Quote:
Originally posted by Lonestryder;164852
Originally Posted by Tagad
Item decay, dont get me started. This is why no one should be allowed to promise anything ever in a public post

Also, I /did NOT/ just promise no cross continental teleports. I just mentioned that was the last thing I heard. Ohh I bet I have you all worried now

~Tagad


Tagad, maybe this posting to the general public thing...isn't your thing. You appear condescending at best. Immature posts to you from any forum should just be ignored. Not everyone is hanging on your every word, but with Sigil's communication plan being for folks to jump on forums and slum with the playerbase, you can hardly expect anything else.



It takes a lot of practice to post on message boards about something you are passionate about and your audience is passionate about and not come across as being negative or some such. I've been doing it for almost 10 years, studied people like Raph Koster and how he posted, and also probably take most of my influence from the way Stan Lee would respond to letters written in about the latest comic he or someone else wrote. He had a tone and an attitude that really was down to earth. As it is written somewhere, "A kind answer turns away wrath".

All that said, I have read Tagad's posts and I think he is dong well. He will get even better over time and with practice, but the information he is providing is priceless. This is a guy who has been a senior designer for 8+ years and a serious MUD player for many years before that. I met him in fact on Sojourn/TorilMUD in the early/mid 1990s. Later when I had the chance, I hired him on to work on EQ 1 and other MMOGs at SOE. Why? Because he's one of the smartest MUD/MMOG players and designers I've ever met. He then was one of the founding members of Sigil, believing in our company and our game when there was nothing but a dream.

Guys, we NEED more devs posting on message boards. I posted the other day how my posting is both about high level 1000 ft issues -- the vision, so to speak, and that I need to be posting on other sites spreading the word about Vanguard. We hit like 170,000 people registered on our message boards due to me and others posting there and elsewhere. And while I'm proud of that, we need to let a lot of other people know about the game -- the gamespace has grown by orders of magnitude, recently due mostly to WoW (thanks Blizzard ). So I have a lot of work to do letting people know about Vanguard, dispelling misconceptions that it's only a hard core game, etc.

Because of this, and because I'm not in the trenches in terms of design (whereas Tagad and other designers are), and because there are only so many hours in a day and I'd like to keep my wife , more Sigil people need to post.

Silky Venom and other affiliate sites are where they need to post too, because most people here are playing the game and have very specific questions. If I tried to answer many of them, I'd have to first email Tagad or other people in the design team and ask them what's up, and then relay their message by posting. This is inefficient, to say the least.

So with all due respect, I think you guys should appreciate the fact that our devs are posting and answering detailed questions about the game. Especially when you consider the hours they are working on the game. Tagad, since we're using him as the prime example here, I know works far more than 8 hours a day on the game, then makes time to play the game so he knows what he is talking about, experiences issues and problems himself, and THEN on top of all that takes time to post here and elsewhere to answer questions. I have no idea where he and others get or make the time.

So then what am I getting at? I'm going to be blunt, but I feel pretty strongly about this: you guys should be grateful that Tagad and other people are posting and answering questions. You shouldn't be wearing your feelings on your shoulders and criticizing devs for not being smoother or more politically correct posters. Sheesh, what if Tagad reads that he appears condescending or some such when he posts and just says, well, forget it then, I'll go back to just working on the game? That would suck, wouldn't it.

These guys are people, and they have feelings. And they care a great deal about the game and are putting in major hours and not getting a ton of sleep. And I know you guys are passionate too, and there will be disagreements. But let's not attack dev's posting styles, ok? The end result will be the opposite of what I planned when I co-founded Sigil -- I want devs to post -- I want their names out there. Too often gamers just think about games in terms of who published the game, or maybe who developed the game. What's great about MMOGs is that the game continues forward after launch and there are great message boards like this one where devs can appear not as nameless game developers, but as people who really care.

You'll note that on sigil.com we list the names of our developers. That's usually in this industry considered a no-no because it makes it too easy for headhunters to find specific devs and offer them jobs elsewhere, etc. Usually, they have to wait for the game to be released and then read through the credits. But you know what? We were determined to make a great working environment and hire people who care deeply about what they are working on -- people for whom it's not only about money. So I want people to get to know the devs.

Sure, some don't want to post and be known -- they're not comfortable, or they just prefer to be working on the product. But I want the devs to at least have the opportunity to get out there and post. That way, again, they'll be more known in the industry and to the gaming public, which I think is important. When you buy a book, do you care who the publisher is? Likely not -- you care who the author is. In movies, do you care who the movie company is, or do you care who the actors are, or the director or producer. Why? Because over time you get to know that you generally like books written by one author over another. Because overtime you realize that Ridley Scott kicks ass, or that Russel Crowe rarely stars in a bad movie, etc.

And then, on top of that, like I said, these guys are in the trenches both in terms of working on the game and also playing the game a LOT. Who better then to come to a message board like this and answer questions or to clarify intent or to clear up a misconception?

So, bottom line, please make devs feel welcome and make an effort to benefit from the answers and interaction rather than becoming annoyed at a persons writing style, or choice of words, or demeanor. Trust me, you'll be happier, the dev will be more encouraged to post, and you'll get the interaction and the questions answered that you want.

Thank you.

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