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Forum Structure - Update & Feedback

  • Cherryblossom
    Cherryblossom
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    The best change you could make to the forum is more Developer interaction, there are too many situation on the Forum where discussions could only be answered by a Developer. But as these are not, it causes speculation and loss of trust in ZOS as a whole.
    It would appear that if we want to know what the Developers are thinking we need too go to Reddit or other forums to get the information!
  • Tandor
    Tandor
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    Any chance please that the Dev Tracker could be extended to include official posts made on independent forums like Reddit? I guess I already know the answer to that but it really grates that those forums get announcements and responses that are denied to those of your loyal customers who stick to the official forums.

    If it can't be done, then perhaps a part of the Community Staff's role could be to put up a weekly topic here summarising the posts that have been made by the company on other forums, as well as in the social media. It really shouldn't be necessary to hunt around for this stuff, it should appear here.
  • Elsonso
    Elsonso
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    I am not sure if this has been mentioned, yet. If so, consider it support for the original idea.

    1) Discussions should be ignored like Comments are ignored when started by someone on my ignore list. If I am not interested in reading the Comments they write, I am probably not interested in the Discussion and the Comments that follow it.

    2) Please put a "Started by" as well as a "Most recent by" in the list of discussions. It is nice to know who started a Discussion before opening it.

    3) Allow forum searches to be sorted by time. I am actually not sure what the sort order is now, but I would like to change it so that most recent search results appear first.
    PC NA/EU: @Elsonso
    XBox EU/NA: @ElsonsoJannus
    X/Twitter: ElsonsoJannus
  • ZOS_AlanG
    ZOS_AlanG
    admin
    2) Please put a "Started by" as well as a "Most recent by" in the list of discussions. It is nice to know who started a Discussion before opening it.
    The upcoming forum overhaul has a more traditional layout, and includes an "author" column for threads in addition to columns for replies, views, and the most recent person to respond.
    3) Allow forum searches to be sorted by time. I am actually not sure what the sort order is now, but I would like to change it so that most recent search results appear first.
    While searches cannot be set chronologically, it is possible to search within a specific time frame.

    To do this, start by searching for your term. You'll be brought to the search page, and there is now a gray arrow on the search bar. Clicking this toggles open the advanced search options.

    The last option is to search within a specific time frame. You'll need to set a date and the amount of time to look at (both before and after).
    1) Discussions should be ignored like Comments are ignored when started by someone on my ignore list. If I am not interested in reading the Comments they write, I am probably not interested in the Discussion and the Comments that follow it.
    This isn't currently possible with the ignore feature, but it's feedback we've passed along.
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  • Maverick827
    Maverick827
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    I'm not sure what has and has not been proposed/confirmed, but the Guild Recruitment forum really needs to be broken up. Right now it is very difficult to filter recruitment threads for your server/faction. I don't believe breaking them up by PvE/RP/PvP is more important than breaking them up by server/faction.

    There should be a forum for NA and a forum for EU. Inside those, there should be a forum for AD/EP/DC.

    PvE/RP/PvP are fine as being part of the thread title because most guilds don't really differentiate anyway.

    Ideally there would b a tag/filter system, but that feels like it would be a major overhaul.
  • AlexDougherty
    AlexDougherty
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    I'm not sure what has and has not been proposed/confirmed, but the Guild Recruitment forum really needs to be broken up. Right now it is very difficult to filter recruitment threads for your server/faction. I don't believe breaking them up by PvE/RP/PvP is more important than breaking them up by server/faction.

    There should be a forum for NA and a forum for EU. Inside those, there should be a forum for AD/EP/DC.

    PvE/RP/PvP are fine as being part of the thread title because most guilds don't really differentiate anyway.

    Ideally there would b a tag/filter system, but that feels like it would be a major overhaul.

    I agree that dividing Guild forum by server is vital.

