The cheating revelations have put plenty of problems in the game in a new light for me. If you need a TL;DR, I won't mince words. I'm beginning to really lose confidence in you guys. I'm not sure if you guys can handle this development anymore.
Now, I'm not going to say stopping cheaters is easy. There's a whole slew of problems that come with anti-cheat. It's difficult. I understand.
But let's talk the elephant in the room. HUD colors. Simple hacks were able to modify HUD colors exactly how we've been requesting from you guys for years now. And yet, you guys say that it's impossible given how the code was implemented. FDev, are you lying to us? Or are you incompetent? If you can't implement a simple method of HUD color change (there's a whole colorblind community that you're screwing here), how can we trust you with the development of the game to you going forward? If anything, you should take some pointers from those hackers. They might know the game better than you do.
And if you lied to us, then you're a lazy developer and a liar, and deserve no respect from this community. If this is the case, end the dialogue here. I want nothing more from you.
But speaking of knowing the game better than you do. This amazing community that you've fostered: they know this game better than you do. By far. We're a hardcore community that learns all the ins-and-outs, all the ups-and-downs. This game lives and dies by having an active community, yet you choose to not interact with it whatsoever. I can't understand why, but I'm going to try to persuade you to change anyway.
Enter right: Ubisoft and DICE LA.
Let's talk DICE first. Anyone remember Battlefield 4? I'm sure some of you do, and if you don't, I suggest you look into it. Both Battlefield 4 and later Rainbow 6 Siege are the greatest comebacks in gaming history, and I want you to learn something from them. Battlefield 4 launched in a miserable state: absolutely unplayable. Glitches, server issues, even cheating: all rampant. This went on for a year and a half under the reins of DICE Stockholm. Here's what DICE LA did to turn things around:
LISTEN TO YOUR COMMUNITY.
Work with them! Your community knows your game better than you ever will! And there's no shame in that. But you need to listen. DICE LA immediately became more transparent with its community and it benefited greatly. They created the PTE or Player Test Environment, a, then, revolutionary model that is now used today by several developers for its effectiveness. There is no benefit to being a black box. Let the community actively work with you on the game development. Take feedback seriously. And don't be afraid to make bold moves. Doing something will inevitably upset a few people. Doing nothing upsets everyone. Just don't pull off another drag munitions buff. That will definitely upset everyone.
Now Ubisoft. Rainbow 6 Siege. Its success story is more than its development. It's also a marketing story. But let's talk about a specific instance where Ubisoft risked everything and changed the face of the game forever for the better.
Operation Health.
A tired joke among Rainbow 6 community members, "Operation health is basically a three-month period to we will take to fixing and repairing the game." Now, I say joke because Siege always has its fair share of issues, but let's see what Operation Health is in reference to what you're doing right now and how you could follow in Operation Health's footsteps.
You have stated that there will be no update until 2020. While this might stir up anger by some in the community. I disagree with them. This is acceptable. You have also stated that it will focus on small updates that will improve quality of life.
Here's the issue. My quality of life has improved minimally in this game. On the contrary, for a good week, QoL was much worse than it was before then. All these glitches that were introduced as a result of poor QA testing.
But Operation Health, likewise, was a bold move that angered its community, yet it brought about QoL updates that people can't imagine living without today. It was a clear success. Can you say you're doing the same?
If you say you're going to do something, be serious about it. If we have to wait until 2020 for the next update, we won't mind waiting a bit longer for better QA testing. You did not have to push the April update out in such a rushed manner. It did not affect the game greatly. And at it's launch only brought more problems.
Also much like DICE LA, Ubisoft also created the TTS or Technical Test Server and actively worked with the community to see what needed fixing and how it could be fixed.
I cannot stress this enough.
If you can, please do the same. And if you cannot, at least have an open dialogue with your community. Developer direct. We appreciate your community managers but a developer liaison is what we really need. Let us know what is holding back Ice Planets and Fleet Carriers. We'd love to know. We might be able to help. Don't be an arrogant developer that closes yourself off from the community. You have an opportunity here to set Elite Dangerous up for even more greatness. Don't drop the ball.
I have my doubts that you guys can pull this off. I really do. I've been a player for only six months, and experienced so much good in this game, but I've studied your development over the game's lifespan and have experienced its problems firsthand. I'm sure you won't succeed unless you change.
This is a plea. There is no shame in using your community's ideas, to take advice from the experts in your community. In your current state, you don't deserve the community that you've fostered, because you aren't respecting the community the way you should. Listen to us. We can help you help us. The game will improve greatly, and the community will respect you that much more for that.
