Thoughts, suggestions, feedback etc.

Discussion in 'General Archive' started by pennanen, Jul 20, 2014.

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  1. pennanen

    pennanen Forum Apprentice

    Hi everyone!

    First I'll introduce myself quickly. My name is Pennanen and I have played this game since there were only whispers about a bad boss in North called Khalys. In heredur I saw only few people with snake mask and thought those must be some awesome players. After that I used to play like hell and enjoyed watching my character develop and becoming stronger every day. Although by that time I didnt have a clue to how to develop my character and which items and gems are worth using and worth trying to find. In time game has seen a lot of changes and which are both good and bad.

    In this thread I will share my thoughts about how I have seen the game develop and being managed. I will try to clarify my thoughts as much as possible, so feel free to ask for more detailed explanations.

    First I will start by saying that I think the game has a lot of potential and it is very good product. I also think that this potetial is not used even close to 100%. I must say though that I'm not sure if the development team knows what to do with it. I dont know how you can try to develop this kind of product without customers feedback but I see them doing it all the time. There used to be a roadmap in 2013 which was one of the best things in game so far.
    There is no roadmap now, I dont know why, maybe the guy got fired for some reason or just left the ship.

    1. Feedback and polls

    There should absolutely be some kind of IN GAME feedback system. For example weekly polls with a carrot for players, 100 andermant or so. Players would be more than happy answering a few questions weekly. By answering a few questions you would be able to get a databank to know what your customers want from your product. This data should not be too hard to analyze if you are able to ask right things. Now I think you guys are doing something here and there just for doing something. Its like repairing a old house while there are materials for building a castle next to the house.

    2. Creating projects and managing projects

    By analyzing collected data you should be able to form both long and short targets for delevoping better product. Define and create projects and aim for goals + being able to close projects and take feedback. If you dont have enough resources to do this or just dont care, then you have a huge problem. Someone should although take responsibility to say it, and try to take action for fixing it.

    3. Being transparent

    Getting back to roadmap 2013. First time the game was transparent enough for players to know what to expect. Sharing with customers whats happening is very important, anticipation and excitement for upcoming improvements makes people want to play more. You can also get people to think about upcoming features and suggest more than concentrate to negative feedback.

    I will share more later in this thread, when I feel like it.

    Also I would like to say that I do this just for fun and don't even think this would lead to actions as nobody has reacted nearly enough in feedback so far in game. But im just trying to help you guys to create a better product and better customer service.

    Br and gl,
    Pennanen
     
    Last edited: Jul 20, 2014
    Serenthía likes this.
  2. Multi-Sev

    Multi-Sev Forum Overlooker

    Agree 100%. I am also a long-time player (since near the beginning of open beta). As I see it, currently, the dev team is slow to react and implement ideas based on player feedback - and transparency is virtually non-existent. These attributes have degraded over time (I thought things were better earlier in the game's development). Your ideas could go a long way toward making this game better.
     
    pennanen likes this.
  3. pennanen

    pennanen Forum Apprentice

    Thanks for your answer Multi-Sev. Sorry for not answering earlier, long days at work. I think we are not the only ones thinking this way. There are some serious troubles in game development now. It's even more clear now after new "roadmap". Lets hope it gets better, im usually more optimist than pessimist, no matter what :)

    First of all, I want to say that reasons why I have stayed playing this game is that of all games, I feel like it has the simple enough graphics, style of play, commands and structure. The game is, for my liking, simple enough but yet it feels modern and up to date. Also going forward and developing my character is a lot of fun. I also like "impossible" projects that it offers. For example getting Mortis mask. Yeah it's a pain, but nice to have something "impossible" to achieve :) There are other reasons also but those come to my mind first. But to be honest, these features are not enough if its lacking content.

    Here are some ideas. They are harsh idea, but developable. I dont know if these are already on forum, but i'm not gonna look for them:

    1. I think you guys have created nice themes already around the game, but they are not used too much. I would like to see you expand these themes for more content. For example I hope to see more maps and content around essences. You already did it with Desert of essences event. These sort of areas could be whole maps and lands. It was simple and works. Also I liked the last event poison map. You could add these effects to normal maps and make gear/spells/mounts that reduce damage taken from traveling.

