[2020] Milk, Bones, & Muscles - A Sincere Letter to the Devs

I understand the stonewalling comment, but I have to disagree.

I do post on these forums regularly. (Not last week, as I was on a much needed holiday, but I am on these forums 5-6 days a week.) These days our forums are primarily used for feedback and bug reports, and we have moved away from providing roadmaps after a lot of sustained abuse. I do not believe that this is an unreasonable reaponse to our treatment, and it was done for the safety of our support staff and developers. I have spoken many times in the past about us being open to feedback, and we do action feedback when and where it is appropriate and won’t harm the health of the time. (And, time permitting.) However, any feedback that is abusive in tone will not be taken into consideration.

I do talk about rough roadmap content in streams, as I find it a safer environment to do so. It is completely up to you if this is a social media you are interested in following or engaging with.

I will continue to field bug reports, collate feedback, and interact with the community as I am doing now. You say that it’s fine to say if I don’t know something, or say I can’t talk about something, but every time I take this approach (as I have been asked too) I will be personally attacked and ridiculed. I reply when I can, I gather information for you when I can, and I release that information when it is appropriate to do so.

I will keep working in this capacity moving forward.

@dank-o our stream is partnered, so people can also watch after the fact if they want too. I know it’s not the same and I apologise, but I hope it tides some people over.

[quote=“blindnighto, post:26, topic:67594”]

So my question to Salty (or any other official member of the GoW team) is:

• Determine feedback “template”: while we know our feedback is heard/read, how can we improve said feedback so that it becomes more actionable? (I’m not asking for a way to get all feedback to be implemented, but how to give it in such a way that makes it easier for the GoW team to assess its worth and priority)

Good question, I can’t respond to each piece of individual feedback. We have a huge influx across every social media account. Also, if I do and say I’ve put something forward, the devs (and myself) are attacked if we cannot make it happen in game. This can be for many reasons, from lacking resources, to it unbalancing the game, to different priorites, to publisher decisions.

As such, this becomes a matter much more delicate than others realise. I often get harassed when I say I have put something forward and nothing comes of it. In light of this, how would you all suggest we go about doing this?

Please keep in mind the time it takes. The forums are only a small fraction of my job, and all other social media platforms need to kept in mind, as well as my higher level duties and writing.

• Is feedback at all useful in forums? (If so, forum users who have feedback but can’t participate in the stream might start specific threads with questions that others could ask during the stream)

Yes, but only when it is not abusive in nature. I receive the ebst feedback on streams hands down, and I find it the best way to get nuanced, smart, informed feedback.

• Should we write long detailed posts explaining the what, how and why or short and concise, breaking each request into a new thread?

Short and concise. Dot points are key. I have to read thousands upon thousands of words a day, and often condense feedback to be easy and actionable for the devs. If it’s already easy and actionable it is much mroe likely to be passed on.

• Mitigate our expectations: let us know what to expect from communication.

Responding to bug reports, and occassionally to feedback. We will continue streaming, and when possible I will bring back the Dev Q & A streams.

• How many people patrol the forums? (Knowing that, we can get a sense of how quickly we could expect a response. I think Salty said it’s mostly her lately.)

Me, and occassionally Kafka. (Lyya too, but it isn’t their job.) Not everything will get a response, it is impossible, I apologise.

• Has the dev team been reduced or has higher management indicated reducing GoW priority?

We have no reduced the importance of Gems of War. However, this sort of question is incendiary by nature and will rarely, if ever, be commented on.

• Please let us know when something is being addressed or worked on. That is already done with the Reported/Fixed/Investigating/Not a Bug tags, but the Pet Gnome is arena ninja fix could’ve received the same treatment. We don’t really care if it was a higher management decision or a late night oops, just that something is/isn’t being done about it and that we are made aware of that.

I will do what I can, but please know I cannot reply to every issue or talk about everything being worked on. lots of things are in the works, and I do my best to field bug reports to do this. This is the best place to see. I can’t write up a response to each and every one, but take the time for what I can. (I am very time poor, and am writing this post on a Sunday night past 10 pm.)

• What can you tell us about upcoming developments and where would we find it: I believe this has also been addressed by Salty earlier in this thread, but adding to this list anyway.

We don’t give firm roadbacks due to things that have happened in the past. I mention ahead of time things on stream, it is the best place to get this information. When possible I will post bits and pieces, but it is something that is largely kept private due to REDACTED.

• Will there still be beta tests? If so, should we expect any unanimous feedback to be addressed before release or would we at most have to hope it’s patched at a later time?

Yes to beta tests. Not all beta tests can take feedback, as some are purely for bugs, while others we do listen to feedback. it comes down to the scale of the update, and what we wish to use the beta for. Also, sometimes we cannot make changes to the updates planned, and that isn’t always our decision.

• Are streams the best place to see new content/game modes?

Yes.

• Finally, while we can’t have the “roadmaps” that others have asked for, is there something we can have? I.e. what can be revealed to us about short or long-term directions the game might be heading.

Where possible I will try to do this, but it comes down to what I am allowed to say. I can’t make any promises, though I would like too. The best bet for this is the watch the dev Q & As that I will be reinstating next year when it is safe to do so.

To cap this off, I know you all want more, but there are many places my hands are tied. The forums are also not my only work priority, though I do my best to collate feedback and champion for you behind the scenes. If it isn’t enough for some of you, I understand. I am sorry if that is the case.

Now, it is my day off and I would like to take part of a game community that isn’t one I run. <3

To be clear, we won’t be hiring or using player representatives for communication, as the communication would be the same. They wouldn’t be able to say more than I can, and would mean information gets passed along more slowly, as there would be another point of contact before things are released to the community.

I will gladly hear out other suggestions, but cannot guarantee they will be done, or be doable.

@Fourdottwoone I am not speaking of how people treat me on the forums.

I want to be clear.

I get death threats and harassment across my personal social media accounts at times, and I consider this to be abuse and harassment.

Please do not get me wrong, I understand feedback, and incendiary feedback. What I am taking about is not that.

Also, I believe it is unreasonable to expect someone to not be affected by their job. Yes, you can expect them to do it anyway, but humans are fallible. It wouldn’t help for me to say, hey, it’s just a game, don’t be affected by the changes, which is the same sentiment as saying, hey, don’t be affected by the harassment you receive. Your comment doesn’t further the conversation, or help either myself or the players. Humans are all affected by what they experience, whether work, personal, or global. We are creatures designed to do so, to expect otherwise is flawed in the light of human nature.

Will I continue doing my job? Yes. WIll things in my life affect me? Also yes.

There is room for both of these things.

Now, I will be monitoring this thread but likely not be replying fruther. I have mentioned the same points a few times, and feel that there is not much else for me to contribute. I will continue reading.

I can answer this one! I’ve tried to get access to the Xbox club since I started here, and have never been able to get in. Not for a lack of trying!