Love,
Some commander, hoping for change
Now, I'm not going to say stopping cheaters is easy. There's a whole slew of problems that come with anti-cheat. It's difficult. I understand.
But let's talk the elephant in the room. HUD colors. Simple hacks were able to modify HUD colors exactly how we've been requesting from you guys for years now. And yet, you guys say that it's impossible given how the code was implemented. FDev, are you lying to us? Or are you incompetent? If you can't implement a simple method of HUD color change (there's a whole colorblind community that you're screwing here), how can we trust you with the development of the game to you going forward? If anything, you should take some pointers from those hackers. They might know the game better than you do.
And if you lied to us, then you're a lazy developer and a liar, and deserve no respect from this community. If this is the case, end the dialogue here. I want nothing more from you.
But speaking of knowing the game better than you do. This amazing community that you've fostered: they know this game better than you do. By far. We're a hardcore community that learns all the ins-and-outs, all the ups-and-downs. This game lives and dies by having an active community, yet you choose to not interact with it whatsoever. I can't understand why, but I'm going to try to persuade you to change anyway.
Enter right: Ubisoft and DICE LA.
Let's talk DICE first. Anyone remember Battlefield 4? I'm sure some of you do, and if you don't, I suggest you look into it. Both Battlefield 4 and later Rainbow 6 Siege are the greatest comebacks in gaming history, and I want you to learn something from them. Battlefield 4 launched in a miserable state: absolutely unplayable. Glitches, server issues, even cheating: all rampant. This went on for a year and a half under the reins of DICE Stockholm. Here's what DICE LA did to turn things around:
LISTEN TO YOUR COMMUNITY.
Work with them! Your community knows your game better than you ever will! And there's no shame in that. But you need to listen. DICE LA immediately became more transparent with its community and it benefited greatly. They created the PTE or Player Test Environment, a, then, revolutionary model that is now used today by several developers for its effectiveness. There is no benefit to being a black box. Let the community actively work with you on the game development. Take feedback seriously. And don't be afraid to make bold moves. Doing something will inevitably upset a few people. Doing nothing upsets everyone. Just don't pull off another drag munitions buff. That will definitely upset everyone.
Now Ubisoft. Rainbow 6 Siege. Its success story is more than its development. It's also a marketing story. But let's talk about a specific instance where Ubisoft risked everything and changed the face of the game forever for the better.
Operation Health.
A tired joke among Rainbow 6 community members, "Operation health is basically a three-month period to we will take to fixing and repairing the game." Now, I say joke because Siege always has its fair share of issues, but let's see what Operation Health is in reference to what you're doing right now and how you could follow in Operation Health's footsteps.
You have stated that there will be no update until 2020. While this might stir up anger by some in the community. I disagree with them. This is acceptable. You have also stated that it will focus on small updates that will improve quality of life.
Here's the issue. My quality of life has improved minimally in this game. On the contrary, for a good week, QoL was much worse than it was before then. All these glitches that were introduced as a result of poor QA testing.
But Operation Health, likewise, was a bold move that angered its community, yet it brought about QoL updates that people can't imagine living without today. It was a clear success. Can you say you're doing the same?
If you say you're going to do something, be serious about it. If we have to wait until 2020 for the next update, we won't mind waiting a bit longer for better QA testing. You did not have to push the April update out in such a rushed manner. It did not affect the game greatly. And at it's launch only brought more problems.
Also much like DICE LA, Ubisoft also created the TTS or Technical Test Server and actively worked with the community to see what needed fixing and how it could be fixed.
I cannot stress this enough.
If you can, please do the same. And if you cannot, at least have an open dialogue with your community. Developer direct. We appreciate your community managers but a developer liaison is what we really need. Let us know what is holding back Ice Planets and Fleet Carriers. We'd love to know. We might be able to help. Don't be an arrogant developer that closes yourself off from the community. You have an opportunity here to set Elite Dangerous up for even more greatness. Don't drop the ball.
I have my doubts that you guys can pull this off. I really do. I've been a player for only six months, and experienced so much good in this game, but I've studied your development over the game's lifespan and have experienced its problems firsthand. I'm sure you won't succeed unless you change.
This is a plea. There is no shame in using your community's ideas, to take advice from the experts in your community. In your current state, you don't deserve the community that you've fostered, because you aren't respecting the community the way you should. Listen to us. We can help you help us. The game will improve greatly, and the community will respect you that much more for that.
Love,
Some commander, hoping for change