Goblin Squad Member
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Ryan, I just wanted to say thanks for being so open about the game development, and allowing us to be a part of it. To me, that's what Early Enrollment is all about.
Seeing what you're enduring right now - if you're staying current on the forums - really makes me appreciate the fact that you knowingly set yourself up for this, apparently because it was actually important to you to let us be involved and... all this... is an inevitable side effect. Kudos to your thick skin, and thanks again, it really does mean a lot to me.
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I totally agree!
In fact the trend of an open channel with developers is one of my primary reasons for playing ANY game these days, computer, tabletop or otherwise.
The paizo staff and by extension GW has this culture of being part of the gaming citizenship and understanding that you cannot hope to stand tall over your fans if you hope to succeed. Keeping your ear to the streets is not only rewarding to your project but also is respectful your customers.
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CEO, Goblinworks
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I love the engagement. I love the raw and unfiltered criticism. I gaurantee you much worse is being said in much more toxic ways outside our forums. The best way to know where the "pain points" are is to hear it directly.
If I thought we'd made any major errors in strategy I'd be more concerned. Right now I am still sure we're doing the right things, in the right order. We are just doing them more slowly then we'd all like. That's the nature of software development though and it shocks nobody who has done a large project.
Virtually everything the community is asking for are things we are actively working on. There's no mis-match between desires and resource allocation. We just need more time.
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Goblin Squad Member
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I would like to thank my waitress for being transparent, in admitting that her MVP is that she may only spill hot coffee on me three out of five times, but her potential to not spill any coffee on me at all, maybe six months away. (yes, I know I can be a sarcastic SOB, but there is a point here).
Ryan Dancey is the CEO of Goblin Works, I expect that he puts on his "Big Boy" pants every day. I expect for there to be transparency, and being transparent is not exemplary, it just differentiates between doing a good job and not doing the job at all.
When Pathfinder Online exceeds my expectations, or falls within the same category of the MMOs that I had played for years, that is when I'll be giving my whole-hearted thanks and praise.
Until then, Ryan and the rest of GW, I appreciate your efforts and hope you can get me to play your game for a decade or more!!
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Goblin Squad Member
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I appreciate the frequent updates coming in on the Kickstarter mails, as well as the stress and demands the devs are under.
I would like to ask for more proactive and frequent updates on the status of the Mac build, however. Taking the "when something changes we will tell you" approach is common in the world of software development, but it is absolutely atrocious in terms of customer advocacy and customer consideration.
Currently there is a large contingent of Mac users who put money into the Kickstarter and signed on expecting Alpha/Early access, for whom "just use Boot Camp" is not an option. These users have gotten a few snippets from Ryan in terms of "it's coming along!" but nothing more cogent nor solid. Many of them feel as though they have once again been marginalized or forgotten.
To be clear, I don't think the devs have marginalized or forgotten the Mac users or the Mac build - the fact that it was part of the kickstarter shows that it was taken seriously - but I do think that in all the excitement and effort to get the Alpha into a good place, that reporting status and progress on it has been sidelined and more or less back-burnered in terms of importance. And while that's natural, it's not okay for the users who are waiting on news about when they'll be able to play on their platform.
In an effort to show good faith and consideration, I'd like to ask for, and suggest, that the status of the Mac client be included in the Kickstarter updates. It takes ten seconds to write a descriptive sentence of the condition and status of the Mac build. Twenty if you want to get a little florid in your language. It costs literally nothing but time to do so, and clocking in at less than a minute, that's an easily affordable time.
Understand that I (as I said in the Mac User Roll Call thread) have spent a lot of time as a customer advocate. I'm not suggesting this to start any kind of OS vs OS war. I'm simply suggesting that a reasonably sized portion of your user base is waiting for updates they are not getting, and they are losing impetus to play the game, as well as losing faith that their ability to play the Alpha/Early enrollments that they signed up for will occur. This is something that can be easily addressed by having a regular, top-of-the-update entry on the state of the Mac client. Twenty seconds of customer consideration will save months of worry and complaints, believe me.
