Attention sparkiesoft

Nahktuul - Archosaur

Sylvae - Sanctuary wrote: »

Search.

As in the Search button.

At the top of forum. Literally takes less time than even the post I am quoting would have taken to write. Not search every thread one topic at a time by yourself.

If it takes time for you to use the search button function, you've pretty much already proven my previous post.

So I've been around for quite some time, toots. I know how to use the search function. However, I did a simple search using keywords:

DQ, SYSTEM

and using username:

sparkiesoft

in General Discussion Forum

Guess how many pages came up? Do you HONESTLY think people who have full time jobs, a household to support, and personal lives to live, have time to sift through hundreds of junk pages to get a direct answer from the CM?

If you do, good for you! But with 7 billion people on this planet, and several hundred thousand people playing this game, I don't think it is fair to say that all of us can.

Your point has been dis-proven -snip-

Sylvae - Sanctuary

Nahktuul - Archosaur wrote: »

Your point has been dis-proven -snip-

Not even close. For one, the OP was not focused on just one issue as you seem to be. And those things have been addressed multiple times.

The only thing you are complaining about, is one issue that has been dropped a long time ago. Just because they lowered the coin cost of the final DQ items, doesn't mean it is suddenly revisited just because some people who have absolutely no direct control of game mechanics think it should be.

Anyone with a brain could figure out that even if they did decide to relook at implementing a new DQ system, would actually want to wait and see whether it is needed, or what fashion it would take. They'd need to have the coins drained from the months of botting first, to even get a good picture. And if that picture shows no need for it, they wouldn't bother doing it.

That's not even taking into account when they do decide to make one, they'd need to actually design and test it first. All of which seems unlikely, considering they are already being told to ease up on the free promotional items.

-snip- And glad you finally found the search button that had a total of 9 different threads involving dq and reward. Especially since if you could think, you'd realize an actual system being implemented would have its own thread or show up on the first post of changes from an update. Dumb people search page by page, average or better would realize not to bother.

zoner112012

sparkiesoft wrote: »

TW times are being addressed, I've brought this up multiple times already. When I get word on its fix, you all will too.

Missing characters have also already been addressed. Again, when I know more, you will too.

Codes have been getting abused. We have a solution, but aren't ready to finalize it yet. Once we do you'll hear from me, and you'll see codes distributed once again.

The unspoken word? What about DQ? And to anyone saying be patient or try to have compassion....please. We were promised a replacement for DQ. To Sylvae...stop talking about not worrying about the DQ system. As i said we were told by a GM they were giving us a new one.....and it has been well over a year. They were supposed to already have worked out much of it and the DQ suggestion thread isnt about how to implement it but what kind of rewards and such we as players want. So stop bashing someone else acting like you know what you are talking about cuz clearly you dont.

DefenderofDreams wrote: »

Greetings PWI community,

We here on the PWI team have indeed been reading the forum posts/threads on this subject, and have been collecting as much information as we can for what's to come. We hear your voice, and know we are taking heed. However, I cannot give an exact date as to when the new system will be launched, as details are still changing due to the new system still being worked on.

We have not released a blog post (as of yet) on what's to come due to this reason. We rather not post something that is constantly changing every week, thus confusing everyone until the release of the new system.

As such, I can only at this point give out the following information:

-There is a new system being worked on to replace the DQ system


The reason we have decided to phase out the current DQ system, is that it frankly wasn't living up to our standards in terms of reliability and consistency. Many problems with the DQ point update system and reward redemption flow would all too often have issues, giving both you and us many headaches. Thus it has been decided to create a brand new system that can be much more stable for the future.

I will be updating this thread as I gain concrete information that I can pass on to you, the community.

Until that point, we'd love for you to give us your thoughts on what you personally would like to see in the new DQ system, because as has been mentioned, it has not been finalized yet.

We still have time to make changes before its release.

If this isn't as good as a GMs word that we have a new system coming then idk what is.

SylenThunder - Twilight Temple

zoner112012 wrote: »

...

DefenderofDreams wrote: »

Greetings PWI community,

We here on the PWI team have indeed been reading the forum posts/threads on this subject, and have been collecting as much information as we can for what's to come. We hear your voice, and know we are taking heed. However, I cannot give an exact date as to when the new system will be launched, as details are still changing due to the new system still being worked on.

We have not released a blog post (as of yet) on what's to come due to this reason. We rather not post something that is constantly changing every week, thus confusing everyone until the release of the new system.

