Forum Structure Update Feedback

Turelus · May 2014

Kevinmon wrote: »

Get rid of the multiple languages or I will never use these forums.

I think there are better ways to organise the forums than the removal of languages used by some of the player base. :P

dannymcgr81b14_ESO · May 2014

I like the changes so far. Thanks for the "General" forum. I do wish we could filter the languages in the "Recent Discussions" and "Developer Tracker".

TheGrandAlliance · May 2014

The forums need a tool/setting that deactivates auto-loading of image files. OTherwise a hacker could post a picture that links to hostile site that starts loading of scripts.

Furthermore... I dont' want to have to see other user's images/videos unless I want to: Especially given the excessive use of MEMEs/YouTube here...

AngryWolf · May 2014

I still don't know I'm seeing a bunch of other languages. People should only see the language they setup as their preference.

Arsenic_Touch · May 2014

scratchnsniff wrote: »

I think everyone is being way to critical, this game is only about 2 months old and I see ZOS making changes every other day.

1. I noticed everyone is so quick to say things such as "you didn't fix anything". I see ZOS making an effort to listen as much as they can to their players and trying to adjust. We don't know the limitations they have.
2. ZOS may be limited in what they can do / filter by the software used for the forum. Not all software is the same.
3. Lastly, the forms might not be a top priority right now at ZOS. There are still issues in game and once again i will say, at least they are trying to make a change. I see true effort on the part of ZOS.

Instead of complaining. Offer some constructive feed back and for the love of the prophet...do it in a nice way.

There is plenty of constructive feedback in this thread, however you need to realize that what they're doing with the game has ZERO to do with this board, so try not compare them as if they're the same. The whole "not a priority" is irrelevant when what people on the game are working on and what people who run the forums are working on are not even on the same page, let alone the same book.

YourNameHere · May 2014

Well you removed the option to Mark All Read .. which is kinda silly. Please put that back.

Also, why drop the Customer Service/Tech Help to the bottom? It was fine where it was.

Separate by language. It just makes it look neater.

TheGrandAlliance · May 2014

YourNameHere wrote: »

Also, why drop the Customer Service/Tech Help to the bottom? It was fine where it was.

...TO MAKE IT HARDER TO FIND MY PRETTY... of course:)

Audigy · May 2014

I honestly think that the forum could be shrunken down a bit more.

The first step would be a profile option that lets you select if you want English, French and / or German forum parts. Right now every person that only wants English, has loads of other forum sections available, same for the German and French users. This makes the whole layout a bit full. Its too crowded and this is a general issue that I try to address with my post.

The second step would be a better structure in regards of forum topics and sub forums.

Right now we do have a guild headquarter, that has no real relation to anything. Its just there and everyone not interested into any type of social activities still has to see it.
We also have community creations and Addons & UI that have not really anything to do with the basic game, but are more or less social / community additions.

In my opinion the Guild Headquarter, Addons & UI and Community Creations should be relocated and put into a specific forum called "Social & Fan share" together with a newly created RP Forum with special rules for those that want to RP.

Another aspect is that in my opinion people who want to find help or get in touch with ZO don't really have a clear structure of doing it. The result is, that we have tons of off topic thread´s in various forums, asking for help etc.

Because of this I think a specific forum for "Help & News" should be in place, it could host the Customer Support, Patches & News, Websites Articles and Player help Players.

Last but not least we could have a "General Discussion", where the basic PVP, PVE forums are located including their sub forums for the specific PvP Campaigns, Quest´s, Crafting etc.

The whole idea behind this is that players who enter the forum only see three things at first.

1. Help & News
2. General Discussion
3. Social & Fan share

Those are then divided up into their specific sub sections, as an example for Help & News

Help & News

Official Customer Support
Players Help Players
Patches & News
Websites Articles

General Discussion

Player versus Environment
- Main Quest
- Dungeons & Trials
- Covenant
- Dominion
- Pact
- NPC Guilds
Player Versus Player
- Campaign 1
- Campaign 2
- ...
Crafting
Skill Lines

Social & Fan Share

Guild headquarter
- RP Guilds
- PvE Guilds
- PvP Guilds
- Trade Guilds
RP Corner
Addons & UI
Community Creations

While this is just a basic layout, I think that people are really overwhelmed right now with the first forum page. It has to many categories so do some of the sub forums, its just too much if you ask me.

