74 replies to this topic

[SlXSlXSlX]

PGI,

Alot of player concern over where things are, where they are going, and where to place emphasis.

Problems include the: Heat debate, ecm/lrm debate, the 4 man vs pub debate, the netcode and still present advertisement for a net coder issue, modes and respawns, attracting new players versus retaining current players, etc. etc.

I wont advocate any points here, and ask everyone else to do the same. The purpose of this post is to generate support for the idea that more communication on these "topics" would be really appreciated.

PGI: Can you comment on any or all of the above topics? So much tester effort is expended arguing these points into the ground. An official statement from the developers may alleviate much turmoil and concern.

Other players: If you too would like some information on these issues, please say so.

Edited by SlXSlXSlX, 04 January 2013 - 10:13 AM.

[Kaijin]

make it a poll

[WarGruf]

I know were waiting for info BUT there is plenty on the forums in Command chair etc... And they are probably still on holiday you know guys...

Devs got to take a break sometime.
January the 15th is the next BIG patch and a lot of the above issues are being addressed, partly if ot in full.
Or at least we can hope...

Im still waiting on DX11 (october 2012...???)

[stjobe]

Seriously, just go read the Command Chair. Just about everything you mention is already communicated about.

[Texas Merc]

also i think 2 days ago they did an ask the devs q&a and took like 20ish questions.

do you only troll general discussion and not read the entire forums?

[Thirdstar]

I'd frankly give them much more time. It is after all post-holiday season. Let them unwind a bit, maybe come at some of the issues with new perspective.

[stjobe]

Texas Merc, on 04 January 2013 - 10:13 AM, said:

do you only troll general discussion and not read the entire forums?

I think you just hit the nail on the head there, Texas.

[SlXSlXSlX]

You know as well as I do there is very little there that relates to the above concerns. For all we know addressing some of those issues may have changed their priorities, in ratio to the others.

We have all seen the command chair notes. If you feel they are sufficient, then vote no please. I went with option 2, I would like to see some more recent updates on some of the above issues. (Ideally all)

[jshill78]

Once again I'm forced to do this.

The game is free to play and even if it weren't you have the right to access the content that was paid for. The developers don't OWE you anything. That includes any indication of what they are working on. If you're curious to see if one or any of those things are worked on... keep playing and waiting. The answers come in patch notes, rare and infrequent forum posts, and the occasional front page update.

Other than that....

[stjobe]

SlXSlXSlX, on 04 January 2013 - 10:17 AM, said:

You know as well as I do there is very little there that relates to the above concerns.

Really? Let's see:

Heat debate: PGI says 1.4 is sufficient, but will adjust ER and pulse weapons.
ECM/LRM: I get killed by LRMs regularly, so what debate do you mean?
4-man vs PUG: ELO matchmaking is coming.
Netcode: It's been tested during the holidays and is slated to appear in-game in January.
Attracting new players vs retaining old: You really expect them to say anything but "we want to do both"?
Modes and respawn: See Dropship Mutator.

[Kaijin]

jshill78, on 04 January 2013 - 10:18 AM, said:

Once again I'm forced to do this.

Your name suits you.

[jshill78]

Yes it does. Thank you. jshill78.... Jeffrey Stephen Hill born in 1978. My name is my name, so therefore it fits me.

"Oh, Eeyore, you are wet!" said Piglet, feeling him. Eeyore shook himself, and asked somebody to explain to Piglet what happened when you had been inside a river for quite a long time.

[Kaijin]

Texas Merc, on 04 January 2013 - 10:13 AM, said:

also i think 2 days ago they did an ask the devs q&a and took like 20ish questions.

do you only troll general discussion and not read the entire forums?

Surely you're not referring to Garth's comical answers of zero substance in 'Ask the Devs 29A'?

[Agent of Change]

It is exactly 2 days after the new years holiday which falls on Tuesday the standard patch day. A week before which was christmas, a week before that we had a patch and an announcement that PGI was going on it's holiday vacation over teh... wait for it... Holidays.

We were told that the next major patch would be by/on the 15th and that they would be gathering data over the holidays. Nothign is different now than it was the week of the last patch, nothing is new apocalyptically broken, They have said ECM is workign as intended (i disagree but that's not at issue), and contrary to popular belief LRms are not broken they are just an intelligence test on the receiving end.

Demanding updates before they have had a chance to even really get back and break down the info is ridiculous. Give it until next week and i'm sure we'll have heard something, I guarantee it won't be what you want to hear so we will then hear about it but they will communicate with us. And If i don't hear anythign until the 15th well then that's when i *expected* to hear something anyway. Calm down, take a deep breath and be patient.

lastly you are way off schedule, two weeks from now is commenting on "general things that are breaking the game" week. Check the schedule

[SlXSlXSlX]

If a Jan Q and Q happened I cant seem to find it in teh dev section. Anyone have a link, last one there is a Nov. Q and A.

"Really? Let's see:

Heat debate: PGI says 1.4 is sufficient, but will adjust ER and pulse weapons.
ECM/LRM: I get killed by LRMs regularly, so what debate do you mean?
4-man vs PUG: ELO matchmaking is coming.
Netcode: It's been tested during the holidays and is slated to appear in-game in January.
Attracting new players vs retaining old: You really expect them to say anything but "we want to do both"?
Modes and respawn: See Dropship Mutator."

