devtrackers.gg
Dear Communications team and other decision makers,
In light of the recent wave of complaints people have been making about several issues, I wanted to take a moment and see if I can provide you with some hopefully helpful insights.
I personally do not think the idea of the respect scrolls in the crown store is predatory. [snip] I understand the idea of complex systems and how that likely is making the process of fixing PVP more difficult. I even understand the motivation behind the massive monetization of the game and how it is a delicate balancing act between keeping the cost of the game low and combatting the effects of inflation and how the game industry has been combatting that for more than 20 years. I am likely in a minority on that understanding though. Most people are not going to understand any of it. Most people will just look at the mounting series of problems and start complaining which will get their friends complaining and make any problem bigger.
I also understand the need to keep some things secret or confidential, that is just how business needs to work. However, there is a point where you need to put that need aside and have an honest and frank conversation with someone about something your business instincts will tell you to keep secret. I think we are at that point now. People know what the problem is. Many might even know why there is a problem.
@ZOS_GinaBruno on the recent Twitch Stream made a brief announcement that they are aware of the problems with PVP on the Xbox server and then asked the community to make sure that got out. She even went on to explain that there will be a delay in getting it fixed because the developers have to do a complete rebuild and that it cannot be hot fixed, and that the people who need to certify the patch have gone on break for the holidays. That was good, but it needs to be more official. You need to be better at letting people know that you are aware of the problems and care about them. To just throw out a brief mention a few times here and there on different live streams that you are aware of the problem will not be enough to satisfy the players. You need to do more. My recommendation is threefold.
First when an issue like what is going on with the Xbox PVP right now happens, put a brief in game message telling the players that you are aware of it and that you are working on it right now. From there, do just that. I am confident that you already are, but if you don't tell them, they will think you have forgotten them. Then, you should recommend they come to the official forums to read more info about what is happening.
That is the second part, have a special thread where either a well-informed person or a developer directly will post in, and have an honest and frank discussion with the community where you keep them updated on the progress. That will go miles to restore confidence in what I am confident you are already doing.
Lastly, give the player base something that says you are sorry for the problems. It doesn't have to be a lot, it just needs to be something. And if you have properly communicated with them during the problem, then by the time you are done, instead of the public/players looking down on you, the problem could be shaped into a source of pride for the player base because they will see just how much you care. Every game has problems. Every company has problems. The thing that makes a company excel is how they handle them and how they show they care when those problems happen.
The communication we are currently getting is bad, and it is only fueling rumors. Yes, there is a time to keep things internal, but when the problems start getting out to the community, you have to give them something, otherwise they will find someone who shows them they care better than you are.
I started to play this game because I put more than a thousand hours onto a single Skyrim character and needed something new to fill my Elder Scrolls fix. So, despite loving the idea of hating MMO's I decided to play, thinking that I would just play it until Elder Scrolls 6 came out. Now, I have fallen in love with it. I have almost exclusively played Elder Scrolls games for more than a decade (likely closer to two), and I really have no desire to see that change. I have just seen too many cases of bad communication causing irreparable damage to companies and brands. and with that in mind I love the Elder Scrolls world too much to keep silent on this issue.
Please take the needed steps to become better at communicating to your player base. If you do it right, then they will love you for it and become even more loyal to you because of how you handle the problems that will inevitably continue to come.
Warm Regards
Joseph (aka Zuboko)
[edited for bashing]
In light of the recent wave of complaints people have been making about several issues, I wanted to take a moment and see if I can provide you with some hopefully helpful insights.
I personally do not think the idea of the respect scrolls in the crown store is predatory. [snip] I understand the idea of complex systems and how that likely is making the process of fixing PVP more difficult. I even understand the motivation behind the massive monetization of the game and how it is a delicate balancing act between keeping the cost of the game low and combatting the effects of inflation and how the game industry has been combatting that for more than 20 years. I am likely in a minority on that understanding though. Most people are not going to understand any of it. Most people will just look at the mounting series of problems and start complaining which will get their friends complaining and make any problem bigger.
I also understand the need to keep some things secret or confidential, that is just how business needs to work. However, there is a point where you need to put that need aside and have an honest and frank conversation with someone about something your business instincts will tell you to keep secret. I think we are at that point now. People know what the problem is. Many might even know why there is a problem.
@ZOS_GinaBruno on the recent Twitch Stream made a brief announcement that they are aware of the problems with PVP on the Xbox server and then asked the community to make sure that got out. She even went on to explain that there will be a delay in getting it fixed because the developers have to do a complete rebuild and that it cannot be hot fixed, and that the people who need to certify the patch have gone on break for the holidays. That was good, but it needs to be more official. You need to be better at letting people know that you are aware of the problems and care about them. To just throw out a brief mention a few times here and there on different live streams that you are aware of the problem will not be enough to satisfy the players. You need to do more. My recommendation is threefold.
First when an issue like what is going on with the Xbox PVP right now happens, put a brief in game message telling the players that you are aware of it and that you are working on it right now. From there, do just that. I am confident that you already are, but if you don't tell them, they will think you have forgotten them. Then, you should recommend they come to the official forums to read more info about what is happening.
That is the second part, have a special thread where either a well-informed person or a developer directly will post in, and have an honest and frank discussion with the community where you keep them updated on the progress. That will go miles to restore confidence in what I am confident you are already doing.
Lastly, give the player base something that says you are sorry for the problems. It doesn't have to be a lot, it just needs to be something. And if you have properly communicated with them during the problem, then by the time you are done, instead of the public/players looking down on you, the problem could be shaped into a source of pride for the player base because they will see just how much you care. Every game has problems. Every company has problems. The thing that makes a company excel is how they handle them and how they show they care when those problems happen.
The communication we are currently getting is bad, and it is only fueling rumors. Yes, there is a time to keep things internal, but when the problems start getting out to the community, you have to give them something, otherwise they will find someone who shows them they care better than you are.
I started to play this game because I put more than a thousand hours onto a single Skyrim character and needed something new to fill my Elder Scrolls fix. So, despite loving the idea of hating MMO's I decided to play, thinking that I would just play it until Elder Scrolls 6 came out. Now, I have fallen in love with it. I have almost exclusively played Elder Scrolls games for more than a decade (likely closer to two), and I really have no desire to see that change. I have just seen too many cases of bad communication causing irreparable damage to companies and brands. and with that in mind I love the Elder Scrolls world too much to keep silent on this issue.
Please take the needed steps to become better at communicating to your player base. If you do it right, then they will love you for it and become even more loyal to you because of how you handle the problems that will inevitably continue to come.
Warm Regards
Joseph (aka Zuboko)
[edited for bashing]