    But there are guilds that are multifaction, so I'm not sure that faction is an important division.
    People believe what they either want to be true or what they are afraid is true!
    Wizard's first rule
    Passion rules reason
    Wizard's third rule
    Mind what people Do, not what they say, for actions betray a lie.
    Wizard's fifth rule
    Willfully turning aside from the truth is treason to one's self
    Wizard's tenth rule
  • ZOS_AlanG
    ZOS_AlanG
    admin
    I'm not sure what has and has not been proposed/confirmed, but the Guild Recruitment forum really needs to be broken up. Right now it is very difficult to filter recruitment threads for your server/faction. I don't believe breaking them up by PvE/RP/PvP is more important than breaking them up by server/faction.

    There should be a forum for NA and a forum for EU. Inside those, there should be a forum for AD/EP/DC.

    PvE/RP/PvP are fine as being part of the thread title because most guilds don't really differentiate anyway.

    Ideally there would b a tag/filter system, but that feels like it would be a major overhaul.
    The guild section is intended to be temporary, and a replacement to better support guild and guild searches is being worked on.

    A tagging system would be very useful, and not just for guilds, but for all sorts of discussions. This is something we may look at after the overhaul.
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  • AlexDougherty
    AlexDougherty
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    It appears that posting into a Question thread automatically registers it as answered.

    I personally think it should be down to the OP to decide if the post is an appropriate answer.
    People believe what they either want to be true or what they are afraid is true!
    Wizard's first rule
    Passion rules reason
    Wizard's third rule
    Mind what people Do, not what they say, for actions betray a lie.
    Wizard's fifth rule
    Willfully turning aside from the truth is treason to one's self
    Wizard's tenth rule
  • arena25
    arena25
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    One thing...I really want an Off Topic section of the forum.

    Now, I totally get it, that means people will discuss whatever they want, and it could lead to flame wars, but eventually, with careful moderation, people will learn how to behave in an Off Topic section.

    Why do I request an Off Topic section? Here's why. 2 months ago, I was on my high school's website, taking a look through past issues of the school's newspaper when I saw an article that was titled "Pranks done by Google and Pranks You can Try yourself." The article was made 5 days prior to April Fools Day. I enjoyed the article so much, I started a thread the next day that was titled "Best Prank You've Ever Done on Someone?" with 2 goals:

    1: Generate a lot of laughs.
    2: Comic relief (Cyrodiil was generating a lot of complaints and QQs on forums at the time because of lag and crashes, so I was trying to relieve some of that tension from upset players).

    It accomplished both goals, but sadly, ZoS mods had to close it because it did not relate to ESO.

    However, what I think could happen is create an Off Topic where people could ask questions like "What is your favorite music?" or "What did you think of X piece of news?" Because not everything in the world can relate to ESO, and I know that there are some of us forum posters who have feelings they want to share about the world in general, but can't because...well, it's not related.

    That's my feedback.

    Signed,

    arena25
    If you can't handle the heat...stay out of the kitchen!
  • Voodoo
    Voodoo
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    I would like to see LOL flag go. It has turned into a bastardized version of dislike/disagree and it needs to be replaced with either of those words (or something similar) or just be taken out completely. Keep the positive flags if you must.

    I dont always want to write a small essay on why I disagree tho. so it would be nice to have some sort of positive "I object" button response at the bottom.

    Hey why not "I Object"!
  • AlexDougherty
    AlexDougherty
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    Voodoo wrote: »
    I would like to see LOL flag go. It has turned into a bastardized version of dislike/disagree and it needs to be replaced with either of those words (or something similar) or just be taken out completely. Keep the positive flags if you must.

    I dont always want to write a small essay on why I disagree tho. so it would be nice to have some sort of positive "I object" button response at the bottom.

    Hey why not "I Object"!

    Why not "I Object"!?, because it can only be used to troll that's why not. If you object or disagree then quote the person and say what you object to, that way if they want to they can address your objections.

