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3/14/2007 5:58:40 AM
232
The 7th Column, The Community, It's Guy, and The Lack There Of
[b]The 7th Column, The Community, It's Guy, and The Lack There Of[/b]
[i]Let me begin by saying what follows is not my rant, but as I agree with most of it I believe it should be posted. If I am wrong for this then I will recieve my just 'reward' but it must be said. I will not reveal the identity of said ranter for his own privacy reasons. Enjoy!
*note: This was written before the announcement of the new Bungie.net*[/i]
Part 1:
You asked for this. Here goes. :3
Let me commence by stating that the problem with the Bungie.net community is deep rooted. I don’t like to blame the web team with any scathing conviction because they have provided the site that, at least formerly, hosted a really good community. However, SketchFactor apparently gave up even before the “upgraded” column was implemented – he was after all the Community Guy whose responsibilities, theoretically, included the interaction with the good persons of the Seventh Column. I was never around too long before the change so I have no grounds on which to argue that he was ever actively involved, but the fact of that matter is that when I and some of my friends submitted our chapters for approval (as was the former custom), he accepted them. The spotlight, too, had been fairly frequently updated.
I understand that there are slightly higher concerns than a thriving community of well-mannered, Bungie-loving individuals – the professional needs for a sleek site with job offers and interaction with Halo 2, for example. It’d be ignorant in the extreme to pretend said necessities do not exist. But how many times have we been told that Bungie.net is not a business site – it’s a community site? The answer, should you wonder, is very often indeed.
I’ll be up front and admit that some of the things done with the site are amazing, not least the full integration of the various modules as one easy-to-navigate conglomeration. I’ve always liked the forums as they, in my opinion at least, look the part, and are so very easy to use. There’s no unnecessary formatting; you just hit reply or new topic, type what you want, and hit submit. Nothing could be simpler. Since I’d never used a forum before that time, it was the perfect way to get started.
Also engaging was the Seventh Column. An invite from a prominent founder via Private Message introduced me to it, and it was excellent: lots of databases and plenty of room for personalisation and creativity, plus scope for organising chapter-wide events. This little communities thrived as one and interacted with one another publicly, also, where great friendships were made and inter-chapter events established. In fact, that was the purpose of the 7th Column Community Page, which died at about the same time as the Spotlight and news.
Priorities seem to be wrong, also. I refuse to believe that a search feature – and repeat threads will surface, especially in the absence of constant new discussion material and in the presence of the ridiculous “don’t dig up old threads” regulation – is more crucial to a community site than the community itself. Surely resources would have been better spent on the 7th Column in one way or another.
And so many empty promises. Nobody expects miracles, but when fanfests, an updated column, more interaction from Bungie and a community that has official support are pledged, it’s saddening when they are not fulfilled, and more so when they simply fade away without even a “no, that’s not going to happen”. I wouldn’t will them all to attend massive fan gatherings, because, let’s face it, no other game developers do, but the fact that it’s happened before and future events were promised makes it that little bit worse. I’d much rather see a fantastic Halo 3 than direct community interaction, as I’m sure we all would, but surely the purpose of a site for the community and Bungie’s having of a community team is to interact with their fans? But Bungie is just the core, the very heart of a system composed of many more organs, blood, bones and flesh.
[Edited on 3/13/2007]
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Part 4: It is all very easy to complain, as I have proved. Indeed, whinging is a large part of the Septagon, but unlike most others, I have always endeavoured to offer a solution. Solving so many deep-rooted issues with a community can hardly be done in one fell swoop, however. I am dubious as to whether indeed many will stoop to accept that these issues do exist, so it stands to reason that my proposed answers will simply be ignored. First – Bungie.net needs its community guy. Sketch seems a perfectly nice chap so it’d be a shame to see him go, but a doer and not a deserter is required. If he can fulfil that role again, then excellent. If not, then an alternative must be sought. Thus, a more intimate relationship can be established between the community and Bungie. The other staff members who can help, should, since their responsibility is foremost to Bungie.net and not HBO. I’m not suggesting at all that the community should be restricted just to Bungie.net, but the Bnet community needs to be the chief priority of those contracted to work for it. Secondly, the exclusive social clubs must be dispersed and the snobbery forced out of the members on punishment of a banning. They must realise that all but the worst spammers and the greatest snobs have a right to participate as long as they follow the rules, and it is the moderators’ job, not theirs, to ensure that the people do just that. Many people on Bungie.net seek attention and nothing more, so permitting them it is not a good encouragement to the better spirit of the community. Some of the girls, sadly, get attention just because of their sex, and more sadly, some of them even enjoy it to no end (though thankfully most do not). Some of the site staff are guilty of such attention-doling, also, and it seems not that the humpdays and the intimate friendships between staff and girls have any other root than gender. Thirdly, the ninja selection has gone out of control. With a single decent choice from the five of the most recent batch (GodsProphet, another target of the TFM “wannabe moderator” assaults), there must be a clamping down immediately. Bad moderators should be fired, and new ones properly tried. The selection must be administered by Bungie and not by the ninjas themselves. Fourthly, the community needs to do things as one. Chapters can play in their exclusive little groups, but the Flood should be a forum for everyone to talk off-topic, not stupidly, and the Septagon should be for those from all “walks of life” to congregate and discuss matters at hand. A few gaming events here and there can’t hurt, after all. Division amongst people is always inevitable, but at current there is no opportunity for anything to be different. Again, that is why chapters exist, and the fact that so few chapters are successful is reflection that people do not need them, as their little groups grow in public forums, slowly infected public property and morphing it to private. I am being hugely idealistic here, and apologies are due to those whom I have misled into thinking that a perfect community is a realistic prospect. Nevertheless, there needs to be more incentive for the interested users to stick around than the prospect of modship (and with so many moderators being chosen seemingly at random, this lure is a very large one), and also for the lovers of the games. Perhaps I am asking too much. I don’t consider myself entitled to anything – I am not an ignoramus who considers a Halo 3 beta my God-given right, for example. Thus I do not think Bungie owes me anything, but the potential of Bungie.net disappoints me, or rather the potential that is lacking. It wouldn’t take much and the provisions are already in place (the community team and website), it just needs Bungie to up the interaction again. The major issue, as I did outline, is the community itself, and maybe a better one would render such interaction unnecessary regardless. Perhaps a better fanbase would actually encourage more Bungie staff members to log on. Everyone is so scared of authority and damaging their chances of becoming ninjas these days that they are afraid to speak their mind. Take it from somebody who has devoted countless hours to trying to improve things both publicly and privately, and who has seen many great members fade away to be forgotten. Ultimately, I am wasting my words. Next thing you know, JAY132 and Jeff McCrae will be sitting there proudly with the titles of “Forum Ninja” under their usernames. It saddens me that I would no longer be surprised to see this happen. – A most disgruntled former Bungie.net user [i]So there you have it, if you actually took the time to read it all I appluad you, yet I know in my heart most will ignore this if only for it's length. The fact is most of this, if not all, is true in one manner or another, and just updating the site isn't going to fix this. There are real problems here that need to be addressed. I will not delagate my own opinions on this thread, for they would only be a copy of what was already stated above in better form, but, I will implore those who really do care, who really do wish to see this community become, in fact, a 'community', to recognize these problems, if nothing else at all. For in recognizing them you will be taking the first step. When a community can band together, help to moderate the forums, provide help with fledging chapters, create a commitee for the betterment of the 7th Column as a whole, and be completely overlooked and ignored, no proof is needed, for you are a part of it.[/i]
