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The Bug forum

keekee53keekee53 Posts: 4,328 Member
The bug forum is very disorganized and not really user friendly in my opinion. I hate to say it but I will click on the me too for the links simmers link from this forum but I doubt I will be reporting any bugs. It feels like a graveyard of bugs and your report is bound to get lost.

Comments

  • NorthDakotaGamerNorthDakotaGamer Posts: 2,559 Member
    I have also voiced that the forum which they prefer we report bugs is not user friendly what-so-ever. Also, the suggestions they give are normally things I already did BEFORE even attempting at reporting the bug.
  • CupidCupid Posts: 3,623 Member
    edited June 2019
    But in what way is it disorganized and not user friendly? I see this complaint a lot so I'm not saying you're wrong, but literally no one ever goes into detail. I go there, look at the list of existing bugs, if mine isn't there I submit a report and I find it a very simple and straightforward process. But apparently, a lot of people find it difficult. What are the sources of the difficulties?

    I would disagree that it's disorganized, by the way. It might not be user-friendly but it's certainly organized; everything gets compiled, combined, and categorized by the moderators there, so I'm not sure where the idea that your report will be "lost" is coming from.
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  • keekee53keekee53 Posts: 4,328 Member
    I feel like bug reports get buried, therefore more than one post gets created for the same issue which in turn has to get merged. The wall of black and white random bugs all listed in one category feels disorganized. I would have like to see categories like issues related to the recent patch, Issues with Island Living, Get to work, Dine out, etc. So I can go straight to the category and more likely find what I am looking for.

    Even if I am looking for a particular bug that may or may not have been identifies I have to search which pulls up like 5-7 posts that are really not related to my issue. For me, it is not user friendly or organized. It would be easier for me to post a question here and see if anyone else is having the issue instead of checking there.
  • CupidCupid Posts: 3,623 Member
    edited June 2019
    But that's what the compiled list of gameplay issues is for (the one that says [READ FIRST] in caps.) Every reported bug is organized by the pack it's related to and it's easy to just take a quick look through the relevant section and see whether or not your issue has been reported already. There's no need to search through the entire board for bug reports because the moderators there are maintaining this list.

    Besides, worst case scenario you add a duplicate bug report and it just gets merged to the original - it does not get "lost."
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  • WildIrishBansheeWildIrishBanshee Posts: 2,104 Member
    While there are some things about AHQ that aren't very intuitive, most basic functions are. I think a lot of folks that are having issues probably don't read the stickied posts at all. As far as lost, I highly doubt it - I had an issue, posted it there and it was fixed with this patch, and as far as I know I was the only one having it. Whether it was intentional or not, don't know, don't care lol. Once you get familiar with it, you'll be fine.
  • IyasenuIyasenu Posts: 325 Member
    I don't like how, on multi-page threads, there's no PREV, NEXT, or page selection options up at the top of the thread, like there is on the bottom.
    There's just Previous or Next TOPIC buttons, but I never want to use those.
  • keekee53keekee53 Posts: 4,328 Member
    Cupid wrote: »
    But that's what the compiled list of gameplay issues is for (the one that says [READ FIRST] in caps.) Every reported bug is organized by the pack it's related to and it's easy to just take a quick look through the relevant section and see whether or not your issue has been reported already. There's no need to search through the entire board for bug reports because the moderators there are maintaining this list.

    Besides, worst case scenario you add a duplicate bug report and it just gets merged to the original - it does not get "lost."

    I get it and I am glad it works for you. The fact that Crinrict who doesn't work for EA(not sure if that is still true or not) has to compile a list proves the point that without his help it would be a mess.

    @WildIrishBanshee you are right about the stickied posts. I immediately started scrolling through the issues. Maybe the stickies should be highlighted and not in the basic black like everything else. It is very easy to bypass.

    Anyway, now that I know about the compiled list and such I can navigate to my issue a little easier so I thank you for that. I still don't think it is the best system but hey I am entitled to my opinion.
  • TiarellaTiarella Posts: 661 Member
    @Cupid - one of the issues for me is that the posts are very narrow (maybe designed for reading on phones?) so I cannot see as many posts on the page as I can here; there's a lot more scrolling. It's like reading a book that's smaller than your palm. Yeah, no. Hate that.

