Mossberg
03-16-2007, 10:56 PM
By "important people," I mean people who matter to Vanguard. Sigil developers, SOE representatives, class leaders, etc. Hate to break it to some of you, but you, the individual reading this, do not matter in the grand scheme of things. Yes, the playerbase as a whole matters, obviously, but unfortunately we, the playerbase, are not all of the same consciousness. So pay attention because you're already fighting an uphill battle to bring attention to your issue. Even as affiliate site staff, we have to compete for the developer's time. They are busy working on the game, after all.
So, I give you the top four easiest, quickest ways to lose that battle before it even gets started by getting ignored completely by a VIP:
_____________________________________________
1. Gross exaggerations.
"...nerf everything..." "...nothing works..." "...everything is broken..." "...unplayable..." "...doomed..." "...failure...", etc.
Exaggerating is a very common way to make a point sound more solid and viable. Unfortunately, it often has the opposite effect. While it may seem that way to you, it more often than not simply isn't true, and definitely isn't true to all people. Most of the time the only evidence you have is circumstancial, and sometimes even worse: hearsay. Neither of which leads to any kind of insightful posture or to any kind of fix.
The antithesis to this is providing all of the detailed data you can to make your point and let the reader determine for themselves how big of an issue it is. Incidentally, threads that are full of factful data will get much more notice by the class leads and Sigil. (We'll make sure of that.)
_____________________________________________
2. Insults.
"...sigil lied about..." "...sony lied about..." "...greedy...", etc.
This is otherwise called biting the hand that feeds you.
Yes, you're right, I'm well aware that you are a paying customer. Unfortunately, that does not mean you own the world and everything in it. The reality is that you are only one of hundreds of thousands of paying customers, all with their own priorities and wishes and demands.
When Sigil appears to change their stance on something, it is almost certainly due to one or more of the following:
a. They were convinced to do so by other paying customers who may not agree with you.
b. You misunderstood.
c. It's simply a bug (thus not intended) and will be fixed.
If you feel frustrated enough to want to insult a Sigil developer, the best course of action is to take deep breaths, counting slowly to 10, and post nothing. As in #1, take a calm approach. Post what you thought you understood, what you know now, and let the reader decide how big of an issue it is.
_____________________________________________
3. Ambiguity.
"That one thing by the place in that area by the thing...is broken."
There are levels of ambiguity. Some is unavoidable since you may not be able to get as much information as you'd like. But doing your due dilligence in getting as much information as you can will go a long way to giving something for the board members and Sigil to chew on. If you get the ball rolling, maybe other players can fill in the missing details, but otherwise it is a waste of space to post about what you don't know (unless, of course, you're asking a question).
_____________________________________________
4. Overreacting/overdemanding.
"...Sigil better fix this NOW or else..."
Usually, overreactions are littered with #1s, #2s, and #3s.
So Sigil decided to nerf your 'soloing 5d mobs' class, or your favorite 'gain a level per hour' hunting spot, or your 'instant-cast no-recast timer' effect on your favorite weapon. (Notice the exaggerations in the previous sentence.) And now, you can't even solo blue 1d mobs, it takes weeks to level, or the effect on your weapon makes it completely useless. (Isn't this fun?)
Bottom line: suck it up. At some point or another, every single player has had at least one "favorite" nerfed, and it will continue to happen. Sigil has made every effort to prevent having to do so, but in a world as large and complex as Telon, stuff slips through the cracks (including player's avatars, sometimes...). And many times, Sigil will be the ones to overreact and may, in fact, go too far.
But that is no reason to raise a call to arms. Chances are, Sigil already *knows* they went too far with their nerf or enhancement. And if they don't know, they're counting on you to snoop out the details and provide them data that they can use to tune balance more finely. It is hard to wade through harsh demands, exaggerations, ambiguity and insults to determine that, for one, there really is an issue, and for another, what they need to do to fix it.
1. Gross exaggerations.
"...nerf everything..." "...nothing works..." "...everything is broken..." "...unplayable..." "...doomed..." "...failure...", etc.
