Originally posted by Shubawkss
They've been consistently posting updates on Twitter and Facebook - you know, that thing the other 90% of the world uses, and you are trying to be #1 against? Yeah, that thing - yous hould try it sometime.

"90% of the world"?... For what value of "world" are you speaking? ^^  They don't have official forums, because they cost so much to maintain, and almost always end up like Mos Eisley space port ( a "wretched hive of scum and villainy")... ^^

Originally posted by Eberhardt

Originally posted by GeezerGamer

Originally posted by darwa

Originally posted by Psychow

Originally posted by Deolus
Twitter is their first line of communication.

 

Do we have to have a Twitter account to keep up with their announcements? I don't use Twitter so don't know the answer to this.

Nope, though it may make it easier.

https://twitter.com/GuildWars2

OP: You mean best communication ever, right?

 

This is kinda ridiculous TBH. One is now expected to scoll through reems and reems of tweets to find an "Oh by the way" message from them?

 

Come on! I don't live on GW2's Twiiter page. I'm not going to see these.

You don't have to live on their twitter page nor is anyone asking you to scroll through reems of stuff. It really requires little effort to just add them on fb or follow them on twitter. You know that thing that 90% of the world uses? It's smart on Anet's part to do that as it makes things easier since everyone and their grandmother(literally) has a facebook page. Also if your FB/Twitter is linked to your android phone or iphone then you get that "do do do" or whatever noise my phone makes everytime Anet says something worth hearing.

It's better than nothing, But I don't want GW2 on my facebook, and the OP said it wasn't on their facebook page.

What's the issue with haveing announcement s on the home page?

Originally posted by Wraithone

"90% of the world"?... For what value of "world" are you speaking? ^^  They don't have official forums, because they cost so much to maintain, and almost always end up like Mos Eusley space port ( a "wretched hive of scum and villainy")... ^^

They do have official forums.  They just don't have it open for launch.  I guess there's some 'issues' they need to work out with that too.

Originally posted by GeezerGamer

 

It's better than nothing, But I don't want GW2 on my facebook, and the OP said it wasn't on their facebook page.

What's the issue with haveing announcement s on the home page?

Better question is how did the CS team not see this coming?

I'm sorry, its not right that they should expect their users to look to a third party website for basic news and information. I always check the login news and said nothing about the mail being down.

I do use facebook btw and twitter(though not much). I just didn't see any info you seemed to have found.

If you're fine with getting all your info on FB and Twitter, thats fine. I don't think its right but to each their own. I was just voicing my personal opinion.

Originally posted by Fendel84M

If you're fine with getting all your info on FB and Twitter, thats fine. I don't think its right but to each their own. I was just voicing my personal opinion.

i dont think its a good method

but its something until their website resolves its issues

Originally posted by jdnyc

Having a million plus people playing your game with no in-game support, no phone number to call, no forums, no live chat on your website is a big setback for a MMORPG.  Especially one as huge as GW2 is.  They should of known what was coming and been better prepared to handle the massive influx of players/support tickets.  There's no defense for it.  none.

Third-Party social networking sites as the main resource to communicate with your customers is not acceptable.

That said.  The game is awesome.  Love WvW.  IMHO - I accept that I'm on my own (at least for a few days) if I have a major issue, that's what you get with a no sub MMORPG.  

 

Youre just going to have to get over that, bud. It's the new norm. Why pay tons of money to set up a dedicated support center when you can do it all yourself and keep contact with facebook. That and it is quite acceptable and very intelligent on their part. Everyone has a facebook, but not everyone visits their homepage. Some people even have FB set as their browsers homepage. So it makes it easy for players to see updates on fixes and things in the works. It's much more work to update your own website with updates than it is to update a facebook page and more feasible. People check their FB more than they check anything else...and younger people live on FB.

Originally posted by Eberhardt

Originally posted by jdnyc

Having a million plus people playing your game with no in-game support, no phone number to call, no forums, no live chat on your website is a big setback for a MMORPG.  Especially one as huge as GW2 is.  They should of known what was coming and been better prepared to handle the massive influx of players/support tickets.  There's no defense for it.  none.

Third-Party social networking sites as the main resource to communicate with your customers is not acceptable.

