Proposal for Free expression on the Forum
Dear EA, would you be willing, just as an experiment, to remove all the restrictions you have on the forum for a week and let it run completely freely, just to see what happens?
Forum Discussion
Hi EA, it’s BigBoy here.
We are all playing a game that is designed for a certain age group, and as a gaming community, we are naturally going to have different opinions, frustrations and suggestions.
I believe players should be able to express their views openly and respectfully without being punished simply for speaking their minds. Constructive criticism and honest feedback are important, especially when the community is highlighting problems or suggesting ways to improve the game.
Of course, there should be boundaries when it comes to threats, abuse or genuinely offensive behaviour, but players should still be allowed to express frustration, disagree and give their honest opinions without fearing unnecessary punishment.
At the end of the day, the community should feel that our voices and feedback are being heard.
EA_Mako
Community Manager
Community ManagerThanks for the feedback BigBoy777jjs, we agree and are on the same page. Frustration, disagreement, and criticism are all welcome and important parts of providing feedback. I think if you take a look down the front page of virtually any game board here, you'll see plenty of that going on.
The rules in place are there for the instances where that turns from frustration to abuse, whether towards any fellow forum-goers, employees, or individuals in general. As a note to your comment:
We are all playing a game that is designed for a certain age group...
- keep in mind that while you may be playing a game that's rated T, M, or the equivalent PEGI ratings, the forums may be viewed and used by players of all ages, so our rules here were created with that in mind as well.
As you said however, there's zero issue with feedback and views being expressed, however negative, as long as it's done in a respectful manner. The goal here is for us to be able to make sure your feedback is passed along to the relevant game teams, and knowing you're frustrated with game mechanics and/or disagree with decisions that were made is some of the most useful feedback we can pass along.
What doesn't get passed along would be posts simply berating and abusing the devs or insulting individuals - it may be a way of expressing frustration, but it's not at all constructive. We aren't always able to respond to every post or thread, but aside from those removed for actual rule violations, the feedback being expressed - positive and negative alike - is absolutely heard and passed along.
