Can we get Gaile Gray back please?

[Linken.6345]

@Blude.6812 said:

@Inculpatus cedo.9234 said:

@Blude.6812 said:

@Mortifera.6138 said:No, that would be too much moderation.

She wasn't a 'moderator'

She certainly was.

In fact, the 'grand poobah' of Moderators.

I meant one of the faceless and nameless ones that I really can't speak about because of TOS and infraction policy. Gail was never one of those IMHO

How would we know she could have had a facless account aswell.

[Inculpatus cedo.9234]

@Blude.6812 said:

@Inculpatus cedo.9234 said:

@Blude.6812 said:

@Mortifera.6138 said:No, that would be too much moderation.

She wasn't a 'moderator'

She certainly was.

In fact, the 'grand poobah' of Moderators.

I meant one of the faceless and nameless ones that I really can't speak about because of TOS and infraction policy. Gail was never one of those IMHO

As did I.

[kharmin.7683]

I think many of us would be thrilled with any Forums Liaison/Community Manager that would actually engage with us.

[Inculpatus cedo.9234]

@HnRkLnXqZ.1870 said:Same as @"Blood Red Arachnid.2493", my experiences with her were not very good. But I will not stomp on her work, she did a good job. Every human has their own edges and preferences. You cannot be friends with everyone on the planet.

I do miss one certain point however. Before she left, she created and started to fill the Guild Wars 2 and Forum Policies. This was probably one of the most annoying, tedious and also dangerous tasks on the forums. I totally understand that no one dared to continue this section. But if it was completed, it would have saved us (and them) a lot of trouble. It is not useless, the topics she managed to write are a huge help.

A staff-member I really miss is Mr. Cleary. He engaged in the difficult and heated discussions, listened to our problems and answered the most important questions.

Is not everything covered in https://www.guildwars2.com/en/legal/the-forums-code-of-conduct/Guild Wars 2 Official Forums: Code of Conduct (“Forums Code of Conduct”)?

I, too, miss Chris Cleary, Chris Whiteside and Michael Henninger...among others.

[Inculpatus cedo.9234]

@Linken.6345 said:

@Blude.6812 said:

@Inculpatus cedo.9234 said:

@Blude.6812 said:

@Mortifera.6138 said:No, that would be too much moderation.

She wasn't a 'moderator'

She certainly was.

In fact, the 'grand poobah' of Moderators.

I meant one of the faceless and nameless ones that I really can't speak about because of TOS and infraction policy. Gail was never one of those IMHO

How would we know she could have had a facless account aswell.

She did.

[Blude.6812]

@Linken.6345 said:

@Blude.6812 said:

@Inculpatus cedo.9234 said:

@Blude.6812 said:

@Mortifera.6138 said:No, that would be too much moderation.

She wasn't a 'moderator'

She certainly was.

In fact, the 'grand poobah' of Moderators.

I meant one of the faceless and nameless ones that I really can't speak about because of TOS and infraction policy. Gail was never one of those IMHO

How would we know she could have had a facless account aswell.

Not really because you could interact with her and she would actually post and engage in the forums(and in the game as well with an ANET tag on), something that those with the infraction powers wouldn't do (or were prohibited from doing).

[Strider Pj.2193]

@kharmin.7683 said:I think many of us would be thrilled with any Forums Liaison/Community Manager that would actually engage with us.

^ This.

And to a small extent, I think that was what the OP wanted, though, historically Gaile was quite a part of the history of the game.

[AllNightPlayer.1286]

I support the idea. Our German community doesn’t have a “manager” or anyone at all since 2017. And it’s tiresome. I’m still surprised, that they didn’t close the German forum … except the one for translation errors.

[Ashen.2907]

@Blood Red Arachnid.2493 said:Guess I'm one of the few people who didn't like her that much. We'd butt heads on occasion, so I never really elevated her on a pedestal.

Agreed.

[SoftFootpaws.9134]

I've seen some concerning responses in this thread and other similar threads.

Players complain about lack of communication and then basically admit they harass devs and GMs whenever possible, so much that some leave their jobs and others won't post or use their real names anymore. Why blame it exclusively on ArenaNet?