As an addition to the basic layout, a global announcement thread could be added. Call it "Latest news" and there you publish anything related to maintenance times, new content in development or if you have a new website article up.
It should be kept up to date by the Forum Mods and not open for discussions, but with a link to the original thread so that those interested in more info or a discussion can go there easily.

InvictoNZ · May 2014

Other languages, take them out. Thanks.

scratchnsniff · May 2014

ZOS,

Thank you for continuing to make adjustments and fixes.

I like the general discussion changes, more realist of what the area should be.
I agree with the language suggestions/filters

I would love to see a q/a section on the forums that poster could submit a question that is reviewed and answered by a developer. Just an idea.

Also, can you put a general pvp discussion? Or just make it so that we can post under the alliance war section?

Overall, organization is better.

As long as ZOS continues to work regularly on the game/forums many will support you.

Those who say you are not listening can only see their point of view.

Lord_Wrath · May 2014

I've created a topic on this before. Im sorry but adding more forum topics is not a huge accomplishment, so I hope these future changes will be meaningful or I will find little need to log in here.

First and most importantly I think something needs to for those who cannot access forums. It is easy to assume your account name and password would be enough to log into the forums. A lot of us understand what you need to get in, but I myself did not notice and deleted pages of junk emails and most likely had that in the batch. If everyone had a code sent, maybe implement a resend of that code upon request?

I think the search bar needs a category to search by. If I need help on a quest, I cant find squat here because if anyone said those words, every thread topic pops up. I would like to be able to search "(quest title)" and instantly find threads specifically for that quest.

I also think an Ideas/Suggestions forum should exist, there isnt an appropriate place for this so it would clear up the rest of the forums with these threads.
On top of that, I think Customer Support and if Ideas/Suggestions thread were to exist, a vote count would be helpful to identify issues needing the most attention/ideas/suggestions that are most popular. This would help reduce the number of repeat threads made by those who pay attention. 10k+ threads already in support alone within a month.

A drop down notification list or something would cease the need to go into profile>notifications just to rid of the number, sometimes we already see someone has replied to us.

Blocking users to not see their posts and vise versa. We have all encountered someone...unpleasant...in one forum website or another.
Easier use and access for mobile.

Language filters. Not foul language, but the ability to select English and only see English threads and forums in view. This would clean up the forum for everyone.

Sakiri · May 2014

Mobile site:
Need post flagging(reporting)
Need ID of ZOS posts in thread(maybe thread title in green?)

New layout you tried didnt have a link for the parent forum at the bottom of the page thread like you have here. It needs to be there. In fact, I suggest it for the desktop site too.

Ignore list. We need a freaking ignore list. Please.

Sakiri · May 2014

Arthur_Spoonfondle wrote: »

Ojustaboo wrote: »

Very first forum page should be something like

"Welcome to the Forums"
"English"
"Deutsch"
"Fancais"

Then we can all click on whichever language we want and be presented with forum topics in that language, and bookmark that page as our main forum page.

I cannot understand why so many people have a problem with the front page including links to all three languages. Is it really so difficult to find the one for you, [snip]

My only gripe with the new layout is that we seem to have lost "Server Status".

Not sure but the EN forums get more traffic so segregating folks that speak mjltiple languages into the foreign forums is a terrible idea.

I wonder if all these folks suggesting this stuff are American. If so, on behalf of the sane folks in my country, Im sorry.

[edited to remove quote]

Sakiri · May 2014

Moonscythe wrote: »

Arthur_Spoonfondle wrote: »

Ojustaboo wrote: »

Very first forum page should be something like

"Welcome to the Forums"
"English"
"Deutsch"
"Fancais"

Then we can all click on whichever language we want and be presented with forum topics in that language, and bookmark that page as our main forum page.

I cannot understand why so many people have a problem with the front page including links to all three languages. Is it really so difficult to find the one for you, [snip]

My only gripe with the new layout is that we seem to have lost "Server Status".

I don't think it that anyone is a closet xenophobe. I find the other languages to be bothersome if I click on recent discussions. There are times when half the first page is in German or French which I can't read so I have to keep flipping through pages which, while maybe a minor thing in the big picture, is irritating. They may be gems of insightful commentary but I don't want to see them if I can't read them. I'm sure it is even more irritating to the German and French language participants.

Most of those also can read English. Its a mandatory subject in many countries

[edited to remove quote]

Sakiri · May 2014

Kevinmon wrote: »

Get rid of the multiple languages or I will never use these forums.

Seeya.