    Much easier to navigate here than over there. I would tell you why if I knew; it would take a thorough analysis of the bug report website to figure out why this forum is easier for me than that one, & I hate the site too much to stick around long enough to do said analysis. What's the point, anyway? It'd be a waste of time as EA ain't ever going to change that.

    Given how quickly mods shut down criticism here, I am personally convinced that EA wants to discourage people from reporting bugs. Given that many of these bugs have been around for months and years, and that some modders have managed to fix them, I am convinced that EA is only willing to devote a very limited amount of their budget to fixing bugs.

    A website that discourages many many many dissatisfied customers from reporting bugs is exactly what they want.
  • suzanna13suzanna13 Posts: 1,426 Member
    @Cupid It always tells me I have to log in and when I try I get an error message. Not user friendly to me but maybe I am the only one having that issue. I am also wondering if when I hit me too, if it is registering since I can't log in. Otherwise it seems straight forward enough.
  • CupidCupid Posts: 3,623 Member
    Tiarella wrote: »
    it would take a thorough analysis of the bug report website to figure out why this forum is easier for me than that one
    I don't really get why it would take all of that, but okay then
    Tiarella wrote: »
    What's the point, anyway? It'd be a waste of time as EA ain't ever going to change that.
    Since AHQ is a multigame platform, it's true that it's very unlikely anyone who has the power to change anything related to it is going to be here on the sims forums looking at feedback about it. But I still feel like constructive criticism is always the best kind. Even if the layout of the website isn't going to change, someone can offer help or advice to improve the experience if they know what's bothering you (like I did by bringing the compiled list to the attention of someone who didn't know it existed)

    It might just be the kind of person that I am, but when I want to see a change in something I always try to at least put in the minimum amount of effort on my end to bring about that change. That includes giving thoughtful feedback and submitting bug reports whenever I encounter a major issue. These things may (and probably will) fall on deaf ears but I like to at least know that I've done my part.
    Tiarella wrote: »
    Given how quickly mods shut down criticism here,
    This is quite off-topic but I wanted to say that I think this is a very unfair statement to make towards the mods here. They are very fair towards criticism and I've never seen any topic get closed down simply for being critical.
    Tiarella wrote: »
    I am personally convinced that EA wants to discourage people from reporting bugs. Given that many of these bugs have been around for months and years, and that some modders have managed to fix them, I am convinced that EA is only willing to devote a very limited amount of their budget to fixing bugs.

    A website that discourages many many many dissatisfied customers from reporting bugs is exactly what they want.
    I actually hold an extremely negative opinion towards the way that bugs have been handled by this game's developers. But even so, this reads like an irrational conspiracy theory to me. They clearly have no issues ignoring bug reports, so I don't see why they would need to stop anyone from submitting them.
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  • drakharisdrakharis Posts: 1,478 Member
    I don't really like trying to use that forum either
    Playtesting - not just tabletop games and card games any more. Really that should have been playtested in Beta and not [img]just with accounting and marketing but actual players. https://i.imgur.com/t48COW6.jpg[/img]
  • prisinkaprisinka Posts: 12 New Member
    i havent had any issues reporting bugs there
    just issues getting them fixed xD
  • brenleedeebrenleedee Posts: 427 Member
    edited June 2019
    It is not user friendly at all, especially for first time users..there is so much to go through to even get to what issue you're having. Once you've used it, it's easier to navigate but you can have a bug report setting there for months without one response.

    Right now there are SO many bugs since the last update that you don't even know where to begin. I still have bugs from Dine out and how long has that been released? I love the game and have just accepted that apparently some bugs will never be fixed, and with more releases come more bugs.

  • XxAirixXXxAirixX Posts: 2,567 Member
    The problem was I had no way to report bugs at all in the forum. All the threads were closed and no option to create a new one. I found a link to the Answer HQ and just reported the bug there.
  • kinot9229kinot9229 Posts: 528 Member
    brenleedee wrote: »
    It is not user friendly at all, especially for first time users..there is so much to go through to even get to what issue you're having. Once you've used it, it's easier to navigate but you can have a bug report setting there for months without one response.

