22 replies to this topic

[Barghest Whelp]

Yeah, so this is not really a machine gun thread, even though I figured I could use this opportunity to mention that I'm not happy with the current state of MG's.

So what is this thread really about? Well, this snippet from ask the devs 35:

M0rpHeu5: Do you check the suggestions and the game balance topics?
A: Regularly. We tend to look for trends, rather than specific suggestions. When we see many threads about something being too powerful, we examine the root causes and implement a fix or tweak.

I really feel that this is like a kick in the face. To me this is like saying: "yeah, we just ignore you lot until you all grab your pitchforks and go all lynchmob on us."

I don't know, maybe you have some other thoughts?

Please discuss!

[ShadowDarter]

[Xelah]

[xenoglyph]

Did somebody mention machine guns?

[Brilig]

It does seem like a lot gets past their QA. I know they only have so many, and they can only spend so much time on any one thing. But when it takes the community all of 5 minutes after a patch to find out something is crazy OP, or completely useless it makes you wonder how it got past them.

[Xelah]

xenoglyph, on 09 April 2013 - 02:11 AM, said:

Did somebody mention machine guns?

No, this is the ECM thread. Move along citizen.

[Barghest Whelp]

Brilig, on 09 April 2013 - 02:12 AM, said:

It does seem like a lot gets past their QA. I know they only have so many, and they can only spend so much time on any one thing. But when it takes the community all of 5 minutes after a patch to find out something is crazy OP, or completely useless it makes you wonder how it got past them.

Yes indeed. But the problem I have is the amount of nerdrage required before it is even acknowledged as a problem. That statement kind of tells me why.

[Sifright]

Barghest Whelp, on 09 April 2013 - 02:04 AM, said:

Yeah, so this is not really a machine gun thread, even though I figured I could use this opportunity to mention that I'm not happy with the current state of MG's.

So what is this thread really about? Well, this snippet from ask the devs 35:

M0rpHeu5: Do you check the suggestions and the game balance topics?
A: Regularly. We tend to look for trends, rather than specific suggestions. When we see many threads about something being too powerful, we examine the root causes and implement a fix or tweak.

I really feel that this is like a kick in the face. To me this is like saying: "yeah, we just ignore you lot until you all grab your pitchforks and go all lynchmob on us."

I don't know, maybe you have some other thoughts?

Please discuss!

rable rable pitch forks burning torches

Mgs need a damage buff...
things

Pgis usage of the forum is insane. etc

edit: mind you it does explain why they are utterly pants at understanding what problems we have....

So isn't it Garths job to manage the community and actually read our threads and to bring up relevant feedback and good suggestions...

Seems like all he does is troll the playerbase and play mwo... Garth you have a pretty awesome job in that respect colour me impressed.

Edited by Sifright, 09 April 2013 - 02:20 AM.

[jeffsw6]

Barghest Whelp, on 09 April 2013 - 02:04 AM, said:

A: Regularly. We tend to look for trends, rather than specific suggestions. When we see many threads about something being too powerful, we examine the root causes and implement a fix or tweak.

Sounds like we should all post replies in every machine gun thread until they admit their error.

• See also:
  
• flamer
  
• UAC5 jamming incorrectly
  
• weapon convergence
  
• broken hitboxes on light mechs
  
• broken hit detection
  
• lack of integrated VOIP
  
• sync dropping
  
• bad trial mechs (1 recent step forward here, good!)
  
• relatively poor return for premium time
  
• patches that combine graphics "fixes" (loads of new bugs) with new content
  
• useless air / art strike damage
  
• total lack of QA before releasing patches ("upgrade your video drivers" riiiight)

[Michael Costanza]

Brilig, on 09 April 2013 - 02:12 AM, said:

It does seem like a lot gets past their QA. I know they only have so many, and they can only spend so much time on any one thing. But when it takes the community all of 5 minutes after a patch to find out something is crazy OP, or completely useless it makes you wonder how it got past them.

They have 50 or so people at PGI. Maybe 3 or 4 of them do QA? Compare that to thousands of players testing a patch at once, under a variety of configurations? Heck, look at how Microsoft goofs up each Windows release. Even if you look at online computer games, WOW will goof up on patches they release and League of Legends will have issues linger for multiple patches.

