src="http://media.tentonhammer.com/vanguard/gallery/albums/site_images/NewPollHeader.jpg">
Developer/Community
Communication
By Dalmarus
style="font-style: italic;">February 29nd, 2008
This
week's poll talks about communication between the Vanguard: Saga of
Heroes development team and the community! If you
don't understand a term
or abbreviation I use here, please check our href="http://vanguard.tentonhammer.com/index.php?module=ContentExpress&file=index&func=display&ceid=135&meid=109">Game
Terms 101.
What is one thing the Vanguard community has requested more than
virtually anything else since the game originally went live back in
January of 2007? Communication, communication, and more communication.
As we've seen in the past couple of weeks though, that request has been
a two-edged sword.
Within the recent past, the Vanguard developers appear to have been
making a concerted effort to be more involved with the community. Many
players have been very appreciative of the new interaction and would
welcome more of it.
A couple of weeks ago a group of players started talking about the idea
of making a "hardcore" server. The ideas for the server revolved around
a number of mechanics to make the game play longer and/or more
challenging - slower level curve, less quest experience, removal of the
riftways and rentable flying mounts. These are just a few of the ideas
that were tossed around.
Silius took some time out of his schedule to respond to the players and
said the idea of a server like that would be something he would endorse
and had talked with members of the team about as a possibility of the
future. The realities of such an endeavor would require the support of
enough players to justify the costs of setting up and running such a
server though.
A forum thread was created by a player to try and garner such support
as was suggested by another developer (MCP). It's at this point that
the general community as a whole lost its mind and began bombarding
Customer Service with requests that this happen, never happens, or
simply began sending hate mail (in the form of Private Messages) to
Silius.
This was all caused just because a developer was responding to a
request to become more involved with the community and seek their
thoughts on various ideas. The key word in that last sentence, and in
the aforementioned fiasco, is "idea". That's all this was, and the
developers were simply talking with us about it. Because of the
community response though, it may be some time before we see such an
act again.
This leaves us at a bit of a crossroads then. When the community gets
the extra involvement it requested from the development team, it seems
to blow up in the developers’ faces. If the community doesn't
get the involvement it requests from the development team, there are
cries of how they don't care about the players.
This seems like an excellent opportunity for a poll, so...
What do you think SOE should do to solve the
developer/community communication issues?
All information should be sent through a chain of command
before being posted.
While this solution may (or may not) keep the forums relatively calm,
it also has the potential to be nothing more than a smoke screen. If
you're the type of player that wants SOE to be a "Yes Man", this one's
for you.
The developers should be allowed to post whatever they want.
To the best of my knowledge, this is generally how things currently
work. With this choice, players would continue to get general updates
and discussion from the development team. In return though, players
should agree to not lose their minds when ideas start getting tossed
around for discussion.
Only things that have been written in stone should be
mentioned to the community.
This would alleviate the backlash developers suffer for discussing
thoughts or concepts with the community. This could be seen as a step
backwards since this is the way things used to be.
Absolutely nothing.
There either isn't anything SOE can do about the situation or there
isn't anything that should be done. Things will either work themselves
out in the future, or they won't. With the volatility of the Vanguard
community, to wish for anything else would be an exercise in futility.
Now it's your turn
to let us know what you think!
style="text-align: center; background-color: rgb(160, 184, 216);"> style="font-weight: bold;">VOTE
IN OUR POLL!
How Much Are The Helmets Worth To You?
- All
information should be sent through a chain of command before being
posted. - The
developers should be allowed to post whatever they want. - Only
things that have been written in stone should be mentioned to the
community. - Absolutely
nothing.
HERE
(this poll is always open)
To read the latest guides, news, and features you can visit our Vanguard: Saga of Heroes Game Page.
