Feedback is a precious, priceless gift.

[Clatius 455]

Pretty much how I feel about the ridiculousness of people picketing over American politics, or Religion in general. Of course, saying that to people is likely to start a fight.

 

Some concerns over minor changes (No more Christmas Trees in Airports!? WAR ON CHRISTMAS!) don't really matter much, but these issues are very important to some people.

 

Just because I don't feel their concerns are important enough for me to care about, doesn't mean I can flippantly state it's not worth talking about at all. It's just empathy 101.

[akaedis 429]

You should probably read my entire post. You obviously didn't... you saw "mooring rope" and made some bad assumptions...

 

I have read it, You don't understand any of the developers decisions. Patching a un-intended feature to not adding much needed feature. 

 

My post may appear to be about "Oh they removed mooring rope, rawr", but its not. its this, quoting myself:

"I don't blame the team for refusing to read these forums for feedback anymore given how the community reacted yesterday. "

Ever consider how insulting it is to read these posts? Specially yours? If you don't, That's fine, But iv been in their position once, and its not pleasant when you get your type of posts. It makes one just want to give up on the project, Or leave the project, like i did. 

Edited March 22, 2015 by akaedis

[chrilauer 2]

You are comparing a GAME with real life. LMFAO. So yeah. life matters because it's not a GAME. Anyway, this is so far off topic it's pointless in this thread. You don't understand the difference between moving pixels around and real life fine. I got nothing more to say about this. 

Do you play this game?

No: You are not relevant.

Yes: Do you care about whether your time is spent for activities that are fun or annoying?

No: You are most likely unable to understand why other gamers are upset and probably no amount of writing will change that. Same holds true for the other side, because most of the ones who care will assume that you care too.

Yes: Do you trust other gamers that the stuff they criticise makes the gameplay more annoying and less fun for them?

No: You most likely lack the empathy needed to understand why and how others feel and probably no amount of writing will change that. The other side will constantly assume that you are just trolling them.

Yes: Stop trolling.

 

Seriously:

Wurm is compareable to (parts of) real life - as it exactly _is_ a part of real life (well, only if you actually play of course). When i spend hours on playing Wurm, i do in real life spend this hours playing Wurm. The quality of that time spend is relevant to most players. And most players therefore care about whether developers nerf or fix things. Also different players will see changes as a nerf while others see them as a fix.

Trying to convince the "it is a nerf" camp that it is indeed a fix will most often not work regardless how much efford you put into it. Trying to convince the "it is a fix" camp that it is indeed a nerf will also most often not work.

But playing the "it is not that relevant" card against any camp will also not work. But for them it is relevant - otherwise they would not have written about it. And it does not matter whether there are more relevant things. It does not matter because the thread is about that thing and therefore stating the irrelevance of the topic is irrelevant as one just can go on to a more relevant topic.

 

I do think, that the four-animals-leading mooring rope was a nice thing to have. I started around Xmas last year and only used mooring ropes to lead animals untill the nerf (so i am in the "it is a nerf" camp). But as Wurm's UI is that annoying anyway i think this nerf does not really matter for me. It is so minor in comparison to things like:

• The lag!

Wurm logic!

UI Inconsistencies like that one needs to select each part/material by hand when building some things while not needing to do that when building structures.

Not beeing able to directly use stuff from the carts and containers i have inventory access to as if they where in my inventory (important when building structures).

That digging/leveling places the dirt in my inventory and therefore stops when that fills up. In real life one does dig stuff either to another place on the ground or into a bulk container. One or both of that methods should be implemented.

The useless work queue not waiting for stamina before going on.

The "trapped in steepslope hell" situations when riding.

That bashing almost anything takes forever even if its yours and was quick to build. It should not be normal that one has to use catapults to destroy fences in own village just because bashing them would take weeks (and the catapult method is still taking days). even as a PvE player i see that the PvP implications do not allow fast bashing of others' stuff. But i should be able to bash in equal or less time at least structures i built myself.

