On The Able Commander And This Weekend

A couple of weeks ago, we were approached by AbleGamers to make a unique in-game item in any of our games we found appropriate. The decision to do this was a no-brainer. Able is a fantastic charity with a great goal. Of course we want to support that in any way that we can.

Pretty soon, we decided that this item should be in Planetary Annihilation. From there, it was obvious that it should be a Commander. But, what kind of Commander should we do? How long can we spend on it? What can we offer that will be cool and exciting and help get the word out about AbleGamers?

You may or may not know this, but we're pushing really hard on Planetary Annihilation's 1.0 release right now. Our entire production pipeline is crammed with new features, new mechanics, and tons of polish work. The goal with 1.0 is to deliver a much more refined and streamlined experience, and that means we need to buckle down and start working out all of the technical debt we've created getting the game to this point so fast, as well as fixing the issues and bugs you guys report. I wish I could talk about these features but now's not the best time. The point, though? Everyone's time is limited.

So, limitations informed part of the creative process. We didn't have infinite time and resources from a production standpoint to make a 100-percent, all-new Commander. So, we decided to go with a rig. The rig was a fan-favorite, in fact: the Progenitor.

Creatively, we wanted to do two things. One, we wanted to make sure this new Commander looked inspired by the Progenitor. But two, we also wanted him to do his own thing, to feel different tonally and artistically.

Obviously from the response we've seen thus far, we didn't go far enough in the latter direction. It's unfortunate. I'm definitely bummed it's not enough. It'd be helpful to us, actually, if you guys articulated why he makes you uncomfortable -- specific parts of him that you'd like to see changed or re-focused to make him feel more distinct. We would love that feedback. It's a little more constructive than hate mail.

I want to add that, during the entire experience, we knew what we promised with the KS and how much folks love their Progenitors. We still feel like he's an exclusive. He is still in a select group of peoples' Armories waiting to blow more stuff up.

This isn't the end of the discussion, by the way. Just a new starting point.

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A Couple Of Notes About "Censorship"

We've had a couple of people mention "censorship" and asking why posts get deleted and threads get locked. I want to talk about that in here, too.

I've been around the block a little bit, and I'm guessing most of you have as well. As a result of this perspective, there are places I've learned to just stay away from. Places that I used to like, but just turned into cesspools where every thread is often derailed by some form of disgust or other nasty things that, frankly, I just don't want to read.

The communities I like the best are the ones like this one. Where you can walk into just about any thread and learn something new about the game or brand you love. Here, you can easily relate to others. You can share opinions. You can give feedback. You can take the time to create new content like, say, a balance mod. You know how sophisticated that is? It's a positively awesome endeavor, and I'm absolutely stoked people have the initiative and the ability to do it -- and then share it with us. Amazing stuff, really.

Whenever I say this, someone always says, "Where do I put my criticism?" I want it to be clear that we're always up for criticism. Criticism is vital to creative endeavors. More importantly, there's not a single person at Uber making games without thinking about you and what you want. Sometimes, we get it wrong. With the Able Commander, we obviously hit a nerve. But, we do hear you and we want that discussion.

It's OK to be mad. But, what we aren't going to allow is raw, unfiltered intensity to derail what has the potential to be constructive. We don't allow multiple threads on a single topic, for example, which is why you're seeing some of those Commander threads with a lock on them. We also won't let a single post kill a thread. We delete posts so those posts don't become a part of the discussion. The criteria for a deleting a post? Check out our rules. But, in general, we delete a post if it's baiting others, has no value to the current discussion, or is just plain bad.

Purposefully trying to enrage someone is definitely one of my personal no-nos. That's why I'm so hard on subject lines in particular. Threads with subjects designed to offend or anger or enrage rarely lead to anything useful. We will delete those threads or, in the case that a minor tweak can actually help, alter the subject of the thread to better reflect its content.

Am I going to get something wrong occasionally? I'm sure. Most of the time, though? I'll get it right. If you're unsure why a post went missing, just hit me up. Send me a PM. Let's chat. I'm not hard to get hold of.

