wow Blues Respond to No Dev Posts on EU Forums Concerns

[Starym 3,800]

 

Official forum user Retributor recently posted his (and the EU forum's) concerns about no developers actually interacting directly with the EU player base, which prompted a response from blue Rejuvithorn, with a pretty detailed explanation of the situation. As you know if you've been following our tracking of blue posts at all, all of the news comes from the US side of the blue posts, which obviously makes a lot of sense as well, as Blizzard are a US company.

The explanationgives a pretty good overview of why the situation is as it is, but the responses to it in the thread have been less than enthusiastic, as you'd expect.

EU Blue Responses (source)

Do devs care about EU game playerbase?

Can someone please give them a hint that we exist too?

I get where you’re coming from and totally appreciate the feelings that you’ve expressed here Retributor.

Anything the developers say is picked over with a fine tooth comb. One wrong word and suddenly something a dev said was “considered” can end up all over the internet as “confirmed by Blizzard next patch!” even if that’s not what they said at all. One poorly worded joke made in good faith can provoke a backlash that becomes a meme for years. Even the simplest response can take a lot of time to get right, especially when it’s not the author’s expertise. Posting can take even longer if the information needs to be approved for release and translated to other languages. While you and I are not developers, imagine how daunting, and scary, it could be to make even a casual interaction when your voice might carry so far and have implications not only for yourself, but the fans, and colleagues throughout the company.

So there’s risk of causing the wrong kind of storm, and there’s time. Time, that they’re spending full tilt into making and improving the game. There’s also something I’ve mentioned before. Any member of staff commenting on feedback instantly makes that idea “about the blue” and can detract from the OP’s feeling or message. The thread may get flooded with people who want to join in, or who click on through from one of the various blue trackers, but actually don’t care about the size of an orcs ears (or whatever the suggestion was) vastly skewing what the real community sentiment is on a subject. It’s often better to let a community discussion play out, and observe, to gain a more accurate perspective.

So does that mean your voice isn’t heard? No, not at all. Even if they may not post often, the developers can read the forums. In addition, various roles make lots of reports of what’s being said here and other places, as well as a large number of other activities and avenues that all play their part to convey the pulse of the playerbase and ensure you’re listened to.

Now, I can’t speak for the devs, but I do know that from all the interactions I’ve had with them, they care. The care a heck of a lot about the game and you, our amazing fans. Truly.

I hope this at least provides a little insight and helps put your mind to rest a little.

While we’re on the subject, if you haven’t already seen it, check out the recent developer update below

[Brutalis 165]

That doesn't explain why they don't post on EU at all, though? The whole "having to watch what we say" line he gave applies equally to the US forums but they post there just fine.

[Starym 3,800]

16 minutes ago, Brutalis said:

That doesn't explain why they don't post on EU at all, though? The whole "having to watch what we say" line he gave applies equally to the US forums but they post there just fine.

Well the thing is the whole setup of the question is wrong. 90% of blue posts on US are also by community managers, not devs. The difference with EU is that the EU blues don't really have that much contact with the devs, which again makes sense since they don't work in the same building (even with the remote work/corona, these are still relationships and systems that have been in place for years). Which is what I guess the whole watching what they say is about, they have to go through a process to say anything and that process heavily involves community managers etc, and working with US ones is just more practical/normal/usual.

[Arcling 898]

28 minutes ago, Starym said:

Well the thing is the whole setup of the question is wrong. 90% of blue posts on US are also by community managers, not devs.

True, this question has been poorly worded. People wanted to know why they aren't active in EU forums in general, they shouldn't ask specifically about devs. Also, I don't see an issue, why EU staff shouldn't get informed by devs as well, communication isn't an issue. Could it be that there aren't enough community managers these days, they fired a lot of their support last year. Perhaps both English forums should have been merged, at least for general discussions, only keeping separate sections for things like tech/server support and guilds, then it wouldn't look completely abandoned. 

Edited July 13, 2020 by Arcling

[Starym 3,800]

10 minutes ago, Arcling said:

True, this question has been poorly worded. People wanted to know why they aren't active in EU forums in general, they shouldn't ask specifically about devs. Also, I don't see an issue, why EU staff shouldn't get informed by devs as well, communication isn't an issue. Could it be that there aren't enough community managers these days, they fired a lot of their support last year. Perhaps both English forums should have been merged, at least for general discussions, only keeping separate sections for things like tech/server support and guilds, then it wouldn't look completely abandoned. 

Dunno in my experience EU forums have always been pretty barren of blues. IMO they just collect the user's opinions same as US forums but then the responses are in the bigger blue posts which are primarily US, because again, it's easier for the devs to work with local people, and the the EU just reposts those posts.

[Migol 433]

Ehh, I mean some of what they say is true in a sense but it feels like political speech to cover up the obvious: they let go of a lot of their "extraneous" staff not too long ago for "reasons" during a profitable year, and haven't found entry level wage slaves to take their place yet.

[Brutalis 165]

2 minutes ago, Starym said:

it's easier for the devs to work with local people

I see no reason as to why the same information given to US staff cannot be given to EU staff remotely. It's not hard to send an email.

[Starym 3,800]

24 minutes ago, Brutalis said:

I see no reason as to why the same information given to US staff cannot be given to EU staff remotely. It's not hard to send an email.

 But that's exactly what they do. The big stuff is shared on EU too, the post refers to the ad-hoc blue responses in US forums, which 1000% are the US CM poking a dev because they have a relationship with them/walking into the other room and asking. It's just completely different when you work with someone directly for a long time and are talking to a co-worker half way around the world (for these minor comments),

[Badadada 184]

Whether it's just community managers active on the US forums instead of devs it's still a legit complaint. Although I think not having so many different forums would surely make things easier - the regional forum system is an ancient remnant of the early Battle.net. It would be a lot simpler to manage one common official (possibly English language) global forum for Feedback with realm and support topics remaining localized.

[Arcling 898]

52 minutes ago, Migol said:

Ehh, I mean some of what they say is true in a sense but it feels like political speech to cover up the obvious: they let go of a lot of their "extraneous" staff not too long ago for "reasons" during a profitable year, and haven't found entry level wage slaves to take their place yet.

Probably these positions were being removed for good or reduced in numbers, so they aren't going to hire any more than there are currently present.

[Migol 433]

Of course, I was just referencing the recent news of the woman who's job WAS returned (without them attempting to call her to take it back).     And instead they're hiring someone new and less costly.     Truly scummy move