Vision: I have an equation. Sam: Oh, this'll clear it up.

bbigler

I'm a software engineer (not for D3/Demiurge) and I understand the decisions made by managers of software programs. Their bottom line is current and future revenue. So, their goal is to keep their software team employed for as along as possible while working on this game. They surely would like raises and bonuses, like the rest of us. There is clearly a causality between releasing new characters and increased player spending. So, that is why they release new characters every 2 weeks. They simply need a paycheck.

As for the difficulty in getting 4* and 5* covers: they want to keep this money train going for as long as possible. If players progressed quickly and got 5*s covered and leveled up in just a few months, then everyone would be at a 5* level and the game would get boring and people would start quitting. People like something to shoot for, an ultimate goal; once you get there, you glory in the moment, but then it fades and you move on to something else. Progression is on a reverse exponential curve, the further you go, the slower you progress. So, that is why 5* progression is very slow and SCL8 rewards are only slightly better. They don't want players to get to the end and then quit.

As for software bugs, they are prioritized by management and assigned to developers of varying skill levels. Which means that some bugs may not get fixed for a long time because management thinks it's a low priority. Sometimes, a bug is inherent to their system and would require re-writing a ton of code to fix it. High risk bugs like this are also purposely put off till later. If a software system is not built with expansion in mind, adding new features can easily break part of the system. Plus, they probably don't have a dedicated test team to check every function of the game before a release; which explains the bug with Professor X. Nevertheless, even with the best software practices, bugs still get through.

As for complaints on this forum, keep in mind that this group makes up about 1% or less of their total player base. So, it's easy for them to ignore our complaints, but I agree that they should listen to us because we are a good "sample size" which represents the entire player base. It's clear that they value their player statistics more than what we say on this forum, which I do understand. We can complain that Boss Rush was too hard, but if 50% of players passed Level 6, 20% passed level 7 and 5% passed level 8, then they would consider it a success. I personally passed level 7 using mostly 3*s. They don't want to give out 4* covers too easily for the progression reason mentioned above.

Bottom Line: you're supposed to spend money on new characters, progression is supposed to be slow, software bugs happen, forum complaints may make a small difference. So, this is the reality of the game, if you don't like it, you don't have to play.

smkspy

Sunshine pumper thread, yeah. Enjoy your free 5 star cover (kidding of course) but now voting with my wallet from here on out.

udonomefoo

The "if you don't like it you don't have to play" line gets used a lot. It's kind of like people here in the US who protest because they want positive change and get told "if you don't like it then leave". How about no? Wanting something we like to be better and believing that it can be better makes more sense to me than just giving up on it and leaving.

bbigler

smkspy wrote:

Sunshine pumper thread, yeah. Enjoy your free 5 star cover (kidding of course) but now voting with my wallet from here on out.

I'm not saying that I like it, but I believe I understand what's going on.

carrion_pigeons

If people would progress through the tiers too fast at low levels and can't do it at all at high levels then we call that a scaling issue.

Since it's easy to fix and affects their bottom line negatively, it seems reasonable to expect complaints to be addressed.

CrookedKnight

You're right about the economics and the way progression goes. MPQ is definitely not the slowest or most pay-to-win F2P game out there. For instance, take a look at Final Fantasy Brave Exvius, or the Kingdom Hearts mobile game. But it's sure as tinykitty the buggiest one I know of. And here's the thing: if you don't have the resources to make your game work properly -- you're running margins so thin there's no time or budget for testing, nor to fix the bugs your players/beta-testers identify -- then you don't have the resources to make a game properly. Shape up or shut down.

smkspy

bbigler wrote:

smkspy wrote:

Sunshine pumper thread, yeah. Enjoy your free 5 star cover (kidding of course) but now voting with my wallet from here on out.

I'm not saying that I like it, but I believe I understand what's going on.

We all know this is what is going on, nothing you said isn't already common knowledge especially here.

bbigler

CrookedKnight wrote:

You're right about the economics and the way progression goes. MPQ is definitely not the slowest or most pay-to-win F2P game out there. For instance, take a look at Final Fantasy Brave Exvius, or the Kingdom Hearts mobile game. But it's sure as tinykitty the buggiest one I know of. And here's the thing: if you don't have the resources to make your game work properly -- you're running margins so thin there's no time or budget for testing, nor to fix the bugs your players/beta-testers identify -- then you don't have the resources to make a game properly. Shape up or shut down.

I agree, they should beef up their software test team and find a different way to produce revenue other than releasing new characters. I don't know their profit margins of course, but their VIP option is a real money maker. You know that players are going to pay that every month for the rewards, which turns into a $10/month bill for playing this game.

bbigler

smkspy wrote:

bbigler wrote:

smkspy wrote:

Sunshine pumper thread, yeah. Enjoy your free 5 star cover (kidding of course) but now voting with my wallet from here on out.

I'm not saying that I like it, but I believe I understand what's going on.

We all know this is what is going on, nothing you said isn't already common knowledge especially here.

If it was common knowledge, then why is everyone complaining about these things?

Crnch73

bbigler wrote:

If it was common knowledge, then why is everyone complaining about these things?

things that are common knowledge can still suck and make us mad. Global Warming. Racism/Sexism. This entire election. We all know how bad these things are, so we should just shut up? Or should we try to influence a change by whatever means we can?

smkspy

Um, because they're things to complain about in the hopes they change...

Smudge

bbigler wrote:

smkspy wrote:

bbigler wrote:

smkspy wrote:

Sunshine pumper thread, yeah. Enjoy your free 5 star cover (kidding of course) but now voting with my wallet from here on out.

I'm not saying that I like it, but I believe I understand what's going on.

