What responsive Cryptic management looks like

sistersilicon · June 2013

We've had a pretty wild ride this last week, and before diving into the Ask Cryptic questions, I wanted to give an update on where we are at. Our Network Engineers have been working around the clock to address both the queues and the emergency downtimes. We believe that the long queue times have been addressed with recent changes, and while you still may see queues at times, the wait times have dropped dramatically. We also thank you for your patience during our emergency downtimes and apologize for it being rough. We are addressing a variety of issues (not all of them game related) rapidly and at times this has meant short notice downtimes. We did buy new hardware. We did upgrade the network. We did plan for all the new people, but sometimes bad things just happen for no good reason. We've had to replace some new hardware, rewire some networks, upgrade some firewalls, and pretty much anything else that you could think of from an infrastructure standpoint. We're sorry and we're working around the clock to whack the moles as they pop up. But in general, we've had more people in and playing the game than any previous update in STO. We're seeing record numbers of captains creating new Romulan characters. It's pretty awesome.

I'm just glad Dan Stahl addressed this directly so I'd have something to copy'n'paste here. I know LordGar's too busy and Jack's too apathetic.

kojirohellfire · June 2013

And so CO looks to STO's dev team in envy....

crypticbuxom · June 2013

Their Ask Cryptic gets so many questions answered about the expansion of all their features while Champions' Ask Cryptic gets nothing to show for it. Just a bunch of no's and maybe a story rounded out by the end of the year. STO has two or three stories in the works, seasons, older features expanded, and a load of serious questions answered.

I'm reaching the end of my enjoyment of this game.

flyingfinn · June 2013

Come on, we're getting our content upgrades every 6 months.
(i wont bother adding any Smilies, sarcastic or other...)

isometry · June 2013

STO is also selling +$100 item packs for this new expansion, so at this point there's no reason to compare our level of support to theirs.

baroness1980 · June 2013

isometry wrote: »

STO is also selling +$100 item packs for this new expansion, so at this point there's no reason to compare our level of support to theirs.

and what can we buy? Vehicles that a few people want? Considering the BEST versions of said vehicles cannot be obtained directly on the Z store but through drifter salvage or lockbox?

I got 2 vehicles and only spent globals on them...

Does Cryptic want my money?

More Costumes please (SHIELDS!!!! -.- )
More Powers please (Staff melee? Water blast? Plant Control?)
More Story Arcs/Lairs on existing zones
New Zones with tones of stories (YES I would pay for more areas or more stories)
FOUNDRY!!!!

There.... does cryptic want my money? I listed the things I would spend my money on... ball is on their court

gamehobo · June 2013

baroness1980 wrote: »

There.... does cryptic want my money? I listed the things I would spend my money on... ball is on their court

Top 10 were Telepathy.. Am I right? ~Zac Posen

chaelk · June 2013

lets see, Startrek IP- owned by hasbro- no upgrades and expansions, no IP

champions IP owned by Cryptic- no upgrades- no problems

sistersilicon · June 2013

Hell, I wasn't even thinking of the copious amounts of new content STO is receiving. What is already understood need not be said, eh?

I just wanted to point out that Dan Stahl stepped forward to explain and apologize for the outages and long queues that have followed the back-to-back launches of Neverwinter and Legacy of Romulus. This is how games with actual executive producers operate.

Meanwhile, we don't have an executive producer. Not in the sense that STO has Stahl and Neverwinter has Andy Velasquez. CO just has a tiny group of staff flying by the seat of their collective pants, with one of them drawing a figurative short straw and having his name and the title "producer" attached to the latest rare communication with us. It was Brad Stokan last year, but somewhere along the way it became LordGar without any announcement. (I'm guessing Brad got too close to NW's event horizon, but I don't rule out a literal drawing of straws.)

Meanwhile, here we are, getting news on what happened to cause last month's outages by reading a report from another Cryptic game's executive producer and quoting it in our forums.

