Had a ticket about a technical issue open since Dec 17th. Still has not been answered, though they closed it twice with the awesome 'We've ignored this for so long it's probably fixed itself' message. Not prepared to give FD another penny, they can stick their cynically marketed skin packs and disinclined to pay for any future updates.
Should add, I reported a fairly well known bug (to players though apparently not FD) and received a message to my personal email from the head of QA asking for video footage recreating the issue so they could look into it. I sent them back a vid the next day. The guy could not even be bothered to send a 'cheers, got it' message. Some of us actually paid for the privilege to alpha/beta test this game because we wanted to support FD. At almost every step down the line they've treated us like crap.
As someone who bought into Beta, I have to agree with you there. Also, I think the QA head's behavior is very telling. In the end, what I resent is the lack of appreciation. We bought this game (and for many of us, the paint jobs and the 'privilege' to participate in alpha and beta testing as well) with our own hard-earned money - It's not like it was given to us for free out of the goodness of their hearts. You can talk about how much you appreciate your player base all you want, but your actions will be what you are judged on. I've had some good interactions with folks from FD, but I've also had at least as many bad ones, if not more. Frankly, I don't care what they say they're going to do, no matter how much they may truly mean it and want to make it so. I want to see results, and I don't think that's unreasonable.
The last bit probably comes across as overly dramatic. A failure to invest in proper support is a show of bad faith. Recognizing the problem, paying lip service to it and then failing to follow through is a show of contempt. We can all go on playing a game that is poorly supported, and why not? We've already paid for it and it is fun. Willingly buying into such a situation is something I'd prefer to avoid.
So how about this, the way things are right now, I would be extremely hesitant to purchase another Frontier game.
I'm sorry - I didn't mean for my comments to come off as an insult, friend. I wish I had your conviction, as gamers voting 'en masse' with their wallets is the only thing game developers ultimately understand. Fortunately for FD, my will is weak
Happy with the game, neutral to mild disgust with the forum, near complete distrust of Frontier head office: that's where I am at, so you and I are not alone. Certainly Frontier has to make mistakes because they are a small indie studio re-inventing the wheel to fit their particular applecart. There are certainly developers in Frontier's class that have done a better job, and there are a few that have done much worse. I in no way wish them ill, but gamers vote with their wallets.
Well said, which is why I stole your last bit! lol
I haven't had any trouble with their support, personally. They were very fair (but firm) to me in regards to ingame refunds. Haven't ticketed anything else, though.
I really enjoy Elite and I wholeheartedly believe they're giving it their all. I suspect Frontier is somewhat undersized to be managing a game of this scale and that they bit off more than they can chew, but they do want to listen to the community and do try to stay on top of things - they just have to budget their time, and filling out the game's features seems to be their priority. That's understandable; they've made it clear they're eager to build their dream game. I believe that they'll dial back features after 1.3 and crack the whip on bug-fixing. (emphasis mine)
I attribute its rough start to their ambition and I'm proud to have supported the project. I just hope I'm not wrong.
Paintjobs could definitely be handled a lot better. I wish they'd see that we want to work for them, but I suspect Frontier has a lawyer that's telling them to protect their assets, which would seem to exclude texture templates from the equation.
You make good points, friend. You are where I once was. There has to be a point at which you recognize bad habits of behavior, though, and how they continually deviate from said proclamations of good intentions. You can
want to treat your customers better all you want, after all, but if you keep treating them poorly, well...
And on the topic of them waiting to fix the bugs until 'later', there are many, many folks who have spoken as to why that's such a very bad idea, but I think I'll go with Napolean Hill in this case: "Don’t wait. The time will never be just right"
Happy with the game, can't see an issue with the Dev's. Haven't encountered anything game breaking so i haven't dealt with support.
Had an issue with the store and a 3 month delay on my boxed version of the game, that's sorted now.
Hardly even bother with the forums, full of SJW's and drama queens. Get all i need with the news letter and Reddit!
Have phun!
Good for you! Next time, feel free to keep your haughty braggadocio to yourself.
I've had little cause to interact with FD regarding bugs, but to those complaining about Support - you all seem to be talking Tickets, I understood this was no longer the preferred route for bug reports? We now have forums for that? They couple of bugs I've reported though have received quick replies. If its a hardware issue I can't see how FD can really help that much. They develop software and can't troubleshoot and debug every hardware problem, even with infinite resources - some problems are system specific. All they can do here is start to build a database of hardware issues and fixes (if any) but this takes time.
As a developer and supporter of software though, I can tell you this - your bugs will be generally classified as:
1) Not a bug. You'd be surprised how many users report software as 'broken' or 'bugged' when it isn't. Something not working the way you'd like is not a bug. It's an important distinction - the difference between a fix and a change request which will certainly have different priority queues.