    Otherwise all they will get is 20 people clicking I object but not being bothered to say what. This is why the Disagree was removed in the first place.
    People believe what they either want to be true or what they are afraid is true!
    Wizard's first rule
    Passion rules reason
    Wizard's third rule
    Mind what people Do, not what they say, for actions betray a lie.
    Wizard's fifth rule
    Willfully turning aside from the truth is treason to one's self
    Wizard's tenth rule
  • kewl
    kewl
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    Please don't add a button to indicate negative (dislike, down vote, etc.)
  • AlexDougherty
    AlexDougherty
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    Just a sugestion here, but how about not making the page jump when you delete a draft.

    I sometimes write out a reply or three, only to think better of it before I post, and scrolling down when there are three stickies at the top is irksome. I know I could just delete the stickies, but they have info on them and you never know when you might want to copy that into a post (some people don't read them, then complain nobody told them).
    People believe what they either want to be true or what they are afraid is true!
    Wizard's first rule
    Passion rules reason
    Wizard's third rule
    Mind what people Do, not what they say, for actions betray a lie.
    Wizard's fifth rule
    Willfully turning aside from the truth is treason to one's self
    Wizard's tenth rule
  • glak
    glak
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    kewl wrote: »
    Please don't add a button to indicate negative (dislike, down vote, etc.)
    Agreed, LOL already has this function.
  • AlexDougherty
    AlexDougherty
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    glak wrote: »
    kewl wrote: »
    Please don't add a button to indicate negative (dislike, down vote, etc.)
    Agreed, LOL already has this function.

    No! it doesn't!!

    You might use it in that manner but a small but dedicated core of us refuse to do so, to us it merely means the person has been funny.

    But there is no need for a negative vote (dislike, down vote, etc), it merely promotes antisocial behaviour. If you disagree with something someone says, then it is basic manners to explain why you disagree with them. If you disagree with this them please say why!, I promise to respect your opinion.
    Edited by AlexDougherty on October 24, 2014 3:24PM
    People believe what they either want to be true or what they are afraid is true!
    Wizard's first rule
    Passion rules reason
    Wizard's third rule
    Mind what people Do, not what they say, for actions betray a lie.
    Wizard's fifth rule
    Willfully turning aside from the truth is treason to one's self
    Wizard's tenth rule
  • Elsonso
    Elsonso
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    glak wrote: »
    kewl wrote: »
    Please don't add a button to indicate negative (dislike, down vote, etc.)
    Agreed, LOL already has this function.

    No! it doesn't!!

    You might use it in that manner but a small but dedicated core of us refuse to do so, to us it merely means the person has been funny.

    But there is no need for a negative vote (dislike, down vote, etc), it merely promotes antisocial behaviour. If you disagree with something someone says, then it is basic manners to explain why you disagree with them. If you disagree with this them please say why!, I promise to respect your opinion.

    Must. Resist. Urge. To. Press. LOL.
    PC NA/EU: @Elsonso
    XBox EU/NA: @ElsonsoJannus
    X/Twitter: ElsonsoJannus
  • Voodoo
    Voodoo
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    a poll on this forum last i checked has was 50/50 vote on LOL as a dislike.

    If you cant put a opposite to something as a flag then why bother even having flags to begin with. LOL is a joke currently. (no pun indented)
  • ZOS_AlanG
    ZOS_AlanG
    admin
    Hi guys, work is progressing well for the forum overhaul, which is due later this autumn. Most of the content is in final testing, so we wanted to give you a sneak peak. Work is ongoing, and the final product may differ somewhat from these screenshots (included in the spoiler tags below). Feedback is welcome, but that doesn't mean we can take everything into account before this goes live.

    One of our priorities has been to make the forums easier to navigate. To that end we’ll be introducing language selection and flattening the forum structure entirely – there will no longer be any sub-forums.
    t1gwxe0cgz9n.png
    Categories on the front page can be collapsed, demonstrated here with the Support category (which will still contain a general help forum and PC and Mac tech forums).

