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Irrespective of the rights and wrongs of ordering or eating Supersize Mes, this thread is in deadly danger of being locked.
Steer away from personal attacks on the Devs.Thnx
(Some posts invised) |
Its not just about bringing in new players, it about retaining them to. The new player experience is sorely lacking at the moment. Could you picture being new to the title and hoping into a multiplayer game and teamed against bC? Three kubals and a truck push later I'd not be trying multiplayer again.
The June 2013 stat (for me) is key. |
Reserved for President Napalms address.
If there is one thing I've learnt it is that nobody likes constructive criticism. In some cases people cant separate the differences between constructive criticism and hate. The trigger point of the latest round of community "hate" was by a developers in game actions against a customer. It was over a small issue in my opinion but speaks to a larger issue with the way Relic is being managed.
At this point in the titles life cycle we are a year after launch, one DLC released with another in the cooker. Issues that were identified after release are still prevalent. Why? Doubting me? Take a trip down memory lane and look at this fine example of a thread. How many issues identified in that thread have been addressed? How many of you say with confidence, right now, that there has been marked improvements in the following areas since launch?
Bug Fixes
Patch notes quality
Patching schedule
Communication
Game Balance
None of these issues can be really "fixed" by any one employee of Relic when they don't have the proper support network in place. How does poor ol' Noun and tell management hes doing a kick ass job? Now, before I get jumped on for being a bitter bear here is some free advice that I normally charge clients tens of thousands of dollars for.
Relic needs to establish key performance indicators for things that are important to the games success. Learn more about key performance indicators here. In normal people words, KPI's are used to measure the success/failure of something in a way that is based on factual information. Let's go through some examples.
Bug Fixes
This is one of the easier ones to establish a measurement for. I believe community member Siberian has a bug counter at 28 so we'll use that as an example. These needs to be tracked, prioritized, and action taken on them. Once the total number is established, 28 in this case, status can be reported on during each patch cycle. It's a win win, the community gets to see progress (14/28 addressed!) and the Relic employee get to communicate to his boss that he/she is doing a kick ass job.
Patch Note Quality
I'm tired of having to seek out the undocumented changes because the patch notes aren't complete. To establish the baseline we could take a look back at the past 4 patches and take a average number of how many items were missed in the patch notes. Lets use 7 for an example. Every time a patch is released and the community double checks Relic's work, we can let them know if they've missed to mention something in the patch notes. Any identified issues that are less than 7 is a marked improvement. This can be reported on every other patch cycle. It's a win win, the community gets to see progress (Hey guyz, last patch we only missed one item on the patch notes! It used to be 7! How kick ass are we?) and the Relic employee get to communicate to his boss that he/she is doing a kick ass job.
See what I'm getting at? By measuring things based on factual information we can remove opinion.
Patching Schedule
I'm unsure if Relic wants there to be a established patching schedule but if there was one a KPI could be written for it. How many patches were on time?
Communication
Shout out to Noun and Cynthia_RE. Communication is key so the community does not feel neglected. There could be a couple KPI to measure communication. Got to establish some goals first!
- It is the goal of Relic to do 3 Twitch casts a month.
- Is it the goal of Relic to do 1 forum post a day.
- Update facebook once a week.
Again, can be reported on during each patch cycle (Hey guyz, if you missed our THREE Twitch casts make sure to check out the reply here) and it's a win win. Community sees progress, Noun and Cynthia_RE get to tell management they've met their goals and are super kick ass.
Game Balance
There are a couple measurements that can be taken here to judge success/failure of balancing. I know Relic has a data analytic staff member so maybe they'd be able to pick up some raw numbers.
- Average numbers of users searching for a game based on faction
- Win/loss ratio for a specific faction
- Win/loss ratio for a specific faction broken down by game mode
All just ideas. Again, can be reported on during each patch cycle (Hey guyz, 1v1 game mode is super amazing right now. We have a tie for win/loss ratios between all the factions) and it's a win win. Community sees progress, PQ BC get to tell management they've met their numbers and are super kick ass.
TLDR: Set KPI's for things important to the community. Report on them regularly to show progress. Most of the issues are a management problem as they do not have a proper frame work in place to show success/failure.
Endorsed  but....you get thousands for this?  I'm in the wrong job  |
Some posts invised by colleagues. Let's keep speaking nicely to each other, please |
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Lucas Troy has nothing to do with MV.... AFAIK |
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No no no ...I think most of us do feel the pain you in 4v4s feel...and I, like others before me here, have tried to suggest you downsize to 1v1 or 2v2, where balancing is (and always has been) concentrated. And at the risk of repeating myself: there is a case for balancing 3v3 and 4v4 differently. But,at present,we have what we have.
And I suspect that Relic know the 3v3 and 4v4 players need to be accommodated....but it is for them to give you the reassurance that they can do this. |
Respect to Lucas Troy for posting the correct way. He has laid out his stall -and hopefully, the feedback will assist him. But above all, it has kept the thread on track.
If you post on Balance, please try to follow this example. |
Can we lower the temp a little, please, guys? Otherwise the magic invis wand appears - and I would prefer that it did not |
Well said,Milka. Better than I ever could |
Why all the hate for those who are dissatisfied??
If you think there is nothing wrong with the game then the problem is probably with those of us deleting the game. You should be saying goodbye and good riddance.
But a players perceptions are 100% of their truth.
You think it is foolish of us to unsub because the game isn't balanced (or even close) in 4v4 or 3v3? You don't get to make that choice. And clearly you have failed to convince those who are that they are wrong... that they should play... or that they should stick around for something.
You can even have it your way and I can admit you are right. The game is perfectly balanced. It is the greatest and most fun RTS to ever created and ever TO BE created. There is nothing to fix and no subsequent patch will ever lead to a more perfect game than we have right now.... But doesn't change that I am not having fun. The direction is, for me, the wrong one, and I don't seem to be alone.
(sheesh, the vehemence of the push back now that people are leaving is pretty astounding.)
Not sure who your post is aimed at - but I will take the hit, bcs I do sympathise with what you write: in the Devs position, I would be looking very hard at why people stop playing, and trying to analyse why they make their decisions. Personally, I think this game is far from balanced - but that is just my one PoV - there is a lot left to be done, and I think (clearly subjectively) much will be done.. but it would be neat if with their new super server, they could somehow split 1v1 and 2v2 from the other match-ups |
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VonManteuffel 
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