Transcript / Cliff Notes / Dev blog version for the hearing or time impared?
Perhaps the above would clear out a lot of the "ranting". Because there would be an easy reference, potentially from an official source, to be linked to in response to the "ranter"...
Just to take two "rants" that could have been stopped with "better communication":
1. The whole DOff UI. Some podcast somewhere has mentioned that the "mobile look" is key to the eventual and oft-mentioned Gateway integration. I managed to catch this in one of my extremely rare chances to listen to a podcast.
Having this in text somewhere means that the "defenders" of the change can go back and point out "this is so we can DOff on cell phones". Rants snipped in bud.
"Official silence" on this matter means that the "defenders" came across as hearsay, and the primary rant was "with no pressing reason, why reinvent the wheel". Instead of just mentioning the issues (missing or unreadable boxes, random DOff displays), they're used as rationales to vehemently defend the "we never needed this new screen" stance.
2. Early alpha state of interface & system vs costs and lack of "critical" things like filters. Again, without the easy reference, any defense of the system or mention of potential plans was "hearsay", and the ranters were out in full force complaining about change for what was perceived as change's sake...
What the ranters are evading, is that a lot of the recent changes - adding Dil to the primarily solo adventure zones - after a discussion that I and Hawk had in an official response thread that there were plans to make changes to Dil income like this because of the new R&D system along with overall metrics - or the "restoration" of filters to the "then Alpha" UI, are either already planned or directly addressing our "feedback". Other changes are made in reference to our feedback even though the exact change isn't what "we" asked for... Of course, these changes we propose might not fit into the overall plan of the game, and the change we were given somehow does...
No offense Geko, Hawk, et al, but restore communications and perhaps the ranting will cut back a lot. I don't remember half the hostility to the changes from, say, LoR, even though LoR radically restructured the game in ways 9.5 hasn't. Because there was much communication and while we had the hardcore ranters who eventually rage-quitted, the "borderline" ranters were either providing "constructive feedback" or silenced since all they had was countered rage...
Detecting big-time "anti-old-school" bias here. NX? Lobi. TOS/TMP Connie? Super-promotion-box. (aka the two hardest ways to get ships) Excelsior & all 3 TNG "big hero" ships? C-Store. Please Equalize...
To rob a line: [quote: Mariemaia Kushrenada] Forum Posting is much like an endless waltz. The three beats of war, peace and revolution continue on forever. However, opinions will change upon the reading of my post.[/quote]
TL;DR: There is no point critisising any changes made to the game while an update is on Tribble/Redshirt. Any such critisism is viewed by CaptainGeko, as being "ranting" and can thus be disregarded. CaptainGeko wants to run the game as he sees fit, and does not give a damn what the players think.
During the interview CaptainGeko asked for things that to improve the Doff UI.
He asked we not be subjective, and for something that can improve the experience.
Suggestion:
When you are going to lose a DOff, in any way shape or form (An Embassy mission, an execution, a colony mission or any other form.) can we please get a popup warning. Something that says you will lose this Doff.
"You will lose this doff! Confirm Captain! YES/NO"
Sometimes you aren't paying attention. Im guilty I admit it. Your fleet mates are calling and you pound out some assignments, the kids call you, the phone rings...whatever...sometimes you mess up. Just make us give that extra step. How many times has someone smoked a purple doff on accident?...especially now that it always selects the best doff for the job.
During the interview CaptainGeko asked for things that to improve the Doff UI.
He asked we not be subjective, and for something that can improve the experience.
Suggestion:
When you are going to lose a DOff, in any way shape or form (An Embassy mission, an execution, a colony mission or any other form.) can we please get a popup warning. Something that says you will lose this Doff.
"You will lose this doff! Confirm Captain! YES/NO"
Sometimes you aren't paying attention. Im guilty I admit it. Your fleet mates are calling and you pound out some assignments, the kids call you, the phone rings...whatever...sometimes you mess up. Just make us give that extra step. How many times has someone smoked a purple doff on accident?...especially now that it always selects the best doff for the job.
Thank you CaptainGeko
The description says that your Doffs will be removed from the roster before you accept the mission.
Well thats kind of a punch in the face to every tribble tester.
Sure the was a bit "ranting" ,but all the topics were full of comments what the problems are, what can be done to solve it, many many pages of it.
Very insulting with your costumer i have to say.
disapionting
I was not aware that it was my job to design this game. I don't know where this guy learned about software development, but if you are relying on your customers and testers to design your product for you, THEN YOU ARE DOING IT WRONG!
Hi, I originally wanted to talk about this on the other forum, but somehow it was a closed discussion: My question is, why we have no open jacket uniform variant for all the dresses since the first year of STO? I Mean, the original dresses and the wrath of Khan had open jacket versions, but since then, not the Jupiter, nor the Odussey, or the Starfleet Academy dress (and others) have an open jacket variant. Please, make some open jacket dress variants for at least the main uniforms!
