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Author Topic: Day 1 - 3: Alcohol  (Read 90601 times)
schild
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on: October 27, 2005, 11:00:52 PM

I went to a 3 discussions on day 1. Something about sex, something about splinter cell, and something about something. I don't remember - at least not right now. We recorded them. After we clean it up, you'll get transcripts of the best parts. I met a lot of people. There are more attractive women in this industry then I ever would have expected. This is a nice, small convention. I met people who knew me but I didn't know them. I met grimwell and the rest of the gamergod folks. I went to a dinner with a trifect of evil - two people from Mutable Realms and David Bowman. They have my business cards. They'll probably read this, but I'm too drunk to take notice. There's a fair chance I won't remember making this post. Smed's keynote speech was good. I have a different opinion about the guy now. We recorded most of it. He let us in on a little uhmm..."secret?" DC Comics online is TWITCH. Correct. Not hotkey, not autoattack - but rather fast paced super heroes kicking fast paced supervillian ass. He told me he reads f13. Every day. He may have been feeding me a friendly jab. I'll know after I fly out to SOE headquarters this week. I missed a bunch of lectures. Instead I talked to people from CCP, Garage Games, hung out and drank with the guys from Playtechtonics, Garage games, etc. I met Lum. It was worth it. Everything here was worth it. Then I drank more. Mythic bought me beer. I didn't see anyone from Mythic there, but I went out, bought a 40, and poured it out for them. I've avoided some people. It was deft. I'm a digital ninja. I went to a fantastic discussion on sex, as mentioned earlier. We have an exciting thing in the works for you folks with something called "teledildonics." This is serious shit. Stop laughing. You can't not take this shit seriously. Everyone else is, and I'm in that bandwagon. There's a fair market for the wonkiest shit you could imagine. Then I drank more. I've eaten good food - there's a lot of it here. At least as much as Phoenix, if not more. But it's all contained to 2-3 streets in Austin as opposed to a massive desert in Phx. I had lunch with Dave Rickey. He's awesome. I partied for him, it was the least I could do. I met a lot of folks from NCSoft I talk to a lot but never met. Good people. I met the guys from Three Rings, they're awesome as well. Clan PMS and Kat from the Fragdolls were there. I wanted them to sign my asscheeks. I couldn't find a sharpie, so I drank more. It's the least I could do. We went to 2 parties tonight. One thrown by a Korean company. They bought us one beer. Then the one thrown by the Garage Games guys. That was an open bar. God bless America. I saw a lot of women I wouldn't mind having as "booth babes." But I'm slightly blasted, so who knows. I've got a lot of interviews tomorrow. We're recording them. Don't get me wrong, I'm here for the children, but I'm allowed to have fun too, right? You can try to decipher this post, but it's not in order and it's really not proofread.

Reports incoming. For now, you see what I see.

« Last Edit: October 27, 2005, 11:03:09 PM by schild »
HRose
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Reply #1 on: October 28, 2005, 01:31:57 AM

Did SirBruce grope you?

You met a few interesting persons there. I envy.

-HRose / Abalieno
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Lt.Dan
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Reply #2 on: October 28, 2005, 05:41:16 AM

Wow, toss in a couple of drug references and bash Nixon and I think you could be you-know-who. ;)
Cheddar
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Reply #3 on: October 28, 2005, 05:51:35 AM

You guys almost make me want to actually work towards joining the industry, then I read about Sir Bruce groping people.   Thank God for reality checks!

No Nerf, but I put a link to this very thread and I said that you all can guarantee for my purity. I even mentioned your case, and see if they can take a look at your lawn from a Michigan perspective.
SuperPopTart
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Reply #4 on: October 28, 2005, 07:04:15 AM

I really wish I could think of Smedley in decent terms but honestly, I can't fathom him being a "good guy". I can fathom him being shiny, fake and very plastic.

I may be jaded.

But I don't think so.

I am Super, I am a Pop Tart.
schild
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Reply #5 on: October 28, 2005, 07:15:16 AM

Ok, how about this. Smedley didn't have a group of people dressed in SS uniforms behind him. Most people are nice irl, the ones I didn't want to meet are the ones I just want to continue to assume are jackfruits.
Signe
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Muse.


