Besides the game, the forums are also dying out.

[Supertaro]

8 hours ago, Fohl Hakuko said:

I like greeny guy already LMAOOOO he came in here guns blasting.

People complaining about things out of their control has run rampant and it has made the community a very toxic and short-sighted place. People don't put any effort into questions, ask rhetorical or barbed questions, or flat out insult people. There's nothing constructive!

 

I've been playing this game and leading my guild for three years, and I've always done my best to be realistic about expectations and shot calls from NCSoft, whether they were good or bad. I happened to personally know that half of the people posting on these threads blasting NCSoft don't even play the game any more. I was given a link to this discussion thread by someone who doesn't play the game any more. Alot of the hatred for the game is coming from older players, and it's always put a damper on the feelings of the new ones who come in. Examples?

 

Soul boost? Amazing for new players! It lets them get a head start and helps make our daily grind more rewarding.

Who kept complaining about it..? Older toxic players who were whining about how an event literally geared towards the newer half other playerbase didn't help them as much. "It's not fair!"

 

Call to Arms? Same thing. Amazing boosting event meant for new players, and yet older players kept whining about how horrible the event was, since it didn't help them as much.

 

As I mentioned before... shortsightedness. Lack of proper critical thinking. 

 

 

Not that I agree with all of NCSoft's decisions, but I hardly think they've made only poor ones. Keep blasting greeny guy, defending yourself is leagues better than no response at all. To many, silence is admission of guilt!

Yes, you're absolutely correct that people just run rampant on the forums, also people that do not play anymore and just start toxicity, and I absolutely disgust it.

My goal for this forum was not to be toxic, but just state a general issue. I hope that is how I got the point and message across at least 🙂

[PervertedLyn]

This is litterly the first GM since 4 years that does his job. I like him now too. I hope he also understands even if he has nothing to say and no knowledge about a topic. Its better to answer with something like "i dont know yet but ill look into it" than simply ignoring and hoping the answers come from community like litterly everyone else before him did.

 

Please understand our toxicity against GMs and the staff is not because of you as a person but because in the past there was simply nearly no communication and this is litterly the same as saying "i dont care about your problems" while atleast to my knowledge thats exactly what the GMs and the staff is being paid for.

 

So even if you dont know about stuff pls atleast write something like (ill have to look into it) and if you cant find answers something like (i am sorry this topic is still unknown to us). Or something like that.

[KenzoAlex]

maybe @Green Storm will make a stream that we all see him and talk more there.

its a greate way to be accepted in community and also gain more trust and respect

Edited February 16, 2022 by KenzoAlex

[Pudulu]

@KenzoAlexHe asked that you (And everyone else) stop tagging him BTW...

 

 

[SungoddessRabbit]

16 hours ago, Green Storm said:

 

I just want to mention that I will not participate in a discussion that involves this kind of attacks against any individual (whether it's me, NC employees or any other player). This is a typical example of choosing your words badly. I'm not talking about your opinion or what you asked, these can be legit, but don't bring the word "gaslighting" here. This is your last warning!

 

 

I've already started collecting feedback and digging deeper into the context of that feedback. Being heard is not something that brings answers to the questions and concerns that people express here. I need to better understand how things work behind the scenes to discuss this feedback. I also want to emphasize that it's more complicated than "report it back to Korea". 

 

My first reply in this thread was meant to show you that the community is heard. I've read forum posts (almost) every day since I started working in this role.  It's important to me (and to the community) that you're more than heard. I want to be able to provide answers later down the road and it will take me some time.

While I live what you've got to offer so far, your choice to retaliate against the use of "gaslighting" is such a weird one. You're essentially equating it to a slur that someone is directing towards you. If we as players feel like NC puts people in your position to gaslighting us, is that not s fair thing to call attention to? Sure we could be wrong and sure you could just ignore it as someone trying to be hateful. But there are perfectly civil conversations that can be brought up where we as the player base can say:

 

"hey listen, it's been 6 years, the heart change to be essentially p2w is absolutely terrible, the lack of gold farming is killing us and the constant bugs in regards to soulboost is draining g for new and old players alike"

 

 so when a person in your position comes down after the 6 year history where our last two CMs have historically not played the game enough to experience to see the glaring issues, is it really just bad faith arguments to say "oh yeah NC gaslighting us again just with a new person"

 

Again, I like your first introduction it gives me hope that we might actually have direct and steady communication with our CM but that part in particular just feels like an off hand way to shut down valid criticism from a word that is not even a slur.

[MieszkoFM]

23 hours ago, Green Storm said:

 

I want to take a few minutes to address your post and, at the same time, other posts that I've been reading over the past few weeks (I've been reading forum posts every day). I'm still busy getting settled in my new role for Blade & Soul. I need to fully understand how things work behind the scenes before I can start answering players' questions and share more information. There are many new people to work with, processes to know, and goals to think about. It's not an easy task to catch up on an MMO with a long history and an experienced community with a set of expectations, but I will try my best!