They limit communication to professional venues because no one goes off on them there.

I was a game developer in the past, and software developer in general for many years, and communities are beyond toxic. And they lie alot, too. That's one of the reasons support cycles are so slow, because many players submit false information to begin with to make it appear they didn't do something wrong in a situation where they did, in order to try and trick support into helping them.

(Nearly all support requests are found to be invalid, but often get contested anyway.)

And that's just the tip of the iceberg, trust me. No one's going to be a community manager in this day and age. Most games don't even allow GMs anymore because players would try to cause drama with them constantly.

[Super Hayes.6890]

Toxic players do not negate the need for public relations. Yeah it can be unpleasant but that is why it is a paid position. Those of us in the service industry sympathize but you cannot just be absent without major business consequences. Give them scripted answers if you wanna do the minimum but get a dev on these forums more often please.

[Vancho.8750]

@"Super Hayes.6890" said:Toxic players do not negate the need for public relations. Yeah it can be unpleasant but that is why it is a paid position. Those of us in the service industry sympathize but you cannot just be absent without major business consequences. Give them scripted answers if you wanna do the minimum but get a dev on these forums more often please.Toxic players is exactly the reason they need Community manager, most of the shit shows could have been prevented by someone with communication skills. Also NCSOFT is searching for something like it but it seems they still don't know what the fuck they are doing. They are searching for Game Support Lead, that kinda sounds like COMUNITY MANAGER but not really.https://us.ncsoft.com/en-us/careers?sort=department#bellevueThey also don't have game director and marketing manager, so this ship is sailing without a captain, Community manager is the least of their problems ATM.

[Super Hayes.6890]

@Vancho.8750 said:

@"Super Hayes.6890" said:Toxic players do not negate the need for public relations. Yeah it can be unpleasant but that is why it is a paid position. Those of us in the service industry sympathize but you cannot just be absent without major business consequences. Give them scripted answers if you wanna do the minimum but get a dev on these forums more often please.Toxic players is exactly the reason they need Community manager, most of the kitten shows could have been prevented by someone with communication skills. Also NCSOFT is searching for something like it but it seems they still don't know what the kitten they are doing. They are searching for Game Support Lead, that kinda sounds like COMUNITY MANAGER but not really.

https://us.ncsoft.com/en-us/careers?sort=department#bellevue

They also don't have game director and marketing manager, so this ship is sailing without a captain, Community manager is the least of their problems ATM.

They should make offers to some of the people they let go.

[Inculpatus cedo.9234]

@Vancho.8750 said:

@"Super Hayes.6890" said:Toxic players do not negate the need for public relations. Yeah it can be unpleasant but that is why it is a paid position. Those of us in the service industry sympathize but you cannot just be absent without major business consequences. Give them scripted answers if you wanna do the minimum but get a dev on these forums more often please.Toxic players is exactly the reason they need Community manager, most of the kitten shows could have been prevented by someone with communication skills. Also NCSOFT is searching for something like it but it seems they still don't know what the kitten they are doing. They are searching for Game Support Lead, that kinda sounds like COMUNITY MANAGER but not really.

https://us.ncsoft.com/en-us/careers?sort=department#bellevue

They also don't have game director and marketing manager, so this ship is sailing without a captain, Community manager is the least of their problems ATM.

Game Support Lead is nothing like a Community Manager.

Ever since Michael Henniger left, years ago, no Support Team members ever post on the forums.

Also, Gaile Gray took offense when labeled part of the Support Team.

[Astralporing.1957]

@Super Hayes.6890 said:They should make offers to some of the people they let go.It's not like the communication was any better in the past. At some points it was probably even worse.

[knite.1542]

Do you think that anet cares about interacting with the community?

[NICENIKESHOE.7128]

Don't think ANet interaction on these forums ever had any meaningful outcomes.

Heck most of the time we see Gaile making more official notice is PR when there are some sort of controversies such as mount lootbox, GW2 suspected spyware, third party programme use etc etc

[HotDelirium.7984]

@Strider Pj.2193 said:

@kharmin.7683 said:I think many of us would be thrilled with any Forums Liaison/Community Manager that would actually engage with us.

