[Meta discussion] Shouldn't the forums become the official source of all game news?

[ShinigamiKenji.9354]

Recently, ArenaNet moved from Twitter to the official forums as their main channel for live service and game issues. At the same time, the only official source for news on Four Winds next week is Twitter. Thus, we currently need to check two different main sources for all game news (at least officially). Or course, both can be updated simultaneously, but in my opinion one should be prioritized as their main channnel to avoid confusion. 

Shouldn't one or the other become the main source of all news and announcements? And if not, why? 

(I haven't found any section about meta discussions about the forums, so I guess this would be the next best place)

 

[Dante.1508]

It should have been official source of all game news from release..

I really don't get this Developer obsession with social media platforms.. Hell i don't even have a twitter account so i can't even view official news of Guildwars 2.. Twitter forces you to make an account now even to view it.

[Zephire.8049]

3 minutes ago, Dante.1508 said:

Twitter forces you to make an account now even to view it.

That was changed after it proved to be utterly unpopular (so probably meant advertisers complained non-users wouldn't see their tweets).

But agreed. I understand advertising on different platforms to get more eyes on something but there should still be a central hub and people who use your official site shouldn't be among the last to learn of the news. Also with sites like Twitter and Facebook, Anet doesn't own or operate them so if those sites decide to limit who sees what or the site goes down entirely, Anet has no control and that's a primary communication avenue that got nuked with no warning.

[Dante.1508]

30 minutes ago, Zephire.8049 said:

That was changed after it proved to be utterly unpopular (so probably meant advertisers complained non-users wouldn't see their tweets).

But agreed. I understand advertising on different platforms to get more eyes on something but there should still be a central hub and people who use your official site shouldn't be among the last to learn of the news. Also with sites like Twitter and Facebook, Anet doesn't own or operate them so if those sites decide to limit who sees what or the site goes down entirely, Anet has no control and that's a primary communication avenue that got nuked with no warning.

As a non twitter customer i still cannot see twitter to this day. I'd show you what i see but these forums wont allow uploading images.

 

Basically you just get the twitter login screen no matter what the links sent you too.

Edited July 15, 2023 by Dante.1508

[Fueki.4753]

As far as I am concerned, Twitter-only news are no news at all.

And no, the Twitter plug-in, that a number of players have blocked, does not count as the information being on the forums.

Edited July 15, 2023 by Fueki.4753

[Killthehealersffs.8940]

Well the majority of the WoW fanbase gather around a 3rd-party site called MMO-Champion and LoL shuts down their own official site a while back .

Maybe they understand too . that forums are where people bicker or say things like "we don't need new Races or Housing and they should spent the resources everywhere" .

Spoiler

Thankfully Reddit , has a "mind of own now" and we cannot speak for  what is best for them . (ofc if you trust me and we can have OW pvp , i wouldnt say no 😛)

 

Edited July 15, 2023 by Killthehealersffs.8940

[Kozumi.5816]

13 hours ago, ShinigamiKenji.9354 said:

Recently, ArenaNet moved from Twitter to the official forums as their main channel for live service and game issues

Every game company does this now. Why? Who knows.

Don't forget to log in to an unofficial 3rd party site to get news on your current game!

Edited July 15, 2023 by Kozumi.5816

[Omega.6801]

Yes it should.
It never was, so I doubt things will change.

[IndigoSundown.5419]

Since release, the "official" GW2 forum has been more of an, "I guess we have to have this platform." than a, "The official forums are the place to go for info on the game from ANet."

I've seen other game companies with a similar approach, but they at least consistently put notices such as, "DEV X talks about GAME Z on Reddit!" <link>

I could live with the latter.

[Dante.1508]

6 hours ago, IndigoSundown.5419 said:

Since release, the "official" GW2 forum has been more of an, "I guess we have to have this platform." than a, "The official forums are the place to go for info on the game from ANet."

I've seen other game companies with a similar approach, but they at least consistently put notices such as, "DEV X talks about GAME Z on Reddit!" <link>

I could live with the latter.

Here it means they might have to interact with us.. and they don't like being with the unwashed masses.. Twitter they can avoid their "fans"

[anninke.7469]

2 hours ago, Dante.1508 said:

Here it means they might have to interact with us.. and they don't like being with the unwashed masses.. Twitter they can avoid their "fans"

They can do that just fine here - the dev posts in News subforum are usually locked for comments anyway.

[Zephire.8049]

On 7/14/2023 at 7:14 PM, Dante.1508 said:

As a non twitter customer i still cannot see twitter to this day. I'd show you what i see but these forums wont allow uploading images.

