either doing that or for the employees to sticking to the rules.

Plenty of instances where folks have lost their job by not following such guidelines: remember that very few employees in a company will be able to act on behalf of the entire company, which is what you are doing by replying to a post as a company employee (or at best what you are *perceived* as doing).

Read, sure, reply, mostly not.

[econ21]

No one from CA is regularly active in the forums here.

If you mean, they are not actively reading, then that is untrue. If I look at the members who are logged in, I usually see a CA name sometime during the day.

If they read them then what is the logic in them not posting?

Well, if you have read some of the frustrated opinions expressed by CA on this forum after posting or while posting, you might understand. Their posts would often spark a kind of "feeding frenzy" of posts in response. Our responses were usually friendly but typically rather demanding (we all have lots of questions and opinions), sometimes rude and on occasion making unwarranted inferences from what was said, potentially getting the CA poster into trouble.

I would liken it to a shy popstar (is there such a thing?) getting mobbed by a crowd of teenage girls. Only the mob are not very cute. Moreover, half want to rip out the popstar's hair. And the other half hate him and want to knee him in the groin.

To be honest, if I were a CA staffer, I would think twice before posting here. I would surf to get feedback, but spend the rest of my time doing work - not debating with strangers on the internet.

If we could all be a bit more cool about it when they post, we might entice more CA staffers to raise their heads over the parapet.

[Grifman]

No one from CA is regularly active in the forums here. If they read them then what is the logic in them not posting?

It takes less time to read than it does to post, Sherlock.

[AussieGiant]

Econ's right on the money guy's.

Would you post here if the roles were reversed?? Not likely.

[Whacker]

Econ's right on the money guy's.

Would you post here if the roles were reversed?? Not likely.

Of course not. There's something to be said for being able to offer criticism in a polite, professional manner without being a jerk, and people realizing that mobbing a CA person when posting with anything on their mind isn't going to help the situation. On the other hand, it needs to be noted that rampant buttkissing and that zomg-happy-like-that-ditzy-blonde-you-knew-in-high-school attitude that's enforced in official forums by deleting any post that doesn't fit that bill (in general) isn't conducive to discussion that may seem like complaining.

Someone else mentioned this earlier, I think one of the big reasons by far is that people would assume that a CA person posting "represents" their employer as a whole. Due to legal reasons and perceptions I doubt this will ever change. As such what we most often get are "community managers" who do nothing but interact with the public at large. I tend to dismiss these folks as without fail, they usually do not come across as down-to-earth humans, most often dismissing or downplaying big time complaints or issues that are legit, regardless of how they're stated, and generally portraying their employer as can-never-do-wrong. In other words, trying to "manage" the community, instead of interacting with it. Also, those types tend to not ever give any real or firm information on the game regarding things such as bugs, patches, etc. There's a quote that I'm reminded of but don't have it handy word for word, it goes something like "It's amazing how one can say so much, and really not say anything at all" I could give a few examples of these types through some other forums I know, both official and unofficial for other games, but it's pointless and not going to help this discussion at all.

Whatever the case, it'd still love to see some better interaction from CA, from the developers themselves. Yeah it's a given there are going to be the hordes of n00bs and types that do nothing but mob and complain, but there are enough of us out there who really do appreciate the games and the developers hard work, but do have some legitimate points of discussion that we'd love to engage them on, such as game mechanics, bug discussion, general shooting the crap, etc. Plus giving them some good natured and well intended hell builds character.

Cheers!

[Darkmoor_Dragon]

They read them... and weep.

With both Joy and Sadness no doubt.

[Lusted]

Mostly saddness im guessing judging by what i read over at the .com forums, and at toher fansites.

[Lord Condormanius]

I'm guessing biz=business.

[Quillan]

I don't know, Lusted. I think it's quite likely they largely ignore the .com site like I do. I can't stand that place. Too much whining by people who can't use their brains. In fact, the vast majority of the "official" forums for games I've liked are similar. I think that's as far as that crowd gets; they find a place to vent and stay there. The more serious fans gravitate beyond those.