Games supported in three languages. Theyre not getting rid of them.

Arsenic_Touch · May 2014

Arthur_Spoonfondle wrote: »

I cannot understand why so many people have a problem with the front page including links to all three languages. Is it really so difficult to find the one for you, [snip]

My only gripe with the new layout is that we seem to have lost "Server Status".

Yes, it's because we're closet xenophobes and not because the developer tracker is riddled and unorganized with languages we cannot read, making it harder for the rest of us to find official posts. It's not because there's a language button at the top of the website that has each language yet doesn't filter the languages. It's not because having those other the languages visible clutters the main page. It's clearly not that at all. [snip]

[edited for trolling & to remove quote]

Sidney · May 2014

I am posting a copy of what I said in another thread because I feel it belongs here better.
http://forums.elderscrollsonline.com/discussion/comment/846627/#Comment_846627

ZOS_AlanG wrote: »

What are some of the features you're interested in, @sidney?

Hi

The @ZOS_AlanG‌ system is my first. It helps us keep people involved in discussions and lets others know if we intended comments for them or if we wanted to just let them know we wanted them to be a part of it. Very helpful.
The tracking system with favourites/markers (the (*)). I use this a lot to help keep track of things I'm interested in as well as posts I've made to try and help others.
The "Ask A Question" button on the main page is a very powerful tool. The problem with the one we have here is that it only lets us ask questions on very few forums. We need to allow it to post to more sections. It's powerful because not only does it automatically mark the thread as a question but it lets us mark an actual answer. This lets anyone else who could have similar issues instantly see what the answer was. It could potentially be helpful to your team as well to see a quick question/answer to lets say, a tech support related incident. Compiling statistics could be easier and if certain threads with FAQ's and answers were stickied, you could build an incredible FAQ section created by us.
At the far right, the shortcuts to Favourites & Unanswered questions. I love this because it allows us quick access to the things we marked plus a quick look at seeing if there's any questions we can help other players with.
The notification system in our profile as well. I use this multiple times per day. It goes hand in hand with the above mentioned system (the @ system and tracking system).
And lastly, though not really that important, but the smiley face system here is better than other forums. They have a comprehensive list of feelings, emotions, thoughts, and even a few fun ones. I think the majority of people don't even know about them!

We have so many tools with Vanilla Forums to keep the community involved. I think this is just as important as having a solid working layout.

Thank you so much for asking by the way. It's really nice to know we're being heard

Edit: I can't believe I forgot to mention this!

The Agree, Insightful, LOL options at the bottom are honestly helpful. It's nice helpful to see when others agree with what you're thinking or if something you said was insightful etc. I tend to use the agree button kind like a poll. I click agree when I really feel it's important for you guys to see that we agree with something somebody has said.

Cannot believe I forgot this

I may as well add to it while we're here. I think the PC Technical Support and Mac Technical Support threads need to have their own entire sections. They should not be subsections under customer service. Most people don't even realize they're up there!

Arsenic_Touch · May 2014

ZOS_AlanG wrote: »

From what we have seen, complaints about having the three languages together stem from organizational problems, it doesn’t have anything to do with the various groups.

As for Server Status, while this section was removed, we'll be announcing server downtime with the forum-wide messaging system going forward. You can also check out the service alerts section on our support site.

Complaints for the three languages didn't stem from organizational problems. They stemmed from english users being forced to read threads in other languages. The dev tracker having other languages mixed in with the english ones. They should be separate from one another based on the EN DE FR buttons at the website.

The patch notes is cluttered with duplicate threads in different languages, instead it should be separated.

As for the server status change...

...sounds like you abandoned the whole "We'll announce server downtime ahead of time" to put it in a system wide message that will only go up when it happens? you were doing so well by posting the times ahead of time in the server status subforum with the times and what you planned on doing, however the last few down times you pretty much waited until the last second to post anything and here we are hours away from what is the monday downtime window and there's no message on anything.

You guys need to get on the ball with this. You need to announce the scheduled maintenance ahead of time so people can plan accordingly. Or did you get rid of the scheduled downtime windows too because the post for those vanished as well.

Anex · May 2014

I agree that the language separation could be streamlined overall. In fact, I would even dare to suggest to break it down by language FIRST.

That could be annoying to have to go down into sub menus right away, so perhaps if one could chose a language subset as "default" forum option and be re-directed to the subforums upon login after choosing.

I don't know what is within the realm of possibility, but I do feel like the language thing is bothering a lot of people.

