Communication

[[ .NK. ]]

- So you've had a bad day. You're tired of listening to your users complaining. It doesn't matter. You're supposed to be a company full of professional adults. Let's act like it, okay? I know you guys get treated like s**t, but that's no excuse to put off a ton of your users and customers by being an asshat to them. I know very, very well that it can be hard to hold your tongue (or in this case, fingers), and I've snapped before too. But I don't do it to you guys. It might be obvious that I'm angry but I do my very best to treat you guys like you're important, and you matter. How about you guys do the same for us? There are times when I hate this site and/or I hate a specific person, whether it's an average user, a moderator, or a developer, but I still don't treat them the way I've seen some developers and artists treating the users.

- I'm disappointed in the lack of announcements still to this day. Database crashes aren't even being announced. This really, really needs to change, guys. But you guys act like it's none of our concern. But considering the fact that a lot of users on here are paying not only for items but for Gaia as a service, we do deserve to know. This is the comment in question, in which we're told that we really don't need to know. It was completely and utterly uncalled for, especially when users have been crying out for updates about the site for so long. If we really didn't need to know, why is it that years ago (before you went corporate, might I add), you let us know about everything that happened? You admitted to mistakes, we knew what was going on every step of the way. We get more announcements than we used to, but it's funny, because now they're all about you guys making more money off of us.  

[[ .NK. ]]

Reserved.  

[Andromeda Phoenix]

I get the feeling they're starting to listen...somewhat. They recently made a new forum. It's like a big, informational journal...without the journal. I doubt they'll actually put journal entries in here like what I would like to see, but I'm glad to see they're making some kind of an effort.

Help name the forum!
http://www.gaiaonline.com/forum/help-gaia-name-this-forum/f.485/  

[[ .NK. ]]

I agree. I'm glad to see this happening, but so far, the forum seems pretty useless.

We can't post in the threads that we're supposed to be posting in and it seems like mostly nonsensical things.

However, it's really nice that we get to interact with the staff more than normal (I hope), so that makes up for it a bit, at least to me. I'm not getting my hopes up yet, though.  

[Andromeda Phoenix]

I'm guessing they're still setting it up and stuff. I'm hoping they don't forget it's there like they do with many things 'cause there's one forum they have explaining glitches and whatnot that weren't fully announced/explained. It was nice to finally figure out the glitches on April Fools weren't part of the event.  

[moonsmark]

ya know NK and Phoenix im alittle confused by something. i might even be a bit off topic but....ZOMG had regular/weekly updates from qixter, they dont anymore because they are creating secret stuff for the launch or whatever. it was refreshing to have qix read a post of mine and modify his original post for clairification purposes. maybe they only have something like this because its in beta testing, maybe its just qix being nice. i dont know, im just a guy making an observation.

oh and i guess i should say sorry to all the people who "sp33k liek dis". i guesws i over react to "leet sp33k".............hey love makes the world go round or was that gravity?  

[Andromeda Phoenix]

Well, I do remember when zOMG was first released publicly and it was near damned impossible to beat a major boss without a crew. I remember Qixter had said that zOMG was a game designed to bring the community together and essentially communicate more. So, maybe that's why Qixter kept us publicly informed of the ongoings with the game through the forums?  

[[ .NK. ]]

I liked that we got a lot of info regarding zOMG. I don't care much for the game itself anymore (because of the reasons you said, Phoenix. I don't like being forced to Crew, I'm more of a solo-er/play with a friend player), but I loved that we were alerted as to what was going on with it and that it was worked on so quickly.

They should be that efficient in every other section of the site.  

[Andromeda Phoenix]

[ .NK. ]

I liked that we got a lot of info regarding zOMG. I don't care much for the game itself anymore (because of the reasons you said, Phoenix. I don't like being forced to Crew, I'm more of a solo-er/play with a friend player), but I loved that we were alerted as to what was going on with it and that it was worked on so quickly.

They should be that efficient in every other section of the site.

They actually changed it a few months back. The strength of the boss and the extra animated that come to help them out is determined by the amount of people in your crew and the average CL of your crew I believe. That said, bosses are now so hard people are saying it's easier to solo them, and even then it's pretty difficult. I wish they could find a balance of difficulty for the game.

I wish that they did that with other parts of the site as well. Qixter made that seem easy that it was just part of the job. Why can't other staff members do that more efficiently.  

[jaggedbubbles]

Andromeda Phoenix

[ .NK. ]

I liked that we got a lot of info regarding zOMG. I don't care much for the game itself anymore (because of the reasons you said, Phoenix. I don't like being forced to Crew, I'm more of a solo-er/play with a friend player), but I loved that we were alerted as to what was going on with it and that it was worked on so quickly.

They should be that efficient in every other section of the site.

They actually changed it a few months back. The strength of the boss and the extra animated that come to help them out is determined by the amount of people in your crew and the average CL of your crew I believe. That said, bosses are now so hard people are saying it's easier to solo them, and even then it's pretty difficult. I wish they could find a balance of difficulty for the game.

