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R54 Livestream Missed Questions (Part 1)

Discussion in 'Announcements' started by DarkStarr, Jul 5, 2018.

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  1. Jaanelle DeJure

    Jaanelle DeJure Avatar

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    Are you aware there is no risk of being killed by other players unless you voluntarily choose to enable that option?
     
  2. Jaanelle DeJure

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    So during these 3-4 months, were you unaware of the published Player Guide? Or did you choose not to read it?

    In that same time frame, I am also assuming you didn't wander around the overworld map enough to realize you can just exit that region by walking through the open pass on the overworld map at the West end of the region, and bypass the Control Point completely?

    But I'm still not clear what you were worried about. Are you aware if you enter a zone that is too tough, you can just turn around and leave?
     
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  3. Tiina Onir

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    I would like to increase the playerbase, rather then drive off new players. It's clear from recent events that is at least somewhat important to this game continuing to be a thing. No modern game expects the user to start by reading the manual start-to-finish. I haven't seen that expectation since the late 80s (maybe early 90s). Even then it was probably an unreasonable expectation, but the industry was new enough that no one knew any better; at this point we do. Any basic element of the game that is not obvious, the game needs to make clear. This is a basic tenet of good UI design, and one that the entire industry finds desirable.

    I do not think it is obvious that a sieging army would just let you walk on by because you look weak. In fact it's exactly reverse-intuitive. No sieging force in the history of sieges has ever done that, because it would defeat the entire purpose of the siege. Because it's so counter-intuitive, it's something that should be made clear in game. Two sentences in the player guide are not good enough. A simple notification that "because of your level, you'll be wavied through the siege" (or something similar) when you approch a siege on the world-map, just like we pop up the "you've completed a quest, here's your XP and Gold" message, would be.

    I'm not sure why you think my desire to make less-then-obvious systems clear to new users, creating a better and healthier game, is somehow a personal attack.
     
    Last edited: Jul 10, 2018
  4. Jaanelle DeJure

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    I'm asking because I still don't understand your motivation for interjecting to answer a question I posted to somebody else.

    Nobody said it was obvious? But maybe worth a little look-see? After all- there is nothing to lose.

    And besides all that, you keep skirting the actual question which is about what players are fearing might happen should they check out a scene that is too high level.

    What I hear you saying is that players are too afraid of the "unknown" but I'm asking what is the actual consequence that somebody would be trying to avoid.

    Is it... Death? And if so why? I would assume anybody playing the game for a few months would have died already and learned there is no real consequence at low levels.
     
    Last edited: Jul 10, 2018
  5. Jaanelle DeJure

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    Have you been paying attention to the development of this game over the last year? At the urgent requests of certain existing players who asked on behalf of new players they were unsuccessfully trying to recruit the devs were implored make a whole host of changes to accommodate complaints that it was "too hard" for new players to figure out what to do in the game.

    Literally- I heard of one new player rage-quitting in the first day because they "couldn't figure out" how to leave the Isle of Storms. :confused: Now I don't know about you, but I and thousands of other players were able to figure out how to get off the Isle. But because this one person was too (lazy, dumb?) to figure it out on their own, they became the poster child for a movement to drastically alter the course of development in order to accommodate this type of player.

    This type of player... the kind that can't get themselves off the Isle of Storms... wasn't just an outlier, according to some. Oh no- they were put forth as representative of the "typical" MMORPG player. The same arguments were put forth that you are making now... we need to do everything to recruit and retain this kind of player because they will be the "bread and butter" of this game.

    The dev team then devoted a huge amount of resources into improving the "New User Experience" and added three whole new huge introductory zones, combat and crafting intro quests, more early quest dialogue, and blue sparklies flying out of the waving hands of NPCs and in the compass.

    All of this... we were told... was to bring in and retain new players because what we already had was "too hard". And yet... for those new players... it's not enough? We must now copy-and-paste little chunks of the Player Guide into popup windows that are triggered every time a player encounters a new mechanism?

    Oh I can hear the groans now... you're breaking my immersion! Why is the UI so cluttered? How can I turn off these stupid popups all over the place?!

    Don't you see this is an endless merry-go-round that leads nowhere? And every time that little horsie comes around again is another release where critical flaws with this game do not get addressed.

    Critical flaws which those new players are going to come up against real quick, especially considering you can now GM base combat skills in an hour at Upper Tears.

    Do you really think doing more of the same is going to create a different result from what has already happened in the past? Isn't that... the definition of insanity?

