Arc FAQs -Updated 1.22.14

Yuna_Sama - Heavens Tear

synchroze wrote: »

LOL I love that show too and I really don't want to be that person who avoids questions but that's all the information I currently have at the moment.

I'm keeping an eye on the thread and forwarding any questions you have, but so far I haven't received any confirmed answers. I'm pretty sure as development progresses we'll have more for you.

In the meantime please be patient. I apologize if I came off a little harsh yesterday I only do it to enforce the policies set forth before I came aboard.

At least you're being honest now... That's something we can understand... But you where kinda scary earlier... Try not to take things personal over here though... We where kinda being let on a loose leash for all these years here... And the company has also let us down pretty often (though some staff members like Spoons, Val, and even Geno where able to push through a few positive ideas as well)... So you're pretty much dealing with a community here that is highly frustrated, has lost their patience as well as their trust and respect towards the company, and in some cases are just generally rude or trolling (though that really isn't being the case right now)... It's probably a lot worse here then most of the games you're taking care off...

Frankie was kinda in the same position back then as you are in now... Not being able/allowed to tell us anything else but "soon"... The community where pretty much constantly after him with their torches and pitchforks... And the poor guy was pretty friendly too... It's still a mystery how Spoons and Val managed to get so many things through for us... If only they'd share that secret with any future CM's that would come in their place...

Anyway... Just keep giving it your best and keep in mind you have some awesome Mod's ready to assist you here if needed... They've known most of the ppl here for years so they know what is considered acceptable here and not... Do let us know if you manage to squeeze out any bit of info from the higher-ups though, ok... b:thanks

synchroze wrote: »

Ok so the answer to this isn't as easy as I thought it would be. But based on the FAQ here is the response to this:

How does Arc facilitate game downloads?

To ensure that all our players are able to download our games, regardless of network restrictions or bandwidth limitations, Arc uses secure HTTP downloads and to obtain the game files directly from our servers. Arc currently does not utilize any Peer to Peer technology or download any files for games you have not explicitly chosen to install.

That FAQ isn't helpful at all... It's just a subtle way of bringing us bad news... The problem is that (new) players are having problems either downloading or installing the game... Resulting in denying them access to the game until it will someday be solved...

Whenever I want to try out a new game... I already get wary the moment some other unknown program also wants to make it's way into my system... But if I can't get to get a game installed and running properly within 1 or 2 tries, I just say "**** this" and don't bother with the game anymore at all... Which is not a good thing, especially since we're already lacking new players here...

The staff just shouldn't force something on their player base that isn't even finished and 100% working yet... They're not exactly good at properly BETA testing either... Wouldn't surprise me if they're also using similar pc's with the same OS's to test their stuff out... Much like when the Morai Expansion came out and many weren't able to get the game running anymore for weeks or even months thanks to the d3dx9 issue... It's not normal that a community member has to do the staff's work and have to come up with both a temporary fix for the players, and the idea for a more permanent fix...

If they want to create that Arc thing so badly then there's nothing wrong with that... But they should, for once, make sure it's actually working for %100 and is completely bug-free... And until that time, it should definitely stay as something completely optional and meanwhile, they could encourage ppl to help them test the thing as well... b:surrender

I vote for Synchronize getting the tittle "Bringer of (bad) news" or "Unfortunate Panda"... It might kinda help in a good way... f:grin

xkanx

synchroze wrote: »

LOL I love that show too and I really don't want to be that person who avoids questions but that's all the information I currently have at the moment.

I'm keeping an eye on the thread and forwarding any questions you have, but so far I haven't received any confirmed answers. I'm pretty sure as development progresses we'll have more for you.

In the meantime please be patient. I apologize if I came off a little harsh yesterday I only do it to enforce the policies set forth before I came aboard.

Can you maybe get a tech support person to post? Maybe that could help us. Someone running PWE network might have more knowledge of ARC and can answer. b:surrender (I mean lets be honest most techies just sit around and hope the network doesnt go down b:laugh)

Annalyse - Heavens Tear

From a technical standpoint, we would absolutely love to make Arc a central, exclusive platform that serves update and patching functionality for all our games

I just want to know one thing at this point. Just one.

Are you planning to make it so that we can only patch the game through Arc in the future?