    Right now there are SO many bugs since the last update that you don't even know where to begin. I still have bugs from Dine out and how long has that been released? I love the game and have just accepted that apparently some bugs will never be fixed, and with more releases come more bugs.

    I feel the same way.
    I reported some bugs years ago but some of them are still there.
  • EA_MaiEA_Mai Posts: 1,800 EA Staff (retired)
    edited July 2019
    Hi everyone,

    Thanks for sharing your thoughts :)

    I understand it takes some time to get used to a new platform but we are not trying to make your life more difficult here - we just want bug reporting to be as effective as possible and for that, Answers HQ is the best choice. From the template the site asks you to fill when opening a new report to the tools you don't get to see - the decision of hosting bug reports on Answers HQ was not made on a whim ;) So I'd like to thank you for giving it a chance. Everyone has personal preferences, but by sharing specific feedback we get to understand better the reasons behind why you like or dislike the forums. That's always very useful for us.

    @lyasenu - thanks for your comment. As you mention, the page selection is located only at the bottom - would you mind sharing with us in which situations you miss having the page selection at the top? What makes this important for the way you use the forums?

    @Tiarella - if you would like to see more posts per page, you can adjust that from the settings page. Click here, and under 'Linear Layout settings', choose the number of 'Posts per page when viewing a topic'. If you want the same amount than here, that would be 25. Highest possible is 50.

    @suzanna13 - the forum is set up so that you can only 'Me too' a thread when you are logged in. Let me try to help with the error you are getting - please, send me a direct message with the error message you see.

    @XxAirixX - Bugs section in here was made read only last year and all bug reporting is now hosted on Answers HQ. This allows us to track and prioritise bugs better and having all the information in the same place makes finding it easier for everyone. Please, read this post for more details.

    @Cupid - thanks for explaining about the list and for encouraging others to share more details!

    I'd also like to clarify we don't always reply to the threads, but that doesn't mean your reports go unnoticed. It usually means the information you sent is enough for us to try to reproduce the issue on our side and investigate it. The template you are asked to fill asks for the information the QA team needs for that. Also, please, keep in mind bugs are not fixed in the order they are reported so newer reported bugs getting a fix doesn't mean we are not aware of those older reports. There's a lot of factors that go into prioritising a bug over another. For example, how many of you are reporting the issue is an important one - 'Me too' button is not decorative ;)


    PS. Moving this to the 'Forum ideas & feedback' section, as this is not feedback about the game but the forums.
  • TiarellaTiarella Posts: 661 Member
    @EA_Mai - thank you for the info! It's wider posts that I want (like here), though. I don't have the knowledge about how our brains work to explain it, but I comprehend better if my width-of-view is just right, and the Bug Report forum is all-wrong for me. It could well be that this is something that varies from person to person. I will, next time I have to visit that forum, try your suggestion and see if there's some way of widening the posts, so that each line is longer/has more words. Thanks for your efforts, though; I do appreciate your kindness.
  • EA_MaiEA_Mai Posts: 1,800 EA Staff (retired)
    Ah, I understand now @Tiarella, thanks for clarifying! Optimal line length is a very discussed topic when it comes to web design :)

    Answers HQ has a column on the right side of the page, which is not present here - that's the main difference. Widening the posts as you would like it's not an option available in settings so I can't offer an easy fix for that :( I appreciate the feedback though - this is the kind of things it's useful for us to know what you think about for whenever is time for a redesign!
  • wallisdjwallisdj Posts: 18 Member
    Don't serenade! Everything except time passing stops. I kept resetting everyone until I finally figured out that when one sim starts to serenade, all actions cease. Frozen!
  • Dee WestDee West Posts: 66 Member
    I have been having some problems since I downloaded the stuff pack and game pack. My game crashed, my sims stop moving but time keeps going and all the columns are way too tall.
  • EA_MaiEA_Mai Posts: 1,800 EA Staff (retired)
    Hey @wallisdj & @Dee West - we are talking about the bug report forum here, not about bugs - for any reports, please go here
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