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Questions? - Upcoming changes to forum categories (February 2020)

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EA_MaiEA_Mai Posts: 1,800 EA Staff (retired)
edited January 2020 in Forum Ideas & Feedback
I'm creating this topic for questions around the changes coming to the forums: 'Updates to forum categories (February 2020)'. Please, read that post before commenting here :)

Comments

  • GraceyManorGraceyManor Posts: 20,079 Member
    edited January 2020
    I'm not liking the idea of moving the expansion pack thread into the general discussion.I avoid the Expansion pack section purposely because I have no interest in any of its topics, and looking at the topics over there, feels like the general discussion area I like will be over ran with topics I don't like.

    I also see that there's gonna be a single topic for "chatting" Does that mean you guys are gonna lock our "What happened in your game today?" thread over in the general discussions? I hope not, because that's where we like to share our stories.

    Will the technical support for sims 3 still be available? or is that being arched with the bugs?
  • ChazzzyChazzzy Posts: 7,166 Member
    Hmm it sounds to me like these category changes will make it harder to really customize this forum experience for each user, especially if you all are merging so many categories into one. For example, I am following only the categories I have interest in so that I don't have to see threads made in topics I don't care about. With all of this merging that's about to take place, it sounds to me like I will be forced to see threads in sections I don't care about.

    Bummer
  • SimAlexandriaSimAlexandria Posts: 4,845 Member
    I really love the idea of the Sims Franchise forum for comparing games :) I noticed, for example, the Sims 3 forums are just people who play the game, but Sims 4 forums are overrun with comparisons to other games etc. Keeping a separate place for Sims 4 players only discussion vs. people that want to compare one game to another might help boost the spirits on here a bit. Those that want to just play without seeing it compared to others all the time can avoid the Franchise forum and those that want to compare can still post their thoughts :)
  • EA_MaiEA_Mai Posts: 1,800 EA Staff (retired)
    edited January 2020
    I'm not liking the idea of moving the expansion pack thread into the general discussion. (...) looking at the topics over there, feels like the general discussion area I like will be over ran with topics I don't like.
    The Sims 3 'Expansion Packs' section is not very active compared to 'General Discussion'. Only 11 topics had activity there this month, which are just a few compared to the 3-4 pages in 'General Discussion'.
    Are you worried about the topics that are announced? I can totally understand, there are too many announcements in 'Expansion Packs'. We won't be moving the announcements as they are, though - we will be reviewing them before the move. Most will be un-announced as they are no longer used or the information is outdated. If needed, we will create an announced index so the ones that still have useful information but are not generally used can be easily found. The idea is to keep ~5 announcements in total (or less) in The Sims 3 'General Discussion' once we are done with the changes.
    I also see that there's gonna be a single topic for "chatting" Does that mean you guys are gonna lock our "What happened in your game today?" thread over in the general discussions?
    Oh, no, there won’t be a single topic for "chatting". We won’t be locking threads either, we may move them to a different category thought if the category they currently are in is one of those that will get combined into another one. For example, threads from The Sims 3 'Expansion Packs' will be moved to 'The Sims 3 General Discussion'. You can continue commenting on them as usual, it's just that they will change location.
    Exception to this are the categories I said we will archive, as they will become read-only. We will move the discussions we see are active somewhere else before archiving the category, to avoid stopping any ongoing conversations.
    Will the technical support for sims 3 still be available? or is that being arched with the bugs?
    From 'The Sims 3 Help Center' only 'Bugs & Issues' and 'iPhone and Mobile Discussions' will be archived.
    Chazzzy wrote: »
    Hmm it sounds to me like these category changes will make it harder to really customize this forum experience for each user, especially if you all are merging so many categories into one.
    This is one of the biggest challenges when deciding what categories a forum should have. It's always impossible to make it so that we can cover perfectly every individual way of using the forums or everyone's individual interests. Our goal is always finding a balance.
    For example, two of the categories we are combining are 'The Sims 4 PC Game Feedback' and 'The Sims 4 Console Game Feedback'. If you play on PC/Mac you probably are not interested in reading console specific feedback like feedback about the controls on PS4. However, console specific feedback is very rare compared to the amount of feedback in general, and considering the games are almost the same in all platforms now, most feedback can be shared, no matter the platform you are playing on.
  • HestiaHestia Posts: 1,997 Member
    I am very happy with these changes as the forums will be a lot easier and user-friendly to navigate. Thank you for keeping these things in mind.
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  • luthienrisingluthienrising Posts: 37,617 Member
    Is there a way to encourage people to add the pack they're talking about to titles in the Sims 4 Pack Discussion forum?
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  • simgirl1010simgirl1010 Posts: 35,701 Member
    Glad to see the Franchise category coming. Great for all those comparison and Sims 5 topics.
  • Felicity1169Felicity1169 Posts: 592 Member
    I'm not really sure combining all the packs into one catergory is necessarily going to make it easier to find things but I'm very happy that there's a general franchise category now and that the Sims 1 category is getting a more specific title as people keep posting stuff about the Sims 2 and 3 in it.
  • popstarsleypopstarsley Posts: 1,086 Member
    I’ve never fussed much with the categories, I always go directly to “Recent Discussions.” 😎
  • ListentoToppDoggListentoToppDogg Posts: 2,103 Member
    I definitely don't like the fact that all the pack discussions are being merged into one. I liked them separate so it was easier to have a bunch of discussions about a new pack all in one place, with the other pack stuff in their own sections. I feel this is gonna be a huge mess once they're merged.

