Communications..again.

I feel what's at stake here isn't just threads being toxic, but that's just me.

I'm sorry if I ever screamed (in text) at people here. In reality I'm a very social and outgoing guy. I'm also sorry if I wasted anyone's time here. I feel I have finally let that become my dominant opinion on what I'm doing here and it's always sad.

I still want to be a productive member of the community but I'm forced to find other ways.

I'd say that's because what the forum feels like right now. You're not interacting with a community, you're on your lonesome because you're interacting with a wall.

I'll probably, from now on appear more on the realm's TS and try to find member with whom I can create the content I want to create.

I have mod ideas.

I still want to make the tutorial series and I haven't given up on that project.

I just can't be asked to do anything alone, it's too discouraging.

It probably mostly feels this way because there's a notable regression in the interaction we had before.

I never was more pleased by devs posting on the forums then by devs actually coding something that was the forum's idea.

It was always a much MUCH better feeling.

I say this as an intro to the following : it's not because Uber doesn't interact verbally with the community anymore that I have this sentiment (I couldn't care less if they never talked at all, although I'm happy when they do), it's because we're no longer part of the big decisions. (I say this thinking about changing the forums to xenforo, my idea, changing system view and planet view to one unified view, mine, @Culverin's and @ozonexo3's idea, economy efficiency : @SatanPetitCul, in-game stats (not sure but I think it was mostly) @cola_colin's idea. And some other stuff that aren't implemented yet but were said yes too so they don't deserve to be counted. We could say they still do, citing steam achievements and @tHeTrOpHySyStEm and @RCIX's color mods but that's apples and oranges. I want interactions the likes of what we had before.)

we've somehow lost their trust and it hurts like a bitch.

You guys are wrong. The OP did not say that anything will be delayed because of the things Uber said. He criticized that Uber did not mention progress on the Server-Issue in this update and that therefore people will think the important stuff is not so important for Uber anymore (well based on the reactions he was right about the people). He pointed out that information about the work on offline mode is hard to find outside this forum by showing several examples. So his point is that Uber does a bad job of communication towards the people out there waiting for offline mode. And he shows why he thinks this.

But some people here built a strawman and derail this thread into a thread about him making a logical error. Well a strawman is a false argument so logic is not on your side this time. This thread offers a good explanation on why people who bought the game are mad at Uber and make a shitstorm whenever there is an update. It is not a justification for these rants nor is it a personal rant of the OP but some people here dont seem to understand the difference anymore. It is more of a suggestion to Uber to learn from these things.

Just step out of your shows for one minute and pretend you bought this game on September 5th on Amazon where it says it has offline and this feature is important for you. Now you searched the Uber homepage, the kickstarter page and you found nothing about offline mode. What would you think of the game today, almost one month later? I really think Uber should communicate to these people and use their channels to do so. Fear of a shitstorm on this forum can't be a reason to ignore these people. (Before you think it: I am not complaining, I dont need offline mode and for me the game works fine. I think Uber delivered a solid game and I enjoy it. However I think Uber does not communicate well and people out there have a right to get basic information about the features they were promised.)

You didn't read my post, did you?

I didn't say the OP said things will be delayed. I said the OP presumed that things would be delayed. It's what the entire post is predicated on. The post falls apart if this presumption is falsely held.

Offline Mode is important to me. But I don't need them to mention it in a completely unrelated update to know that they're working on it. I'm repeating myself at this point, so please, just read my posts.

I used to run a FAQ on the forums, but then Uber unstickied it because they didn't think it was helpful enough.

I don't maintain that FAQ anymore, just the PA Matches FAQ – which gets a lot of traffic from the search engines actually.

If the forum FAQ post got stickied again I'd be happy to maintain it again.

If you were thinking about Team Lathe Color and Team Building Color which are now in vanilla, technically credits are for @tHeTrOpHySyStEm and @RCIX if I recall correctly

pff. ye. it's been so long the confusion was easy to make, sorry.
I'll edit the post.