Yes these are the things I was hoping for more information on. ELO is coming really isn't very informative. Let me expand on those issues you have touched:

Heat debate: Arnt DHS 2.0 in the engine and 1.4 in the bod? Is that where they will stay?
ECM vs LRM.. I have to agree, the LRMS find me too, so I like ECM where it is, but I see uber QQ on that issue so I was hoping they could comment as to their satisfaction or plans to mod it.
4 man vs ELO.. this is a big topic, it relates to 8 man ghost town, and new player retention. Simply saying ELO is coming is vague. I like the formula,but howis it working in test? Does the mm effectiveness remain contingent upon the # of players on the server? How many are on the server? This topic begs for more specificity.
New vs old player retention: Kind of relates back to all of the other issues? Also relates to the avg daily server pop. Does PGI have changes in the pipeline to pull back the founders who left, do they consider thema loss. Are they targeting the founders, mw/bt fans, new players. Please state the priorities because we can draw alot from your intent in terms of future expectations.
And modes: Far more than a mutator has been suggested. Where do they stand on the mode issue. Will they add one, 2, 0, will it be deathmatch or community warfare.. or will we get a option to drop into community warfare in 4 mans, etc. etc. More info would help us shape our expectations into the realm of reason.

So, alot more could be said. How often do comments usually come? I don't know for sure, but I think if we want more information, it would help if we consolidated that request.

[Thndrblt]

jshill78, on 04 January 2013 - 10:18 AM, said:

Once again I'm forced to do this.

The game is free to play and even if it weren't you have the right to access the content that was paid for. The developers don't OWE you anything. That includes any indication of what they are working on. If you're curious to see if one or any of those things are worked on... keep playing and waiting. The answers come in patch notes, rare and infrequent forum posts, and the occasional front page update.

Other than that....

Well said, i agree....

I would rather have the dev's working on the game, and not wasting time replying to all the forum rants. Every minute cost's the developers money (payroll, utility bills, software development,ect), so TIME must be used where it is most productive, and to me thats time on the game coding, not forum replys. Yes, it would be nice to get some updates or forum replys...but its not nessecary IMHO.

also, i very much doubt the "Devs'" dont care about the game...im sure they all care a great deal about it (either proffesionaly or personaly). They would not have gotten the game this far if they didnt care. And whether people like it or not, MONEY is the name of the game. They are not working for free, and they need a profit to justify the games continued development. Other companys pay them to develope the game, so they get a profit on the tail end. If people do not understand how buissness works, they are fools themselves. Game creation comes from the hopes of making a profit, the quality of that game comes from the passion the coders have for the game. I think they (dev's) care VERY much for the product they are presenting (thier careers in computing gaming is dependant on it). And thier share holders may have a differant schedule then you would like...but thier paying the bills, they get to make those decisions...

Maybe they dont have the resources (money) to fix every issue immediately, maybe they dont have the manpower to tackle each and every issue daily, maybe their experiance level isnt what they want it to be (but theyll learn). But im posative ....THEY DO CARE, They are TRYING, and They want you to enjoy thier hard work....Game development is complicated, expensive, time consuming, and frustratingly slow at times. They care, they do read the forums, and they most of all want you (and themselves) to feel proud of what they are presenting to the public. IMHO that is...

[SlXSlXSlX]

Appreciate what your saying, but, disagree. I do not think they need to answer every gripe, but some of these issues have been festering since OB. It would take five to ten minutes.. to quickly address this post.

[Nicholas Carlyle]

I've always felt one of the biggest issues with game companies, especially in these "Free2Play" times, is the communication is lacking.

If you look in the command chair, the last post was about 2 weeks ago.

PGI I'd have to imagine have noticed the last patch created a huge uproar, and should be taking extra time to communicate with the players. That doesn't mean they have to give us every answer and exact dates, but I do think by now they have probably made a decision regarding ECM.

Well come to the forums and say "Hey, yes we agree/disagree that ECM is broken. We intend to fix/not fix it soon, please be patient,", and perhaps in the instance that they feel it's broken, if they have nailed down any potential changes give us a heads up.

By doing that there is one less time bomb ticking away on their forums that can potentially scare off new players and drive away current ones.

Edited by Nicholas Carlyle, 04 January 2013 - 10:52 AM.

[Kraven Kor]

Going strictly by the number of QQ posts about something or other, the devs would have to spend every waking moment on the forums, responding to the latest complaints (legitimate or not.)

Patience.

[jshill78]

They also need time for things to play out. The affect of ECM on the game on day 1 was/is much different than the affect of ECM today. LRMs and Streaks nearly disappeared for a short time and are coming back. ECM variants were overplayed at first but are dwindling.

What you don't get to see are the analytics because it's none of your business really. If you're really concerned, try to make some sort of tracker from your own experiences. I don't see ECM all that much in the solo queue (where I play almost exclusively). Maybe 1 or 2 variants per match. That leave 6 or 7 non-ECM variants to shoot at with all the LRMs and Streaks you want.

What all of these posts REALLY boil down to is: PGI isn't giving an official response in the form that you want it.

If ECM was broken... it would be fixed. Obviously it's not. Is it powerful? Sure. Is it breaking the game? No. The numbers don't support it. This fits for all the other issues as well. The answers are there. They just might not be the answers you WANT them to be or as current as you want them to be.

Plain and simple. If you enjoy the game, play it.