Lack of Clarity on Communication Promises on General Forums

Desiato · February 5

Desiato wrote: »

It's not a critical issue so it's not a big deal to me. I appreciate that Kevin is looking into it. He'll get back to us when there's an update. There's no need for further explanation until then.

If it's a big deal to you, so be it.

DeathandDebauchery · February 5

spartaxoxo wrote: »

They obviously can tell the community no. And they obviously don't need to respond to every thread even popular ones. But they had said they would respond to that thread and then did not. And it was something the community could have used clarification on because there was confusion as to why the change was implemented in the way that it was. Given the confusion, big impact to play, and the statement we'd get answers, it is disappointing that we didn't get them and erodes confidence that communication will improve outside of the main issues that they already wanted to focus on.

I think this is the rub. In my mind, Kevin's answer early today is the appropriate way for the team to handle backpeddling: https://forums.elderscrollsonline.com/en/discussion/comment/8428191#Comment_8428191

Straight up ghosting your community is not.

twisttop138 · February 5

It's almost like this isn't the first "we're going to be more transparent and communicate more" era on these forums. Like the second verse is the same as the first. I mean, to be fair, after 11 years what did we expect? It's like an abusive relationship. I swear he promised he'd change.

spartaxoxo · February 5

DeathandDebauchery wrote: »

spartaxoxo wrote: »

They obviously can tell the community no. And they obviously don't need to respond to every thread even popular ones. But they had said they would respond to that thread and then did not. And it was something the community could have used clarification on because there was confusion as to why the change was implemented in the way that it was. Given the confusion, big impact to play, and the statement we'd get answers, it is disappointing that we didn't get them and erodes confidence that communication will improve outside of the main issues that they already wanted to focus on.

I think this is the rub. In my mind, Kevin's answer early today is the appropriate way for the team to handle backpeddling: https://forums.elderscrollsonline.com/en/discussion/comment/8428191#Comment_8428191

Straight up ghosting your community is not.

Yeah. This is good communication that I'm really happy to see. It may not be the most desirable outcome but at least there's an acknowledgement and explanation. I really like that post even though it's not a yes. For me, these kind of post are also needed and make a much better impression.

DeathandDebauchery · February 6

twisttop138 wrote: »

It's almost like this isn't the first "we're going to be more transparent and communicate more" era on these forums. Like the second verse is the same as the first. I mean, to be fair, after 11 years what did we expect? It's like an abusive relationship. I swear he promised he'd change.

I'm choosing to be optimistic about ZoS right now, but now that we have hit over a full week since the initial 24 hour promise and there has been zero acknowledgement of the issue again or the aggressive moderation despite this thread staying on the front page for that entire time, I am starting to get concerned.

twisttop138 · February 6

DeathandDebauchery wrote: »

twisttop138 wrote: »

It's almost like this isn't the first "we're going to be more transparent and communicate more" era on these forums. Like the second verse is the same as the first. I mean, to be fair, after 11 years what did we expect? It's like an abusive relationship. I swear he promised he'd change.

I'm choosing to be optimistic about ZoS right now, but now that we have hit over a full week since the initial 24 hour promise and there has been zero acknowledgement of the issue again or the aggressive moderation despite this thread staying on the front page for that entire time, I am starting to get concerned.

I'm also optimistic. I can see the past and still hope they come out on top. It's my sincere hope that they turn a corner. If they don't though, I don't think many will be surprised. Now to be absolutely fair, the comment in question was not some game breaking issue or a money thing or an exploit. I would be more concerned. The changing of the comment to remove the promise of an update was... unnecessary and brings a bad look to what has been truly improving communication. Around things they said they would, anyway. Let's wait and see.

AlienatedGoat · February 6

DeathandDebauchery wrote: »

twisttop138 wrote: »

It's almost like this isn't the first "we're going to be more transparent and communicate more" era on these forums. Like the second verse is the same as the first. I mean, to be fair, after 11 years what did we expect? It's like an abusive relationship. I swear he promised he'd change.

I'm choosing to be optimistic about ZoS right now, but now that we have hit over a full week since the initial 24 hour promise and there has been zero acknowledgement of the issue again or the aggressive moderation despite this thread staying on the front page for that entire time, I am starting to get concerned.

I also choose to stay optimistic, however I'm seeing ZOS take a lot of half-steps, particularly in regards to communication, transparency and community action. While I do acknowledge that some progress has been made in the past year, there is still a long way to go to get where we need to be. Communication is still slow and sparse, transparency is still a bit opaque and community action is seemingly cherry-picked.

ZOS must let go of the old ways of handling these things and accept that the methods they have used over the past 13 years have not worked. The fact that they don't work is evident in the game and community being in the state they are in today.

ZOS_Kevin · February 6

Wanted to follow up here. The communication drop off is on me, so apologies on that. We are working on getting more info here internally and forgot to follow up in the locked thread. We are still looking into this, along with several other issues happening at the moment. The intention was not to shut down communication. We are looking to get an update out soon.

MincMincMinc · February 6

This pts cycle surely has been better for communication. Before it was always just screaming into the void hoping someone at zos even read a comment.....then decided to go ahead and bring it forward to be worked on......then whether or not they implemented it properly. Now at least we see ideas being heard and accepted/shotdown.

The only big issue now is because there is more communication people flock to the PTS to give their 2 cents on random topics not related to the PTS. For example look at all the "warden or werewolf I wish" threads. Now we are on week 4 of the PTS where alot of animation and sound effect feedback has been given, but not much action has been talked about for things like the two handed skill line. Combat wise two hander has needed changes for years, but sadly we are only seeing animation changes so far in a very unpolished way.

Destai · February 6

ZOS_Kevin wrote: »

Wanted to follow up here. The communication drop off is on me, so apologies on that. We are working on getting more info here internally and forgot to follow up in the locked thread. We are still looking into this, along with several other issues happening at the moment. The intention was not to shut down communication. We are looking to get an update out soon.

Thanks. Regardless if it's intended, locking multiple threads on it is shutting down the communication. I don't know how else one could interpret it. It just unnecessarily escalates the vibe, especially when the thread was pretty civil. It really just comes across as micromanagement.

Anyways, looking forward to an update. Even on PS, the guild spam is a little overbearing at times.

DeathandDebauchery · February 6

ZOS_Kevin wrote: »

Wanted to follow up here. The communication drop off is on me, so apologies on that. We are working on getting more info here internally and forgot to follow up in the locked thread. We are still looking into this, along with several other issues happening at the moment. The intention was not to shut down communication. We are looking to get an update out soon.

Thank you for the response @ZOS_Kevin ! May we request moving forward that threads not get locked unless there is an official concluding response? That thread was still civil, as were the subsequent threads after, and we know you are juggling many plates, so its helpful for the threads to "stay visible" so we are not all recreating threads every single day/week as we are waiting for an update. There are many of us that are very passionate about this issue and its disruption to our gameplay, so I think it should be allowed for us to civilly continue to discuss it and keep it top of mind/prescient on the forums.