About the neighbors threads...

Absent the chat suggestion of Nova Polari, the neighbor threads are really the only effective way to let your neighbors know if you're going to be away. Many people consider it to be a matter of courtesy to do so. Plus, they're all clearly labeled, so if you're not a neighbor of that person, you can simply ignore the thread. I fail to see how they're a nuisance.

That said, I do agree that some ability to chat or communicate with neighbors would be a much better solution.

The threads dont bother me....if they arent a neighbour i dont read them. However i love the idea of a chat system to leave messages.

Posting messages to your neighbors is not against the forum rules or tos. We've tried to make a devoted thread, but there were several objections to that system and few people used it.
Being rude and nasty or calling people out for trying to communicate about their game on the game discussion forum is going to get threads locked or hidden. So, if it annoys you, just say it annoys you, don't scream or say terrible things about these people who dare reach out to their forum neighbors on the forum.

I don't mind these threads in the slightest. I just don't read them. Although a forum chat has some merit, I think an in game message system through the post office would be better. I get the sense that many of my neighbors rarely go to these forums if ever so advanced capabilities in the forum would not reach them.

I just wish we could post or reply in the "Finding Friends" forum, this would be a great place to Post Friends info, and to be able to reply when some new player posts something that is a question but is only familiar to that topic.

About the neighbors threads...

Are you talking about this thread?
http://forum.ea.com/eaforum/posts/list/10338568.page

To be honest, the thread was a rant against 'To the neighbour of' threads, not 'To the neighbor of' threads.

Could be that the OP just doesn't like Brits' and Canucks' use of superfluous 'U's.

Many of us have played this game for well over a year ... We've developed friendships with dozens and dozens of neighbors. As crazy as it may sound, we DO care.

In my pointy little head, it is as though it was my real-life neighbor, who we know by name. We don't socialize, but we certainly greet one another and sometimes chat briefly when we go to the mailbox or set out our trash cans. He keeps up his yard very nicely. If he suddenly vanished and his yard gave signs of being abandoned, we would be concerned. We don't owe one another explanations, but because we do care about one another, we'd at least put a note on the others door to let them know we'd be gone a while.

The PM system is a total failure. These threads are quick and effective. :)

00-marco_rosas wrote:
Each thread is relevant to a fraction of a fraction of the forum's populace so they don't actually belong on a forum about general game discussion..

Have to agree. Would prefer not to see them. The Game Discussion board has become a catch all for everything... if we need these, give them their own board. While we are at it, might as well merge the FAQ and Guides board in here as well, since all of that appears on this board anyway.

I apologize to those whom I offended with my "neighbor alert" thread. I was trying to be courteous to my neighbors. If we could delete threads ourselves, it would be helpful to take these down once their purpose has been achieved.

I did state first thing that the mods could move the thread if they felt that best.

Some kind of alert in the game would indeed be helpful in this respect.

Oh, and it is a very quiet time on the boards right now in terms of the game itself, so better to do it now than when we're in the middle of a Big Event.