Web 👂Suggestion about Suggestions?!?!👂

[Thijs]

Heeeeeeee Cubeee,

I just wanted to talk about suggestions in Cubeeecraftttt, while hoping it isn’t that hot of a topic still :’) .

I love it when the community and team work together for example, when people could make maps & submit them so they could actually get in the game. But also other things, ideas, or changes/suggestions that make the game more fun. After all the community is the customer playing the game, so they know what they like & dislike. While the team knows what’s best for the game (look at where they got it), I do think community suggestions are something that should be looked at from time to time.

At the moment there are 2 main places to make suggestions: (Community Corner on Discord) & (Feedback & Suggestion on the forums).

Sometimes there’s also a 3rd way called the “Community Talks” thread, which is on Discord as well. This is used when a new game gets released or something gets updated. These actually are monitored by the team, which is nice seeing a response from admins/devs!

Tho those are only for some updates/new games, the main 2 ways to make suggestions are a bit neglected (I think).

Some posts on the Community Corner Discord got 15/30 agrees & no response at all:

• https://discord.com/channels/174837853778345984/1402497869167984773
• https://discord.com/channels/174837853778345984/1371870631335035061
• https://discord.com/channels/174837853778345984/1370787197837377577
• https://discord.com/channels/174837853778345984/1353724008809631765
• https://discord.com/channels/174837853778345984/1352024870388498492
• https://discord.com/channels/174837853778345984/1350173301468561568

And the same for the forums:

• https://www.cubecraft.net/threads/changes-to-the-weakness-arrows-in-eggwars.379018/
• https://www.cubecraft.net/threads/-lets-talk-partner-program-.378926
• https://www.cubecraft.net/threads/private-games-feedback.389584
• https://www.cubecraft.net/threads/-private-games-suggestion-.389386
• https://www.cubecraft.net/threads/-battlepasses-in-cubecraft-.385720/
• https://www.cubecraft.net/threads/new-suggestion-bedwars-swords.388346

I don’t think that having a few agrees is a reason for something to be added at all. Outside of it not being a fair representation of what the community wants, there are also a lot of suggestions with less "agrees" that are good, quick fixes. Probably easier for the team to do too so even better in that way.

But when a suggestion get’s voted on, it’s a sign that other people (dis)agree with something. And it brings it up more because of the reactions. Some ideas aren’t possible, which is just how it is. But responding to it is always possible. It DOES take time, yes but I think it would be a great improvement (also in communication between community & team).

I know there is a Cam reply prefix on the forums, which was added in april last year, but I think also everyone knows that Cam is just very busy with everything. For example in the last 365 days only 1 suggestion got replied to with this prefix.

I think the way it used to be with 25 agrees is in no way perfect, but it is so much better then not getting anything at all (would love to hear other opinions/ways that would be better)

BTW there are a lot of things going amazing as well, and there’s a lot of stuff that has been implemented, or at least got a reaction like this. (AMAZING STUFFF PEOPLEEE):

• https://www.cubecraft.net/threads/ffa-afk-timer.388992/#post-1672071
• https://www.cubecraft.net/threads/longtime-supporter-lifetime-rank-—-why-am-i-being-left-out.386713
• https://www.cubecraft.net/threads/micro-events-.384344

I just think overall suggestions & feedback is something positive for the server and would love to see it pop out a bit more :)!

With luv,
Thijs

 

[Nathie]

Cool suggestion Thijs. Personally, I would not mind seeing the X amount of agrees on a suggestion for it to be forwarded being brought back. I know people can just forward these posts to external platforms and get people to react on them or popular people with platforms getting their followers to agree on their suggestions would mean actually good suggestions that get a few agrees are going to seem like they'll be less-likely to be seen, but it can be made that even if the suggestion was forwarded, a reply or moving it to planned is not guaranteed. This would depend on if the server has resources to implement the suggestion or if it's possible/impossible to do, even with resources for it available.

 

[Loskol]

I totally agree. I don't know if Cubecraft listens to any feedback and suggestions from the community anymore simply because they don't really give that many answers nor reactions. Of course that doesn't mean that they don't listen, but it can feel like that when months pass without even single reply.

 

[Shadow Gaming.]

Heeeeeeee Cubeee,

I just wanted to talk about suggestions in Cubeeecraftttt, while hoping it isn’t that hot of a topic still :’) .

I love it when the community and team work together for example, when people could make maps & submit them so they could actually get in the game. But also other things, ideas, or changes/suggestions that make the game more fun. After all the community is the customer playing the game, so they know what they like & dislike. While the team knows what’s best for the game (look at where they got it), I do think community suggestions are something that should be looked at from time to time.

At the moment there are 2 main places to make suggestions: (Community Corner on Discord) & (Feedback & Suggestion on the forums).