[ShadowDarter]

Good morning is "おはよう" of Google translate is accurate as i hope it is...

[Michael Costanza]

DCLXVI, on 09 April 2013 - 02:30 AM, said:

how do you say good morning in japenese before lock XD

Ohayo gozaimasu.

[Brilig]

Michael Costanza, on 09 April 2013 - 02:38 AM, said:

They have 50 or so people at PGI. Maybe 3 or 4 of them do QA? Compare that to thousands of players testing a patch at once, under a variety of configurations? Heck, look at how Microsoft goofs up each Windows release. Even if you look at online computer games, WOW will goof up on patches they release and League of Legends will have issues linger for multiple patches.

I am fair certain they have community folks that do some QA for them on test servers.

Also don't get me wrong I know patches create bugs. But when you do something like tweak missile damage, then how do you not hop into an LRM boat light up a target, and not notice the crazy amount of damage it does?

[Znail]

It is rather insulting and also rather stupid to ignore the players as a source of feedback. They seem to only see the forums as a way to manage the fans rather then to bother to listen to what is said. It wouldnät be that much of an issue if not for the fact that they have a rather limited budget and number of people working there so it's not uncommon for the players to notice issues many months before the devs do.

[MadPanda]

It seems the only guys who got a fast response from PGI were the guys who send death threats to them, lol.

[Kiiyor]

"10% left on my phone... I'll just check the forums and see how all these hilarious mg threads are go... Oh. HAAAA HA HA HA HAAAA"



Well. This kind of validates your point. POWER TO THE PEOPLE!

Edited by Kiiyor, 09 April 2013 - 03:49 AM.

[Xelah]

Kiiyor, on 09 April 2013 - 03:09 AM, said:

"10% left on my phone... I'll just check the forums and see how all these hilarious mg threads are go... Oh. HAAAA HA HA HA HAAAA"

http://i.imgur.com/jk1CFzm.png

Well. This kind of validates you Panda. POWER TO THE PEOPLE!

It remains to be seen if this will actually spawn a response from the devs. So far all we've managed to do is mildly annoy a volunteer mod. And that was after 10 or so hours of filling up the forum with mg posts while the mods were asleep. The operation would not have been the success that it was had that happened during day time.

Edited by Xelah, 09 April 2013 - 03:34 AM.

[jeffsw6]

Xelah, on 09 April 2013 - 03:20 AM, said:

It remains to be seen if this will actually spawn a response from the devs. So far all we've managed to do is mildly annoy a volunteer mod. And that was after 10 or so hours of filling up the forum with mg posts while the mods were asleep. The operation would not have been the success that it was had that happened during day time.

Are you suggesting there is a vast right-torso conspiracy to create threads in the middle of the night, so the feared Atlas will have even more armament choices?

Seems legit.

[Barghest Whelp]

Kiiyor, on 09 April 2013 - 03:09 AM, said:

"10% left on my phone... I'll just check the forums and see how all these hilarious mg threads are go... Oh. HAAAA HA HA HA HAAAA"



Well. This kind of validates your point. POWER TO THE PEOPLE!

Well, it seems it's still not enough. But either way, the real point is: is this really necessary? I mean seriously? Everytime we want something looked in to we need to start another nerdrage armageddon?

I think it's about time PGI reconsidered their stance on this.

Edit: forgot to say: nice pic!

Edited by Barghest Whelp, 09 April 2013 - 03:55 AM.

[jeffsw6]

Barghest Whelp, on 09 April 2013 - 03:54 AM, said:

I think it's about time PGI reconsidered their stance on this.

It's not just the Machine Gun issue that is a problem. The underlying cause is:

• QA is ineffective
  
• DEVs are clearly either completely burned out / detached from the game, or just not very bright
  
• Community manager & moderators are not doing an effective job of aggregating player feedback

I hope PGI will realize that they have these problems, and work on fixing them. It's not just the Machine Gun. It's the Flamer, too. And well, SSRMs. UAC5 jam. Hitboxes. It goes on and on. For ****'s sake, the backspace key still doesn't work!