New Community Manager

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As always I agree with John.

There where always "the sky is falling"thread since i came here. Should kinda learned to ignore them up till now. Guess everybody learns every day.

Communication with FPC is great. As far as today i havnt seen much of Rocktropia or the other planets. I know this aint some kind of official forum of MindArk but itś the biggest community here.

Anyway itś almost august and then we get new FPC updates :yay:
 
well they more or less never talk to us :p

(and not directed at you personally :)) ... this doesn't just happen during July and we all know that. ;)

My point was not the quality nor frequency of their communique. My point was when the majority of the complaints about it occur. :D
 
just a question, are you guys refering to the lack of communication on EF or everywhare as a whole?

because imo i really dont see this lack of communication your refering to, theres more than enough communication from fpc going on via entropia gateway, and for RT going on at neverdienews.com and neverdie.com


and to top all of that offical avatars make random appearences to communicate with us
 
just a question, are you guys refering to the lack of communication on EF or everywhare as a whole?

because imo i really dont see this lack of communication your refering to, theres more than enough communication from fpc going on via entropia gateway, and for RT going on at neverdienews.com and neverdie.com


and to top all of that offical avatars make random appearences to communicate with us

If you think there is enough communication you cant have played a lot of other games.

And we are referring to all communication i guess. Atleast i am.

But here is what i personaly would require to be happy and think the communication is decent.

Atleast 3-5 posts in the forum during a week, preferably daily.
Atleast one blogpost every week.

Community manager should be interacting with us on an almost daily basis, engage in discussions on ef, yes ef as MA dont have their own darn forum which in itself is just pure pathetic that they dont. These disucssions should be about everything, lootbalance, bugs, upcomming patches, what ma/fpc are working on, plans for the future.

the commrep should then take our concerns after we discussed it, compile it and bring it to fpc (and since MA themselves dont have a comrep which AGAIN is just pathetic) MA aswell. She should then come back with feedback from fpc/MA and talk more about it and so on. ie an ACTUALL discussion!!!

Then on the blog, interviews weekly or atleast biweekly or even better yet posts by the employees themselves what they are working on and gfx previews/concepts etc etc. and so on and on and on.

As i said, a commrep has (almost) no life, they are the game, they breath it and live it and does that together with the community.

And OFCOURSE i understand the comrep cant talk about EVERYTHING as it's an rce, but we should for example be able to get an explanation as to why the balance is as it is and such, for example why some hofs get multiple items while some get nada and so on.
 
And OFCOURSE i understand the comrep cant talk about EVERYTHING as it's an rce, but we should for example be able to get an explanation as to why the balance is as it is and such, for example why some hofs get multiple items while some get nada and so on.

Hanne can't answer that anyway. With the distancing between MA and FPC that has been and will continue to happen. The only people we could discuss it with, MA, will not.

Questions regarding the economy can only be dealt with by MA who have made it pretty clear that they don't want to talk with the end users. We don't even talk to them via support as its down to each planet to have their own team. I'm sure there is info she'd love to post but can't.

The most we can expect from an FPC com rep are details about events, planet updates and known glitches. Anything else would need an MA com rep who, it appears, doesn't exist.

Would people expect that Hanne deal with stuff regarding R.T. ? Some might, as FPC is seen as MA and unless someone from MA steps to the front to answer engine and RCE issues then I guess she'll continue to take the crap.

Yes it's nice to see posts from anyone at FPC but honestly their hands are tied to what they can say unless its "Hi we're still here".

For most companys you have someone to take over when someone goes on holiday but we've learned from past experience thats not the case for MA or FPC. Remember when foot guards and the equiping fee were introduced, Marco was on holiday ;)
 
If you think there is enough communication you cant have played a lot of other games.

And we are referring to all communication i guess. Atleast i am.

But here is what i personaly would require to be happy and think the communication is decent.

Atleast 3-5 posts in the forum during a week, preferably daily.
Atleast one blogpost every week.

Community manager should be interacting with us on an almost daily basis, engage in discussions on ef, yes ef as MA dont have their own darn forum which in itself is just pure pathetic that they dont. These disucssions should be about everything, lootbalance, bugs, upcomming patches, what ma/fpc are working on, plans for the future.

the commrep should then take our concerns after we discussed it, compile it and bring it to fpc (and since MA themselves dont have a comrep which AGAIN is just pathetic) MA aswell. She should then come back with feedback from fpc/MA and talk more about it and so on. ie an ACTUALL discussion!!!

