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An open letter to Lord Brittish

Discussion in 'Release 33 Feedback Forum' started by Redemption, Aug 31, 2016.

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  1. Redemption

    Redemption Avatar

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    Dear Lord British,

    I doubt you will ever see this but I need to get it off my chest anyway.

    When I was 10 the Ultima series was all the rage in my life. I eagerly soaked in every square foot of every one of them that I could get my hands on. When I was 12 Ultima Online was in full swing and Ever Quest was in hard competition with you guys for players. I fell firmly into the UO camp, I mowed lawns for over a month to buy my first copy. I met some of my first online friends here and developed lasting friendships while learning how to play. I have never really been a morning person but I woke up 1-2 hours early for UO every day before school. I loved the game and I played it for years and years.

    Even after UO died I played on the free shards that developed from the ashes of UO's demise. I eventually got into development, and world forging and was lucky enough to get a behind the scenes look at the childhood game that got me into games. Since then every game I have played since gets measured against the Ultima Online standard. Unfortunately most games have fallen woefully short of the mark.

    Knowing all of these things you can imagine my excitement when, as an adult in his thirties I discovered through another UO fan that Lord British was at it again. Like it or not for myself, and I imagine for many others Shroud is being measured up against the UO standard.

    I backed early and upgraded often. Ive been to as many telethons as I can and have done what I can to support what I saw as a worthy game. Then release 33 happened. The taming 'adjustment' has been more of a slaughter. Taming is genuinely inferior up next to other options (such as working the magic tree for an elemental) The raffle has come off like a middle finger to anyone who doesnt have enough spare money to have purchased a house. (luckily I was smart enough to upgrade before I could no longer get a lot deed)

    I am certain that the staff realized finally what most of us already knew about this raffle, that it was going to get abused by the wealthy guilds who already have had a big head start on all of the players who backed early but couldnt afford to get a lot with rl cash. So once again you guys threw out a middle finger at people who bought their houses by giving free raffle tickets to those people.

    Why does any of this matter? Well normally it wouldn't matter all that much in the grand scheme of things. What matters about it is how it makes your core group of loyal customers feel. I and many others have seen this time and time again, and what it tells me is that as soon as this game goes live it is going to be a big middle finger to your loyal customers in an effort to get people to buy into the game.

    With that said to add injury to insult, when I see another player bashing the player base and making the wide sweeping statement that all tamers were abusing the game, and gaming the system, and then I see a developer like that players incredibly disrespectful post, and then post a patronizing post where he isnt even capable of admitting that he wasnt listening to the players when they were telling him that the nerf was broken..... well when I see stuff like that I get the distinct impression that the staff has very low regard for its players. When I see that same developer and his partner remove posts that call him out for that, but leave posts that disrespect a large portion of your player base.... well there are no appropriate words to describe how that makes me feel as a customer.

    R33 has been a nightmare, 70-80% of my friends list is no longer playing, or hasnt really been on since R33 was rolled out, items on the market place are not selling as frequently or for as much as they were just days ago. Places that were perfectly feasible to mine (The silver pocket in hilt fortress) are no longer respawning and not worth traveling into to get.

    With all of that said, all I have to say about this is that I had a shopping list of things I planned to purchase via the shop, I intended to be at the telethons and I intended to support them so that I can see this game grow and prosper. I can not in good faith spend any more money on this game until I see both the quality of the game improve and the quality of the way that devs speak to its players improve. I will look for and be true to my word about this if things do improve, but after what Ive seen Im not holding my breath.

    To the Dev's who pulled the classic post removal for being called out: You and your fellow developer got the response you deserved for the way you were behaving, he deserved hearing that he had been rude and disrespectful and I dont even need to say his name, you know who I am talking about. I do not believe that expecting professional behavior from a professional is too much to ask for. Clean it up, show a little bit of mutual respect, I dont think that is too much to ask for.

    Sincerely, Redemption
     
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  2. Mekong

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    The tamers needed to nerfed and in my opinion still need one.
     
  3. Thadeus Crook

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    No
     
  4. Drocis the Devious

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    This was my favorite part of the letter.
     
  5. Aliana Berry

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    No. If I could click a dislike button on this guys post, I would.
     
  6. Mekong

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    Fortunately there isn't a dislike button otherwise Id hurt my index finger.
     
  7. GreyMouser Skye

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    Oh the things I miss when I am not on the forums 24/7. No clue of the last stuff, but agree with a lot of earlier stuff. I am glad you got this off your chest. May not change the game, but you never know.
     
  8. Redemption

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    Had I been rough or used profanity when I called him out for it I might have expected, and not even been resentful when my post was deleted.

    Indeed, it does help to just put it out there. My words alone are unlikely to have much effect, but the collective decrease in funding if enough people are annoyed enough not to open their wallet will have an effect. With that said however I am reminded of a quote that describes how I feel about the staff right now.

    "I would spread the cloths under your feet:
    But I, being poor, have only my dreams;
    I have spread my dreams under your feet;
    Tread softly because you tread on my dreams."

