Bungie.net Community
This topic has moved here: Subject: Discussion on the Bungie Community
  • Subject: Discussion on the Bungie Community
Subject: Discussion on the Bungie Community

Hey everyone! I'm doing research into the Bungie community for a class at the Georgia Institute of Technology. We're studying what makes certain online communities successful and what causes others to fail. I've spoken to a good handful of people on the matter but I'd like your input. What makes this community great? What could use improvement? What ideas would you like to see implemented? One of the primary focuses of this research is the File Sharing Forums. I think a lot can be done to make it a more useful tool for everyone. Anyways, if there is anyone out there who spends a lot of time on the forums who would like to speak with me, I'd really appreciate it. Send me a pm.

  • 03.27.2008 12:04 PM PDT
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The End

‘The conscious is cancerous if allowed to linger’

"Even if you're on the right track, you'll get run over if you just sit there."

We're constantly given news and updated regularly.

The staff post and contribute; they also listen and take into account the communities thoughts.

Moderation staff are very good.

There is a lot of range to the discussion even if it is usually about a specific genre.

The on site tools such as the files share forums draw more and more members.

  • 03.27.2008 12:26 PM PDT

many people giving a variety of information to discuss and moderator ninjas slicing throats for posting everything vulgar or completely idiotic.

  • 03.27.2008 12:30 PM PDT
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News? Podcasts? Machinima? Active forums? Competitions? Jaffa Cakes!? OMG!
Thee Warriors!

Best. Mod. Ever.

Mostly, aside from what has been said, I'd say the presence of groups. It gives so much depth to the site, to know you will never really comprehend all that goes on. By having the groups detatched and optionally exclusive from the public forums you get a whole new take on an online comunity. It's like expanding from the town hall to include the market and suburbs, something I've never known elsewhere.

  • 03.27.2008 12:51 PM PDT
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The Bungie.net community gives us something to look forward to everyday. With the constant news and updates, we always want to come back for more excitement!

  • 03.27.2008 12:53 PM PDT
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It's great for getting other people to do your homework.

Couldn't resist!

I think it's amusing to read some of the crazy things people write and to reflect up on it and other more-interesting topics with others.

  • 03.27.2008 1:35 PM PDT

Why do people in ship mutinies always ask for "better treatment"? I'd ask for a pinball machine, because with all that rocking back and forth, you'd get a lot of free games.

Maybe in order to understand mankind, we have to look at the word itself: "Mankind". Basically, it's made up of two separate words - "mank" and "ind". What do these words mean? It's a mystery, and that's why so is mankind.

Groups.

  • 03.27.2008 2:00 PM PDT

Bungie's On To Me!
More Webcam Awesomeness
And more....

I received Recon for being awesome. Like it matters anymore. Thanks ODST! :D

This one is successful 'cause I'm on it. ^_^


Tee Hee <3


BTW <3 is not a heart, it is less than three. So when you say you <3 someone, you are saying you less than three them.

  • 03.27.2008 2:29 PM PDT
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The enemy of my enemy shall die next.

I know the voices in my head are not real, but they have some great ideas.

Brown chicken Brown cow!

Groups, and the fact that the Bungie web staff dont just sit on their arse but actually try and continually improve things on the site. ( The new hotness).

  • 03.27.2008 5:07 PM PDT

Come check out the The Christian Halo Union. Whether you’re looking for fellowship, intelligent discussion, positive gamers, or maybe you just want to have fun, you'll find it with us. With over 650 members and counting, we're the most active Christian group on Bungie.net.

Like others, I would have to say groups. GameSpot.com has a similar system—GameSpot Unions—and their community is even larger than Bungie's. However, that's not the only reason. General interest in Bungie's games plays a huge role in the success of this community. Combine that with frequent news updates—as well as a continually supportive web-staff—and you've got yourself a solid network.

[Edited on 03.27.2008 5:28 PM PDT]

  • 03.27.2008 5:21 PM PDT

--Dear Father, I've been waiting, I've saved you a seat in hell
--I live to see death, destruction, over the light, but the light cannot be extinguished...
A More Complete Compendium of a Bungie History
-Thanatos 117

What I absolutely love about Bungie is their dedication to their fans. They didn't have to make these forums, make the Seventh Column, podcasts, etc. They also don't even have to talk to us or deal with us. But they go out of their way to get involved in their own fan base and get to know people, although it is a little harder now with so many members. I remember being able to chat with yeroen, Marty, Matt Soell, Achronos, etc. so casually in the two forums that existed so long ago... And they still do post every now and then (although, if I was a Bungie employee I don't think I honestly would) even though they know it will bring upon a flood of new posts which they and the mods get to sift through. I envy Bungie for the mutual love they and we fans have.