Tune in to hear the latest from the crew of STOked Radio as they interview STO Lead Designer Al "CaptainGeko" Rivera and discuss the latest news about the Research & Development System, and the improvements to the Duty Officer System.
Follow the link and listen in to the great show at TrekRadio's own Jupiter Station, and make sure to tune in next time for the next Podcast of STOked Radio!
During the interview CaptainGeko asked for things that to improve the Doff UI.
He asked we not be subjective, and for something that can improve the experience.
Suggestion:
When you are going to lose a DOff, in any way shape or form (An Embassy mission, an execution, a colony mission or any other form.) can we please get a popup warning. Something that says you will lose this Doff.
"You will lose this doff! Confirm Captain! YES/NO"
Sometimes you aren't paying attention. Im guilty I admit it. Your fleet mates are calling and you pound out some assignments, the kids call you, the phone rings...whatever...sometimes you mess up. Just make us give that extra step. How many times has someone smoked a purple doff on accident?...especially now that it always selects the best doff for the job.
Thank you CaptainGeko
That would really be nice. I once lost the Ang Breen DOff to a mission that didn't adequately warm me that he would not return from it. 100% success rate with a purple bar tends to imply that my DOff will return with the highest degree of success regardless of any casualty risk.
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Looking for a new fleet? Drop by the in-game chat channel, "tenforwardforum", and say hi to the members of A Fleet Called Ten Forward (Fed) and The Orion Pirates (KDF). If you already have a fleet you are happy with, please feel free to drop by our chat channel if you are looking for a friendly bunch of helpful people to socialize with.
I watched the youtube video and must say, the thing that stood out was the references that he made to "general ranting" and "unsubstantiated complaints" regarding the crafting system and Duty Officer UI.
Guess what? There have been and continues to be "solid feedback" for both. Geko (if he actually read the posts on Tribble) would know that. Yes, there are some posts that are there just to inflame the masses, but, as usual since the majority of posts don't agree with his philosophy on how things should be, it's regarded as "ranting". This condescending attitude towards the playerbase does nothing to make me want to test any further on Tribble.
But it goes beyond that... the entire mindset is, unless you agree with what they has done, it's called ranting or unconstructive feedback. Tribble has always been this way since I started testing new content there. They put a new build up there, want us to test it, ignore the feedback, and push the content (usually broken) to holodeck anyway. To be fair, when bugs are reported on Tribble, they are usually addressed. Those bugs may still be pushed to Holodeck, but I have seen that they were fixed soon afterwards.
All in all... the interview was informative, but (starting around 28 min) was an example of how not to address the audience. After that "rant" on Geko's part, I was biased against what he said further into the show.
-AoP- Warrior's Blood (KDF Armada) / -AoP- Qu' raD qulbo'Degh / -AoP- ProjectPhoenix Join Date: Tuesday, February 2, 2010
Generally the concept of "Testing" content before release implies that feedback will be analyzed, aka listened to, and things that generate large amounts of negative feedback will be re-evaluated prior to release.
It's kind of the whole idea behind "Testing" something-find the defects, see if it appeals to your customer base.
Unless, that is, you're Cryptic, in which case it's just "killing time until release day and then working overtime to fix the defects you ignored-after release."
Tribble test becomes pointless-and it's shown-the testing community's shrinking percentages and skew away from what the rest of their metrics claim is the customer base can be traced staight back to a development team that ignores testing results in favour of rushing to fix the product AFTER RELEASE.
which is kinda senseless, really. In the last four major updates, a pattern's emerged where Tribble testers point out flaws in what's up, including flaws in the basic assumptions underlying what they're testing, they're ignored, it goes to release, the forums detonate, there are several successive 'emergency' patches with attendant downtime, Cryptic takes another black eye to their reputation as developers/showrunners, everything quiets down, rinse, repeat.
meanwhile they have this very expensive server called "Tribble" that doesn't perform the function it's there to perform, instead it's just a "Preview" gimmick,wherein no testing actually happens because...test results are ignored.
They could probably free up a lot of capacity and use it to improve the game, if they just used the hardware from the "Test" server to beef up Holodeck-and it would likely cost less than maintaining a "Test" server that is utterly unutilized for testing by the Development staff.
It ain't just Cryptic. That model of software development has been around a while and has persisted and grown.
Are there any plans to ensure that thhis type of posts happen together with the release of the respective interview, rather than delayed? It seems a bit awkward if there is already a multi-page thread on such an interview when Cryptic finally makes its official announcement.
I seem to remember this used to be done in a more timely manner, but maybe I am wrong.
Star Trek Online Advancement: You start with lowbie gear, you end with Lobi gear.
Hi all below is my thoughts and feedback regarding the interview and the recent game content (please be aware i am not dissing anything or anyone but offering my personal thoughts on the interview and the recent game mechanic changes)...