I really hope this is not the case. I can handle the download thing since it is apparently okay to uninstall Arc after the download. But if it is required to patch, that is the day I quit the game.

Also - those FAQs do not answer any of the questions any of us wanted to know in the first place. It was probably not wise to post a thread like this if you have no answers or knowledge of the product, especially considering that Sylen's had his thread up for months now so you had to know these questions were out there and people would demand answers.

SylenThunder - Twilight Temple

Yuna_Sama - Heavens Tear wrote: »

I vote for Synchronize getting the tittle "Bringer of (bad) news" or "Unfortunate Panda"... It might kinda help in a good way... f:grin

"Count Olaf" works b:chuckle

synchroze

SylenThunder - Sanctuary wrote: »

"Count Olaf" works b:chuckle

Lol "Unfortunate Panda" thats just funny. b:chuckle I haven't received any new information just yet, but when I get more info I'll update everyone.

MistaBwanden - Sanctuary

I've got a feeling Sylen will get answers first.

Viktorian - Archosaur

Sylen.... Sylen gets **** done

and on the topic of a title for synchroze
i was gunna suggest bad news bear

Zanryu - Dreamweaver

Oh boy. Dem GMs and CMs and HMs and TMs.

SylenThunder - Twilight Temple

Zanryu - Dreamweaver wrote: »

Oh boy. Dem GMs and CMs and HMs and TMs.

I think you would be hard-pressed to find a yellow brick road around here.

Zanryu - Dreamweaver

SylenThunder - Sanctuary wrote: »

I think you would be hard-pressed to find a yellow brick road around here.

No, I found it. It just happens to lead out.

I've seen beyond these forums and I must say the lands out there are glorious! Follow my brethren, let us travel down this golden road and be set free of the oppression of Arc!

Sister_Warui - Raging Tide

Will future versions of Perfect World games require Arc to download and patch?

From a technical standpoint, we would absolutely love to make Arc a central, exclusive platform that serves update and patching functionality for all our games, though we are not ready to do that just yet. First, we want to make the tool something that our players enjoy and feel genuinely improves their gameplay experience. If you have feedback about how Arc can better provide you access to your favorite Perfect World games, please feel free to post it on our forums. Were looking forward to hearing your thoughts

What? Do you not see this written all over your forums you were given a job to manage? You may not like it but it is there anyway. I should not have to link SylenThunders thread again because it has been done many times now. He literally gave you the feedback in plain data within your own thread.

Instead I see you first answer twice in forums against the more angry responses? One person who said 15 words mind you. And that last one you named(quoted) and shamed him with to try and bully him into stopping with your temporary authority was correct as far as I am concerned. And on topic at that! You made the post. You posted it. You said you would answer questions that you failed to do. Do you know why some of these people post angrily or troll? Because it was the only thing that got your attention. How...unfortunate.

This thread and this post are not a help to the community no matter how pretty you make the wording. You did not give answers. You gave thinly veiled 'not telling' remarks and expect customers to live with it. THIS is why the community as a general whole is upset. Because the job is not getting done.

And as a final remark to you as a worker...do NOT tell us how much work you have. Do not even start that. Not only is it highly unprofessional but you are complaining to your customers. I started a company while in university and still manage it pretty much single handedly to this day. People here also have full time jobs and lives that are hectic and crazy. In the end no matter how much pressure you were under you accepted the job. That is the bottom and final line. If it is too much work for one person then you need to tell them. If they are not doing enough to get information to you then you need to push harder. It may be temporary but it is still your job. If they are not willing to do that then you need to quit and find something new. No one deserves to be treated like that. Not you. Not me. Not this community. All of whom seem to be suffering from it. If you can understand why you have aggressive responses to us then you can understand why we have aggressive responses to this post and the general lack of care about us as a community and as a customer.

We are upset because we like PWI(the game) and still care enough to give you feedback. Just because it is negative does not mean it is trolling or wrong. I do not WANT to stop playing this game. I do not want to download a beta program with problems on my highly upgraded PC as a mandatory thing to play one game on your network when torrent and direct downloads are not only better options for your company but also for me as a person and a player and a payer. (this is what we call a win-win scenario).

The first person you got angry with said it best. If you are not ignoring us, then why does it look like you have?

