Feedback: Official Forums

[canarycrow.4687]

i don't typically use the forums very much but from looking at them for a little bit today i've noticed that the user icons are all blurry? i'm not sure if it's just me but it seems a little silly that icons provided for us end up being this blurry!

thanks for all the hard work though :)

[Haishao.6851]

I'm not good at writing feedback but here's what I think.

 

I think avatar for the thumbs up/down should be reduced at least by half. This new layout already have a lot of noise compared to how clean the previous one was and the size of those avatar only make it worst.

 

The avatar for thread OP and last reply in the forum list should also be reduced. Right now there's more space being used for that than the title of the threads.

 

Remove the timer for editing posts or make it 48 hours at least.

 

There should be a dark style. Or even a few different styles people can chose. It's better for the eyes. Especially in the evening.

 

More avatar. Add guild icons as avatar or something. Or even let us upload our own. I don't think there's enough people using inappropriate avatar to warrant preventing us from uploading our own. Or use "forum specialist" like you had a while ago to do the monitoring job. There's no point to avatars if everyone have the same.

 

The spacing between posts seems a bit small and make the busy forum seems even busier

 

I think there should be auto updating in threads instead of having to refresh to see new comments. It's particularly useful when typing long comments.

 

Keep us loged in until we close the browser like it used to be in the old forum. I get logged out while typing comments, then have to refresh the page and log back in to submit.

 

Edit: I got logged out twice while typing this.

 

 

[Serpentes.3894]

Showing the avatars of all people who "thumbed up" or marked the post as "helpful" is taking a lot of space.

Suggestion: Just show all the people who thumbed up if the user hovers over the number near the thumbs up text.

This will save a lot of space and not bother everyone with 100 icons showing up.

 

Thanks!

[Nikal.4921]

Seems like a lot of wasted space on the main forum page. I'd start remedying that by removing the Latest Arenanet Posts. People should not have to scroll just to get to the forum titles/links.

 

I like the Thumbs Up feature- I want to be able to Like a post- but feel the Thumbs Down feature could be abused. Also, what's with the multiple avatars collecting at the bottom of posts? I'd like to see that removed- it's just visual clutter.

[Eleri Tezhme.3048]

Yes. The Wall of Icons makes it really hard to follow the conversation. Why do we need a huge visual representation of people who reacted to a post, anyhow? At the very least it should be hidden as default, and have a "show icons" toggle.

 

And I second (Third? Fourth? Eleventeenth?) the feedback that the Up/Down voting is a disaster waiting to happen. It's way too easy to abuse without hyper-proactive moderator oversight, and it doesn't really contribute anything to the discussion. It's enough to have a "report" button for offensive posts, and maybe change "Helpful" to "Recommend". Is "Helpful" just a user-added gold start to the post, or does it trigger some sort of mod action, like having the post called out, or qualifying the poster for a rank?

 

 

[Just a flesh wound.3589]

> @"Bast Bow.2958" said:

> > @AegisRunestone.8672 said:

>

> > I have a question: I checked the "How do I...?" section and I didn't see anything about Private Messages. How do we send those?

>

> Same question here: How to send private messages?

>

>

>

 

Same question. I've been searching for an answer as I sometimes message people for private discussions. It has occurred to me that maybe it's an earned feature, like the signature and the ability to edit after 15 minutes have passed. Hopefully we'll get an answer.

[Donari.5237]

Continuing my feedback as I use the forums more: I agree that there is now too much scrolling to get to the contents of discussion. Heck, just to see the most current set of topics I have to scroll a lot instead of simply sweeping my eyes down the page.

 

Granted, I've been reading since I was two years old and can read up to a book a day (SF novel size), so I prefer more information per visual unit area than many might. Still, this feels like it's going to be harder to keep an eye on the overall flow of discussion. Thread titles don't seem to stand out as much.

 

Unrelated: While typing this post I've had an odd popup saying "You don't have permission to do that" at regular intervals. I'd screen pic it for you but it's too much effort to do the multi-stage post of creating a hosted link. I -think- it's showing when the forum is doing an auto save draft. It started after I clicked on someone else's avatar to see if the old "see all posts by this person" option had been transferred. (Which it doesn't seem to? I see a "Discussions Started By" button but not "all posts," which may make it harder to find out if a poster has inconsistent positions or a history of rudeness/helpfulness). Oh wait! Apparently I wasn't signed in but still had a reply box. How quickly do we get timed out here? I'm used to staying logged in on the forums for hours.

[Eleri Tezhme.3048]

Another thing I discovered- the forum font size does not change if you change your browser font size (At least in Chrome, anybuggy want to test it in other browsers?). This is an accessibility issue & I'm not finding any setting in forum preferences to fix it.

[TheRandomGuy.7246]

Another thing me wants back. Post permalinks.

[calb.3128]

Definitely feels a lot more fluid than the old forums. I like that there are options for customisation and individuality now. Oh, and the automatic saving of drafts is excellent, particularly for travellers on a flaky connection. Possibly a little bit too much white space, and the size of the 'response' avatars is a little large and distracting. Could those avatars not be much smaller and placed under the user's avatar the the left of the main body for a less jarring effect? The current setup reminds me of the large distracting signature blocks on forums of old (albeit not as extreme).

 

**Edit**: When you're on the last page of a thread, the next page button ">>" is still present but without purpose - thoughts?

[Pittcrew.6592]

> @TheRandomGuy.7246 said:

> Another thing me wants back. Post permalinks.

