Some General Thoughts for HCS
#1
Posted 10 August 2011 - 23:44
[*:rjvcvmed]In-Game Polls
My big problem with the in game polls is the phrasing of the question. I'd really like the in-game poll to be a broader 'sense' gauging effort rather than a specific question. As an example, I would find:
"Do you think that GvG needs an overhaul?"
is a much more useful in-game question than
"Would you like to see the cost increased for low level GvG?"
Obviously the latter invites a negative response on many, many levels - people won't like increased cost, other people might favour a different approach to the problem, still more might like an increased cost but with caveats.
Over-specifiying the issue will almost always result in a negative answer. Keep things simple and you might get a vaguely useful answer which can THEN be discussed and a viable solution created within the community.
[*:rjvcvmed]Maintenance
I would really like to see mailboxes extended for 24 hours if maintenance lasts more than 1 hour. To explain, some players may only have a set window during which they log on and check things - perhaps less than a few hours long. If the game is down throughout and then sleep/work commitments preventt them from checking in, items are lost through no fault of their own.
I personally think that it goes without saying that auctions and buffs should be 'frozen' during down time. Some people might argue that people have had warning, or should read the home page etc. but I don't think it's such a heinous crime.
[*:rjvcvmed]Offer Potions
These need to be rotated - AL500 every time is somewhat boring, and is once again accustomising players to a luxury that was originally meant to be extremely rare. Throw in some bound Lib 500s or, just for kicks, a 1 off, bound, 10 minute duration Conserve 1800 potion. 10% stamina usage for 10 minutes would be pretty enticing.
[*:rjvcvmed]Weekend Event Support
I would love it if HCS committed to have someone on standby during events that take place over the weekend to fix issues which require coding time.
As a game, a lot of people will be keen to play over the weekend - for some it might be the only time they can. It's so frustrating when a tiny hiccup stalls the whole game for a weekend when it's a 30 minute job to fix. An international, 24/365 game like FS needs to move into the 24/365 world of live support if it has aspirations - doubly so during special events!
So, essentially, those are my 4 thoughts for the evening on some little 'approach changes' HCS could adopt to make things a little smoother around here.
I've been very impressed with the amount of work going into the game right now - even if some players will always be unhappy about what the current focus is - and would like to iron out the little wrinkles that seem to stand in the way of clear communication.
Over to you guys.
RJEM
#2
Posted 11 August 2011 - 00:12
[quote name="RJEM"]Maintenance[/quote]Here I don't see the problem. If a player loses items in their mailbox due to maintenance they send a ticket and get another one. What I do have a problem with in that method of compensation is that if it is perfect/FFed you get an uncrafted/unforged one back. That's lame, but the price you pay.
[quote name="RJEM"]Offer Potions[/quote]They certainly could be more creative here. Seems they just want to force the donating issue down some unsuspecting players throats for the sake of revenues. This technique has already started to wear off on many players, especially the older ones. Making the pots bound doesn't help those players that can't usefully use uber pots when they have a couple thousand max stam. They'd rather sell them and use the dots elsewhere.
[quote name="RJEM"]Weekend Event Support[/quote]In a perfect world where resources are unlimited, sure. Alas, within the real world the Cows atm aren't capable of having such luxuries. I would only ask that events be held while someone oversees them at all times during events(Hoof on call), weekends or weekdays. The game is international/24/7/365. The "you're SOL" attitude really sucks when it's you that needs help or there are major glitches/bugs. 48 hour events with one week lead announcement times have a much more appropriate ring to them then the 24 hour events with short notices which are terrible to too many.[/quote]
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“When you tear out a man's tongue, you are not proving him a liar, you're only telling the world that you fear what he might say.” -GRRM
#3
Posted 11 August 2011 - 00:14
More specific:
Polls.
I agree the short wording tends to always have a direct positive/negative effect, often with people voting then changing their mind after some thought, or after reading some more about it on the forum.
Maintenance/Support.
Someone on standby at all times seems to me a logical feature for an online international game. When something is broken, then followed by an event, with maintenance in the middle, and straight after, with durations exceeding what was announced, I feel the actual thought given to how this affects players is nowhere in evidence.
It is obvious the cows put in a major effort to reduce the lag which was upsetting everybody, but a little forethought, some announcement including warnings about loss of logs, and a majorly extended mailbox would go far towards appeasing the overall disgruntled community, without having to go to any lengths of offering free goodies.
