Live Twitch Broadcast - June 1, 2017 - Comments

[joeblogs]

You're going about this all wrong. Let's first list the facts:

1. There is a slack channel in which (at first) mostly established players had access to.
2. This individual did NOT get the information --> this means it was simply not communicated properly/good enough. Why not good enough --> well he didn't read it, hence it wasn't good enough.
3. You here have a frustrated player/customer who thinks that he's not being taken seriously by those in charge of the game --> now let's start by taking this comment VERY VERY seriously.

To expand on point 3, I know EXACTLY what this person is referring to because I've felt the same exclusion when I first started making waves in the community. Now, I will agree that significant improvements have been made, but that doesn't disprove the FACT that a significant amount of customers feel excluded/alienated from the decision-making processes.

It would be great to hear how the Devs are going to address this.

I don't often agree with Bart, but as to point 1 I know that the test server was open to select players (or through some other means of allocation I am not aware of). While I think that this is essential to work out bugs etc, it's unfair to have certain strata of the community know ahead of time what works and what doesn't. Half my decisions this age were made from leaked beta testers information. While I am not going to chop down the devs here like Bart is, he does have a point to make about access. I proposed elsewhere that testing could be given to every kd OR maybe the top 25 kds as an option pre age so they can both help, and be aware of the changes.

Again, there have been good developments, but to say that this is an unbiased community in which we are all equals is incorrect. Every age is the "age of nepotism" as far as I am concerned. Many great voices in this community go unheard - (like Attero) etc, and then the loudest (bart), or the established (faceless men) seem to be the most rewarded.

[JeffT]

I don't often agree with Bart, but as to point 1 I know that the test server was open to select players (or through some other means of allocation I am not aware of). While I think that this is essential to work out bugs etc, it's unfair to have certain strata of the community know ahead of time what works and what doesn't. Half my decisions this age were made from leaked beta testers information. While I am not going to chop down the devs here like Bart is, he does have a point to make about access. I proposed elsewhere that testing could be given to every kd OR maybe the top 25 kds as an option pre age so they can both help, and be aware of the changes.

Again, there have been good developments, but to say that this is an unbiased community in which we are all equals is incorrect. Every age is the "age of nepotism" as far as I am concerned. Many great voices in this community go unheard - (like Attero) etc, and then the loudest (bart), or the established (faceless men) seem to be the most rewarded.

The test group is available to everyone. It has been linked in the message of the day (which everyone gets when they login to utopia), on IRC, distributed via munkbot, and here in the forums. All anyone needs to do is ask. If you don't pay attention to any of those channels, it becomes a lot harder. What would you want us to do, email everyone?

The vast majority of formulas used in the test server have been altered, or new formulas are not implemented until after testing for functionality is complete.

[joeblogs]

The test group is available to everyone. It has been linked in the message of the day (which everyone gets when they login to utopia), on IRC, distributed via munkbot, and here in the forums. All anyone needs to do is ask. If you don't pay attention to any of those channels, it becomes a lot harder. What would you want us to do, email everyone?

The vast majority of formulas used in the test server have been altered, or new formulas are not implemented until after testing for functionality is complete.

Emailing everyone is probably the best way to get everyone involved. I'm not saying it wasn't offered, I'm saying that it wasn't as open as it could be. 90% of people I spoke to had no clue about it even with the above mentioned ways to gain access. Again, this isn't an attack on you guys as I like the revitalization of the game, just that if everything is in one easy to digest format and accessible to all we can more easily make the community tighter. I will still argue that getting access to the test servers was an advantage though.

[Goodwitch]

Emailing everyone is probably the best way to get everyone involved. I'm not saying it wasn't offered, I'm saying that it wasn't as open as it could be. 90% of people I spoke to had no clue about it even with the above mentioned ways to gain access. Again, this isn't an attack on you guys as I like the revitalization of the game, just that if everything is in one easy to digest format and accessible to all we can more easily make the community tighter. I will still argue that getting access to the test servers was an advantage though.

Join the test server and you'll see it is not an advantage. Follow the slack channel conversations and you'll see that it's the same people over and over putting in the work but when they suggest things no one listens to them. This is not saying that everything is unbiased, but barking at the test server is barking in the wrong direction. Sure there are a lot of the high ranking players in that slack channel but most don't test or discuss anything. The ones doing the legwork of actually testing, pointing out obvious bugs and such do not get any advantage from doing so.

[DavidC]

I don't often agree with Bart, but as to point 1 I know that the test server was open to select players (or through some other means of allocation I am not aware of). While I think that this is essential to work out bugs etc, it's unfair to have certain strata of the community know ahead of time what works and what doesn't. Half my decisions this age were made from leaked beta testers information. While I am not going to chop down the devs here like Bart is, he does have a point to make about access. I proposed elsewhere that testing could be given to every kd OR maybe the top 25 kds as an option pre age so they can both help, and be aware of the changes.

Again, there have been good developments, but to say that this is an unbiased community in which we are all equals is incorrect. Every age is the "age of nepotism" as far as I am concerned. Many great voices in this community go unheard - (like Attero) etc, and then the loudest (bart), or the established (faceless men) seem to be the most rewarded.

If you read my post at all, you would know that your statement is 100% untrue. The testers have never had any information ahead of time (as JeffT mentioned) because ALL of the information they had through testing was not deployed onto the live server. So, IF 'half your decisions this age were made from leaked beta testers information' then ALL of those decisions were just as well taken from a hat because, once again, ALL information testers had available to them was not actual live game data.

I personally run the test server. I alter the code into the test form. I know the formulas that are being used and only I (and JeffT/Munk) know how to evaluate the data generated from the test server. The gains formula? Never went live on the test server. The personal explore pools? Oh, those had 3 different parts altered. The explore formula? Unchanged from last age so is irrelevant. Paladin never had self spells able to cast on others. None of the paladin self spells were coded to provided any effects on test server. Rituals? Oh these cost 5 runes and 1 cast to initiate, and they didn't provide any bonuses (not that it mattered because the bonuses were public knowledge). So what exactly were you able to base your decisions on from leaked beta testers? You have me intrigued.

[joeblogs]

If you read my post at all, you would know that your statement is 100% untrue. The testers have never had any information ahead of time (as JeffT mentioned) because ALL of the information they had through testing was not deployed onto the live server. So, IF 'half your decisions this age were made from leaked beta testers information' then ALL of those decisions were just as well taken from a hat because, once again, ALL information testers had available to them was not actual live game data.

I personally run the test server. I alter the code into the test form. I know the formulas that are being used and only I (and JeffT/Munk) know how to evaluate the data generated from the test server. The gains formula? Never went live on the test server. The personal explore pools? Oh, those had 3 different parts altered. The explore formula? Unchanged from last age so is irrelevant. Paladin never had self spells able to cast on others. None of the paladin self spells were coded to provided any effects on test server. Rituals? Oh these cost 5 runes and 1 cast to initiate, and they didn't provide any bonuses (not that it mattered because the bonuses were public knowledge). So what exactly were you able to base your decisions on from leaked beta testers? You have me intrigued.

So the test server tested 100% of things that were not added to the game?