Forum closing down

[D11_Nat]

Hi everyone,

I want to give you fair warning that we're planning on closing the Double Eleven forum down. I want to take a moment to talk to you about the reasons, what the plans are going forward, and allow you opportunity to yell at me and convince me I'm wrong.

The forum was originally set up as a central discussion area while Prison Architect Console Edition was in Game Preview. It served that purpose well, and there was a load of helpful feedback during that period, lots of bug discussions and general chat about the progression of the release.

Since PA left Game Preview, the forum traffic has slowed down dramatically, with some days resulting in 0 posts or comments. I think that, as a development support service, it's served it purpose well but provides little player value at this point. As our only community team member, it still takes up a chunk of time to administer and moderate (there is a surprising amount of background activity), even on days where discussion is minimal.

My feelings are that communication should go both ways, so I've always been a big supporter of online forums, spending years both posting on and moderating message boards. It's unfortunate that in this situation that the amount of work that it would take to turn the forum into a thriving and worthwhile community hub is more than we're actually able to put in, given the breadth and diversity of the publishing team's responsibilities.

The intention is to move towards a blog-centred setup, building on our current Double Eleven News pages, updating more regularly and opening articles up to comments and discussion. We'll make the same announcements there as we have here, and keep people up to date with releases, changes, updates etc.

The Double Eleven Support portal remains the best way to report bugs, and is much easier for us as a company to track and fix.

I don't think there will be too many sadfaces at this news but I imagine a couple of the regulars will have some input they'd like to make. So make away! Nothing is set in stone as far as I'm concerned and I'm always willing to review my decisions. As it stands, I'm planning on shutting the forum down 1-2 weeks from now.

Much love
Nat D11

[Wrecktumrammer]

Hi @D11_Nat,

I'd like to start out by saying you've been handling these forums like a champion. Thank you for all the time and effort you've devoted towards managing and engaging in this forum. As someone who only recently has been using and perusing it as a helpful resource while playing the ps4 port, your posts and replies have been very helpful in answering any questions that I've had. Thanks for your patience and poise while keeping us informed.

In regards to this forum becoming a thriving and worthwhile community hub, I know it may not look too appealing with recent discussion mostly centered around "the horse", but this is also one of the only resources I've had to sort out mistakes I was making while playing. While the wiki on wikia contains a lot of helpful info, I don't consider it as easily navigatable in regards to the differences between the PC and console versions. My first foray into this forum helped a lot more than targeted searches within the wiki, as others in the community had already posted about the specific situations I was struggling with.

Community feedback may seem hostile or negative as of late, but I respect your game for what it is and enjoy the heck out of it. I think I and others will have more questions in the coming months, and might otherwise flounder in some of our efforts without this forum available. I think keeping dialogue open is still important for helping new players, and for sharing our experiences and thoughts as a community.

I feel this forum is already a worthwhile resource, and in time will start to thrive as more users begin to engage with the game. Player feedback will become more helpful going forward as we get to spend more time in the experience you all have crafted for us. I know I'm a little late to the party having not been part of any early access program, but I like to think myself and others have or will have constructive feedback that will help to develop even more interesting and intuitive games from Double Eleven that are that much harder to put down.

Just my two cents. I love you guys. Thanks again for all the effort and for crafting a great port.

Best Regards,
Chris (sorry about the username, old handle)

[PaulFromAspull]

What a shame. I see your point Natalie, because yes, traffic isn't huge, sadly, and lately there have been some less than respectful messages, but as an avid player of Prison Architect, I love being able to come here and have dialogue with you and the other Devs - and the regulars of course. But I get it... You gotta do what you gotta do.