Dragon Age News Thread

Did I say anything about knowing solution to a problem? We're at the point when we have to search for an effective solution. A diagnosis doesn't mean "now, take this magical pill and all will be fine". Sometimes it takes a while to find proper treatment, no matter how many doctors we visit.

There is no solution that fans can concoct to fix this problem, yet the devs are just pushing that problem into our laps while they wash their hands of the fans until it is all sorted out.

Just like we lump nationalities, for example? Those aren't hive mind either, but things usually don't get themselves fixed on their own - if someone feels like they're a part of a community, usually it means taking action of some sort to make things better.

I mean, I have much bigger problems now than playing games in last 5 minutes of class - my country is careening towards authoritarianism and I get punished for it, even though I'm not supporting those who do so and they're, in fact, in minority. The main reason we have situation we have is apathy and either "it's not my problem" mentality or not taking some things too seriously. It will take most of us to turn this thing around.

This is how I see it. The penultimate example is Bioware closing down their own forums rather than attempt to deal with the issue by having MORE moderators with clear guidelines to follow. I liken it to problems with social services. One of the reasons there are issues with those programs is because there are too few workers compared to the number of cases. One person can't be expected to handle 1000 cases a month. The same is true with forum moderation. Heck, there is probably a formula somewhere that can determine, based on the amount of traffic a forum gets, the number of moderators it would take to run the forum effectively. But they didn't want to do that, so now it's gone forever.

It seems like Patrick's magical solution is to just say, "Be better people. While you're at it, get your neighbors to be better people, too." Well that's not good enough. That's not living in reality. Not only the reality of how people are, but of how the internet works, and of how their chosen platforms (primarily Twitter) function.


In the end, I'm of the view that social media has done more harm than good. (I don't have Twitter or Facebook.) While it allows certain connections, it has led to an overall negative change in societal behavior.

As far as solutions:

I can work on myself. I can work to be more tactful when I criticize, or even support something. Mind you, that doesn't mean I won't call you out on some BS, but I can work to be more tactful.

As far as people at large...uh, maybe try to starve out the trolls? Even though not all these people are trolls. Some are for real with their stuff...

Maybe it's time to actually steer away from platforms like Twitter for the devs? I mean, I know it's only 140 characters, but it is the Wildlands. A more controlled platform for "open" discussion that is moderated by the community managers in a fair way so that even questions or feedback with criticism in it can still be aired as long as it's tactful.

But it might be time to get away from platforms such as Twitter, or even Facebook. Set up your own platform for devs to shoot the shit with each other and occasionally fans. Come in from the wilds. There be dragons there. It's overrated anyway. It's like you're standing out in an open field surrounded by snipers. Get outta there!


edit: but a platform we can still spy on; instead of twitter thread have a dev thread; community mgrs be the gatekeepers...sorry guys; but some kind of "filtration system" so we can still enjoy each others company without all the noise. i do enjoy the concept of the twitter thread. i enjoy the fun and playfulness and teasing.

and when you do have alpha work or ideas you want to share....go the route of the used car salesman; bright, bold flashing in all caps with horns honking and sirens blaring, "ALPHA ALPHA ALPHA" or "SPECULATIVE...or well, no. that's too many letters. but then keep randomly interrupting the feed with this same thing. lol.

that's all i got, man.

I can't blame them for it. I was actually with the original person who was talking about the reasons devs don't share. But then the tone shifted to this vent against gamers and "fans" in a general sense. Patrick has expanded on that with his own words. In the end, it's one of those things where more was said than needed to be said. "We don't share because we frequently get burned for it, by some players, as well as gaming media." That's it.

It's fine if they want to tune out. But don't say you're tuning out and then continue to talk about problems, because that's not actually tuning out. Do it, or don't.

I agree. It's hard to worry about not getting the inside scoop on the cool stuff coming up for a game being made, when 10 miles away from your house, people are marching in the street every night, having vigils, most of them doing peaceful protest, and then a small minority is breaking out shop windows. And if you take a position either way publicly, you have to be all in and willing to defend it to everyone you meet, and within your shitty racist family. It's not always apathy, a lot of the time it's fear.

There's always been a lot of scary crap going on in the world, but having all of our public online spaces also effectively being public sewers in terms of discourse, only exacerbates. The more I look at my post a couple pages back the more I realize I was missing the point, but I still stand by the idea that to be able to fight a problem you have to know what it looks like, and not be an unwitting contributor. If the water is tainted, you can't always dig a new well, you have to put a filter on it and draw the good stuff to the top. It's more work and probably expensive, but completely vital.

You know, I've always thought that devs talk shop with each other, but I've wondered how helpful they are with each other. As far as tricks of the trade, or how to do, or "code" something better. It seems to still be rather competitive. So, although they may talk to each other about what they're developing, do they help each other?

That would be cool if they did. That would be a win for everybody, imo.

I recall seeing a few times them saying they help each other with stuff. There's a limit of course like they aren't going to give up their secrets, but universal things they tend to be supportive of each other.

Such as?

People keep throwing this out there, to "fix the problem" but never actually suggest anything. The very nature of the internet means that there is no real solution. The internet is free-range and anonymous. In most cases, the platforms that are used for abuse (like Twitter) are free to use. Game devs don't own Twitter and have no control over it. Us decent players don't own Twitter and have no control over it. The only thing a dev can practically do is to block people or not talk about their games at all, which goes against the whole point of Twitter as a platform.

Any REAL, meaningful solution would involve policing of the internet, of changing the fundamental nature of the internet as a place for free expression, good and bad.

The only alternative is to not participate, which is hardly an acceptable solution. Not only does it mean that the trolls and assholes won, but also that everyone else loses.