Do MMO Forums hurt games?

[tkioz]

Since I quit WoW about 2 years ago, I've played a handful of other MMOs, usually until I hit max level and run out of non-raid content. Star Trek: Online, DCU, Rift, and a few others.

One thing I've noticed is my enjoyment of the game goes down drastically for a short time after I start reading the forums; usually I'll be looking for patch notes or information about downtime or something, but I'll browse around... and even in heavily moderated communities the amount of whining and negativity is just a buzz kill.

Now you might say that the opinions of others shouldn't matter if I'm enjoying the game, but think of it like sitting down to a meal, you're really enjoying it, until the guy sitting next to you, eating the same thing, suddenly yells "this tastes like dogshit". Kind of kills your apatite, even if you keep eating, you're not enjoying it as much.

Does this happen to you? Do you think MMOs should just ditch the forums and release information on their websites (because even if you set out to ignore the forums, you'll end up there looking for information that isn't on the main website)?

 

[Sixcess]

I've stopped visiting the forums of the two MMOs I play most often - City of Heroes and Fallen Earth - because in both cases the forums were entirely dominated by a handful of forum whores with 5 figure post counts bitching about the same shit all the damn time when they weren't waving their sense of subscriber entitlement around.

Since both of these games have recently announced transitions to F2P models I've stayed even further away. Too much drama, and yes, it does tarnish the actual game for me if I pay too much attention to the forum drivel.

 

[MetallicaRulez0]

Official forums for most MMOs are entirely useless because they aren't moderated nearly enough. There's quite a few fansite forums that are great though, like Elitist Jerks or MMO Champion.

The internet in general is in dire need of more forum moderators to filter out the idiots and the crying children.

 

[cainx10a]

Official forums for most MMOs are entirely useless because they aren't moderated nearly enough. There's quite a few fansite forums that are great though, like Elitist Jerks or MMO Champion.

The internet in general is in dire need of more forum moderators to filter out the idiots and the crying children.

And if moderators were to remove those "whine" threads, that would only result in people believing that the game is flawed and the devs are turning a blind eye to the issues by ignoring the complaints, whether legitimate or not.

Sometimes those "whining babies" have a point, and ignoring them can be detrimental to the survival of the community. -cough- Conan (probably, the best atmosphere in an MMO, I loved all the dark fantasy stuff it had, but the dev took their sweet time to fix it).

 

[Katana314]

I think the general rule is if you want intelligent discussion, join some small offshoot group, not the main forum. Like what we do at the escapist.

 

[BanicRhys]

Official forums for most MMOs are entirely useless because they aren't moderated nearly enough. There's quite a few fansite forums that are great though, like Elitist Jerks or MMO Champion.

The internet in general is in dire need of more forum moderators to filter out the idiots and the crying children.

MMO-Champion is the worst fan site of them all.

 

[Z of the Na'vi]

The WoW forums were atrocious from what I remember of them, having quit the game for a couple weeks or so now. Completely flooded with entitled children who want nothing more than to ***** about the most trivial of things. Nothing was ever fixed, nor was it positive in the least.

From my own understanding, yes, MMO forums harm games.

[small]God, I love Champions Online.[/small]

 

[Zeema]

yeah

the WoW forums were crazy with stuff like

WoW sucks and IM NOT GOIN BY EXPANSION

 

[MetallicaRulez0]

Official forums for most MMOs are entirely useless because they aren't moderated nearly enough. There's quite a few fansite forums that are great though, like Elitist Jerks or MMO Champion.

The internet in general is in dire need of more forum moderators to filter out the idiots and the crying children.

Sometimes those "whining babies" have a point, and ignoring them can be detrimental to the survival of the community. -cough- Conan (probably, the best atmosphere in an MMO, I loved all the dark fantasy stuff it had, but the dev took their sweet time to fix it).

And the purpose of a moderator is to filter through all of the whine posts to find the ones that are legitimate and well-spoken, and get rid of all the chaff that serves no purpose other than to vent frustrations.

There's a difference between bringing up issues with the game and whining. One of them is intelligent, the other is moronic and pointless.

 

[WaReloaded]

During my 5 year stint playing World of Warcraft, I frequently visited the forums. Personally, I found that it enhanced my experience as it further emphasised that I was apart of something big, that the decisions I made during the game actually effected the world (if only the slightest bit). Sure, some of the posters on the forum were bothersome but for the most part it only helped my gaming experience.

 

[SoulSalmon]

Yeah... if anyone ever read the Runescape forums, or any subforum of Aeria Games... they WILL have their faith in humanity lowered...
Like... from 0 to -5...

Mostly because whine topics are treated with MORE whine about a different thing, and they then have a whine-off to see who's problem is more trivial... then you notice that the top guild in a game is 90% hackers and if you point it out then people yell at you for being "butthurt" somehow and continue whining.

 

[adamtm]

cmon, really, the "whiners" are maybe 10% of the community, they just like to whine.

why else is it called the "silent majority"

 

[Mylinkay Asdara]

I've always found guild forums, or linkshell forums or whatever the game is calling groups, to be quite helpful in organizing events, sharing stories, and generally building a sense of community - but the massive gaming forums dedicated just to a certain game with a bazillion people on them all shrilly going on about their latest accomplishment, what is trendy, what is acceptable, and what is just plain "cool" ... no, not really enhancing my gameplay, ever.

 

[tkioz]

During my 5 year stint playing World of Warcraft, I frequently visited the forums. Personally, I found that it enhanced my experience as it further emphasised that I was apart of something big

Something big maybe... like one of Cthulhu's tentacles is part of something big.