Well if it is ... it is. The game is a "pretty bug machine™" (I want a dollar everytime someone says that!) But in some situtations "everything" is true.
2. Insults.
"...sigil lied about..." "...sony lied about..." "...greedy...", etc.
If the shoe fits.. wear it. The box was VERY misleading about the free subscription. (Dont think they didn't see it either.) I'm a Business manager for a car dealership. I see ads like this ALL THE TIME!) Dont think that greed/money wasn't a factor when they launched a beta. The list goes on and on.
3. Ambiguity.
"That one thing by the place in that area by the thing...is broken."
Well there is a good chance in this uncompleted "Beta" that they forgot to name thing, place and area.. So what else can you do?
4. Overreacting/overdemanding.
"...Sigil better fix this NOW or else..."
Well.. they are serious, as I am. Sigil doesnt have to listen.. Its their game.. they can make it anyway they want. As it is MY money and I can choose to pay for this crap or not. Call it "overreacting" but my money is important.
Yeah, I have taken some cheap shots.. but you ask "Mossy, why?!?" .. please read the following line from the main quote..
Hate to break it to some of you, but you, the individual reading this, do not matter in the grand scheme of things.
Well if this is how you feel.. you can kiss my @$$! Customers are the grand scheme of things. Period. You are the main community site for Vanguard. Sigil should have this guy's job for saying that to their customers. In my business.. I might think im better than my customers or think one car deal dont matter.. but i would never say it to them, and I assure you EVERY deal is important. I thank my customers everyday.. sincerly.
NOTE : We PAY for this game and continue to pay with subscriptions.. remember..WITHOUT US THERE IS NO YOU!
I assure you, this has lost them 3 accounts. (and i hope more as people read this.) Blizzard thanks you as we will be going back to WoW. I should link this info to other sites like www.mmorpg.com and other sites for MMO info so they can see how you people think, before they spend their money on this joke/circus/scam of a game.
Yes, the playerbase as a whole matters, obviously, but unfortunately we, the playerbase, are not all of the same consciousness.
refer back to the ...Greedy.. thing. the "we" is a nice touch.. but "we" know what you mean.. but even if you are playing the "we" card you should have enough since not to say something like that. EVERY ACCOUNT matters.. or should at least. God know they will need them when the bills come in every month.
"ZOMG! L2 customer service noobsauce."
Mossberg.
*edit for avatar*
So, I give you the top four easiest, quickest ways to lose that battle before it even gets started by getting ignored completely by a VIP:
_____________________________________________
1. Gross exaggerations.
"...nerf everything..." "...nothing works..." "...everything is broken..." "...unplayable..." "...doomed..." "...failure...", etc.
Exaggerating is a very common way to make a point sound more solid and viable. Unfortunately, it often has the opposite effect. While it may seem that way to you, it more often than not simply isn't true, and definitely isn't true to all people. Most of the time the only evidence you have is circumstancial, and sometimes even worse: hearsay. Neither of which leads to any kind of insightful posture or to any kind of fix.
The antithesis to this is providing all of the detailed data you can to make your point and let the reader determine for themselves how big of an issue it is. Incidentally, threads that are full of factful data will get much more notice by the class leads and Sigil. (We'll make sure of that.)
_____________________________________________
2. Insults.
"...sigil lied about..." "...sony lied about..." "...greedy...", etc.
This is otherwise called biting the hand that feeds you.
Yes, you're right, I'm well aware that you are a paying customer. Unfortunately, that does not mean you own the world and everything in it. The reality is that you are only one of hundreds of thousands of paying customers, all with their own priorities and wishes and demands.
When Sigil appears to change their stance on something, it is almost certainly due to one or more of the following:
a. They were convinced to do so by other paying customers who may not agree with you.
b. You misunderstood.
c. It's simply a bug (thus not intended) and will be fixed.
If you feel frustrated enough to want to insult a Sigil developer, the best course of action is to take deep breaths, counting slowly to 10, and post nothing. As in #1, take a calm approach. Post what you thought you understood, what you know now, and let the reader decide how big of an issue it is.
_____________________________________________
3. Ambiguity.
"That one thing by the place in that area by the thing...is broken."