We all know this is what is going on, nothing you said isn't already common knowledge especially here.

If it was common knowledge, then why is everyone complaining about these things?

If you are unhappy about something, do you lobby for change, or do you shut up and accept things the way they are just because "that's the way they are"?

By complaining/lobbying for change, or at least voicing concerns and complaints, it's possible to move the needle. Case in point: The ISO flow is still not quite on pace with the way vets want or need it, but it has certainly opened considerably in the past few months, largely because of players expressing concerns and complaining about ISO flow.

Clearly the developers don't want to open the ISO floodgates because presumably ISO purchases still happen, and being stingy with resources logically might induce some people to open their wallets to purchase that resource. This was common knowledge, and yet people still complained, and consequently ISO flow has opened a bit.

Silencing complaints doesn't make them illegitimate. Telling people to suck it up and deal with it doesn't stop complaints. Fixing the issues, on the other hand, does make a difference provided that they don't generate new issues on top of the fixes.

dsds

Crnch73 wrote:

bbigler wrote:

If it was common knowledge, then why is everyone complaining about these things?

things that are common knowledge can still suck and make us mad. Global Warming. Racism/Sexism. This entire election. We all know how bad these things are, so we should just shut up? Or should we try to influence a change by whatever means we can?

Actually, there is difference between the stuff you mentioned. MPQ is a game you can choose to quit. What you mentioned are things in real life that we cannot quit or ignore, it affect us whether we like it not. MPQ affects you as much as you let it, because it is just a game.\

Also this forum probably helps promote the game and new players can get a feel of what the game is like before downloading. That's why so many threads are deleted, blocked or moved to another place where it can't be seen. If you want to voice your opinions and be heard, what you need to do is not post anything that is trivial. Post only complaints that way if they keep deleting them or moving them, the forums would seem not active since complaints would make up most of the recent posts. This will get you heard as well.

bbigler

If you want to voice your opinions and be heard, what you need to do is not post anything that is trivial. Post only complaints that way if they keep deleting them or moving them, the forums would seem not active since complaints would make up most of the recent posts. This will get you heard as well.

It seems to me that the devs are going to do whatever they want regardless of what people say on this forum. I don't see much change happening from complaints made here.

smkspy

So I assume you never complain when you get a cold meal at a restaurant or when you buy meat that goes bad a day later or a product that breaks a week within purchase.

GrumpySmurf1002

udonomefoo wrote:

The "if you don't like it you don't have to play" line gets used a lot. It's kind of like people here in the US who protest because they want positive change and get told "if you don't like it then leave". How about no? Wanting something we like to be better and believing that it can be better makes more sense to me than just giving up on it and leaving.

Well...leaving a country you don't like in search of better options tends to be a tad more difficult than leaving a video game you don't like to do the same.

GrumpySmurf1002

smkspy wrote:

So I assume you never complain when you get a cold meal at a restaurant or when you buy meat that goes bad a day later or a product that breaks a week within purchase.

I probably would, but I'd also shy away from continuing to give my business to those places after said complaint.

Crnch73

GrumpySmurf1002 wrote:

smkspy wrote:

So I assume you never complain when you get a cold meal at a restaurant or when you buy meat that goes bad a day later or a product that breaks a week within purchase.

I probably would, but I'd also shy away from continuing to give my business to those places after said complaint.

What if they often get the food right, and when they do, you love it?

it all comes down to this: we are gambling, whether it be with our time or money (or sanity). We are hoping things work out right, and will only stop gambling when it loses its fun or we have lost too much.

carrion_pigeons

bbigler wrote:

If you want to voice your opinions and be heard, what you need to do is not post anything that is trivial. Post only complaints that way if they keep deleting them or moving them, the forums would seem not active since complaints would make up most of the recent posts. This will get you heard as well.

It seems to me that the devs are going to do whatever they want regardless of what people say on this forum. I don't see much change happening from complaints made here.

Having been hanging around here for a year or so, I can say this is definitely not true. Maybe 3/4 of the design changes that have happened in the game over that time have directly addressed complaints made on this forum.

If the forums seem negative now, you should have seen them last year, or even 6 months ago. Things are a LOT better, and nearly all of it can be attributed to people complaining.

GrumpySmurf1002

Crnch73 wrote:

What if they often get the food right, and when they do, you love it?

it all comes down to this: we are gambling, whether it be with our time or money (or sanity). We are hoping things work out right, and will only stop gambling when it loses its fun or we have lost too much.

Sure, if the food is good I'll eventually go back, but there's plenty of options to eat.

But if we're really going to continue with this analogy, in the eyes of some forumites Demi didn't just bring a cold meal. They spit in their food, charged them $50 for tap water, then set their table on fire. Yet they keep dining, cursing out the manager every time they walk in. I'd say maybe its time for that group to start looking for another place.

smkspy

GrumpySmurf1002 wrote:

Crnch73 wrote:

What if they often get the food right, and when they do, you love it?

it all comes down to this: we are gambling, whether it be with our time or money (or sanity). We are hoping things work out right, and will only stop gambling when it loses its fun or we have lost too much.

Sure, if the food is good I'll eventually go back, but there's plenty of options to eat.

But if we're really going to continue with this analogy, in the eyes of some forumites Demi didn't just bring a cold meal. They spit in their food, charged them $50 for tap water, then set their table on fire. Yet they keep dining, cursing out the manager every time they walk in. I'd say maybe its time for that group to start looking for another place.

Love that no analogy for complain works for the sunshine pumpers. Either it's "Those are real world problems this is just a game" or "yeah it's like another consumer product but the complaints here are way exaggerated because reasons."