Feldon Looks like I’m not the only one who noticed that http://soefanfaire.com/ is now redirecting to http://soe.com/.
From Amnerys on the EQ2 Forums:
Nope, we haven’t canceled anything, nor are we ready to make any announcements just yet. The site is currently down because we’ve been redesigning a lot of our sites and right now it’s just not live. Don’t fret.
Even though Fan Faire is still on, no one from Europe will be allowed to attend.
they will be allowed to go there but the entrance of the place will be forbidden :p
Awesome that they can directly talk to the customer base about Fan Faire but not anything regarding ProSieben.1 – you know…the thing that is screwing over 10,000+ customers.
Maybe they’ll move it to a 2 man tent still be plenty of room
Noticed the word yet, yep. Ok there you go.
Don’t fret? I hope Pietro has a better attitue with the customers. She acts like we are all five years old.
You are all wrong! Next FanFaire will happen in Munich, Bavaria 😉
@Cirth
Don’t you mean, Verboten? 🙂
“Don’t fret? I hope Pietro has a better attitue with the customers. She acts like we are all five years old.”
She was posting to something I said, and well she doesn’t like me too well 😉
Still no excuse for being snotty.
Redesigning? Maybe the Alaplaya motif was just irresistible.
Simplified like that they may actually be able to maintain working links for a change.
Actually, I’ve never heard Amnerys ever say anything snotty. I am curious how that was read into the statement. =)
So when you come to our yearly fan event (because believe me we ARE having one), be sure to make a point of seeking Amnerys out; then tell me she is snotty.
We have been held up for contractural reasons from making the event announcement, but most people have already guessed where and when it will be held, from the polls we held last year.
It’s ON… and I mean that in the nicest way possible.
;-)#
“Just yet” So they MIGHT be cancelling it … just not NOW … or just not telling us ? So what else is new ? Next thing you know we will have a new producer (who does not step up and talk to us in a crisis) or maybe a new Community Relations manager who seems fairly polite when banning people.
Slapped by Brasse … ow that stings!
I don’t attend Fan Faire anymore, but thanks for the invite. =)
How was that read into the statement? We interpret others words the way we see them. In print, without verbal cues and body language, it’s not always the way the writer intended. Right or wrong, we still have the right to interpret it the way it appears to be to us.
So, Ms. Carlson, you can come over here, comment on how one of your employees isn’t a snot, but you can’t or won’t put out the fire burning down your own house?
Interesting what gets SOE’s red names attention these days…
@Brasse
You know the old saying that Perception is reality? Im glad to see that im not alone in perceiving the attitude as being – snotty was your word – somewhat condescending and superior. Now im sure that could be caused by being put in a volatile position before being ready for it … BUT remember ‘Perception IS reality’ .. because that goes for most things you guys do. Not everything can be brushed off with a beer and a dwarfish outfit – even if the beer goes a long way.
My entire family has played EQ2 for over 5 years now. Nine of us in all and we have all closed our accounts and will wait on D3 to be released.
Sony games are dieing so time to move on.
Actually, I’ve never heard Amnerys ever say anything snotty.
Yeah, like the rest of SOE staff, she doesn’t say much of anything. Go pretend you’re a dwarf.
Attacking Amnerys is really unnecessary and misplaced anger.
She didn’t engage the community on any meaningful level, but that is probably SOE policy at this point. She did her job and never treated anyone unfairly that I saw.
Misunderstanding the EQ2 community starts at Brasse and goes straight to the top.
At this point, serious discussions about EQ2 issues only happen once a year — in the hallways and bars of a Las Vegas hotel. That’s when actual community interaction happens. The rest of the year, we get a few platitudes and reassurances and LARPing. Don’t forget the LARPing. Sorry but 15 minute webcasts do not replace community interaction which has been sorely lacking on the EQ2 side.
The lack of community involvement in EQ2 has turned the EQ2 community against SOE so strongly that developers I’ve talked to fear to post because everything will be twisted and misinterpreted. Developers are afraid to post because Community won’t be there to clarify or have their back.