The constant flicker of fighting textures whenever two objects are at the same place (but that they are at the same place does _not_ annoy me - don't know why though).

Not beeing able to transfer whole stacks between bulk containers regardless of strength (devs admit it: your evil plan is to make all the players get carpal canal syndrome).

That one stops leading when unmounting anything.

I do not lead animals that often anyway. But that unlead on unmount bug should get fixed and leading UI should get improved somehow (maybe not needing to select ropes - just having them in inventory and selecting the lead item in the animal's context menu should suffice). And i really wonder why this game does not need _any_ clicking at all for fighting but makes almost everything else including the simplest of things into a real clicking orgy...

 

And regarding that wall flipping: Did not try it yet but its nice to know its there - just in case i need it.

 

 

I only play Wurm because minecraft is so ugly visually!

[Belrindor 663]

I have read it, You don't understand any of the developers decisions. Patching a un-intended feature to not adding much needed feature. 

 

My post may appear to be about "Oh they removed mooring rope, rawr", but its not. its this, quoting myself:

"I don't blame the team for refusing to read these forums for feedback anymore given how the community reacted yesterday. "

Ever consider how insulting it is to read these posts? Specially yours? If you don't, That's fine, But iv been in their position once, and its not pleasant when you get your type of posts. It makes one just want to give up on the project, Or leave the project, like i did. 

I can see your point, truly. I've been in the dev shoes before myself. (Not on a game, but same diff.)

 

However, this isn't a charity. They are PAID for this. If a little bit of 'negative' response to nibblenuttery that they seem to perpetuate by lack of foresight of impending fallout from their own (repeated) actions makes them want to quit the project... then they probably aren't in the right field in the first place. Ye absolutely cannot be thin skinned and work on providing a service you then sell to people.

 

Criticism, constructive and otherwise, is the expected norm. So are fanbois who try to curry favor. (Not saying ye in particular, just that every game has them in droves.)

[Dairuka 888]

You are comparing a GAME with real life. LMFAO. So yeah. life matters because it's not a GAME. Anyway, this is so far off topic it's pointless in this thread. You don't understand the difference between moving pixels around and real life fine. I got nothing more to say about this. 

 

You don't get it, and that's sad.

[KanePT 699]

I have read it, You don't understand any of the developers decisions. Patching a un-intended feature to not adding much needed feature. 

 

My post may appear to be about "Oh they removed mooring rope, rawr", but its not. its this, quoting myself:

"I don't blame the team for refusing to read these forums for feedback anymore given how the community reacted yesterday. "

Ever consider how insulting it is to read these posts? Specially yours? If you don't, That's fine, But iv been in their position once, and its not pleasant when you get your type of posts. It makes one just want to give up on the project, Or leave the project, like i did. 

Does anyone, ever? Specially when Rolf is directly and the single perpetrator of those changes?

Half the time he does stuff on a whim that are so deeply out of place that it blows anyone's mind.

And there's always that little nag... Was it entirely unintended? Because it strikes me as odd that that particular object got that particular use on that particular time with it being entirely unintended.

Because, we KNOW for a fact that Rolf isn't always honest whith classifying stuff as bugs, we know it, because he used that excuse one time too many on stuff that had been added on purpose due to players asking.

So, yes, while in 99% of the MMOs out there i'd agree with you, Wurm has a history that makes us wonder.

 

 

Do you play this game?

No: You are not relevant.

Yes: Do you care about whether your time is spent for activities that are fun or annoying?

No: You are most likely unable to understand why other gamers are upset and probably no amount of writing will change that. Same holds true for the other side, because most of the ones who care will assume that you care too.

Yes: Do you trust other gamers that the stuff they criticise makes the gameplay more annoying and less fun for them?

No: You most likely lack the empathy needed to understand why and how others feel and probably no amount of writing will change that. The other side will constantly assume that you are just trolling them.

Yes: Stop trolling.

