Shrouded in mystery and confusion!?

Gideon

This transition to Oktagon is very Mysterious and confusing and feels like more of the same. Is there anything else that anyone wants to add. The Honeymoon is over. Get your act together!
1. Changing event times willy nilly with no concern or interest what the community thinks.
2. Zero communication with the community.
3. Takes  to long to implement bug fixes
4. Takes to long to create new content
5. No communication about compensation or what it’s for
6. Says something and then does say anything else for weeks.

bk1234

They communicated on the compensation -- they told us it was an error and if you didn't get it, tough -- in fact that has happened TWICE.

Drewster

And give more great unique cards like the blue exclusive Thopter Pie card. Ok... Ignore this comment... But really I like unique stuff for us mtgpqers we can tell our friends at the lgs hey I got this you'll never have unless you play this game and it's wotc officially sanctioned just not DCI... Yet. See, that "Yet" will get them. Ok < ignore

Brigby

Hi Everyone.

While I can certainly understand the eagerness of having a well-oiled machine up and running right this minute, this transition process is not something we want to rush. Since they are still familiarizing themselves with the system Hibernum developed, we worry that trying to expedite this process will end up introducing more issues into the game.

We want Oktagon to be able to establish a solid foundation of knowledge of both the technical and design elements necessary to successfully develop for Magic: Puzzle Quest.

Gideon

@bken1234 Well then I’ll change it to no compensation or apologies for errors.

Rasalghul

Hi Brigby, 

I truly understand and respect that D3 wants to build a solid foundation of knowledge for Oktagon, as I work in IT, knowledge is everything. So there is a lot of work and it takes time, it is all right.

However why did anybody change the events schedule ? You know it is a sensible matter in this game. So if Oktagon has not mastered Hibernum's code yet, why change anything ? Because somehow, players adapted and managed to balance their way of playing.

It makes me wonder if there is also a lack of communication between Oktagon and you, as you don't even publish the events for October.

A lot of times, we can hear ourselves say to other people "Talk less and do more". I think it is time that we say "Talk more and do less". 

Gideon

@Brigby I think it’s great that they are taking their time to understand the code and try and do things right. So why mess with the Event schedule? Why would they want their first act in making changes in the game to negatively affect the community? Can you or anyone there explain why this was done and why it hasn’t been changed back? Is it the first thing they learned so they are messing with it like a new toy? Did they change it and they can’t figure out a way to change it back? The community is really pissed off about this change.

Brigby

The changes to the events schedule is a topic I am already in the midst of discussing with the team. As of right now, we are determining who/what caused the schedule to change, and what would be the best course of action in order to resolve this issue.

When it comes to the October Sneak Peek, I can certainly post the current iteration of the event schedule, but please understand that due to this ongoing discussion, the schedule will be subject to change. In this case, I would recommend using it as a guideline, rather than a set-in-stone scheduling.

bk1234

Brigby said:

The changes to the events schedule is a topic I am already in the midst of discussing with the team. As of right now, we are determining who/what caused the schedule to change, and what would be the best course of action in order to resolve this issue.

When it comes to the October Sneak Peek, I can certainly post the current iteration of the event schedule, but please understand that due to this ongoing discussion, the schedule will be subject to change. In this case, I would recommend using it as a guideline, rather than a set-in-stone scheduling.

I can’t speak for everyone, however I would prefer to wait for something concrete on the whole month of October and in the meantime have some communication about this week specifically. 

Gideon

@Brigby Thank you for your timely response. Based on your response they don’t know how it changed. That is very weird.

Rasalghul

@Brigby Thank you for your consideration, but it is better that you don't publish anything about what is supposed to happen instead of what will actually happen. 

Every word you publish is scrutinized and dissected, there is no need for more possible misunderstanding if there is another mistake or event. I don't even know how to call those weird event schedule errors.

Brigby

I absolutely agree. What I can do in the meantime is create a blank template for October's Sneak Peek, and include a disclaimer that we are potentially adjusting the event schedule, and will populate the article once it has been finalized.

Also, there is a possibility that certain events may be too close to their start date to adjust, so if that is the case, then any potential changes to those events will be applied to its next run.

Rasalghul

Generally speaking on event schedule, they can be planned for a whole release so we can expect what can be expected. You can always have special additional events as you like after.

Players are so engaged with this game that we are becoming creatures of habit and it has become a
signature of this game. This has to be taking into account with Oktagon.

Steeme

Brigby said:

The changes to the events schedule is a topic I am already in the midst of discussing with the team. As of right now, we are determining who/what caused the schedule to change, and what would be the best course of action in order to resolve this issue.

"Hey boss, I wonder what this does?!"

<pushes button>

"Banzai!"

PhoenixRisen

Brigby said:

The changes to the events schedule is a topic I am already in the midst of discussing with the team. As of right now, we are determining who/what caused the schedule to change, and what would be the best course of action in order to resolve this issue.