There are levels of ambiguity. Some is unavoidable since you may not be able to get as much information as you'd like. But doing your due dilligence in getting as much information as you can will go a long way to giving something for the board members and Sigil to chew on. If you get the ball rolling, maybe other players can fill in the missing details, but otherwise it is a waste of space to post about what you don't know (unless, of course, you're asking a question).
_____________________________________________
4. Overreacting/overdemanding.
"...Sigil better fix this NOW or else..."
Usually, overreactions are littered with #1s, #2s, and #3s.
So Sigil decided to nerf your 'soloing 5d mobs' class, or your favorite 'gain a level per hour' hunting spot, or your 'instant-cast no-recast timer' effect on your favorite weapon. (Notice the exaggerations in the previous sentence.) And now, you can't even solo blue 1d mobs, it takes weeks to level, or the effect on your weapon makes it completely useless. (Isn't this fun?)
Bottom line: suck it up. At some point or another, every single player has had at least one "favorite" nerfed, and it will continue to happen. Sigil has made every effort to prevent having to do so, but in a world as large and complex as Telon, stuff slips through the cracks (including player's avatars, sometimes...). And many times, Sigil will be the ones to overreact and may, in fact, go too far.
But that is no reason to raise a call to arms. Chances are, Sigil already *knows* they went too far with their nerf or enhancement. And if they don't know, they're counting on you to snoop out the details and provide them data that they can use to tune balance more finely. It is hard to wade through harsh demands, exaggerations, ambiguity and insults to determine that, for one, there really is an issue, and for another, what they need to do to fix it.
1. Gross exaggerations.
"...nerf everything..." "...nothing works..." "...everything is broken..." "...unplayable..." "...doomed..." "...failure...", etc.
Well if it is ... it is. The game is a "pretty bug machine™" (I want a dollar everytime someone says that!) But in some situtations "everything" is true.
2. Insults.
"...sigil lied about..." "...sony lied about..." "...greedy...", etc.
If the shoe fits.. wear it. The box was VERY misleading about the free subscription. (Dont think they didn't see it either.) I'm a Business manager for a car dealership. I see ads like this ALL THE TIME!) Dont think that greed/money wasn't a factor when they launched a beta. The list goes on and on.
3. Ambiguity.
"That one thing by the place in that area by the thing...is broken."
Well there is a good chance in this uncompleted "Beta" that they forgot to name thing, place and area.. So what else can you do?
4. Overreacting/overdemanding.
"...Sigil better fix this NOW or else..."
Well.. they are serious, as I am. Sigil doesnt have to listen.. Its their game.. they can make it anyway they want. As it is MY money and I can choose to pay for this crap or not. Call it "overreacting" but my money is important.
Yeah, I have taken some cheap shots.. but you ask "Mossy, why?!?" .. please read the following line from the main quote..
Hate to break it to some of you, but you, the individual reading this, do not matter in the grand scheme of things.
Well if this is how you feel.. you can kiss my @$$! Customers are the grand scheme of things. Period. You are the main community site for Vanguard. Sigil should have this guy's job for saying that to their customers. In my business.. I might think im better than my customers or think one car deal dont matter.. but i would never say it to them, and I assure you EVERY deal is important. I thank my customers everyday.. sincerly.
NOTE : We PAY for this game and continue to pay with subscriptions.. remember..WITHOUT US THERE IS NO YOU!
I assure you, this has lost them 3 accounts. (and i hope more as people read this.) Blizzard thanks you as we will be going back to WoW. I should link this info to other sites like www.mmorpg.com and other sites for MMO info so they can see how you people think, before they spend their money on this joke/circus/scam of a game.
Yes, the playerbase as a whole matters, obviously, but unfortunately we, the playerbase, are not all of the same consciousness.
refer back to the ...Greedy.. thing. the "we" is a nice touch.. but "we" know what you mean.. but even if you are playing the "we" card you should have enough since not to say something like that. EVERY ACCOUNT matters.. or should at least. God know they will need them when the bills come in every month.
"ZOMG! L2 customer service noobsauce."
Mossberg.
*edit for avatar*