Reply #6 on: October 28, 2005, 07:28:00 AM

I guess you were too busy to make paragraphs and too drunk to make sense.  I understood it, but then, I'm on mind altering medications.  Normal people don't stand a chance.

My Sig Image: hath rid itself of this mortal coil.
HaemishM
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Reply #7 on: October 28, 2005, 08:19:32 AM

Normal people don't stand a chance.

There should be no one here that matches that description.

SuperPopTart
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Reply #8 on: October 28, 2005, 09:20:07 AM

Ok, how about this. Smedley didn't have a group of people dressed in SS uniforms behind him. Most people are nice irl, the ones I didn't want to meet are the ones I just want to continue to assume are jackfruits.

Sorry, I have very little respect for a man who calls his consumers "Credit Cards with Legs". No matter what type of facade he puts up to impress the people who review his products.

If I'm wrong or off on the quote, sue me.

Edit: Sorry about the misquote - so many of them out there it's a bit of a jumble.

However, I am going to edit this to say that he's still someone that I think doesn't know a damn thing about his own consumers, or just doesn't care. The only way I think my opinion of him would improve is if he actually came out and said "Hey, we've done things wrong so why don't we just go out there, REALLY survey our consumers and see what we need to do to make a better game."

Quote me on that.
« Last Edit: October 28, 2005, 09:50:13 AM by SuperPopTart »

I am Super, I am a Pop Tart.
HaemishM
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Reply #9 on: October 28, 2005, 09:39:02 AM

It was Kelly Flock that called the EQ customers that I think. He's long gone and working at some other company. Not that that makes Smedley any less of a pigfucker, just getting the quote right.

Merusk
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Reply #10 on: October 28, 2005, 11:16:54 AM

However, I am going to edit this to say that he's still someone that I think doesn't know a damn thing about his own consumers, or just doesn't care. The only way I think my opinion of him would improve is if he actually came out and said "Hey, we've done things wrong so why don't we just go out there, REALLY survey our consumers and see what we need to do to make a better game."

He did do that, what, two years ago now? Problem is, he only surveyed all the hardcore raiding people.  The sole 'casual' rep was Woody from GU comics (A single guy with no kids who works from his house and makes his living off of drawing one comic a day is a bad choice for that, IMO, but hey better than nothing.)  Then, just as predicted by the rest of us who had been saying catering to these people was stupid because they were going to jump ship, it happened. 

I really can't feel  bad about it. They had their shot, they said there were problems, and then ignored most of their playerbase in favor of the noisiest segment of it.  Blizzard's doing the same thing and if/ when it happens to them I won't feel bad about that either.

The past cannot be changed. The future is yet within your power.
SuperPopTart
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Reply #11 on: October 28, 2005, 11:44:41 AM

However, I am going to edit this to say that he's still someone that I think doesn't know a damn thing about his own consumers, or just doesn't care. The only way I think my opinion of him would improve is if he actually came out and said "Hey, we've done things wrong so why don't we just go out there, REALLY survey our consumers and see what we need to do to make a better game."

He did do that, what, two years ago now? Problem is, he only surveyed all the hardcore raiding people.  The sole 'casual' rep was Woody from GU comics (A single guy with no kids who works from his house and makes his living off of drawing one comic a day is a bad choice for that, IMO, but hey better than nothing.)  Then, just as predicted by the rest of us who had been saying catering to these people was stupid because they were going to jump ship, it happened. 

I really can't feel  bad about it. They had their shot, they said there were problems, and then ignored most of their playerbase in favor of the noisiest segment of it.  Blizzard's doing the same thing and if/ when it happens to them I won't feel bad about that either.

I know about the round table they had but the roundtable in no way considered us or considered as you said the non raiding, non hardcore player. This is what bothers me, that we are time after time completely and utterly ignored yet we are in fact a good portion of the gaming community at large. I think we should be considered, maybe not focused on but at least given more thought then a brief mention.

Jaded. No. Angry. No

Disappointed. Very.

