Champions rollout: A lesson in why advance notice is good

CrookedKnight
CrookedKnight Posts: 2,579 Chairperson of the Boards
edited January 2016 in MPQ General Discussion
I realize this is likely to fall on deaf ears, but I wanted to get off my chest exactly how the PR clustercuss that is the debut of Champions and related features developed from Demiurge's gameplan of keeping every new development in MPQ under their hats for as long as possible, and how much better it would be if they didn't do that.

First off, data-miners and the people they chat with have known the shape of the champion feature for a month now. But discussion on the boards was officially forbidden, meaning some people were vaguely aware that a new feature was on the way but had no idea whether or how they should prepare, and others knew what might it was going to be but had no clue if that was still valid information. Confusion and unease reign, and people are champing at the bit for any official details on what was coming. Then that information finally comes, and it's incomplete! We get the how of it, but not the when -- release is just "in the coming days." When you build up anticipation for that long, you need to be ready to answer all questions when you finally do break the silence, not just most. Had there been an ongoing dialogue about champions, "we're getting ready to launch this week, and features are locked in!" would have been welcome news, not fodder for more uncertainty.

And then when the date comes in, OH BY THE WAY HP DOESN'T BUY COVERS ANYMORE. The heck?! That's a change people should have weeks of notice about, not hours! Giving four days' notice for champions meant some people stockpiled tokens/CP/covers while others didn't, but that imbalance will smooth out in time. Killing the ability to buy covers with HP, though? That's immense! It should go without saying that a major overhaul of your game's premium currency should involve lots of warning for people to spend what they've purchased before it's devalued. Whoever decided to do the exact opposite of that should be paying all the chargebacks coming your way out of their own pockets.

Comments

  • JVReal
    JVReal Posts: 1,884 Chairperson of the Boards
    Joe Fletcher moved on at the right time.
  • Punisher5784
    Punisher5784 Posts: 3,845 Chairperson of the Boards
    JVReal wrote:
    Joe Fletcher moved on at the right time.

    I am starting to think Joe Fletcher got a nice severance from his departure after seeing how much $ it will cost to whale a 4* now with CP!
  • Mawtful
    Mawtful Posts: 1,646 Chairperson of the Boards
    But there was a sale going on and people were buying HP. I think it finished about 24 hours before this announcement was made.

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