That said.  The game is awesome.  Love WvW.  IMHO - I accept that I'm on my own (at least for a few days) if I have a major issue, that's what you get with a no sub MMORPG.  

 

Youre just going to have to get over that, bud. It's the new norm. Why pay tons of money to set up a dedicated support center when you can do it all yourself and keep contact with facebook. That and it is quite acceptable and very intelligent on their part. Everyone has a facebook, but not everyone visits their homepage. Some people even have FB set as their browsers homepage. So it makes it easy for players to see updates on fixes and things in the works. It's much more work to update your own website with updates than it is to update a facebook page and more feasible. People check their FB more than they check anything else...and younger people live on FB.

First, don't call me bud.  Second relying solely on Facebook and Twitter is irresponsible and stupid.  You have no control over it.  What if something happens and that site is down for a day, or two or a week?  Is ANet going to complain to Facebook when/if that happens?  Is it unlikely?  Yes, but putting your chief communication tools up to third party sites you have no control over is not intelligent.  Using Facebook in addition to other tools at your disposal is.

Facebook is a fad and it's starting to die out as we speak.  Look at its over inflated stock that people took a bath on when it went public.  There will always be a new Facebook, just like MySpace was the thing before.

And no it's not acceptable to require your customers to visit/subscribe to third party websites to find out up to date information on what's going with the game they just purchased.  It's the new norm?  No other AAA MMO company does this.  none.

Originally posted by GeezerGamer

Originally posted by darwa

Originally posted by Psychow

Originally posted by Deolus
Twitter is their first line of communication.

 

Do we have to have a Twitter account to keep up with their announcements? I don't use Twitter so don't know the answer to this.

Nope, though it may make it easier.

https://twitter.com/GuildWars2

OP: You mean best communication ever, right?

 

This is kinda ridiculous TBH. One is now expected to scoll through reems and reems of tweets to find an "Oh by the way" message from them?

 

Come on! I don't live on GW2's Twiiter page. I'm not going to see these.

Or you could have simply looked at the news section on your launcher. Anet communicates with the community frequently, they are actually one of the best. You can't blame them for your mistake lol. FB, Twitter, Reddit, News on launcher... do they need to phone you personally for it to be adequate?

I love the game.

But if Blizzard or Bioware pulled this stuff (no easily locatable patch notes, forums conveniently down, email validation errors), they'd be getting excoriated.

Just sayin'.

Originally posted by Dalano

I love the game.

But if Blizzard or Bioware pulled this stuff (no easily locatable patch notes, forums conveniently down, email validation errors), they'd be getting excoriated.

Just sayin'.

No way, the Blizzard fanbase are some of the most caring, easy going, lovable bunch of characters you've ever seen. They wouldn't mind in the slightest and would openly applaud Blizzard for "doing their darndest!" to make things better for them. <3 <3 <3....

Originally posted by bonzoso21
I also think it's completely unacceptable for such a hugely anticipated MMO to use third party networking sites as the primary way to communicate with their players, so much so that, along with the reports of widespread hacking and heavy handed suspensions being tossed around, it's enough to make me consider waiting to pick up the game until I read that their site is running efficiently and some of the kinks have been worked out. A dev/publisher that intends to maintain and support a AAA MMO needs to have a professional-looking official site with moderated forums, a server status page and regular communication with the players. Sure, ANet's Community Managers should use Facebook and Twitter to relay info to players and reach out to their community, but there's no way it can be their primary source if they want to stay among the top of the genre.   

Totally agree. I don't use facebook any longer for various reasons, and if a game practically forced me to start using it again just to stay updated on launch issues and payching, I would stop supporting the game in question.

Overall, I find these "everyone use facebook" arguments disturbing. It's not 2007 anymore, time to wake up and smell the napalm. Facebook is NOT used by everyone anymore. As a matter of fact, it's becoming a thing of yesterday as more and more people realize how fucking worthless, controlling and greedy it really is.

It's simply not acceptable for an AAA title launching in 2012 to force its players to use facebook or any other third-party software for that matter. I mean, this is like the most anticipated launch in years, and they can't even afford an official forum? Shit like that just sends out the wrong signal, honestly.

Originally posted by Psychow

Originally posted by Dalano

I love the game.