  • 03.27.2008 5:40 PM PDT

I am a penguin. Every day I boogie on down to the water, and eat fish. Once, while fishing in the deepest depths, I saw great Cthulhu... And he said to me "Shine, to thine own self be true. They can't tell you what to do once you've gone guru." Also, I should tell you, "slide".

Inventor of the Bombstache avatar!

Probably the one thing that keeps the community so driven, is how much of a community we really are. Many members recognize one another (I, the most ignored member her, being the exception), and recognize a sort of personality mentally projected onto the other users.

Sure, now and then we get rowdy new members, but when the dust settles we end-up being left with the gold. While the children get bored and leave, eventually forgetting all about B.Net, the mature and awesome stick here (again, I being the exception as I'm in no way to be mistaken for mature... awesome however...), breathing new life and fresh blood into the forums.

This community is neigh a sovereign nation of the inter-webs. We have our own culture here, our own customs, and our own dialect, and it all centers around our favorite Limited Liability Company, Bungie. But thats not to say we're all the same, B.Net-ers cover the entire spectrum of gamers.

Also, the anomnity, unlike some theories, seems to promote respect. Less anonymous sites (say myspace) seem to have more rubes, rubbish, and rashes per capita. I can only make an educated guess that this is the direct result of members trying to find a place where they can be better than what they perceive themselves to be... or it could be that the are being who they really are (not to many people are disrespectful of random strangers outside the internet.

But this is not to say that all B.Net users are the same, no, we cover spectrums in our differences in personalities, and spending enough time here can reveal them to you in all their glory.

For those of you too lazy to read all of that, basically it said, I'm awesome, and you should love me.

[Edited on 03.27.2008 5:53 PM PDT]

  • 03.27.2008 5:49 PM PDT

Loose talk is noose talk.

A well educated (not the Halo 3 forum) group of forum goers (everyone else), Soffish, and the ability to interact seamlessly with others are why I enjoy this community over all others.

One thing that I really enjoy here is that in the end, spammers/scammers/rick-rollers all end up getting burned in the fiery hells bannation, unlike some websites.


[Edited on 03.27.2008 6:17 PM PDT]

  • 03.27.2008 6:09 PM PDT

HATERS GONNA' HATE

A lot of the reason's have been posted, but mostly because Bungie has always interacted very well with their community. Without them, this website would not exist. It's hard to believe other game developers don't care this much for fans.

  • 03.27.2008 6:33 PM PDT

Average Joe l Youtube Channel l Twitter
Fools react, masters respond

~B.B.

Yeah, bnet is just a great community with mostly good forums.
Like others have said Moderaters are a big part of it. They do a good job.
EDIT: Also many people fear the bannhammer. The banhammer strikes swiftly.

[Edited on 03.27.2008 8:14 PM PDT]

  • 03.27.2008 8:13 PM PDT
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ಠ_ಠ

This community sucks. Seriously. If it were any good forum community, we would at least get some decent members who weren't completely self-righteous -blam!-s who had nothing better to do than tell someone on a video game forum how to post "properly". We wouldn't disregard the fact that the community is in complete disrepair and then only bicker and whine about it either. Never doing anything about it, just whining.

I feel a lot of people here try to help people, but can never quite pull it off without coming off as an ass. Most people here are complete sheep, never questioning the ideas of the mods, just quote and mod-hump for browny points. Hell, they normally don't even give fellow members with potentially good ideas a second chance. I remember the idea of forum ranks constantly being shot down because everyone thought it would be "elitism". Now we've got forum ranks.

And I realize mods can't be everywhere at once and that they do have lives, but with how many moderators we have, I can't believe nothing is ever accomplished with their "mighty" banhammer.

tl;dr: I think the community can be great sometimes, but some people bring it down.

But, for everything it's worth, I still like this place and will continue to come here.

I guess I expect some things to come...



[Edited on 03.27.2008 9:24 PM PDT]

  • 03.27.2008 9:05 PM PDT

I am a penguin. Every day I boogie on down to the water, and eat fish. Once, while fishing in the deepest depths, I saw great Cthulhu... And he said to me "Shine, to thine own self be true. They can't tell you what to do once you've gone guru." Also, I should tell you, "slide".

