+1 to the devs - Thanks for everything

[Mortallicus]

You say that after quoting my post...
I hope you are not implying that by praising queen-vicious I was flaming others she was disagreeing with?

No I was just answering you together why I feel it important to praise the good as well as have a say if you wish about the bad. I thought I was very clear that the flaming is by many i certainly did not say or imply that either of you were flaming.

Which is why I tend to avoid such conversations on G1. As a new player I barely paid much attention to the forums and I imagine many new player are, like I was, too busy learning how to play the game to be trawling through long threads on the forums. So, when I find reason to be critical of the game I tend to come here.

Is that indicative of those players having a bad attitude to change?
...or is it indicative of the attitude of the company to the changes they are making?

As a new player to games i do tend to look at the forums maybe this is unusual!!!
This is the place to come to critique the game I have clearly stated that as well. Again I made it clear nothing wrong with constructive criticism. Personal comments, sarcasm etc at others views are really what i was pointing at.

Now, speaking personally, I am open to the possibility that I may be looking back through rose tinted spectacles. However, I have been playing the game now for almost exactly two years and I don't remember insufferable lag, population bugs, hot fixes, and so forth being a regular feature of my first year of play.

People don't tend to become jaded without good reason.

I do remember a lot of complaints about bugs and lag. I remember my first level 5 building disappearing and BB gave me back the resources to build another. I would guess that was at the end of 2012. 2013 lots of players could not log in and lost their isles for weeks at a time. Guild quests were lost for up to several months for some guilds and were dire to do. Lots of issues. But the game was Beta for most of that time so we used to accept that as the main excuse. So it would be quite easy to don those rosey specs but some people (not saying you or queen vicious ) become jaded much faster than others and soon frustration sets in when they see no change. The danger is then they just start getting harsher and harsher and cannot abide anyone saying anything positive and that is what I believe is happening now.

Some are quoting their own 'hard facts' taken straight out of thin air to make a point. Comments like the 'game is dying', 'people are leaving in their droves' , 'no one is playing the new content' these are not facts I think many have gone to ground just getting on quietly with the game and that is now what I am going to do at least for a while. Hopefully later some of the haters of the game and those that dislike hearing from the players that like it warts and all, will have upped and gone or at least calmed down.

[Ozzymandeus]

I do remember a lot of complaints about bugs and lag. I remember my first level 5 building disappearing and BB gave me back the resources to build another. I would guess that was at the end of 2012. 2013 lots of players could not log in and lost their isles for weeks at a time. Guild quests were lost for up to several months for some guilds and were dire to do. Lots of issues. But the game was Beta for most of that time so we used to accept that as the main excuse. So it would be quite easy to don those rosey specs but some people (not saying you or queen vicious ) become jaded much faster than others and soon frustration sets in when they see no change. The danger is then they just start getting harsher and harsher and cannot abide anyone saying anything positive and that is what I believe is happening now.

I never said there weren't bugs back then, just that my memory is of bugs that were much less frequent and much less severe. As for resources being returned when things go wrong, I have never had that happen... on the few occasions I have asked I have been point blank refused or just plain ignored. I think this is another reason why people are getting frustrated, as Blue Byte give the impression they are unwilling to take responsibility for the mistakes they are making. They just seem to think that a blanket mail giving the same gift to everyone (regardless of if or to what extent a problem affected them) with no hint of apology or regret is enough.

Well, my latest gift is still sitting in my inbox as it is wholly inadequate compensation for the 8 days of premium time that was wasted due to the unplayable lag. Which reminds me.. it is now a whole week since my last mail to support about that with no reply... another example of BB burying their head in the sand hoping a problem will go away, perhaps?

EDIT: Heard back today and they sent a 7 day premium token. Not a case of burying their heads in the sand... more a case of getting buried under tickets concerning issues with PvP... or so the reply claimed.

Some are quoting their own 'hard facts' taken straight out of thin air to make a point. Comments like the 'game is dying', 'people are leaving in their droves' , 'no one is playing the new content' these are not facts I think many have gone to ground just getting on quietly with the game and that is now what I am going to do at least for a while. Hopefully later some of the haters of the game and those that dislike hearing from the players that like it warts and all, will have upped and gone or at least calmed down.