I am Super, I am a Pop Tart.
Evangolis
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Reply #12 on: October 28, 2005, 01:39:11 PM

I really wish I could have been there this year.  Austin is a nice place, and I really enjoyed AGC the first couple of years.  However, last I saw, Sixth Street, while rockin, seriously needed a good steam cleaning, right up to the roofline.

And there is a statue of a Horse, a Cowboy, and a Cactus on the Statehouse lawn that still makes me chuckle, 15 years after I first stumbled over it.

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Cheddar
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Reply #13 on: October 28, 2005, 01:42:14 PM

Oh and take pictures!  Lots and lots of pictures.  I love teh shiny!

No Nerf, but I put a link to this very thread and I said that you all can guarantee for my purity. I even mentioned your case, and see if they can take a look at your lawn from a Michigan perspective.
Pococurante
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Reply #14 on: October 29, 2005, 01:18:36 PM

Disappointed. Very.

Yuppers.  Been feeling that way since about 1996.  I'm fucking sick to death of watching one great concept after another become an assemblage of bandaids to (re(re(re(re))))-capture escaping slices of a demographic that is too fickle and whiny/fractious to be a dependable market segment.  Up until a few years ago the rationalization I heard from devs was "we're making the games we'd want to play", which were I their moneyman would have had them on the street faster than they could spell "non-representative demographic".
Psychochild
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Reply #15 on: October 30, 2005, 12:05:40 AM

"Hey, we've done things wrong so why don't we just go out there, REALLY survey our consumers and see what we need to do to make a better game."
And Stephen King should ask me how to write better horror novels.  I have lots of really great ideas!

Brian 'Psychochild' Green
Former Developer, Meridian 59  http://www.meridian59.com/
Blog: http://psychochild.org/
Rasix
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Reply #16 on: October 30, 2005, 12:16:19 AM

"Hey, we've done things wrong so why don't we just go out there, REALLY survey our consumers and see what we need to do to make a better game."
And Stephen King should ask me how to write better horror novels.  I have lots of really great ideas!

Most are probably better than any of the crap he's written lately (save the Dark Tower, I still need to buy book 7!).   :-D
« Last Edit: October 30, 2005, 12:18:21 AM by Rasix »

-Rasix
Signe
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Reply #17 on: October 30, 2005, 03:42:21 AM

Didn't Stephen King retire?

My Sig Image: hath rid itself of this mortal coil.
Merusk
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Reply #18 on: October 30, 2005, 06:40:13 AM

"Hey, we've done things wrong so why don't we just go out there, REALLY survey our consumers and see what we need to do to make a better game."
And Stephen King should ask me how to write better horror novels.  I have lots of really great ideas!

Bad news for you, Psycho, Blizzard is the Stephen King of MMOs at this point.  The vast majority of the MMO Dev crop are Terry Brooks at best.

The past cannot be changed. The future is yet within your power.
Margalis
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Reply #19 on: October 30, 2005, 01:01:16 PM

Just to re-rail this. I agree that having your customers tell you what game to make is a terrible idea.

That said, the industry often manages to ignore overwhelmingly negative opinion. To me the point of polls and such is not to let them design for you - it's to avoid decisions that 95% of the players are going to hate.

vampirehipi23: I would enjoy a book written by a monkey and turned into a movie rather than this.
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Reply #20 on: October 30, 2005, 01:05:54 PM

And Stephen King should ask me how to write better horror novels.  I have lots of really great ideas!

I bet you could write a hell of a better ending than he ever manages.  He's such a tease.  I start reading and actually enjoying something he writes then at the end it's either an alien or the hand of God that takes care of any plot holes. ;/

Sachant
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voodoolily
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Reply #21 on: October 31, 2005, 11:13:20 AM

Just to re-rail this. I agree that having your customers tell you what game to make is a terrible idea.



Voodoo & Sauce - a blog.
The Legend of Zephyr - a different blog.
Llava
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Reply #22 on: October 31, 2005, 07:06:40 PM

Just to re-rail this. I agree that having your customers tell you what game to make is a terrible idea.




Very concise.  Well done.