 

If you just mean a direct link to a specific post/comment/thread, you can click the Post Time on the comment, and copy the URL. It links directly to that comment. The link to your comment, for example, is https://en-forum.guildwars2.com/discussion/comment/114319/#Comment_114319 and mine is https://en-forum.guildwars2.com/discussion/comment/114334/#Comment_114334

[PookieDaWombat.6209]

Oh yes, I forgot the loss of YEARS of information and long and very valid feedback threads that were about PoF in particular. Those threads need to be migrated by Anet or it will be obvious that one of the fringe benefits of this move was to silence those voices/calm those waters right before the launch of the game.

[TheOneWhoSighs.7513]

I see a lot of people complaining about the very bright background, so I've decided to edit my CSS sheet real quick to fix the bright background issue.

 

I had to remove the art to the left & right, which I probably would've removed anyway because it's visual clutter and I don't want it there anyway.

 

The lines for this are at the very start of my custom styles, so if someone doesn't like it they can just remove those lines I commented around and it'll bring back the white with art.

 

```

/*** Remove these if you want to keep the art of the forums */

body {

background-color: #f6f6f6 !important;

}

.Content-art {

display: none;

}

/*** Remove these if you want to keep the art of the forums */

 

body * {

font-family: helvetica, sans-serif !important;

color: #333333;

}

.Section-Discussion .Content .Item-Header::after {

background-image: none;

border-bottom: 1px solid #333333;

}

.Section-Discussion .Content .Item .Item-Body::after {

background-image: none;

border-bottom: 1px solid #333333;

}

.Section-Discussion .Content .Item {

border-bottom-width: initial !important;

border-bottom: 1px solid #333333;

}

.DataList .Item {

background: none;

}

.ReactButton {

border: 1px solid #e1d9d9;

background-color: #f9f9f9;

border-radius: 5px;

padding: 5px;

}

.Section-Discussion .Content .Item-Header .Meta time {

color: #333333 !important;

}

.RecordReactions {

display: none !important;

}

.ReactButton-Dislike {

display: none !important;

}

.ReactButton-Like {

display: none !important;

}

.MeButton * {

color: #c3c3c3;

}

```

[Kalendraf.9521]

Not liking this new format. Post format seems very cluttered, and it makes it harder to find the info I'm looking for.

[Zaraki.5784]

I'll only say the things I'd want to be added and the things i dislike, all rest is fine to me.

 

Things I dislike (only one):

- Too much white which make text visibility a little problematic.

 

Things I'd like to be added (again, only one):

- A specific discussion for HoT (like it was in previous forum version and a new one for PoF.

 

That's all, great work with new forum :+1:

[Coolster.2536]

When trying to post an image link in the embed image button, right-clicking will make it close itself. Not a major bug as ctrl+v and manually typing out the link still work, but it's so much easier to just right-click and hit paste :p

[Senritsu.9271]

I feel like a lot of these dislike posts are people not used to change? Not trying to criticize, but being very literal here. Give it more than 5 minutes of scanning and let it grow on you before making a decision, if you still don't like it make a post things you think they should adjust. But ultimately it will be their choice if Arenanet changes anything at all. Remember that.

 

Changes like these are also common, Arenanet has been around for 5 yrs now they are going to update their stuff.

[Bluntdaddy.3914]

Amazing new forums. Love the look, love the content.

Really looking forward to the PoF launch, keep up the good work guys!

[Juclesia Elcritian.8410]

Night mode please. Or a dark theme similar to the character select screen of Path of Fire.

[Blockhead Magee.3092]

Thread contents look cluttered with the pile of icons under each post.

 

Navigation between forum sections is not as user friendly as it was in the prior version.

 

OriOri's point was spot on as well.

[Calsie.2501]

Thread titles and post text should be the prominent things that draw your eye on a page. The new overall effect is way too busy and distracting. Feedback avatars shouldn't even be visible, unless you hover over the number, and even then, MUCH smaller.

 

I expected more customization options under Preferences. A dark style option, font options, and threaded view would be nice.

 

And please make the popups go away faster. They sit there for too long. I don't need to be told over and over that a Draft has been saved.

[TheOneWhoSighs.7513]

> @Senritsu.9271 said:

> I feel like a lot of these dislike posts are people not used to change? Not trying to criticize, but being very literal here. Give it more than 5 minutes of scanning and let it grow on you before making a decision, if you still don't like it make a post things you think they should adjust. But ultimately it will be their choice if Arenanet changes anything at all. Remember that.

 

Honestly, if ANet doesn't change some of the things, I'd be disappointed.

 

The UI design of this is pretty bad. It has really nice elements, but it **needs** some clutter cleared from it.

 

The like/dislike underneath posts is probably the most insane thing I've ever seen on a forum.

 

The font makes pages hard to scan quickly, the buttons aren't even buttons they're links (Come the heck on web devs, it's trivial to make them pseudo-buttons), the broken/faded lines between posts don't create the best separation.

 

It's just kinda, not good. This would be the time where I'd sit my fellow dev down and go "you need to dial it back from 100 to like, 75".

[Dawdler.8521]

Is there like... a way to *disable* everything? Disable seeing the red action options, the icons all over the place?

 

Because otherwise the forums went from being one of the best I know of to one of the worst I know of. But that's just my opinion. These forums hurt my eyes.

[Shaaba.5672]

I assume a lot of these changes were made with mobile in mind. While I understand the decision, I don't like it. I personally access the forums on my pc much more often than my mobile and it's just giving me a headache. Too wide, font too small, and the avatars for each thumbs up/down has got to go.

[Haishao.6851]

Since I cannot edit my previous post:

 

Add all skill images as avatars. That's tons of arts you already have available in pretty much the same size and form of current avatars and it will creates more diversity.