Sometimes there’s also a 3rd way called the “Community Talks” thread, which is on Discord as well. This is used when a new game gets released or something gets updated. These actually are monitored by the team, which is nice seeing a response from admins/devs!

Tho those are only for some updates/new games, the main 2 ways to make suggestions are a bit neglected (I think).

Some posts on the Community Corner Discord got 15/30 agrees & no response at all:

• https://discord.com/channels/174837853778345984/1402497869167984773
• https://discord.com/channels/174837853778345984/1371870631335035061
• https://discord.com/channels/174837853778345984/1370787197837377577
• https://discord.com/channels/174837853778345984/1353724008809631765
• https://discord.com/channels/174837853778345984/1352024870388498492
• https://discord.com/channels/174837853778345984/1350173301468561568

And the same for the forums:

• https://www.cubecraft.net/threads/changes-to-the-weakness-arrows-in-eggwars.379018/
• https://www.cubecraft.net/threads/-lets-talk-partner-program-.378926
• https://www.cubecraft.net/threads/private-games-feedback.389584
• https://www.cubecraft.net/threads/-private-games-suggestion-.389386
• https://www.cubecraft.net/threads/-battlepasses-in-cubecraft-.385720/
• https://www.cubecraft.net/threads/new-suggestion-bedwars-swords.388346

I don’t think that having a few agrees is a reason for something to be added at all. Outside of it not being a fair representation of what the community wants, there are also a lot of suggestions with less "agrees" that are good, quick fixes. Probably easier for the team to do too so even better in that way.

But when a suggestion get’s voted on, it’s a sign that other people (dis)agree with something. And it brings it up more because of the reactions. Some ideas aren’t possible, which is just how it is. But responding to it is always possible. It DOES take time, yes but I think it would be a great improvement (also in communication between community & team).

I know there is a Cam reply prefix on the forums, which was added in april last year, but I think also everyone knows that Cam is just very busy with everything. For example in the last 365 days only 1 suggestion got replied to with this prefix.

I think the way it used to be with 25 agrees is in no way perfect, but it is so much better then not getting anything at all (would love to hear other opinions/ways that would be better)

BTW there are a lot of things going amazing as well, and there’s a lot of stuff that has been implemented, or at least got a reaction like this. (AMAZING STUFFF PEOPLEEE):

• https://www.cubecraft.net/threads/ffa-afk-timer.388992/#post-1672071
• https://www.cubecraft.net/threads/longtime-supporter-lifetime-rank-—-why-am-i-being-left-out.386713
• https://www.cubecraft.net/threads/micro-events-.384344

I just think overall suggestions & feedback is something positive for the server and would love to see it pop out a bit more :)!

With luv,
Thijs

can't moderators just forward this thierselves to the admin team? why make a suggestion? if im not wrong.

 

[suedivy40117733]

can't moderators just forward this thierselves to the admin team? why make a suggestion? if im not wrong.

Reply on another Thijs forum:

As Moderators we are not directly involved with any creative decisions / updates that are in the making. We do have the privilege of testing some updates before they come out but it is mainly for quality assurance purposes. So we have to use the channels everybody else uses for suggestions. Also, there is a lot of added value in sharing our ideas publicly on the forums instead of privately, because of the demonstrated community support.

 

[xHappyMood]

I made a similar thread a while ago, in the admin feedback section, as I thought it'd have more chance of getting an answer over there (I was right). It took a while, but eventually it did get one, which I'll quote below, as well as the relevant parts in my thread.

Spoiler: Cam's Reply

Hoihoi,

The Feedback & Suggestions subforum is very much extremely dead and it's a shame.

Let's start with some numbers:

Since the 17th of March, 5 posts have been made by admins in the subforum (of which 1 was in a thread that should not even have been in that subforum, 1 was a thread posted by an admin, 1 was just saying it couldn't be done, and 1, 2 were saying it would be done and then saying it had been done). That means there have been 5 posts in the past 229 days, and 1 thread has seriously been answered in all that time.

(...)

Just to compare here, I, who am very inactive, have, on my own, made 7 posts in the Feedback & Suggestions subforum since the 17th of March, more than all admins combined. And a whole 615 threads have been posted since then.

The changes made to the suggestions system also didn't do any good. It has been 446 days since those changes, and in that time 1188 threads have been posted. In the first 446 days of the previous suggestions system a whole 3063 (!) threads were posted. That means a 61,21% decrease in suggestions...

(...)

I do realise far from all of those suggestions since the 17th of March (very few, even) have been of high quality, and worthy of a detailed response, or really one at all. But there have been enough examples of high quality threads a lot of people agreed with, some even specifically directed at admins: 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7 and there are more examples. All of these have been completely ignored, even if they were specifically directed at an admin.