Inventor of the Bombstache avatar!

Posted by: The SyNnergy
This community sucks. Seriously. If it were any good forum community, we would at least get some decent members who weren't completely self-righteous -blam!-s who had nothing better to do than tell someone on a video game forum how to post "properly".


Think of it as this. If you go to a friend's house for the first time, and they tell you to wipe your feet, you do it. Some time later, you go back to his house, he tells you to wipe your feet, and being polite again, you do it. A bit later, you go to his house, you know what to do without him haveing to ask, you wipe your feet. Finally, you got to his house, bringing another friend, but the friend who owns the house is in the bathroom, being wise and nice, you ask your friend to wipe his feet as you do... same concept.

We wouldn't disregard the fact that the community is in complete disrepair and then only bicker and whine about it either. Never doing anything about it, just whining.

We are far from disrepair, and I'm not saying that in the "America's not in a recession" way either. Sure there are some rowdy newcomers, but that'll pass as those who don't connect well with the community filter out or get bored with B.Net, leaving only the gems of the bunch.
As for us not doing anything about it, what can we do other than hit the report button, and discuss the issue... We would be in utter chaos if every member were a moderator.

  • 03.27.2008 9:33 PM PDT
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ಠ_ಠ

Posted by: TheUseless0ne
Think of it as this. If you go to a friend's house for the first time, and they tell you to wipe your feet, you do it. Some time later, you go back to his house, he tells you to wipe your feet, and being polite again, you do it. A bit later, you go to his house, you know what to do without him haveing to ask, you wipe your feet. Finally, you got to his house, bringing another friend, but the friend who owns the house is in the bathroom, being wise and nice, you ask your friend to wipe his feet as you do... same concept.


I see what you're saying, but usually when I lurk around the forums, I always see a person with posts a little like "This is against the rules, this will be locked." as if they had some authority. I see it a lot mostly in this forum, but it can be found in other forums as well. I realize that some people do that because they believe they are helping, and truly they are, but their attitude and the tone of their post almost seems threatening. They're also bumping that potentially bad thread instead of maybe PMing that user. That's sort of the posting styles that I've seen for a long time now, and I have grown tired of 'em.

We are far from disrepair, and I'm not saying that in the "America's not in a recession" way either. Sure there are some rowdy newcomers, but that'll pass as those who don't connect well with the community filter out or get bored with B.Net, leaving only the gems of the bunch.
As for us not doing anything about it, what can we do other than hit the report button, and discuss the issue... We would be in utter chaos if every member were a moderator.


I'm glad you dealt with my blatant aggravation with people in this community more maturely than what I expected.

Anyway, I agree with you many newcomers will come and go, but problems persist, the issues can never be let go because they're still there. And of course we couldn't allow every member to be a moderator, that'd be absurd and obviously wouldn't work out. The report button does work, I believe that at least, but a lot of times there's some spam that sits around for an hour or two before a mod gets it with their "swift" banhammer, and although it hits hard, much of that forum has been effected by that spammer, bumping and rebumping his thread to the top.

Most of these issues seem completely unfixable. And just like past weekly updates during the Halo 2 cheating days, even if an issue is fixed, people will just get around it.

I really do like this community and the way it sucks. Really.

[Edited on 03.28.2008 4:42 AM PDT]

  • 03.27.2008 10:00 PM PDT

--Dear Father, I've been waiting, I've saved you a seat in hell
--I live to see death, destruction, over the light, but the light cannot be extinguished...
A More Complete Compendium of a Bungie History
-Thanatos 117

I really do like this community and the way it sucks. Really.
Don't know about you fella's but I don't see how the forum's can get any better. It may take hours to sometime's clean up the forum's, but it's all done by hand. If I was offered to be a mod I don't think I would accept it because of how many posts I would have to sift through. I wish there was some sort of automated program that would filter out the spamming, bumping, etc. But to my knowledge, there isn't one, and I'm sure Bungie and the moderator's would be all ears if you have a proposal. Until then, I'm perfectly content with this site.

  • 03.27.2008 10:09 PM PDT

I am a penguin. Every day I boogie on down to the water, and eat fish. Once, while fishing in the deepest depths, I saw great Cthulhu... And he said to me "Shine, to thine own self be true. They can't tell you what to do once you've gone guru." Also, I should tell you, "slide".

Inventor of the Bombstache avatar!