When it comes to the October Sneak Peek, I can certainly post the current iteration of the event schedule, but please understand that due to this ongoing discussion, the schedule will be subject to change. In this case, I would recommend using it as a guideline, rather than a set-in-stone scheduling.

I may not speak for all the players, but I speak for my coalition, when I say, we need the midweek coalition event to go back to it's previous start time on Wednesdays. This unannounced move to Thursday, however it happened, is a terrible decision for multiple reasons:

1) It demands too much of our time Friday as we have to fight to complete both Hour of Revelation and Return of the God-Pharaoh (with it's 4-hour recharges) simultaneously! We, the players, do have lives to enjoy. It's why the 4-hour event timer has been met with disapproval, yet it too remains.

2) There's no longer a window with the overlapping events to make any roster change between the events as has been precedence. The top teams do this routinely, and now, we can no longer make any roster change or find a substitute (should one be needed) to fill our rosters without taking a big fat ZERO for the vacated players position. Those lost points (1400 or greater) really hurt in an event with a maximum score of 1560.

3) The overlapping events, albeit not entirely the reasoning, saw last weekend's Return of the God-Pharaoh event go on 2 full rounds longer. It's already a time-consuming experience loathed by most. It doesn't need to go on for any longer, for any reason.

This needs to be addressed (overlapping coalition events) and the events need to be reverted back to what's been customary for so long.

Kinesia

Phoenix has some points, mostly about the gap so they can change people.

The bit about not having God-Pharoah go on longer though is elitest rubbish. It needs to be fully considered but NOT just automatically done to appease people only thinking about themselves. God Pharoah needs less stress, yes, and to be more doable by casuals.  
Do NOT just do what serves people who aren't thinking about the future of the game for everyone. (Their view is short term and self-destructive, it doesn't serve the game long term until they start including helping beginners in their thought processes.)

Sarahschmara

Kinesia said:

Phoenix has some points, mostly about the gap so they can change people.

The bit about not having God-Pharoah go on longer though is elitest rubbish. It needs to be fully considered but NOT just automatically done to appease people only thinking about themselves. God Pharoah needs less stress, yes, and to be more doable by casuals.  
Do NOT just do what serves people who aren't thinking about the future of the game for everyone. (Their view is short term and self-destructive, it doesn't serve the game long term until they start including helping beginners in their thought processes.)

My team is happy to help beginners (and veterans who want a more flexible experience and everyone in between)! And we are of a similar mind as @PhoenixRisen when it comes to the event length/4 hour recharges. I think it's a bit unfair to assume they don't think about helping beginners since I know they go out of their way to direct random joiners and players that need a bit of training to friendly and helpful groups like mine. You're welcome to come chat with us if you like helping new players!

I think if we really wanted to help new players and casuals, the progression meter should be reset to 450 and 8 hour charges should be a thing. I think that the boss hp is just silly and the event should have a regular end. 

And since we're discussing event start times, I would really prefer PVP Tuesday-Wednesday and PVE Friday-Sunday with Mondays and Thursdays to swap. This made it easier to place enthusiastic new players rocking it at PVP in more competitive teams. The unfortunate side-effect of the two-hour window is that top teams _must_ prioritize PVE play over PVP which definitely slows down the rate of acquisition for newer players. 

We're still chugging along with our (now) once weekly swaps in anticipation of a Wednesday start time and, quite frankly, what was once an exciting time filled with a sense of urgency is now another boring and frustrating experience associated with MTGPQ. We're just waiting. 

Gideon

Node refreshes should be abolished IMO. They should start the event with everyone having full nodes with zero recharges. They could increase the node count or the amount of charges to let’s say 15 on each node and set a time limit to complete them. Friday to Monday morning would be good. Then the event would end and prizes would distributed  accordingly. This would give everyone the time they need with out any restrictions.

bk1234

Gideon said:

Node refreshes should be abolished IMO. They should start the event with everyone having full nodes with zero recharges. They could increase the node count or the amount of charges to let’s say 15 on each node and set a time limit to complete them. Friday to Monday morning would be good. Then the event would end and prizes would distributed  accordingly. This would give everyone the time they need with out any restrictions.

This would also abolish boss health in PVE, I assume? I'm all for it. 

I love the idea of starting with full nodes and playing at our leisure -- however, I think after a certain amount of time, nodes should be lost -- ie if you are still full at 24H you lose1 full set, and again 8 hours later, etc...

Gideon

Yes it would

majincob

Sarahschmara said:

...

I think that the boss hp is just silly and the event should have a regular end.

And since we're discussing event start times, I would really prefer PVP Tuesday-Wednesday and PVE Friday-Sunday with Mondays and Thursdays to swap. This made it easier to place enthusiastic new players rocking it at PVP in more competitive teams. The unfortunate side-effect of the two-hour window is that top teams _must_ prioritize PVE play over PVP which definitely slows down the rate of acquisition for newer players. 

...

Agree. Boss hp is a poor mechanic that shouldn't have been recycled.

Also balancing the coalition events ribbon score would also help with the lopsided prioritization.