    Forums have a more traditional layout:
    t6ci6bh6p6ha.png

    Threads have also been tweaked as well, and are higher contrast:
    94otch98v4yt.png

    By popular request the Developer Tracker will no longer have columns. It will likely cover all three languages, as applying a language filter here will result in a delay before it is populated. Recent Discussions may be filtered by language.
    j2speheul7i6.png
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  • Denaia
    Denaia
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    ZOS_AlanG wrote: »
    Hi guys, work is progressing well for the forum overhaul, which is due later this autumn. Most of the content is in final testing, so we wanted to give you a sneak peak. Work is ongoing, and the final product may differ somewhat from these screenshots (included in the spoiler tags below). Feedback is welcome, but that doesn't mean we can take everything into account before this goes live.

    One of our priorities has been to make the forums easier to navigate. To that end we’ll be introducing language selection and flattening the forum structure entirely – there will no longer be any sub-forums.
    t1gwxe0cgz9n.png
    Categories on the front page can be collapsed, demonstrated here with the Support category (which will still contain a general help forum and PC and Mac tech forums).

    Forums have a more traditional layout:
    t6ci6bh6p6ha.png

    Threads have also been tweaked as well, and are higher contrast:
    94otch98v4yt.png

    By popular request the Developer Tracker will no longer have columns. It will likely cover all three languages, as applying a language filter here will result in a delay before it is populated. Recent Discussions may be filtered by language.
    j2speheul7i6.png

    Looks very nice and I like the dev tracker being multi-language, as often some new info is posted in german and french aswell. The only thing I miss in the dev tracker is to directly read the post, might there be a chance for open-able answers? So basicly you click on the thread, the answer opens and once you've read it you can close it and click a new one?
  • Voodoo
    Voodoo
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    @_ZOS_AlanG wow looks really nice and interactive. Love the larger user avatars.

    My main thing would be to not mix up the languages. Maybe a one time choice to enter under that language and thats it.

    Dont mind the announcements being in all three languages..maybe a different shade of green for each language?
  • Enodoc
    Enodoc
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    @ZOS_AlanG I see the PvE Discussion parent category (which currently has 29 pages) no longer exists as a separate entity; are all of the threads in there being moved to Other Locales, merged to General Discussion, or going somewhere else?
    UESP: The Unofficial Elder Scrolls Pages - A collaborative source for all knowledge on the Elder Scrolls series since 1995
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  • Nazon_Katts
    Nazon_Katts
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    Thanks @ZOS_AlanG for keeping us updated, it's greatly appreciated and I wished communication always was at that level!

    On a side note, is the missing player Guild HQ any indication of the new guild functionality being ready with the forum revamp as well?
    "You've probably figured that out by now. Let's hope so. Or we're in real trouble... and out come the intestines. And I skip rope with them!"
  • GTech_1
    GTech_1
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    @ZOS_AlanG‌
    Well done. This looks much easier to use, and the Dev tracker looks Way better.
    I'm still not a fan of the forum "box buttons", but I will easily live with that, since it appears that this design would allow for easier mobile access.

    Again, Well done :)
    Thanks for the redesign,
    GTech_1
  • Elsonso
    Elsonso
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    @ZOS_AlanG‌ What happened to Guild Headquarters? Is it being removed until the replacement can be finished?
    PC NA/EU: @Elsonso
    XBox EU/NA: @ElsonsoJannus
    X/Twitter: ElsonsoJannus
  • ZOS_AlanG
    ZOS_AlanG
    admin
    Voodoo wrote: »
    I would like to see LOL flag go. It has turned into a bastardized version of dislike/disagree and it needs to be replaced with either of those words (or something similar) or just be taken out completely.
    Reaction flags are still being discussed.
    Denaia wrote: »
    Looks very nice and I like the dev tracker being multi-language, as often some new info is posted in german and french aswell. The only thing I miss in the dev tracker is to directly read the post, might there be a chance for open-able answers? So basicly you click on the thread, the answer opens and once you've read it you can close it and click a new one?
    While every entry on the Developer Tracker is linked to the full post, there isn't am option to toggle posts open while staying on the page. We may be able to pursue this later.
    Voodoo wrote: »
    My main thing would be to not mix up the languages. Maybe a one time choice to enter under that language and thats it.

