| Author |
feedback from developers |
Demigan
Vice Admiral
Joined: September 12, 2011
Posts: 88
|  Posted: 2011-11-21 16:17
With the recent closing of the thread '[suggestion] make ICC Composite Armor Swappable for Reactive shielding', I thought it was time to name a problem I've observed.
Developers of any game, should be respected, they give us the game such as DS. Developers create each feature of the game, with an aim in mind. They create a ship or feature with a certain function, see how it runs in the game, see that it works, and accept it.
Then it gets in the hands of the players. These see the ship or feature, try out its usefulness, and designate their own function to it.
A good example is ECCM, it's original purpose is to counteract ECM, making invisible ships visible again. Luth, however, have a special stealth unit, which cannot be found with ECCM running. Due to a quirk in the game mechanics, ECCM that is activated, reveals these luth for a tiny moment, before the ship is stealthed again as it should.
Developers created ECCM, and saw that it worked. It countered ECM perfectly. Players used ECCM, and found a bug in the system that allowed it to find stealthed luth, so they could blindfire on them with more precision. Now, players accept it as a legitimate function, while developers never intended it to be used that way.
What I see in DS, is that players often complain about certain features in the game. In the topic mentioned in the beginning, a discussion rises about the power of UTGO vs ICC, while both the developers and the players mention that there is a semblance of balance, both players from ICC and UTGO agree that UTGO ships can pull off feats that the two other factions cannot pull off with the same ships. The developers retort that 'the right ship vs the right ship' can always win.
Who is right is not what this topic is about, what happens there is what I want to talk about.
The developers have taken a tremendous time to balance the factions, having operated loads of individual pieces of code and creating the desired effect. But while I see most of the players who complain in-game during some time of the day, I have yet to see a developer. Ofcourse, I do not know what in-game name these developers use.
What I see happening, is that the developers still think in the balance they created in the current game, and the way they addressed these problems in the beta they created.
The players, however, experience this a lot different. They see different features and different uses in the same code. This causes discontent, as when a player files their complaints and or suggestions, a developer disagrees, sometimes with a simple 'No' and no explanation. They know the code best, they know the intended features best.
The biggest problem, as I see it, is that developers spent too much time developing, and too little time in the game, although its very commendable, it also seems to create this problem. I implore them to play the game, while switching faction, sometimes when lots of players are online, sometimes when you are almost alone. This way, the gap between what players think and developers think becomes smaller, and less of these misunderstandings will happen, as the mentioned topic isn't the first where such a misunderstanding happened. I hope that the developers get a better idea of how the players play the game, compared to how they intended to play the game.
Yours sincerely,
Demigan.
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$yTHe {C?}
Grand Admiral
Sundered Weimeriners
Joined: September 29, 2002
Posts: 1292
From: Arlington, VA
| Posted: 2011-11-21 16:30
Quote:
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On 2011-11-21 16:17, Demigan wrote:
I hope that the developers get a better idea of how the players play the game, compared to how they intended to play the game.
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Hey remember when I said that players tend to make short-sighted and bad suggestions because they don't know what actually happens in development?
How about that.
Sincerely,
Demigan
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Fluttershy
Fleet Admiral
Joined: September 24, 2011
Posts: 778
From: Fluttershy
| Posted: 2011-11-21 16:39
Maybe if they had the code publicly visible we could provide more well thought-out suggestions, and actually... get this... HELP them find problems in the code, and even solutions to fix them.
I think they are just too ashamed to show it, though.
And if we found an exploit by looking at it, we could try and find a solution.
Trust me, I already know a few exploits, so seeing the code isn't gonna change anything.
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$yTHe {C?}
Grand Admiral
Sundered Weimeriners
Joined: September 29, 2002
Posts: 1292
From: Arlington, VA
| Posted: 2011-11-21 16:52
Yes there is certainly NO WAY that you could have missed ANY exploit through your rigorous testing of DarkSpace and inspection of the many BOUNDARY CONDITIONS (which you have also magically gleaned) that may break certain pieces of code.
There is also NOTHING WRONG with giving source access to everyone and either a) giving them access to whatever code repository they use for version control (something with which I am certain everyone is INTIMATELY FAMILIAR) or b) not giving them access and having many standalone versions of everyone's WONDERFUL IDEAS that are hosted and being used by precisely zero people.
Yes, you most certainly HAVE THOSE DASTARDLY DEVELOPERS DEAD TO RIGHTS and are in no way making foolish, unfound accusations whilst lavishing us in the glow of your infinite developing experience.
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Pantheon
Marshal
Palestar
Joined: May 29, 2001
Posts: 1789
| Posted: 2011-11-21 16:52
We were players before we were developers, and we still play, most of us not on known accounts so as to not be targeted.
Also, players spend too much time suggesting and complaining without looking in the dev log for impending changes to the game that will solve issues.
And the engine code is public - game code not public for extremely obvious reasons.
Those with a skill level high enough to help with the game can get access to the up-to-date Medusa engine and the current game code to help us improve the game.
@Fluttershy, making comments like those above is a surefire way to earn yourself an account which you cannot post with.
[ This Message was edited by: Pantheon on 2011-11-21 17:04 ]
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