^ This.

And to a small extent, I think that was what the OP wanted, though, historically Gaile was quite a part of the history of the game.

Communication is muy bueno! If you had a liaison taking our concerns directly to the ears of devs instead of hoping to god they read feedback in these forums, that'd be more efficient. Also, they could be the soundboard about how game service works and assuage any fears. Imagine an actual dev coming up in this piece and literally telling us to our face why pvp/wvw is underdeveloped/on standby. That would certainly have an effect on perceptions and nowadays perception is currency.

[Super Hayes.6890]

@Astralporing.1957 said:

@Super Hayes.6890 said:They should make offers to some of the people they let go.It's not like the communication was any better in the past. At some points it was probably even worse.

I just have memories about getting excited when I saw an Arenanet tag on a thread. I liked hearing from the humans that are part of the company. A thread I started years ago had three devs participate and we were talking about gaming with our children. I miss that side of the company! Thier absence is pretty loud right now.

[Astralporing.1957]

In a way, my memories are the exact opposite. When i was participating in some important thread and saw the Anet tag, i also always got excited (at least in the beginning...). But then what usually happened afterward is me looking at the Anet post, and realizing there's absolutely nothing relevant in there. With the most relevant ones being "this thread got merged" and "we think we saw enough of the feedback, so we're closing the thread". Eventually the excitement wore out. I realized, that all the interactions between Anet at the community were being done only at the most superficial level, and that they simply weren't interested in going any deeper than that.

The stuff you talk about also has a meaning, but only in addition to the real communication. Not as a substitute to it.

[Super Hayes.6890]

@"Astralporing.1957" said:In a way, my memories are the exact opposite. When i was participating in some important thread and saw the Anet tag, i also always got excited (at least in the beginning...). But then what usually happened afterward is me looking at the Anet post, and realizing there's absolutely nothing relevant in there. With the most relevant ones being "this thread got merged" and "we think we saw enough of the feedback, so we're closing the thread". Eventually the excitement wore out. I realized, that all the interactions between Anet at the community were being done only at the most superficial level, and that they simply weren't interested in going any deeper than that.

The stuff you talk about also has a meaning, but only in addition to the real communication. Not as a substitute to it.

True, none of my post was anything but a personal discussion about something relevant to me. Honestly I prefer that over communication about the game. When new content comes out I prefer to have some notice so the roadmaps are fine for me. What is not acceptable is the announcements with unrealistic promises. I'm looking at you Alliances threads. This is why I prefer realistic official announcements every now and then but so much more I want the devs just being people here.

[kharmin.7683]

I still think one reason for Anet not posting in the forums is the level/amount of negativity and criticism that comes with it. The Alliances announcement being one of those things that some forum posters just won't let go. It's easier for Anet to release something with a modicum of fanfare than to suggest/announce something that doesn't show and then get kittened on by the forums for it.

[Astralporing.1957]

@kharmin.7683 said:I still think one reason for Anet not posting in the forums is the level/amount of negativity and criticism that comes with it. The Alliances announcement being one of those things that some forum posters just won't let go.

Notice, that all this negativity always could be traced to one single point - people not getting enough information. Alliances is the same - sure, people are disappointed that it's still not there, but the real problem is that noone has any idea what is the progress on it, or even if anything is being done about it at all. When people are kept in the dark about stuff they deeply care about, they resent it. It makes them uncertain about the future, which causes fear of what this future might possibly bring. And this breeds negativity.

It's easier for Anet to release something with a modicum of fanfare than to suggest/announce something that doesn't show and then get kittened on by the forums for it.Easier? Sure. But then do you know what would be even easier? Just not release anything at all.Easier does not mean better.

[kharmin.7683]

Oh, I never meant that it would be better. Just easier.

[Zola.6197]

I liked her a lot. Sad she had to leave, especially if the incentive was for other people to keep their jobs over her own. How cruel. I hope she's moved on to better pastures. I'd love her back, but only if she wanted to return. Wouldn't blame her for going elsewhere.