    Dont mind the announcements being in all three languages..maybe a different shade of green for each language?
    Language selection for Recent Discussions and the Dev Tracker is a WIP, and until some things have been nailed down it's hard to speculate.
    Enodoc wrote: »
    @ZOS_AlanG I see the PvE Discussion parent category (which currently has 29 pages) no longer exists as a separate entity; are all of the threads in there being moved to Other Locales, merged to General Discussion, or going somewhere else?
    We will need to move all of those threads elsewhere. For recent content we'll move them on a thread-by-thread basis to the best location. That's probably not scalable for 29 pages.
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  • ZOS_AlanG
    ZOS_AlanG
    admin
    Thanks @ZOS_AlanG for keeping us updated, it's greatly appreciated and I wished communication always was at that level!

    On a side note, is the missing player Guild HQ any indication of the new guild functionality being ready with the forum revamp as well?
    @ZOS_AlanG‌ What happened to Guild Headquarters? Is it being removed until the replacement can be finished?
    Guild Headquarters may remain, it just isn't on the mockup at the moment.
    GTech_1 wrote: »
    @ZOS_AlanG‌
    Well done. This looks much easier to use, and the Dev tracker looks Way better.
    I'm still not a fan of the forum "box buttons", but I will easily live with that, since it appears that this design would allow for easier mobile access.

    Again, Well done :)
    Thanks for the redesign,
    GTech_1
    The mobile theme is separate, although we're working to ensure the forum structure allows for improved mobile access.
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  • Garbrac
    Garbrac
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    @ZOS_AlanG‌ Will the Dev tracker have an option for a RSS feed or similar feature to allow us to get direct updates of that page without having to sit and F5 it all day?
  • nikolaj.lemcheb16_ESO
    nikolaj.lemcheb16_ESO
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    I think there are too many categories. People are more interested in having their post read and reacted too than to put them into the correct forum folder where only a few will read them. Its all about understanding human nature again,

    Second if you do take the time to put in a post in a correct folder, then you can run into a problem; like the 2 different folders for combat skill lines.
  • AlexDougherty
    AlexDougherty
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    I think there are too many categories. People are more interested in having their post read and reacted too than to put them into the correct forum folder where only a few will read them. Its all about understanding human nature again,

    Second if you do take the time to put in a post in a correct folder, then you can run into a problem; like the 2 different folders for combat skill lines.

    Disagree about there being too many categories, people post in appropriate categories for the subject, and Human nature is as diverse as can be. Some will just post in any old forum, some will hunt down the right forum, some will do a mix, and some will post in every single forum hoping one is right.

    As for the two appropriate forums for a thread problem, well I would read through a few of the posts in both and see which feels more right to me. But you could always try posting in both, that would work too.

    They might have to amalgamate some forums at a later date, but considering the fact some have stiil been complaining about the forum stucture (why I not sure, I've been able to find what I want) they had to make changes.
    Edited by AlexDougherty on October 25, 2014 11:39AM
    People believe what they either want to be true or what they are afraid is true!
    Wizard's first rule
    Passion rules reason
    Wizard's third rule
    Mind what people Do, not what they say, for actions betray a lie.
    Wizard's fifth rule
    Willfully turning aside from the truth is treason to one's self
    Wizard's tenth rule
  • Turelus
    Turelus
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    @ZOS_AlanG that Dev Tracker looks great. I have no idea how to describe how much that one little change is going to make me love these forums more.

    Cookies for you and your team however! :cookie::cookie::cookie::cookie::cookie::cookie::cookie:
    @Turelus - EU PC Megaserver
    "Don't count on others for help. In the end each of us is in this alone. The survivors are those who know how to look out for themselves."
This discussion has been closed.