That the saints may enjoy their beatitude and the grace of God more abundantly they are permitted to see the punishment of the damned in hell. -Saint Thomas Aquinas, Summa Theologica
Samwise
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Reply #23 on: October 31, 2005, 07:35:53 PM

On the other hand, developers frequently use "customers shouldn't design products" as an excuse to ignore all customer data entirely, since designing in a vacuum is significantly easier than trying to make your design accomodate what other people want.  There is such a thing as a happy medium there.

"I have not actually recommended many games, and I'll go on the record here saying my track record is probably best in the industry." - schild
Trippy
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Reply #24 on: November 01, 2005, 02:22:42 AM

Smed's keynote speech was good. I have a different opinion about the guy now. We recorded most of it. He let us in on a little uhmm..."secret?" DC Comics online is TWITCH. Correct. Not hotkey, not autoattack - but rather fast paced super heroes kicking fast paced supervillian ass.
Hmm...
SuperPopTart
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Reply #25 on: November 01, 2005, 06:48:28 AM

"Hey, we've done things wrong so why don't we just go out there, REALLY survey our consumers and see what we need to do to make a better game."
And Stephen King should ask me how to write better horror novels.  I have lots of really great ideas!

And this is a pretty decent reason why I believe most game developers and their ideas are basically scummy. Because you can't come up with a better reason then that.

Think again. Then report back.

I am Super, I am a Pop Tart.
SuperPopTart
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Reply #26 on: November 01, 2005, 06:52:57 AM

Disappointed. Very.

Yuppers.  Been feeling that way since about 1996.  I'm fucking sick to death of watching one great concept after another become an assemblage of bandaids to (re(re(re(re))))-capture escaping slices of a demographic that is too fickle and whiny/fractious to be a dependable market segment.  Up until a few years ago the rationalization I heard from devs was "we're making the games we'd want to play", which were I their moneyman would have had them on the street faster than they could spell "non-representative demographic".


Thank you, Pocourante. You said it far more eloguently then I could have.


And on another note.. you know when I talk about "Speaking to your consumer base and getting their ideas, what they want" and you developers, PR people and otherwise little disgusting trolls who would be nothing without your CONSUMER, I mean stop making the game that you and your business community wants and play the game that takes you outside the box. Not inside the box, on the same rat wheel, on the same path.

Get it yet?

Also Editing to say:

If you do not want to know what your customer/consumer base thinks, feels and their ideas for what they think could improve your game - why are you even in this industry, doing this job, and posting on a message board with the title of your studio under your name? Why bother even associating with the public if you don't want to deal with what they have to say?

And likewise, why would people want to deal with you and your studio and purchase your product if this is how you as a company handle things?

I'd just like to know. You know, as a paying consumer.
« Last Edit: November 01, 2005, 06:59:15 AM by SuperPopTart »

I am Super, I am a Pop Tart.
Shockeye
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Reply #27 on: November 01, 2005, 07:05:22 AM

"Hey, we've done things wrong so why don't we just go out there, REALLY survey our consumers and see what we need to do to make a better game."
And Stephen King should ask me how to write better horror novels.  I have lots of really great ideas!

And this is a pretty decent reason why I believe most game developers and their ideas are basically scummy. Because you can't come up with a better reason then that.

Think again. Then report back.

He was referring to the letter he read at the MMOG Rant session. He was poking fun at how players think they always have better ideas than developers. Read his blog, the letter is posted there.
schild
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Reply #28 on: November 01, 2005, 07:10:54 AM

Thing is, there were people AT the AGC that proved him right when they started asking questions. Goddamn lowest common denominator is messing everything up for the rest of us. I blame the intarweb for training them so well.
SuperPopTart
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Reply #29 on: November 01, 2005, 07:14:53 AM

"Hey, we've done things wrong so why don't we just go out there, REALLY survey our consumers and see what we need to do to make a better game."
And Stephen King should ask me how to write better horror novels.  I have lots of really great ideas!

I saw no link to his blog. He didn't quote anyone but me. I responded thusly.