    W. B. Yeats

     
  9. Drocis the Devious

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    Perhaps he's gone about it the wrong way?

    Oh and what was the most serious issue he was addressing in your estimation?
     
  10. Bubonic

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  11. Sir Leonard

    Sir Leonard Localization Team

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    Oh, i see... you are complaining about not being able to beat the game on first month, not farming 50k/hour (which they already "adjusted" the super nerf on current patch), being sick of seeing poor players being helped out a bit after a massive land rush with all main spots taken (wow, they got a raffle ticket, now they are land barons!) and by not being able to solo a dragon with a pet alone anymore (which with the actual nerf, of course is not even close to what will be the final product).

    Okay, i feel for your lost and grief.

    Get better soon.

    Cya.
     
  12. Redemption

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    That is not the case here at all. I only own an obsidian wolf and the taming section was a supplementary combat skill for me. Ive never done the afk or semi afk grind and I have never abused any part of this game. This issue isnt about how this affects Just me.

    My Guild leader for example is a healer/tamer his pet is his dps, one of my guild mates is an archer tamer and her pet was used mostly for its webbing capabilities so that she isnt getting swamped by the entire mob when she is solo grinding. Both them and myself were comfortable with some measure of adjustment to taming as we have seen it's abuse by other much much much larger guilds on the occasions when we are on the grind and happen to be in multi-player. I do not believe that doing nothing with taming would have been the right decision either.

    No one including myself is asking to be killing dragons in our first month.

    The taming profession had its issues, but at the time the dps, cost, resource cost etc was well in line with the other skills. Post nerf (and you will see people talking about this in the forums already) people are starting to figure out that working the magic tree is now a better way to go. So it is pretty obvious that the vast majority of players who will be looking to maximize their players ability will be swapping over to the magic skill tree. What do you suppose will be next to get "nerfed"?

    I dont think such a high level of sarcasm is either helpful or necessary here. To barrow a sentiment from one of our "developers" I dont think it is constructive. I am not asking for anything crazy, all I have asked for is for the staff to treat its customers with an acceptable measure of respect. This isnt Rust, or Ark, and therefore the trolltempts have no useful purpose.


    Thank you for your words on this matter. Heres the thing. Ive likely been at the video game grind over two decades now and I have seen many a good project fail due to silly little mistakes like changing the terms of promises made to players and heavy handed or unnecessary levels of nerfing. When 80% of your friends list hasnt bothered to log into the game in nearly a week, it says something. When I roll into Owls Head and theres only 2 other people there in what should be peak hours, when competitively priced wares that are normally in huge demand and just plain not selling.... it really says something about the state of the game right now.

    None of these problems affect me in a direct way that I cant recover from very quickly and therefore I have asked for nothing directly for myself. The presumption from some that because I am talking about it, I therefore must stand to directly gain something from what I am talking about, is both naive and foolish on their parts.

    What I am asking for is for the staff to think before they act. I am asking them to show us common decency, I am asking for them to reserve heavy handed adjustments for when they are actually needed. I am looking at the players who dont have, and can not afford to pay rl cash for a lot like I did and feeling like they are getting the short end of the stick, not only are they competing with one another for the lots that are being handed out, but they will be competing against many of us (established players) who are competing against them purely for gains that we do not necessarily need.

    How that makes this a sob story that is about me, I will never know.

    Thank you for chiming in and being supportive though, it is very appreciated. It is my hope that someone, maybe even only just one dev, will read this and find it necessary to act a bit more carefully in the future. If I get even that far this post will have been worth it

    @everyone
    In general I feel that as customers we vote with our wallets. Many of our younger or less cerebral peers may not understand that, which I feel is one of the reasons why the gaming industry in general is such a mess. Since we vote with our wallets, this has been my kind way of notifying the staff that I have for the time being casted my vote. Given the circumstances I do not believe that is an unreasonable.
     
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  13. Redemption

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    What do you feel would have been the right way to go about it?
     
  14. Drocis the Devious

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    Leave out the personal attacks, leave out the wasted emotion. Provide actionable feedback.
     
  15. Lord Gorynych

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    In R33 balance thing is getting tuned all the way. Take popcorn and fasten your seat belts :)
     
  16. Ordovicia

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    Completely disagree with this post. Taming needed adjusted and if you can't see that for the long term health of the game then i don't know what to tell you. I love this game and while it has it's ups and downs in the development cycle, I still think it is fantastic. This game is in constant flux right now, which for me is completely understandable since the devs are trying to create a system that works for the long haul. Why would you get angry with decisions that are being made in an attempt to benefit the long term health of the game. It is much needed and unfortunately I think when people see changes that do not benefit them specifically they get angry, even if it will clearly improve game play and longevity of the game into the future.
     
