Byakurai

...when it isn't?

I'll try to elaborate. A community is a group of people that identifies themselves as being part of something bigger that connects them. In this case, it's obviously the game we all like to waste our time with.

So why isn't this a community site? Quite simple: it's run for us, not with us. A community should be self-sustaining, but it isn't. We get a set number of rules and we are to abide by them or look for some unofficial forums. There is no possibility to discuss the forum rules, there is no way to appeal against locked topics. We don't have community managers, we've got a police force without any judge to appeal to.

Heck, even this topic is probably against the code of conduct and will probably be locked with a reference to this text:

Community feedback: do you have feedback about the forums, blog articles, live event presence, contests or community staff? We always appreciate such, and encourage you to send it to [email protected]. Please note that while feedback mails are all read and taken into account we can’t respond to these.

However, it is exactly this rule that I'm set against. Get this stuff out in the open, don't hide it in emails that no one else can see or agree to/disagree with. Let the community help make this site better. We don't need more hurdles to let us help you make this site better, opening a topic should be enough. Let us discuss the site's policies with you, see what works for us, see what works for you, and make the forums a better place.

You're allowing discussion on all kinds of subjects, but all of these subjects are technical. Issues with the new site software? There's a thread for that. Issues with a patch in the game? Sure, there will be a thread. Issues with the forum code of conduct? Nuh-uh, send an email, hide the complaint. Act like it never existed. Because, obviously, there will be no replies to said email anyway. It's like talking to a brick wall.

I'm offering (or rather: suggesting) a thread for constructive discussion about the forum's code of conduct as it is enforced today. If you feel like locking it, I would understand...but you'd only be proving my point. Even if you don't see it as such yourself, your community expects this site to be a place to communicate with eachother and with Blizzard. Regardless what the community managers think about that, it is the perception of most players. It is also why "attention seeker" topics exist. Cater to these people. Change their thread's title if it's an attention seeker when they do have a valid question. Don't just lock it for the sake of locking it because there is a rule saying the word "Blizzard" is not allowed in a thread title. It doesn't make their thread any less valid.

Please note that this thread is a response to some locked topic earlier today. Not because I agree with those topics (because I do not) but because I think that discussing matters like that should be possible. I'm not linking to any of the threads in question because they're irrelevant to the point I'm trying to make.

First of all, I was not sure where to put this question. The general forum is meant for gameplay issues, as is this CS forum. I've decided to put it here anyway hoping that a blue poster will see it and correct its position if it's in the wrong forum. :)

Now, why I am opening this topic is this: why do we have separate forums for the US and the EU? Apart from the realm forums none of the forums here are location specific and quite often discussions that are interesting are being held on two fronts at once, for instance the topics about Tol Barad being imbalanced which you can find at http://eu.battle.net/wow/en/forum/topic/1172921832 for EU and at http://us.battle.net/wow/en/forum/topic/1406727064 for US.

This problem has two facets. One: I can't reply on the US forums. If I see a nice post I'd like to comment on, I can't. I often get frustrated by not being able to participate in discussions, simply because they're on the wrong forums. And let's face it: the American forums are nicer to post on anyway, because every once in a while the developers have something to say too. I get a feeling the EU discussion platform is somewhat second rate and many interesting discussions here do not get the attention from Blizzard that they deserve.

That brings me to the second facet of this problem: it's extra work and extra communication for you, Blizzard. Many discussions are held both here and in the US forums. Stuff that you are not sure about here in Europe needs to be checked with American colleagues, which no doubt causes a lot of frustration and time.

So here I am, trying to figure out what the advantage is of having separate forums which are not usable for people on the other end of the world, even though the language used on both is the same. Merging the two forums into one would make your job easier, it would be less frustrating for us because we don't have to miss out on any discussions and also it would potentially increase the amount of blue responses because there are more Blizzard posters that are reading these topics.

Could anyone explain to me why this is the way it is now, as it seems counterproductive?