I am Super, I am a Pop Tart.
Lum
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Reply #30 on: November 01, 2005, 07:32:54 AM

So, as someone on both sides of the equation over the past (...10? I want to die.) years, I can say conclusively that it is completely impossible to keep everyone happy. No matter how warm and fuzzy your development team, your core userbase will hate you.

You can pick pretty much any game, and someone outside the game will hold it up as a model of something (polish, design, community, whatever) and within that game's community, someone will be flaming the developers for precisely that.

It's all signal-to-noise. There are literally thousands of voices and they are all screaming different things. The people outside the curve usually know they're outside the curve, and it makes them scream even louder.

Brian's rant (and it was just that, not a scholarly dissertation, nor was it intended to be) spoke to this; there will always be loudmouths who will get in your virtual face and tell you they can do your job better. As game developers you have to work past that; there's no alternative short of surrendering your decision-making power to the people that shout the loudest. (And when your business then crashes and burns, those shouters will then have the luxury of moving on to something else.)

A lot of it has to do with how communities form and interact on the Internet specifically. The call-and-response nature of message boards really encourages one-upmanship. It's not the best way to actually communicate, which is why most community teams desperately try to supplement it with other forms of feedback (polling, direct chats, fan gatherings, what have you - ANYTHING).

It's a no-win scenario. It will continue to be a no-win scenario as long as we keep appealing to the same 48 people who are crazy enough to spend 24 hours a day on the Internet buying every MMO that comes out.
SuperPopTart
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Reply #31 on: November 01, 2005, 07:59:15 AM

So, as someone on both sides of the equation over the past (...10? I want to die.) years, I can say conclusively that it is completely impossible to keep everyone happy. No matter how warm and fuzzy your development team, your core userbase will hate you.

You can pick pretty much any game, and someone outside the game will hold it up as a model of something (polish, design, community, whatever) and within that game's community, someone will be flaming the developers for precisely that.

It's all signal-to-noise. There are literally thousands of voices and they are all screaming different things. The people outside the curve usually know they're outside the curve, and it makes them scream even louder.

Brian's rant (and it was just that, not a scholarly dissertation, nor was it intended to be) spoke to this; there will always be loudmouths who will get in your virtual face and tell you they can do your job better. As game developers you have to work past that; there's no alternative short of surrendering your decision-making power to the people that shout the loudest. (And when your business then crashes and burns, those shouters will then have the luxury of moving on to something else.)

A lot of it has to do with how communities form and interact on the Internet specifically. The call-and-response nature of message boards really encourages one-upmanship. It's not the best way to actually communicate, which is why most community teams desperately try to supplement it with other forms of feedback (polling, direct chats, fan gatherings, what have you - ANYTHING).

It's a no-win scenario. It will continue to be a no-win scenario as long as we keep appealing to the same 48 people who are crazy enough to spend 24 hours a day on the Internet buying every MMO that comes out.

I imagine that the job of being a game developer/design is more often times then not, thankless. In no small part due to people like myself that have no problem being vocal about the things that we as consumers see is "Wrong" with the industry. The problem with that is, we see it from our sides. We often times don't take into consideration how to be objective in relation to what it is you do what your job entails.

In relation to message boards, here's the problem with communication. We as consumers can't just pick up the phone, dial the developers/design people directly, tell them exactly what we mean when we say "Hey, here is an issue, can you look at it after you do the 3432432432432432 other things you are going to be doing today? Thanks!" We can't e-mail because more often than not, unless you KNOW someone, you don't get a response. For the most part message boards don't work because well.. most devs, design people don't post in a public forum and those that DO put the happy face on everything in public. I.E. You don't get a real and true answer. Not that you are expecting to in the first place. Polls, Chats and so forth have their place.. but rarely does anything come from it.

So what out of those is the best course of communication? How do we, as the consumer best let the publishers/developers/design people know what we think? Do we sit back and let all of you do our thinking for us? Message Boards are THE best way. Unfortunately.