    I also don't like the idea of merging the PC and console feedback sections. It's gonna be hard to know what people are talking about for feedback unless the thread title is specific to whether its PC or console.

    Not looking forward to this. :/
  • SimmyFroggySimmyFroggy Posts: 1,762 Member
    Is there a way to encourage people to add the pack they're talking about to titles in the Sims 4 Pack Discussion forum?

    Seconding this question.
    Would be great if that part of the forum adapted the system from AHQ, like having [OR] in the title for Outdoor Retreat threads etc.
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  • lisamwittlisamwitt Posts: 5,079 Member
    I really love the idea of the Sims Franchise forum for comparing games :) I noticed, for example, the Sims 3 forums are just people who play the game, but Sims 4 forums are overrun with comparisons to other games etc. Keeping a separate place for Sims 4 players only discussion vs. people that want to compare one game to another might help boost the spirits on here a bit. Those that want to just play without seeing it compared to others all the time can avoid the Franchise forum and those that want to compare can still post their thoughts :)

    Me too. It's an excellent idea.
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  • flippinmaryflippinmary Posts: 180 Member
    I've only recently bought cats & dogs and seasons. Where will I find discussions on these without having to trawl through years of posts?
  • TamakiSakura84TamakiSakura84 Posts: 543 Member
    edited February 2020
    Could an option for thread tags with pack names, perhaps even in different colors, be added? (Similar to the Announcement tag.)
  • HestiaHestia Posts: 1,997 Member
    edited February 2020
    Is there a way to encourage people to add the pack they're talking about to titles in the Sims 4 Pack Discussion forum?

    Other forum softwares have a custom tag/badge/label system. Not sure if Vanilla Forums (The software being used now) has it. It’s such a crucial part of a forum board.

    CC @EA_Mai
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  • Janiebug1122Janiebug1122 Posts: 25 Member
    I don't think I care for what you propose to do with the expansion pack forums. I know I'm new, but before seeing this update info I had looked through the forums and was glad to see the expansion pack forums separate. I don't have them all, nor do I want all of them. As such, I'm also not interested in posts about about those expansion packs (or even posts about packs I do have but am not interested in as far as the forums go).
  • davina1221davina1221 Posts: 3,656 Member
    I didn't notice Sims4 ideas corner and I know it is always busy.
  • Me1620Me1620 Posts: 4,983 Member
    Will moving, archiving and combining discussions change the link address of a specific post? If so, then links will be broken where posts have been cited in another post. I often refer to old threads in Sims 3 forums. Many links were already lost when the Sims 3 forum was merged with the Sims 4 forum years ago.
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  • SimmingalSimmingal Posts: 8,885 Member
    edited February 2020
    i'd still really like an addition of "future games speculation" category of sorts

    speculation and rumor keeps getting overrun by "the sims 5 is it coming" type of things and i truly just want to speculate about ts4 atm so it irritates me p_p

    otherwise I don't mind the changes. especially pack discussions it has always sort of felt like unneccessary separation

    not sure about archive though will the categories still be there under one bigger archiving category similar to how pack discussions is under ts4 or?
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  • SimburianSimburian Posts: 6,906 Member
    a/ What are you doing about the "Off Topic" category?

