Updates Communication and Interactions
Recently I have seen a lot of threads which have been incredibly negative and have caused a lot of controversy. This isn't directed purely at 1 thing, but I'm sure most players can guess what I am hinting at.
I will defend the Community manager I work with... Both he and I want the absolute best for the game and community and he has proven it countless times. When a suggestion is put forward on the forums and has massive feedback again, hinting at one... It is something that I make sure gets passed along to Plarium.
But regardless of that, players still see a disconnect between - the community, the moderators, the community managers and the plarium development team. I am putting this thread forward as a (no beating around the bush) thread to address the system of updates and the communication between the groups listed above.
I'm asking all players to be completely honest (stay within the guidelines please) about how they think the current disconnect can be amended or at least helped, from all members of the community.
- Should we have polls on possible updates and let the community choose which direction the game could/should go in (this typically opposes developers artistic views)
- Should we announce updates or hint at possible updates, along with reasons why X update has been chosen and when X update will occur
- (this is outside the box) Should the Community managers/moderators make a monthly thread and it be voted on which ideas should be pushed towards the developers (example - this month the majority of the community wanted beacon defense looked into)
- Should Plarium have a rotation, example is 1 update community voted and 1 regular update.
- (Insert your own opinions here)
The last point I want to cover is the communication between us (moderators) the community managers (plarium) and the community (players/you)
Personally I believe the communication is pretty good however nothing is perfect and I can understand that players feel very much "unwanted" or mistreated, not just by Plarium but by moderators alike. When it comes to forum communication is there a better method? I realize after the last update, that suddenly dropping updates or any game changes can have a huge backfire without warning. As far as im aware plarium updates are completely public knowledge HOWEVER no one wants to put their "head in the noose" if it gets announced and the developers change their minds at the last minute.
- Would things such as updates like to be announced EVEN IF THEY ARE SUBJECT TO CHANGE
- Should scheduled things such as maintenance be announced with ample time, and this can include discounts (50-75%) and maybe even tournaments?
- Should we organize some form of group discussion as to how the community would like the game to change for the better and to push in a direction for all players, this would be heavily moderated and watched by Lord Oberon and myself
I am out of suggestions, but long story short... I personally want to make this game better and I believe as a community we can push it in the direction we all want to see it go. Some players have suggested stop spending but I think that will just kill the company and in the long run we are playing because we enjoy the game, because of this I still think it is worth investing in, however I believe the game and community could be more user friendly.
To effectively altar the game state first a very healthy communication must be set up between all parties, so please be honest as to how we or I can help produce this type of situation, even if not perfect. I am more than happy to attempt anything :)