 

Seriously:

Wurm is compareable to (parts of) real life - as it exactly _is_ a part of real life (well, only if you actually play of course). When i spend hours on playing Wurm, i do in real life spend this hours playing Wurm. The quality of that time spend is relevant to most players. And most players therefore care about whether developers nerf or fix things. Also different players will see changes as a nerf while others see them as a fix.

Trying to convince the "it is a nerf" camp that it is indeed a fix will most often not work regardless how much efford you put into it. Trying to convince the "it is a fix" camp that it is indeed a nerf will also most often not work.

But playing the "it is not that relevant" card against any camp will also not work. But for them it is relevant - otherwise they would not have written about it. And it does not matter whether there are more relevant things. It does not matter because the thread is about that thing and therefore stating the irrelevance of the topic is irrelevant as one just can go on to a more relevant topic.

 

I do think, that the four-animals-leading mooring rope was a nice thing to have. I started around Xmas last year and only used mooring ropes to lead animals untill the nerf (so i am in the "it is a nerf" camp). But as Wurm's UI is that annoying anyway i think this nerf does not really matter for me. It is so minor in comparison to things like:

• The lag!

Wurm logic!

UI Inconsistencies like that one needs to select each part/material by hand when building some things while not needing to do that when building structures.

Not beeing able to directly use stuff from the carts and containers i have inventory access to as if they where in my inventory (important when building structures).

That digging/leveling places the dirt in my inventory and therefore stops when that fills up. In real life one does dig stuff either to another place on the ground or into a bulk container. One or both of that methods should be implemented.

The useless work queue not waiting for stamina before going on.

The "trapped in steepslope hell" situations when riding.

That bashing almost anything takes forever even if its yours and was quick to build. It should not be normal that one has to use catapults to destroy fences in own village just because bashing them would take weeks (and the catapult method is still taking days). even as a PvE player i see that the PvP implications do not allow fast bashing of others' stuff. But i should be able to bash in equal or less time at least structures i built myself.

The constant flicker of fighting textures whenever two objects are at the same place (but that they are at the same place does _not_ annoy me - don't know why though).

Not beeing able to transfer whole stacks between bulk containers regardless of strength (devs admit it: your evil plan is to make all the players get carpal canal syndrome).

That one stops leading when unmounting anything.

I do not lead animals that often anyway. But that unlead on unmount bug should get fixed and leading UI should get improved somehow (maybe not needing to select ropes - just having them in inventory and selecting the lead item in the animal's context menu should suffice). And i really wonder why this game does not need _any_ clicking at all for fighting but makes almost everything else including the simplest of things into a real clicking orgy...

 

And regarding that wall flipping: Did not try it yet but its nice to know its there - just in case i need it.

 

 

I only play Wurm because minecraft is so ugly visually!

Best post in this thread. And a few good examples of stuff that should have had higher priority than removing a QoL improvement (intended or otherwise).

 

I can see your point, truly. I've been in the dev shoes before myself. (Not on a game, but same diff.)

 

However, this isn't a charity. They are PAID for this. If a little bit of 'negative' response to nibblenuttery that they seem to perpetuate by lack of foresight of impending fallout from their own (repeated) actions makes them want to quit the project... then they probably aren't in the right field in the first place. Ye absolutely cannot be thin skinned and work on providing a service you then sell to people.

 

Criticism, constructive and otherwise, is the expected norm. So are fanbois who try to curry favor. (Not saying ye in particular, just that every game has them in droves.)

This

Edited March 22, 2015 by KanePT

[Keenan 5,539]

I have read it, You don't understand any of the developers decisions. Patching a un-intended feature to not adding much needed feature. 

 

My post may appear to be about "Oh they removed mooring rope, rawr", but its not. its this, quoting myself:

"I don't blame the team for refusing to read these forums for feedback anymore given how the community reacted yesterday. "

Ever consider how insulting it is to read these posts? Specially yours? If you don't, That's fine, But iv been in their position once, and its not pleasant when you get your type of posts. It makes one just want to give up on the project, Or leave the project, like i did. 

[akaedis 429]

If criticism is insulting, another career path may be in order.

 

We are paying customers. We have a voice. If that's insulting, this game is dead already.