    What if... instead of redirecting so much of the resources to hand-holding, the devs instead chose to focus on polishing their broken combat and questing systems? Do you think that might have a better result in terms of player retention?

    And now, with a drastically reduced staff, your suggestion is to go back yet again and add even more features in order to placate players who are too afraid to risk death in an MMORPG? We already tried to accommodate those players... where is the "bread and butter"... where is all the money that was going to come in?

    We have fewer players than we had a year ago. We have less money then we had a year ago. And because of that, we now have less staff than we did a year ago.

    The only thing we have more of since that decision to focus on hold-handing new players is... more bugs.

    I mean... if the goal is really to attract that type of player, they might as well scrap the project and build something totally different from scratch. Maybe a crossover with Pokemon Go might work?

    Seriously, if they want to help new players not waste their time, there should be a window that pops up at the beginning of each session telling them which skills are broken, so that they can avoid putting XP into them, or worse, attempting to make an entire build around them.

    I'm not joking... if I would have known 2 years ago that an earth/bludgeon build would still be a laughing stock 3 months into Commercial Launch, I would have designed a different character right out the gate.

    AL 95 and Jaan still can't clear a siege. She does know how to run through them though. o_O
     
    Last edited: Jul 10, 2018
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  6. Tiina Onir

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    I'm sorry, apparently I've accidentally wandered into your private messages, I thought this was a public forum for exchange of ideas. Someplace where we comment on ideas expressed to point out our own perspective to try to get a better understanding of all sides such that we can get a better game.

    You seemed to have missed what I said, because I directly responded to why. I suspect you didn't recognize it because your question was biased: it's not about fearing death (or anything else), it's about wasting time. Like I said, I have nothing to FEAR from playing chess with a grand master, but there is no point: it's a complete waste of time.

    We aren't talking about A pop-up explaining that a boat takes you to and from an island, that's something intuitive. We aren't talking about blue-sparkles to make it clear that you might want to talk to an NPC (of course, if it weren't for the fact that most of the NPCs are chaff adding absolutely nothing to the game, people probably wouldn't ask for that), that should be intuitive (or at least it would be if all the filler NPCs with vapid dialogue about how they don't know their names would just get axed until they have a reason to exist). And the added starter-quests (like in the outskirts)? Those are some of the best quests in the game! Far better then the main-line quest, so I'm going to call that an across the board improvement! What we are talking about is taking a "feature" that contradicts every bit of real-world experience in the last 2000 years and pointing it out because people are missing it (for pretty obvious reasons).

    And this isn't something that takes extensive development time. Everything to do this already exists in game. You're getting all angry about something, that doesn't detract from your experence at all, that will tie up a single developer all of a couple of hours. Your asking "what do they have to fear?" they don't even know, and that's the point. Tell them. To not do so is just bad UI. Fixing bad UI, paricularly an easy fix like this and one that hits players during the most critical point at determining if they'll stick with it, should absolutely happen.

    Should work be done on the quests? ABSOLUTELY! I advocated holding back release another year because I didn't think this was ready. Unfortunately the biggest problems with the (mainline, anyway) quests aren't development problems, they are writing problems. Yes the quest book is broken (for example), but far worse is that Artifice feels more like riding "Pirates of the Caribbean" (my apologies to Disney's Imagineers) then anything my character is actually experencing. The reality is, fixing THAT takes writers and storytellers. Most of them are gone, the few that remain (@Lord British, I'm looking at you) are appear to be uninterested in improving that; they seem to be more interested in starting Ep 2. Bugs are fixable, there's always a dev to look at them. Rebalancing is eternal, I don't expect it to be done before they shut down the servers. Unfortunately there isn't always a writer willing to look at bad quest writing (indeed, in my experience there normally isn't).

    (Note to devs. If someone IS seriously interested in looking at the mainline quests and overhauling them, I'm more then happy to give feedback. I only stopped because it didn't seem anyone was interested)
     
    Last edited: Jul 10, 2018
  7. Spoon

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    Yea. That is a story shared by many. I think the noise to signal ratio and the input fatigue is very high.

    So unless they do a similar setup as the combat scrum, but instead have a Story Scrum or a NUX Scrum (new user experience) then I have no hope of getting any changes through given the limits of the new smaller crew.
     