And Lum, I'd like to thank you. You gave what has to be the most honest answer yet. That's to be totally respected. Cheers.
« Last Edit: November 01, 2005, 08:04:15 AM by SuperPopTart »

I am Super, I am a Pop Tart.
Lum
Developers
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Hellfire Games


Reply #32 on: November 01, 2005, 09:00:40 AM

It's actually our job to find good feedback. (Well, the community team's job. It's my job to stay off the boards and fix pathing or something.) This is where message boards come in. Community people tend to become very good at (a) seperating the fruit from the dross and (b) developing a very, very thick skin.

Quote
For the most part message boards don't work because well.. most devs, design people don't post in a public forum and those that DO put the happy face on everything in public. I.E. You don't get a real and true answer. Not that you are expecting to in the first place.

How is that different from everywhere else? If I worked in Hollywood, would you expect me to get on a fansite about the TV show I worked on and give you the real deal on how I thought the writers were meth addicts and the producers were too busy driving around in convertibles to work? No. There's a level of professionalism demanded by any job. As long as I have a "employed by XXXX" tag by my name, there are things that I just can't comment on. And a lot of that is, simply, I don't want to cause problems for the people I work with by shooting off my mouth. It's not really much more complex than that.

Quote
So what out of those is the best course of communication? How do we, as the consumer best let the publishers/developers/design people know what we think? Do we sit back and let all of you do our thinking for us? Message Boards are THE best way. Unfortunately.

So, yeah. But at the same time, you said, if I can paraphrase, "most developers are scummy because they blow us off." In the singular, yes, they - we - do. It's a survival reflex, and if we didn't, we'd probably slam a pistol bullet into our throat after reading the eight thousandth poster who told us we were worthless and should die. In the aggregate, no, feedback from message boards is most definitely not ignored.

The problem, for you, is that there *is* no answer to your question. It's not physically possible to give every interested player with an investment in their character one-on-one time with the decision makers behind the development team.  So aggregation is really the only option here; the problem is that Internet message boards bring forward the optical illusion that one-to-one contact is feasible. For the great majority of people it simply isn't.
ahoythematey
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Reply #33 on: November 01, 2005, 09:18:32 AM

The only thing about message boards that I'm certain of is that games can be utterly destroyed and made souless if they start listening to a significant portion of the posters who are not discussing technical client issues.
« Last Edit: November 01, 2005, 09:24:08 AM by ahoythematey »
HaemishM
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Reply #34 on: November 01, 2005, 09:44:01 AM

You know, Psychochild is just about the only motherfucker on that panel who could whip out the Stephen King analogy and it actually be somewhat close to the truth. And I don't think Teppy was on that panel, so yeah, only Psychochild.

Message boards are total shit for communication from individual to developer, simply because there are too many individuals on the message board, and so the individual is just yet one more face in the mob. And the mob can be made to do any-fucking-thing by the right people. Official message boards are the retarded children of 1930's Nazi Germany, easily led, full of furious twats leading uncaring ignorant masses to gas the theoretical Jews of ideas.

MMOG's have the unenviable problem of encouraging interaction from the mob while being completely unable to effectively act upon that mob's wishes. The mob is the community, and the community is the real marrow, the juicy bits that separate an MMOG from any other shitty single-player game. So the player is encouraged by the entire dynamic of MMOG's to be invested in the development of the MMOG, but the developer not only does not want the input, they don't need it most of the time. They don't need it because as the number of residents in an MMOG goes up, the chances that the mob will split into separate mobs with completely conflicting desires will increase as well.

The Massive part of MMOG's is what kills interaction. A 500-person community, a 2000-person community can have a lot more meaningful interaction with a developer than a 3.5 million, or even a 200,000 person community. What's the best bet for real interaction?

Representation. Community/class reps elected from the populace who are willing to bring feedback to the developers, like supplicants to the gods. Shit, give these guys free game time, and supplement what they tell you with actual metrics from in-game that tell you in raw numbers how people play. Stuff like Dave Rickey used to do for DAoC. Treat MMOG's like tiny nations. Either that, or fuck the whole thing and only tell your customers what you want them to hear. Either you do something with the feedback or you don't, and if you don't, stop even bothering trying to convince people you listen or care.

Also, stop hiring message board admins to be community reps. They really aren't trained for it.

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