Zanryu - Dreamweaver

I have to admit, I usually find it appropriate to swoop in on a thread like this and act like a troll but boy oh boy I don't have to. A lot of great points have been raised. *whistles a tune and watches a bit more*

bluestuffzzz

synchroze wrote: »

Lol "Unfortunate Panda" thats just funny. b:chuckle I haven't received any new information just yet, but when I get more info I'll update everyone.

To delve even further on the issue, I've decided to take what I originally stated even a bit further, and compiled a list of 14 threads since 7-17-13 (1 month and 3 days), that have 0 responses from PWE staff about the DRM-based beta product called Arc. If I had continued this little project, I would easily doubled or tripled my list and gone over my original estimate of how many existed.

This is why the player base feels ignored, and this is a valid reason why people are upset.

And once more, I must state in bold terms this is not related to you, synchroze. This is for your bosses, and the management of your company. The metaphorical ball has been dropped, forcing players into a DRM agreement with a beta product in order to play the game they have been playing for ~5 years without said product.

http://pwi-forum.perfectworld.com/showthread.php?t=1622121
http://pwi-forum.perfectworld.com/showthread.php?t=1601611
http://pwi-forum.perfectworld.com/showthread.php?t=1621081
http://pwi-forum.perfectworld.com/showthread.php?t=1601441
http://pwi-forum.perfectworld.com/showthread.php?t=1619241
http://pwi-forum.perfectworld.com/showthread.php?t=1618861
http://pwi-forum.perfectworld.com/showthread.php?t=1599841
http://pwi-forum.perfectworld.com/showthread.php?t=1617271
http://pwi-forum.perfectworld.com/showthread.php?t=1617241
http://pwi-forum.perfectworld.com/showthread.php?t=1616811
http://pwi-forum.perfectworld.com/showthread.php?t=1616291
http://pwi-forum.perfectworld.com/showthread.php?t=1616401
http://pwi-forum.perfectworld.com/showthread.php?t=1601381
http://pwi-forum.perfectworld.com/showthread.php?t=1614931

If the links above are not proof enough of my (and many others) arguments, then I don't know what is.

Myelene - Lost City

b:bye so sad but if after update ARC is mandatory i'll just have to say bye b:bye i still wonder why they call it a FAQ(frequently asked questions) if none of those question were made by the player base in the forums, but the ones really asked were left unresponded a simply because we wanted so was an answer, i still think that PWE dont want to run PWI anymore, i tried other games of PWE but one got shutted down and the other never worked , but the time is the main reason to only focus on one so why have a plataform to manage all the PWE games if we only have time for one? i dont know, but i do know is that tis comunity ask for answers or at least sings of being read, so i recomend to the unfortunate panda to write something even more -"i dont have anymore answers"- at least it will make people think and feel that they are not ignored b:bye

FaceRolI - Sanctuary

Myelene - Lost City wrote: »

b:bye i still wonder why they call it a FAQ(frequently asked questions)

Just say FAQ out loud b:chuckle

zionwarrior

Hey I know I don't post often but I do generally lay watching things in my time. I have seen many changes some good some bad. What I don't see though is some questions that have been asked but not responded to of which do likely concern a majority of the playerbase.

1.) Will you be unable to use the old launcher to update pwi with oncee Arc becomes manditory. This to most people is very important and concerning. If you will incorperate ways to do this and allow both the old launcher to keep updating and Arc to update, then that may make a lot of people happy.

2.) I suggest posting a direct download using the old patcher exe. program used before the pantent lawsuit or a download program you used for Arc or a similar one and make it avaliable to download and install ONLY(not saveable) then uninstall the install files but leave the uninstall and other program files. IF that is possible this way people can NOT pass around the program itself to redistribute and make privete servers with.This should fix your problems with privete servers.

3.)From what most people seem to find they can not access the ini files for facial and such modification. We have been told that the ini files were allowed for modification but when Arc was downloaded to some peoples computers they "cant" access that anymore they said.

4.)Another problem I have heard but do not have actual confirmation on is multiclienting is not possible with the new Arc platform. That means people who do not have multiple computers can not run their catshops or duel client anymore which is a bad thing for a lot of people.(Please somebody correct me if I am wrong on this one.)

