Improving Communication: The Development Manifesto (Please Read First!)

"
B3RTY wrote:

you cannot create anything properly without some negativity...



Totally makes sense in the spirit of constructive criticism...

"
B3RTY wrote:

...that is just naive and ignorant of ggg.



...and this is constructive how? That last part was unnecessary and served only to undercut your point while proving theirs.
I love the build of the week builds!!! They are so awesome
Build of the week, or did you mean: future build nerf of the week?"
Funny how they post they will communicate more, but then not only do they not, they stopped adding notes to the patches of beta, the exact thing they said they would not do. And if you point out people's bad behavior or cheats, they will ban you, and not the bad person.

And funny how the beta forums talking about issues with beta and the mechanics, and what does ggg do? Nerf some more stuff instead. It's pathetic many gems are WORTHLESS now.

Enemy damage is out of hand, if you don't build a character with armor and fortify, it's going to be a one shot death on monsters and bosses. Sure, you can go through normal, maybe even cruel, but merciless, there's just not enough hps. Remember this isn't enough reserve for auras now. The extra damage is factored in, but NOT hp, armor/evasion/ES. ZERO defenses changed, auras now a problem. That makes armor/evasion/es even worse, as you try to use those auras with others, there will NOT be enough mana to cast. Evasion is a joke now. It needs to be reformulated like armor (aka less damage taken). But ggg doesn't listen to beta testers. Seems we are only here to point out the bugs.

I bet there is a alpha test group, and they decide what changes in the game. Theory craft experts and the people that spend the most money on the game.
There are a few other MMO's out there who have used a pretty effective communication method that allows for easier communication between game Devs and their Customers called CSP or CSM. A CSP is essentially a "Customer Service Player" (the acronym fits nicely) who spends a lot of time in game and converses with the in-game community.

The CSP then reports back to the developers with information that is vital to growth, customer satisfaction and redirection.

A made up example report:


Spoiler

Date- Date of report
IGN- In game name of CSP while in game collecting info

General consensus of currently gameplay state- Overall reactions from newbie to elite to the product itself (This should be kept between 1-5 sentences)

General consensus of recent updates- Self explanatory (1-3 sentences)

General consensus of known issues- Self explanatory (NOT a bug report but a short statement on how long players can wait for a fix or how desperately the community needs a fix)

Specific acknowledgements, comments, concerns, suggestions- Specific details from the community as to the direction of the game (Again, 1-3 sentences)


A CSP is also generally well versed in the game and mission statement of the the developers and is capable of answering questions, keeping the peace, and hyping the community in any topic requested by the developers. A CSP is non-confrontational and can help explain technical difficulties, unpopular changes, and offer general advice.

A CSP can be "elected" from within the community, by the community. This method generally proves more effective than just having game devs in game OR electing a CSP by way of Developers choice.

A CSP can offer relief by hearing a lot of opinions and formulating an opinion that is much simpler and less time consuming than requiring devs to remain in constant contact with the community. (Reading 1 email/pm/post from a CSP and maybe a handful of emails/pm from players VS. reading through hundreds of emails/pm/posts from players)

A CSP is not meant to replace current forum communications/pm/emails/bug reports/suggestion posts/etc. A CSP is meant to enhance the experience by granting a few select players the responsibility of speaking on behalf of the community to the developers, and on behalf of the developers to the community.

While CSPs are not the end all of all communication problems, they can certainly help maintain solid communication between Devs and their Community, especially when used in parallel with the currently standing method of communication posts.

It might not be the best option for this game but I figured since it worked for other games, it might be a viable option for PoE.


Improving Communication

I have a very strange idea - what about posting news like a patch delay / expected release time on the official forums first instead of the 20th answer to an totally unrelated reddit post ?

Oh right - I assume thats a far fetched idea.

( Not to be taken too serious - I just like a bit of salty sarcasm sometimes ^^ )
When Chuck Norris plays PoE masters do his missions
Last edited by AdFinitum on Jul 6, 2015, 7:14:11 AM
Hi,

I just did a run with a tanky Templar in HC act4. 53% armor + fortify and all resists above 100.

Everything is fine, until, you know, Piety and her BEAM.

The first thing annoying beside dying from OS, is the communication actually. The beam is clearly RED=FIRE.

Some peupel are saying that the beam is phys + light but a video confirmed it to be all physical.

Should peupel have to grind a Softcore character just to know this ? No self-found for loot, but gathering informations... doesn't apply ?

You shouldn't lure and fool the player with wrong color code, at least maybe give more informations about mechanics and spells descriptions, easy to reach, like a bestiary.

Exemple.

http://pathofexile.gamepedia.com/Piety,_the_Abomination

Know what I mean.

Do you want that beam to be resistible or not ( OS mechanic ).

If not then make a small animation or speech from the monster, replicating a 1 sec WARNING cast.

If the spell can be resistible, change the color and make it obvious, find something for the physical spell ( purple or green poison are already both chaos -_- ), because hiding some HUGE physical damage behind a LIE, is funny once, not twice.

From what I can see ice and lightning are BOTH blue with little to zero difference.

Ice should be lightblue and lightning darkblue in the worst case, or Yellow for lightning.


If you want to make a spell with multiple source of damage, then make multiple visual effects relative to those elements.

Improve your visual communication or provide some very accessible info about the boss; simply.

Thanks.


PS: Demon Hand Cleave. Maybe a beam for physical isn't right, in the first place.
Last edited by Beloresin on Jul 19, 2015, 7:15:37 PM
Still waiting on the improved communication on the current rarity changes to uniques. Can we get a manifesto on this or explanation? So far you guys are not holding up your end on many of your changes so far in 2.0. How bout a little transparency on what you are trying to do? All I've seen are nerfs and cuts and rarely anything given but bs. "Its dangerous for players to have +2 maps!!!" Remember that? How bout you guys just be frank for once and explain yourselves since you are so high on communication huh?


We are all getting tired of this

Last edited by Hendo104 on Jul 23, 2015, 12:47:23 AM
So Chris, lemme get this straight:

When your player base metaphorically SCREAMS at you in the beta to not release the game in its current state, buff caster survivability, increase build diversity, increase map drop rates at higher tiers, have more active skill options available outside of Fortify, nerf monster damage, have more survival options available, have Energy Shield and armour actually DO something... ... ...You IGNORE them?

How's that working for you?

Did you learn this from your cousin Jay Wilson? I heard his career is going great after Diablo 3.
"
nhemin wrote:
How's that working for you?
You don't have to be a Chris to answer this question, it's really simple: all whiners... erm, all who asks for any buffs must be ignored 'cause they r obviously not hurrdurrcore enough. OTOH, all the people saying that the game is 2 ez are probably realz hurrdurrcore playaz so you definitely should listen to them and do exactly(or not) as they say. Amirite, Chris?
And worst change is putting almost all bosses in new version of maps into fucking small areas, where you can't kite well or dodge stuff. What a terrible idiot invented that I want say to him: dude flick you, seriously flick you very much.
Last edited by silumit on Aug 4, 2015, 12:53:35 AM

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