Monthly develpment update

[Mustaine]

Well, hopefully they won't.

I rather have Devs listen to active raiders/feedback givers like Fass than you.

Edit by Anzu: That is not needed. Again ~ didn't say that they should listen to ME in particular. The argument was made that casual players shouldn't have a say in Raid Encounters. But that's ridiculous; when you take into account the years of gaming time behind those some may consider "casual" . What makes them casual anyway; the fact they don't have a blog?

You may not like me ~ most people who are delusional and hate doses of reality do ... but I'm not your whole community good sir.

[Suctum]

And I'd rather have every player's opinion count. We all play the game, it doesn't matter how much or what content we prefer.

Actually it does when people are offering suggestions for content they have little or no experience in and think it should another way. I rarely 6-man, and I raid even less often. Why should my opinion about that content matter at all since I have no experience in it to even formulate a foundation of an argument.

I am not saying everyone should not be heard, they should be. But just because we hear them doesn't mean we listen to them.

Edit by Anzu: That is not needed.

[Mustaine]

Actually it does when people are offering suggestions for content they have little or no experience in and think it should another way. I rarely 6-man, and I raid even less often. Why should my opinion about that content matter at all since I have no experience in it to even formulate a foundation of an argument.

I am not saying everyone should not be heard, they should be. But just because we hear them doesn't mean we listen to them.

Edit by Anzu: That is not needed.

How can you say that someone has no exp in one aspect of the game unless they openly say so? However, I do see a rash of people jumping to conclusions and proclaiming someone doesn't know anything about a particular part of the game. exclusive PvE & PvP players alike lobbing insults towards each other.

[Suctum]

Edit by Anzu: That is not needed. Again ~ didn't say that they should listen to ME in particular. The argument was made that casual players shouldn't have a say in Raid Encounters. But that's ridiculous; when you take into account the years of gaming time behind those some may consider "casual" . What makes them casual anyway; the fact they don't have a blog?

You may not like me ~ most people who are delusional and hate doses of reality do ... but I'm not your whole community good sir.

Casual: someone who does not progress above a skill level. They perhaps join 3 minis a week, do a single 6 man, and maybe a pug t1/t2. They mainly do solo content and farm world bosses.

Why do you think a player like that has anything to add is beyond me. They are going to say minis are unbalanced, classes are OP, 6 mans are too complicated, and loot system isn't fair. Then they will complain about the limited f2p content and their unfortunate lack of AA, gold, and bank space. Then they will fade away at some point and some other like player will replace them.

Most of these players, since they don't really spend the time to get a working knowledge of the game, stay solo or in starter guilds which hampers what little progression a guild could offer them. They are going to accuse people of hacks in pvp because either they, their guild mates, or their friends don't really understand the mechanics either and do the same. They are going to do the same in raids when they see other people doing better than them with equal gear because of their general lack of knowledge.

1-50 players might get beyond this point, but really. If you have been around as long as you say, then you know the above is all true, it happens all day long every day.

There is nothing you can do to please these players, they want to get what they want with no effort and expect it all to be given to them, and most expect it to come easily as solo content. But if you think these kinds of players and their opinions can enhance the game over 7 year veterans, good for you.

[Nephturi]

Actually it does when people are offering suggestions for content they have little or no experience in and think it should another way.

That is a question to be asked in a poll. In fact, it is often asked "Do you play that content/How much time do you dedicate to it", and if your answer is yes/above a certain treshold, more questions follow. Basic poll structure.

As for

Casual: someone who does not progress above a skill level.

In fact, the adjective 'casual' has two meanings: shallow/superficial, or occasional/irregular. An occasional player can have a very deep knowledge of the game, but you would dismiss his opinion because his playtime doesn't meet your requirements. It's not a smart move.

You may notice I didn't quote the remaining text of your previous post. Such an accumulation of clichés and prejudices should not be posted.

[Rathothis]

All of this discussion is slightly silly. All Odonoptera said was that he could do some polls. Noone suggested that from now on, development would be decided democratically by a couple of forum users.

Besides, here's something to think about:
* Funcom have a pretty good idea of what vets are doing because they see it in their logs.
* Thanks to Cirith's efforts, Funcom now also have a good feedback channel with vets through the TL forum etc.