5.) Lack of proper function with the program and how it does not always work. Is there a way in which we can still use something like pando media booster which may not be the same as arc to download and install pwi. Or is that along the lines of the lawsuit baed complaint that the other company made? If so why not purchase the rights to or make a simple download program with the dev's from china they could do something relitively fast and simple I think though I do not know of course how that works.
Yet if it was used with the direct download like Arc is there should be no problems right?

6.) The last concern how safe is Arc do you know how well its encryption is. Anything that saves and stores passwords is not a good thing to an extent because it means if something happens to the company end which the passwords an such are on a (possibly less secure method) may lose hundreds of potential client information or if you get a virus and it effects the Arc platform you just lost your information to all the games you play.

These are my thoughts just a few of them and I also have more concerns but they can wait. I would like you sync to see if you can try to get some information on this if you can. I would appreciate if you would also reply to this post just so I know you read it as I know you ARE busy and I get that so it may take some time.

SylenThunder - Twilight Temple

zionwarrior wrote: »

Hey I know I don't post often but I do generally lay watching things in my time. I have seen many changes some good some bad. What I don't see though is some questions that have been asked but not responded to of which do likely concern a majority of the playerbase.

1.) Will you be unable to use the old launcher to update pwi with oncee Arc becomes manditory. This to most people is very important and concerning. If you will incorperate ways to do this and allow both the old launcher to keep updating and Arc to update, then that may make a lot of people happy.
Yes, you can still use the old launcher, and you can even do a fresh and clean install without ARC. (I have detailed this in my other thread and it's linked a few times in this one and in other places.) I still have several PC's that are not running ARC.

2.) I suggest posting a direct download using the old patcher exe. program used before the pantent lawsuit or a download program you used for Arc or a similar one and make it avaliable to download and install ONLY(not saveable) then uninstall the install files but leave the uninstall and other program files. IF that is possible this way people can NOT pass around the program itself to redistribute and make privete servers with.This should fix your problems with privete servers.
The patcher.exe is still included in the ARC download. You can install ARC, download/install the game, remove ARC, and still run your client in the classic way. (Again, I have detailed this in my other thread.)

3.)From what most people seem to find they can not access the ini files for facial and such modification. We have been told that the ini files were allowed for modification but when Arc was downloaded to some peoples computers they "cant" access that anymore they said.
ARC puts the client folder in a different location. You need to go to the new location. It also has the tendency to set some of the client files as "read-only", but that's a simple thing to fix. I have not had any issues working with the .ini files since I tested ARC.

4.)Another problem I have heard but do not have actual confirmation on is multiclienting is not possible with the new Arc platform. That means people who do not have multiple computers can not run their catshops or duel client anymore which is a bad thing for a lot of people.(Please somebody correct me if I am wrong on this one.)
Completely untrue. I really have no idea how people find it so difficult. You simply run from elementclient.exe like you always have. The only difference is that the first run without an open client will run patcher.exe for you automatically. It's actually a nice feature because now I don't need an extra icon for patcher on my desktop. People who are having troubles just aren't doing it right.

5.) Lack of proper function with the program and how it does not always work. Is there a way in which we can still use something like pando media booster which may not be the same as arc to download and install pwi. Or is that along the lines of the lawsuit baed complaint that the other company made? If so why not purchase the rights to or make a simple download program with the dev's from china they could do something relitively fast and simple I think though I do not know of course how that works.
Yet if it was used with the direct download like Arc is there should be no problems right?
You can not use Pando any longer. It was **** anyway. I think this is what PWE is being sued for atm. There should still be the torrent method available, and I am fighting to find out why it was forcibly removed.

6.) The last concern how safe is Arc do you know how well its encryption is. Anything that saves and stores passwords is not a good thing to an extent because it means if something happens to the company end which the passwords an such are on a (possibly less secure method) may lose hundreds of potential client information or if you get a virus and it effects the Arc platform you just lost your information to all the games you play.
I posted information about this in my ARC analysis that I mentioned above. I haven't cracked the encryption yet, but I haven't had the time to really try it yet either. It appears to be a proprietary octet coding that is similar to what the angelica engine uses. For now, if you have decent AV software, it's not a problem. (Always remember to exclude your client directory and .exe files from all scans.)

