A waste of our time?

NeilF

NeilF
Sorry to cut to the quick, but I get the distinct impression that for all the suggestions made in this forum (& indeed its parent) it really is somewhat pointless.

Enhancement suggestions vary from huge to small, questionable to obvious, yet I suspect even the small obvious ones, no matter how carefully thought out, do not even hope to be recognised, worse still implemented.

Surely:-
- If it is a waste of time, just let us know so we can stop wasting it.
- If it's not a waste of time, surely some simple community feedback is called for from FD? eg: Let us know if some of the enhancements are on a "to be considered list"?

Or have I unfairly missed something?
 

mmaruda

mmaruda
Perhaps the moderators or someone could make a weekly tun down of what was suggested by the players and is viable to implement and then we could have a vote.
 

Joe Spivey

Joe Spivey
Pretty sure it is not a waste of time, otherwise why do they have a suggestions forum? Also, it is unlikely that any suggestion would be implemented with speed. I would imagine there would be a very lengthy process involved before they include anything that is not already in the development plan.
 

dreamer1986

D
Or at least a developer could respond and say that yes, they are reading and taking into consideration our suggestions. That would be good enough for me.
 

Akkya

A
NeilF said:
Sorry to cut to the quick, but I get the distinct impression that for all the suggestions made in this forum (& indeed its parent) it really is somewhat pointless.

Enhancement suggestions vary from huge to small, questionable to obvious, yet I suspect even the small obvious ones, no matter how carefully thought out, do not even hope to be recognised, worse still implemented.

Surely:-
- If it is a waste of time, just let us know so we can stop wasting it.
- If it's not a waste of time, surely some simple community feedback is called for from FD? eg: Let us know if some of the enhancements are on a "to be considered list"?

Or have I unfairly missed something?
Click to expand...

I agree not a waste of time, especially your posts on exploration. I very much enjoy them and all the help to shape the game helps, the more vocal we are, the more we will be heard.
I hope that FD do implement some kind of " this month we are DISCUSSING the option to ...." in the newsletters, even if nothing comes of them.

I can't imagine they dont come on here and look at proposals as the more people developing the more refined and better the ideas...

Don't give up, keep thinking / dreaming and lets make it the reality we are all looking for.
 

NeilF

NeilF
Joe Spivey said:
Pretty sure it is not a waste of time, otherwise why do they have a suggestions forum? Also, it is unlikely that any suggestion would be implemented with speed. I would imagine there would be a very lengthy process involved before they include anything that is not already in the development plan.
Click to expand...

Why create a suggestions forum? So all the suggestions are tucked away neatly and don't impinge on other posts? If they were serious about it they enable a voting system so people can vote for suggestions they like... But even then, it wouldn't show suggestions were appearing on any radars!

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Akkya said:
Don't give up, keep thinking / dreaming and lets make it the reality we are all looking for.
Click to expand...
To be candid, have you seen a single comment from any FD member of staff on any suggestion in this forum? Or indeed any comment anywhere to imply any suggestion here has been looked at/considered?
 
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Joe Spivey

Joe Spivey
NeilF said:
Why create a suggestions forum? So all the suggestions are tucked away neatly and don't impinge on other posts? If they were serious about it they enable a voting system so people can vote for suggestions they like...
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Why? What use is forumites voting on anything? Forumites are a very small and non representative sample of the player base as a whole. As for devs responding to suggestions, totally non-productive waste of time and money (man hours wise).
 

dreamer1986

D
Joe Spivey said:
Why? What use is forumites voting on anything? Forumites are a very small and non representative sample of the player base as a whole. As for devs responding to suggestions, totally non-productive waste of time and money (man hours wise).
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I am now studying game design, and reading A Book of Lenses. From there I understand that one of the important aspects of game design is to have ideas to improve your game to give the best experience to the players. As a team you can do a lot of things, but some ideas might escape your notice. But you can be open to the thoughts given by your players to come up with new ways to improve the existing gameplay. If you want to have a fun game, that gives a good experience for the players, sometimes reading what the community suggests can be very helpful to get new ideas to improve the experience. The creative mind must be open to learn from everything and anyone.

Also, a community gets stronger when the people in it know they are listened to by the developers, and a strong community leads to more sales in the long run, and so its not a waste of time and money, as you argue.
 

raok

R
They are reading the forum. They have also answered to some topics. Would not still harm to tell that they are actually reading, just to clarify it for all.

If I were them, I would not be part of the forum too much either. I would like to get fresh ideas from the forum, that are not clouded by my own ideas.
 

NeilF

NeilF
Joe Spivey said:
Why? What use is forumites voting on anything? Forumites are a very small and non representative sample of the player base as a whole. As for devs responding to suggestions, totally non-productive waste of time and money (man hours wise).
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Fair point... But it might be superior to the big blob approach we currently have? ie: A couple of popular topics/threads might be noticed that otherwise would be (as currently happens) buried...