 

People like you just like to silence those of us with a voice, for whatever reason. I can't understand it, but I don't have to.

Edited March 22, 2015 by akaedis

[Fawkes 1,567]

So much crying over a damn rope. Frankly it's embarrassing to be part of this community sometimes.

People liked the convenience that that bug gave them and they're upset that it was taken away. We get it. It should be added back in some form or another. But there are ways to conduct yourselves properly if you want to get results, just like in real life. The rules of social engagement don't go out the window just because you're on the internet, or because you're a "paying customer" (assuming you even pay real money for your premium in the first place).

The old saying is that "the customer is always right," except...that's not really true, is it? Anyone who's worked in the service industry knows that there are some super-entitled people walking around on this planet. They're the types who have to be dragged out the door kicking and screaming until they're red in the face because they didn't get what they wanted. Then, behind closed doors, these same people are mocked in a whiny voice and none of their concerns are taken seriously, even if they were legitimate problems. That's what the Wurm community has become. If we are slighted in any way, all hell breaks loose. Combine that with the anonymity that the internet provides and the ways that that corrupts people, and good god, it makes you feel bad for the devs. Just once I'd like to see this community tone down all the hostility, and maybe we'd see more cooperation from the devs moving forward.

[Sarcaticous 338]

Feedback is an opinion. Opinions are like belly buttons. Everyone has one. So no, feedback isn't precious and besides, some people only want to hear the feedback they want to hear and tag anything else as trolling.

 

And then there are the people who curse you for your feedback even though they didn't ask anyone for any feedback. They tell you you're wrong cuz your brain works ok and somehow theirs is in a funk I guess.  Like this one:

 

"People like you just like to silence those of us with a voice, for whatever reason. I can't understand it, but I don't have to."

 

Now see, that's someone who only wants to hear from people who have the exact same opinion and hate at anyone different.

Edited March 22, 2015 by Sarcaticous

[Keenan 5,539]

This is exactly what im talking about. Speaks down with self entitlement and belittles the devs & acts like a spoiled child. 

 

Criticism isn't meant to be insulting. Ever. If you think it is supposed to insult someone or can insult someone, Your not giving criticism, Your giving them a piece of your own mind, Like i am right now. 

 

Criticism is the disapproval of a feature, Theirs many ways to approach it & handle it, But the way the community reacted is really just un-acceptable. 

 

Constructive criticism is pointing out the good and the bad points, What one approves of and disapproves of. 

 

Why people like us silence others? Its because we've been their, we know what its like, And were defending it. You do the same thing probably, Not in this manner ofcourse, but similar. Similar how? Well think of this:

 

You see a man beating a women or a child. Do you stand back and walk away or do you try and stop the fight? Or verbally stop it? Or just all around intervene? If your the kind of person who would walk off, then you will never understand it. But people like myself, We'l intervene and help stop the attack. Your doing the very same thing here right now, Your the man attacking.

 

Perhaps this is a strong example, Perhaps not the most fitting one, But the point is clear enough i hope. 

[Shiraek 464]

Hrm. OP is true up to a point.

 

Another perspective, from one who receives such feedback... not all feedback is priceless. Some of it, frankly, is closer to worthless.

1. People playing MMOs often confuse what would be good for their character, with what would be good for their game, and many other things. Such as what would be good for them or their 'group', with what would be good for the playerbase as a whole.
   
2. Many player supplied ideas are bad ideas. Sorry, fact of life. If everyone was a great game designer, there would be a lot of really great games out there. A lot more than there are. Even great ideas can be vastly more expensive to build than you might think, making them on balance, a bad idea (cost vs. benefit, opportunity cost)
   
3. Players in general have a very poor idea of how much work goes into these things. Sometimes that huge thing you think will take weeks is a one-liner in a config file somewhere. Other times that "one simple thing" you're asking for is actually a new feature that none of our databases are structured for yet and requires much of the game to be rewritten.
   
