Splash Damage's greatest weekness...

(Adam) #1

I made a post a long time ago about this, but it was more in rage over the topic then it was laying it down. Now is a great time to re-instate this subject. Splash Damage is TERRIBLE at informing players.

I made alot of rages here and there on this forums… but they are mostly due to the fact I can’t see SD’s vision with a certain idea. SD need to talk more to it’s players. It is obvious they listen! IT’S TRUE! THEY LISTEN! Alot of things talked about on the forums, are adressed really well, but SD doesn’t do anything to explain. Currently there is spam over a certain merc… Let’s not have him brought up here please… thanks… and so far, SD hasn’t even comented on the issue. They haven’t stated if they feel it’s balanced, or not. If it’s going to stay, or what they are going to fix. THIS is driving people away. When people see an issue, and don’t get a reply about it, it seems as if they are not heard. Like a 5 year old wanting candy. It will beg and beg, but eventually it will give up and cry, because the mom didn’t respond to the child. This isn’t just right now, but in the past too. When SD removed 50% of the mercs, there was NO INFO why. NONE! This drove me out the first time, as I had no clue wth was going on. How do I test the game, when I don’t know what they are doing?
The idea of in, forming players isn’t some hipster thing either. Many companies do this. Saying hey, we see the issue at hand, we are working towards fixing it. You don’t need to tell the launch codes, just let the players know that they either get the candy, or they don’t. Nexon does this REALLY well, and it’s very easy for them too. combatarms.nexon.net , maplestory.nexon.net . These sites tell you what’s going on now, and what’s going on next. Go look at these pages, things like “Scedualed matence” and “bug fix notes” all there before it happens, and look at dirtybomb.nexon.net . All you see is what’s going on NOW.
This idea SD has of surprizes and secrets is going to make this Brink 2. People are going to get pissy and a great game is going to be inactive, because no one knows wth is going on.
What would your grandma say SD?

(waggishVoice) #2

I don’t give a shit as long as they remove phantom. Please, I want to love this game.

(Adam) #3

Please keep him out of this… I didn’t say his name for a reason… He is off topic.

(CCP115) #4

Better than Valve :tongue:

In all seriousness, transparency is a large problem in the games industry, but it isn’t an awfully large deal with SD, I find them to be alright, and at least they acknowledge the big issues, such as hackers everywhere.

(Gi.Am) #5

While I don’t see it so harsh. I do agree with the main message. Communication is kinda lacking. Imo Riot (league of legends) and Digital Extreme (Warframe) are the Rolemodel when it comes to community - developer communications. Both give very timely and indepth Patchnotes that don’t leave out a single fix or change. And more important they communicate their game vision and theri reasoning for balancing changes very well.

I think one of the problems is, that the Devs basically have their own community outlet. (Warchest which they mainly attend and use for discussion) while the majority of players outside of the longtime SD fans, are funneled to this forum or even the steam discussions.
Which means that some problems never reach the Devs or atleast only delayed (Nexon has to relay informations to SD).

That said I do like that SD is actively listening to the stuff that reaches them and at the same time, cross check with their echo data and their overall vision of the game, doing mostly good decisions and not falter on every random OMG NERF TOO OP cry. Making the game better and better with every release so far.

(RuleofBooKz) #6

yes info is good - tho in this day and age with so many outlets to acquire info u can work a little bit and find the info if u look.

(ThatRandomGuy) #7

PARAGRAPHS … Heard of em?

(Nail) #8

I find Splash damage to be very forthcoming about the game, used to be much better but people kept breaking the NDAs that are still in place and they throttled back our info

(elfishUkele) #9

Stop complaining about this merc, he isn’t op

(Eox) #10

No, he’s just the most infuriating thing to play against, and by a very large margin. And this needs to change.

(Adam) #11

Guys, both of you, do not talk about him here, he is off topic, and I will flag you if it continues.