Freedom of speech? It's a forum. It can be moderated however the owner likes. Not trying to be a jerk. The forum isn't a country, it's privately owned and we're visitors

Cheers

We've lost their trust?

Seems as such at times.

I can't think of anything that we've done to lose their trust. The PA fanbase here on the forums is ridiculously far into fanboyism. We have a reputation of thinking that Uber can do no wrong.

Yeah all those review threads probably don't help change that image...

I guess many people here simply translate their frustration of not having a regular "WIP" status about what they are waiting for. I'm also frustrated about the lack of some kind of milestone regarding offline play and the plan. Doesn't mean there must be commitments, simply some kind of estimation. Is it just that impossible for Veteran coders not to be able to provide an estimation ? Not a deadline, just an estimation ... I've been used to other smaller indie studios communicating in a much regular way, which usually makes people more confident. And after all, does it take so much time to make such a communication ?

No matter how professional you are, you'll never be able to really tell how long something should take. One of the devs even mentioned that, the one working with modding I think. Apparently something he predicted would take weeks, took months. He said he'd been in for... ~20 years I think.

Which does not prevent from updating on a regular basis. People can understand something is delayed. People fail to understand there's no communication, estimation at all.

But what about the estimated release date of the server, unit cannon, etc...? All were estimated to be in 1.0 at one point, things changed during development, and Uber had told as as such. Were people not mad over those delays? They really have been...

I think you now see why Uber doesn't give much on dates any longer, wish they would, but I kind of understand why they haven't.

If you provide a plan, some kind of milestone (even over estimated), specifying it's all subject to be postponed, at least you give perspectives. Uber can just state "This is what we would like to come live in within the next 6 months, but no garantee at all". At least you give perspectives. You simply do not commit at all.

it was helpful, and now its effectively buried, in a sticky, but burried nonetheless. pity. an FAQ is one of the first things people look for, but not in thread about threads.

Once more I'll explain the real underlying problem, hint, it's not that things change. The community overall can grasp the idea that things change just fine, the catch is that they need to be kept up to date.

Think about the unit cannon, I highly doubt that the timing of when we were told it had been delay it and when the decision was made line up at all.

Think about Offline, Uber Knew we've been telling people it would be coming for the last 1-2 years, but they only let us know a few weeks or so before release that it wasn't going to be in but that decision had to have been made earlier than that.

Change is fine, surprise turnarounds are not.

Mike

There's a few things that complicate the issue here:

1.) Childish, insulting, and often offensive forum/community members who harp on like a broken record about the same points and just belittle the devs.

2.) Tired devs, who are working on the top demand of the community, and devoting the team members capable of doing what needs to be done to release the server and implement offline. Not all of them can do it, you can't expect someone hired to do work on art assets to take on the complicated task that offline is. Seems a lot of people can't grasp that when they see an update about Steam trading cards. And it's got to piss the devs off to no end, especially when threads turn absolutely vitriolic- hence constant locks.

3.) Galling lack of communication between Uber and the community regarding the quintessential feature that is at present absent from the game, and the performance issues that may accompany its lack. This contributes greatly to 1 and 2.

My question is, why isn't there a frontpage announcement about offline and the server? Why is there no official address on the matter, other than obscure forum posts and a quotes highlighted by the community itself? The Steam kids baying for blood for the most part aren't going to pay the forums a visit and sift through everything to find an answer- and the answers they'd find would likely be vague regardless.

Want a huge, positive step that will placate at least a portion of the negativity coming from the playerbase? Tell them about what's going on with offline, and tell them in a readily accessible, prominent place. They know it's not there- it's not like it's a secret that there's no offline a month after release. Reading the Steam comments alone or the few major reviews would reveal this fact to any potential buyer.

I know we probably won't get it, but I'm begging the developers to either explain why this hasn't happened weeks ago, or to just make the explanation about the status of offline on the site's homepage.