 

I keep learning about the game from multiple sources, including playing it, so that I can have a lot of background information about all the content I'll be covering in the future. I made the conscious decision not to jump right away into the forums because my feeling was that I wouldn't have a lot of interesting things to say. It is my long-term goal to become an active participant here, but I also want to do it in a way that will benefit the community. I also intend to engage more Blade & Soul players on social media, but again this will happen later.

 

That being said, I would like players to stop tagging me in their posts. Please focus on your feedback and questions. I want to remind everyone about the current Code of Conduct, which I will be updating fairly soon. I encourage all players to express their feedback, questions, or concerns, but it's equally important to do it in a way that satisfies these values: 1) Respect; 2) No threats; 3) No harassment or defamation; 4) Being constructive. This is in no way a demand to not address difficult topics or to censor yourself, but I would like everyone to make an effort about the way discussions happen on the forums. Chose your words with care because they help define the Blade & Soul forum community. They can be more inviting or share more understanding of your perspective.

 

Happy to discuss this further!

You say that you're playing the game - which I find to be a great thing! I can't remember a community manager openly diving into the game since Johnathan left. If at all possible, you should host a casual stream so that players can interact with you. Maybe even do a little Q&A in the process so we can get to know you better. It might lower the tensions, better integrate you into the community, and we can help you in return if you have any questions about Blade & Soul. We never got to interact much with Hime beyond her attempts at patch streams and the occasional post reply. Her lack of know how made her into a bit of a community meme. I have hope for you though. It's refreshing seeing even this much of a response and I understand where you're coming from even if some of your statements come across a bit abrasive. (The no tagging, etc) 

That aside, I expect great things from you and wish you the best of luck getting adjusted. It's going to be a bumpy ride and a dual effort from both sides during the adjustment period- but considering the dumpster fire that you've inherited, it's to be expected. Best wishes, Green.

[Lägêrtha]

12 hours ago, SungoddessRabbit said:

so when a person in your position comes down after the 6 year history where our last two CMs have historically not played the game enough to experience to see the glaring issues, is it really just bad faith arguments to say "oh yeah NC gaslighting us again just with a new person"

Everything you said is correct, just, for this exact issue I can't see his role being relevant for fixing it in any way, or possible excuse for any delays in that process. Everyone here behaves like hes only employee in NCWest. It happens that I work in software development industry, and be sure that every company can easy bridge absence of any individual, from support (in our case here, staff that communicates directly with community which includes CM himself) over decision making chain to developers and testers.

And this is why I'm skeptical, event tho lets say at this very moment I don't have doubts of his sincere intentions, that just one person effort can fix all the bad management. If nothing other changes he will be just hitting walls and give up in the end as others before him.

[Askaria]

On 2/15/2022 at 7:18 PM, Supertaro said:

Hello @Green Storm

Since the game does not have GMs online, the forums have been the place to ask or complain about stuff regarding the game. Back in the day, and not even too long ago, we'd see activity of some NCSoft employee in the forums answering some forum questions/complaints every single day. But right now when the community needs you guys the most, there's nothing to be seen or heard, like the community is unimportant to this company. Every day people are leaving the game or playing very minimally due to the fact of in-game changes are applied but not explained, and when people ask on forums why the changes were applied, is ignored.

My point is that it would be nice if there's more activity in the forums again, like Hime did quite well in my opinion regarding activity. Now I know you're quite new to this position, and probably still getting to know exactly what and how. The community can help with that aswell, as long as activity is shown.

Hopefully this will get a little bit of attention, thanks.

Dw about it man, we already knew activity from NC staff have been on the low side. Sure they may be reading forums, because they work for the game and their position at NCsoft but whether they can do something or influence devs for changes is the real question. Most of them I assume cannot change what devs will do or cant just arbitrarily reply to forum complaints.

 

Unfortunately even if other ppl deny it, we all know the game is on its last legs. Most ppl even left for Lost Ark, because the player treatment is much better there. For example in BNS, now if u get the skystealer accessories, literally a gold sink. Who here has failed a more than 2k gold worth getting to +6 let alone + 11. Ive seen ppl wasted over 20k gold trying to get +11 and still failed. imagine that for a new player, Almost every single try is 250g. fail fail fail fail fail fail. Boom 1k 2k 3k gold gone. Even in Lost Ark at least when you trying to +1-15 gear, if u fail u get increased rate and the cost isnt so high that its unaffordable for new players. Im sure staff know this problem they jst cant address it. 

 

Instead the only way is to swipe and pay for the bundles to increase ur chances. With the recent release of other games such as Lost Ark, BNS is pretty much on life support most ppl jst login for quick dailies and thats it. I myself, given up on this game and going on hiatus until they decide to improve things or the next big patch or new class spec rolls in even im 50-50 might not even bother. 

 

And one of the things to note is whether Greenstorm is actually an actual single staff member or multiple staff controlling the account. because if you look at his posts, he has the same issue with Hime's account where they post in 3-5 different languages even google translate doesnt get everything perfect. I dont know about you but being able to speak and write fluently in 3-5 different languages is not likely to be one person. although he may have replied here, I still believe he is jst multiple staff controlling the account just to look like one person. Hime was the same thing during this year, Her twitter long time ago no longer even says BNS CM for ages now yet only now recently did she announcement her "retirement" from BNS. She most likely left a long time ago and they jst never announced it, now they got Greenstorm who so far looks about the same just a replacement account for Hime lols at least that what it looks like. Most CM staff on NCsoft all have the official CM title on their accounts in forums, yet u click on his account profile. there is no title even after months already of him announcing himself. 🤔 any posts suspecting that this Greenstorm isnt actually one person have all been background deleted, even my own suspicions i posted the moment his announcement came that he was replacing hime was deleted the very next day by forum staff. I dont know about u but if their background deleting these posts by ppl, we all know their trying to hide something.