As such, I can only at this point give out the following information:

-There is a new system being worked on to replace the DQ system


The reason we have decided to phase out the current DQ system, is that it frankly wasn't living up to our standards in terms of reliability and consistency. Many problems with the DQ point update system and reward redemption flow would all too often have issues, giving both you and us many headaches. Thus it has been decided to create a brand new system that can be much more stable for the future.

I will be updating this thread as I gain concrete information that I can pass on to you, the community.

Until that point, we'd love for you to give us your thoughts on what you personally would like to see in the new DQ system, because as has been mentioned, it has not been finalized yet.

We still have time to make changes before its release.

Please, discuss and I am open to PMs. (not only Genotypist!)


Updates:

-Current points will not carry over to the new system.
-That being said, we WILL give ample warning for when the current DQ system will be taken down. You will have plenty of time to use the points you have acquired up to that point.

If this isn't as good as a GMs word that we have a new system coming then idk what is.

So I suppose you completely missed the fact that the post you are referring to is dated 10-23-2013, 06:05 PM?

There have been so many changes to the client since then, that the entire thread could be completely invalidated.

Zoldi - Morai

SylenThunder - Sanctuary wrote: »

Most commonly abused were likely the event gold codes, and the code for insta-95. Both of those being abused would have a rather large impact in game balance.

I have a few theories on how the level 95 stones were abused, but I don't feel like getting banned from testing them.

I got you (i wasn't aware about the 95 glitch, so yeah it has even more impact on game than event gold)
Still... this code was not really a weekly code anyway.
As for event gold, they can stop giving cards until they find a REAL way to avoid abuses. They could think about really minor gifts I don't know (I have no idea myself).

And as I said I don't really need freebies anyway (I would need charms but understand it's not possible this way anymore), I talk for lowbies.

zoner112012

SylenThunder - Sanctuary wrote: »

So I suppose you completely missed the fact that the post you are referring to is dated 10-23-2013, 06:05 PM?

There have been so many changes to the client since then, that the entire thread could be completely invalidated.

And have they said anything about said changes or offered any insight into what is going on with the DQ system? No they havent.

mightymoose

Nahktuul - Archosaur wrote: »

I understand that PWE isn't the greatest company to work for. I wouldn't want to work for the Chinese either, they are absolutely terrible at labor management and project development. But at the end of the day, you need to fulfill your job requirements, or quit so someone else will.

You were doing ok until you got to this point and let your racial bigotry ruin your post. PWE is an American company in much the same way as Toyotal US is an American company or Toyota Canada is a Canadian company.

Crystabella - Heavens Tear

The 95 stone wasn't glitched nor did anyone abuse it, PWI once again failed to code it correctly. The stone was to take a character to level 95 regardless of its starting level (below 95 obviously).

Had they coded it correctly instead of coding it to give the value of experience from level 1 to 95 there wouldn't have been a problem.

You can't blame the player base for PWI's errors or shortcomings yet this seems to be the trend.

We have multiple competitions that weren't completed including the current fashion competition that doesn't even have a post from a GM or forum mod stating that it is closed (closed on the 27th) nor any further information on when winners will be announced. The raffle over the holiday period was an embarassment with only 2 codes ever being given yet the original news post states daily codes would be available via forums, facebook etc. Players asked repeatedly for information but were ignored.

Territory War prizes are several months late now, there is just no reason for this.

The frustration for players is stemming from a lack of information that is occasionally met with a vague post of "its being looked into" or "the people that need to know have been informed" then a month or two later we are still wondering why it's so hard to make a simple change.

Step up and say "its going to be months because to be quite honest PWI dont really give a **** about this 7 year game anymore". Because the silence and lack of action is screaming that to the player base at the moment.

eediot

Sylvae - Sanctuary wrote: »

Not even close. For one, the OP was not focused on just one issue as you seem to be. And those things have been addressed multiple times.

The only thing you are complaining about, is one issue that has been dropped a long time ago. Just because they lowered the coin cost of the final DQ items, doesn't mean it is suddenly revisited just because some people who have absolutely no direct control of game mechanics think it should be.

Anyone with a brain could figure out that even if they did decide to relook at implementing a new DQ system, would actually want to wait and see whether it is needed, or what fashion it would take. They'd need to have the coins drained from the months of botting first, to even get a good picture. And if that picture shows no need for it, they wouldn't bother doing it.

That's not even taking into account when they do decide to make one, they'd need to actually design and test it first. All of which seems unlikely, considering they are already being told to ease up on the free promotional items.

