href="http://vanguard.tentonhammer.com/index.php?module=ContentExpress&func=display&ceid=287"> alt="Mercurial Thoughts"
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style="color: rgb(153, 0, 0);">Home is Where the Community Is

No Official Vanguard Forums
At Launch

by Mercurie

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A few weeks a go we reported target="_blank"
href="http://vanguard.tentonhammer.com/index.php?module=ContentExpress&func=display&ceid=354">here
that there will no longer be official forums for Vanguard: Saga of
Heroes after the game launches, except for those dedicated to technical
support. Whether this is a good or bad thing remains to be seen, but I
thought that I would examine the issue in this article.



I suppose I should begin with the advantages of a MMO having official
forums. The most obvious of these is that players have a place they
know they can go if they wish to read and share opinions and
information. Even newbies should be able to find the official forums of
any given MMO. And there can be little doubt that many people do enjoy
these forums. One look at Sony's official EQ2 forum and one can see how
active it is. I suppose I don't have to point out that most official
game forums have private messaging systems whereby players can message
other players. This makes communication between players much easier.



That having been said, official forums have their down sides as well.
The most obvious disadvantage to official forums is the simple fact
that they cost companies both time and money. Obviously it costs money
for server space on which to host the forums. And it costs manpower in
having people to maintain and moderate the forums. It seems to me,
then, that it is actually to the advantage of a gaming company not to
have official forums.



href="http://vanguard.tentonhammer.com/modules.php?set_albumName=article-illustrations&id=FlameThrowerGirl&op=modload&name=Gallery&file=index&include=view_photo.php"> alt="Flamer!"
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style="border: 0px solid ; width: 150px; height: 102px;" align="left"
hspace="4" vspace="2">While they may not be quite so obvious,
official forums do create
disadvantages for players as well. Anyone who has read very many posts
on official MMO forums knows that they are often havens for flamers and
trolls. In fact, many times flaming posts outnumber the well written,
well reasoned ones. And often times fights break out between posters on
official forums. This can actually defeat the entire purpose of having
forums --communication between players. Obviously, if one has to read
through several flames to get to a decent post, or if people on the
forums are fighting more than they are discussing things, there has
been a breakdown in communication.



To make matters worse, it seems to me that most companies cannot
moderate their forums adequately enough. This means that flamers and
trolls can often go undetected for quite some time. I must point out
that this is not the companies' faults. As href="http://vanguard.tentonhammer.com/index.php?module=ContentExpress&func=display&ceid=354">Shayalyn
said when she first
wrote about Vanguard: Saga of Heroes doing away with the official
forums, "...when you put that much digital humanity in one place at a
time you're going to end up with, to quote Obi-Wan Kenobi, ‘a wretched
hive of scum and villainy.’" Quite simply, with as many people who post
to the official forums,
it is often difficult for the official forums moderators to keep up
with the flamers and trolls.



It seems to me that fan-based forums are often better moderated than
official forums. For this reason, I feel that the solution Vanguard:
Saga of Heroes developed (which Shayalyn brought up when she first
covered this news) is a valid one. Quite simply, Sigil has a program
whereby community web sites (that is, sites like Vanguard Ten ton
Hammer) can become "affiliates." Affiliates are approved by Sigil and
must agree to certain guidelines outlined by Sigil. They must also have
a proven track record within the gaming community. The existence of
such affiliates makes it easier for individuals, even newbies, to find
forums on which to discuss Vanguard. With the affiliate program, it
really doesn't matter if there are official forums, as the affiliate
forums can take their place.



Of course, much of what I have written here is purely guess work.
Insofar as I know, Vanguard: Saga of Heroes is one of the first major
MMOs, if not the first, which will not have official forums. So far the
reaction I’ve seen from fans has been largely positive, but I don't
know that we can say it will remain so once the official forums
disappear with the game's launch. Fans may well decide that they miss
the official forums and demand their return. It is fully possible that
the affiliate program may not work out as well as many of us expect.
Regardless, I think I must admit that it is a novel idea and a risk
that Sigil should be applauded for taking. Regardless of whether one
thinks it is a good idea of not, doing away with the official forums
did take some courage on the part of Sigil. It is a move that I don't
think many other companies would have made.

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