These are my thoughts just a few of them and I also have more concerns but they can wait. I would like you sync to see if you can try to get some information on this if you can. I would appreciate if you would also reply to this post just so I know you read it as I know you ARE busy and I get that so it may take some time.

Responses are in blue.

For the naysayers, no, I am not a GM, nor even a moderator. (Though the latter is more of a personal choice.) I can say though that it's very likely I am more familiar with this system (ARC) or the client than any of the current support staff, and possibly even more than most of the GM's and Dev's that work for PWE. I'm also on your side, not the companies. Sure, I'll tell you it's not their fault sometimes, but at least when I do that, it's based on facts that currently exist.

Kyooshu - Sanctuary

Krisnda wrote: »

For anyone interested as to "why", An anonymous source told me to google: Parallel Networks LLC

Ahhhhhh, the lovely Parallel Networks. They've been attempting to sue companies for years over **** patents that shouldn't exist. I've seen attempted cases against many many many companies at one time, i believe 47. half of which were companies that produce and sell clothing and such. I've even seen an attempted case against Google and Microsoft at the same time. In the last 6-7 months or so, they've targeted Gaming companies that use a method for Data-Caching, that they apparently "patented", which is as rediculous as trying to patent the equation "2+2=4"

Zave - Harshlands

If its against ToS for anyone to use a secondary program to access the game.

Then why is it ok to use a program to launch it?

Seems to stand to reason, that if players are already creating bots and exploits that PWE takes so long to fix, that certain users in this game will find a way to exploit this program to create bots, or exploits that the PWE staff/team will take forever on correcting.

I will avoid using this program for as long as possible, I have put a copy of the pwe client on a thumb drive stand alone just for downloading to my other pc's. I have given Arc a fair chance, and I don't like anything about it. b:bye

Psytrac - Dreamweaver

Zave - Harshlands wrote: »

Seems to stand to reason, that if players are already creating bots and exploits that PWE takes so long to fix *snip*

Bots piggyback off a logged in client. it's memory manipulation from the client side, it doesn't affect the servers at all

Xhalf_pintX - Archosaur

[QUOTE=synchroze;19728171]We're not ignoring our players. In fact we're gathering information and feedback from the community. I plan to share any answers or updates I get from our development team but for now the only information I currently have is information addressed in the FAQ.

We are currently in the early development stages of the Arc platform. Arc is the next big thing for Perfect World Entertainment and we plan to continue to build on it. We want to provide everyone with the best user experience possible and any feedback that we can work with will help us greatly.

Please keep in mind that I want this thread to be constructive and not volatile. So please remember the forum rules of conduct when posting.[/QUOTE]

If you are not ignoring us then how comes your going to do what the pools say we dont want a 7.17% of people want this then there is the huge % who dont want this if thats not ignoreing us idk what that is.

Traydor_Styx - Raging Tide

synchroze wrote: »

Ok so the answer to this isn't as easy as I thought it would be. But based on the FAQ here is the response to this:

How does Arc facilitate game downloads?

To ensure that all our players are able to download our games, regardless of network restrictions or bandwidth limitations, Arc uses secure HTTP downloads and to obtain the game files directly from our servers. Arc currently does not utilize any Peer to Peer technology or download any files for games you have not explicitly chosen to install.

In other words you (PWE) are removing anything that may bug your programs and trying to take 100% (well unless Arc not fully part of the co.) of the responsibility.

Will the installing be easier?

--
Finished reading post. ^ This means they won't use Pando nor uTorrent. Pando is a in-between. uTorrent uses Peer to Peer which means it uses other peoples copy of say PWI to install it faster. The problem with uTorrent is just that. Someone can **** the files and add a virus then leave it there so someone can pick it up.

should note it may not be the peer to peer thing. not sure 100% how that system works just know that it IS potentially dangerous.
--
Interesting fact: Arc is currently less then 100 MB but stated to be 1 GB so that there is room to play at least 1 game. ^-^

Annalyse - Heavens Tear

SylenThunder - Sanctuary wrote: »

Yes, you can still use the old launcher, and you can even do a fresh and clean install without ARC. (I have detailed this in my other thread and it's linked a few times in this one and in other places.) I still have several PC's that are not running ARC.