4. Very little feedback on this forum in particular is written constructively. If these were my forums, I might've stopped reading them by now, or stopped developing the game because it's just not rewarding. Put yourself in a developer's shoes and read the front page of Town Square's threads. There's a lot of unhelpful nastiness, sarcasm, contempt, cynicism etc shown. You're asking someone... to do work for you. If you were their boss, how would you do that? I would suggest you'd do it politely and respectfully, or you wouldn't be their boss for long... and you aren't their boss now! So why is it OK to use this kind of language to a game developer, even a CEO of a company who's started something out of nothing at their own cost and now employs a whole team?
   
5. A lot of feedback has no clear action item you can take away from it. In other words, it might be a valid expression of feeling but there is very little use in reading it. Try reading every thread in this forum and come up with a set of action items from them... where you CAN come up with action to take, often one thread's action will contradict another and there's no clear path through it. Often in the same threads there are great arguments both for and against something. When I see that, I almost never take action unless I absolutely have to for the good of the game.
   

I'm not saying "Games Developers are angelic creatures and you should kiss our behinds and approach us with reverence and awe". I'm saying we're human, and we react like any other human to feedback - even when we know user feedback IS often priceless (and it is). I'm saying bearing this in mind when framing and wording your feedback gives you a much better chance of getting the work you wanted done. I'm saying that after working 15 hours straight on that new feature, bashing our heads against insane limitations in our engines, operating systems and hardware for hour after hour and dealing with 100x the bugs you do, often bugs in other people's code we can't get fixed or fix ourselves and have no option but to live with and hide from you, when we log onto our forums or into our games and are confronted with negativity, it doesn't help anything. It certainly doesn't make the good feedback any easier to find or take on board.

 

Even your OP here ends with "you can lead a horse to water...". Read that back to yourself. "You're stupid and/or stubborn, and I know better than you, doing my best to explain it as simply as possible." That's how I read it, and it wasn't directed at me.

 

I'm also not saying Wurm has no problems. Wurm has big problems. Structural problems. Technology problems. Code club AB don't communicate with the playerbase well. The development team strike me as more than a little burned out actually. But how do they engage with this community and say that? And how will this community help them fall in love with the game again? I don't see how. Not this community. Not with this attitude.

 

And where's your sense of perspective? I would bet a lot of people complaining bitterly of this or that have been playing for years. Many of you with thousands of hours racked up. You've probably got games in Steam with 40 hours played that you think are wonderful, while you run this one down. It's held your attention this long, there's no doubt a lot you love about it. So would it kill you to write from that perspective? As though when you're being critical you're picking apart a minor issue in a mostly good game, with a view to improving it? Or suggesting a possible new feature so you can go on enjoying a game you've loved for years? Instead of complaining about yet another huge flaw in an overall terrible game with the expectation that your complaint, yet again, will fall upon inexplicably deaf ears?

[Ayes 3,715]

*Linked here*

[Belrindor 663]

Hrm. OP is true up to a point.

 

Another perspective, from one who receives such feedback... not all feedback is priceless. Some of it, frankly, is closer to worthless.

Even your OP here ends with "you can lead a horse to water...". Read that back to yourself. "You're stupid and/or stubborn, and I know better than you, doing my best to explain it as simply as possible." That's how I read it, and it wasn't directed at me.

 

[Alyeska 2,621]

Feedback is a great thing, and it's just that. It's advice, in which you consider that perhaps your idea of what would be fun/good/enjoyable will be added to the game. On the other hand, what if what you think is enjoyable conflicts with what others think is fun? All you end up with is something you would normally see in the monkey cage at the zoo, certain excrements being flung around.

 

Hey, FPS games are much more popular than wurm, my idea is to turn wurm into a shooting game to gain more players, it would be best for the game, draw in lots of people and renew the game, start over like many people want.

 

You are against this change? You stupid fanboy, you're stuck in your own world.

You're trying to prevent wurm from growing, this is what is right for wurm.

You must have some sort of investment yourself that you don't want the game to change for the better.