-snip- And glad you finally found the search button that had a total of 9 different threads involving dq and reward. Especially since if you could think, you'd realize an actual system being implemented would have its own thread or show up on the first post of changes from an update. Dumb people search page by page, average or better would realize not to bother.

you need to go get laid or something, lighten up

bluestuffzzz

eediot wrote: »

you need to go get laid or something, lighten up

There's nothing wrong with being cynical in thought.

tmllover

DarkSkiesx - Dreamweaver wrote: »

Highly doubt a GM/CM/Mod would announce how exactly to abuse codes..

I asked how they were being abused, not how to abuse them.

zoner112012

Crystabella - Heavens Tear wrote: »

The 95 stone wasn't glitched nor did anyone abuse it, PWI once again failed to code it correctly. The stone was to take a character to level 95 regardless of its starting level (below 95 obviously).

Had they coded it correctly instead of coding it to give the value of experience from level 1 to 95 there wouldn't have been a problem.

~snip~

You would actually be wrong. There was a person on Raging Tide that managed to make SEVERAL 105 chars using the code. We don't know how he did it but he did and linked the item you get with event gold for reaching 105 on each new character on WC as he got it to 105.

zoner112012

sparkiesoft wrote: »

TW times are being addressed, I've brought this up multiple times already. When I get word on its fix, you all will too.

Missing characters have also already been addressed. Again, when I know more, you will too.

Codes have been getting abused. We have a solution, but aren't ready to finalize it yet. Once we do you'll hear from me, and you'll see codes distributed once again.

Bumping this since sparkiesoft has yet to answer some of the questions posted. When do they plan on giving out TW rewards from last TW season? What is going on with DQ?

bluestuffzzz

zoner112012 wrote: »

Bumping this since sparkiesoft has yet to answer some of the questions posted. When do they plan on giving out TW rewards from last TW season? What is going on with DQ?

It's unlikely that Sparkie or any staff of PWE that isn't management has a clue on most things related to the titles that are published by the company. Management refuses to enlighten the staff of PWE on basic and ongoing issues in the games, and seems to tell sparkie more or less to ignore blatant issues.

Not only that, but sparkie is surely overworked. I mean, look at all the times he has been "late" on something or a set of "typos" on sales/discounts have led the player-base astray. The unfortunate truth is PWE has one or two really profitable titles, and the rest are a tumor to the company. This flag-ship game that the company literally named themselves after has been ignored and forgotten for a few years now. Sure we are still getting content updates and expansions, but that isn't done by PWE. PWE just translates (and often pretty poorly/misses things) the text into English and localizes things in the client for an international audience.

PWI isn't the only title suffering from lack of proper management. The majority of the Angelica-engine based games published by PWE have the same staffing issues; leaving just a couple of titles being actively pushed forward with proper staffing and management.

The majority of the reason PWI sees lack of staffing is due to the decline in popularity and profitability, which is a result of poor long-term management by the company. They could have held this game better by not selling gear and skills for cash, which would have resulted in more players playing because of fairness and an increase of spending on cosmetic things, etc. PWE failed to meet the requirements of a fair and equal game when they began selling rank gear and oracles/packs for cash, and of course, as we all know, this continued and spiraled out of control. This type of monetization is great when the player base is high and the game is in it's infancy. However, it fails to take into account the longterm profitability and longevity of the title. The result is a significant decrease in popularity, which results in a decrease in profitability, which in return means a decrease in staffing for the title, which in return means less people caring/playing, and an eventual shut-down due to lack of profitability and a waning player base.

The problem stems from the above. Sparkie is only one person and he is being told exactly what to type and how to type it by management. He can't control his superiors, and as I've said before, when you are trying to feed your family -- the morality and ethics behind a video game VS putting food on the table and paying bills is pretty evident. Of course it's logical to need and want the job, even if it crosses some seemingly ethical boundaries. Specifically, a corrupt corporation that essentially monetizes gear for cash and gambling packs for virtual items.

PWE has been on a decline in terms of their older games for a while now. 3 games have been shut down so far - one running off of the Angelica Engine (LoMA), and two separate games (RH/HoTK). They have claimed to not have any plans to shut down other games like ES, for example, but I fail to see why they would continue hosting games that have less players total than one of our lowest populated servers here on PWI. They clearly can't be making their money back, and I doubt it's really a long-term solution. That all being said, I've speculated before and been off a little, but I do expect to see at least 3-4 of PWE's least profitable titles close in the next couple of years. With their China division trying to go private, and a lower than expected last couple of years for profitability, it seems logical to shut a few games down and go on the defense.

