Early Access Panel - Developers talk about experience with it

Discussion in 'General Discussion' started by Myrcello, Jan 23, 2017.

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  1. Thwip

    Thwip Avatar

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    Very interesting OP, seems like community management is important. I guess that also means if we are a good community it's a big help.

    As a helpful SotA Community we need to keep our critical feedback constructive, present opinions in a helpful manner, and keep our debates clean.
    We should avoid arguing with each other.

    When a thread gets shut down, it's like the Devs feel that not only is it not helpful, but it's also hurting the game.
    If we really feel the the Devs are not listening, don't care, stupid, not going to deliver, etc... Then why are we here? We should just leave.
    If we are full of anger because our expectations have not been met, we should realize that expressing that does not help anyone, and look to put ourselves in a position where we can be positive, helpful, and have fun.
     
  2. Arkah EMPstrike

    Arkah EMPstrike Avatar

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    Which kickstarter promises do you guys keep referring to?
     
  3. majoria70

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    Lol now we get on the pvp/pve subject hmm ;)
     
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  4. Vallo Frostbane

    Vallo Frostbane Avatar

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    Lately I guess the 2M goal. Player take control over castles, PVP guild war etc.
     
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  5. Arkah EMPstrike

    Arkah EMPstrike Avatar

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    They talk about thier plans live with the community at least once a month i think, and the standup post tells what each dev is working on daily. They do occasionally have test sessions on QA with different groups of people for various focused aspects of the game but i agree more of that couldnt hurt.
     
  6. Arkah EMPstrike

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    Heck yea, been waiting on this too. Hope blood bay is testing the waters for that.

    And thanks for the answer. Usually i just get a link and yelled at for asking :p
     
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  7. MrBlight

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    That covers 95% of the game tho.
    Crafting - pvp / pve gear.
    Leveling - pvp / pve.
    Housing? - pvp / pve ties in ( sieges, pvp towns , lock picken )
    Economy - pve / pvp resources

    The only thing in the game that pve / pvp doesnt tie into the discussion in one way or another is RP friendly events lol.
     
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  8. Berek

    Berek Portalarian Emeritus Dev Emeritus

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    Yes you are! This community is amazing, honestly the best I've ever managed and been a member of before... by a long shot. The ideas and efforts to bring the community together that you yourselves have generated is incredible. It's a HUGE help when the community itself is, in appropriate ways, moderating and controlling its posts, and when needed, reporting posts for us to review.

    We actively respond to threads all the time, so I hope you all don't feel we're ignoring you. From my perspective, our team has been one of the most communicative of any development teams I've ever seen. We are a small team, but do our sincere best to post here in the forums and elsewhere.

    The only reason we lock threads is when they get out of control, just like this one has done a few times already. We are not in 'damage control mode', but simply moderating the sometimes chaotic post responses that come up so that actual discussions can take place. This policy was updated by me on day 1 of my start at Portalarium, but just in case it was forgotten, has in some ways been adjusted since then based on community feedback.

    For example, these rather light jabs, in combination and continuing in a thread with other jabs, will get the thread locked...

    and

    If you are posting a comment like this, take it to PM, or don't post at all and wait until you have something more appropriate to the topic to contribute. I am glad to see that some of you have already taken it upon yourself to remove posts that were inflammatory - thank you!

    Even more personally directed attacks, accusations, etc will of course be immediately removed. None of that is necessary in a debate or discussion and is quite evident when something is going to be moderated. Keep out personal jabs in these threads, or trying to control the topic with risk of derailing it, and you'll notice that they won't be locked as often.

    We honestly don't lock or moderate as much as we should, as most of the time the community is fantastic in posting. It's only when you guys get excited about something with many different viewpoints that you occasionally forget how to control your posts and keep them focused. It's going to happen, we're all human and excited about the game, but then please don't be surprised when we have to step in and moderate by closing posts or locking entire threads.

    Also, we're not just moderating, but we most want to communicate and have fun playing the game with you. We're here to get answers to your questions from the rest of the developers, to get development progress and status updates to the community in return, to be involved in your discussions, and simply have fun in exploring new ideas around the game. That's what our team is here for at its core, to be there when needed.

    I may close the thread at some point, to no one's surprise, but let's see how the discussion evolves after my post...
     
    Last edited: Jan 24, 2017
  9. Vallo Frostbane

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    @Berek you know that the devs hardly respond to topics concerning sandbox features that are not housing...

    And moderation has only applied to these discussions, because they have been yelled down by some people that want SotA to stay a social medieval second world.
    I would love to know what you think about those kickstarter goals that are still missing? How you think this game reflects anything gameplay wise that made Ultima Online a success story?

    Your view of the community is only a small one. You only hang around the same people and focus on those guilds that purely RP.
    To be frank.. the aren't anymore others left to showcase ;)

    Ive never seen you at any PVP event or hosting a PVP event. Or discuss guild war and how players can shape the politics of the world.
    Grab someone, put em in front of the camera and make him talk to us...