 

Hey, FPS games are much more popular than wurm, my idea is to turn wurm into a shooting game to gain more players, it would be best for the game, draw in lots of people and renew the game, start over like many people want.

 

"oh my god, are you retarded? That's the dumbest idea I've ever heard."

"If you like FPS games so much why don't you get the hell out of wurm and go back to your other games?"

"This won't work, wurm is good the way it is, don't change anything"

 

The problem with responding to feedback in a public place is the way people respond to it when they see their playstyle OR their ideas threatened. The problem with responding to private feedback is that people cannot voice their opinions about a subject when proposed, and the developers will be labeled as biased.

 

 

Moral of the story; I am sure the devs see the feedback and consider it, and as with any internet community, it is simply a good idea not to respond because you will get yelled at either way. Many of these very angry posters will be surprised to see Rolf actually DOES care and DOES listen; it's just that sometimes you cannot see it. That does mean that your feedback is valuable and you should not stop giving it! If you look with a neutral view, the game has improved; lots of requested things have been added. There's also been changes some people did not like, convenient bugs have been fixed, changes were made that affect how some people play the game. For some the same changes have improved the game. On both the wurm meets I went to Rolf took the time to talk to every person and ask how they felt about the game, what needed to be changed, and what he could do to improve. He wouldn't even have been there if he didn't care.

Edited March 26, 2015 by Alyeska

[Belrindor 663]

Broken into two parts for size.

 

Part I:

 

Hey there Shiraek. Thanks for taking the time to post. Even though the original post was certainly not directed at you or anyone other than the devs.

 

Ye seem to take this very personally. Ye also use 'we' when describing developers, so I take it you've either developed a game yerself, and/oror fancy yerself peers with the Wurm devs. (As opposed to, say, us lowly untermenchen, who do not and cannot possibly understand the pressures one is under as a 'dev', yes?)

 

You may not have meant it like that, but that's certainly how it sounds to me. Apologies if that's not the case.

 

You mention my OP sounding like one knew better or was stubborn, yet you come of with the exact same thing in your post towards me. You likely have exactly ZERO idea what I've done career wise. I've been on the dev end, though not on games. Boring, real world stuff that every day people use at their jobs every single day to feed their families. Nothing so important as a video game.

 

My OP was about treating the customers right. Without the customers, you have nothing. Yea, you have a game, but no way to host it, no way to pay for it, and no one to inhabit it and breathe life into it.

 

This was a plea to get the... how shall we say... 'rather lackluster' communication between dev and player onto (at the very least) a more even par with most of every other MMO out there in existence.

 

Maybe the devs just like to code and aren't people persons. That's fine.

 

You know what, I'm not a people person. (Does it show?) A large portion of people in today's day and age are downright vile, and have zero morals whatsoever. I don't tolerate those people very well, and I tolerate them not at all in my private life. Hence, I don't like 'most' people much.

 

This time, here, on this forum. Is my private time. My paid, private time I might add, as I'm a currently subbed Premium paying customer.

 

But professionally, you'd never know that I don't like people so much, because when I'm under contract the customer is my god. I'll move heaven and earth to take care of that customer. I'll go above and beyond the customers expectations as routinely as most people fall below them. If I don't 'wow' my customer, I'm not doing my job right and I need to re-evaluate my performance. Why? Because that's my job. That's what I'm PAID to do, and because my personal and professional pride won't let me do any less.

 

Ask ANYONE I've dealt with in Wurm on a business transaction, either supplying or purchasing, and ask them what I'm like to deal with, and if I'm professional in my dealings.
I'm prompt, I over-deliver, and when purchasing something, I pay instantly as technologically possible. Here on the forums, it's just chit chat. And a thousand and one folks who seem to have nothing better to do than derail threads. (Not you, Shiraek, just in general.)

 

Edited for formatting.

 

Edited March 26, 2015 by Belrindor

[KanePT 699]

A very well done post Shiraek, although I am at times guilty of the same inconsideration and stand accused. The thing is that posters personalities are the influencing factor in how they present their ideas and frustrations. Some are far less in control and oblivious to the use of tact to get their points across. A Dale Carnegie course would be of great help to such.