I have seen those so-called 'facts' as well. Whilst it is true that I have seen quite a few players leave recently and I also know that there are plenty of players that have either, like myself, not touched the Colony content or others that have tried it and then decided it is not for them, I do not resent Blue Byte for introducing it because there are those that are playing and enjoying the new features it brings. What I do resent is the fact that its introduction heralded a boat load of lag for me for 8 days and no-one seems to be prepared to reimburse my lost premium time... that I paid for with gems from gem pits which were ultimately purchased with real money. I also resent the major bugs that that update introduced to an aspect of the game I do enjoy immensely (adventures) that no-one from BB even seems prepared to acknowledge, let alone give us any indication that a fix is being worked on, let alone imminent... some 2 weeks later.

Like I said before, I understand that things go wrong sometimes.... and I do love playing this game (when it works), but every update now the first thing I do when I log on is go into guild chat and ask, "What did they break this time?". I expect there to be something gone wrong, and that expectation is rarely unjustified these days.

When I see stuff being done right, that is worthy of praise I speak up, and have done so recently. Unfortunately, apart from some aspects of the Halloween Event that were adjusted after feedback from the test server, I am struggling to think of anything I found particularly praiseworthy that came from the devs this year, hence my -1.

[CrazyBat]

I started typing 3 times and deleted because I would end up again saying something that could be consifered flaming.
I will just say that I am not exactly sure why should I be constructive and curteous when recent moves do not show the same attitude of the company towards the players including me.

[Gerontius]

No I was just answering you together why I feel it important to praise the good as well as have a say if you wish about the bad.

Just like to point out that in my detailed feedback on colonies (I refuse to call it "pvp"), I found three things to praise and I made sure to say them. Although one of those things was probably as the result of a bug...

But they were so vastly outweighed by the negatives, including but not limited to extensive bugs, that the overall feedback could only possibly be to remove the feature from the game, go back to the drawing board and try again in 3 months (6 months would be more realistic)

This detailed and I would say very fair feedback has received no response and there has been no admission of, let alone timescale for fixing, the bugs.

So, why exactly are we thanking the current (current is an important word here) development team?

[Narcil]

thanking them for making most of my friends leave and making the game not worth playing of course! yes that includes me, if this keeps up much longer i'm a goner.

my wallet thanks them tho, they've assured i will never spend anything to get gems anymore. i dont mind paying for fun games, but this is getting sad, i relize they are probably working with a skeleton crew because the game is 3y old but still. such bugs is unacceptable even if they only had 1 dev.

[Mortallicus]

As a final say, and it is final, I want the game to continue. I want new players to come. I want to enjoy the game and see others enjoy it too. I am not accusing every poster with an axe to grind that they are flaming. I dont read every post or every thread so if I miss someone saying something positive I apologise profusely its just sometimes its gets a bit lost. I did think there was a chance this would be a nice thread

There IS a lot to be happy about and I wanted to pass that message to those who want to enjoy a good game, if some of you see nothing at all that pleases you then that's your problem not mine. I wish you all a very merry christmas lots of fun and laughter.

[Ozzymandeus]

I did think there was a chance this would be a nice thread .

In the current climate... well... I guess it had a snowball's chance...

[Larili]

I would have to on balance give the devs -1, but acknowledge that they may have their hands tied by both the platform and investment restrictions, so it `might' not be just their ability/understanding of the game that is lacking. However in the spirit of positivity I would give the art and graphics department a big +95 ( They lose 5 for the epic wood yard ) as the combat armoury, combat academy and recent level 6 upgrades to buildings have been great and true to the theme of Settlers in the modern era. ( Yes I know the devs have just knobbled the resolution , but I feel that I would be slipping back into negativity if we go there )

[topgearfan]

probably working with a skeleton crew because the game is 3y old but still. such bugs is unacceptable even if they only had 1 dev.

not sure what is considered a skeleton crew in this case but a recent video showed a quite large room with 30(50?) computers.

[Narcil]

not sure what is considered a skeleton crew in this case but a recent video showed a quite large room with 30(50?) computers.

what video? if i had to guess most of those are probably marketing, Community manager, anti-cheat / "banning" department and not actually devs. or it was just for show. 30-50 devs would not release something so terribly bugged, unless they were incompetent, which i doubt they are. probably don't have the means however. which is pretty standard for an "old" game.