Special offer potions
Right after the first offers, with repeated XPboosters, the issue was raised on the forum, and Hoof said at the time they would make sure this would not happen again, then now again this is the third offer in a row with boosters. I know people will argue they are a free gift, which is true, but when a lot of people have them in their packs already, a change would have been more profitable for most everybody.
I would add once again, in this list, please bring back player mods on the forums, this should reduce the amount of whining, as this won't be the first place to try and get into touch with the cows, while at the same time reduce the personal issues, trolling, going off-topic, etc etc. I don't know many games where the forums are solely moderated by the developers, occasional visits being more the norm. Time spent moderating is time not spent on what developers do best.
#4
Posted 11 August 2011 - 08:55
In particular, I like the idea of a high level inventor potion to encourage people to have a go. A 25% boost to invention rates would obviously reduce item rarity - but if the potion is worth it, people will donate and the game gets a new lifeline.
HCS does what they want anyway. An in-game poll is superficial nonsense without weight. They should make an announcement in-game to post on an official thread here in the forum.That way players can put forth actual arguments to support their ideas regarding the topic. In the end they might have to read it and we know how long and tedious that can be...In-Game Polls
I'd like to think that is the polls were given some weight, and proper questions asked, that they could lead to an official thread here being made (or not). That's what I mean about gauging opinion rather than a specific question - ask if there is an issue, *then* open up the discussion thread if people show interest.
It's a moot point if no weight is attached though, so I agree that HCS should respond to the feedback they get.
Here I don't see the problem. If a player loses items in their mailbox due to maintenance they send a ticket and get another one. What I do have a problem with in that method of compensation is that if it is perfect/FFed you get an uncrafted/unforged one back. That's lame, but the price you pay.Maintenance
You get problems here if you have lots of items in the mailbox during the downtime. Who can remember exactly what they had on auction? A perfectionist might write everything down - but is that really necessary for playing a game in a casual way?
They certainly could be more creative here. Seems they just want to force the donating issue down some unsuspecting players throats for the sake of revenues. This technique has already started to wear off on many players, especially the older ones. Making the pots bound doesn't help those players that can't usefully use uber pots when they have a couple thousand max stam. They'd rather sell them and use the dots elsewhere.Offer Potions
Swings and roundabouts - I guess if all you want from the potion is a few extra dots then that's fine. I'd rather see the potion as a useful freebie that doesn't add quite so much to the gameplay of those who buy - 120+ FSP suggests a pretty useful item.
In a perfect world where resources are unlimited, sure. Alas, within the real world the Cows atm aren't capable of having such luxuries. I would only ask that events be held while someone oversees them at all times during events(Hoof on call), weekends or weekdays. The game is international/24/7/365. The "you're SOL" attitude really sucks when it's you that needs help or there are major glitches/bugs. 48 hour events with one week lead announcement times have a much more appropriate ring to them then the 24 hour events with short notices which are terrible to too many.Weekend Event Support
Here my main point was definitely for the weekend on-call support during events or after major changes. If nothing is being added and there is no event then the current support would suffice.
The general gist is to continue the move away from Friday afternoon releases which cause havoc over the weekend and then get fixed after 48 hours - not ideal!
#5
Posted 11 August 2011 - 09:45
#6
Posted 11 August 2011 - 09:56
Contrast the high power with an incredibly short duration - and also make them only award on the first donation (1 per player) so that obtaining them will require a trade of some kind, rather than simply being a Credit Card Commando!
I'm going off of the idea of bound potions in favour of this approach as it still allows trade but can't result in a flooded market.
#7
fs_jt
Posted 11 August 2011 - 10:25
#8
Posted 11 August 2011 - 12:03
3-5 hours might reasonably cause someone to miss their playing slot and in the real world it might be impossible to just 'get up and log on in a few hours'. It's not asking for a freebie or more slots/gear, just asking for circumstances to be considered when extending mailboxes!
Thanks for the comment JT.
#9
Posted 11 August 2011 - 12:16
Most potions, but especially the less standard ones, use a large number of different ingredients, game like deer, grubs, toads, then the scavenged parts, and finally all the usual plants farmed. It necessarily then involves cycling a lot of ingredients for days until there's enough of each to do an inventing session, with farmers getting paid directly.
Logs disappearing, coupled with maintenance wrecking the possibility of cycling parts that have all been paid for, can make for the loss of 100's of fsp, with virtually no way of knowing exactly what was bought, scavenged, posted, and somewhere lost in mailbox.