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  8. Tiina Onir

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    While I think a story Scrum would be possible (good even), I think a NUX scrum would be hard. The reason being, is those of us who have been playing for years now (myself included) are really not qualified. We have experience in this game that clouds our viewpoint, what we perceive as problems, and what we perceive as solutions. You want new players who are going to give good specific feedback, but you don't know the players who are new, so you don't know who is going to be giving good, actionable feedback. I really feel for anyone trying to set that up.
     
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  9. Cordelayne

    Cordelayne Bug Hunter

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    This is my fear right now, for sure. The story and the quests for Ep. 1 just aren't being worked on/fixed. Granted, I view this as a priority since I am a PVE, story driven, quest loving, lore hoarding, monster slaying adventurer! ;) I can fully appreciate that others may not give a damn about quests or the main story; as a crafter or PVP player. Which is totally fair!

    What does draw my concern is that Episode 1 still needs work and focus is being shifted to Episode 2. At least, that is my perception from the last telethon. I know they are still polishing and improving performance, but I have to imagine that is beneficial to Episode 2 as well. Yet there are hundreds if not thousands of NPC's who still need names and narratives that have not been written. I think it looks awfully sloppy when you talk to these folks and they say, "I have no name I can share yet." It's just silly.

    Personally, I think every scene that is in Ep. 1 needs at least one quest. Otherwise, what is the point of going in there? It's just a wasted scene and looks incomplete, especially if it is still a clone. The game has some really great and fun scenes to explore, but if there is no content in there, why go in as opposed to somewhere else? Quests and a story help breathe life into the game and (at least to me) make it more interesting and compelling. They give you a reason to play and to keep logging in. Grinding does not...unless you are masochist. ;)
     
  10. Cora Cuz'avich

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  11. Kain Darkmoor

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    I did enter the zone and it was too tough, so I turned around and left. I honestly don't remember the player guide mentioning anything about the pass zones when I originally started. I feel like it was just about basic commands, movement etc. But it's been a long time since then.

    I wasn't really 'worried' about anything. I was perfectly content staying around Soltown. I just thought the big huge world beyond the pass was filled with harder stuff I needed to level up for.
     
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  12. Jaanelle DeJure

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    Yes... I was trying to get somebody else's perspective, and you jumped in and answered on their behalf. This does not usually end well for discussions, which I'm assuming you already know since you are an experienced forum poster.

    What might be more productive is to ask me for clarification on my views. Or explaining your own more fully. But this answering on behalf of others is very problematic.

    It actually gets right at the heart of the matter. There are many players here (apparently including you) who feel it is their place to "speak up" on behalf of other players. And worse, to make grand, sweeping characterizations about "what people want in a game" and then try to lobby the development team based on an appearance of false consensus, that is to say, making it appear that more people "out there in the world" agree with their perspective than really do.

    Apparently, these people are too (lazy? shy?) to speak up for themselves, and so they need forum heroes to jump in and answer questions on their behalf whenever the conversation gets a little heated.

    Another manifestation of this is the incessant claims that modern gamers are somehow categorically against RMT. Which is easily proven false by looking at all the very popular games that permit it.

    "Gamers" are not a monolithic entity. Quite to the contrary, gamers come from all walks of life... from rich to poor, from old to young, and with all sorts of different ideas about what constitutes "fun" and what kind of meta they are willing to accept in a game.

    If some people do not like games that permit RMT... fine no biggie. It only becomes a problem when a small group of RMT haters decide it is their duty to infiltrate a game that allows for RMT, and to try to get them to change based on putting forth a false consensus, and attempting to socially engineer the official forum, and other social media outlets.

    Talk about a waste of time! :D

    Well first off, if you were open to it, you could learn a lot from playing chess with a grandmaster.

    But anyway... let's get back to wasting time. Hmm. Aren't games sort of- by definition- a waste of time? I've got a few thousand hours into this game, and what do I have to show for it?

    I will tell you. I have an AL 96 character that is overall pretty weak. The primary reason being that I just so happened to pick a main magic tree and combat tree that were left broken and basically unusable for almost the entire span between Persistence and Launch.

    I've been filing certain bug reports periodically for 23 releases and patiently waiting on a fix. I've given thousands of dollars to go toward the development of this game, fully expecting this development team to live up to their reputation and experience, and deliver- at the minimum- a fully functional combat system and a compelling storyline.