Any comment on the Kickstarter page saying "unique model" and the Able Commander sharing the same model?

Was there a discussion on using different commander Rigs? Or was the Progenitor picked first?

I feel like I answered your question in the post. What can I do for ya specifically?

Yep. I think the first thing that I suggested was messing with the Theta since his shoulders offered a lot of opportunities to do something interesting.

Is there any possibility that the community can take part in decisions such as this in the future? Something like a vote to which commander people wanted to see another made from, etc..

For future charities like this one, it might be cool to give community members the tools to design commanders and let you pick the best fit. We have a lot of talented 3d artists in this community and I'm sure they would love the chance to help contribute to a charity while keeping Uber from having to do the extra work during such a busy time.

You never addressed the model.

The Kickstarter promised a "unique model." The Progenitor and Able Commanders share the same model. So that means the promised unique model is no longer unique.

The only thing different between the two is the wrap/texture that goes around the model. The wrap and models are two very separate things and the Kickstarter was very specific.

We have answered this question many many times over the weekend. The Progenitor was supposed to have a unique model. Give the Able Commander a different model and none of this would have happened.

Yeah, I like that idea. But, the realities of our timelines may or may not invalidate those polls. For example, what if we made a poll for Able and everyone picked the Theta as his rig, right? But, then, what if we stumbled into some weird unforeseen problem and had to use, say, the Alpha rig instead? That'd probably be bad.

But, what say you? I mean, if I had to come back and say "guys, this may not work" do you think it would be OK?

As long as you're completely honest and upfront about it, and tell us what your idea to do instead would be- I'm sure a lot of people would be much more happy. If you guys came to the forums and set up a little discussion about the Able, (Before even starting work), people would feel a lot more involved and feel like you guys care more!

Hope this helps

Is it safe to assume that Commander rigs will often be re-used but with re-worked textures/skin/art to introduce "new" Commanders?

I'll ask again, how much of the $10 goes to Ablegamers?

To break this down:

PART 1:
We had a deadline with a short notice to get a new commander out there, and we wanted it to be extremely special. We figured we didn't have the time or man-hours to make an entirely new model, so we needed to at least use one of the current commanders as a base. After some debate in a couple of meetings (or maybe just one), we settled on the Progenitor because we thought it would be extra special for the charity. We did not think the backlash would be this bad from the community.

PART 2:
Criticism is one thing, personal insults aimed at the devs are another. We are still learning what is appropriate to keep around and lock down, stick with us. Also, we are all in this together!

I don't think so.

All the proceeds goes to AbleGamers.

Another thing worth mentioning.

I don't see the time constraints and the going to charity as valid arguments for choosing the Progenitor. The charity argument is several logical fallacies and the time constraints don't matter because there were other models to choose from.

I'm happy to support charity, and I understand Uber's time constraints as there are more important things. I'm really excited about PA and can't wait for 1.0 release.

Also, any response to my earlier question about the unique model?

That's what it sounded like when you first wrote about it, but it is so unusual to see a company go all the way like this. Thanks so much to everyone at Uber and Able Gamers for making this happen! It means a lot to anyone that is disabled or is close to someone that is. Like I said in another thread; I would probably have been blind for most of my childhood if not for charity and this issue is a very personal one for me.

Well he said those took part in the reasoning, but that another reason is they all chose to use the Progenitor. They did not expect this backlash. They liked the Progenitor and wanted to make the AbleGamers commander be special, similar to how the Progenitor is special to us.

That still doesn't address the Kickstarter promising a unique model.

It just says they like the Progenitor model and wanted to make it available to more people.

Well yes, I realize that, I was just trying to give another reason behind /why/ they used that model in particular.

What I don't think Brad is getting from what you're saying is that you want to know what he has to say about the promise in the kickstarter that states that you'll have a "unique" model. He's thinking of it as unique commander instead. /speculation ahoy/