I want to be clear here: I don't blame LordGar, or TrailTurtle either, because it's not their job. This is an executive producer's job, and like I said, we don't have one.

kojirohellfire · June 2013

chaelk wrote: »

lets see, Startrek IP- owned by hasbro- no upgrades and expansions, no IP

champions IP owned by Cryptic- no upgrades- no problems

Star Trek has never been owned by Hasbro. I think you're confusing it with Neverwinter.

chaelk · June 2013

corrected- sorry wrong one

we found out about what was causing the server crashes by reading the LONG post on NWO forums, ours was something like.

we are having server problems, there will be maintenance on...

wraithshadow13 · June 2013

Yeah, it is a bit of a horrendous joke here in champions compared to the other two Cryptic games being played. It's really sad that a company would let any game fall into such a state let alone one of the only two real Superhero MMO's out there. Partly it seems that it's because of how dated the engine is and they're at the point of "they can't anything with out breaking every thing", even STO is in a bad shape right now because of this. The company has a history of poor foresight, so planning anything in a long term just doesn't happen often, or in some cases well. Given this companies history i wouldn't doubt them trying to sell the game off or just closing it down if they can't do that simply because they can't really do anything more with it.

It's bad enough we don't really seem to have a dev team, but even if we did, how much can they really do with out breaking the game any more?

jonsills · June 2013

You want to know what's sad?

I was just in the STO forums a bit ago, and there's a goodbye rant from someone for whom the final straw was that he couldn't start a fleet with his new Romulan character. He went on and on for paragraphs about how poorly he felt Cryptic had treated him in STO, how disappointed he was in their communication, and how they left bugs in the code for too long.

I would have corrected his misapprehension about who gets neglected, but I thought my language might have caused me to be banned...

honestresearcher · June 2013

Only portion of support or anything active here, is if you are dealing with Billing support.

Why? Because...

http://banoosh.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/04/money-greedy1.jpg

MMMMMHHH MONEYYYY

Or if nothing happens whilst game-breaking exploits happen....i (or you!) release a video forcing them to act out of emergency, which in the past has proven the only real method of getting support and causing them to fix/act upon anything.

Its sickening any of us have to resort to such extreme lengths to get something done around here.

Might have to do the same again soon...Mr Kryptos....

chaelk · June 2013

jonsills wrote: »

You want to know what's sad?

I was just in the STO forums a bit ago, and there's a goodbye rant from someone for whom the final straw was that he couldn't start a fleet with his new Romulan character. He went on and on for paragraphs about how poorly he felt Cryptic had treated him in STO, how disappointed he was in their communication, and how they left bugs in the code for too long.

I would have corrected his misapprehension about who gets neglected, but I thought my language might have caused me to be banned...

too late Jonsills, I posted our ask cryptic questions and answer threads on an NWO thread complaining about lack of communication from Devs.

kojirohellfire · June 2013

jonsills wrote: »

You want to know what's sad?

I was just in the STO forums a bit ago, and there's a goodbye rant from someone for whom the final straw was that he couldn't start a fleet with his new Romulan character. He went on and on for paragraphs about how poorly he felt Cryptic had treated him in STO, how disappointed he was in their communication, and how they left bugs in the code for too long.

I would have corrected his misapprehension about who gets neglected, but I thought my language might have caused me to be banned...

Yeah, that was definitely a person that could have used some perspective. STO players are treated like kings compared to what goes on here.

cellarrat33 · June 2013

jonsills wrote: »

You want to know what's sad?

I was just in the STO forums a bit ago, and there's a goodbye rant from someone for whom the final straw was that he couldn't start a fleet with his new Romulan character. He went on and on for paragraphs about how poorly he felt Cryptic had treated him in STO, how disappointed he was in their communication, and how they left bugs in the code for too long.

I would have corrected his misapprehension about who gets neglected, but I thought my language might have caused me to be banned...

Jon, I know we beat up on you sometimes.

But I appreciate this little note. Made me smile. In a rueful sort of way.

Thanks.

:

dantheiceman1 · June 2013

chaelk wrote: »

too late Jonsills, I posted our ask cryptic questions and answer threads on an NWO thread complaining about lack of communication from Devs.

link em i want to read them

chaelk · June 2013

here you go,

http://nw-forum.perfectworld.com/showthread.php?319171-I-wish-Devs-would-comunicate-more-and-adress-our-concerns

then theres this one

http://nw-forum.perfectworld.com/showthread.php?319651-Please-devs-I-%28and-I-think-many-others%29-would-love-it-if-you-answered-a-question

crypticbuxom · June 2013

I love this thread.

wethree1 · June 2013

I just...

What can we...

Ok, people are venting justifiable frustration. The situation here is deplorable and shameful, and it SHOULD be an embarrassment to PW and Cryptic and to J A C K. Is that it? Do they just get away with it? Is there anything we can do?