Firstly the interview went well all things considered, nonethless i will admit it was a little on the biased side of things and not very objectionable and impartial. Journalism and interviews cannot be that way (well they are not supposed to at anyrate).. acknoledging that a vast majority of people who have worked on some of elements of the game are former members of the Sto gaming community and podcast contributors leads me to wonder why alot of the feedback from community members generally gets overlooked or ignored altogether. generally a very onesided interview for the most part however the delivery, presentation and format was very well done.
Secondly, AS someone who has been around the Star Trek Gaming community for more years than i can count, and a person who has worked on a veriety of updates, mods and total conversions for some video games to give them a "Trek" look, feel and atmosphere there is one massive rule of thumb that game and mod developers should alsoways employ.."LISTEN TO YOUR CONSUMERS!" sometimes the feedback and sugestions are silly and childish and some are good feedback with intriguing ideas and suggestions that the dev team sometimes will have missed.. this is a good thing overall. however dismissing the feedback as mere ranting etc when there is clear evidence to the contratry came across as both insulting to the consumers, dismissive like it means little to you as a development team and to be blunt down right unprofessional. it alienates your consumer and the knock on affect of that is that sales of items within the game will generally drop for a time as ppl will simply not trust that they will get the experience, fun factor or value for their buck! good community relationships is a absolute given when your in this business.
Alas although i applaude Geko's no nonsence approach, by "Implying" that most of the feedback that was sent in was ranting and additionally "suggesting" that the players were stupid so things needed to be simplified was foolish. it is all well and good to disagree with your consumer base but dropping hints of those nature to the way you personally feel about the feedback and reaction given publically is not gonna do you any favours, objectivity is like i said the name of the game when developing game content, and not every new thing will every be 100% well recieved.
Finally.. Gecko did say he would like suggestions that are constructive so here is my small list:
#1 Include a tuorial for players to the new Rnd Section (confusion is then gone on how it works)
#2 make the new Doff Ui text on project rewards clearer and not just in green or red at the top of the window that way mistakes by players will be minimised a confirmation pop up is a good idea for these circumstances (and there for less ranting and complaints)
#3 RnD "VERY RARE" Materials... the only suggestions i have regarding these is as follows as this one is a huge pain in the buttocks. Firstly. loose the idea that certain VRare Mats drop in only certain elite PVE missions. not every player who wants to invest time, dil etc wants to play both ground and space missions, we all know that to be a fact with players in Sto. instead make it a singular box drop that will randomly drop any of the Vrare mats in any of the elite PVE missions generally. that way players can enjoy the mission types they prefer to play and yet are still able to aquire materials they may need for RnD. Secondly make the frequency that those Materials drop a little more frequent than it actually is at present.
#4 This one i wil admit may be a tad harder to do.. but could you throw a bone to the players who crafted and leveled up in the prior system a bone or something. resetting all of us to 0 was a massive slapp in the face to the diligent crafters of the old system and is probably one of the reasons so much ranting occured.. a simple freebe of a materials box with some nice choice goodies in there for those crafters who maxed out last time would probably ease some of that irritation that was felt.
#5 please intigrate the system into Gateway and reduce the bonus Xp projects to perhaps 12-16 hours. this way ppl can log in via cell or tablet every now and again check their doffs and crafting without having to spend all day in the game client crafting components and grinding for materials. wich in sume circumstances at present feels like a full day of work rather then enjoyment within the game since multiple projects have been disabled it may make a nice compromise to that limitation.
So theres my personal thoughts on the interview and my feedback regardin the new systems. weather it is taken into consideration is not for me to say but one can hope. nonetheless i look forward to seeing more from within the game and also more from the STOked radio program as well..
thanks for reading and i'll see you all in game...
1. Revert back to allowing at least 2 projects of the same category type to be run at the same time...
2. Smooth out the curve on crafting after level 15 or so...
3. Get Geko some counseling and having him apologize to the games population probably wouldn't hurt either...
I would like to think all of these are pretty easily actionable and I'm not even "Ranting"...
He should do 3 a few times over. He's got a lot to apologize for. :P
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Looking for a new fleet? Drop by the in-game chat channel, "tenforwardforum", and say hi to the members of A Fleet Called Ten Forward (Fed) and The Orion Pirates (KDF). If you already have a fleet you are happy with, please feel free to drop by our chat channel if you are looking for a friendly bunch of helpful people to socialize with.
#4 This one i wil admit may be a tad harder to do.. but could you throw a bone to the players who crafted and leveled up in the prior system a bone or something. resetting all of us to 0 was a massive slapp in the face to the diligent crafters of the old system and is probably one of the reasons so much ranting occured.. a simple freebe of a materials box with some nice choice goodies in there for those crafters who maxed out last time would probably ease some of that irritation that was felt.
That one shouldn't be too hard. All they have to do is add the old "hail and complete" type missions for acquiring the "R+D - Dabbler" and "R+D - Genius" Accolades, rewarding a materials box. They did actually give us a freebie doff, if you'd made an Aegis item at some point. One not useable to actually make an Aegis item until Engineering, Science, or Shields Crafting level 15, but it was the sort of token freebie you suggest. Honestly, a materials box still wouldn't be any more useful until you have the crafting level where it matters anyway, by which time hopefully you've managed to run a few queues.