 

I dont know what Greenstorm can do at this point of the game, will he be able to announce some changes to the game that can save it? I guess we will have to see, because if he cant fix any of the game problems, then there is no difference in the game as right now game is flopping like a dead fish on life support and NCsoft clearly trying to milk as much of it as they can right now before life support is turned off🤣. Active players are down or gone, with average login times barely above the 2 hrs enough for dailies and thats it. 

 

Edited February 17, 2022 by Askaria

[Rhiakath]

I want to believe.

You said you wanted to learn more about the game, including by playing it? Alright, do it live on Twitch. Join some of the BnS discord servers. Interact with the community while you do it and if you're sincere, they might help you learn faster. A lot of us are, in fact, 6 year veterans.

What better way to learn our side of the story, than to actually become one of us?

[Green Storm]

16 hours ago, Askaria said:

And one of the things to note is whether Greenstorm is actually an actual single staff member or multiple staff controlling the account. because if you look at his posts, he has the same issue with Hime's account where they post in 3-5 different languages even google translate doesnt get everything perfect. I dont know about you but being able to speak and write fluently in 3-5 different languages is not likely to be one person. although he may have replied here, I still believe he is jst multiple staff controlling the account just to look like one person. Hime was the same thing during this year, Her twitter long time ago no longer even says BNS CM for ages now yet only now recently did she announcement her "retirement" from BNS. She most likely left a long time ago and they jst never announced it, now they got Greenstorm who so far looks about the same just a replacement account for Hime lols at least that what it looks like. Most CM staff on NCsoft all have the official CM title on their accounts in forums, yet u click on his account profile. there is no title even after months already of him announcing himself. 🤔 any posts suspecting that this Greenstorm isnt actually one person have all been background deleted, even my own suspicions i posted the moment his announcement came that he was replacing hime was deleted the very next day by forum staff. I dont know about u but if their background deleting these posts by ppl, we all know their trying to hide something.

 

I'm going to give you a chance to pull that Conspiracy Theory hat: I'm just one person. I post in multiple languages because we localize a lot of the content we publish, which involves working with a localization agency. I first posted on this forum 3 weeks ago. I didn't complete my forum profile, but I will! We're not trying to hide anything.

 

For now, I want to engage with this community to the best of my ability. Time is the biggest obstacle, as I write these words while doing other work on the side (it's just a busy period for me!). But I want to be clear: this discussion needs to be honest. At some point later, we will moderate statements that push for theories that make no sense. You are entitled to your opinion and can express it, as long as you do it respectfully and without unrealistic conclusions (look at the statement about multiple languages; I'm bilingual, but I do not localize our content).

 

P.S.: There are other posts I want to reply to, but I only have so many hours each day! Hopefully, I can share more information as soon I can find some time.

[Amane]

For anyone that still thinks Green Storm can single-handledly change the direction of this game... you must be uninformed. 

Yes, he is the new CM for the western version of Blade & Soul. He can gather feedback and give it forward to the korean devs. 

 

Now here's the thing for the people who don't know how things run: 

- West always gets patches from Korea, NCWest need to apply these patches to our servers. If you do have any complaints, you can voice them with constructive criticism.... BUT the decision about any changes is on the korean side of NCSoft. THEY decide the roadmap, THEY make our content for west as well, THEY add new microtransactions... 

 

I've seen tons of people attacking Green Storm for not doing anything.... he's not a god. He can do what he's able to in his position as a CM. He can't just change the entire game, that decision is up to the korean devs for Blade & Soul. So if any bad changes come and don't go... it's not his fault. Drastic changes are always decided by NCSoft in South Korea... yes, even for our version (the recent addition with Sterling Scales only for Heart upgrades for example..). 

 

So people need to chill out and stop blaming him. Actually he's posting quite a lot for his limited time, we haven't seen this in a long time. 

[Immunity]

we dont blame an employee for the decisions made by his employer.

but those cms/support staff are the face of the company which we can talk to.

anything we tell them they should just forward to ncwest and not take it personally.

 

and why cant ncwest demand changes from ncsoft?

just forward the requests from the players every time they complain.

maybe phrase it more constructively and add some anticipated monetary benefits to it (like retention).

do you think that ncsoft just ignores that or chooses the opposite?

[Lägêrtha]

4 hours ago, Immunity said:

 

and why cant ncwest demand changes from ncsoft?

Check who is CEO of NCSoft and who is CEO of NCWest and what is their relation, and things will be clear. Its all public available information. If i tell you here they will delete my post 😉

Other regions publishers like for RU for example probably have strict contractual relations and NCSoft is "serving" them much more efficiently.