However a number of CDIs…
Now, this is part of the problem. You say it did, but you can’t say how. Say how!
I’ll give you an example. Recently, a game was making overhaul changes to some characters. People were throwing around all sorts of great ideas, but I threw one too. In it, I said that one power or ability could increase the power of another set of abilities resulting in a wider power set usage. It allowed depth and synergy. Suddenly, when you used Power A, a whole set of powers became more powerful and more useful.
The developers did not respond with “That’s a good idea.” or “We’ll look into that.” They made the change, came back to the forums and said, “Bam! Your idea is now in the game. Look for it!”
You know what that did to me and to other players? We perked up immediately. It was clear that our feedback was directly changing gameplay. We knew something we’d done made it into the game. Personally, it made my character feel unique to me because I helped to make the character! More feedback flew in with such strangely cool ideas that people felt included in the game even more. One change. Might have already been in there for all we know, if it felt like we did it.
That is what could help. It doesn’t require being instant. You can say, “Ooh, I love that idea. I’m going to take that to someone and see if we can get that done.” If it can get done, “You got it! It’s in!” if not? “I wanted that in so much, but it’s just not doable. Sorry.” Then the players feel like even if they failed, they were involved somewhere, somehow, in the creation of the power of their character or the definition of what the character cannot do. They feel involved.
I wish the City of Heroes forums were still around. That gave is the template for how developers should interface with their community. You’re developers. We love talking to you guys because it makes us feel connected to the game on a deeper level. Talk to us like people. Joke with us, take our memes with you, etc. You do this some, but it’s really few and far between.
If you think our complaints about Necromancer are valid, jump in and say “You know, I personally agree with you. I’m going to see if I can get that changed. I can’t promise it’ll happen, but we’ll try.” You can even say, “I don’t think that Necro has a problem there, but I’ll bring it up to someone here and see what they think.”
I know you guys and ladies work. You have to do work, but part of your work is to make your players feel connected in a world of play that requires a player to feel connected at all times or else the world you create relies only on your ivory tower without any connection to the real problems. See: academia. Ivory towers.
And I keep harping on it, but ANet has got to get the gem store under control. I again point you to City of Heroes and how they used their store. You could get almost everything in the game in a relatively reasonable amount of time. The store was there as sort of a “if you want it, here it is” alternative. The Gem Store is literally the only place you can have some items at all and others within reason.
So while the developers are in their disconnected Ivory Tower, they’re putting things through the store that you can’t get anywhere else. That, to many people, looks disconnected and like the emphasis is not on developmental or quality. It’s on money. Make gems achievable in the actual game outside of gold. Make the items achievable. Make it feel like the gem store is just a side thing where you go if you want a look at a bunch of cool stuff. Stop making it a vital part of the game where you HAVE to go if you want a new outfit, a new armor, new pets, etc. One way to do this could be to have the items in the store a certain time then in the world after the initial release.
The point is, as I posted before, you gotta treat users as more than wallets. You gotta talk to users like people. Joke with us, laugh with us, take 30 minutes out of your day to reply to 2-3 threads either with content based on the game or just jokes and laughter. Join your community. Then you won’t have to push the gem store with “And you can get gold!” We will see you as people who we want to support so we’ll buy that useless, silly trinket in the store because it goes to help the developers we appreciate.
Finally, in today’s world, professionalism is dead. You’re wearing jeans and t-shirts to work. Unless you’re at the top of the ladder, you’re going polo and slacks. You guys don’t have to treat us like you’re in suits. Treat us like you’re in jeans. Be cool. Be fun. Be HUMAN.
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