There are already mechanics in place that provide for bonus Commendation XP, Expertise, Skill Points, etc. There are already mechanics in place that unlock bonuses with certain Accolades. Combine the two and you have Crafting XP bonuses for the "R+D - Dabbler" and "R+D - Genius" Accolades. Even better, because Defera crafting still awards General Crafting Skill new players or characters wouldn't be left out if they were willing to invest the effort. I'd prefer to get to the point where it's worth spending dilithium faster, rather than get more stuff that makes no difference for 3+ months, but that's just me.
All that was already mentioned during Tribble testing. The result was they gave us a doff and a couple titles... I suspect at this point they're just going to wait for us all to give up asking for something better than we have. At least they made the doff Rare and fixed his flavor text. :P
With each passing day I wonder if I stepped into an alternate reality. The Cubs win the world series. Donald Trump is President. Britain leaves the EU. STO gets a dedicated PvP season. Engineers are "out of control" in STO.
All this QQ in the forums about every little thing no matter how trivial is just plain embarrassing. Frankly I'm surprised Cryptic spends any time whatsoever looking at feedback (excluding bugs). After a while they should/have realized that there is very very little here that is useful. Sure, there are people here that make valid points or suggestions, but the posts that are just trolling, whining, crying, threats to quit, rambling TRIBBLE is about 100 to 1.
I'm not referring specifically to this thread....but I seriously don't get why people expect Cryptic to listen? If I worked at Cryptic and spent a significant amount of time reading the forums I guarantee you I would need therapy.
All this QQ in the forums about every little thing no matter how trivial is just plain embarrassing. Frankly I'm surprised Cryptic spends any time whatsoever looking at feedback (excluding bugs). After a while they should/have realized that there is very very little here that is useful. Sure, there are people here that make valid points or suggestions, but the posts that are just trolling, whining, crying, threats to quit, rambling TRIBBLE is about 100 to 1.
I'm not referring specifically to this thread....but I seriously don't get why people expect Cryptic to listen? If I worked at Cryptic and spent a significant amount of time reading the forums I guarantee you I would need therapy.
The reason we end up doing stuff like that because since launch Cryptic is not taking any of our suggestiions on board and we have got sick of it.
NO TO ARC
Vice Admiral Volmack ISS Thundermole
Brigadier General Jokag IKS Gorkan
Centurion Kares RRW Tomalak
[SIGPIC][/SIGPIC]
Sure, there are people here that make valid points or suggestions, but the posts that are just trolling, whining, crying, threats to quit, rambling TRIBBLE is about 100 to 1.
I'm not referring specifically to this thread....but I seriously don't get why people expect Cryptic to listen? If I worked at Cryptic and spent a significant amount of time reading the forums I guarantee you I would need therapy.
While I agree with part of what your saying here Mr. Evilspok... the problem is... It's Their Job!
Trust me I've worked in customer service or public relations a majority of my life and guess what... as I said before in another thread...
You don't get to tell your customers. "You're Stupid, You're wrong, You're Ranting, I don't have to listen to you, You're a whiner... etc" and get to expect that there will be no backlash and they will keep just handing you their money.
Believe me I can relate to their plight to a certain degree... I cannot count the number of times I caught a customer feedback survey... read it and and turned to a co-worker and asked is this guy for real??
The difference between the way I deal with that and the way Geko did... I don't go on a fairly widely circulated Podcast and talk TRIBBLE about my customer base... I have the common sense to keep that to myself...
All this QQ in the forums about every little thing no matter how trivial is just plain embarrassing. Frankly I'm surprised Cryptic spends any time whatsoever looking at feedback (excluding bugs).
One of the biggest problems they have is they ignore bug reports more than they ignore the whining and ranting you're complaining about.
but the posts that are just trolling, whining, crying, threats to quit, rambling TRIBBLE is about 100 to 1.
Your numbers seem off. Where'd you get your data?
If I worked at Cryptic and spent a significant amount of time reading the forums I guarantee you I would need therapy.
Here's a fascinating thread that found feedback from those who have worked at Cryptic.
The takeaway from the feedback Cryptic's departing employees have left is that the company's structure gets in the way of consistent development. So maybe the ranting customers have a point?
One of the biggest problems they have is they ignore bug reports more than they ignore the whining and ranting you're complaining about.
Your numbers seem off. Where'd you get your data?
Here's a fascinating thread that found feedback from those who have worked at Cryptic.
The takeaway from the feedback Cryptic's departing employees have left is that the company's structure gets in the way of consistent development. So maybe the ranting customers have a point?
I think I was hunting something was up with Cryptic either developers or management months ago while I was called a troll, hater, or whatever term someone used. My thoughts is maybe I wasn't too far off.
One of the biggest problems they have is they ignore bug reports more than they ignore the whining and ranting you're complaining about.