  17. Redemption

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    Everyone has a different method of presenting their point of view. I have recently steered away from sticking only to cold hard facts because it is unappealing to the vast majority of people. Including how I feel about what has taken place has a lot to do with my 'experience' with the product purchased, and therefore is important to this situation as it pertains to customer satisfaction. There is a reality in here, and I suspect you will understand this. No matter how I phrased this open letter, someone will have or choose to have a problem with some part of what I say, or how I say it. There is no pleasing everyone, and I understand that the same reality applies to the staff as well.

    I made a choice to include anyone who reads it in it, and therefore I expect that some will disagree with me, and that is fine. However the letter is aimed at the Staff, and therefore I felt that my feelings on the matter are an important aspect of my level of customer satisfaction.

    As for personal attacks I went through and reread my initial post and I do not believe I have made any personal attacks on anyone. I have given an accurate recount of the things I have seen take place and I am giving an accurate summary of where I stand as a customer. I believe that is will within my right to do. I also believe that I have stayed well within anyones standards of community guidelines, or codes of conduct.
     
  18. Drocis the Devious

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    Why not send it directly to them instead of making it a public forum thread?
     
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  19. Redemption

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    mmm No, I think you have misunderstood. I am not angry. I am disappointed with the changes to the degree that they have been changed. I stated in a post above that I did expect and was ok with some level of adjustment, but that I feel that the adjustment went too far. As stated previously I am not nor would I be directly benefiting from the things I am saying.

    Adjusting something to the point where everyone I know is abandoning taming in favor of something else entirely is not balance, it is broken. Giving these players raffle tickets and then later changing the story and telling them they will have to wait til R34 to find out if they get anything at all is as good as a broken promise.

    In an earlier thread just after the release of R33 the OP of that thread was posting that something about taming was broken, that even at gm taming, and the support skills for taming being very high their pet was still more or less useless. During the course of that thread one of the Developers was posting it was operating properly and showing a photo of his tamed pet that was in fact much stronger than about 15 other players were professing their own pets to be.

    Long story short that Developer proceeded to like comments that were bashing the player base by calling the vast majority of tamers (exploiters) until suddenly he realized he was wrong. Instead of just saying "yeah hey we missed something, we will fix it, sorry we gave you all a hard time for reporting the problem to us" he posted something to the effect of "Update: Taming is indeed suffering from a problem, it was set to linear instead of exponential" then proceeded to make threaten to remove the post because people, and myself felt that he had been somewhat rude.

    That developer proceeded to remove posts he didnt like, that were not breaching any community standards I have read anywhere.

    To shorten my answer, I put it in a public forum because I am giving the staff an opportunity to come in and be the knights in shining armor I know they are capable of being. I am giving my peers, and the staff the full benefit of complete transparency. I am giving other players the opportunity to weigh in.

    Sending in a private correspondence a would have likely resulted in less of an effect. if not being ignored entirely.
     
  20. Sir Leonard

    Sir Leonard Localization Team

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    Well, I am almost GM tamer AND summoner now - lv 98 on both... (just look at my concept avatar with a pet since i signed up here)... didn't fret a bit about it. Yes, lost a couple million points, just moved to the next tree... too easy, maybe i am behind some people, but alas, who cares? No, i am not refunding exp since taming WILL be fixed sometime (obviously not the way it was EVER). The persistent state has been out for a month, you can't expect to be playing on a overstable well consolidate server, so having a little patience doesn't hurt.

    As for the sarcasm, sorry about that but i really get a bit mad at people complaining because "others are being given a couple of free tickets", since it is a LOTTERY system and i know 99% of player base won't be 1% as crazy as i am, spending over $3k dollars on an unfinished project just because you think the team rox and want to play a "vintage" retro-feelings game again, just like any RPG we haven't seen for a long time now. I want this game to succeed and i want low levels to enjoy it as much as i do. (edit: if free tickets are given to the 180k player base it also solves the problem of people trying to "cheat" by raising their odds absurdly).

    I don't want to own the game though, i want this a shared experience and a healthy community playstyle, that will give me hundreds of hours of leisure and interactions. So if my sarcams touched you in an uncomfortable manner, i am deeply sorry about it again... but it i have a very simple tip for you fix it if you desire: just stop being such a jerk on new and poor people and that will help a lot settling MY feelings towards you too.

    I am sorry again for such "not-so-warm"words, but i am being openly sincere with you... and do hope you realize you are being a little selfish here and THAT too was totaly unnecessary and not helpfull.
    (edit2: by reading you post twice, it may not have been the case to you, so if i misunderstood your intentions about the raffle being distributed to newbies freely i sincerely apologize for misunderstanding you, my bad, sorry... else... well).

    That being said, i will not be arguing anymore, since i didn't sign up for that and i do prefer enjoying gameplay and community play. I really hope you get better from this state (no sarcasm this time) and just start to understand how things are going on right now and realize you can't hope to get a perfect definition of consolidate skills, playstyle, economy, farming, questing, etc., JUST YET.

    Thanks for comprehension, adios or see you ingame.

    Cheers.
     
    Last edited: Aug 31, 2016
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