Then on the blog, interviews weekly or atleast biweekly or even better yet posts by the employees themselves what they are working on and gfx previews/concepts etc etc. and so on and on and on.

As i said, a commrep has (almost) no life, they are the game, they breath it and live it and does that together with the community.

And OFCOURSE i understand the comrep cant talk about EVERYTHING as it's an rce, but we should for example be able to get an explanation as to why the balance is as it is and such, for example why some hofs get multiple items while some get nada and so on.

Agree 100% with this.

I'm in an open beta for a game made by Stardock right now. The CEO chats at the forums, asks for input, posts youtube vids of the latest builds and so on. Stardock is the exact opposite of Mindark. To them, the customer and the fans are everything, the very reason why they make games in the first place!

I recently read in a business mag that swedish companies are very low rated when it comes to customer relations, and that the employees are not customer focused at all. Guess which company came to mind when I read it...

If players are to spend their time and money, and maybe turn around the poor results for MA, we need more info about what is happening. Is Calypso being sold, for example?
 
just a question, are you guys refering to the lack of communication on EF or everywhare as a whole?

because imo i really dont see this lack of communication your refering to, theres more than enough communication from fpc going on via entropia gateway, and for RT going on at neverdienews.com and neverdie.com


and to top all of that offical avatars make random appearences to communicate with us

See my previous posting(s) for total 'fail' of communication or of even doing their job in keeping up with the community concerning WOF. *Yes I want my jacket damnit! I and others payed THOUSANDS of peds and hours and hours competing for it... but.. they don't seem to care enough to make it of any kind of priority to get it done..... sigh.

I guess if you need another communications error it was over the release of the free cars and availabilty. That said, they rocked it by quickly 'communicating' their error.

Yet another - their total lack and disregard for us when it comes to nerfing us and not telling us about it! This has happened time and time again! I honestly think that ANY change they make to how things work HAS to be communicated with every single update. Slow down our avatars? Tell us! Ummm avatars slowed down due to X reason beyond control? Tell us! Damage changed on animals ( damage given by them and frequency I mean) Tell us! It's dis-heartening to say the least for the community to discover the numerous hidden nerfs and they don't say a thing :( :mad:

(McCormick I'm sure can insert a great long list here of nerfs we've not been informed of..)

Yes, they've done better since Hanne taking over. Can it be improved? YES!

As JC said - there's been many threads over the years about communications to the community. There's been many suggestions made in them. Some they've worked on, others still very much lacking. As a suggestion, maybe FPC should go back through those old postings and identify where they are still lacking and why.

Broken record here - but how in the world do they NOT even communicate with each other about WOF???? Think about it...... seriously..... think about that one! Then get back to me at how great they are at communications... ....

*I'd really like an explanation on why this happened with WOF - lazyness? lack of communications.. umm you were supposed to do it... no you were.. (finger pointing), oh, forgot.... ummmm

WHY?????????????????????????????????????? There's really NO excuse for it!!!!!
 
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just one problem guys, Entropia Forum ISNT the offical forum for calypso :p


there is no offical forum


anyway, as i said earlier, im out of this thread, and for good this time.

(only returned because someone linked me and pulled me back in again lol
)
 
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just one problem guys, Entropia Forum ISNT the offical forum for calypso :p


there is no offical forum


......................................

exactly ! since there is NO official forum how can a "Community Manager" get in touch with the community ? HOW can he /she know what players want , what they like or not ? by Entropia Gateway ? that site looks more like a blog with short posts and all are monologues so through that site nobody can say what players are thinking. such news as in Calypso gateway are so impersonal , that even Bertha Bot would do a better job .;)
let's say somebody wants to learn about the game and wants to know more about it , how it feels what players think about it .
i bet that person googles Entropia , Planet Calypso and in the end will stop on a PRIVATE forum and not on Entropia Gateway .
and on a private forum might read about the "excellent "comunication with game developers and about a brilliant guy in charge of loot ballance that managed to piss off a lot of players . well a new player might see that but not a "Community Manager ". of course balancing loot isn't FPC job , but they could try to establish a better communication between MA and community and there we go back to "Community Manager "