    Instead, what do I have? A "bad reputation" among the dev team because I don't write "nicely enough" about my frustrations in the forum, and sometimes put extraneous commentary into my bug reports. This, apparently, has given them license to ignore- or worse, mock- my complaints. Oh, and also a "bad reputation" among certain players for being a so-called "whale" and putting some extra money I had lying around into funding this game so that others could play it basically for free. Incidentally, this is after taking a 15 year hiatus from serious gaming because I couldn't afford to buy a gaming computer. o_O

    Oh, and the game is still broken.

    Talk about a waste of time!

    I spent a hundred hours of my life trying to bust my butt, trying to get Jaan to AL 70 so she could "qualify" to be invited into the Control Point XP Free-for-All at Vertas Pass, only to have the Control Points shut down when she got to AL 69. I was then told I needed to grind to 80... then 90... in order to be able to participate in any of the "cool new content", like Superstition Pass back when it got turned back on, or new high end zones and bosses, or new PvP content.

    Well it's been two years, thousands of hours, and at long last... here Jaan is in all her AL 96 glory. Master of all magic schools. But still... waiting on those Bludgeons to get fixed. One or two more releases they say...

    Talk about a waste of time!

    So answer me this... why are you more concerned about a new player who has contributed (nothing? $20? $40?) to this game's development perceiving to have "wasted their time" (what, 2 minutes?) zoning into a scene, seeing it was too hard, and then zoning back out, then all the backers who have been here two... three... four... years waiting... and funding... this game to the tune of some $15 million plus?

    What about our time wasted? Is that important to you?
     
    Last edited: Jul 11, 2018
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  13. Jaanelle DeJure

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    Gotcha. Well if you were having a good time and enjoying yourself, then it's all good. Am I correct in assuming, then, that you weren't concerned about "wasting your time"?

    Moving forward, I think you now know that there are all sorts of online resources available to you, in addition to the Player Guide, that explain a lot of things about the game.

    This game has a LOT of features, which can make it somewhat unwieldy. Even more confusing is that many of those features do not (yet) work correctly, and so you might find some conflicting information about how they "should" work, and how they actually work.

    Feel free to message me any time with questions you might be wondering about. If I don't know the answer, I will find it. Or if you prefer, there are plenty of others around in- and out- of game that are willing to lend a helping hand, or offer some advice.

    Unfortunately, we are running with very little resources at the moment, and there are some critical issues that need to be dealt with. Maybe you haven't run into them yet since your character is relatively new. But hopefully, by the time you get to a point where those issues matter more, they will have been resolved. Hopefully- by the end of summer. Let's keep our fingers crossed. ;)
     
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  14. Cordelayne

    Cordelayne Bug Hunter

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    So now I'm interjecting Jaanelle so: :p

    They are both equally important IMHO. Let's discuss the new player you illustrate in your example above first. This hypothetical player comes in, after spending his or her $20/$40 and finds the game rather non-intuitive. Which, as we can all attest, at times it certainly can be. They look around, don't see any other players because the population is limited and spread out, there's no global chat, so how can they figure out what to do with no one to ask? Let's imagine for the sake of argument they don't know about the forums or perhaps don't want to engage in a forum. So, inevitably, in frustration they quit.

    Imagine further for a moment, given your example, that they were able to figure it out and that it was a better experience than what we had to endure. Who knows how much money they might end up spending on the game. It might be hundreds or it could potentially be thousands, but by not taking their "concerns" into consideration you alienate the possibility of new income from these players. Think of it this way. Did you come into the game as a high tier pledge or did you initially pay $40 to try it before you got fully vested? I can only speak for myself, but that is exactly what I did. I bought a $40 copy off of Steam and now am a Duke pledge. Having also spent thousands of dollars and being equally as frustrated with where we are today.

    New players and their experience are crucial, if this game is going to survive. I think @Sir Stile Teckel said it best on the recent Echoes from the Caverns podcast, that we don't need millions of players but around 100 or 200 thousand. Do the math, even conservatively there would be dozens if not hundreds of players who might spend considerable sums to promote development. This is indeed important.

    "So what about me?", you ask? Well of course you're important and your opinion is as equally important. It's important because you have a vested interest in making the game a success and knowledge (among'st many others as well) from the time spent in the game over the years. This knowledge can help fix the development of the game and in assisting new players as they get started in the game. You might view this as wasted time, or you might view it as an opportunity. It really depends on how you look at it.

    In the end, I can appreciate that given where things are it is difficult to not get discouraged and/or frustrated. That at times it feels like our concerns are falling on deaf ears, or that we are being attacked for our views. I would simply encourage you to keep posting, because it is imperative that all issues be addressed. Even if that means eventually being told, "No." :D
     
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  15. Aeryk

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    [QUOTE="Jaanelle DeJure, post: 1090514, member: 159835"
    What about our time wasted? Is that important to you?[/QUOTE]

    Sounds simply like a difference of opinion on what to address first. There will always be more problems than there is time to solve them.

