What's the difference between a known issues page and a status page?

A known issues page lists persistent bugs you're aware of and working on, its job is to acknowledge issues (so players are patient) and deflect duplicate reports. A status page reports real-time service availability, whether your servers are currently up or down, its job is to inform players during outages and cut panic. One is about ongoing bugs; the other about live operational state. They communicate different things.

Do I need both a known issues page and a status page?

It depends on your game. A known issues page is worthwhile for essentially any game, since every game has bugs to acknowledge and duplicate reports to deflect. A status page is worthwhile specifically if your game has online services that can go down. If you have both online services and persistent bugs (most live games do), you may want both, each communicating a different thing: known issues for bugs, status for availability.

When do I need a status page versus a known issues page?

Use a known issues page whenever your game has bugs players encounter (essentially always), to acknowledge them and deflect duplicate reports. Use a status page specifically when your game depends on online services, servers, multiplayer, accounts, that can go down, so you can communicate real-time availability during outages. A purely offline single-player game needs a known issues page but has nothing for a status page to report, since there are no services to go down.

Known Issues Page vs Status Page

Quick answer: A known issues page lists bugs you're aware of and working on; a status page reports whether your services are up or down. One is about ongoing bugs, the other about real-time availability. If your game has online services you may want both, since they communicate different things.

Known issues pages and status pages both keep players informed, but about different things. A known issues page is about persistent bugs; a status page is about live service availability. They're easy to confuse, so it's worth clarifying what each communicates and when you need which.

What a Known Issues Page Communicates

A known issues page lists the bugs you're aware of and working on, persistent problems in the game itself. Its value is acknowledging issues so players are patient (they're far more forgiving of a known bug than one they think you're ignoring) and deflecting duplicate reports (players see an issue is known and don't re-report it). It's about ongoing bugs and your awareness of them.

Bugnet's public tracker and known-issues view let you publish acknowledged issues fed from your real tracking. This page is relevant to any game with bugs, which is every game, because it's about the persistent problems players encounter, not about whether anything is currently down.

What a Status Page Communicates

A status page reports whether your game's services are currently up or down, real-time availability. Its value is during outages: when servers go down, it tells players whether the problem is on your end and that you're aware, cutting panic and deflecting the flood of "is it just me?" messages. It's about live operational state, not persistent bugs.

A status page only makes sense if your game has online services that can go down, servers, multiplayer, accounts. A purely offline single-player game has nothing to report. So unlike a known issues page, a status page is conditional on your game depending on online infrastructure.

Which You Need (Maybe Both)

These communicate different things, so they're not substitutes. A known issues page is worthwhile for essentially any game, it acknowledges persistent bugs and deflects duplicate reports. A status page is worthwhile specifically if you have online services, where real-time availability matters during outages.

If your game has online services and persistent bugs (most live games do), you may want both: the known issues page for ongoing bugs, the status page for live outages. Bugnet's public pages help you communicate both known issues and incidents. So rather than choosing, match each to what it communicates, known issues for bugs, status for availability, and use whichever your game needs.

A known issues page lists ongoing bugs you're working on; a status page reports real-time service availability. Different things, known issues for any game, status pages for games with online services. Live games may want both.