    Some areas/themes that I think could be expanded for end game players:

    All essences and boss, green(nature) new boss or lvl45 bearach, blue(ice/water) new boss, yellow(lightning/storm) new boss, purple(andermagic) Khalys maybe version 3, red(fire/chaos) new Herald, light(sky/light) new boss. Also make boss(es) of combined essences. Adding any of these would be good for game.

    2. Another idea is special gems throughout the whole world, more variety to gems and possibility to craft special gems (for special armor). I really hoped we could have crafted some better gem out of christmas event gems. These could also be added to themes. Looking for essence/elemental gems would be nice to see.

    Overall my point is to add and follow some themes. Also if you get negative feedback you can turn around and bury them fast. Its sad but its already 1,5 years since Mortis was added. After that only event bosses.

    I'll add more thoughts later.

    Br and gl,
    Pennanen
     
  4. Multi-Sev

    Multi-Sev Forum Overlooker

    All we can do is hope that things get better. I think the team actually wants to make things better, but they are constrained by available time and, possibly, their bosses' wishes. I think transparency may not ever happen to our liking, due to factors outside of the public-relations peoples' (Community Managers') control. I'm not a conspiracy theorist, but I think they're being told what they can and cannot say by the people who pay them. This is not unusual in the business world.

    My main hope is that bug fixes will continue to improve, and bug creation will decline. I'm also hopeful that the talked-about level 50 expansion will breath a little new life into the game - maybe in six months or so.
     
  5. pennanen

    pennanen Forum Apprentice

    We can give feedback and hope someone makes changes and takes responsibility for future plans. Personally my main hope is more content and more possiblities to give feedback. Bugs shouldn't be main concern, just fixed as they occur. Easy to say obviously. I rather still play game with better content and features and some bugs, than bugless game with bad content.
     
  6. IWantedALongUsername

    IWantedALongUsername Forum Apprentice

    Yeah, I agree. I stopped playing some time ago, because PvP sucked so bad. Night after night, you go against the same big players and get killed in one or two shots, and you get no where. I even tried a new char, brought him up to Lv40 PvP by the time I got to Lv 25 XP, and then took him all the way to Lv45 just to have the same thing happen again... battle after battle against the big players with no reprieve. And it doesn't matter what time of time or night you play, there are always big players around.

    Anyway, so I stopped playing. From spending $500-600/month on this awesome game to nothing. Then the other day I got an email. "Hey, we miss you, why did you stop playing?". A survey asking why I quit. So, I filled it out - the usual complaints about PvP and bugs in the game.

    Then I came to the site for the first time in forever and saw the announcement about new PvP balance and some Twitch feed... so i thought great, I'll check it out. 45 min of some guy called Greg with a bad German accent who seems to have never played the game about some new starting levels. Then 20 seconds about PvP.

    Ok, so I went back in with my Lv45, and the same big players were still milking the arena. Loss after loss against the same guys. I mean, hey, where is the new balance? Isn't it enough I come up against a player 20 times in a row and lose, to maybe NOT have to go up against him again that night? No, apparently not. Some big DK... 37 losses in a row. Why? Can someone please explain? How is that motivation to stay playing?

    Anyway, then I went back and though, ok, let's run POS, so I did... and yay a new bug... I run, and get killed but there are no enemies to be seen... then I jump and I'm miles away at the start of the level... this is so early days Drakensang, it's scary. This is what it used to be like when Khalys was the big boss and PvP was 3v3 until you had 25 kills....

    And I thought maybe after leaving some feedback, there'd be some follow up - I actually took the time and left some comments in my feedback - but nope... nothing. Probably ended up in someone's recycling bin.

    Drakensang. I love you. You are a great game. But your development team sucks. Fix PvP, and the bugs, and I will be back. Until then, don't waste my time with meaningless surveys unless you are actually prepared to enter a dialogue about this game.
     
    VMmage and Serenthía like this.
  7. trakilaki

    trakilaki Living Forum Legend

    Spending $500-600 per month and you can't win one single battle?
    Sorry man, in this case the issue is connected with you.
    I won't argue other points you made. But knowing that I am spending $0-0 per month and I am able to win even against big money spending players makes me say what I have said above.
     
    DesertKoala likes this.
  8. pennanen

    pennanen Forum Apprentice

    About pvp, I used to farm like hell and aim for maximum damage first in PVE. Then I went to PVP at about time when dark armor set was introduced. I played it with 4x dark armor and very good left side items that time. After I hit lvl 40 in pvp tree I quit it (some rare fights for daily quest). I think its not rewarding in any way after lvl 40.