..........................................
If players are to spend their time and money, and maybe turn around the poor results for MA, we need more info about what is happening. Is Calypso being sold, for example?

this FPC knows for sure without asking MA secret RCE stuff so ... they can't tell that either ,lol . this way might be explained this silence from FPC . in august they might not be owners of Calypso and so their responsability for the game has ended.
 
just one problem guys, Entropia Forum ISNT the offical forum for calypso :p
there is no offical forum

And there in lies the major problem in itself. How many gaming companies don't have an official forum????? ummmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmm
 
I think this is cool. You who reads this, have you read all?

Before you answer, please do.

i mean it, some idiots have some nice things to say.
Another idiots are youst full off them self.

I just wait for Hanne tommorow.
 
I think this is cool. You who reads this, have you read all?

Before you answer, please do.

i mean it, some idiots have some nice things to say.
Another idiots are youst full off them self.

I just wait for Hanne tommorow.

Her being back tomorrow doesn't at all excuse their failing on WOF though :rolleyes: She wasn't on vacation the prior three weeks now was she? FPC knew when the finals were didn't they? Yep, they did as Hanne even posted in the WOF threads. This to me = community communication / relations complete failure.

Maybe we'll get an explanation? *always hopeful*

Edit:
Added link to long communication discussion from 2 years ago...
https://www.planetcalypsoforum.com/...ation-discussion.html?highlight=Communication

Things are pretty much summarized on last couple pages of the posts.
 
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And there in lies the major problem in itself. How many gaming companies don't have an official forum????? ummmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmm

Yea that's another strange one, it's a bit of a risk on MA's side... what do they do if EF dies ? But I accept this as experimental and why not, saves MA to having to admin a forum... it's certainly not ideal but I guess that ISN't the real problem here... EF is pretty much accepted as THE forum for the game. The EntropiaGateway is a form of Forum without admin / Mod needs...

Edit:
Added link to long communication discussion from 2 years ago...
https://www.planetcalypsoforum.com/...ation-discussion.html?highlight=Communication

Things are pretty much summarized on last couple pages of the posts.

Funny that one... I actually gave MA the benefit of the doubt at that point in time... ;) Well we had no "cummications manager" back then I guess and Marco had been trying a bit harder ;)
 
If I am planning to stay away for more then 1 week then Ill let you know, ok?

Let me just first point out that I am not MindArk's Community Manager.
I'm not MA/FPC.
I am just First Planet Company's Community Manager.

And while I have at times communicated MindArk's business to you, that is not directly my responsibility. However if MindArk gives us (FPC) something to communicate then that's all jolly good and of course I want to forward it to you! I understand that this can be confusing. The upside is that it might be more clearly divided in the future. That MindArk needs to communicate more I think we all can agree on. But please try to remember, I'm representing a Planet Partner, not MindArk.

That Im not representing MindArk doesn't mean that FPC and MA does not talk. If we (FPC) experience that our community is unhappy about something MindArk does, we'll do internal discussions about it. I note down what I come across that is worth discussing and bring it further, but that doesn't always mean Ill have news to report back.

On the future communication. I've so far been 5 months on the job. Changing things takes time, but we're picking up speed. One of the great challenges in this job right now is the problem I've just talked about. The diversion between FPC and MA, that makes players seem to misunderstand my role. A lot, if not most, of the questions I get on daily basis is regarding MA-related problems, or even asking me when other planet partners will arrive. :silly2:

What do I do other then communicate? FPC is a small company. (Though we're growing in numbers.) And you're right, I do more then just being the CM. I also test, handle the web-page, plan events, and generally help out where I'm needed; But still you guys and girls are my main concern and you take first priority for me and my work schedule.

And lastly.. Regarding WoF; WoF is a FPC sponsored event but not a FPC event. I've told the WoF Management that the hand-out wouldn't be until at least August, since it is vacation-season (I don't know if they've communicated this or not. ) I'm can't do such alone, not yet anyway.
 
She's alive :D Welcome back Hanne ...

Well you know, explaining that you do other stuff than communication work, that's ok, but can you let us know roughly how much time you can dedicate to communication ?