What Funcom may not have as reliable information on is what Greg the level 28 ftp Necromancer ((c)Slith) is thinking when he is playing the game - and in particular, what they should do to get him hooked and make him hand over some money. This is where polls might come in handy, in addition to other information which Funcom already have on player behaviour, their market insight and view of how player preferences are evolving, etc.

That said, these forums most likely aren't the place to get Greg's opinion, because if he's just dabbling in the game, he wouldn't be wasting his time here anyway.

Oh and:

Why do you think a player like that has anything to add is beyond me.

From FC's perspective, they do have something very important to add. Money from their wallets.

[Ernests]

I don't understand why you're afraid of pools. What's wrong, that takes account of the opinion of the majority? Especially if they are people who are not indifferent to the game.

For example, I believe there is a need for more power progression in PvP:
http://forums.ageofconan.com/showthr...l-groups/page6

But if most players are against it, I'm willing to concede. We live in a democratic society and it is normal that the majority opinion prevail over individual.

And here is the typical response from someone who casually enjoys some of the content but has an opinion on how it should be from their "casual" experience. So in other words, lets not ask Michael Jordan on what changes need to be made to basketball, lets go to some middle school and ask some random 13 year old in gym class what changes they would make.

It's utterly ridiculous that developers would design around this, listen to maybe, but implement...no.

There is also another aspect that elitists doesn't want to lose their status in the game. They are fully satisfied the game has not developed over the past three years. They love that they can login game at any moment and feel like a king with their 7 yr exp and T4 PvE/T3 PvP stuff. All the talk of PvP armor unbalance and the big concern for new entrants is often only disingenuous. In fact, a large part of the veteran's appears in the game rather rare - a few hours weekly, numerous play for free. They are used to be superior to others with their experience, they don't want one day "some 13 year old spotty teenager" with 15.PvP kick their ass.
Of course, it does not apply to all veterans. But a large part of them have really weak online contrary newcomers. At the same time, they spend the time and money for other video games...

[Rathothis]

There is also another aspect that elitists doesn't want to lose their status in the game. They are fully satisfied the game has not developed over the past three years. They love that they can login game at any moment and feel like a king with their 7 yr exp and T4 PvE/T3 PvP stuff. All the talk of PvP armor unbalance and the big concern for new entrants is often only disingenuous. In fact, a large part of the veteran's appears in the game rather rare - a few hours weekly, numerous play for free. They are used to be superior to others with their experience, they don't want one day "some 13 year old spotty teenager" with 15.PvP kick their ass.
Of course, it does not apply to all veterans. But a large part of them have really weak online contrary newcomers. At the same time, they spend the time and money for other video games...

I fail to see how this line of reasoning supports your argument for more vertical power progression. Your argument seems to be that vets can afford to slack because of their experience and gear/AA advantage. It is also obvious that you do not appreciate this type of slacking.

But the logical conclusion of this line of thought is to take away or at least limit the gear/AA advantage. That way vets need to play more often in order to stay competitive - because if you slack too much, the advantage from experience diminishes over time.

[Ernests]

Seems, you don't understand what I want to say. Some vets are too relaxed and obsolete. They like the game does not allow anyone to outdo them because of the power anvil has been studded several years ago and will not be changed in the future. Sadly, they have no reason to pay that subscription fee, no reason to increase their online, no reason to interact with newcomers because everything has been reached. They rest on laurels and can afford the snobbish tone against others. Every time, it's sad to see the collapse of good guilds cause of slacking veterans which represent its core.

[Rathothis]

Seems, you don't understand what I want to say. Some vets are too relaxed and obsolete. They like the game does not allow anyone to outdo them because of the power anvil has been studded several years ago and will not be changed in the future. Sadly, they have no reason to pay that subscription fee, no reason to increase their online, no reason to interact with newcomers because everything has been reached. They rest on laurels and can afford the snobbish tone against others. Every time, it's sad to see the collapse of good guilds cause of slacking veterans which represent its core.

Alright, thanks for clarifying this. But it seems to me that this is more related to lack of new content, rather than lack of vertical power progression.

For example, if they added new dungeon gear with a 20% higher stat budget and 10x the cost (in rare trophies and gold), but did not add any new dungeon encounters (not even new Unchained versions) - would that really make people stay? I think that you can only make people do the same content so many times before they lose interest, even if you hold the gear carrot in front of their noses.