Your numbers seem off. Where'd you get your data?
Here's a fascinating thread that found feedback from those who have worked at Cryptic.
The takeaway from the feedback Cryptic's departing employees have left is that the company's structure gets in the way of consistent development. So maybe the ranting customers have a point?
I followed that link and it is fascinating indeed. :eek:
One of the biggest problems they have is they ignore bug reports more than they ignore the whining and ranting you're complaining about.
Your numbers seem off. Where'd you get your data?
Here's a fascinating thread that found feedback from those who have worked at Cryptic.
The takeaway from the feedback Cryptic's departing employees have left is that the company's structure gets in the way of consistent development. So maybe the ranting customers have a point?
Uh try again. That's PWE not Cryptic...
And that's only the bad reviews there are actually good ones in there too. Everyone that leaves a company or is fired for whatever reason is going to be pissed off when writing one.
Yes, I'm that Askray@Batbayer in game. Yes, I still play. No, I don't care. Former Community Moderator, Former SSR DJ, Now Full time father to two kids, Husband, Retail Worker. Tiktok: @Askray Facebook: Askray113
And that's only the bad reviews there are actually good ones in there too. Everyone that leaves a company or is fired for whatever reason is going to be pissed off when writing one.
All very true.
And as PWE handle the PR and CM, all we're talking about is the last link in the chain between us and the devs.
The only revealing piece of data on that link would be if the negative reviews zeroed in on the same issue.
And that's only the bad reviews there are actually good ones in there too. Everyone that leaves a company or is fired for whatever reason is going to be pissed off when writing one.
Wow! So you are calling them total liers and that they are full of BS. I seen how fast that thread was closed, I will assume this would be closed. If people start commenting how they feel about Cryptic lack of capacity to create game content passing some of the buck to players.
and by the way.
Who pay money to Cryptic through lockboxes and other monetization to create content including regular and featured episode, and to make end game content.
I believe in the corporate trickle down effect from top level to the bottom level. This game is going from Star Trek IP to Star Trek / Star Wars (Breen - Outfit hinted to Princess Leia outfit in Star Wars) / Seaquest DSV (Xindi ships etc) / Pokemon (Dumb downed Borg, Undine, and Voth), WIndows 8 Metro (New Doff UI interface), and Babylon 5/Deep Space Nine (Just blow up stuff and pew pew). Kill Online
We just need to add the Millineum Falcon to the game. It's canon because it was in First Contact.
Always thought this was funny of Cryptic originality.
Wow! So you are calling them total liers and that they are full of BS. I seen how fast that thread was closed, I will assume this would be closed. If people start commenting how they feel about Cryptic lack of capacity to create game content passing some of the buck to players.
and by the way.
Who pay money to Cryptic through lockboxes and other monetization to create content including regular and featured episode, and to make end game content.
Am I calling the people that left the reviews liars? Not totally but you do realize that a lot of people have a jaded perspective about their previous job if they were canned due to downsizing, left because of a disagreement with a boss or some lovers little quarrel right?
MOST people will go to complain about their company they previously or currently work for vs posting when it's favorable.
Considering what I saw at PWE when I went there, and the interaction I got from the staff (even someone offered me all the release dates for the rest of the year STO wise hehe) , Some of those reviews may be a little far fetched but that is also their opinion.
You can believe which ever way you want, I tend to read reviews, look at more than just ranting evidence and make my own conclusion.
Yes, I'm that Askray@Batbayer in game. Yes, I still play. No, I don't care. Former Community Moderator, Former SSR DJ, Now Full time father to two kids, Husband, Retail Worker. Tiktok: @Askray Facebook: Askray113
Am I calling the people that left the reviews liars? Not totally but you do realize that a lot of people have a jaded perspective about their previous job if they were canned due to downsizing, left because of a disagreement with a boss or some lovers little quarrel right?
MOST people will go to complain about their company they previously or currently work for vs posting when it's favorable.
Considering what I saw at PWE when I went there, and the interaction I got from the staff (even someone offered me all the release dates for the rest of the year STO wise hehe) , Some of those reviews may be a little far fetched but that is also their opinion.
You can believe which ever way you want, I tend to read reviews, look at more than just ranting evidence and make my own conclusion.
I just don't believe the statement could be used to justify Cryptic lack of ability.(Who takes out exploration out of Star Trek the very basis of exploration, and human and alien interaction without a replacement. Expectng it to be Star Trek.)
I still find it funny they rushed a R&D weekend. I'm assuming people have been touching it but because it takes so long to get something worthwhile that it's a dead on. Monitoring the exchange for the items and it seems stagnant. I myself not touching the R&D but just collecting the materials from the Borg STF'S and Doff science and exploration missions.
Due to the clickie and scrollie UI interface, I'm not touching that thing. I still think the older UI had a lot wasn't hard to decipher. If the research and development was lacking. They could usually get community members t o create tutorials or whatever.