I think his question was not can we patch with the launcher currently, but rather will we be able to patch with the launcher in the future. Which would be coming from this part of the FAQ:

Will future versions of Perfect World games require Arc to download and patch?

From a technical standpoint, we would absolutely love to make Arc a central, exclusive platform that serves update and patching functionality for all our games

I have the same question. If the time comes when we can only patch with Arc, thus making it mandatory, I'll be leaving.

Salari - Raging Tide

Traydor_Styx - Raging Tide wrote: »

uTorrent uses Peer to Peer which means it uses other peoples copy of say PWI to install it faster. The problem with uTorrent is just that. Someone can **** the files and add a virus then leave it there so someone can pick it up.

should note it may not be the peer to peer thing. not sure 100% how that system works just know that it IS potentially dangerous.
--
Interesting fact: Arc is currently less then 100 MB but stated to be 1 GB so that there is room to play at least 1 game. ^-^

You should really read up on torrent files and the protocol. The only way to corrupt these types of files is for the server of origin to be cracked and the virus put in that copy or the torrent file replaced. The nature of how the torrent protocol works prevents this type of thing happening on the user end. You can not put a virus in your copy and it share with the same pool nor inject it into packets related to that specific file. The program will disregard it when it verifies the chunk of data you received. Your ip will eventualy be banned by other clients if you send to many bad chunks. Your copy would also be different and in a different pool.

Graviora - Dreamweaver

Arc is 100% why I stopped playing PWI. Even when not running, my computer would run strangely. The moment I removed it, everything began to run smoothly again and I was able to play all my other games without lag.

Shame, too, seeing as I had put thousands of my own money into this game.

Temptatio/V - Dreamweaver

Well since this thread is obviously NOT for answering our questions, maybe you can gather our opinions about ARC and send them to your superiors.

This is what I personally want:
1. make possible for people that wants to play ONLY 1 pwi game to dl ONLY 1 GAME without using ARC. For those who wish to play more then 1, give ARC.

2. don't force me to use program which I DON'T WANT to use

3. unless Arc don't have anything that will significantly improve game experience, fix bugs, stop lag and so on I DON'T WANT another program that increase all those issues

4. invest money in software upgrade instead of Arc

5. I want insurance that Arc has GRATE security system and that everything there is 100% secure

Skyforger - Dreamweaver

As always. Questions and sufficiently clearly expressed by many. Replies - difficult to find. Anyway maybe you should not attack the moderator, just would be nice to get answers to technical staff and of course the fact that by working with the ARC program. Hear first-hand answers, perhaps opinion about the program itself has changed.
But again, let's go back to the beginning - not getting more detailed answers.

Desdi - Sanctuary

Graviora - Dreamweaver wrote: »

Arc is 100% why I stopped playing PWI. Even when not running, my computer would run strangely. The moment I removed it, everything began to run smoothly again and I was able to play all my other games without lag.

Shame, too, seeing as I had put thousands of my own money into this game.

Temptatio/V - Dreamweaver wrote: »

Well since this thread is obviously NOT for answering our questions, maybe you can gather our opinions about ARC and send them to your superiors.

This is what I personally want:
1. make possible for people that wants to play ONLY 1 pwi game to dl ONLY 1 GAME without using ARC. For those who wish to play more then 1, give ARC.

2. don't force me to use program which I DON'T WANT to use

3. unless Arc don't have anything that will significantly improve game experience, fix bugs, stop lag and so on I DON'T WANT another program that increase all those issues

4. invest money in software upgrade instead of Arc

5. I want insurance that Arc has GRATE security system and that everything there is 100% secure

This. The moment ARC becomes mandatory to patch/update the game like it's being implied then you're going to see a lot, a lot of players quiting for good.

I also refuse to download ARC, I don't want unnecessary programs on my laptop even moreso when I'm only playing PWI and I will not touch any other PWE games. I'm not interested.

It might seem like we're threatening the company to leave if they force ARC but the playerbase has already expressed their dislikes for ARC multiple times and most of our questions are being completely ignored (no, don't mean your synchroze I know you're doing what you can).

synchroze

Desdi - Sanctuary wrote: »

This. The moment ARC becomes mandatory to patch/update the game like it's being implied then you're going to see a lot, a lot of players quiting for good.

