Lord Oberon said:
As for the recent updates, we realize that some of them weren't exactly popular, but they needed to be done. With Hamlets, for instance, we needed them because we wanted to have players actually fight for resources. We didn't like the idea of having 1 pikeman guarding a settlement and collecting a lot of resources. So we came up with Hamlets. The other much disliked updates were various Items. What we'd like to stress is that they weren't meant to change the game and they don't actually widen the gap between the coiners and non coiners. They were supposed to be fun and fill the void between "big" updates, like the one we're going to release in the early 2016 and that will be announced later.
Hamlets were a good idea; it made sense, was simple, and we can agree that the previous system was shallow and boring. However, the way hamlets were implemented was incredibly heavy handed and no real consideration was put forth into why they should work. I mean I'm sorry, but way to dodge a pothole only to fall off a bridge.
Regarding the suggestion to change the Rank at which Beacon Defence becomes visible, our dev team has a big task to change the league control settings and this suggestion is included there and will be implemented as part of the bigger task, hence the delay in implementation. Our dev team is not very numerous and we simply are unable to implement the requested changes momentarily. Also, when I say that I've forwarded your ideas to Development, it means that we'll investigate those game elements which you feel need improvement. Sometimes, we may change those elements in other ways which still resolve your concerns.
See that's the issue.
We don't hear anything about it until we a) Bring it up to you, or b) You announce it the day or week beforehand and we find out collaterally. This is not good. I don't have to tell you (or maybe I do? Lol) that people don't like being kept in the dark. It creates mistrust and resentment between people, a gaming community is no different in this respect.
My solution? We'd appreciate a dev blog, more staff transparency on the forum, and elected community members to represent the community's best interests. As I've said before, I understand you require financial compensation for your services, no where did I state in my thought process that was wrong, but that we dislike having our opinions (no matter how entirely justified we think they are) relayed to some unknown group via Oberon's persona and the moderators.
I am a Plarium collective persona, expressing Plarium’s official positions and listening to you, our players, for feedback regarding new features, suggestions, questions and concerns. All of this feedback is relayed to our development team through various channels.
I acknowledge your commitment in staying up-to-date on community affairs, even if you are paid. However, what I'm saying is, that when we suggest to you, "A, B, C" and then you tell us you've heard what we've said. Then you go and tell your colleagues, "A and B" on Skype and email, we can't help but feel there's a disconnection on communication between us.
Basically, what I'm trying to say, is why can't we talk to the developers and hear what they have to say about issues. Or why can't we have elected community members chosen to relay our concerns directly? There's a lot of options for improving communication, we just need to pick one and get to work.
Lord Oberon said:
@Shewuvsyou, the point you were making was "this game is not made for the players.", which I find strange. To put it simply the game is 50% for the players and 50% for the developers. We benefit from each other. Players are being entertained playing the game, and they support the game via money and with their help we are able to maintain the game and people who are making the game.
Uhh, no. That wasn't my entire point, but if that's what we're going to focus on then alright.
We do benefit each other, but to say that Plarium made this game as a giant philanthropy endeavor is totally unreasonable and a lie and that the only reason they charge money for items is to keep the lights on. No, I'm sorry, it's not. If you think that, you're naive and lying to yourself and the entire community for that matter.
They made the game to entertain people with the intent of turning a profit. If you can entertain people while doing it, then yes, it's a win-win, which is what every game developer aims to do. If they don't aim to do that, then they aren't game developers for very long. When you're not entertaining people, that doesn't make your mission any more or less charitable, it just means that you made a bad game and/or drove it into the ground with a terrible business model. Business being the operative word here.