What SHOULD be happening is, developers get a list of issues every week, and write up some responses. Community helps them rewrite or shape answers so that all the i’s are dotted and t’s are crossed and so as litttle misinterpretation is possible, and then the developers or Community posts it and then BACKS UP the developer if people start attacking. Right now, EQ2’s developers feel like if they post, they are a lone wolf that will get crushed by angry players. No wonder they don’t post!
Right now, every time a controversy comes up, the EQ2 Community Team seem genuinely shocked and confused at player response. It takes hours/days for any kind of response, usually “We’re talking to the top people and will get back to you if we have something to report.” The job of the EQ2 Community Manager is to be PROACTIVE and aware of issues that are coming which will affect players, and then have a response ready to COINCIDE with the announcement.
It’s long since time to go back to some version of the semi-monthly Developer chats, or a semi-monthly list of Developer questions (they can be edited for snark). Right now, MONTHS go by with hardly any news, so we think nothing is happening. There is a thought process settling in at SOE that NOT responding to players is safer than responding. This is extremely unhealthy.
As things stand at the moment the community relations team at SOE and EQ2 is an absolute shambles,Amnerys was at best vapid she ghosted in and said next to nothing of any note,no seemingly meaningful interaction with us the PAYING customer (and you know the people over should remember this fact,we help to pay their wages)but i bear her no grudge her heart didnt seem to be in the job.
For all of her faults Kiara was brilliant at her job,not every ones cup of tea but she got involved with fan sites (comps etc) and a general banter on the forums that i enjoyed when she left it left a hole that simply hasnt been replaced and things as a result have got worse rapidly.
Theres no communication from devs now whatsoever other than SJ’s “cool” and “brilliant” features that where anything but (the xpac with no content he should sell sand to people in hot countries he could do it you know) its a shambles it really is i am a vet that recals regular producers letters and interaction from the team it just isnt there now and its not good enough,i mean where IS the new producer????
With the pro7 farce exploding SOE have to realise theres a massive problem here and frankly the reation has been lcking in the extreme the moderators running out of control banning people for no reason whatsoever was and is a scandal and please dont fall back on forum guidelines nonsense very little was ban worthy it was systematic of whats wrong with the company.
Its time for SOE and its workers to grow up,time to stop dressing like a drawf (and act your age its not funny any more)and stop producers calling ,again paying customers, “trolls”its time to come into the year 2012 its not 1999 anymore SOE is a bit part player in the MMO world,its time to realise that this market is saturated with games all hungry for OUR money,its time for SOE to put the CUSTOMER first something for so long they have simply failed to do.
Well said Feldon and Skippydippy. I really want to thank Feldon for providing us with a place to express our opinions without fear of banning and knowing they will remain here for others to see (within reason of course) I know how much time and care he has put into this site over the years.
After I first read the comments by Brasse I had written a rather strong response to the way Kwill was being treated for her interpretation of Amnerys’s comment “don’t fret.” I rewrote it several times so as not to add fire to an already volitle atmosphere, but I guess I didn’t say enough. Though not personally affected by the PSS1 deal I am still outraged by the IP locking and by the way SOE has handled the community. I can’t say I’m a fan of Alaplaya but like others on another thread, at least they are trying to communicate with us, even if it is likely more damage control than actuality.
I agree with Rowan. There is so much bad blood between the community and SOE lately and all we get from an SOE employee is bashing Kwill for feeling that telling us not to fret is condescending to players who want real answers. I don’t know Amnerys. She may be a wonderful person and may have meant that as reassuring and not condescending but as I said previously, in print it’s alot harder to determine the underlying meaning. Even the quotes that are being reposted here from SOE are just more corporate speak that uses alot of words to say little. I’m old enough to know how the game is played
What this community needs right now is for those incharge, those who hold our beloved game in their hands, to virtually sit down with us and have some meaningful discussion, admit to any mistakes or misperception you have made instead of trying to talk around them, and iron this out before there isn’t a game left. Bring back the old days where you actually talked to us and truly listened to what we had to say. Has it really come to this? The only time you can speak up for yourselves is when a player expresses an interpretation of someone’s post that you don’t agree with, and then bash that player while expressing your own opinion?