As far as an Inventor's Potion proposed for special offer goes, this would have to be of very short duration, otherwise you can imagine the inventing being done for all and sundry on a single pot. Not sure how many people overall would be interested in trying that out on wards or spikes, to be honest.
#10
Posted 11 August 2011 - 13:12
Just to add more to this, i agree there should be more support and interaction on the forums.. be it mods to control the flame wars and irrelevant posts, but also some interaction from the cows. We spend our $$ and time on the game, its nice to see it go towards new servers.. upgrades etc.. but we play on the weekends.. this isnt a monday to friday game. Nor should it be treated as so. We have all seen most times something goes awry on the weekend and stays that way until monday. Its annoying.
Get better multi detection, just last night myself and guildies noticed obvious multies posting bounties..for one main account to clear.. its hilarious to watch. Players being reported and nothing happens.. or players being warned. Its a GAME.. if someone cheats.. BAN them. Not that hard a concept. Whether its multies, abusing a bug to make profit, scripting titans, etc.
Cheaters run the honest players out of an already dwindling player base. ~ end rant
#11
Posted 11 August 2011 - 14:48
I think having the "donator potions" rotate would be the way to go. As has been said before, people expect the 20% off sales and wait for them, so they don't need to be all that rare -- every fortnight perhaps ? At that rate, and with a series of potions that rotated (perhaps randomly) as the bonus, people would wait, stock up when the potion they wanted was there ...that'd work OK and be a little more exciting than just being able to choose every time.An inventor pot? Oo I'll hold onto my wallet on that one.Maybe something like a choice between potions when donating? ie: al500,cons500, lib 400? terror 500? flinch 350, constitution 400.. etc etc ( just ideas) tho im sure many of these pots COULD be introduced as loyalty pots at a lower level
remove the ub200 from loyalty.. add in some new ones.. and maybe some options for donation potions.
I agree here - a bit of variety each time is fine, and you're already getting a 20% bonus on donations so it's not like they're being tight!
On a side note, having to log in every time I close the forum tab is getting tiresome. I know HCS are looking at it but it would be nice if this could be fixed today!
#12
Posted 11 August 2011 - 15:15
Why not throw in a terror500,flinch350,NMV300,SC200,entrench 150?? I mean I'm sure there are others you could throw out there as well.
All I'm asking is for a bit of PvP love once again so I have a reason to donate besides at a triple xp event. Cuz as it stands I won't be donating until the next xp event. Potions don't excite me when they don't help me at all.
#13
Posted 11 August 2011 - 15:22
#14
Posted 11 August 2011 - 15:30
#15
Posted 11 August 2011 - 15:32
However - levelling population > PvP population - so we need to be clear that the EXP booster will probably be more popular than the PvP specific ones in absolute terms.
I'm all for variety in the game though
#16
Posted 11 August 2011 - 15:51
No reason not to have other potions available - and Inventor 500 is certainly not leveller only!
However - levelling population > PvP population - so we need to be clear that the EXP booster will probably be more popular than the PvP specific ones in absolute terms.
I'm all for variety in the game though
The leveling community might outweigh the pvp community population wise but don't forget alot of pvprs are heavy donators also
As for deflect 350? players have the 175 buffs, xp lock and pvp protection..ya cant put many more nails in the coffin LOL. >.<
#17
Posted 11 August 2011 - 15:59
#18
Posted 11 August 2011 - 16:03
deflect350 with an extremely short duration I don't see as being that bad maeh. Sure I could see a few people using to hold gold for donations,etc but I see it giving people like me a chance to defend against hunters above me. gives me a chance to get buffed/geared up and ready to dance. Would also give a target in a gvg a chance to get geared and buffed(especially if they're the only one on)
Can't defend if they cant hit you
#19
Posted 11 August 2011 - 16:12
#20
Posted 11 August 2011 - 16:13
The leveling community might outweigh the pvp community population wise but don't forget alot of pvprs are heavy donators also
its about the extra bit of fsp.. but also a fun potion to use for pvp would entice ALOT of people ( face it.. its all about how much $$ the cows can get while adding incentive for players/ the community to "donate". Look at Terror 750.. i know many who still have their apple left. The main point is new potions or different potions.. mix it up a bit.
As for deflect 350? players have the 175 buffs, xp lock and pvp protection..ya cant put many more nails in the coffin LOL. >.<
Not going to dispute the donation part - I've seen how well equipped across all facets the top players are! Anything that encourages donations and keeps people in the game is a good thing
Only HCS can really answer that question though - so speculation stops here!
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