New Forum Design & Category Layout - Example Included

Verona

Hello everyone,

I've noticed there are already quite a few posts that have stressed how non-intuitive the current official forums are here. And while I think most of us appreciate having official forums for Elder Scrolls Online, it would serve all of us, including Zenimax, much better if the design and layout was more intuitive and usable.

I would like to share with you, and Zenimax, my proposed changes here to the forums. In order to accomplish this I will simply give an example of forum categories that are much more usable and intuitive in my opinion, and are, more or less, modeled after several highly successful MMORPG game's official forums.

If you agree, please show your support with replies and include your suggestions and comments.

Zenimax, please make this place more fun and usable?

Here's an example:



News and Announcements
Elder Scrolls Online News
Patch Notes
Server Status

General Discussion
Elder Scrolls Online Discussion
New Player Help & Discussion
Guild Recruitment
Looking for a Guild
Dungeons, Quests & Adventures
Cyrodiil/PVP Discussion
Crafting Discussion
Lore Library (discuss lore, story and setting)
Community Creations (art, videos, articles, short stories, addons, UI mods)

Mechanics Discussion
Class Discussion
Game Mechanics
Dragonknight Theorycrafting
Nightblade Theorycrafting
Sorcerer Theorycrafting
Templar Theorycrafting

Player Factions
Aldmeri Dominion
Daggerfall Covenant
Ebonheart Pact

Support
Customer Support
PC Support
Mac Support
PS4 Support
Xbox One Support


Regarding the EN/DE/FR and any other versions:
We can go with Dutch and French sub-forums, such as "General Dutch Discussion," and "General French Discussion." Or, you could create 3 entirely different forum 'tanks' for us, so we each have our own version all to ourselves. Or rather than split us up, just keep us in rows like you have us in now, EN, DE and FR. Regardless of which option you go with, it would still be much better than what we currently have!

As for the Zenimax moderators and community leaders, we know they're busy here on the forums and doing all the other things they do. I have been a forum admin, a community leader, moderator and guide in other games - this is something people do either because they love helping people and they want to be a valuable, contributing member of the community; or their boss is making them do it. But at least the latter are getting compensated in one way or another (hopefully).

Clearly, whoever created these forum was not someone who had an intuitive forum layout and good forum usability in mind. For whatever reason, we ended up with the mess that we are currently in. And I don't know about you, but I feel sorry for the admins, moderators and community leaders that have to work with this on a day by day basis. Ha ha.

I want to be a participating member of the community here, but it's near impossible to make sense of things here as they currently here, unfortunately. I spend most of my forum time at Tamriel Foundry or a couple other communities because, well... I was hoping for more than this?

Edit: oh, I should add that we could really use a bit more fun and love in the user profile customization options and optional personal and player information fields.


Kind regards,

unhappy forum user