Comments
Perhaps the above would clear out a lot of the "ranting". Because there would be an easy reference, potentially from an official source, to be linked to in response to the "ranter"...
Just to take two "rants" that could have been stopped with "better communication":
1. The whole DOff UI. Some podcast somewhere has mentioned that the "mobile look" is key to the eventual and oft-mentioned Gateway integration. I managed to catch this in one of my extremely rare chances to listen to a podcast.
Having this in text somewhere means that the "defenders" of the change can go back and point out "this is so we can DOff on cell phones". Rants snipped in bud.
"Official silence" on this matter means that the "defenders" came across as hearsay, and the primary rant was "with no pressing reason, why reinvent the wheel". Instead of just mentioning the issues (missing or unreadable boxes, random DOff displays), they're used as rationales to vehemently defend the "we never needed this new screen" stance.
2. Early alpha state of interface & system vs costs and lack of "critical" things like filters. Again, without the easy reference, any defense of the system or mention of potential plans was "hearsay", and the ranters were out in full force complaining about change for what was perceived as change's sake...
What the ranters are evading, is that a lot of the recent changes - adding Dil to the primarily solo adventure zones - after a discussion that I and Hawk had in an official response thread that there were plans to make changes to Dil income like this because of the new R&D system along with overall metrics - or the "restoration" of filters to the "then Alpha" UI, are either already planned or directly addressing our "feedback". Other changes are made in reference to our feedback even though the exact change isn't what "we" asked for... Of course, these changes we propose might not fit into the overall plan of the game, and the change we were given somehow does...
No offense Geko, Hawk, et al, but restore communications and perhaps the ranting will cut back a lot. I don't remember half the hostility to the changes from, say, LoR, even though LoR radically restructured the game in ways 9.5 hasn't. Because there was much communication and while we had the hardcore ranters who eventually rage-quitted, the "borderline" ranters were either providing "constructive feedback" or silenced since all they had was countered rage...
To rob a line: [quote: Mariemaia Kushrenada] Forum Posting is much like an endless waltz. The three beats of war, peace and revolution continue on forever. However, opinions will change upon the reading of my post.[/quote]
Cliff Notes: http://www.reddit.com/r/sto/comments/2beygs/notes_for_stoked_radio_episode_91/
TL;DR: There is no point critisising any changes made to the game while an update is on Tribble/Redshirt. Any such critisism is viewed by CaptainGeko, as being "ranting" and can thus be disregarded. CaptainGeko wants to run the game as he sees fit, and does not give a damn what the players think.
Well thats kind of a punch in the face to every tribble tester.
Sure the was a bit "ranting" ,but all the topics were full of comments what the problems are, what can be done to solve it, many many pages of it.
Very insulting with your costumer i have to say.
disapionting
He asked we not be subjective, and for something that can improve the experience.
Suggestion:
When you are going to lose a DOff, in any way shape or form (An Embassy mission, an execution, a colony mission or any other form.) can we please get a popup warning. Something that says you will lose this Doff.
"You will lose this doff! Confirm Captain! YES/NO"
Sometimes you aren't paying attention. Im guilty I admit it. Your fleet mates are calling and you pound out some assignments, the kids call you, the phone rings...whatever...sometimes you mess up. Just make us give that extra step. How many times has someone smoked a purple doff on accident?...especially now that it always selects the best doff for the job.
Thank you CaptainGeko
The description says that your Doffs will be removed from the roster before you accept the mission.
I was not aware that it was my job to design this game. I don't know where this guy learned about software development, but if you are relying on your customers and testers to design your product for you, THEN YOU ARE DOING IT WRONG!
That would really be nice. I once lost the Ang Breen DOff to a mission that didn't adequately warm me that he would not return from it. 100% success rate with a purple bar tends to imply that my DOff will return with the highest degree of success regardless of any casualty risk.
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Guess what? There have been and continues to be "solid feedback" for both. Geko (if he actually read the posts on Tribble) would know that. Yes, there are some posts that are there just to inflame the masses, but, as usual since the majority of posts don't agree with his philosophy on how things should be, it's regarded as "ranting". This condescending attitude towards the playerbase does nothing to make me want to test any further on Tribble.
But it goes beyond that... the entire mindset is, unless you agree with what they has done, it's called ranting or unconstructive feedback. Tribble has always been this way since I started testing new content there. They put a new build up there, want us to test it, ignore the feedback, and push the content (usually broken) to holodeck anyway. To be fair, when bugs are reported on Tribble, they are usually addressed. Those bugs may still be pushed to Holodeck, but I have seen that they were fixed soon afterwards.
All in all... the interview was informative, but (starting around 28 min) was an example of how not to address the audience. After that "rant" on Geko's part, I was biased against what he said further into the show.
Join Date: Tuesday, February 2, 2010
It ain't just Cryptic. That model of software development has been around a while and has persisted and grown.
I seem to remember this used to be done in a more timely manner, but maybe I am wrong.