We know you are FPC, we know MA and the other planets have nobody. That's noted and I think it's not good. Just like changing things takes time, it takes time to the community to realize that FPC is a standalone company.

Still... you've read the posts, i am sure you got the point ;)
 
Hi Hanne

welcome back and hope to see you ingame fast

nice post
 
Well you know, explaining that you do other stuff than communication work, that's ok, but can you let us know roughly how much time you can dedicate to communication ?

Communication comes first and foremost. Roughly how much time really is hard to say because this all very much depends on where we are in the development of the game, what MindArk is doing and generally how the game is going.

A lot of the things I do beside the normal communication process is actually related to the CM role in itself. I'm not employed only to talk to the community but also to follow your steps, understand you and put myself into your mindset. Which isn't really that hard concidering I was one of you for so many years, and following forum and playing the game is already part of my daily routine, off work as well. :)

Take for example testing; while our graphics artists naturally will look for graphics flaws when they test, Ill naturally look at it and give my opinion as a player with a EU history would and maybe react to certain things that a QA wouldn't see the same way. Same thing with Events, graphics and whatever FPC does. Im there for them and Im there for you :)
 
Communication comes first and foremost. Roughly how much time really is hard to say because this all very much depends on where we are in the development of the game, what MindArk is doing and generally how the game is going.

A lot of the things I do beside the normal communication process is actually related to the CM role in itself. I'm not employed only to talk to the community but also to follow your steps, understand you and put myself into your mindset. Which isn't really that hard concidering I was one of you for so many years, and following forum and playing the game is already part of my daily routine, off work as well. :)

Take for example testing; while our graphics artists naturally will look for graphics flaws when they test, Ill naturally look at it and give my opinion as a player with a EU history would and maybe react to certain things that a QA wouldn't see the same way. Same thing with Events, graphics and whatever FPC does. Im there for them and Im there for you :)

Awww :love:
I can't wait till u reintroduce "The Gate" :)
 
Agree 100% with this.

I'm in an open beta for a game made by Stardock right now. The CEO chats at the forums, asks for input, posts youtube vids of the latest builds and so on. Stardock is the exact opposite of Mindark. To them, the customer and the fans are everything, the very reason why they make games in the first place!

I recently read in a business mag that swedish companies are very low rated when it comes to customer relations, and that the employees are not customer focused at all. Guess which company came to mind when I read it...

If players are to spend their time and money, and maybe turn around the poor results for MA, we need more info about what is happening. Is Calypso being sold, for example?

Oh stardock ftw!! That is how a gamecompany SHOULD operate, sadly only like 1% of the game companies does i'd guess. I bought their game just for that reason, i hardly ever play it but i bought it due to how the company operates AND that the game does not have DRM!!! :D

Let me just first point out that I am not MindArk's Community Manager.
I'm not MA/FPC.
I am just First Planet Company's Community Manager.

That Im not representing MindArk doesn't mean that FPC and MA does not talk. If we (FPC) experience that our community is unhappy about something MindArk does, we'll do internal discussions about it. I note down what I come across that is worth discussing and bring it further, but that doesn't always mean Ill have news to report back.

On the future communication. I've so far been 5 months on the job. Changing things takes time, but we're picking up speed. One of the great challenges in this job right now is the problem I've just talked about. The diversion between FPC and MA, that makes players seem to misunderstand my role. A lot, if not most, of the questions I get on daily basis is regarding MA-related problems, or even asking me when other planet partners will arrive. :silly2:

Nice to see you back Hanne :D

And yes most of us probably understand that you are fpc only really, but since MA still got their head up their... you sort of get the crap instead of them. MA needs to get that head out of their ... and start to communicate.

Have you noted down the balancing cryout on the forum? for example 3 good items in one loot instead of just one good item in a loot and split them up and such? :)

Here is a bit what i would like more from you sort of. More of a discussion in the forum sort of back and forth on topics that concern us. For example let's say we lack a spawn (calamusoids is a good example) and we yodel about that in the forum. You should then pick up on this and let us know you know of it and that you will tell the person responsible and also when you spoken to that person bring back info from him/her. For example he says oops we forgot to add them the last patch due to me picking my bellybutton fluff to much, will try to have them in in the next patch.

In essence just more discussion, not just mainly oneliners. :)
 
Here is a bit what i would like more from you sort of. More of a discussion in the forum sort of back and forth on topics that concern us. For example let's say we lack a spawn (calamusoids is a good example) and we yodel about that in the forum. You should then pick up on this and let us know you know of it and that you will tell the person responsible and also when you spoken to that person bring back info from him/her. For example he says oops we forgot to add them the last patch due to me picking my bellybutton fluff to much, will try to have them in in the next patch.

In essence just more discussion, not just mainly oneliners. :)

And that's what I do. :) But I use the Gateway to communicate back answers since EF is not our own forum and I want all EU forums/communities to have easy access to my communicating (RSS feed for example..)
 
If I am planning to stay away for more then 1 week then Ill let you know, ok?

Let me just first point out that I am not MindArk's Community Manager.
I'm not MA/FPC.
I am just First Planet Company's Community Manager.

And while I have at times communicated MindArk's business to you, that is not directly my responsibility. However if MindArk gives us (FPC) something to communicate then that's all jolly good and of course I want to forward it to you! I understand that this can be confusing. The upside is that it might be more clearly divided in the future. That MindArk needs to communicate more I think we all can agree on. But please try to remember, I'm representing a Planet Partner, not MindArk.

That Im not representing MindArk doesn't mean that FPC and MA does not talk. If we (FPC) experience that our community is unhappy about something MindArk does, we'll do internal discussions about it. I note down what I come across that is worth discussing and bring it further, but that doesn't always mean Ill have news to report back.

On the future communication. I've so far been 5 months on the job. Changing things takes time, but we're picking up speed. One of the great challenges in this job right now is the problem I've just talked about. The diversion between FPC and MA, that makes players seem to misunderstand my role. A lot, if not most, of the questions I get on daily basis is regarding MA-related problems, or even asking me when other planet partners will arrive. :silly2:

What do I do other then communicate? FPC is a small company. (Though we're growing in numbers.) And you're right, I do more then just being the CM. I also test, handle the web-page, plan events, and generally help out where I'm needed; But still you guys and girls are my main concern and you take first priority for me and my work schedule.

And lastly.. Regarding WoF; WoF is a FPC sponsored event but not a FPC event. I've told the WoF Management that the hand-out wouldn't be until at least August, since it is vacation-season (I don't know if they've communicated this or not. ) I'm can't do such alone, not yet anyway.

Hi Hanne,

thanks for your reply and explanation to our concerns. I hope you will enjoy your extra week of vacation.
In your reply you mention being FPC and not MA/FPC. This is something I think most of us know already...but -and that's a whole other issue- I think for many the exact meaning of this is still a bit unclear.
what I mean by this is, the community has only been given a very basic idea of what are both companies responsibilities.
I think is one of the major problems...people just don't know whether they should aim their rant at FPC or MA. (proof can be found in the many posts aimed at MA/FPC)

Maybe that could be a question that you could work on? What do both companies do, what are the responsibilities and give a few examples of the problems that would be FPC whether MA related.

Another thing that certainly concerns me and some others are the rumors about a Calypso sale. I hear things like that FPC wouldn't be the owner anymore then....but from my side, I would rather think FPC would be buying the planet from MA.
Is this something you can give some explanations about? And no we don't need the top secret info about it of course...but the general idea from whats happening would be nice.

As the rest concerns, I surely do think that appointing you was a very improvement to how communication is done to the customers/community. The changes have been drastic, but as you know still much to be done. So, I wish you good luck on that.

Regards,

Kraganov Razor Xzartax
 
Hi Joske!

Indeed its hard to make people understand the difference between the two companies, and like mentioned, that's one of the great challenges of my position. I've said it before, and I'll say it again; Before I started working here I too was confused about the difference, so I completely understand where you're coming from.

Here's a quick reminder:
http://www.entropiagateway.com/2010/02/first-planet-company-and-mindark-who-does-what/

Its one of those things Ill just have to keep repeating.

Regarding the sale of Planet Calypso, I'm sorry but that's not something I can give any information about at this point, like Marco have mentioned before. Whenever we have something definite to come with you'll hear about it asap.

And psst, I don't have an extra week of vacation. ;)
 
Regarding the sale of Planet Calypso, I'm sorry but that's not something I can give any information about at this point, like Marco have mentioned before. Whenever we have something definite to come with you'll hear about it asap.

oh ok....didn't see that Marco said something about that. (I can surely miss out on some stuff on the forum) But from your reply I do guess that the negotiations on the sale are going now. Pity we don't know which are the partners on the table, that would clarify a lot. But I understand this is something that is not easy to communicate about.


This is indeed the thing I knew and read, but I think the description given there are vague to many.
My interpretation of it would be:
Everything visible: FPC
Everything Invisible: MA

I think I'm not far off with that, but it still says nothing :p

And psst, I don't have an extra week of vacation. ;)

Bummer!!:(

Yup, my fault, I extremely misread the first sentence of your first post today.:scratch2:
Well, instead of wishing you a nice extra week....then I wish your next vacation will be there fast, so you can escape our nagging again for some time ;)
 
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Hi Joske!

Indeed its hard to make people understand the difference between the two companies, and like mentioned, that's one of the great challenges of my position. I've said it before, and I'll say it again; Before I started working here I too was confused about the difference, so I completely understand where you're coming from.

Here's a quick reminder:
http://www.entropiagateway.com/2010/02/first-planet-company-and-mindark-who-does-what/

Hanne,

with all my respect, the separation between FPC and MA is not something we customer have to care. Internal structure of companies is something the customer should happily ignore, out of scope of interest.

If you're the CM, our interface is you, until MA will give out its own CM.

A nice thing would be a sort of "task list" you're on, so that we KNOW which problems we point out you're aware of, and in case it's not FPC matter, just a "forwarded to MA".

I think it's mostly ridicolous to ask you what you do in your time at FPC, it's not our businness ;) But I think that a *PUBLIC* BUGLIST/WISHLIST is the minimum a company like your(s) should offer.

My 2 cents.
 
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More fun, less whining,

Hey hanne, nice to see you so active, i couldn't resist hehe on the other hand i don't want to waste your time...

But i have a few idea's,

To interact with new players it would be fun if you come play with us now and then, can't they give you a fap that don't decay so u can heal the noobs in swamp or join a swunt or other lo lvl hunt team in twin or Nea's, or other...?

Greetings, keep up the good work,
 
If you're the CM, our interface is you, until MA will give out its own CM.

Completely Agree.. We, in essence, are customers to FPC now.

If there is a problem and FPC customers are unhappy about something Mindarc is doing then FPC needs to represent to Mindarc the issue for it's customers.

If I'm running a web business and the ISP I chose as my host has an issue with their service, it's my responsibility to get that issue resolved as soon as possible. I can say it's the ISP and not my fault but I can't just drop it there.. I have to dog the ISP till they get the issue resolved or look to lose the customer base effected by the issue.
 
To interact with new players it would be fun if you come play with us now and then, can't they give you a fap that don't decay so u can heal the noobs in swamp or join a swunt or other lo lvl hunt team in twin or Nea's, or other...?


Not that it wouldn't be a great idea but there are 2 things against it:
1. This would rather be a job for "The guides" if you ask me.
2. MA will probably never allow this: they 'll "loose" money by it.
 
Hanne,

with all my respect, the separation between FPC and MA is not something we customer have to care. Internal structure of companies is something the customer should happily ignore, out of scope of interest.

If you're the CM, our interface is you, until MA will give out its own CM.

A nice thing would be a sort of "task list" you're on, so that we KNOW which problems we point out you're aware of, and in case it's not FPC matter, just a "forwarded to MA".

I think it's mostly ridicolous to ask you what you do in your time at FPC, it's not our businness ;) But I think that a *PUBLIC* BUGLIST/WISHLIST is the minimum a company like your(s) should offer.

My 2 cents.

I have nothing against forwarding our (FPC's) concerns that we get from the community over to MindArk. That's something I've been doing from the start and will keep doing, and I hope you dont get the impression that was going to stop? Like I mentioned, even if I dont represent MindArk, doesn't mean MindArk and FPC don't talk.

The only problem for me is when people expect answers back from MindArk and look to me for them, which is pretty often. Yes its internal, but if you want the reason why I can't give you answers then that's it right there. Im not MindArk, I dont have natural access to that information. That's not a situation I can change.

Public buglists/task lists isn't a bad idea. Ill consider it and take it up for discussion internally. However that'd be for FPC related issues, not MindArk's.
 
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