The NA, EU, and SEA WoWs Forums are all closing, yes
The NA, EU, and SEA WoWs Forums are all closing, yes
To clarify, this is not a cost cutting measure. Forums are in a general state of decline with regards to the level of engagement they receive and the number of people who interact with them. We spent a long time considering and discussing this internally and feel it makes more sense for us to concentrate our efforts and support on Discord. It's a painful decision and there are absolutely significant differences between the platforms; that said, we'll be using the forum feature on Discord to provide a somewhat similar experience.
To the comments regarding this as a move to obfuscate feedback - I assure you that nothing of the sort is intended. We catalogue and report on Discord discussions and feedback and there are dedicated, highly visible spaces to have discussions on and provide feedback for game changes. I highly encourage all of you to leave feedback there for us :)
As mentioned in the announcement itself, the forums will be available to read for months to come; anything that has historical value to you can be archived and saved at any point.
To this point specifically - there's absolutely no issue if community members create their own forum platform. Again, this has nothing to do with shutting down discussion or obfuscating feedback.
This is purely a World of Warships team decision. The other products run their own channels as they see fit.
Number of posts and active users has been on a steady decline for years, compared to other platforms which have seen steady growth. It's not about whether the forums are used at all, but rather how much use they see relative to other platforms and where we as a team can best concentrate our efforts.
For 1, as I mentioned earlier we will be using Discord's forum feature. If players wish to create ship reviews they can easily do so there. Regarding archiving, that's up to players and what they wish to personally save and/or transfer. For 2, if you're looking for a specific post in a normal discussion channel, the Discord search feature can easily provide this functionality by searching for author/date/keywords/etc.
I completely understand the viewpoint of not wanting to use a 3rd party app. However, trends have shown that more people are willing to do this and engage with Discord than continue to use the forums. The community team as a whole will absolutely be more focused on Discord, yes.
No, the decision has nothing to do with financials or cost cutting.
I will point you to any number of fan sites which already exist and cover Wargaming products: https://thedailybounce.net/, https://aslain.com/index.php?/forum/5-general-discussion/ (mod related specifically), the WoWs Reddit (which we do not run/control), tools such as https://wowsft.com/ and https://app.wowssb.com/
Like I mentioned, this is WoWs team decision. The other products run their own channels.
We'll certainly talk about it on the NA Community Stream this Wednesday.
I'll wear a Mr. Rogers sweater