But if Blizzard or Bioware pulled this stuff (no easily locatable patch notes, forums conveniently down, email validation errors), they'd be getting excoriated.

Just sayin'.

 

No way, the Blizzard fanbase are some of the most caring, easy going, lovable bunch of characters you've ever seen. They wouldn't mind in the slightest and would openly applaud Blizzard for "doing their darndest!" to make things better for them. <3 <3 <3....

I lol'ed.

ANet probably saw what the Blizzard forum looked like during Diablo 3 launch and that's probably the reason they're keeping their forum closed.

I'd use Facebook or Twitter if I were a teenage american girl, but I'm not, so I don't. Is a little professionalism too much to ask from video game companies now days? In the words of Jay Wilson, f@#$ these losers.

Originally posted by GrayGhost79

Originally posted by GeezerGamer

Originally posted by darwa

Originally posted by Psychow

Originally posted by Deolus
Twitter is their first line of communication.

 

Do we have to have a Twitter account to keep up with their announcements? I don't use Twitter so don't know the answer to this.

Nope, though it may make it easier.

https://twitter.com/GuildWars2

OP: You mean best communication ever, right?

 

This is kinda ridiculous TBH. One is now expected to scoll through reems and reems of tweets to find an "Oh by the way" message from them?

 

Come on! I don't live on GW2's Twiiter page. I'm not going to see these.

Or you could have simply looked at the news section on your launcher. Anet communicates with the community frequently, they are actually one of the best. You can't blame them for your mistake lol. FB, Twitter, Reddit, News on launcher... do they need to phone you personally for it to be adequate?

 

Or they could be responsible and just post the updates on their own website like every other company does. Why on earth would (or should) I expect to go to FB or Twitter? Who would know that? I buy their game and go to their site for support. That's what is expected. Not this kind of nonsense. Why do I have to follow Reddit to find my official GW2 news? Did you really just tell me that? Really?

Your Hyperbole is unnecessary. And BTW, there is no notice in the launcher about taking down the inter-player mail system. So not only is your exaggeration unneccesary, it's not even correct.

Some of the devs are very active on http://www.reddit.com/r/Guildwars2 and post updates there. While I do agree that they need to communicate better either through the launcher or through their own website, Reddit is probably the next best thing.

Also, if ANet posts something on Facebook or Twitter, the users on that subreddit will post it for all to see, so you never have to bother with that social media garbage.

Originally posted by Eberhardt

Originally posted by jdnyc

Having a million plus people playing your game with no in-game support, no phone number to call, no forums, no live chat on your website is a big setback for a MMORPG.  Especially one as huge as GW2 is.  They should of known what was coming and been better prepared to handle the massive influx of players/support tickets.  There's no defense for it.  none.

Third-Party social networking sites as the main resource to communicate with your customers is not acceptable.

That said.  The game is awesome.  Love WvW.  IMHO - I accept that I'm on my own (at least for a few days) if I have a major issue, that's what you get with a no sub MMORPG.  

 

Youre just going to have to get over that, bud. It's the new norm. Why pay tons of money to set up a dedicated support center when you can do it all yourself and keep contact with facebook. That and it is quite acceptable and very intelligent on their part. Everyone has a facebook, but not everyone visits their homepage. Some people even have FB set as their browsers homepage. So it makes it easy for players to see updates on fixes and things in the works. It's much more work to update your own website with updates than it is to update a facebook page and more feasible. People check their FB more than they check anything else...and younger people live on FB.

Not eveyone has a Facebook account. A lot of people might, but not everyone. Specially those of us whos job is fixing issues caused by peoples Facebook accounts and other poorly secured social networking sites. You might not want to think about it, but there are a lot of us out there that know better...

This is a very amatuer thing for any AAA game to do. All this does is just makes it look like a way to install damage control to keep people from being discouraged from buying the game. People looking to buy the game will go to GW2 website and read about the game except there is nothing to read. They will not go to Facebook, Reddit or Twitter for their information. 

This is just damage control at its finest and sounds like a cash grab to me since its a game with no sub all they need to do is get as many people as they can to buy in and then why should they care. They already have your money. Hell you need to buy the damn game just to even read the forums anyway when they were there.