    b/ Could there be a Category for Newcomers to give them the information they are currently asking in Activities? eg: Newcomers start here.

    c/ I've seen some CEO news about possible new Sims game(s). Is this a way of making room for it? I agree with former comments about not putting Sims 5 stuff into Sims 4 speculations.
  • bekkasanbekkasan Posts: 10,171 Member
    @EA_Mai Two concerns.

    1) When y'all (I know you were not around) messed with the forums a few years back many threads were lost and some were able to be recovered and some not. What are you doing to back up and prevent loss of important threads? Some were story threads and some were threads that helped with game. One of mine was a story thread and it was recovered. But, one in particular that I recall was @ciane's thread, was lost with valuable info and she eventually recreated it, but it shouldn't have happened to begin with.

    2) Will this mess with our current bookmarks or links?
  • Pinmat135Pinmat135 Posts: 346 Member
    I'd also recommend pre-emptively adding a Sims 5 category. I mean, there are so many theories out there already, and as we get closer and closer to when we think it'll come out, there are going to be so many Sims 5-related threads, I'm sure.
  • GraceyManorGraceyManor Posts: 20,079 Member
    Chazzzy wrote: »
    Hmm it sounds to me like these category changes will make it harder to really customize this forum experience for each user, especially if you all are merging so many categories into one. For example, I am following only the categories I have interest in so that I don't have to see threads made in topics I don't care about. With all of this merging that's about to take place, it sounds to me like I will be forced to see threads in sections I don't care about.

    Bummer

    This.I have no interest in the topics in the expansion packs/stuff pack sections so I folllow just the general discussion...
  • GraceyManorGraceyManor Posts: 20,079 Member
    And personally, I'd rather not have sims 4 discussions mixed with sims 3.I do not play 4 and never will.And don't want our sims 3 area bombarded with sims 4 players telling us why we should play 4 and not 3.
    I definitely don't like the fact that all the pack discussions are being merged into one. I liked them separate so it was easier to have a bunch of discussions about a new pack all in one place, with the other pack stuff in their own sections. I feel this is gonna be a huge mess once they're merged.

    I also don't like the idea of merging the PC and console feedback sections. It's gonna be hard to know what people are talking about for feedback unless the thread title is specific to whether its PC or console.

    Not looking forward to this. :/

    This as well.
    And I hope they don't mix sims 3 and sims 4 together.I stay in the Sims 3 section because that's the area I need
    help/content for.I do not and I never will play sims 4 or sims 5 for that matter.
  • SimburianSimburian Posts: 6,906 Member
    And personally, I'd rather not have sims 4 discussions mixed with sims 3.I do not play 4 and never will.And don't want our sims 3 area bombarded with sims 4 players telling us why we should play 4 and not 3.
    I definitely don't like the fact that all the pack discussions are being merged into one. I liked them separate so it was easier to have a bunch of discussions about a new pack all in one place, with the other pack stuff in their own sections. I feel this is gonna be a huge mess once they're merged.

    I also don't like the idea of merging the PC and console feedback sections. It's gonna be hard to know what people are talking about for feedback unless the thread title is specific to whether its PC or console.

    Not looking forward to this. :/

    This as well.
    And I hope they don't mix sims 3 and sims 4 together.I stay in the Sims 3 section because that's the area I need
    help/content for.I do not and I never will play sims 4 or sims 5 for that matter.

    It was the Sims3 players coming to the Sims 4 forums that were the main problem, from the Sims 4 players' point of view. Taking over whole threads. Plus the Sims 5 speculation in Rumor.. and Feedback.
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