Rock Band Community: Deep Thoughts (your feedback please!)

[SenRaq]

Hello John "Danger" lok

This is the most fun I have ever had on a forum. You and Sean and Whitestar and Apples, and everyone else are doing a great job on these forums. Keep it up. No need to drastically change something that is not broken. But who can stay away from a bit of tweaking

What I enjoy most:DLC announcements on Mondays.
All the mod post, interest me the most.

What makes the RB forms crummy:
People that bash music or more specific, bash the person personally for music they they want added, just because they dont listen to it. I am speaking specifically of Christian Rock. I am sure this happens to other genres also. Temp Bans should help control this.

People trying to sell stuff (drum mods etc). I do not come here for advertisements.

What could make the RB forums better?
Clarification on the ultimate setlist. Something that says we are considering all types of Rock. Maybe a better way for people to name the bands they want.

Also an option to listen to a 30 sec part of DLC, so people can listen to them before they buy it. I currently use other options to listen to DLC.


Great forum, and this thread is one example why?

[Froggy]

who knew? definitely put these in the DLC announcements.

NICE!! and here it was under my nose this entire time!!
Awesome stuff, definitely include that with the downloads each week!

[HMXJohnlok]

Holy guacamole, Batman! I didn't realize such good content existed on the Rock Blog.

Unrelated to the forum improvement topic: Can we get an RSS feed of the Rock Blog so that I can subscribe to it?

I'm talking to people now to see if we can get that done.

[HMXJohnlok]

Ok again call me ignorant for not knowing, but if they already knew the DLC for march if that is indeed the case then they certainly know or have an idea of what songs they can and cannot put in the game.

Hell if Harmonix simply says we would love to put in Guns and Roses Sweet Child o' Mine... HOWEVER we do not currently have the rights to that song. Or there is complications with getting the rights to that song etc..

Communication is the key. If I know Harmonix can never put a Guns and Roses song in the game then I would be content and understanding. That is what the forums lack.

I do understand Harmonix cannot be forth comming with all the information because of either marketing or corporate BS ( no other way to put that one ).

But clearly we are bated with "There will be full CD DLC" So the logical question is when? And each week those type questions are not answered it leads to resentment and false hope. The forums and attitude of many people who are posting negative opinions are only because there is a lack of overall communication.

This is a particularly tricky issue. Regarding the March DLC: it's difficult for us to actually project that far in advance, since things can change, complications can arise, and that sort of thing. I covered this more extensively when the March DLC was released - if you do a quick search on my posts it'll probably come up.

As for the Albums (let's please not derail this too much into an album/dlc discussion following this), I'm going to take the Blizzard stance: when they are ready, they will be made available, and we'll all be better off for the extra unexpected time taken. It's a sucky answer for the short term, but looking back I think we will all be happy with the results.

[bill55]

What makes the RB forms crummy:

People trying to sell stuff (drum mods etc). I do not come here for advertisements.

I don't mind people advertising their mods as long as it's only 1 thread per mod. I have discovered great mods (pedal replacements, neoprene drum pads) due to these threads. Please don't stop them. Just limit them to 1 each.

Thanks!

[zombolocaust]

I spend a lot of my time watching two things on these forums: The Announcements and the Ultimate Setlist. I've tried requesting a couple songs via the Request a Song tab, and i really like that idea, especially the anonymity and confessional qualities it comes with (no flaming, just get your word out and go).

Problem is, you can only do one at a time, comfortably, while most of us have HUGE lists of songs and artists we want. So we put up the huge list on The Ultimate Setlist, and then it dissappears into the abyss of unbumped threads.

I think you could set up a Request a song area that allows for a larger number of requests at a time, (just enter song and band name), with the option of explaining why the song should..but not the primary requirement. We figure that if you see an interesting title/artist, you just go and listen to them anyway......you'll figure that part out for yourself.

The Poll-per-song and artist database is a good idea too. Just for easy figures, however, that probably shouldn't be inherently a part of the forums, per se.

This way, the people that post their lists on the forums are limited to those who genuinely want the "internet" feedback......or none at all, which is often the case as well.

[snwns26]

If it hasn't been said, there needs to be a sticky regarding DLC news in the General Forum and Announcement forum. No matter how many times it's said, people always ask "who knows the dlc for next week?" and "where is the announcement?" and the threads always get two pages or so full of flaming and wishlists.

Just say something about that you'll try your best to announce it sometime Monday or something and that news heard elsewhere isn't 100% confirmed until you guys confirm it and that should put an end to most of those pointless thread.

[JetWolf]

A lot of great suggestions have already been made, but never let it be said I didn't have two-cents to spend.

I think that reorganization is a good place to start. I poked my head into Ultimate Setlist once, then quickly fled. Whew, it's a chaotic mess in there! Sub-forums could work here, or at least, perhaps, specific threads for each major genre, so they can be grouped together in one place. Also, you mentioned about the "REQUEST SONG" link. Obviously I don't know exactly how things work for you guys, but I myself would think it to be an easy way to get suggestions, rather than having to filter through the noise in the Ultimate Setlist. (Also, just personally, I would prefer to use the link, as I'd feel more confident that it would be seen, rather than perhaps missed in the aforementioned chaotic mess.) ETA: I also agree with what zombolocaust said -- I like the idea of just submitting your idea and being done with it. I'm not really interested in a debate or having to "defend" every idea I have, nor am I much interested in a "me too" chorus. So yes, please consider keeping the direct link if it's feasible.

Further organizing the general forum might also be nice. A sub-forum for discussion of the released DLC could be great for escaping the inevitable arguing about it. (And speaking of DLC, I absolutely echo the posting of the info in the Rock Blog with each week's announcement.)

Something I don't think I've seen suggested yet would be a way to make the Sticky topics stand out more. Even something as minor as changing the font style and colour of "Sticky:" could do it. As is is now, they simply fade into the background. I think that their unobtrusive presence is part of the problem with repeated questions being posted, which leads to irritation and aggressive responses from the regular posters. I would also refine those topics to include those posts that constantly come up, or are of particular importance. For example, I don't think the "Your character pics" thread is as needed as, say, "Question about full album DLC? Check here!"

That aside, I think the only solution to a more considerate community is effort. Unfortunately, that's going to take a lot of work on the Mods' part. Not every person is going to be as polite as they could (should?) be, which means they'll need to be coached on what behaviour is and isn't acceptable here. It's sad, but it's true: the more people you add, the worse it gets. If we all get what we want and Rock Band becomes more and more popular, the growth of the community is inevitable. With that is going to come more noise, more aggression, and more work to keep the first two under control.

People just suck. Maybe you guys need to throw in some 60s hippy music or something, mellow everybody out for a bit.

[whothennow81]

I love the site very much. Between your guys updates and people who dont know what their talking about (non harmonix employees) sometimes it can get confusing when your just trying to find official harmonix updates. It would be great if their was a section that you guys and only you guys could leave updates that we could only view not comment on. If someone has an issue with an update, they can post there feelings in another general post. This would create a clear forum with just official posts that are accurate and not a bunch of lies. Thank you.

[Sayburr]

That is actually a good idea. The announcement sub-forum should be a read only forum for users... All threads would be locked.