Sylvae - Sanctuary

bluestuffzzz wrote: »

-Snip-

There wasn't a plan for long term survivability of the game; it was expected to fully monetize the game in 5 years. That is what they've stated in past earnings calls that they've done for the company. Anything beyond 5 was never factored into or counted for earnings projections early on, and the game isn't even mentioned for earnings calls anymore even when they make new expansions.

So while everything you said is true, it only seems like poor management until you realize it was always planned to die. They are actually making more than they expected from this game, and as long as the cost is less than they earn, they'll keep doing whatever they thinks will wring more money out of the game; even if it means permanently killing it in a year or less.

bluestuffzzz

Sylvae - Sanctuary wrote: »

There wasn't a plan for long term survivability of the game; it was expected to fully monetize the game in 5 years. That is what they've stated in past earnings calls that they've done for the company. Anything beyond 5 was never factored into or counted for earnings projections early on, and the game isn't even mentioned for earnings calls anymore even when they make new expansions.

So while everything you said is true, it only seems like poor management until you realize it was always planned to die. They are actually making more than they expected from this game, and as long as the cost is less than they earn, they'll keep doing whatever they thinks will wring more money out of the game; even if it means permanently killing it in a year or less.

Yeah, I'm aware of that. However, for a title that they named the company after, one would assume a differentiation between FW, for example, and PWI. They have stated that before, yes. However, that doesn't mean it's any less intelligent. The fact remains that they could have made a long-term profitable game much like the biggest MMO of all time, but instead opted to essentially tank the popularity by a quick-cash scheme. Imagine the amount of cash they could have received had they of not made the same monetization model. In the long run, it most definitely would be much more profitable.

selphiro

bluestuffzzz wrote: »

It's unlikely that Sparkie or any staff of PWE that isn't management has a clue on most things related to the titles that are published by the company. Management refuses to enlighten the staff of PWE on basic and ongoing issues in the games, and seems to tell sparkie more or less to ignore blatant issues.

Not only that, but sparkie is surely overworked. I mean, look at all the times he has been "late" on something or a set of "typos" on sales/discounts have led the player-base astray. The unfortunate truth is PWE has one or two really profitable titles, and the rest are a tumor to the company. This flag-ship game that the company literally named themselves after has been ignored and forgotten for a few years now. Sure we are still getting content updates and expansions, but that isn't done by PWE. PWE just translates (and often pretty poorly/misses things) the text into English and localizes things in the client for an international audience.

PWI isn't the only title suffering from lack of proper management. The majority of the Angelica-engine based games published by PWE have the same staffing issues; leaving just a couple of titles being actively pushed forward with proper staffing and management.

The majority of the reason PWI sees lack of staffing is due to the decline in popularity and profitability, which is a result of poor long-term management by the company. They could have held this game better by not selling gear and skills for cash, which would have resulted in more players playing because of fairness and an increase of spending on cosmetic things, etc. PWE failed to meet the requirements of a fair and equal game when they began selling rank gear and oracles/packs for cash, and of course, as we all know, this continued and spiraled out of control. This type of monetization is great when the player base is high and the game is in it's infancy. However, it fails to take into account the longterm profitability and longevity of the title. The result is a significant decrease in popularity, which results in a decrease in profitability, which in return means a decrease in staffing for the title, which in return means less people caring/playing, and an eventual shut-down due to lack of profitability and a waning player base.

The problem stems from the above. Sparkie is only one person and he is being told exactly what to type and how to type it by management. He can't control his superiors, and as I've said before, when you are trying to feed your family -- the morality and ethics behind a video game VS putting food on the table and paying bills is pretty evident. Of course it's logical to need and want the job, even if it crosses some seemingly ethical boundaries. Specifically, a corrupt corporation that essentially monetizes gear for cash and gambling packs for virtual items.

PWE has been on a decline in terms of their older games for a while now. 3 games have been shut down so far - one running off of the Angelica Engine (LoMA), and two separate games (RH/HoTK). They have claimed to not have any plans to shut down other games like ES, for example, but I fail to see why they would continue hosting games that have less players total than one of our lowest populated servers here on PWI. They clearly can't be making their money back, and I doubt it's really a long-term solution. That all being said, I've speculated before and been off a little, but I do expect to see at least 3-4 of PWE's least profitable titles close in the next couple of years. With their China division trying to go private, and a lower than expected last couple of years for profitability, it seems logical to shut a few games down and go on the defense.