Posted by: The SyNnergy
I see what you're saying, but usually when I lurk around the forums, I always see a person with posts a little like "This is against the rules, this will be locked." as if they had some authority. I see it a lot mostly in this forum, but it can be found in other forums as well. I realize that some people do that because they believe they are helping, and truly they are, but their attitude and the tone of their post almost seems threatening. They're also bumping that potentially bad thread instead of maybe PMing that user. That's sort of the posting styles that I've seen for a long time now, and I have grown tired of 'em.


Those are known as trolls, me? I try not to feed them. But for some, do try to keep in mind that tone of voice doesn't usually translate well into text (such as the tone I was using in this sentence is more "Bruce Campbell/ 'groovey'"-esk humor than me being a snooty asshat, though it can be translated as such. And as for why they post instead of PMing... well that in a sad way seems to be the filter for how we weed out the ones we're not interested in keeping... Get through a little sting in the beginning to earn a place on the comfy-couch... and maybe we'll put something of yours on the fridge.

I'm glad you dealt with my blatant aggravation with people in this community more maturely than what I expected.

Don't you call me... Oh wait...

Anyway, I agree with you many newcomers will come and go, but problems persist, the issues can never be let go because they're still there. And of course we couldn't allow every member to be a moderator, that'd be absurd and obviously wouldn't work out. The report button does work, I believe that at least, but a lot of times there's some spam that sits around for an hour or two before a mod gets it with their "swift" banhammer, an although it hits hard, much of that forum has been effected by that spammer, bumping and rebumping his thread to the top.

Most of these issues seem completely unfixable. And just like past weekly updates during the Halo 2 cheating days, even if an issue is fixed, people will just get around it.

I really do like this community and the way it sucks. Really.


Sure we shouldn't let the issues go (ask the people I hang out with, I don't let anything go... Thats what you get for calling me mature!), but what else can we do? What is there that we can't wait out? The ongoing cycle of childish newbies running in every time Bungie makes a fresh batch of awesome-pie? Well, thats what they do. And of course crazies are going to chase that pie... the thing is though, the real community members tend to get some super punch with that awesome pie.

I think thats all I have to say... yet I have SO many more analogies just sitting in my pocket.

[Edited on 03.27.2008 10:42 PM PDT]

  • 03.27.2008 10:40 PM PDT

"Science without religion is lame. Religion without science is blind." - Albert Einstien

To be completely honest, more than 80% of this community is contributed to it being a developer's main forum. If you want to look up successful communities, look up a community that is based on the community itself, and not around sold product.

This community only has a minority of good members. Most of what makes a community great and successful, IMO, is really absent on this forum. Many of the rights here are extremely limited, and the only reason this forum is starting to get any better is because some of those privileges are being given back (member titles, slightly more customized avatars, report system).

A successful community is one that isn't a certain size, but has a certain atmosphere. A successful community is one that can be entered without fear or hesitation. One that assimilates new members well and is self sufficient. Communities have features that keep members not only coming back, but contributing in a positive manner. Avatars, ranks, post counts, etc. These features keep members happy and give them the amount of individuality needed by every person. They feel unique, so they don't have any urges to stand out (of course there are always ones who want to stand out for the wrong reasons).

Anyways, if you ask any more specific questions about how an online community should work, then I can probably answer more completely.

  • 03.27.2008 11:28 PM PDT

Hello.

One of the thing that defines this community for me is the Bungie community lore or all the "inside jokes". While discussing random topics it's always pleasant so read a subtle (or not so subtle e.g "BLAM STOSH") joke left behind intentionally by the poster. Bungie has heaps of these jokes and they are as big part of the community.

You should mention a few.

  • 03.28.2008 2:11 AM PDT
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-Groups
-News
-Moderators
-Simple and clean forum design
-Low tolerance for any garbage
-The fact that we have no rights helps too.

  • 03.28.2008 5:47 AM PDT

Thanks for the input guys and (possibly) girls (though we all know there are no girls on the internet). I think that the forums do many things well. I like the fact that user requests are integrated in the community (not just in the games but there have even been posts requesting users to suggest a new feature for the site). I'm probably going to send out a few PMs, but especially to those who have been involved in the community for a while, if you would like to participate in an interview, contact me! The interview would basically involve you telling me about your experiences in the community, how they've changed over time, and your general conclusions. Once again, your responses are appreciated. I'll be sure to post the results in my public research group.

  • 03.28.2008 9:15 PM PDT