    After all it cannot be blamed on EARLY ACCESS alone. You very much deviated from the crowd that made this game possible by ignoring some of the kickstarter goals like castles for guilds and fighting about them. We are all glad PVP gets some love now, but we won't be quiet until we get what we pledged for.

    You basically ignore us (the people that are here for gameplay and sandbox). I should be posting #notmycommunitymanager ;)
     
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  10. Berek

    Berek Portalarian Emeritus Dev Emeritus

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    I tend to try and hang around with everyone and talk and communicate with as many as possible in the community, but I admit that I'm not able to get to everyone all the time. I have many other tasks I have to attend to as well. Come talk to me sometime :). I'm at all events that I'm invited too, including the previous pre-season gustball tournament, which was a blast!

    Kickstarter and such is for another thread, and I wasn't here during the Kickstarter, so I don't have anything direct to say about it.

    I will say that, yes, we have made changes to the game since it was first developed... but that's how development goes. That's the life of a game and working with a community to make it better. It's not a copy/stamp/done process from its inception. We work with the community more than most games do by a long shot, but of course we are not able to please everyone all the time even with this level of effort.

    We never just ignore you, so I'm really quite confused by that statement. I'm not sure I have a response for it :(. Sometimes we can't get to every single individual post and respond to them, so I think perhaps you are seeing it through a lens of completeness there. @Berek more often and I will try to respond when I can :).
     
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  11. Vallo Frostbane

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    If you guys tell me that you definitely wont bring in that part of the kickstarter that was about players and guilds waring each other over assets, Ill be gone and sell my stuff. Just be honest about it and save us all a lot of trouble. If you guys don't we will poke you until you do implement the stuff we were promised.
     
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  12. Gideon Thrax

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    @Berek - what are the chances of getting a livestream event dedicated to PVP discussions where @Chris, @DarkStarr, and @Lord British can give us the low down on what's coming to the PVP sandbox game? Not just glyph mechanics, but the actual current vision for PVP in SotA? What's left in the way of milestones before Portalarium calls SotA feature complete for commercial release? What specifically do we have to look forward to with regard to SotA the Sandbox MMO and PVP?
     
  13. Turk Key

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    This thread has started making too much sense. We need to have it closed immediately....... Seriously I am so happy this thread has made it this far. Many good points have been discussed and I hope everyone eventually reads what has been said here.
     
  14. Berek

    Berek Portalarian Emeritus Dev Emeritus

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    Sounds like a great idea to me! I know we're working on some PvP elements in this release and future ones, so maybe a bit yet to ensure we have more PvP content to explore? Happy to start a new thread on that idea...
     
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  15. MrBlight

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    A beautiful post that does exactly what the frustration stemmed from. You blatently didnt answer the qustion.. Vallo has raised the same point several times. If you cant answer the question that he just repeated once agian..
    Then another dev should. As you politely just ignored it.
     
  16. MrBlight

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    Why not elaborate on what you guys call early access alpha, beta while your at it... or some of the many many topics that SPIRAL OUT OF CONTROL repeatedly, so the nails get put in them?
    If youd like, i can list them all when i get home, altho the last time i posted a whole list of questions from my group it got ignored.

    Theres a massive list of threads that go exactly as you say, but with no actual final answer from you guys. Go take your picks. That might stop all this back and forth in every thread thats caused by there bein no clear answer frm you guys.
    Making a post is pointless if it doesnt answer the core question or concern.

    And lastly.. if telling someone they should re read the post because they r missing the basis of the comment, is too offensive, whats the proper way to do that? As in your 2 examples, i see 1 personal attack and 1 clear statement.
     
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  17. mercster

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    @Berek it seems that what people want, moreso than details on what's being fixed next, I guess...is larger roadmap items, or some idea on the ideas the developers/develoment leads have for the direction some of the sandbox and PvP features might go in. Just a suggestion.
     
  18. Berek

    Berek Portalarian Emeritus Dev Emeritus

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    This isn't the thread or my area to answer this post. We should create another thread or setting for separate questions like that. I will see if I can get Starr or someone else to comment!
     
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  19. MrBlight

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    Why not just make a simple post regarding the current and UPDATED vision of some of the heated topics as seen today.
    Dont need to waste a massive amount of time.
    A good solid actually informativr writeup, explain the pre promised stuff and wjrre its at compared to now what u want to implement aswell/ instead. And make it just about big picture stuff, no the current state of the color of your next cloak coming out.

    Each topic i cant imagine would take more then a few minutes to write up.
     
  20. MrBlight

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    Good stuff.
    New thread vallo. Chop chop. Im on mobile, but i want to see their answers for this ( aswell as other stuff )
     
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