    Regardless, the user should not need a manual. The environment should provide the clues they need. Sounds like there are simple solutions. Let's discuss them and let the team prioritize.
     
  16. Jaanelle DeJure

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    Well, at least you've stopped short of answering on behalf of others, and then attempting to characterize your projections onto a whole group of people that you neither represent nor understand. :p

    You are starting to stretch already right here... the game is not THAT empty.

    Sorry, but your hypothetical argument does not hold water. This is why: It is reasonable to presume that the vast majority of online gamers know about forums, and would be willing to read them even if they didn't want to engage.

    You are making the same kind of false logic here. You start out by defining a very tiny class of people, and then attempt to make an argument ad populum. If, indeed, that class of gamers was representative of a majority, or even a large minority, then your argument would make sense.

    This is a more reasonable argument, but doesn't really align with good sales and marketing practice.

    The reality is that Portalarium had already successfully attracted a good number of backers, who were willing to financially contribute to the tune of $15+ mil, and who were willing to put up with certain difficulties in the interim (some even purposely came to support a game that would be "hard" and didn't hold your hand), and STILL continue to contribute financially.

    What they SHOULD have done is figure out how to reach more players LIKE THAT. And the simplest, most effective, way to have done that, was to build a game that their existing backers were willing to recommend to other similar-minded gamers.

    What ended up happening, is that some backers tried to prematurely recruit players who were ** never really a good match ** for this game (even if only for its half-baked state), and then when they inevitably got frustrated, they lobbied the dev team to change the entire game, and abandon several of their core developmental tenets, which they originally- and quite successfully- sold the game on.

    It's like... if you serve really good, but expensive, Italian food, you need to find a way to connect with the people who have the palate to recognize great Italian food, and to have the means to pay for it.

    You don't start offering "endless salad and garlic bread" in order to attract the Olive Garden patrons, hoping you can upsell them on some rare, imported, prosciutto. They are not willing to pay for your product, and never will be.

    All they will do is loudly complain about the "pretentious" food and give poor reviews on Yelp claiming that it is too expensive, and that the servers were too "pushy" about promoting the specials.
     
    Last edited: Jul 11, 2018
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  17. Floors

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  18. majoria70

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    I don't feel my time was wasted here. Just look at this amazing world. For me what was the most difficult thing was to not see progress to complete systems like the basics fishing, agriculture, and cooking for examples. It isn't that I want to fish all the time since I play most aspects of the game. It is that I still care about all aspects of the game being deserving of the game. It will take as long as it takes. One thing if I know these things will be addressed and going forward we don't get bare bones systems in the game and I see completed systems then I will rest easy.

    If the quests from now on added in could be simplified. Perhaps multiple choices instead of word guessing would be less complex and get the story told. I've played many single playee rpgs and MMOs that did conversation with npcs this way and I loved the ones I loved enjoying them more than the struggles we have with our npcs. It can still be a challenge to say the right thing or the right order of statements to get an outcome but what do I know about coding this and all but whatever helps the game overall is what I care about and that includes every single thing in the game. I so hope we can Let it all shine and not lose focus and not adding new before focusing on what is already there. That makes no sense unless it happened for hopes of cash coming in.

    We are all different in what we like to have in our games but if what we have is full featured and fun what can be faulted? Alas I'm sure some can always find fault but we do have an amazing world to fill in and touch up already to make it the virtual home for many players already here and to come.

    We have gone in so many directions in this game now we just need a little time to just focus on ep1 before moving onto episode 2. I hope with all of my heart the time will and can be taken.

    Let the R58 fishing update be great with bait, lots of fish types, recipes including a high tier recipes, and a must is that fish will have weights and lengths to use for fishing contests etc. And of course bragging rights and fish tales and fishing dailies that perhaps give rare bait types randomly, even special poles or special fishing line.

    And as usual all I say is not directed at the person I quoted just my expressed opinions and feelings for going forward. I vote for no bare bones systems in this game. Let them all shine.

    And I will not argue my points just provide the feedback from my heart. I'm not trying to be right it is just imo.
     