I also refuse to download ARC, I don't want unnecessary programs on my laptop even moreso when I'm only playing PWI and I will not touch any other PWE games. I'm not interested.

It might seem like we're threatening the company to leave if they force ARC but the playerbase has already expressed their dislikes for ARC multiple times and most of our questions are being completely ignored (no, don't mean your synchroze I know you're doing what you can).

They're not being ignored. I just haven't received any new information yet that I can share. I'm still waiting for new updates that I can officially post. For now I'm gathering the feedback from this thread and forwarding it along.

Miugre - Heavens Tear

Synchroze... I meant to post or PM something directly to you on this, but I never got around to it. By now you've certainly noticed that this forum community is bitter and cynical. That's because we've ranted, clamored and screamed for desperately needed fixes and reversions which fell on deaf ears. PWI's game balance has been seriously crippled over the years, largely because of a few key decisions that PWE and wanmei made, and a few bugs which they refused to properly fix (if acknowledged at all). If you had been around when packs were first released or when reputation was first put into the cash shop... maybe you would understand the events which made many of us feel like we're not listened to by default.

At times, it honestly feels like PWE and the PWI community are on entirely different wavelengths. Nobody wanted Arc. Nobody wanted anything like Arc. What we wanted was fixes to the game. This isn't even related to the gameplay in the slightest, it's just extra technical hurdles and bottlenecks to go through.

And for what... "secure downloads?" Please. You do not build an entire software platform to facilitate downloads, at least not unless you have ulterior motives behind it. If I can't download a direct installer from your site due to my connection, I'll either get on a better connection or use a torrent. People never had a problem downloading PWI before, except for those involving general network issues that Arc wouldn't have any power over either. So maybe you can understand how that answer smells strongly of BS.

I'm sure Arc was worked on by a fair number of people and they'd rather those man-hours not be wasted, but you still need to pay attention to your target market. Far better products than yours have found no market footholds simply because their target markets just weren't interested. Imagine if you released Arc as stand-alone software, designed to facilitate these features for other games. How many people do you think would buy it, or even care? If they wanted that functionality in the first place, they'd just use Steam. Frankly, the only reason your company is managing to push this software on us is because we are, in the end, a captive market. We play your game(s), we all have our reasons to stay on it, and so we're reluctant to leave even in the face of the abuses it's suffered over the years. It would cause us a lot of pain to leave behind the game we love because of how PWE ruined it. And I honestly think your superiors know that.

But everyone has a threshold, and you're going to find that many people will have that threshold swiftly breached by having Arc forced on them. Combine that with the new MMOs coming out in the next few months... well, let's just say PWI is long past the point where it can withstand that kind of damage. The last thing you want to do in the face of new competition is push a crappy piece of bloatware that virtually all of your customers hate.

PWE really, really needs to start paying attention to its customer loyalty and why that's dwindling. You can make mistakes, as long as you learn from them, but if you're deliberately ignoring your customers' demands and in fact doing the exact opposite, you have no one to blame when your captive market starts packing their bags.

EDIT: Wall-o-text Part 2, Quotey Edition!

synchroze wrote: »

They're not being ignored. I just haven't received any new information yet that I can share. I'm still waiting for new updates that I can officially post. For now I'm gathering the feedback from this thread and forwarding it along.

While I can certainly understand this due to your job, this really just highlights a problem that's been present in PWE management since the early days. Namely, that your job is essentially used as damage control and for putting out simplistic "official" responses that rarely do anything to address the problem(s) at hand. Frankieraye exemplified this behavior to a fault during his tenure.

Obviously, the upper management can't personally respond to dozens or hundreds of angry posters individually. But when you've got a high-profile individual like Sylen, behind whose question a large number of people have rallied, I think that's a situation that deserves some direct dialogue, don't you? I think an honest, sincere discussion between Sylen and one of the decision-makers isn't too much to ask.

From the CM's side of things, it's not so much that you don't have updates, it's just that we need to see you actively working to move things along, rather than just saying "I'll tell you what they tell me, when they tell me." :P It's all about taking a proactive role, y'see.

Obviously you're the temp, so you're not terribly invested in our game like Spoons or V4liance were... and that's fine. But as long as you're here, you do need to take the time to read up a bit on community history and why we got the way we got. That was the purpose of my wall-o-text. :P