34 replies to this topic

[Lokust Davion]

imo, a maybe is better than a no.

[Tarman]

buttmonkey, on 16 February 2013 - 02:13 PM, said:

i dont want false promises i want some idea of what the devs think of the idea.
they can say for ex "maybe, i personally like this idea because..."
or
"maybe, i personally dont like this idea because..."
not just "maybe".

i think the devs do a good job and i enjoy the game but maybe tells me nothing of what the devs thinks of the question put to them, they may think its great idea but impossible to implement, would still be better than just maybe

Maybe means the feature is still on the table, still being discussed by the devs. They're providing a good level of communication without promising anything, because internet people save quotes forever like it's holy writ and not something someone said flippantly or erroneously six months ago. You're not going to get a twitterfeed into the daily office chatter, which seems to be the level of detail you're looking for.

[Signal27]

buttmonkey, on 16 February 2013 - 02:13 PM, said:

i dont want false promises i want some idea of what the devs think of the idea.
they can say for ex "maybe, i personally like this idea because..."
or
"maybe, i personally dont like this idea because..."
not just "maybe".

i think the devs do a good job and i enjoy the game but maybe tells me nothing of what the devs thinks of the question put to them, they may think its great idea but impossible to implement, would still be better than just maybe

That's still a bad idea because "Maybe, I personally like this idea because..." can still be perceived as a promise. And when they can't put that idea into the game, the forums fly into a nuclear rage.

"Maybe" is the most diplomatic answer they can ever give. Get used to it because it's not just Piranha/IGP giving answers like these, but almost any developer/publisher you can think of working on a game - no matter what the game is.

With a "maybe" they seem to have only one guy whining on the forums about it.

Edited by Signal27, 16 February 2013 - 02:20 PM.

[buttmonkey]

Signal27, on 16 February 2013 - 02:19 PM, said:

That's still a bad idea because "Maybe, I personally like this idea because..." can still be perceived as a promise. And when they can't put that idea into the game, the forums fly into a nuclear rage.

"Maybe" is the most diplomatic answer they can ever give. Get used to it because it's not just Piranha/IGP giving answers like these, but almost any developer/publisher you can think of working on a game - no matter what the game is.

With a "maybe" they seem to have only one guy whining on the forums about it.

really if people dont understand the difference between an opinion and a promise, i suggest they go learn english before using the english forums.

[Taizan]

Gregory Owen, on 16 February 2013 - 01:30 PM, said:

Mods need to just start deleting these negative posts as they happen, they do nothing good for our community

I couldn't even imagine the outcry. Censorship! Violation of mah 1st 'mendment rights ! Forumnazis! Communism! Socialism! Blahism!

[Tarman]

buttmonkey, on 17 February 2013 - 03:42 AM, said:

really if people dont understand the difference between an opinion and a promise, i suggest they go learn english before using the english forums.

Really, the issue of understanding here is yours; PGI has a much better handle on playerbase reaction than you do, hence their vagueness on topics that are actually vague. I am going to assume you haven't been involved in live game development before. Forums for these games are not bastions of rationality, even above the levels of established game forums. This is the congregation of the loudest and most passionate about said game, because everyone else has a life. These are the people of the playerbase to whom the game means the most, for various reasons. This group will always contain the doomsayers, ultracritics, and prophets, those for whom the game is everything.

During Minecraft development, which had the same kind of live-play-during-dev, people LOST THEIR MINDS. Over everything. Everything that was ever rumoured to be in the game. Everything the lead dev mentioned on a twitterfeed that he thought was cool, regardless of whether he could or would add it to the game. People who live through their games hang onto these scraps of information like it could save their lives, and then when it doesn't pan out, they turn bitter and use the stuff they saved as ammunition to fuel a holy war. Seventeen-page threads about PUMPKINS. Thirty-five pages of flamewar about lanterns that never even made it into the game. You think people lose their crapola here during patch time, you have no idea.

There's enough flames around here already to BBQ on, I'd rather not dial it up into planetary destruction levels. No, it's not rational behaviour. Doesn't mean it's not what happens.

Edited by Tarman, 17 February 2013 - 06:53 AM.

[Alois Hammer]

buttmonkey, on 16 February 2013 - 01:10 PM, said:

reading the "ask the dev" section and i found myself reading many answers as maybe, possibly, no promisses etc..
is it not a complete waste of time answering questions in this manner?

Not a complete waste, no.

Just "almost a complete waste." It lets them claim to have given an answer...


...while not actually tying them down with nuisance of having said anything with any substance that they'd be expected to live up to.

[lsp]

Can't take you serious with a name like that.

[SlXSlXSlX]

buttmonkey, on 16 February 2013 - 01:10 PM, said:

cant the devs just give answers to questions that they know the answer to?

Maybe.

[Wintersdark]

Taizan, on 17 February 2013 - 04:19 AM, said:

I couldn't even imagine the outcry. Censorship! Violation of mah 1st 'mendment rights ! Forumnazis! Communism! Socialism! Blahism!

Interestingly, you have no 1st 'mendment rights here. PGI is Canadian, and we have no silly 'mendments.


Anyways, on topic:

Maybe is a decent answer. Maybe means:
We like this, and are still considering/working on it; but it's a lower priority than a lot of other tasks right now.

As such, it'll be delayed. And, being delayed, it may be altered in light of new things added to the game - perhaps beyond recognition - or removed entirely. Thus, maybe.

Maybe is a good answer to get to a question, though. Maybe is not "No." You can basically read any Maybe as "yes we'd like to do this, or something like it, but we can't make promises."

I, for one, appreciate that they took the time to answer the question at all. A maybe - or, incidentally, a "We can't talk about that" is more informative than nothing at all, and a lot can be read into it if you stop and think about why they can't answer definitively.

[Steven Dixon]

If they ignored the questions then people would just complain that they ignored the questions. 'Maybe' is actually a valid response, it means that its possible and they might consider doing it but it isn't currently planed. They aren't going to sit down and explain their thought process and justification for every 'maybe', sometimes they haven't fully discussed it themselves and aren't sure if it's going to happen or not.

[zverofaust]

buttmonkey, on 16 February 2013 - 01:10 PM, said:

reading the "ask the dev" section and i found myself reading many answers as maybe, possibly, no promisses etc..
is it not a complete waste of time answering questions in this manner?
cant the devs just give answers to questions that they know the answer to? is this making any sense to anyone ?

Hi you must be new here. PGI have always been wasting time with the "Ask the Devs" crap. 75% of the answers are to joke questions like "LOL DO U BEER", the rest are extreme softballs.

[SlXSlXSlX]

Lokust Davion, on 16 February 2013 - 02:13 PM, said:

imo, a maybe is better than a no.

Husband: "Honey, you would never cheat on me would you?"
Wife: "Maybe."

[xX_Nero_Xx]

i agree to many political answers like we get a in game lobby sometime this year. a better and more specific answer .

[Ebynfel]

The Trice, on 16 February 2013 - 01:47 PM, said:

No they cant remove game and place us all in jenners simply because in open beta they declared that game is playable and thats why no more resets for mc or cbills , that was only valid in closed Beta where they tested whatever they wanted , but know they can only test things that will be implemented in the planned game.

....Jenners will be implemented in the planned game....