Adding a new forum?

[BranFlakes]

Wiz,
I was wondering what you thought of haveing a Forum composed of questions/ situations you have for the server base.

This could be a place where you request feedback about certain situations you wish to change in game, but may not have the time to deal with it amoungst all the other things that fill the SoD to-do list. Perhaps a Forum that only Admins can start topics in, but anyone can reply. This could cut down some of your overhead time from development or even bring up the possibility of new ideals not previously considered. Rules against flameing other posters or makeing non-constructive posts would keep the comments inline with the objective, while still provideing you with an alternative method to testing out new idea and seeing potential situational problems before spending too much time on them.

Example:
Wiz or one of the Admins decide they would like to see Paladins step back a bit from being 'main tank' types and more of an auxilary tank/ backup healing class.
They post on the site with the message of:

I would like to reconsider our view of Paladins within the game. What would be alternatives to shift them from a main damage absorption class to a backup damage absorption class while still provideing them functionality within the context of the game. Keep this post within the context of group functionality skills/spells.

If a post starts to sidetrack, an Admin posts what areas folks need to concentrate on atm. Possibly makeing an alternate post for any substantial issues that might arise but arent strictly within the confines of the post. I know there are quite a few posters that simply try to stir up a mess, but there are alot of good ideas out there floating around that might never be seen simply due to the fact that some Good_Idea_Poster_01 needs to see another's point of view or comments before they think about it. And even if you dont use those ideas, they might stir up the thoughts of something you hadn't thought of before...

As i said at the beginning, I'm just asking this to see if there is anything the player base can do as far as feedback to help you out with issues. There are alot of things that need to be done, and only so few of you to work on them. Mainly this is just an attempt to give you guys some relaxation time somewhere in there.

 

[GuiardoTuneweaver]

Isn't this what the Balancing Discussion forum is for?

 

[BranFlakes]

usualy balanceing discussion occures after something has taken place. This would be more of a pre-emptive collage, for lack of a better phrase. I would guess the Balance Discussion forums could be used for that, only that I have never seen a post like that posted there in my short time playing.

 

[zodium]

Isn't this what the Balancing Discussion forum is for?

So it is.

 

[calaran]

Isn't this what the Balancing Discussion forum is for?

So it is.

This does work and has for a while, as I see MANY posts where Wiz is saying "We need to change suchandsuch about soandso class, please make suggestions within the following guidelines:". That's awesome to have that dialogue.

Maybe I do see the need for another forum SORTA along the lines of what the OP said... but a little different so that it serves a different niche than the Balance Discussion that we have now does.

I would like to start some threads in some forum entitled: Necromancer Abilities and Balance (Low-End) and likewise: Cleric Abilities and Balance (Low-End).

I think it may be handy to have those threads for low, mid, high and raid-end for each class, with specifications like low = 1-30, mid=30-55, high=55-65, raid=65 + AA's + actively raiding + lots of raid-only dropped gear.

Maybe this would be overkill having 4 threads for each class, but the problem I see is that all the questions and complaints about balance seem to come from the high/raid enders.... These people who have put tons of time into their characters and as such are (or at least MIGHT be) experts at playing those classes are great spokespersons (in some cases) for their classes' top-ends... but what about the newbs?

We could restrict/moderate these threads such that they are to ONLY contain posts directly relating to spells/abilities that may be out-of-whack one way or another, or overall ability of the class to solo, contribute to a group, etc being out of whack. When complaining about a power of the class being too strong or too weak, the post should be deleted without some sort of log (I don't mean "I must've cast it 1000 times and it landed 3 times", but an actual parsed log showing the real numbers"). Posts regarding the overall power could be more general ("with my <insert class> i am able to (untwinked) solo 8-10 yellow/red mobs in a row without a break... this is too powerful and is done using a combination of the following spells" as well as "with my <insert class> I got man-handled by a lt.blue, had a 46% resist rate (see attached log) and ended the fight by zoning at 0% mana and 35% health remaining while he was at 50%").

I admit I do not know ANYTHING about the Necromancer class as a whole. I admit that I know nothing about probably 98% of what a Necromancer is. But, having just gone through the levels and figured out some stuff the hard way, or come up with some tricks, I imagine I know the 1-14 Necromancer better than any lvl 65 who hasn't gone back and played one 1-14 recently.

Anyway, it's just a thought to expound upon the request here. Maybe it's completely uneccessary.

 

[BranFlakes]

My intention was to seperate what has been changed (Feedback) and what might be changed.

and true enough on the post about different levels involved. Most of the discussions typically end up with the sentence: At level 65,...
I have made posts before that were completely sidetracked with un-useable advice, simply because the replier didnt realize the differences in levels.
What does work for one level range will not, and probably should not in some cases, work for others. Classes need to develop as they level up, starting simple and progressively getting more advanced.

If the new forum was divided into class sections, we could even have stickies of what is progressively on the to-do list (and maybe also a 'dont ask about this to be modified' list) for each one. It would give everyone something to focus on for future development without takeing up space in an area that can be used for Active change discussion.