 

Basically you just get the twitter login screen no matter what the links sent you too.

Looks like they changed it yet again. If you have a direct link to a tweet, you can see it without an account (tested on multiple browsers and incognito), but you can't view profiles unless you have an account.

All the more reason to use the official forums and website for communication rather than use social media as the primary form of communication, especially these days. Assuming they want to build the habit of having customers going to the main site where they'll also things like merch and sales, and making developers seem more accessible. Setting up a locked forum where only developers can post and use that as a Twitter substitute for things like server issues should have been done years ago, if only because not everyone uses/can use Twitter or thinks to check there when the official site says nothing. Keep the news & announcements forum for larger, structured posts but have another one for things like "We're aware that WvW servers are having issues" or "Trait has been disabled due to a bug and will be reenabled when it's fixed".

[Mistwraithe.3106]

I totally agree, all announcements should be here or on the gw2 news page of the arena net  website 

[HnRkLnXqZ.1870]

Disclaimer: Everything below is my OPINION.

The recent changes to the platform Twitter caught them off guard. They are vulnerable there and depending on Mr. Musks unpredictable nature, they can face actual repressions. So they were looking for alternatives and re-discovered this board. They still do not consider us any more credible or reliable than before, but it is a safe haven where only their rules apply.

You can see it like a balance. On the left side there is Twitter, good news, direct communication with the fans, shiny pictures and so much love. And on the forums all the negative stuff was concentrated: bug/exploit/cheat-report, rants, complaints, 'constructive' criticism regarding their development process, player to player discussion and last but not least patch-notes with bad news. Twitter was used for advertisement, while the board was used as a storage-box for stuff that does not belong to twitter.

I guess, if they really focus more on the board, they will lock certain sections from public viewers. And moderation may get even more restrictive. The board in its current form is not capable of replacing Twitter. Would that harm us?

Yes. The amount of readers is significantly higher than the amount of active posters on the forums. That is the case with the whole internet by the way. The forums already have a wide audience. Whenever you search something GW2 related, you will get entries from forum posts. That means a lot of people read our stuff. If parts of the forums would be locked, that audience would be gone. The problem is not for us, but for ANet. All the helpful stuff we post here attracts and binds new players = customers. Not talking about the doomcryers predicting the end of GW2 since 2012 or the hundreds of rants why the developers are completely incompetent. But big parts of the 'Players helping Players' forums, certain posts in the class boards and the General Discussion board are considered helpful. These help selling the game. 

So locking certain parts should not be considered an option. I'm curious how they are going to proceed. 

[Ashantara.8731]

On 7/15/2023 at 3:09 AM, ShinigamiKenji.9354 said:

At the same time, the only official source for news on Four Winds next week is Twitter.

Thanks for the heads-up! 😃 On the 18th indeed.

Edited July 16, 2023 by Ashantara.8731

[Hashberry.4510]

I have heard that no news is good news.

[Tachenon.5270]

The obvious answer is . . . Aerial Advertising! They could get their own blimp -- Like the Goodyear blimp! 'Cept this would be the Anet blimp and it would look more or less like a Pact Fleet Airship -- and fly it over select locations, spreading whatever news they want to spread far and wide across the countryside. Or, if that would take too much time and resources away from, ah, balancing the game or whatever, they could maybe rent a fleet of banner planes whenever there's a big announcement to make. That would be cool, too. And probably more economical. Anyway, better than Twitter or Facebook or, what's that new Meta thing? Uh... Threads!

Say! Too bad they ended the dragons. What better defense is there against Threads?

[kharmin.7683]

Why is this a "Meta Discussion"?  What does that even mean?

[Omega.6801]

1 hour ago, Tachenon.5270 said:

The obvious answer is . . . Aerial Advertising! They could get their own blimp -- Like the Goodyear blimp! 'Cept this would be the Anet blimp and it would look more or less like a Pact Fleet Airship -- and fly it over select locations, spreading whatever news they want to spread far and wide across the countryside. Or, if that would take too much time and resources away from, ah, balancing the game or whatever, they could maybe rent a fleet of banner planes whenever there's a big announcement to make. That would be cool, too. And probably more economical. Anyway, better than Twitter or Facebook or, what's that new Meta thing? Uh... Threads!

Say! Too bad they ended the dragons. What better defense is there against Threads?

They could return to the good old days and hire taxis to spread the news. 😉

As an alternative, ANet could hire  people, put them into costumes, give them a bell and let them go "HEAR YE, HEAR YE! IT HAS BEEN ANNOUNCED..."