I wish that they did that with other parts of the site as well. Qixter made that seem easy that it was just part of the job. Why can't other staff members do that more efficiently.

I think many of the staff in charge of portions of the site have pretty much lost sight of what is important to the user. What Fleep said, in all honesty, is probably true for a good percentage of users here, but they should still try to find a good medium for the users who want to know the reasons for site glitches and those who don't.  

[Aeddict]

I agree that Quixter has been really good with communication. But he's not perfect, either, since a glitch that's been around for two months now still hasn't been fixed or even listed in the official glitch list. I mean, Quixter has quoted single posters on that glitch list, but not mentioned a glitch that several (most?) international users have. I can't help but wonder if the fix would have come a long time ago if Americans had the same glitch.

Regarding communication in general, I am endlessly frustrated every time I see a staff member replying to a totally legitimate and serious thread by commenting a totally random post in the thread instead of the actual topic. From what I've seen, this seems to be about the only thing the staff members do. If you want an example, I just now bumped into one in SF (link). The thread's topic is how can Gaians defend themselves from being unjustly banned (a serious concern, right?), and the staff member only points out that Gaia's rating on some site isn't as bad as some poster on page two claimed.

I don't know if it's some desperate defensive move or just plain indifference towards the actual problems, but I've seen this pattern repeat so many times that it's seriously pissing me off. If they're reading the damn thread long enough to comment a post on page n, why can't they just take the time to give a serious answer to the opening post? It almost seems like the staff members are afraid to comment anything regarding Gaia not working like it should.

(Sorry for making my first post in the guild such a rant. I seriously wish there wasn't reason to. crying )  

[[ .NK. ]]

Andromeda Phoenix

[ .NK. ]

I liked that we got a lot of info regarding zOMG. I don't care much for the game itself anymore (because of the reasons you said, Phoenix. I don't like being forced to Crew, I'm more of a solo-er/play with a friend player), but I loved that we were alerted as to what was going on with it and that it was worked on so quickly.

They should be that efficient in every other section of the site.

They actually changed it a few months back. The strength of the boss and the extra animated that come to help them out is determined by the amount of people in your crew and the average CL of your crew I believe. That said, bosses are now so hard people are saying it's easier to solo them, and even then it's pretty difficult. I wish they could find a balance of difficulty for the game.

I wish that they did that with other parts of the site as well. Qixter made that seem easy that it was just part of the job. Why can't other staff members do that more efficiently.

Huh. Shows how much attention I'd been paying. All I've heard is that they're much harder now, to which I respond by shaking my head and sighing.
Ever since Qixter got mad that users 'beat' zOMG too easily and toughed it up, I've lost all desire to play it. I liked it before then.

Agreed. Qixter wasn't only good about keeping us updated, but the whole zOMG crew was magnificent at finding and fixing glitches very quickly. I wish THAT would transfer to the rest of the site - it would run damn near perfectly in a short amount of time if that were the case.  

[[ .NK. ]]

Aeddict

I agree that Quixter has been really good with communication. But he's not perfect, either, since a glitch that's been around for two months now still hasn't been fixed or even listed in the official glitch list. I mean, Quixter has quoted single posters on that glitch list, but not mentioned a glitch that several (most?) international users have. I can't help but wonder if the fix would have come a long time ago if Americans had the same glitch.

Regarding communication in general, I am endlessly frustrated every time I see a staff member replying to a totally legitimate and serious thread by commenting a totally random post in the thread instead of the actual topic. From what I've seen, this seems to be about the only thing the staff members do. If you want an example, I just now bumped into one in SF (link). The thread's topic is how can Gaians defend themselves from being unjustly banned (a serious concern, right?), and the staff member only points out that Gaia's rating on some site isn't as bad as some poster on page two claimed.

I don't know if it's some desperate defensive move or just plain indifference towards the actual problems, but I've seen this pattern repeat so many times that it's seriously pissing me off. If they're reading the damn thread long enough to comment a post on page n, why can't they just take the time to give a serious answer to the opening post? It almost seems like the staff members are afraid to comment anything regarding Gaia not working like it should.

(Sorry for making my first post in the guild such a rant. I seriously wish there wasn't reason to. crying )

That's disappointing, and it doesn't really surprise me. The majority of the users here are American, of course they're more important. rolleyes

Ugh, I've seen that a lot too, and I hate it. They seem more eager to defend themselves than to alleviate a user's concerns. That's just sad. And have you noticed the way AtA works? They jump on stupid personal questions like "LOL LANZER WUTS UR FAV CULUR?" and skip past legitimate questions. That's why I no longer bother with reading it or brainstorming questions to eventually ask.

Just ugh. And don't worry, we all understand. :c  

[moonsmark]

i would also like to add that whenever the site crashes or some database goes dead that we get that little message on the top of the page that says something like "OMGZ WES HAVIN TROOOBLE".  

[Nanenna]

While that little bar at the top of the screen is nice, it's not the same as having an announcement that actually explains what's going on. I still miss those. I'd also like to know when an event is going to start so I can plan my day accordingly (we still don't know when the Easter event is starting, I have a full work schedule this week!)