    Last edited: Jul 11, 2018
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  19. Jaanelle DeJure

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    Hear! Hear! :D

    Yes! When I was first roaming the lands looking for a place to settle, I thought it would be nice to settle in Jaanaford, a sleepy little fishing town with a dark secret.

    Even had plans to host regular Fishing Fairs in town and award prizes!

    Fishing, Foraging, Cooking, and Alchemy were my main Crafting picks to go along with my earth druidess character.

    Unfortunately, I seem to have also picked the crafting trees which have remained without much of a purpose.

    I will admit, I chose a lot of things that I knew at the time were pretty "bare bones" but I never imagined in a million years that two years of development- and Commercial Launch!- would go by without them getting flushed out.

    And yes, I'm still feeling saucy because my concerns about redirecting so many resources to nerf the NUE went unheeded by the devs and relentlessly attacked by other players.

    But I sat and abided my time, faithful that the "fixes were coming" and hoping my concerns were unfounded.

    Yet, here we are..the NUE has undergone multiple iterations under the promise it would bring in, and retain, a bunch of new players.

    It didn't. Which is OK, mistakes do happen. But of course, according to the ideologues, the reason these efforts failed to produce the income stream they promised it would (being duly appointed representstives of all gamers everywhere :rolleyes:) because the dev team didn't go far enough in meeting their demands.

    Which tends to always be the case with people that strongly subscribe to a certain ideology... the failure to produce the promised result never seems to cause one to question their premises (since these are beyond reproach) and always seems to result in calls for more of the same.

    Well I'm here to call a spade a spade. Making the game "easier" for players who lack the patience to learn, or are unwilling to risk loss (facing the unknown?) only resulted in bringing in more players who want this digital world nerfed to oblivion.

    Now is the time to go back to the roots of this game. Fix the bugs. Make the player economy functional. Spruce up the storyline. And for the love of Sequanna put some decent loot somewhere in the game.

    If they do that, I believe this game can be salvaged, and we can get enough people willing to spend $5 a month or more to keep the company going.

    Once that is all set, then come hit me up for a few more grand to help get horsies online.

    But not until then. Now is not the time to take our eyes off the prize and capitulate to empty promises of all these new players who will supposedly come in, if only the dev team would be willing to scrap what remaining original design principles they have left.

    And please, don't try to dangle Episode 2 features in my face, while Episode 1 is still... Technically speaking... In beta.

    If they really want to turn heads and get headlines, they could try admitting to having made some big mistakes, not the least of which was running off multiple waves of dedicated backers because of their so-called "negativity" and "color commentary", and generally behaving dismissively toward people who are freely volunteering their time to write up bug reports.

    Businesses that deny their problems, continue to paint a rosy picture despite severe challenges, and actively squelch any "negative" criticism of their products or practices are... Well exactly the kind of company I thought Portalarium was trying to get away from.

    Whoever has been advising them to do this should have been the first one let go.
     
    Last edited: Jul 11, 2018
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  20. Cordelayne

    Cordelayne Bug Hunter

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    I respectfully disagree with this point. :D

    What you are espousing limits overall long term financial growth by appealing to a tiny consumer segment of the MMO/Gaming market. A segment that is currently shrinking within the game and current player base. Meaning, that the backers you are purporting to still contribute financially are clearly not doing so in the capacity that they once were (myself included). This can certainly be seen by the amounts raised in the last few telethons, for example.

    Furthermore, your statement here: "What they SHOULD have done is figure out how to reach more players LIKE THAT. And the simplest, most effective, way to have done that, was to build a game that their existing backers were willing to recommend to other similar-minded gamers." is overly simplistic given the expectations of disparate player types: PVE, PVP, Crafters, MMO vs. Selective Multiplayer, etc. Do you not remember the cacophony during early development from all these various folks? Portalarium did exactly what you said they "SHOULD" have done. They built a game that tried to appeal to all those "existing backers"; who in turn recommended the game to their friends that were "similar-minded gamers".

    Unfortunately, you can't please all the people all of the time (especially here ;)). Even more so, given the size of the Port team, scope of the project and most importantly the budget. So in the end, when the PVP folks felt like they were being ignored a majority of them left. When the story/quest PVE folks felt like things weren't coming along the way they had anticipated, they left. Or at a minimum stopped contributing money or contributing less. Remember, by attracting an audience of new contributors who regularly engage with your brand and each other, you’re leveraging existing interest to further promote and grow its presence. That wasn't happening then and to some extent isn't now. Giving us our current predicament, if you will.

    Having said all that I couldn't agree more with your statement here:

     
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