Could someone at GW make this happen?
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Goblin Squad Member
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I have to admit I am fascinated by the level of transparency and engagement on behalf of GW. I don't agree that it's akin to a waitress excusing her woeful service, it's more like the chef taking you into the kitchen, showing you his produce invoice and asking you how much salt and pepper you want in your order.
The core product, the game itself, is crawling towards a direction some of us are happier with than others. Yes, I agree the game in the end will pass or fail or in between depending on the core product. But IMHO crowdforging has absolutely delivered as a complimentary service product to the core one and yes I do believe it has a monetary value to it, fuzzy as it is to set that value.
Because the crowdforging promise has been kept, whatever happens I will not feel cheated from what I invested in the Kickstarter. Any future monies I give GW however, will be more and more dependent on the success of the core product.
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Goblin Squad Member
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I have to admit I am fascinated by the level of transparency and engagement on behalf of GW. I don't agree that it's akin to a waitress excusing her woeful service, it's more like the chef taking you into the kitchen, showing you his produce invoice and asking you how much salt and pepper you want in your order.
The core product, the game itself, is crawling towards a direction some of us are happier with than others. Yes, I agree the game in the end will pass or fail or in between depending on the core product. But IMHO crowdforging has absolutely delivered as a complimentary service product to the core one and yes I do believe it has a monetary value to it, fuzzy as it is to set that value.
Because the crowdforging promise has been kept, whatever happens I will not feel cheated from what I invested in the Kickstarter. Any future monies I give GW however, will be more and more dependent on the success of the core product.
Well said, Avari. And here I thought you were just a pretty face ;)
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Goblin Squad Member
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...I will not feel cheated from what I invested in the Kickstarter.
I've several hundred dollars contributed to PFO, and I'm still hoping to upgrade to true-Alpha status next year. I already feel that the last two-plus years of entertainment and involvement here on the boards with all of you--yes, I do think all--has more than paid me back; the future'll just be gravy.
Even though I'm not running a piece of software called "PFO" every day, I'm still playing the game. I learned that particular trick from Traveller, the best game I've ever run into for "playing even when you're not playing".
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Goblin Squad Member
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Even though I'm not running a piece of software called "PFO" every day, I'm still playing the game. I learned that particular trick from Traveller, the best game I've ever run into for "playing even when you're not playing".
This rings really true to me. PFO started for me six months ago, when I first started actively reading and posting on this board. It was a different sort of engagement that you get in other game communities, because we aren't just shooting the s~#& and speculating.
Things are changing because of the discussion happening here. It adds a certain weight to everything said, and I think feeds into why tempers tend to flare - because if someone is 'wrong', you can't just dismiss them, because if their words gain traction they will actually matter.
You can't really get that elsewhere. So while I may have backed the kickstarter primarily for the game, I've come to appreciate the process and environment here. Thanks GW!
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Goblin Squad Member
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Excellent observation Kadere. At times it does feel like we are fighting for the "soul of the game". It is crystal clear to anyone pouring over the forums that the community feels empowered in several different ways. The direction and prioritization of the game. Specifics on features. Maybe most importantly, the success of the game which is banking on a positive community to get it through EE.
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Goblin Squad Member
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...I'd like to ask for, and suggest, that the status of the Mac client be included in the Kickstarter updates. ...
That's a good idea. I'd upvote if I could. Something else that might be of interest would be if an internal tester could post a short video or twitch stream.
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Goblin Squad Member
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As I have stated before I am a little wary, perhaps even cynical, about the benefits of the transparency and crowd forging.
This comes from involvement in a previous "transparent" starter project where despite a predominantly committed and enthusiastic community it only took one or two individuals with a sense of "entitlement" who were disgruntled that things were not the way they wanted embarking on a "crusade" of sorts to spam the forum and criticise absolutely every detail of the game down to the colour of the grass to effectively kill off early sales and put the project in trouble.
So far there is not an excess of negativity. The crowd forging is a brave exercise, I actually hope it suceeds :D