After all of the constructive and down right awesome teamwork we've had with tackling things directly, Piglet, I truly am sorry you feel the way you do today.
As I've said many times before, we're trying really flipping hard right now to iron things out and I've tried to make it a pretty personable discussion with you to reassure you of the steps we're taking, grabbing the issues you care about and so on.
I'll keep doing it, of course, but unfortunately there is a maximum power outage with things right now and we're running at it.
Unfortunately, Sally, some people will never be happy unless they are complaining.
So, to counter that narrative, I would like to make the following remarks on the whole situation:
It appears, to me at least, that FDEV IS working hard to correct the of the Odyssey release, and are doing a great job of it too.
No, the release didn't go well, far from it. No, we were not kept 'in the loop' with the developments/problems, which caused some genuine anger for a lot of Commanders. And no, the game did NOT work as it was supposed to 'out of the box'. But, recently, this has been changing. We now get regular updates on when patches will drop (or not as todays post demonstrates). We are now able to see where our beloved game is heading and some of the repairs being implemented. Is it perfect, no, but it is a genuine improvement and should be recognised as such.
Yes, we, the players, would like more details about new features being worked on for the game. One comment I regularly see (and is always ignored) is; 'will we see new craft/SRVs?' This kind of feature development would go a long way to revive the trust many Commanders had in the game. No, we don't need to know 'exactly' when an item will drop, or how it will look, but there is nothing stopping FDEV from sharing some preliminary ideas of 'things we are looking at'. If an item doesn't 'pan-out' no one will mind, especially if you explain why (as you did with the delay to Patch 7 today).
Another item that was widely celebrated when it was announced was the 'Monthly Developer Stream'. Everyone I have spoken to had thought this was a brilliant idea, and a great way to re-energise the Elite Family. Unfortunately, as we now know, this was a short lived idea. The MDS turned into a non-event as it was downgraded to a few short words by Community Managers during their normal streams. This kind of promise then fail system does not help anyone.
The last item I would like to comment on is the Community Managers themselves. There has been a lot of criticism aimed, unfairly I think, at the CMs themselves. Their job is not easy. They must juggle the needs and wants of the community with the needs and demands of the company. It is never an easy line to tread. They know far more than they are allowed to tell but can tell far less than is needed (according to the community, at least). They are, as most will accept, only human (we think?!) and when they make mistakes or mis-speak we need to give them the benefit-of-the-doubt. They are, after-all is said and done, there to help us all. A good CM will steer their community through the troubled waters (or should that be Space-Lanes?) we currently face without adding more waves. This, I believe, is what the CMs are doing and we should thank them and give them space. When they make mistakes, comment on it with poise and dignity but never harass or demonise. They are employees. They are NOT the company.