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Wildefire
General Goods Vendor
Joined: 03 Oct 2005
Posts: 1
Location: USA |
| RYL: Players-only Forums and Patch Notes @ Official Site |
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My job as a news editor just became a little more difficult, as it appears that Risk Your Life is <a href="http://forums.ryl.net/viewtopic.php?t=30724&sid=430cb89e12e60bfee0c1367f5f8a2220" target="_blank">shutting down their old forums</a> and replacing them with <a href="http://beta.ryl.net/forum.php" target="_blank">a new system</a> that is only available to active players. Users are instructed to log on with their game account credentials, and the <a href="http://beta.ryl.net/content.php?content.1.php" target=_blank">registration link</a> just takes you to a login page with no way to create a forums-only account. (Even though there is an option to play Risk Your Life without a subscription fee, you still have to buy the game in order to create an account.)
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<br>A few forums are still viewable by the public, however there appear to be a number of members-only forums (and posts) because the stats on the new forums page state that there are a lot more threads and posts available than I'm currently able to see.
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<br>In other news, the <a href="http://beta.ryl.net/forum_viewtopic.php?11.73" target="_blank">release notes</a> for the latest big patch are now available in one of the few RYL forums I'm still able to view. The patch adds many new quests and some significant new game elements. Here's a snippet:
<br><blockquote><em><ul><li>The nature of Dark Caernarvon has changed. Magic users from both sides have constructed statues all over the land. Each one represents an ideal that each side respects: Strength, Wisdom, Wealth, and Experience. Every so often, when their magic wanes, Kartefant and Merkhadian forces rush forth to capture these statues. They know that if they can control these statues, the people of their nation will be granted boons related to the power of the statues they control, and any advantage they have over their enemies is a valuable one. Scouts on both sides watch these statues, and when the magic begins to fade, they declare a Statue War. Those who would like to participate in the Statue War are summoned to Dark Caernarvon, while those who would prefer to avoid the bloodshed are sent away from the carnage.
<br>Statue Wars give players the opportunity to capture specific targets, while trying to keep these statues out of the hands of their enemies. Nations who own statues at the end of the War will enjoy benefits such as more HP or more experience earned until the next Statue War.
<br><li>The Statues in Dark Caernarvon are medal merchants that sell cheap items that can only be used during the Statue Battle. This will allow players to spend the medals earned in Statue Battle PvP on potions that they can use in PvP, while saving their actual potions for PvM situations.</ul></em></blockquote> |
Tue Oct 25, 2005 6:56 pm |
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Wildefire
General Goods Vendor
Joined: 03 Oct 2005
Posts: 1
Location: USA |
I refrained from editorializing TOO much in my post, so I'll just tack the rest of my thoughts on here in the comments. I understand the desire for a players-only forum (less noise from non-players, hiding the opinions of existing disgruntled account holders from the public, possibly less forum maintenance), but I think it's important for non-players to be able to both read what's going on and to ask n00b questions. You could restrict all non-player posts to a single forum perhaps, and make the rest of the forums read-only (but still viewable). Even though I think they're trying to make things easier for themselves and perhaps for their playerbase, I think it's a bad move in the long run, both for PR and prospective players.
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For each toon kills the mob he 'groes, yet each toon does not die. |
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Tue Oct 25, 2005 7:08 pm |
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Hedek
Head Merchant
Joined: 06 Jul 2001
Posts: 50
Location: France |
Well it's a debate. SOE and CCP (Eve Online) uses the same approach for their forums.
The problem is most forums don't reflect the in game reality. If you read SWG forums 99% of the people are disatisfied yet when you listen to SWG officials they claim their subscribers number is increasing (interview with Julio Torres when asked a question about the Total Experience offer but I can't find the link).
Forums generally give a worse picture of the game since usually displeased people have more things to say, you just don't post just to say "yay i'm so happy this game is lovely". If you read WoW forums you'd think that game has no more than 10k subscribers.
So for games with little success I can understand the desire to "hide" certain things.
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Retired Editor @ RPGDot
Ex Guru @ HK's Torment (dead Planescape Torment fansite) |
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Tue Oct 25, 2005 10:09 pm |
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Wildefire
General Goods Vendor
Joined: 03 Oct 2005
Posts: 1
Location: USA |
Oh yes, SOE. And what's weird about them is that some of their games actually have publicly-viewable forums but most don't.
You make some valid points. I agree that only a small number of the people who play MMOs ever post at the forums, and when they do it's usually to complain. However, you'll also find the super-players there, the ones who are passionate about the game, who championed it through beta, and who are always willing to help the new players get their bearings.
It would be nearly impossible for forum moderators to come up with a system that only allowed the positive posts/posters out for public consumption (to say nothing of controversial), so I can understand the motivation to just hide the forums entirely- yet I wish these companies would at least provide one little place where prospective players could ask questions. With a huge game like WoW, there are many resources and unofficial forums where people can find their answers... but for smaller games the official forums are often the best resource.
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For each toon kills the mob he 'groes, yet each toon does not die. |
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Tue Oct 25, 2005 10:50 pm |
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