(...)

I'm not saying every single thread should be getting a response from the admin team (...) If people spend their time and energy on making a thread, then I feel that should be acknowledged, instead of completely ignored. It is your server's interests they have at heart, after all.

I previously mentioned that one of the posts since the 17th of March was a thread posted by an admin. It was posted almost 2 months ago, and since then has completely been void of any admin response, even if it were only in the form of reactions to the posts in it. You can't just ask people what they think should happen, and then completely ignore the entire thread for 2 months. You have to be more responsive if you ask people for their opinions.

And then there's reactions... the , and were originally implemented as a way of determining whether a thread should be forwarded to the admins so it could get a response. After that wasn't the case for every thread anymore, they were still useful as an indicator for what percentage of people agreed with a suggestion, and usually threads with a higher amount of agree reactions, would be more prone to getting an answer from an admin. Lately, however, the reaction score of a thread hasn't made any difference whatsoever anymore. It has been completely useless to react to threads, and has no influence on their likeliness to get an admin-response.

(...)

The numbers are from the time of posting, which was in November 2023.

Hello xHappyMood,

I'm very sorry for the late response. I only just saw this thread get bumped up in the thread list so it is visible to me. This is going to be an open and honest response. As you know, the previous systems for suggestions didn't work out because it was too much load to handle. The feedback team didn't work out because the community targeted the individuals on the team. It was just a toxic environment overall, so if that's how they will be treated, the perks of a feedback system weren't deserved.

With open honesty, our current team cannot handle suggestions, reply to them, and especially implement them. Sadly, we do not have the resources for this. It's a pipedream that many suggestions are replied to and implemented, but the reality is, we can't. As you know, I personally said in another thread that I'd like to reply to some; I had done that, but not as many as I'd like, as I just don't have the time to do my other responsibilities and reply to suggestions.

Implementing suggestions also isn't possible with our existing resources. There are many suggestions that would be great on our network, for example, when someone suggests 20 new SkyWars achievements, or new items for the EggWars shop, etc, something that makes sense and would be great to add. But once again, we don't have the dev power to add them, as people are focused on current game/content projects, tech projects or other things. And getting a dev to add one thing isn't worth it from a business point of view. In an ideal world, when we want to update a game, we'd look at suggestions for specific things such as achievements or new items, most of the time there aren't good enough suggestions or we're not looking for them ideas. CubeCraft is more than just a Minecraft server; it's a business, and we need to do everything for the benefit of said business. sadly, adding the odd good suggestions isn't one of them, it would impact more than anything, pulling resources from somewhere else to handle it.

Now, you may say, "Why don't you just remove the suggestions subforum then?". At the end of the day, it is somewhere for users to share their thoughts, feedback, and suggestions. Yes, we might not have the resources to handle them, but now and then, suggestions take off, and they are internally looked at and considered, etc. Also, it's a place for community members to communicate and talk their minds.


Hope this clears some things up!
Cam :)

This answer came just over a year ago (21/06/2024), but judging by the current size of the team and the amount of suggestions being given a reply, I'd say (most of) this still applies now.

Of course this is a huge shame, I'd be the first to agree with that. But I'm afraid they can't really do a lot else at the moment. The only (semi-)realistic solution I'd see is bringing back the feedback team in some form, even though that uhm... didn't end too well last time I still don't think giving it another shot would be a bad idea, it's been almost two years now.

but it can be made that even if the suggestion was forwarded, a reply or moving it to planned is not guaranteed. This would depend on if the server has resources to implement the suggestion or if it's possible/impossible to do, even with resources for it available.

I don't think this'd be a very good idea, as I feel like it would just give people false hope. You're suddenly going to get all these forwarded suggestions and well... none of them will get a reply because there's just no time and resources for it.

 

[Loskol]

I made a similar thread a while ago, in the admin feedback section, as I thought it'd have more chance of getting an answer over there (I was right). It took a while, but eventually it did get one, which I'll quote below, as well as the relevant parts in my thread.

Spoiler: Cam's Reply

The numbers are from the time of posting, which was in November 2023.

This answer came just over a year ago (21/06/2024), but judging by the current size of the team and the amount of suggestions being given a reply, I'd say (most of) this still applies now.

Of course this is a huge shame, I'd be the first to agree with that. But I'm afraid they can't really do a lot else at the moment. The only (semi-)realistic solution I'd see is bringing back the feedback team in some form, even though that uhm... didn't end too well last time I still don't think giving it another shot would be a bad idea, it's been almost two years now.


I don't think this'd be a very good idea, as I feel like it would just give people false hope. You're suddenly going to get all these forwarded suggestions and well... none of them will get a reply because there's just no time and resources for it.