    Yes, I totally agree with you it should be adjusted to more fair fights. I've seen it being imbalanced for very long time, but haven't bothered playing/thinking it as I've made my lvl 40 pvp tree.

    Also about giving feedback. When I first made this thread I thought Im not getting any answers or replys (from the dev team) anyway, so I made it for my own fun. And I still think this is probably seen and considered as important as writing this same stuff to a tree next to my house. But as I said, just for fun :)

    In my opinion this "development" serves as a great example of how to not take care of customers and their needs. Many have already left the ship, but there are still some of us here. I don't mean to be arrogant or rude, just being realistic and constructive.
     
  9. IWantedALongUsername

    IWantedALongUsername Forum Apprentice

    You keep saying that... but there are 7 people in this household that play it, only one of them was lucky and is a good, strong Lv45 KOTO. The others with all their characters don't stand a chance --- and it comes back to running the arena day after day after day, being defeated by the same overpowered players, just like you.

    And instead of giving us a chance, you stomp us into the ground and we go away with little or no points, which in turn prevents us from climbing the fame ranks... I know, you can beat me. I've come up against you many times. And lost. And lost again. And lost again... and... where is the point? I know, I will lose against you, I don't have to face you 50 times a night, night after night to find that out.

    And farming... Dude, I can run POS solo. I've beaten Khalys solo hundreds of time. I've beaten Destructor solo. Not one unique. Not a single one. Last event I was here and got the stupid helmet. Ran the battle ground stacks of time and no cloak. Had 320 helmets, 201 shoulders, and 3 cloaks.

    Anyway, as Pennanen up there says: "consider this to be as important as writing this same stuff on a tree". The devs don't care. Simple as that. They just don't care one iota. The mods might. They may even pass this on to them. But they themselves... nope.

    Have you watched this Greg guy on twitch..? Go have a look and you know what's wrong with this game.
     
  10. ToshiBoy

    ToshiBoy Someday Author

    Hey, what's wrong with Greg? But the rest of your stuff, I agree with. There are ten people on Tegan that are superstrong, and the rest of us have no chance. And money has nothing to do with it. You can farm, you can be strong in PvE, you come into the arena up against those... no chance. And the battles are always won by them. Always. You have no chance at all.

    But developers really do not give a cheese about it.
     
  11. trakilaki

    trakilaki Living Forum Legend

    I don't know why you are so obsessed with the arena. If you can win ... good ... if not it is fine again ... you can collect honor points even if you lost.
    I am playing arena once in a 4 months. My rank is AKOTO ... but ... I am having the same rank for more than a year because I stopped playing the arena. I used to play a lot ... but it became boring. I was strong then and I am a lot more stronger now ... even if I am F2P. Here is some screenshot which was taken more than a year ago.

    [​IMG]

    And about Greg... yes Greg and Dracaty are lousy players :D
    Last time they couldn't even find where Gnob stand in Kingshill. :D
     
  12. .krom70.

    .krom70. Active Author

    I soo agree.i tried pvp and won a few so what I lost a lot too..the big players , but it was to measure myself against these game monsters...it was fun I had a good time, but it is always there, the way I see it, keep playing, youll inevitably become more, till then woopy a pretend char has died or I managed to win one, if that guy kept playing, maybe one day he will be in arena killing all that come in..you see....
     
  13. _Baragain_

    _Baragain_ Living Forum Legend

    Ok, so why is it that you keep going to all these threads that are more than a month old and bumping them? Most of them died a natural death and you are just digging them back up.
     
    Trailboss1 and MikeyMetro like this.
  14. Trailboss1

    Trailboss1 Forum Mogul

    lmao @ Baragain.

    In Krom's defense, I have sorta gotten bored with the game and I have even "dug up" one or two interesting threads.

    What else is there to do besides farm farm farm. Dig up old threads? o_O
     
    VMmage likes this.
  15. VMmage

    VMmage Someday Author

    Yes, it's rather sad that I'm getting more enjoyment out of reading the forums than playing the game!
     
    Trailboss1 likes this.
  16. Trailboss1

    Trailboss1 Forum Mogul

    Exactly
     
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