 

I often am impressed by Rolf's character, that he continues on under such thoughtlessness and seemingly ingratitude for this wonderful creation that we participate within. Still, the forums serve a valid and needful purpose to provide the opportunity to express concerns and dissatisfactions with aspects of the game.

 

Hopefully the "secret" committee of reviewers of these posts will still be sifting through them to separate the wheat from the chaff and then pass it on in a more restrained and considerate manner to those who have the power to make positive changes when needed. This way Rolf can continue to enjoy his time further developing the game without too much distraction from the less considerate and frustrated poster child candidates for D.Carnegie's beginner lessons.

 

=Ayes=

[Belrindor 663]

Part II:

 

You don't need to love people to have good customer service. You just need to DO YOUR JOB.

 

Now, the new PR rep, I'm rather impressed with. Seems like they were the old rep before Johan, but that's before my time. Anyway, a positive step in the right direction. Punctual, professional, and informative. I like that guy. Wossoo, I think his handle is. Need more like him.

 

My point of view comes from a lifetime of exposure to doing customer service work. Over 20+ years in the trenches. That exposure has also coloured MY viewpoint, and I recognize that.
(I'm also fairly good at smelling BS a mile away and not shy about calling out people on it.)

 

But here, I am not the employee. I am not on the front line helping to retain customers against the absolutely ridiculous policies of people who have no idea what it's like to be on the front line of customer service. I don't need to be nicey-nice to the people I'm paying. Just not vulgar.

 

We are the customers in this instance. We pay the company's bills. Rolf and co don't pay my mortgage. See the difference?

 

When I've trained new customer service reps, the thing I try to engrain into their brains first off the bat is the phrase 'Perception is EVERYTHING'. And it is. Why?

 

Perception is how we think about a certain situation. The actual facts of the situation are likely irrelevent, and will be dominated by perception every single time.

 

Fact: Average wait times for a GM in Wurm are pretty short, all in all, and will fluctuate depending upon the volume of tickets at any given moment.
Fact: Most people don't give a rip when they're stuck up a mountain with a boat and can't play.

 

Even though the facts are that response times are pretty quick, the perception of the person in question will be coloured by their circumstance. In this example, a highly unpleasant one.
Now, don't mistake me here. That's just an example on fact vs perception. I think the GMs do a capital job most of the time, and that the wait times are very short all in all, all around.
Perception is the key.

 

Rolf and co may be the most awesome, feedback reading, caring people in the world.

How would we EVER know that?

 

Take a poll if you dare and ask people what they feel Wurm's dev communication with the players is like, and strap yerself in for a rocket ride.

 

There needs to be contact and communication. REGULAR contact and communication.

 

Just like nearly every single other MMO out there.

 

That's all I'm asking for. And I ask you... is that too much to ask?

Edited March 26, 2015 by Belrindor

[xzea 20]

The problem is a lot of people seem to think their feedback and ideas are the best and the developers should do what they want. Thus when the developer does something that does not fit with their idea of how the game should be they throw a hissy fit and we get post along the lines of "Revert this now", "The developers sucks / don't know what there doing" and "The developers don't listen to the players". Happens almost every time. They forget the game is not just made for them and the overall is more important than any indiviual player.

Edited March 26, 2015 by xzea

[Mordraug 2,542]

Main MAIN problem with game developers and owners... They've become overly sensitive prima donnas.

 

Had the misfortune of working at a call center in my youth... one of the first things they tell you during the first day of training:

 

"You'll deal with angry customers, they'll be angry because they're paying for something and getting something different to what was expected or promised.... DON'T TAKE IT PERSONALLY, THEY'RE VENTING FRUSTRATION.  Listen to them, find out what the exact problem is, it's usually simpler than the person thinks.  If you take it personally, you'll be a frustrated mess unable to do your job properly and the customer will pick up on that and his frustration will grow."