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raok said:
They are reading the forum. They have also answered to some topics. Would not still harm to tell that they are actually reading, just to clarify it for all.
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Out of interest, can you point me to a thread on this forum (Suggestions) with an FD post? Just to put my mind at rest?
 

Winterwalker

Winterwalker
.. Speak for yourself? Pretty sure FD hang on my every word don't they?? :rolleyes:

I imagine, even if they don't show a face, the forums are probably good for taking the temperature of what the players (at least those who use the forums) are thinking? This is like early warning on reviews and I feel sure that FD are interested in what's good and what's bad about ED in people's minds.
 

Joe Spivey

Joe Spivey
dreamer1986 said:
I am now studying game design, and reading A Book of Lenses. From there I understand that one of the important aspects of game design is to have ideas to improve your game to give the best experience to the players. As a team you can do a lot of things, but some ideas might escape your notice. But you can be open to the thoughts given by your players to come up with new ways to improve the existing gameplay. If you want to have a fun game, that gives a good experience for the players, sometimes reading what the community suggests can be very helpful to get new ideas to improve the experience. The creative mind must be open to learn from everything and anyone.

Also, a community gets stronger when the people in it know they are listened to by the developers, and a strong community leads to more sales in the long run, and so its not a waste of time and money, as you argue.
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Please don't take this as a criticism but there is a world of difference between studying game design and running a business. It costs money to have someone spend time answering forum suggestions. Even a simple 'Thank you for your suggestion' still requires a person sitting on a chair at a desk using a computer... all of which are overheads. Devs are actually on these forums a whole lot more than many other games answering questions and keeping us up to date. Just look at the amount of time Michael brookes, the Exec Producer, answering questions each and every time there is a patch update. And the patch notes, too, they have to be compiled, checked and then posted... all of which costs time and money. We are well served by the devs.
 

Iskariot

Iskariot
NeilF said:
Sorry to cut to the quick, but I get the distinct impression that for all the suggestions made in this forum (& indeed its parent) it really is somewhat pointless.

Enhancement suggestions vary from huge to small, questionable to obvious, yet I suspect even the small obvious ones, no matter how carefully thought out, do not even hope to be recognised, worse still implemented.

Surely:-
- If it is a waste of time, just let us know so we can stop wasting it.
- If it's not a waste of time, surely some simple community feedback is called for from FD? eg: Let us know if some of the enhancements are on a "to be considered list"?

Or have I unfairly missed something?
Click to expand...



FD have implemented many suggestions and tweaks based on our feedback. So it is not a waste of time at all!
It is a waste of time to think that you are entitled to having your suggestions implemented in the game. This is not your game. You are not a Developer.
In the end FD will have to balance all ideas and judge whether they fit in with the bigger picture. It is their game, their vision.
 

Robert Maynard

Volunteer Moderator
Robert Maynard
NeilF said:
To be candid, have you seen a single comment from any FD member of staff on any suggestion in this forum? Or indeed any comment anywhere to imply any suggestion here has been looked at/considered?
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The Devs have indicated that they may, at some time in the future, introduce a way of viewing one's ship from a point outwith the ship by the use of drones, in answer to the oft repeated call for an external view.
 

AtheosisX

A
Joe Spivey said:
Pretty sure it is not a waste of time, otherwise why do they have a suggestions forum? Also, it is unlikely that any suggestion would be implemented with speed. I would imagine there would be a very lengthy process involved before they include anything that is not already in the development plan.
Click to expand...

Every game forum seems to have suggestion areas. That does not in any way imply the developers ever look at it. With many games I'm pretty sure they go completely unseen.
 

Robert Maynard

Volunteer Moderator
Robert Maynard
dreamer1986 said:
I am now studying game design, and reading A Book of Lenses. From there I understand that one of the important aspects of game design is to have ideas to improve your game to give the best experience to the players. As a team you can do a lot of things, but some ideas might escape your notice. But you can be open to the thoughts given by your players to come up with new ways to improve the existing gameplay. If you want to have a fun game, that gives a good experience for the players, sometimes reading what the community suggests can be very helpful to get new ideas to improve the experience. The creative mind must be open to learn from everything and anyone.
Click to expand...

The "might" in the third sentence and "sometimes" in the fifth are particularly important - just because there are a lot of ideas being put forward by the forum community does not mean that those ideas would fit well within or, indeed, enhance the game for the majority of players.
 

Alderman Fury

A
I think we have a Community Manager - Isn't it part or their job to come to the forums and address players posting suggestions.

I just stick mine up to see if anything will catch, no expectations here other than - as the OP says, the occasional acknowledgement that peoples ideas and suggestions are considered.
 
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