Seriously, I'm at the point where I'd be willing to participate in any action within reason that could make a positive difference. And this after having done the same for the CoH effort, which was and is valiant but has very little to show.

But I don't care. I want my highly customizable, story-driven Superhero MMO that there is a niche for but that the industry seems to be treating like a hot potato. And I'm willing to fight if there is a way.

The problem is, I'm a grunt, not a general. I have no idea how to proceed. What kind of action, if done en masse, could actually have an effect? Nothing? Really nothing? If so that sucks... various anatomical protrusions and protuberances.

But, seriously, any ideas?

crypticbuxom · June 2013

There is nothing we can do. When the company doesn't see a reason to support it as well as its other games, and when its not valid for a class action lawsuit, there is nothing you can do except leave.

The only other option is get hired by Cryptic and work on the inside to make the game better.

pokealypsenow · June 2013

crypticbuxom wrote: »

There is nothing we can do. When the company doesn't see a reason to support it as well as its other games, and when its not valid for a class action lawsuit, there is nothing you can do except leave.

The only other option is get hired by Cryptic and work on the inside to make the game better.

And that's the sad truth, right there.

mehsybill · June 2013

I've just seen this. Would it be different for Champs in the future ?

http://finance.yahoo.com/news/perfect-world-entertainment-unveils-cryptic-192300848.html

Perfect World Entertainment Inc. and Cryptic Studios today announced the formation of Cryptic North, a new division of Cryptic Studios

Currently, Williams and the Cryptic North team are working closely with Cryptic Studios on the continuing development of the highly-acclaimed super-hero MMORPG, Champions Online

nepht · June 2013

mehsybill wrote: »

I've just seen this. Would it be different for Champs in the future ?

http://finance.yahoo.com/news/perfect-world-entertainment-unveils-cryptic-192300848.html

DAFUQ is this a team created mostly for Champions? I have to say didnt expect that >_>

crypticbuxom · June 2013

Unless something is announced directly here on the forums/website in the form of devs, my counter still ticks down.

If its true, I hope this Russell Williams doesn't aspire too far away from the core of Champions Online and end up changing it into something worse then where we've been before. If PWE would have gathered the original CoH crew, that would be something to look forward too.

Hopefully this new guy and his team respect the IP and the accomplishments this game has achieved.

mehsybill · June 2013

Maybe not for Champions only. But from the news,it's their most important work to improve Champions now.

nepht wrote: »

DAFUQ is this a team created mostly for Champions? I have to say didnt expect that >_>

nepht · June 2013

mehsybill wrote: »

Maybe not for Champions only. But from the news,it's their most important work to improve Champions now.

I'd have a stupid response but Cryptic has left me speechless @_@"

jonsills · June 2013

Well, I will say that this gives me reason to look into the programming-language classes at Bates College (at least, I'm pretty sure they won't need somebody who's fluent in COBOL).

Especially if when they say "Seattle", they really mean somewhere more like Federal Way or Tacoma... (Hey, a man can dream, can't he?)

Edit: Oops, just reread, and it says "downtown Seattle", which probably means somewhere in Paul Allen's new Vulcan development on South Lake Union. S'pose I could just take the Sounder up, then ride the S.L.U.T. there. (That's the South Lake Union Trolley. Really. :biggrin:)

nepht · June 2013

Well that sort of puts a muzzle on all those DOOM sayers their seems to be life in the old dog still.

psi2 · June 2013

That's.. I... *makes a small gurgling noise* That's good news.

sparhawk · June 2013

mehsybill wrote: »

I've just seen this. Would it be different for Champs in the future ?

http://finance.yahoo.com/news/perfect-world-entertainment-unveils-cryptic-192300848.html

Interesting and completely unexpected. Should we nudge TT to see if we can an update/introduction from the Cryptic North team? If I'm remembering correctly Williams did interact with the player base over on Pirates of the Burning Sea.

trailturtle · June 2013

mehsybill wrote: »

Maybe not for Champions only. But from the news,it's their most important work to improve Champions now.

Yeup. Put it this way -- I have two weekly conference calls with the Cryptic North team, and Russel's in both of those about 50% of the time. Considering that one of those is specifically the community check-in, that's a strong sign to me where he's investing his time and energy.

The team is battle-tested in Champions already and they're gung-ho about the lore, so I'm excited about the story arcs to come. Some of the plans they've got for the upcoming arc have me pretty jazzed up.

jonsills wrote: »

Well, I will say that this gives me reason to look into the programming-language classes at Bates College (at least, I'm pretty sure they won't need somebody who's fluent in COBOL).