(XavienX) #12

Jesus…all these complaints about Phantom…

(Adam) #13

I am flagging @XavienH5… Reason: This is off topic, and doesn’t add to this post. Please stay on the topic.

(GramboFidard) #14

My biggest complaint is that it seems like they just make changes arbitrarily.

The latest Aim Punch debacle (83% and 87% between two polls agree that it should be removed/reduced) is a phenomenal example of this.

We got absolutely no reasoning WHY it was changed, only that it was being increased. It’s a horrible mechanic that is against the spirit of the game, and it seems they don’t even respect us enough to say why.

(Adam) #15

[quote=“extravagentBypass;41222”]Better than Valve :tongue:

In all seriousness, transparency is a large problem in the games industry, but it isn’t an awfully large deal with SD, I find them to be alright, and at least they acknowledge the big issues, such as hackers everywhere.[/quote]
Valve is kinda different, most people just want to know about ___ game 3, or about steam.

[quote=“Gi.Am;41275”]While I don’t see it so harsh. I do agree with the main message. Communication is kinda lacking. Imo Riot (league of legends) and Digital Extreme (Warframe) are the Rolemodel when it comes to community - developer communications. Both give very timely and indepth Patchnotes that don’t leave out a single fix or change. And more important they communicate their game vision and theri reasoning for balancing changes very well.

I think one of the problems is, that the Devs basically have their own community outlet. (Warchest which they mainly attend and use for discussion) while the majority of players outside of the longtime SD fans, are funneled to this forum or even the steam discussions.
Which means that some problems never reach the Devs or atleast only delayed (Nexon has to relay informations to SD).

That said I do like that SD is actively listening to the stuff that reaches them and at the same time, cross check with their echo data and their overall vision of the game, doing mostly good decisions and not falter on every random OMG NERF TOO OP cry. Making the game better and better with every release so far.[/quote]

The first part nails it, but as for 2 and 3, It is clear they listen. No doubt about it. The only issue is they don’t tell people they hear. They let people rage about on the forums, till they give up and leave. Even a “We are adressing the issue” could solve alot of issues. But for the last part, yes, “OMG NERF TOO OP” is an obvious thing to ignore.

The issue is that info that SD needs isn’t findable. This is like saying “I can’t afford to live.” “Well, then start getting money to live.”[quote=“Nail;41873”]I find Splash damage to be very forthcoming about the game, used to be much better but people kept breaking the NDAs that are still in place and they throttled back our info[/quote]
Wait… The game still has an NDA in place?! I thought that was over in open beta…

[quote=“GramboFidard;42276”]My biggest complaint is that it seems like they just make changes arbitrarily.

The latest Aim Punch debacle (83% and 87% between two polls agree that it should be removed/reduced) is a phenomenal example of this.

We got absolutely no reasoning WHY it was changed, only that it was being increased. It’s a horrible mechanic that is against the spirit of the game, and it seems they don’t even respect us enough to say why.[/quote]
This is the kind of thing too. They make changes, and leave us in the cold. “Why did they remove the server browser, and add no way to get into a match?” (Closed beta) No dev said “Hey guys, there seems to be a bit of a fumble, we forgot to and a quick join button after removing the server browser.” NONE! They left IMPORTANT info, which means pass or fail out, leaving us spamming the closed beta forums.

(XavienX) #16

Bruh…you reported me for complaining about you complaining? Comon man, that’s really disrespectful and I don’t appreciate it man. Hope you make better choices as you stay on the forums for longer periods. T_T @Adam

(Adam) #17

@XavienH5 the issue was you are not talking about the topic, you are starting your own mini-hate Phantom rage thread. No one is talking about Phantom here… Take your Phantom rage somewhere else.

(XavienX) #18

It’s pretty obvious that this complaint is due to part of Phantom’s release.

(Adam) #19

@XavienH5 please stop complaining, and stay on topic, last warning.

(regretfulBill) #20

One of the developers has been putting out fires all morning/day.