What I take from this is, PWE has poor Overhead management. They don't have embedded testers because they get their patches straight from China.

PWI is clearly ran out of a small scale studio, the only thing they really have to manage is tickets, they can't **** with the coding, there are no dev's there. Which in turn gives them no freedom and is killing PWI rather quickly instead of slowly.

From what I gathered it seems like they just sit on Overhead for 3/4th of the week and then clock into actual projects between Monday and Tuesday which is patch day.


I don't know if anyone has watch the stocks recently but with management changes in this company you can see it going down more and more.

I'd create a structured 3 year plan to turn it around for them, but they don't pay me for that and honestly I don't feel like doing the role of a Producer, it's a pain in the ***.

bluestuffzzz

selphiro wrote: »

What I take from this is, PWE has poor Overhead management. They don't have embedded testers because they get their patches straight from China.

PWI is clearly ran out of a small scale studio, the only thing they really have to manage is tickets, they can't **** with the coding, there are no dev's there. Which in turn gives them no freedom and is killing PWI rather quickly instead of slowly.

From what I gathered it seems like they just sit on Overhead for 3/4th of the week and then clock into actual projects between Monday and Tuesday which is patch day.


I don't know if anyone has watch the stocks recently but with management changes in this company you can see it going down more and more.

I'd create a structured 3 year plan to turn it around for them, but they don't pay me for that and honestly I don't feel like doing the role of a Producer, it's a pain in the ***.

Well, let's just say that I don't see this company going uphill at all from here on out, unless they do some serious restructuring. If you treat the games that provide you with cash like trash, eventually the cash flow will halt, and what you will be left with will be wastelands of servers.

We haven't had solid communication from PWE's GMs to this title in years. Sparkie, frankie, and Hey, You all failed at providing really solid communication between the player base and PWE. The job listing for a CM is to keep up with the community and provide excellent communication between the players (who keep PWE in business), and the corporation. This communication has been non-existent since Eatwithspoons. Hey, You at least provided some communication, and sparkie is probably doing the best he can with what he has on his plate.

The fact of the matter is PWE can't keep up with things like this forever. Eventually the ball will go flat and dead games must be shut down. When people hop on the forums and say that so and so server is empty, I always get a chuckle. Go play another PWE title that isn't the top 2 games being worked on right now... Then you will really see what an empty server is like. I mean, has anyone logged on FW or ESO lately? BoI? Talk about dead games and servers, lol.

Whoz_Nutz - Raging Tide

As Salari posted in the DQ thread (a good read)...

glassdoor review of PWI management

For a fun comment, here's pwi, california's mission statement:

Mission: There are five core values that are present in all individual and corporate decisions at PWE. As a company, we encourage our staff, our culture, and our gamers to follow these core values.

Think Differently, Grow Personally, Evolve Gameplay, Connect Gamers, Work Hard - Play Hard.

Perfect World Entertainment has the heart of a startup minus the financial challenges of being "too agile". Our culture is built around our commitment to providing people with a fun work environment.

Father_gold - Sanctuary

im just gonna stop wondering at these things. the glassdoor post really put things into some sort of perspective, i would not be surprised if sparkie were just taking all his leave while interviewing for another job.

decent people dont enjoy being given a job and subsequently being hobbled so that they can't do said job. decent people dont last at pwe

bluestuffzzz

Father_gold - Sanctuary wrote: »

im just gonna stop wondering at these things. the glassdoor post really put things into some sort of perspective, i would not be surprised if sparkie were just taking all his leave while interviewing for another job.

decent people dont enjoy being given a job and subsequently being hobbled so that they can't do said job. decent people dont last at pwe

It's really hard to say what happens behind closed doors. All we know is what that website states from past employees, and that's about it. Sparkie may or may not be satisfied with this current employment, but that's pretty much up to him and his needs. I know that he is really busy and probably overworked, but is unknown to what extent. I'd really like to see this company get their acts together and revive the games that they have turned into abandonware. PWE could still pull PWI out of the ground if they would give it the time of day. Proper staffing is one way, but we would also need advertisements and what not to snag new players. And I hate to say it, but cash for gear/packs/skills needs to go. I don't think it will, and I understand that it's way past the time of removing them, but that stuff can exist in the game still -- just not available for cash.