Especially if when they say "Seattle", they really mean somewhere more like Federal Way or Tacoma... (Hey, a man can dream, can't he?)

Edit: Oops, just reread, and it says "downtown Seattle", which probably means somewhere in Paul Allen's new Vulcan development on South Lake Union. S'pose I could just take the Sounder up, then ride the S.L.U.T. there. (That's the South Lake Union Trolley. Really. :biggrin:)

Jon: yep, downtown. I spent four months living in Seattle back in the day, and I think I walked past it a couple times. :biggrin:

itsbrou · June 2013

Maybe it's a good time for that video resume.

kojirohellfire · June 2013

Color me surprised. Let's hope CO actually receives the resources it deserves this time around.

A year from now, we'll see if this announcement lived up to the hype.

rianfrost · June 2013

I am guardedly surprised. this has the possibility of being good news. the verbatim is this "Currently, Williams and the Cryptic North team are working closely with Cryptic Studios on the continuing development of the highly-acclaimed super-hero MMORPG, Champions Online, as well as supporting efforts on both Star Trek Online and Dungeons & Dragons Neverwinter." so at the very least, for now co seems to be a focus, that is good. I really hope this works out, co should have grown and that is something that always bothered me how little was actually done with it, maybe this will be an attempt at that growth, have you looked for Melissa Bianco's resume yet?

bottom line is that crypic has yet to earn my trust enough to be happy about this news, but if it pans out, then I will be quite happy, and if new stuff comes out to buy, i will respond financially. please prove ncsoft's mistake and make this superhero mmo one we can be proud of and support.

guardiannexus · June 2013

someguywhoplaysgames wrote: »

Maybe it's a good time for that video resume.

Or my concept portfolio.

have my degree now.

blademaster5121 · June 2013

trailturtle wrote: »

Yeup. Put it this way -- I have two weekly conference calls with the Cryptic North team, and Russel's in both of those about 50% of the time. Considering that one of those is specifically the community check-in, that's a strong sign to me where he's investing his time and energy.

The team is battle-tested in Champions already and they're gung-ho about the lore, so I'm excited about the story arcs to come. Some of the plans they've got for the upcoming arc have me pretty jazzed up.

Jon: yep, downtown. I spent four months living in Seattle back in the day, and I think I walked past it a couple times. :biggrin:

Speaking of 'story arcs to come' Will these 'arcs' be in Comic Series format once again?
Because Comic Series arcs were AWESOME.

rianfrost · June 2013

agreed, anything permanent is awesome, no more temp stuff pleeease.

ariesmajor · June 2013

someguywhoplaysgames wrote: »

Maybe it's a good time for that video resume.

Do it brou!

chaelk · June 2013

1. Does this mean we may get something apart from *shudder* lockboxes, vehicles and mini events?
2. Does this mean PWE has realized how much they screwed up NWO by making such a blatant cash grab during beta and are hedging their bets?
3. Does this mean Jack(whatever his name is) is so disgusted with Champions that he has moved it well away from the other two games Devs, who may have worked on it before,so they can't help with it?

Jonsills- I saw in one thread- Fortron(spelling?) is used.
Brou- Go for it

Nepht- I have a halfling and it's all mine bwahahaha.
That game is so hideous to look at after Champions, all the people are grey. I used the bright pink dye on the peasants garb just so I could see which one was mine.

I have been thru the Qulaar, I mean Dracolich crash.
The hunt for medkits, I mean heal the wounded.
Defending the cannon, I mean getting into the tower.
Beating up Black Talon, I mean the Large whatever it is.

Am now going through Westside, I mean the Tatters.

I keep having this sensation of deja vu when I manage to play but I can't work out why. :rolleyes:

sekimen · June 2013

jonsills wrote: »

You want to know what's sad?

I was just in the STO forums a bit ago, and there's a goodbye rant from someone for whom the final straw was that he couldn't start a fleet with his new Romulan character. He went on and on for paragraphs about how poorly he felt Cryptic had treated him in STO, how disappointed he was in their communication, and how they left bugs in the code for too long.

I would have corrected his misapprehension about who gets neglected, but I thought my language might have caused me to be banned...

That only proves the theory that, if you'd look at the quality of a game based on forum feedback, each game would be horrible.

flamingbunnyman · June 2013

blademaster5121 wrote: »

Speaking of 'story arcs to come' Will these 'arcs' be in Comic Series format once again?
Because Comic Series arcs were AWESOME.