 

Switch to the 21st century gaming industry, and customers suddenly are the developers' kids and can be told to shut up, change their tone, lose the attitude, but by all means keep sending that sweet sweet money.

 

Takes me to the other think game developers and owners (and shills.. bloody screaming whiteknighting ranting teenaged derailing shills) seem to have completely forgotten:   If the game's free, then yes it's absolutely your game and if you want to change peoples' swords to noodles one morning, it's your right as it'll probably lower your costs if a good portion of the population quits.  HOWEVER... if your BUSINESS MODEL includes taking money from the players through subscriptions/microtransactions, it means you NEED THEIR MONEY TO KEEP THE GAME ALIVE, which makes them CUSTOMERS. 

 

"Relax, it's just a game"... sure, nice to chant that  over and over... would YOU willingly accept it if your ISP halved your bandwidth from one day to the other while charging the same fees, and when you call support they tell you to "Chill, you only facebook with it" and then proceed to open the line so a bunch of customers can scream at you for complaining?  Would you accept it if your ISP went on to email you saying that if you keep complaining they'll disconnect you for a week?

 

So yeah, feedback's important.  Paying attention to feedback is what guarantees that flow of money from paying customers.  No one's doing anyone any favors here.  We keep our end of the bargain every time we pay.  A developer breaking his end of the bargain to any extent because he thinks the players are full of it is bad business and arrogantly unethical.  A developer breaking his end of the deal because a minuscule fraction of the playerbase are "pals" is not only stupid, it's insulting to the other customers as you're basically telling them that their dollar is worth less than the pal's dollar.

 

If you want a mature, calm playerbase, follow that feedback and act accordingly while they're still calm.  Treat the playerbase like kids in your classroom, they'll react accordingly.  Act like you've got authority over your paying customers while treating them like children, you risk ending up with a child's monthly income and no moral grounds to be hurt over the replies you'll get.

 

Not just Wurm, all of you, players and staff alike.  You ever open your own business, Remember This Rant.

/rantoff 

Edited March 26, 2015 by Mordraug

[Belrindor 663]

That was well stated, Mordraug. And the bottom line is simple: They'll get it or they won't.

 

And that's what I meant by you can lead a horse to water. You can show him the obvious. But you can't make him accept it.

[joedobo 1,187]

Premium account voting system! Ya, Wurm at one point seemed like it was going to try this out. Aside from some really simple customer feedback situations ( pristine/release connection and elevation reset) it hasn't been used. 

 

I've just accepted that game developers are like artsy rock star types and they are going to make whatever "art" suits their desire. The players will either like it or they won't. Such an idea seems off to me but I don't' have the power to force change.

 

imo...A humble code monkey > a arrogant, full of vision, developer.

[Belrindor 663]

 

I've just accepted that game developers are like artsy rock star types and they are going to make whatever "art" suits their desire. The players will either like it or they won't. Such an idea seems off to me but I don't' have the power to force change.

 

 

[Klaa 4,872]

Smurf you

[fatboy 448]

When you signed up for this game, you agreed to the agreements. Insaid agreements, it is stated, your accounts, land, servers can be randomly deleted by the dev's anytime. You agree to play the game as is and that some things you are used to can and might be changed at anytime, Some of them might be bugs or features etc.  Point is, you agreed to this , Accept it or more on. i use 3 ropes, i never knew of the mooring rope crap, ive been here for years. So those complaining, stop being lazy, takes  a second to lead an animal, 3 sec for 3 animals and 3 sec to release them. Its not hard. Try having a new feature destroy your deed for months that ya dumped golds into.  I wasnt happy about it, it sucked, but crap happens, im still here and still investing into the game.  Also,  feedback is a great thing, we have a thread for that,  leave your suggestions, very detailed and  when devs can they will look at them. Honestly, im really tierd of people demanding this and that and wanting it all handed to them when they want it. Truth is only 25% of the playerbase or more or less use the fourms, so when you say everyone wants something back, your wrong, as you havent heard from everyone.   Last time i checked was suppose to be a ingame voteing system for this kinda stuff, i think its time to use it more often.