2) Can't be replicated. Even with video evidence, logs and all the rest, if the devs can't replicate your issue it is essentially impossible to fix it, however much they would like to, or you would like them to. This happens a lot, and there is only so much time the devs can devote to try to make it happen. I suspect a lot of complainants if told 'I can't replicate your issue, so I can't fix it' would accuse the devs of brushing them off, hence it is usually better for the devs to keep quiet.
3) Can be replicated, but isn't 'important'. It goes onto a (probably very long) prioritised list. You'll never be told how it is prioritised - but you can bet your priorities are not the same as FDevs. Obviously I can't say for certain, but I'd guess 'bugs' that are annoying but not game-breaking (in a real way for the majority of people) will be low on the list. To use an example from here - Community Goals - probably have problems, need a few tweaks perhaps, but if it doesn't work exactly how you (or even the devs) wanted or intended its hardly stopping you playing the game.
4) Can be replicated, is important. Crashes and the like. As long as there are items in this category, they will supersede any other issues, like it or not.
Don't stop reporting bugs though, devs also can't fix bugs they don't know about!
Don't expect (or demand!) communication about your issues - you'll be disappointed if you do. With as user base the size of ED, there is no way FDev can maintain a meaningful dialog with everyone about every issue - it can't be a managed, no matter how many people you throw at the task. Having more support people who also don't know the status of given 'tickets' and can't give any meaningful feedback just means you are employing people to do the job of those stock emails. And while we all dislike the impersonal nature, those emails serve a purpose. There is an adage about squeaky wheels and oil - and its true here. If yours is the only report of a given issue in three months, its not getting any attention over the bug that is reported ten times every day - its just the way it is, however dis-satisfactory it is to you.
Appreciate the cyclical nature of computer development. You won't get the fix ASAP, you might get it in the next patch (if it's minor), you might get it in the next major update, you might not get it. But whatever - you won't get it RIGHT NOW.
Sorry, that went on a bit - just felt the need to support my fellow developers. From an 'insiders' perspective I think we should all be grateful FDevs patch and update cycle is so short!
I bolded all the bits I'd like to respond to, and I'll address them in order.
- Honestly, in my endeavors, the experience has been the same either way, and that's not a good thing. When it was announced that FD was switching over to a forum-based support system, I actually took the time to re-report unanswered tickets of mine from the old system, and the degree to which I was ignored stayed pretty much the same. I hate wasting my precious time for nothing, and that's essentially what I did.
- From what I've seen, folks at FD don't seem to have much of a problem leveling with people like this, which makes their habitual silence all the more aggravating. It tells me they probably would respond, if they weren't just missing or ignoring the ticket to begin with.
- I would contend that Community Goals ARE pretty game-breaking, and in a pretty real way for many people. Something not working exactly how I (or even the devs) wanted or intended is one thing - Something that is literally half broken, or more so (monetary payouts, but no discount, and the discount is often worth far more than the payout, too) is another matter. And for the record, this issue in particular has very much had the effect of keeping me from playing the game. The bugged Community Goal that I participated in had a substantial discount attached to it, and as such, I put off an extended exploration trip to cash in on the discount when it got fixed. I doubt I'm the only person who would prefer to just play another game while waiting for a bug like this to be fixed, rather than go off and do my thing, only to have to schlep all the way back to cash in once FD gets around to fixing it. If I'd really rather play ED, and am putting it off due to the inconvenience, I'd consider that somewhat game-breaking, by definition.
- Oh, I've definitely stopped reporting bugs. Why should I spend my precious time (and it is precious for me, nowadays) filling out bug reports, when my personal experience with the whole process is largely one of marked indifference on FD's part? I didn't spend my hard-earned money to do what is essentially a favor for FD, and not be thanked, respected, or even acknowledged for it to boot. They say the definiton of 'insanity' is doing the same thing over and over again and expecting different results. I'd like to think I'm not insane.
- Why should I NOT expect some basic level of communication? As I mentioned above, I am essentially doing FD a favor by helping them to do their OWN JOB, so a minimum level of
helpful communication is not only to be expected, in my opinion, but also demanded. I'm not expecting answers overnight, but within a
few months or so? Yeah... I feel no remorse about being that 'demanding'. Oh, and I know that many, if not all, of the issues I've reported have been prevalent ones, so they don't get off on that technicality, either.
And, most importantly:
- It's no problem at all, friend - Thanks for taking the time to write a quality response! Even though I may disagree with you on a number of points, I really appreciate you taking the time to respond so thoughtfully, thoroughly, and respectfully. Thank you
