Forum performance hitting new lows

[Marancil]

For a time there, maybe before January, forums were kinda working decent.

However in the last few weeks the performance has declined to new lows. I do not know if you are changing things server side and prepping for an overhaul, but it is painfully slow.

[DavidmeetHal]

It's beyond slow, sometimes it just doesn't load up at all. Right now, the forum site is a mess.

[Cordovan]

We have some short term work to do to improve the forums, but the reality is we are living in an in-between state for the next few months as we work to bring entirely new forums to the game.

[TearMaker]

We have some short term work to do to improve the forums, but the reality is we are living in an in-between state for the next few months as we work to bring entirely new forums to the game.

I know it is sometimes difficult to share but if options and environments haven't yet been agreed could you please share some options with the community that have to use them on a daily basis?

I know you have to police the content but my goal would be to get many more folks on the forums than we have now and to do that you have to make it a comfortable experience using both desktop and mobile interfaces.

Can you possibly let us in on some of the choices or are they all a done deal?

[Marancil]

Can you possibly let us in on some of the choices or are they all a done deal?

Keep to vBulletin and keep the forum history, would be my take. Yes, I have built and upgraded forums.

Stay away, far away, from discourse and similar modern platforms that are very hard to navigate and get a grip on. A mess.

InvisionBoard could work.

[TearMaker]

Well it is going to be a very strange place if we have to try and reapply for our original forum names and there is only a none quotable archive of the current forums. Post counts gone will no doubt upset a few but that doesn't really bother me.

A slicker mobile offering would be great because this versions mobile version is very very poor indeed.

[Harvain]

A big issue will be how many folks will actually make said Transition to the New LOTRO Forums "when they finally happen" and will it be akin to the New Help System. That didn't go over well with how everyone had to create an Account that isn't directly connected to our Game Accounts.

If the New LOTRO Forums in 2022 or 2023 are too much of a hassle, plenty won't bother dealing with it.

If it's going to be hopefully an "Upgrade" over the Current Forums, I hope it's an ACTUAL UPGRADE.

[Cordovan]

I know it is sometimes difficult to share but if options and environments haven't yet been agreed could you please share some options with the community that have to use them on a daily basis?

I know you have to police the content but my goal would be to get many more folks on the forums than we have now and to do that you have to make it a comfortable experience using both desktop and mobile interfaces.

Can you possibly let us in on some of the choices or are they all a done deal?

It is likely we will be migrating to the platform Daybreak uses for its other studios for efficiency and other reasons, which means we will be moving to a modern version of Xenforo as a base.

[Marancil]

Xenforo can be ok...

[Harvain]

It is likely we will be migrating to the platform Daybreak uses for its other studios for efficiency and other reasons, which means we will be moving to a modern version of Xenforo as a base.

Well just doing a quick search of some Sites using Xenforo, it'll get the job done & seems more Mobile Friendly than the current LOTRO Forums.

Anyone can try out a 7 Day Demo of a Xenforo Site through this: https://xenforo.com/demo/

I just messed around with it for a little bit before needing to go check on a family dog.

I wouldn't say Xenforo is anything to write home about & throw a lot of praise for first impressions from several Sites I looked at so it'll mostly come down to how much the SSG LOTRO Team with likely a small amount of folks doing said work will put into having Xenforo as it's Website to have an "Appealing" looking Website for the New LOTRO Forums and then ensuring a good Forum selection.

Make sure you do your testing for Phones & ensure that looks good as pointed out in this Thread. The LOTRO.com Website is "good" for Mobile just in my opinion and using an iPhone 7 Plus, so not among the most Modern & Large Phone but if that kind of Quality can be reached, that'll be a positive.

[TearMaker]

It seems fairly similar to be honest. At least it recognises if you open with a mobile and don't have to choose. The mobile view looks better and the reply function seems more modern.

I think this could be a good move.

I'm guessing that they charge too much to port over the database and account details or is that more of a security issue then a logistical issue?

[Cordovan]

It seems fairly similar to be honest. At least it recognises if you open with a mobile and don't have to choose. The mobile view looks better and the reply function seems more modern.

I think this could be a good move.

I'm guessing that they charge too much to port over the database and account details or is that more of a security issue then a logistical issue?

It is more that the current system is built on a house of cards made out of previous and current systems and is ultimately the reason why our web site and forums have struggled in recent years. The only remaining bits left of it are the current LOTRO forums. Trying to mash that mess into a nice, clean, up to date set of forums has repeatedly been shown to be unsuitable when we have done the work to look at new forums, and the reason can fall under the quick take of, "it'll only make things worse." The downside of course is having to start fresh and keep the current forums in a permanent archive state, but that is a far better solution than trying to incorporate the old into the new.

[TearMaker]

It is more that the current system is built on a house of cards made out of previous and current systems and is ultimately the reason why our web site and forums have struggled in recent years. The only remaining bits left of it are the current LOTRO forums. Trying to mash that mess into a nice, clean, up to date set of forums has repeatedly been shown to be unsuitable when we have done the work to look at new forums, and the reason can fall under the quick take of, "it'll only make things worse." The downside of course is having to start fresh and keep the current forums in a permanent archive state, but that is a far better solution than trying to incorporate the old into the new.

That kind of makes sense then to have a fresh start instead of compounding the current issues with just a fresh lick of paint to cover the cracks.

I'm sure you can find a way to allow current forum names to be assigned to the same posters? If it is just registering through your account somehow and that gets ported to the new software. I know I am really over simplifying something that in practical terms is probably quite convoluted. And some folks would probably enjoy a new name and a new start.... perhaps

[Harvain]

Now granted I will state this is an example of XenForo using the Demo Option anyone can try and this was a roughly 2-ish hours of messing around (and several afks including twice for checking on a dog ) but I just threw together an example of what "could" be done with XenForo for the possible New LOTRO Forums:



And I fully admit, this is very rough. I spent most of my time just messing with Settings just to see what changed what. It seems certain things would be more Code than any Options to change certain colors as an example.