I can read both English and French, but sometimes I feel like it is cluttered (especially in the Server Status/Patch Notes forums) with 3 topics of the same thing.

Sakiri · May 2014

It mostly bothers people that only speak English and are used to foreigners being shuttled off to a wholly separate website for the EU client.

I dont speak either and dont have issues bypassing the German and French.

wrlifeboil · May 2014

Sakiri wrote: »

It mostly bothers people that only speak English and are used to foreigners being shuttled off to a wholly separate website for the EU client.

I dont speak either and dont have issues bypassing the German and French.

[snip] I always got a kick from reading the *** on the WoW forum qq'ing about the Brazilians and LatAm players in lfr. You kind of got the sense their reason for complaining went deeper than just skill.

[edited for baiting]

Enodoc · May 2014

ZOS_AlanG wrote: »

As for Server Status, while this section was removed, we'll be announcing server downtime with the forum-wide messaging system going forward. You can also check out the service alerts section on our support site.

@ZOS_AlanG‌ As someone else has mentioned, I hope you still plan to announce downtime (even the scheduled ones) on the forums some time in advance (say, six hours) as well as in-game (say, two hours, one hour,15/5/1 minutes). Also, if the Server Status forum is gone for good, please could you take out "Regular Maintenance Days & Times" from it and put it somewhere that is still accessible.
Thanks!

Turelus · May 2014

I don't think the forums having multiple languages is an issue, it's once again just the way things are organised which seems to place the German and French language threads in places which get in the way for many.

I would be really interested to know if the German and French speaking players are having the same issues with the English forums, they also don't have language specific sections for everything if I recall correctly.

If there is a way to break the forums into three main blocks for language with them being collapsible it might be less of an issue for those who don't want to see the other languages.

As for the issue of the other languages in the Dev Tracker I think that's more the fact that the Dev Tracking has a horrible layout than it having multiple languages. The EVE Online forums *hides for saying it again* has all supported languages (German, French, Russian, Chinese, Japanese) appear in their Dev Tracker but because of the layout it's much faster to skim past the ones not relevant to your own language, with the weird layout here you need to scroll up and down a lot.

Turelus · May 2014

Also could we get a forums section or a stuck post for discussion on botting? :P
Not going to lie, it gets tiresome when the front page of GD is five threads about bots all basically saying the same thing.

Is it possible to have an officially started ZOS post about botting here in this section, the OP can be updated with up to date news and information which ZOS is willing to release and a focused place for all players to complain and suggest ideas for the war on bots.

Then maybe some forum moderation to lock duplicate posts about the issue and redirect players to the relevant pinned thread.

ragamerb16_ESO · May 2014

Is it really so difficult to find the one for you, [snip]

No... I consider myself a "losing time"-phobe.

If you are informing a system about a prefered language why search engine templates (like developer tracker, for example) are presenting you with results that are tripple the length you need to find the infomation you look for?.

Notice how my reassoning applies to any of the 3 languages currently supported, doesn't matter which one you pick... Most of us don't want to spend time having to scroll through sequences of characters that mean nothing to us. I want a system that puts the information I look for, the way it's easier to read.

If you are a translation professional that has an interest in comparing the quality of the multilanguage support of this forums... I would understand the needs of mixing them but... I guess that an option on your profile to have all languages mixed is in order but...

...Call me a weirdo if you like but... I have the feeling "translation professionals" aren't the mayority of this forum's users.

[edited to remove quote]

ZOS_HugoP · May 2014

scratchnsniff wrote: »

ZOS,

Also, can you put a general pvp discussion? Or just make it so that we can post under the alliance war section?

You can post here Alliance War for all PvP related discussion.

SantieClaws · May 2014

Good that there is now a General Discussion forum area. We could do with a Suggestions area somewhere too.

LadyDestiny · May 2014

Could we get our server status page back please?

Toorlokviing · May 2014

im still waiting on a suggestion feedback forums. also...i dont see maintenance times anywhere anymore...id like to know when you guys are implementing a patch an such ahead of time...i miss that . *grumbles about pack leader morph still being bugged*

Arsenic_Touch · May 2014

LadyDestiny wrote: »

Could we get our server status page back please?

Amen to that. No idea why they decided to just abandon that. Today is supposed to be patch day but we have no idea what's going on. There's no announcement at all. I guess the whole "We'll announce ahead of time" didn't work out for them so they're trying something "new and improved"