How do I know if my game needs a known-issues page?

Look at whether players are asking about known problems and whether your support is duplicates of known issues. Signs you need one: players repeatedly asking about problems you already know (the same questions about known issues); support tickets that are duplicates of known issues (much of your support being players reporting or asking about problems you already know); and players unaware that you're aware of issues (filing reports about problems you already know, because they can't tell you know). If players keep asking about known problems, duplicate tickets about known issues are a big share of your support, or players don't know you're aware of issues, your game needs a known-issues page. A known-issues page addresses these by listing the issues players actually hit, with their status (acknowledged, being worked on, fixed next update) and any workaround, so players can self-serve: they find their issue, see it's known and being handled, maybe find a workaround, and don't file a ticket. This deflects a large share of duplicate support (the recurring questions about known issues) and reassures players (showing your awareness). So you know your game needs a known-issues page from the signs of deflectable duplicate support and unaware players: players asking about known problems (deflectable), duplicate tickets about known issues (reducible), and players not knowing you're aware (a transparency gap). A known-issues page, kept current and findable, deflects the duplicate support and provides the awareness these signs indicate are lacking, by giving players self-service visibility into your known issues, their status, and workarounds. It's one of the highest-return support tools for the effort, deflecting a large share of duplicate tickets for the cost of maintaining one focused, current page, so if the signs (duplicate questions about known issues, unaware players) are present, a known-issues page is worth adding.

What should a known-issues page include?

For each issue: a clear player-facing description of the problem (so a player can recognize their issue), its current status (acknowledged, being worked on, or fixed in a coming update, so they know you're aware and on it), and any workaround players can use right now (so they can resolve their need without a ticket). The description lets players identify their issue, the status reassures them it's known and being addressed (removing the fear of being ignored that drives much frustration), and the workaround often resolves their need immediately, which is what deflects the ticket. Keep the list focused on the issues players actually hit rather than exhaustive, an internal dump of every minor ticket buries the issues players care about, while a focused page of the real, common, player-facing problems is scannable and useful. And keep statuses accurate, an out-of-date page that lists fixed bugs as open or open bugs as fixed undermines the trust that makes it useful and can mislead players. So a good known-issues page is a curated, current list of the problems players actually encounter, each with a recognizable description, an honest status, and any available workaround, which together let players self-serve: they find their issue, see it's known and being handled, maybe find a workaround, and don't file a duplicate ticket. This is what makes it such a high-return tool, for the small effort of maintaining one focused, current page, it deflects a large share of the tickets that would otherwise be players asking about problems you already know about, and reassures players by making your awareness visible. Capturing crashes from the field with grouping helps you know which issues players actually hit (the high-impact recurring ones) to list on the page, so the page reflects the real problems players are encountering. So a known-issues page should include the issues players actually hit (the real, common, player-facing problems, not an exhaustive internal dump), each with a clear description (so players recognize it), a current status (so they know you're aware and on it), and any workaround (so they can resolve their need), kept current and findable, which together deflect the duplicate support and reassure players that the page is designed to address.

Does a known-issues page reduce support tickets?

Significantly, because a large share of support tickets are players reporting or asking about problems you already know, and a known-issues page lets those players self-serve instead of filing a ticket. When a player hits a bug and can find it on your known-issues page, see that it's acknowledged and being worked on, and maybe find a workaround, they get what they needed, confirmation that the issue is known and being handled, and often a way to work around it, without contacting you, deflecting the ticket they would otherwise have filed. Since many tickets are duplicate questions about the same already-known issues, deflecting them with self-service removes a large, otherwise-recurring chunk of support volume for almost no per-ticket effort. The deflection depends on the page being accurate (so players trust it, an out-of-date page sends them back to your inbox or, worse, makes you look negligent) and findable (linked where players look for help, so they encounter it before reaching out). Kept current and well-linked, with the issues players actually hit (their status and workarounds), a known-issues page is among the highest-return support tools available, especially for a small team, because it converts a recurring stream of 'is this a known bug / what do I do about it' tickets into self-service, freeing your limited time for the problems that genuinely need you. So yes, a known-issues page reduces support tickets by deflecting the duplicate questions about known issues that make up a large share of support, provided you keep it current (so players trust and use it), focused on the issues players actually hit (so they find their issue), and findable (so they encounter it). The support reduction is real and significant, since a meaningful portion of support is duplicate questions about known issues, exactly what a known-issues page deflects, and the page is low-effort to maintain (one focused, current page) for the deflection it provides. Capturing crashes from the field (to know which issues players actually hit, the recurring high-impact ones to list) helps you build a known-issues page that reflects the real problems, maximizing the deflection. So a known-issues page is a high-return, low-effort support tool that reduces tickets by letting players self-serve on the known issues that drive much of your duplicate support.

Signs Your Game Needs a Known-Issues Page

Quick answer: Watch for players repeatedly asking about known problems, support tickets that are duplicates of known issues, players unaware you know about issues, and wanting to deflect routine support. A known-issues page deflects duplicate support.

A known-issues page is one of the highest-return support tools, deflecting a large share of duplicate support for little effort. Here are the signs your game needs one.

Players Repeatedly Asking About Problems You Already Know

A sign is players repeatedly asking about problems you already know, the same questions about known issues. If players keep asking about issues you're aware of, they have no way to see what's known, a known-issues page would let them self-serve, deflecting the repeated questions and reassuring them the issue is known.

Bugnet groups crashes by signature so you know which issues are recurring, and offers a public tracker as a known-issues page. Players repeatedly asking about problems you already know is a sign you need a known-issues page, it would let them see the issue is known (with its status and any workaround), deflecting the repeated questions and the support they create.

Support Tickets That Are Duplicates of Known Issues

A sign is support tickets that are duplicates of known issues, much of your support being players reporting or asking about problems you already know. If duplicate tickets about known issues are a big share of your support, a known-issues page would deflect them, since players could check the page instead of filing a ticket.

Bugnet's public tracker serves as a known-issues page to deflect duplicates. Support tickets that are duplicates of known issues are a sign you need a known-issues page, it deflects the duplicates (players see the issue is known and don't file a ticket), which reduces your support load by letting players self-serve on the known problems that make up much of your support.

Players Unaware That You're Aware of Issues

A sign is players unaware that you're aware of issues, filing reports or complaining about problems you already know and are working on, because they can't tell you know. If players don't know you're aware of issues, a known-issues page shows them, reassuring them (and deflecting the report), by making your awareness visible.

Bugnet's known-issues visibility shows players that issues are acknowledged. Players unaware that you're aware of issues is a sign you need a known-issues page, it makes your awareness visible (players see the issue is acknowledged and being worked on), which reassures them and deflects the reports/complaints that come from players not knowing you already know about a problem.

Watch for players repeatedly asking about known problems, support tickets that are duplicates of known issues, players unaware you know about issues, and wanting to deflect routine support. A known-issues page deflects duplicate support.