Most of the Original Settings for a New XenForo Website are still being used.

I mostly just changed the color for the Forum Box, Staff Box, Members Box, Forum Statistics and Share to have a "darker" theme. Then added the LOTRO Icon and made it smaller, I used Windows Screenshot to get the LOTRO Forums One Ring Text for the Header and then used a Wallpaper with a "Sunscreen" Filter that XenForo gives an option for to provide something to "take up the space" but not stand out too much while still being recognizable.

[TearMaker]

Now granted I will state this is an example of XenForo using the Demo Option anyone can try and this was a roughly 2-ish hours of messing around (and several afks including twice for checking on a dog ) but I just threw together an example of what "could" be done with XenForo for the possible New LOTRO Forums:



And I fully admit, this is very rough. I spent most of my time just messing with Settings just to see what changed what. It seems certain things would be more Code than any Options to change certain colors as an example.

Most of the Original Settings for a New XenForo Website are still being used.

I mostly just changed the color for the Forum Box, Staff Box, Members Box, Forum Statistics and Share to have a "darker" theme. Then added the LOTRO Icon and made it smaller, I used Windows Screenshot to get the LOTRO Forums One Ring Text for the Header and then used a Wallpaper with a "Sunscreen" Filter that XenForo gives an option for to provide something to "take up the space" but not stand out too much while still being recognizable.

Thanks for taking the time to have a play with this. I have to be honest, this has put my mind at rest. It looks so much cleaner than the current.

Now, it takes a lot for me to submit to change but this looks like it is well worth the effort.

The goal has to be to engage the many 10s of thousands players that use facebook and twitter into using the forums. Only then will we have a truly full conversation that the DEVS can trust is the voice of a big % of the player base.

Thanks again Harvain

[Harvain]

Thanks for taking the time to have a play with this. I have to be honest, this has put my mind at rest. It looks so much cleaner than the current.

Now, it takes a lot for me to submit to change but this looks like it is well worth the effort.

The goal has to be to engage the many 10s of thousands players that use facebook and twitter into using the forums. Only then will we have a truly full conversation that the DEVS can trust is the voice of a big % of the player base.

Thanks again Harvain

Yeah, I wanted someone to give us an example with a LOTRO Skin and decided, "Well, I guess it's best to bite the bullet and just see how it is & what someone like myself who has a working knowledge of this kind of stuff could do".

As far as I can tell the more the SSG LOTRO Team would put into XenForo for using as a Website as the New LOTRO Forums, the more they'll get out. Personally, I think we need to see a Prototype here before the First Half of 2022 is over for what kind of Direction they'd be going with it and this Prototype in all honesty I think could be finished & shown off by end of March even with just using spare time.

I also think the New LOTRO Forums should be pushed to being a far more High Priority Project as the LOTRO Forums are a key part of the Lord of the Rings Online and really this Project should be focused on being out ASAP instead of possibly falling into 2023. The Current LOTRO Forums are on Life Support and the coming Transition Period when everyone will have to get onto the New LOTRO Forums is going to be a very large question mark for the LOTRO Community for how this will go & what kind of experience folks will encounter.

This can't be treated as something that the SSG LOTRO Team can "ride out the storm" if there are X amount of Issues. If this is not dealt with all the Seriousness & Effort the SSG LOTRO Team can give us, we will have more Issues. SSG's Customer Support also MUST be in a position where they are able to answer Tickets during the initial week after the New LOTRO Forums go Live in a matter of HOURS per Ticket involving any New LOTRO Forum Issues.

I'm not an Alarmist just a Realist. The New LOTRO Forums for the Transition Period whenever this occurs could be a very dangerous period of time for LOTRO if not handled well and have a lot of Negative Effects that we might never recover from and I think anyone can agree, the Lord of the Rings Online doesn't need another reason for folks to not play this MMORPG.

[Marancil]

Yeah, I wanted someone to give us an example with a LOTRO Skin and decided, "Well, I guess it's best to bite the bullet and just see how it is & what someone like myself who has a working knowledge of this kind of stuff could do".

Nice effort.

[Moondog548]

It is more that the current system is built on a house of cards made out of previous and current systems and is ultimately the reason why our web site and forums have struggled in recent years. The only remaining bits left of it are the current LOTRO forums. Trying to mash that mess into a nice, clean, up to date set of forums has repeatedly been shown to be unsuitable when we have done the work to look at new forums, and the reason can fall under the quick take of, "it'll only make things worse." The downside of course is having to start fresh and keep the current forums in a permanent archive state, but that is a far better solution than trying to incorporate the old into the new.

Thanks for the info... looking forward to the future!

[Harvain]

Messing around a bit more just to put what "could" be considered:

[Harvain]

There are also X amount of Features that the SSG LOTRO Team would have & be able to use and really would require a MUCH better LOTRO Forums Team than what we currently have to both make use of said Features & be able to react in a timely manner to anything going on with a possible XenForo LOTRO Forums.

Folks could be able to Upload to Albums or Categories with Pictures or Videos (Linked) and have a much better way for interacting with such:







Edit: Which that above image is a linked Youtube Video.

So for example, the +Cord of the Ring Streams on Youtube could all be linked in a single Album or Category and the SSG LOTRO Team could get Feedback directly from the Videos.

[Harvain]

Another example if XenForo "is" going to be the Website for the New LOTRO Forums would be the ability to have say a +Cord of the Rings Stream from the aftermath of a Stream on say the "Homepage" for the New LOTRO Forums where folks could have quick access to seeing such and can have the "Latest LOTRO News Video" available: