Menu
What's New
By:
Filters

How could MA improve?

Status
V

ViagraFalls

Guest
Let's try and have one more constructie last go at this, without the thread getting locked.

From the posts on here lately, it is quite obvious people are frustrated (I'm one of them). Some of the key issues people have trouble with include lack of communication about the path PE is taking (including the spider ATH, Romania getting banned), lacking support, unfixed bugs, overhyping, and a bunch more.

Instead of bashing, let's try to offer constructive solutions.

I'll kick it off.

1) Lack of communication: Clearly MindArk should provide the playerbase with a projected future of PE. Solution: Let the playerbase know what to expect for the future. What does MindArk have planned for the future?

On the same level, it would look good on MindArk if they shared with the playerbase their visions on some of the recent issues. What will be their answer to the spider ATH? What have they learned from the way they handled it, and what can be done to prevent this from happening in the future?

I feel that if MindArk provides the playerbase with more insight into exactly why Romania is being singled out, it might create more goodwill among the players.

Within the same issue, I think the Atrox Egg event comes to mind. What is MindArk's official response to the event? Did it go as they thought it would? What was their initial planning, and how did it eventually end up?

2) Lacking support: In my perception, the majority of this problem was caused by the summer holidays. MindArk effectively shut down for three weeks. That's unacceptable when you run a "real cash economy". Sure, there were some people left, but we have no idea whether it was one guy, or 10. The number of support cases during this vacation exploded. Can MindArk guarantee that the this will not happen again?

Mind you, the same thing happened last christmas. CND was launched, and the same day MA went on holiday. Can the playerbase be guaranteed that they are being properly served at all times?

3) Unfixed bugs: It is clear there are a lot of bugs left in PE. Can MindArk gives the playerbase insight into how they plan on dealing with that? What will take priority? New VUs, or will the playerbase see a VU adding nothing new, but which instead focusses on fixing bugs? My guess is that the latter will create a much better response by the playerbase.

What can be done to prevent future VUs from being buggy? The playerbase does not expect a 100% bugfree VU, but it would be nice to have some form of ensuring the number of bugs were kept to a minimum.

4) Overhyping: The way it looks now to the majority of the playerbase is that MA wants 70% of the new players to dissappear within a month after they savoured the game. Is that what MA wants? Would it not make more sense, from a business perspective to try and keep at the very minimum 50% of those new players around? If Mindark agrees, can they determine why the turnover is as high as it is? If so, can changes be made to shift the balance?

I'm quite sure there are more sides to the story. Let's try and keep things constructive. I think my post was formulated in such a way.
 
the way i see it, instead of all these mega awsome uber loots few people keep gettin over, give everyone a lil money back.

oh, and pking needs work... like how about hitboxes? instead of one big one.. its kinda annoying when skill only comes with rank and not aim.

also, im sick of shooting 4 feet infront of somone in a pk fight to hit them... accuracy might help a bit too..

but im sure they will cover all of this.
 
That's a brilliant post, VF. +rep (well, I tried but I need to spread some rep around)

IMAO, lack of communication is certainly MA's biggest weakness.

They don't seem to take support very seriously. It makes good business sense to implement new VU's and features on Monday morning when most of the staff is there. That allows them to deal with potential problems quickly.

MA did help me within hours the two times I was having problems with deposits. When I report other problems, the have the standard answers. "It was lag." "We couldn't duplicate the problem."

Yesterday I got email from support telling me they would investigate a problem I reported. That email came 16 days after I wrote to support.

I sincerely hope that MA is making money. I think they could make more money by fixing the problems that drive people away. Some they can fix, some they can't.

What they need to do and CAN do:

1. Fix the bugs. Yes, there will always be bugs in a product that is continually updated but we shouldn't see the same bugs month after month.

2. Hire more support staff so they can respond in a timely fashion. If the bugs were fixed, they wouldn't need more support staff so they could do this or choose option #1.

I'm aware that both of these things cost money but any business does have expenses. The question is, will it earn them money in the long run?

Yes, I believe it will. I've only been in this game for 8 months and I've seen a lot of depositing players give up the game, like ViagraFalls, for instance.

Now here is one thing that people would like that MA can't do.

- Pay out more in loot than people deposit.
Sorry everyone, it just isn't going to happen. No one starts a business to lose money. Mr. Timkrans didn't either. I don't agree with everything he does with MA, but that doesn't mean he is a fool.
 
Last edited:
sloth said:
the way i see it, instead of all these mega awsome uber loots few people keep gettin over, give everyone a lil money back.
Click to expand...

Spread the Wealth!!!!! No More ATH's Uber Loots!!!
 
I think what MA needs is a change of attitude. MA needs to realize that customer relations is not a necessary evil, but a way to create long term income. You can't sell LA's as soon as you need some cash and think all is well.

The players don't feel like MA cares about them, and this is not good. The reason for this is that communications from MA is limited to support cases quoting the EULA and PR style press releases.

Perhaps MA needs to hire someone that knows how to communicate with customers? (No offence Marco, but you seem to have failed on this point. :( )
 
Last edited:
+ rep VF great post :thumbup:. This is what MA needs to see, a post thats not bashing MA but is giving them suggestions and telling them what they need to do to keep their playerbase.

I understand that much of MA went on vacation recently and there were less ppl to handle support cases. I think that as more of the support staff comes back from vacation, more support cases will be handled.

A big problem with EU is bugs. Bugs can not ever be completely taken out of this game. Every update will bring with it, new bugs. But MA needs to take care of most of the bugs before coming out with a new update. And each update needs to have less bugs. I think they should allow some players to particapate in a closed beta of the new VU. Plenty of players would be willing to particapate in beta for free.

Airedale said:
- Pay out more in loot than people deposit.
Sorry everyone, it just isn't going to happen. No one starts a business to lose money. Mr. Timkrans didn't either. I don't agree with everything he does with MA, but that doesn't mean he is a fool.
Click to expand...

I understand that they can not give us more money than we deposit. But instead of having a huge ATH that gets them media attention and new players who quit after a few days, y not spread that money to the current players. We r the ones that r making them money, and there will always be plenty of new players coming to the game.
 
:locked: I'm locking myself before I get started! :locked:

These threads are always nice...I hope it goes well...
 
Airedale said:
MA did help me within hours the two times I was having problems with deposits. When I report other problems, the have the standard answers. "It was lag." "We couldn't duplicate the problem."

Yesterday I got email from support telling me they would investigate a problem I reported. That email came 16 days after I wrote to support.
Click to expand...

That is one reason why people are worried, yes. If a bug affects MA, it is dealt with promptly. In other cases, one has to wait and see how they react.

Bugs are inconsistencies in software. That happens. No coder is 100% spot on. I know I am not. I worked with brilliant people in the field, and they, too, make mistakes. At times the place of a single comma is a deciding factor.

However, some form of change management usually prevents a lot of mistakes. And if it doesn't prevent them, it will at least help in the process of pinpointing the error.

Now here is one thing that people would like that MA can't do.

- Pay out more in loot than people deposit.
Sorry everyone, it just isn't going to happen. No one starts a business to lose money. Mr. Timkrans didn't either. I don't agree with everything he does with MA, but that doesn't mean he is a fool.
Click to expand...

Nobody in their sane minds ever demanded that. MindArk is a profit-based company, and that's perfectly fine. Nobody expects them to hand out money for free. Thing is the balance.

I stated before, and I will state it again, that the playerbase would be perfectly happy spending decay if they knew they would at the very least get their ammo's worth back.

The playerbase doesn't expect to be returning from every hunt or mining trip with a profit. That business model is simply not sustainable. However, if the average turnover would be 80%, with the remaining 20% being a gamble, I'd think there would not be a problem. Win some, lose some.

The problem for the moment seems to be in the balance. Tweak a few parameters, and you WILL have 50% (possibly even more) players being perfectly happy. I do think that would be more benefitial in the long run. Granted, in the short run, it leads to less impressive press releases, but the average player would be content.
 
Frigid said:
:locked: I'm locking myself before I get started! :locked:

These threads are always nice...I hope it goes well...
Click to expand...

I'm on your side. I don't think anybody has a doubt about that.

I have nothing to gain here personally. I'm merely trying to offer some constructive way on how to try and stabilise things.

I know I tried in the past and failed, and many people with me. Maybe that was due to the way we presented ourselves.

I'm merely trying one last time to leave something constructive. My wheels are in motion, and no matter what happens, I won't benefit from it. I hope someone else will.

Let's try get back to being constructive :)
 
ragethecorp said:
Every update will bring with it, new bugs. But MA needs to take care of most of the bugs before coming out with a new update. And each update needs to have less bugs.
Click to expand...

Not THAT is constructive. YES, YES, YES!

If every new VU had less bugs than the VU before, the playerbase would see a positive line. Think of it as a graph going up. "Hey, there's still bugs, but there's improvement". THAT is how to ensure your customers have faith in you. Show them that the team is improving. Show them that mistakes are being learned from.

I still somehow hope that upper management will realise the incredible psychological impact from that. If you show improvement, your customers are far more willing to forgive mistakes.
 
I got only one thing to say here, get the damn scammers caught and dealt with and OUT of the game for good. Even better would be, get them dealt with by their own countries police. If scammers know they would do jail time then they will think really really really hard before they try a scam on someone.
 
How can you say to MA how to improve , since you dont know the way MA whant to go.

Marco is aware of all the things we write since months.And i am not sure we will bring a new fantastic solution to the player problem now.

And , even if we find the fantastic solution to player plroblem , nothing say that the kind of improvement MA whant to go.

I can not bilieve , a compagnie like MA, dont have clue about his good and his bad things.MA must be aware of all that, it has been posted , posted again , again and again.

We must make a mistake in our vision of the path MA take to be as far as we are about improvement solution.

I think we should first figure out where MA whant to go , and through what way.
Then we can say how to improve that.
 
Etopia said:
I think we should first figure out where MA whant to go , and through what way.
Then we can say how to improve that.
Click to expand...

I totally agree. I hope somehow we'll find out by this thread. :)
 
Personally, I think it was funny that the previous thread was locked. All that did was show the dictatorial nature of MA, and further drag their image through the mud.

In the previous thread, and the "bad things about PE" were simply facts, truth is sometimes ugly. But what makes it so funny is that thread wasn't half as intense as some of the revoluntionary style things we posted back in the day. People wanted to go storm MA HQ and the like.

But I digress. Yes VF, that's the plan, that's all the majority of the player base wants.

-Communication
-Spread the Wealth
-Fix the Bugs
-Stop lying through their teeth. (forget the term hype, it's just to polite.)

But if the past four years and the few years before that which I heard about are any indication, we're never going to see much, if any improvements in any of those things. So I ask only one thing, and I mean this with every constructive fiber in my body.

Please MA, just don't make it any worse.

btw, + rep.
 
Unlocking...for just a sec ;)

If we can gather a good list of issues and player-based suggestions for improvement, I would not like to assume MA will scroll through the whole thread. Can someone volunteer to sum-up all the points in this thread, then mail *and* fax the results to MA?

MindArk PE AB
Jarntorget 8
SE 413 04 Gothenburg
Sweden

Fax:+46 (0)31 136 016

Perhaps a signature page of some sort, too, with all of us "signing". Or...just make thread with the final proposal and everyone *just* sign there and include a path to this thread in the mail and faxed docs. Discuss it in this thread...but summarrize and sign the other thread.

Once I am certain all of these issues are in MA's hands, I will feel better. WE can do no more, and can concentrate on improving the parts of PE that coding and policy cannot change: the community.
 
EDIT: nevermind this was so far off topic it was actually insightfull :D
 
I've gone on about the looting system and how things seem to always be a downward spiral of spending, but people are right, that is how the company makes money.

The only thing along this line that I can say is that I would like to see the loot system adjusted just enough that there isn't so much of the "rich getting richer while the poor get poorer" way that things seem to be in right now.

I'm not going to say how much money I have deposited into the game because it shouldn't matter, all I can say is that I shouldn't have to deposit that kind of money on a weekly basis just so I can continue to keep myself out of EU bankruptcy court.

It seems to me that if the loots pool were to be spread out a little more to make sure that there are more globals with fewer uber loots and make sure that ANYONE can get an uberloot on nearly anything, as long as their skill doesn't overly crush the mob characteristics. I.E., uber players shouldn't be able to get HOF or Globals on beginner mobs.

Maybe I don't even know what I am talking about, but I do know that I have seen some BIG globals on some really small mobs... and that just amazes me since I never got any HOF or even globals on bery young or exo young when I started out. LOL
 
I suspect that MA might be trying to walk a fine line.

If loots are improved just a bit...then the uber skilled players would profit more, play more, and withdraw that much more.

Leave things as they are, and the ubers don't drain the economy...but the non or mid-skilled players have to deposit more to survive.

On the otherhand, you can scrap the whole progressive skill system so that everyone has the same odds all the time....but what fun is that?...nothing to look forward to.

This would explain why MA makes the game progressively less 'profitable' ...as a bubble of mid-skilled players is creeping up in skill...something must be done to prevent them from turning from a source of revenue to a business COST for MA.

Advertising is one thing that can help mitigate this trend.

But if skills are to be desirable...then that means that the unskilled will be paying for the profits of the skilled. I just don't see a way around that.

Can anyone come up with a suggestion for MA to deal with this?
 
On suggestion I would make for MA....is improved documentation...about how things ACTUALLY work.

They likely don't do this for:

A) they want to be free to change things whilly nilly to adjust their profit/loss from the game.
B) they actually don't have many of these elements coded as we might think. For all we know...Perception plays absolutely no role in game.... Maybe they always intended to develop such stuff, but never found the time.
C) A + B

I think it is C, personally.

But I feel like a complete fool for spending what I spend on this VU, knowing that I know nothing, and knowing that the rules can and frequently are changed in mid-stream.
 
Here's my few cents...

1. MA needs to get their own forum. Any decent mmpog today has that, ok u say eu aint an mmpog but that is all it is so far.

2. Hire a Community representative or even two that has had that as a job before and know what they are doing. Also that should be their main focus and not something else. They would then post from MA's point of view and also compile the playerbase's concerns and forward to the devs.

3. Support works 24/7 and 7 days a week. Minimum with one there all the time.

4. Deposit issues should not be handled faster than any other support case.

5. A LOT better documentation on stuff. Not just "above average decay" and a PROPER manual and not some halftwit scribblings on the website. I was for instance lookign for info on DNA and how to manage a land.. and well that info lacked.. SEVERELY!!! As did most other info on what the game is and how it works.

Also fix the bugs that do exist.

That was about it i think. There is a ton more to be done though :p
 
Great constructive thread we got going here guys, and nice one for starting it of VF.

However, it has to be said that I'm getting way past caring about a lot of this. Harsh but true. I think the ball has been in MA's court for a while, and it does seem that people in general are getting a bit bored with the 'same old' attitude we've been used to since whenever we each started playing.

This said, I do feel it my duty to add a few things, since I have spent quite a few hours of my time typing away about all the problems, and how we should look to get around them.

My response is going to be quite different from my usual ramblings; I think something quite radical needs to happen to ensure any real longevity. So before I start, I put this question to you all, for everybody who currently enjoys playing:

For how much longer will this game keep you interested?

Given the advances we've seen in EU over the past few years (not that many to be frank), how much do you really think the game can change? How much extra stuff will there be to keep your interest?

I think not much. I'm sorry if I sound pessimistic here, but I don't really see any commitment from MA to keep this 'universe' on the cutting edge. In fact, I think it fell off the cutting edge a while ago. It's pretty good at the 'investment' thing, but this is all heavily reliant on players willingness to actually play the game. The 'investments' are worthless otherwise.

Over the last few years, I've introduced loads of people to the world of PE. Only a couple of them ever stuck with it. Some found it a bit boring, some found the cost limiting and others just thought it looked and felt crappy compared to other games they've played!

At the time I was thinking 'these people are crazy'. Now I'm thinking they might have had a point. Graphically, EU is a couple of years behind most other games. Graphics don't bother everyone (including myself if the gameplay's there), but they are a good measure of the developer's commitment to keeping the game current.

Looking at other aspects of it, the gameplay is a bit dated now. It's been roughly the same for years, and sometimes it feels like you're playing a 6/7 year old game. Stuff is a bit laggy and slow, and it just doesn't have the responsiveness of some of the later MMO efforts. With today's hardware there are very many ways of reducing the effects of lag and network latency. It's just a matter of creative programming.

Things like streaming sound and video have only just appeared in the game, and even then most of us don't have access to it. Stuff like this can greatly broaden the experience, and I think we always have to pay through the nose to be a part of such things.

The event system could be expanded a lot to include more people, doing a greater variety of things. It could be cheaper to participate and join them, and it would strengthen the community as a whole.

It seems MA are playing catchup all the time. I just feel they need to make a bold move to jump ahead of everyone else before they're left behind in the dust.

For myself, being involved in the creation of software, and being in game-developer circles, I really have it drummed into my head the importance of keeping ahead of the game. Don't rest on your laurels once you've made an innovation, because it's only a matter of time before somebody else takes your idea and improves on it.

MA are in a MUCH stronger position than any of the small independent software houses because they're MAKING PROFIT. It seems instead of investing in EU's future, they're doing something else with it. They certainly haven't been listening to the community, and spending it on fixing bugs and stuff!

This is why I say MA are not committed to keeping EU alive. Just because they haven't seen the competition out there doesn't mean there isn't any. One day it'll suddenly appear, and once there is another frame of reference, people will have something with which to directly compare MA and their product.

So in summary, MA can improve by listening to us, and making a commitment to staying well ahead of the game.
 
I believe that MA could improve entropia by actually playing it. They never seem to be able to find alot of the bugs - let alone fix them because they do not spend enough time in universe. I mean when a VU comes out most people find bugs within a very short period of time, so if MA were to put an avatar in universe - and actually try to play this "non game" there would be a good chance that they would find alot of the bugs and maybe able to fix them. And I dont mean just an official avatar standing around chatting to people - I mean to start to sweat, hunt and do all the common things that most of us do. I also think that the support staff should have to play a little too. I have lost count of the number of times I have reported a bug - and the reply from support was they couldnt find or reproduce the bug - but a few VU's later - it is listed as a bugfix. Let alone the times I have reported a bug to get a reply that didnt make any sense at all. If they all spent some time in this universe we all seem to be so passionate about I really think it would help to improve it alot.
 
Noggin said:
Great constructive thread we got going here guys, and nice one for starting it of VF.

However, it has to be said that I'm getting way past caring about a lot of this. Harsh but true. I think the ball has been in MA's court for a while, and it does seem that people in general are getting a bit bored with the 'same old' attitude we've been used to since whenever we each started playing.

This said, I do feel it my duty to add a few things, since I have spent quite a few hours of my time typing away about all the problems, and how we should look to get around them.

My response is going to be quite different from my usual ramblings; I think something quite radical needs to happen to ensure any real longevity. So before I start, I put this question to you all, for everybody who currently enjoys playing:

For how much longer will this game keep you interested?

Given the advances we've seen in EU over the past few years (not that many to be frank), how much do you really think the game can change? How much extra stuff will there be to keep your interest?

I think not much. I'm sorry if I sound pessimistic here, but I don't really see any commitment from MA to keep this 'universe' on the cutting edge. In fact, I think it fell off the cutting edge a while ago. It's pretty good at the 'investment' thing, but this is all heavily reliant on players willingness to actually play the game. The 'investments' are worthless otherwise.

Over the last few years, I've introduced loads of people to the world of PE. Only a couple of them ever stuck with it. Some found it a bit boring, some found the cost limiting and others just thought it looked and felt crappy compared to other games they've played!

At the time I was thinking 'these people are crazy'. Now I'm thinking they might have had a point. Graphically, EU is a couple of years behind most other games. Graphics don't bother everyone (including myself if the gameplay's there), but they are a good measure of the developer's commitment to keeping the game current.

Looking at other aspects of it, the gameplay is a bit dated now. It's been roughly the same for years, and sometimes it feels like you're playing a 6/7 year old game. Stuff is a bit laggy and slow, and it just doesn't have the responsiveness of some of the later MMO efforts. With today's hardware there are very many ways of reducing the effects of lag and network latency. It's just a matter of creative programming.

Things like streaming sound and video have only just appeared in the game, and even then most of us don't have access to it. Stuff like this can greatly broaden the experience, and I think we always have to pay through the nose to be a part of such things.

The event system could be expanded a lot to include more people, doing a greater variety of things. It could be cheaper to participate and join them, and it would strengthen the community as a whole.

It seems MA are playing catchup all the time. I just feel they need to make a bold move to jump ahead of everyone else before they're left behind in the dust.

For myself, being involved in the creation of software, and being in game-developer circles, I really have it drummed into my head the importance of keeping ahead of the game. Don't rest on your laurels once you've made an innovation, because it's only a matter of time before somebody else takes your idea and improves on it.

MA are in a MUCH stronger position than any of the small independent software houses because they're MAKING PROFIT. It seems instead of investing in EU's future, they're doing something else with it. They certainly haven't been listening to the community, and spending it on fixing bugs and stuff!

This is why I say MA are not committed to keeping EU alive. Just because they haven't seen the competition out there doesn't mean there isn't any. One day it'll suddenly appear, and once there is another frame of reference, people will have something with which to directly compare MA and their product.

So in summary, MA can improve by listening to us, and making a commitment to staying well ahead of the game.
Click to expand...

Welcome to the fold, he who has seen the light. Living in EU is not about making profit, or even playing the game anymore. It's about getting your "fix" of the addictive drug that is the concept of what EU could be, while you wait for another company with dedication and true vision to enter the feild and blow MA out of the water.
 
Excellent thread VF + rep (If I could)...

Now, I have tried to read all of the posts and it's very contructive - and a good debate.

What DOES MA want?
I agree with Etopia, that we have to know what MA want's.

On the outside it seems that they want EU to be an Universe - a "second" life (NOT refering to anything here ;) ) - in one of their commercials they are even saying "Boring of your life on earth? ... Join ...blablabla".

In my heart I really feel that EU started that way. I really believe they wanted to create a world which could be compared to the life you live in RL. I believe they wanted to give the players every thinking possibility to have fun, develope, create. But something went wrong somehow. Maybe it was all the problems with bugs that overruled the company. Mybe that made them change their visions? Maybe they were so eager developing unique features as Deaths island, the spacestation, New Oxford that they forgot anything else? I'm saying maybe, because I have NO idea!

DOES MA care or not?
I also agree with Noggin, that it seems as if MA doesn't really care about what we, the players, want's. Maybe they gave up?

I'm not expecting MA to solve bugs, lag etc. over night. But I would really like if they showed some kind of interest towards how we feel about it all and the problems WE are dealing with in "our" world. One way they could do that is to write more in here (they have their own section for Lootius sake) - to keep us informed. Another idea is to make an analyze among the players to find out why some are frustrated and by that, how to solve it.

This is not about "getting more loot" even though I too DO feel it's incredible sane somewere, that a few people can get SO much and others get's nothing. But again, the loot is not the main problem, I believe - as long as it's enjoyable and fun to be in the Universe.

What about Tutorials
Another thing which is missing a bit when thinking of newbies is good tutorials. I know this is not a game - but still. The few information on the company website doesn't say much about how game really works. Heck, a lot of "old" players doesn't even know how it works. It would be much easier for newbies to have a goal in game - and by that the desire to keep on, stay in game, make the wheel turning - than give up and leave. I know a lot of people did excellent work creating tutorials in here - actually WE did MA's work, and WE are therefore helping people to play and stay. But I still believe there is a need for something more professional and organized from the company's side.

So for MA my suggestion is:
  • Make a "player" community-committee (among your staff) + maybe a few top-players of those who really know the game
  • Make up goals towards WHAT you wish for the game and players
  • Make an analyze to find out what is needed and what people find important to make them stay in game
  • Make an analyze to find out why people leave
  • Do something strategic to reach the goal
  • INFORM the community about what you are doing, why you are doing it and how it goes at least twize a month (better yet once a week if possible)
  • Make better tutorials on the main site to help newbies into the game

I might come up with a lot more - but I'm at work atm ;)

So for now, this is my :twocents:

Let's keep the constructive and positively openminded discussion rolling - to make sure that MA - whoever is reading this - can see that this is NOT a MA-bashing thread - but a hand to make us reach the thing most of us wants; an enjoyable Universe we can recommand to others and not an Universe were people are trying to leave in a hurry!
 
I agree, that no company would reject those that just step into their door, look around, bring in a buck or two and leave (happy/not, doesn't matter). but it can't be the strategy of a Company for long term - the news of "nothing to see there" spreads too quick... so, it's more like, they accept with pleasure the money from the ones that leave very soon but what is really needed is the constant cash flow in, which is like the fee for entertainment and totally accepted by those who can afford it. MA's aim should be keeping the dedicated (sometimes called addicted) players and make the maximum to satisfy them so they'd stay for as long as possible and spread the good news - "it is so much fun and we actually do have a chance to make some profit there!"

yes, the ingame investors are all welcome to make it more enjoyable and cut their part of it and there must or probably even are some measures taken to give them some sort of warranty if the investment is bigger than... usual. any comments about it, Deathifier, Akoz and others? ;)

but I'm really sure, the little depositors make around 80-95% of all the cash flow, so they must be held close aswell. and that's where the trouble comes to paradise - you simply can't satisfy them all... at least, it will take longer than 3 years to make the product good enough for majority of them. MA will probably be very interested to keep up the faith of all the real shareholders and it'll all evolve. we just need to keep it up till then and wait for one fine day, when we see a simple number on the bar ingame which indicates that there's 1M accounts online at this moment and a message pops up which says - "you have a birthday today IRL, so we thought it'd be nice to give you at least some present in here. as you have played it more than 3 years already and have a natural 200k total skill, we were thinking, let it be mod fap. congratz from MA!"

cheers!


J.
 
Last edited:
I have not jumped on my "MA needs to communicate better with us" in a while so...

The main issue for me has been the lack of communication from MA, everything else does not disturb me so much.

The bugs are a normal part of new develpments, although they should be fixed at some point. :) The more blatant bugs that appear in the days during and after a VU are usually fixed within a few days. The other bugs that continue to haunt EU are well documented on this forum and should be addressed.

Another thing is the lack of any sort of tutorial when you start the game. You are tossed off the jump ship in PA (or somewhere else) to fend for yourself. How about an ingame tutorial, a seperate area where noobs can explore the interface, learn how to sweat dummy mobs, the use of weapons and armor, storage and the terminals...

...and then drop them into PA. I spent several hours in PA last night trying to explain EU to noobs and almost all of the ones I talked to asked me where they could find a tutorial or documentation.

I of course pointed them to EF, which is a great source of information.

The main reason, in my personal opinion, that there is so much complaining about EF is because people put more money into it than they can afford to lose and expect to make a profit. I would be angry too if I deposited thousands of dollars. I deposit on a regular basis, but never more than 20-30 dollars (except for one exception where I deposited 50 to pay for my Vigi :)).

I really like EU and the (most of) the people that I have met ingame and on EF and I wil continue to support EU although I think it can be improved. :)

I have stated my view on this often enough, but before I go...

...the main problem with EU is...

the lack of communication!
... :acid:

You all have valid points so I did'nt feel the need to repeat them, and I appreciate the civilsed tone of this thread set by VF, please continue. :)


Cheers :tele:
 
Well, here's a bit of insight. Any business needs to keep an eye not only on what the customers want, us EU players, but also what the competition is doing. I know MA is trying to style EU as "Interactive Entertainment", but to be perfectly honest, it IS a game, plain and simple. And as such, other MMORPGs can be used as a yardstick for MA to help improve EU.

An example? Well, lets take a look at another freely available MMORPG that I have played recently, <<REMOVED>>. This game has no where near the depth that EU does, but it does have some aspects of it that are better than EU. Take hunting for example. There will probably be many posts by the hunters out there after I say this, but this is my Point of View.

Hunting in EU is far too simplistic. Its just a case of, get the right equipment, find the right mob, and stand around shooting until you run out of cash. Its not something that really thrills that much. Whereas, in <<REMOVED>>, hunting is a far more tactical affair. Even a low level player can go after big kills if they hunt with some brains, not just based on your equipment and skills.

It might be a good idea for MA to look at the current activities in game and try to find ways to make them more engaging. Hunting is just one example. You can look at mining, crafting, etc as well.

I started playing EU in December 2005, and after a few months, my will to play sort of dwindled, and I nearly left. It was with great effort that I am now, in the last week or so, trying to get back into the swing of things. So, I was nearly a customer lost.

By making the game more engaing like this, you increase the "Entertainment" factor of the EU, and thus get more people to stay longer. Or at least that is what I believe.

EDIT: I realised after posting that I made reference to another game and that would be breaching forum rules (silly rule I think, but prefer not to get banned).
 
Last edited:
Sorry if I seem to be doubling up here, but had another thought. MA released these pretty impressive videos to sell EU which you can download from their main site, but it is completely misleading.

If MA really want to get EU to the level that the videos show, they should perhaps be taking a look at developing (or redeveloping) the games infrastructure. By this I mean all the dead cities. I was amazed the first time I landed up in Hadesheim, for example, where there is this enormous city, but it is essentailly a ghost town. I was waiting for the tumblweed to bounce across the streets. It seems that if MA could find ways to bring life back to these "dead" yet very interesting areas, this would breathe some interest back into the game for new players. At the moment, my cities I stay interested in are PA, Twin Peaks and occasionally Fort Argus. The others are just resting points when out hunting.

Instead of creating new areas, like New oxford, refab the existing ones first.

Perhaps if anyone has some ideas MA can use to help this situation? I'm all out of it today.
 
A lot of very important points had been covered above. I'll just add few more comments:

1) Scammers, trappers, etc If we do a bit of roleplaying and look at the 'criminal law system' from within EU prospective, we find: the only law is the EULA and there is no communications channel to inform the community about the work done by 'judicial system'. Well yes, that's right, it's like Middle Ages on Earth. And... what did they do in Middle Ages to fill those gaps? Yes, right, public executions. How could somebody enforce the law if it seems that nobody is ever punished (cases when somebody tried to mess with MA and make them lose money are exceptions, of course :rolleyes: )?

In other words, this issue has 2 sides: a) lack of communication (mentioned above), b) lack of visible action. Sure, Monitor beside the spider trap might sound like a great idea at a time, but what about real punishment or at least some reaction? :mad:

2) Transparent investment protection. Ok, let's forget about what we do ingame (e.g. hunting/mining etc) and look at EU from external perspective. You give your money to somebody. You can withdraw the money back either by request or by using an atm card. In other words it looks like a bank account with a debit card. Well, is your (our) money protected? Any there any guarantees? No, because EULA is clearly saying that. No, because there is no lending and no plans for lending. No, because if you get scammed, it's 'word against word' and you should report to police. Quality of service? Or... any service? Well yes, in some sense, unless everybody is on holidays ;) Would you use such bank? No, I wouldn't. In the world of real money everything has to be clear and transparent: what is happening is what case, those liability it is, terms and conditions. We are not in a beta version and this is a must. :wise:

I really enjoy EU, recent 'summer' issues added a bitter taste to it :rolleyes:
 
Status
Back
Top