> at fanfaire
Hi I’m Aaron. I’m from the UK!
/scared faces everywhere
OK, well who knew this would end up being a firestorm of epic proportions … I had no idea Amnerys or Linda or anyone else would care all that much about an offhand comment, but obviously, they did. I was frankly shocked that Linda Carlson would post here for damage control, but good on you for doing your job. Frankly, I felt terrible after seeing my offhand, and admittedly callous comment, was taken so seriously.
I am happy to issue a formal and hearfelt apology for accusing the SOE community representative of being condesending to a player. Amnerys, I am sorry if I hurt your feelings, or interpreted your comment in the wrong way. As Ellebeth said, comments can be misinterpreted.
“Fretting” to me is something a child does when they don’t get something they want, and I interpreted the comment as condescending to a player who had a legitimate question. I didn’t understand why there couldn’t be a straightforward, businesslike answer about the status of fan faire, without adding a cute comment. I felt it was indicative of the overall attitude of SOE employess lately, who seem to demonstrate a lack interest in communicating to the playerbase as respected customers. I was also remebering a comment made about SJ’s absence, which was also flip and strange. So there’s the long explanation. I believe you have to watch what you say when the situation is volatile, but I should take my own advice.
My personal attack on Amnerys was also unprofessional, and again, I apologise. I will say I said it “sounded snotty” but still, it was wrong.
Well said Feldon, I think you’re absolutely right, the community managers are simple pawns stuck in the middle, and Devs will get slammed, every thing they type will be disseminated in fifty different ways and they will be proven wrong no matter what they say.
But you’re also right, it’s a very dangerous situation when communication breaks down. Someone with very thick skin, a positive attitude and the ability to calm people with logic and reason is needed. It may be too late to try and get the community back to where it was, there’s been a boat load of damage done and it’s getting worse.
The best thing they could do would be to have someone step in, be the punching bag for awhile, share some of the negotiations that are still under way and give some plain hard truths. They may not be liked, but I suspect there will at least be a little respect for being treated like adults and not children.
There is still time to save the whole situation and what is a great game.
I suspect that if the new community relations manager stepped up, told some honest truths, and responded to a few honest questions … there would be a much lighter feel in the room. People are afterall mostly adult, but like nature we do abhore a vacumn, and that is what we have here, a vacumn, a total lack of communicatons from SoE. Frankly the only time they choose to talk to us is whan the villagers appear at the gates with burning torches and pitch forks ! SoE … all we really want is to know that you are listening. We DO NOT want to here you say “Calm down, we ARE listening” … we need to see that changes are being made, that after you listen to us, you act. If we demand or ask for too much or sometyhing that is beyond the scope of your vision, you should tell us. We will understand. We might not like it, but we are adults, we can take it. I am an umpire and I always tell coaches, “I will answer ANY question, but sometimes the answer is NO”. They understand and appreciate that … after all, it is only a game.
There damn well better be a Fan Faire. I’ve been going since 2008 and it’s pretty much one of the biggest reasons keeping me here . . .
See you in Vegas!
Well said Feldon. I would say that is a symptom of a top down management that does not trust their employees. They micromanage, distrust, don’t respect, and don’t back up their employees. Then the employees can’t act because of the climate of distrust. If they have been yelled at for every little thing, then they seek to not stick their neck out. If the management treats every little thing that is a molehill as if it is a mountain..then their are no molehills, only mountains.
In this sort of climate, less and less gets done. There is a learned helplessness from it. People shut up, fort up, keep their heads down, and look for some place else to be as soon as they can. And yes, I am guessing from just observing but it reminds me so much of where I work.
Hi guys 🙂
I have to say, Amnerys is one of the most genuinely nice people I have ever known in my life. She and Rothgar both, honestly.
Amnerys doesn’t have a snarky bone in her body and if cartoon birds really did flutter about and help a princess dress in the morning, they’d be flocking to her.
I know that text is a highly interpretive medium, so I just wanted to vouch for the fact that NOTHING from her, ever, is intended to be snarky in any way, shape, or form.
Completely unlike myself. I am a walking ball of swirling, snarling snarkishness 😉