Oh that is a shame, but also understandable. Also in my opinion it is partly the Cubecraft community's fault that feedbacks and suggestions aren't looked at as much as they used to two years ago. If people weren't mean and toxic towards the feedback team, we would most likely still have that team looking in to the threads made in forums and Discord. I guess we have to just wait and hope that Cubecraft can look and response to feedback and suggestions in the future again.

 

[Thijs]

I made a similar thread a while ago, in the admin feedback section, as I thought it'd have more chance of getting an answer over there (I was right). It took a while, but eventually it did get one, which I'll quote below, as well as the relevant parts in my thread.

Spoiler: Cam's Reply

The numbers are from the time of posting, which was in November 2023.

This answer came just over a year ago (21/06/2024), but judging by the current size of the team and the amount of suggestions being given a reply, I'd say (most of) this still applies now.

Of course this is a huge shame, I'd be the first to agree with that. But I'm afraid they can't really do a lot else at the moment. The only (semi-)realistic solution I'd see is bringing back the feedback team in some form, even though that uhm... didn't end too well last time I still don't think giving it another shot would be a bad idea, it's been almost two years now.


I don't think this'd be a very good idea, as I feel like it would just give people false hope. You're suddenly going to get all these forwarded suggestions and well... none of them will get a reply because there's just no time and resources for it.

Thanks for sharing this :)

 

[Roxrock]

I see the feedback team being discussed here, so I want to share a bit of my own perspective about exactly what went wrong:

If there was something that doomed the team from the start, it was that some of the first members added to the team completely disagreed with the team’s existence and likely didn't have the best for Cubecraft (considering what became of them). They mainly criticized the team’s leader, Hoshi, for trying to use the team for her own interests, although I strongly disagree for many reasons. The fact that these arguments were taking place somewhat prevented any actual discussion regarding suggestions being forward. I'm also sure that these people were a major source of the supposed toxicity towards the feedback team, as most were Cubecraft partners at the time with a large amount of influence, although I personally never received any hate. They eventually ended up being banned from the team, which only made them speak up even more, ultimately bringing it down.

There was obviously more to it then that though. Related actually brought up a number of fair points that I agree with. He proposed that suggestions which receive a large enough amount of agrees could bypass the team and be forwarded automatically, which I agree with as it would allow the wider community to keep the team’s power in check. I also agreed that we shouldn't be able to suggest alternatives or alterations to suggestions without first doing so publicly to gauge community opinion. A lot of people seemed to think that we would abuse our positions to toward suggestions that only matched our own interests, even though I think everyone else in the team had Cubecraft’s best interests in mind. However, I think creating some rules about what the team can and cannot do would significantly increase the community’s trust.

Transparency was another hot topic regarding the team and one which probably would have been fixed. The main issue was the aforementioned toxicity leading to the members and discussions being kept secret. Members were also simply being invited at first, although we were constructing an application at the time the team’s end was announced.

I think that a lot of these problems could have been avoided if the team had a lot more time to prepare and be established, since the fact that it wasn't doing much at first made a lot of people think it could never be successful. If there was an application to join the team on the day the team was announced, the story easily could have been different. We obviously didn't nail it right on the first try, but a lot of the problems we had are extremely fixable.

Something interesting is that when Luke announced the team’s end, he said:

"Focus has to be shifted onto bigger ongoing projects rather than any newer smaller ones." is the reason. This is not just in reference to CubeCraft Server projects, but Ziax and Marketplace projects too.

I spoke with Hoshi late last night to tell her, and said I will be telling the rest of the team here today.

I appreciate the project wasn't given the support it needed.
Due to **changing circumstances**, it's unlikely it would ever get that support, even if given more time.

This is obviously a bit different than what Cam said. My theory is that this was when Cube started focusing on designing new game modes where they could introduce new ranks, which would make them more money than updating the game modes which already existed. With the release of subscriptions, this might not necessarily be true anymore, since people would repurchase subscriptions when old games receive updates.

I'm unsure if Cam’s reasoning for the team’s end would still be problematic today, since the team was begging to fix many of the issues people had with it and a lot of the people who fostered that toxicity are no longer a part of this community. Although I still see a lot of people around here hating on cube, I don't think it would be nearly as bad as how things were back then, especially with more transparency and communication between both sides.

It is worth mentioning that there are several other hurdles that makes it hard for me to imagine the team returning. Hoshi seems really in active these days and isn’t a moderator any more, so the team would likely need a new leader and new members. Luke also left, who seemed like the main person who allowed Hoshi to create the team and listen to the team’s feedback. Even if the community wanted the team to return, the admins would probably fear that things would go just as bad as they did the first time around.