With respect to your reply, the rules of the official message boards forum do not allow:
-inappropriate posts
-posting negative rants with no constructive point
-derogatory statements towards KingsIsle, our partners or other players
Clearly your statement is is critical, but it is extremely constructive. Your statement is not derogatory as well. I think the problem here is the word "inappropriate", for here KI can be subjective- they classified your post as inappropriate simply because they deem it so. They censored you because your comment was harmful to the state of the game. Such a comment would deter new players browsing the forums from joining, or may force some to reconsider financially supporting the game through memberships, crown and bundle purchases.
Do I agree with them censoring you? No.
In fact, I don't think censoring would solve anything. Most of the top comments of their Facebook posts are frustrated rants and players seeking to know about potential new worlds, new bundles and the lot. I would presume such criticism is present in their other social media platforms as well. Even here on central its a pretty big topic.
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But, as some others have said, from a business angle what should KI do to players questioning about new worlds and new content? I think there are 3 options:
1.) Silence / Useless replies
Do not reply to anything- simply let players rant and try to not to escalate the situation. This is what they have done for quite some time until recently. However remaining silent is not a sufficient long term strategy. Many players have deemed it disrespectful, inconsiderate and rude. Eventually, players want communication with the developers.
Yet replies such as "we can not answer this question at the moment" add nothing to the discussion. Clearly they CAN answer it, they just choose not to. What they actually mean is "we choose not to answer this question at the moment". This reply is no different to silence.
2.) Tell the painful truth and give us clarity
I personally think they should do this. Yes, it will likely make some players quit for good. Yes it will generate losses. But it is respectful, and allows us to not waste time discussing such issues. This is what players want to know.
3.) Censorship
Rubbish. It has only created more problems for KI. They should not have done this. Aurora's post here on central made it worse for them, and rightfully so. Trying to make the issue go away by censorship is ludicrous.
We are however reaching a socially critical point and as others mentioned, tensions and hostility are on the rise between p101 players and KI. I think they should tell the truth now, and not employ strategies like silence and censorship.
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