Firstly the interview went well all things considered, nonethless i will admit it was a little on the biased side of things and not very objectionable and impartial. Journalism and interviews cannot be that way (well they are not supposed to at anyrate).. acknoledging that a vast majority of people who have worked on some of elements of the game are former members of the Sto gaming community and podcast contributors leads me to wonder why alot of the feedback from community members generally gets overlooked or ignored altogether. generally a very onesided interview for the most part however the delivery, presentation and format was very well done.
Secondly, AS someone who has been around the Star Trek Gaming community for more years than i can count, and a person who has worked on a veriety of updates, mods and total conversions for some video games to give them a "Trek" look, feel and atmosphere there is one massive rule of thumb that game and mod developers should alsoways employ.."LISTEN TO YOUR CONSUMERS!" sometimes the feedback and sugestions are silly and childish and some are good feedback with intriguing ideas and suggestions that the dev team sometimes will have missed.. this is a good thing overall. however dismissing the feedback as mere ranting etc when there is clear evidence to the contratry came across as both insulting to the consumers, dismissive like it means little to you as a development team and to be blunt down right unprofessional. it alienates your consumer and the knock on affect of that is that sales of items within the game will generally drop for a time as ppl will simply not trust that they will get the experience, fun factor or value for their buck! good community relationships is a absolute given when your in this business.
Alas although i applaude Geko's no nonsence approach, by "Implying" that most of the feedback that was sent in was ranting and additionally "suggesting" that the players were stupid so things needed to be simplified was foolish. it is all well and good to disagree with your consumer base but dropping hints of those nature to the way you personally feel about the feedback and reaction given publically is not gonna do you any favours, objectivity is like i said the name of the game when developing game content, and not every new thing will every be 100% well recieved.
Finally.. Gecko did say he would like suggestions that are constructive so here is my small list:
#1 Include a tuorial for players to the new Rnd Section (confusion is then gone on how it works)
#2 make the new Doff Ui text on project rewards clearer and not just in green or red at the top of the window that way mistakes by players will be minimised a confirmation pop up is a good idea for these circumstances (and there for less ranting and complaints)
#3 RnD "VERY RARE" Materials... the only suggestions i have regarding these is as follows as this one is a huge pain in the buttocks. Firstly. loose the idea that certain VRare Mats drop in only certain elite PVE missions. not every player who wants to invest time, dil etc wants to play both ground and space missions, we all know that to be a fact with players in Sto. instead make it a singular box drop that will randomly drop any of the Vrare mats in any of the elite PVE missions generally. that way players can enjoy the mission types they prefer to play and yet are still able to aquire materials they may need for RnD. Secondly make the frequency that those Materials drop a little more frequent than it actually is at present.
#4 This one i wil admit may be a tad harder to do.. but could you throw a bone to the players who crafted and leveled up in the prior system a bone or something. resetting all of us to 0 was a massive slapp in the face to the diligent crafters of the old system and is probably one of the reasons so much ranting occured.. a simple freebe of a materials box with some nice choice goodies in there for those crafters who maxed out last time would probably ease some of that irritation that was felt.
#5 please intigrate the system into Gateway and reduce the bonus Xp projects to perhaps 12-16 hours. this way ppl can log in via cell or tablet every now and again check their doffs and crafting without having to spend all day in the game client crafting components and grinding for materials. wich in sume circumstances at present feels like a full day of work rather then enjoyment within the game since multiple projects have been disabled it may make a nice compromise to that limitation.
So theres my personal thoughts on the interview and my feedback regardin the new systems. weather it is taken into consideration is not for me to say but one can hope. nonetheless i look forward to seeing more from within the game and also more from the STOked radio program as well..
thanks for reading and i'll see you all in game...
kind regards to all
- Mindwipe
1. Revert back to allowing at least 2 projects of the same category type to be run at the same time...
2. Smooth out the curve on crafting after level 15 or so...
3. Get Geko some counseling and having him apologize to the games population probably wouldn't hurt either...
I would like to think all of these are pretty easily actionable and I'm not even "Ranting"...
My new sig till Cryptic fixes it....
He should do 3 a few times over. He's got a lot to apologize for. :P
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That one shouldn't be too hard. All they have to do is add the old "hail and complete" type missions for acquiring the "R+D - Dabbler" and "R+D - Genius" Accolades, rewarding a materials box. They did actually give us a freebie doff, if you'd made an Aegis item at some point. One not useable to actually make an Aegis item until Engineering, Science, or Shields Crafting level 15, but it was the sort of token freebie you suggest. Honestly, a materials box still wouldn't be any more useful until you have the crafting level where it matters anyway, by which time hopefully you've managed to run a few queues.
There are already mechanics in place that provide for bonus Commendation XP, Expertise, Skill Points, etc. There are already mechanics in place that unlock bonuses with certain Accolades. Combine the two and you have Crafting XP bonuses for the "R+D - Dabbler" and "R+D - Genius" Accolades. Even better, because Defera crafting still awards General Crafting Skill new players or characters wouldn't be left out if they were willing to invest the effort. I'd prefer to get to the point where it's worth spending dilithium faster, rather than get more stuff that makes no difference for 3+ months, but that's just me.