I'm going to have to agree wholeheartedly with this. Comics/Adventure Packs are the best part of the game, and we need way more. I miss the huge number of Task Forces that City of Heroes had.

I keep hearing how Whiteout was a failure of some sort, and - other than that bug that can make the final mission not complete, so you have to redo it - I see nothing wrong with it. in fact, it's my favorite for story content.

goldencalf · June 2013

blademaster5121 wrote: »

Speaking of 'story arcs to come' Will these 'arcs' be in Comic Series format once again?
Because Comic Series arcs were AWESOME.

I'm in 100% agreement with you on that. MOAR Comic Series.

angelphoenix12 · June 2013

chaelk wrote: »

1. Does this mean we may get something apart from *shudder* lockboxes, vehicles and mini events?
2. Does this mean PWE has realized how much they screwed up NWO by making such a blatant cash grab during beta and are hedging their bets?
3. Does this mean Jack(whatever his name is) is so disgusted with Champions that he has moved it well away from the other two games Devs, who may have worked on it before,so they can't help with it?
for 1 I don't know, I hope not.
2) I think it isn't about now but more of a business move. I think pwe has seen what jack has done with co and decided to make a new office.
3) I don't think that like I said with #2 I think it is because jack dropped the ball with champions online. (I gave jack a 2nd chance despite what he did to city of.) after this game launched he left this game in the back and never looked back.

I hope this new company will give champions what it needs to get to the point I think it should have been. I have always said this game has sooo much more potential then city of ever did.

valasqua · June 2013

Speaking of 'story arcs to come' Will these 'arcs' be in Comic Series format once again?
Because Comic Series arcs were AWESOME.

I would love that. I just let go of my subscription, but if there are Comic Series or new powersets or (be still my heart) a new zone in the works I will definitely resub.

crypticbuxom · June 2013

We never got that island comic to go with the bird costume set.

I was hoping comics would have been the focus of the game. I can play almost endlessly if there were like 5 different comics to choose from at any time. And was expecting more to be added every year.

cybersoldier1981 · June 2013

Hello

It is crucial that, when reporting players for a chat violation, you use the Report This Player feature from within the game. This will capture vital information for my team to investigate the matter.

Our servers are outfitted with a functionality that temporarily suspends chat privileges from players who have been flagged in violation of chat policies or for spamming. After reviewing your account we have gone ahead and reinstated these privileges. Please be aware that this is a one-time good faith gesture and if you receive a silence in the future you will need to wait for it to expire.

I think it's fair to share the good with the bad, and this shows there's someone trying in there.

crypticarmsman · June 2013

sekimen wrote: »

That only proves the theory that, if you'd look at the quality of a game based on forum feedback, each game would be horrible.

What theory? Yes WoW is loosing subs, but it still has the largest subscription playerbase (by orders of magnitude) over any other MMO. Yet, if you read player comments on its official forums, it's the same old stuff:

"New content taking forever is killing the game."
"10 years and all these <insert bug list here> still exist, you're killing gthe game..."
"With this latest Dev decision (despite ALL the feedback too); hyou're killing the game..."

One thing you can count on in ANY MMO - the official forums (if they allow player feedback) will always be more exceedingly negative then positive (whether the actual game deserves it or not.)

That said, I do find it interesting that the Cryptic CEO's comment RE: Cryptic North amd its purpose have been reported on gaming sites like Massively (link) - yet nothing about this was stated/posted as 'news' on the official CO website.

If they want to drum up 'buzz' for CO - you'd think they'd make some mention of this announcement on the official CO website.

Hate to say it, but, I don't think we're going to see an upswing (content production/rollout wise) for CO as I think this 'team' is the team that's been working on CO already for a while -- Cryptic just finally got around to officially announcing their formal existence publically.

Personally, I hope I'm wrong; but in the end the CO Dev team's future actions will prove me right or wrong (and I hope I'm wrong, but I'm not holding my breath.)

bjturner · June 2013

Huh. Maybe I'll buy some Zen and re-install.

chaelk · June 2013

crypticarmsman wrote: »

What theory? Yes WoW is loosing subs, but it still has the largest subscription playerbase (by orders of magnitude) over any other MMO.

so deos this mean it now has more subs than *********? Which has increasing amounts of players?

What responsive Cryptic management looks like

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