All that was already mentioned during Tribble testing. The result was they gave us a doff and a couple titles... I suspect at this point they're just going to wait for us all to give up asking for something better than we have. At least they made the doff Rare and fixed his flavor text. :P
I'm not referring specifically to this thread....but I seriously don't get why people expect Cryptic to listen? If I worked at Cryptic and spent a significant amount of time reading the forums I guarantee you I would need therapy.
The reason we end up doing stuff like that because since launch Cryptic is not taking any of our suggestiions on board and we have got sick of it.
Vice Admiral Volmack ISS Thundermole
Brigadier General Jokag IKS Gorkan
Centurion Kares RRW Tomalak
[SIGPIC][/SIGPIC]
While I agree with part of what your saying here Mr. Evilspok... the problem is... It's Their Job!
Trust me I've worked in customer service or public relations a majority of my life and guess what... as I said before in another thread...
You don't get to tell your customers. "You're Stupid, You're wrong, You're Ranting, I don't have to listen to you, You're a whiner... etc" and get to expect that there will be no backlash and they will keep just handing you their money.
Believe me I can relate to their plight to a certain degree... I cannot count the number of times I caught a customer feedback survey... read it and and turned to a co-worker and asked is this guy for real??
The difference between the way I deal with that and the way Geko did... I don't go on a fairly widely circulated Podcast and talk TRIBBLE about my customer base... I have the common sense to keep that to myself...
Now they are paying the piper... again...
My new sig till Cryptic fixes it....
One of the biggest problems they have is they ignore bug reports more than they ignore the whining and ranting you're complaining about.
Your numbers seem off. Where'd you get your data?
Here's a fascinating thread that found feedback from those who have worked at Cryptic.
The takeaway from the feedback Cryptic's departing employees have left is that the company's structure gets in the way of consistent development. So maybe the ranting customers have a point?
Interesting fascinating link http://sto-forum.perfectworld.com/showthread.php?t=1179961
I think I was hunting something was up with Cryptic either developers or management months ago while I was called a troll, hater, or whatever term someone used. My thoughts is maybe I wasn't too far off.
I followed that link and it is fascinating indeed. :eek:
Uh try again. That's PWE not Cryptic...
And that's only the bad reviews there are actually good ones in there too. Everyone that leaves a company or is fired for whatever reason is going to be pissed off when writing one.
Former Community Moderator, Former SSR DJ, Now Full time father to two kids, Husband, Retail Worker.
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All very true.
And as PWE handle the PR and CM, all we're talking about is the last link in the chain between us and the devs.
The only revealing piece of data on that link would be if the negative reviews zeroed in on the same issue.
Wow! So you are calling them total liers and that they are full of BS. I seen how fast that thread was closed, I will assume this would be closed. If people start commenting how they feel about Cryptic lack of capacity to create game content passing some of the buck to players.
and by the way.
Who pay money to Cryptic through lockboxes and other monetization to create content including regular and featured episode, and to make end game content.
I believe in the corporate trickle down effect from top level to the bottom level. This game is going from Star Trek IP to Star Trek / Star Wars (Breen - Outfit hinted to Princess Leia outfit in Star Wars) / Seaquest DSV (Xindi ships etc) / Pokemon (Dumb downed Borg, Undine, and Voth), WIndows 8 Metro (New Doff UI interface), and Babylon 5/Deep Space Nine (Just blow up stuff and pew pew). Kill Online
We just need to add the Millineum Falcon to the game. It's canon because it was in First Contact.
Always thought this was funny of Cryptic originality.
http://i.stack.imgur.com/4h2va.jpg
MOST people will go to complain about their company they previously or currently work for vs posting when it's favorable.
Considering what I saw at PWE when I went there, and the interaction I got from the staff (even someone offered me all the release dates for the rest of the year STO wise hehe) , Some of those reviews may be a little far fetched but that is also their opinion.
You can believe which ever way you want, I tend to read reviews, look at more than just ranting evidence and make my own conclusion.
Former Community Moderator, Former SSR DJ, Now Full time father to two kids, Husband, Retail Worker.
Tiktok: @Askray Facebook: Askray113
I just don't believe the statement could be used to justify Cryptic lack of ability.(Who takes out exploration out of Star Trek the very basis of exploration, and human and alien interaction without a replacement. Expectng it to be Star Trek.)
I still find it funny they rushed a R&D weekend. I'm assuming people have been touching it but because it takes so long to get something worthwhile that it's a dead on. Monitoring the exchange for the items and it seems stagnant. I myself not touching the R&D but just collecting the materials from the Borg STF'S and Doff science and exploration missions.
Due to the clickie and scrollie UI interface, I'm not touching that thing. I still think the older UI had a lot wasn't hard to decipher. If the research and development was lacking. They could usually get community members t o create tutorials or whatever.