Why Dominions 3 isn't just another computer game.

[sum1lost]

HoneyBadger said:
There, that's long enough for my purposes.

Monkeyfinger, I don't mind people complaining about things they don't like. I do mind it when people like yourself-and since you read my earlier post, I'm sure you can paraphraise what my opinion of you happens to be-take it upon themselves to attack me for expressing a positive opinion, in a way that would suggest they think they know anything about me, and yet make it obvious to anyone who does, that they don't have a clue. It's not hypocritical to go against one line of thought, while espousing another. I've never complained about the cost of the game, for instance.

And Sum1lost: I'm sure if your opinion is ever required, you'll be duly informed by whomever requires it. In the meantime, purely for purposes of educating the ignorant (and I hope that does sound elitist, as it's meant to), there's a difference between acting in an "elitist" fashion, and kicking a couple of dogs back down, when they act above their place. And I hope that last sounds positively snobby.

If you or they have a problem with me defending myself against direct, personal attack, then perhaps your best efforts ought to go towards furthering some pacifist philosophy, that we can all hope to live in some shinier, happier world.

I'm sorry to hear you feel that way. I'm sure that Monkeyfinger and Renojustin posts stung you in some personal way. I do have some trouble seeing how that entitles you to pee in my formerly delicious cheerios.

[Monkeyfinger]

That analogy doesn't hold because unlike trolling, complaining serves a purpose for the community and staff and you know it. It's a good thing to bring up problems with the forums and the MP servers, so if you respond to that kind of thing with "*****, *****, *****, go whine to your mommies, says I." expect to be personally attacked because you deserve it.

[Gandalf Parker]

Actually complaining is not always automatically good for things.
In fact, its been shown numerous times that in this case it is quite non-beneficial. It does not serve the desired purpose with the staff of Shrapnel, tends to have quite the opposite effect on the game developers, and as far as the benefits to the community... well as far as I can see the only benefit was the consolidation of the opposition. Feel free to read back thru years of posts in the Dom3 forum and the Dom2 forum to see what I mean.
Compare the tone of the threads with the results.

[Monkeyfinger]

Gandalf Parker said:Actually complaining is not always automatically good for things.

Obviously. But if the problem being complained about is legit - and the ones mentioned at the start of this topic sound like they are...

Gandalf Parker said:It does not serve the desired purpose with the staff of Shrapnel

It should if something of theirs isn't working properly, they need to know about it.

Gandalf Parker said:tends to have quite the opposite effect on the game developers

"Opposite"? what are you saying, that when people suggest something that needs to be fixed or changed the developers do the exact opposite of what they said out of spite or something?

[sum1lost]

Monkeyfinger said:

It should if something of theirs isn't working properly, they need to know about it.

"Opposite"? what are you saying, that when people suggest something that needs to be fixed or changed the developers do the exact opposite of what they said out of spite or something?

There was a moderately amusing incident where some board members got upset and vocal about the "I want my dominions 3" advertisements. The response was to create some new ones featureing surfer dudes instead of random female models.

[HoneyBadger]

Besides, Sum1lost, if you choose to put your cheerios in a urinal, how can you complain when they end up in the path of pee?

[Monkeyfinger]

That actually is pretty funny, but only because people were getting butthurt over something that doesn't actually affect D3 or its forums in any way.

If the developers pulled something like that in response to someone complaining about a game feature or maybe a lack thereof, that wouldn't be funny, that would be retarded.

[HoneyBadger]

I think-atleast I hope-that what Gandalf means when he says the word "complain"-what was really happening was that people were viciously demanding features that would have been difficult and time-consuming to implement, while calling the Devs names and questioning their integrity.

Atleast something that went beyond simply requesting a new feature, or suggesting that a current feature might be more efficient in a different incarnation, in a polite and respectful way.

[Ballbarian]

"Opposite"? what are you saying, that when people suggest something that needs to be fixed or changed the developers do the exact opposite of what they said out of spite or something?

The following might help answer your question and add some perspective to what Gandalf is trying to say.

A fairly recent post by KO:

...but I do actually dislike to work with nations when I remember people complaining about them. It gives me a sour feeling, and since I work with things that makes me happy I avoid working on nations which make me feel unhappy.

Things that makes me happy are when people say they like the feel and mood of a nation and that they feel that it is sad that it is not more strong in this department or that area. This gets me inspired and makes me think more about the nation instead of less, and will probably have the result that I will add stuff.

A discussion on how cool KoA are will likely make me feel that they are cool, look at them and think that they are too uncool in the game. A discussion where someone complains about the fact that they cannot move about and are underpowered compared to dada.. will just make me leave the discussion and look at a thread talking about how cool bane spiders are, even if they can only be recruited at home. I will then silently agree and think about what can be done to the banespiders, including new graphics and a set of new and cooler powers to compensate.

Sorry about the rant. I had too much coffe last night and woke up after four hours of bad sleep.

I think that it is about people and how you approach them. For some reason when folks communicate through a keyboard, they tend to lose some of their natural ability to deal with people. If I were constantly bombarded with this sucks & that sucks about whatever project I might be working on, I guarantee you that I would quickly lose interest and go do something else.

There are many different ways to say many different things. I am sure that there are times when something I write here on the forums comes across entirely different than I intended. Such is the web.

[Gandalf Parker]

Monkeyfinger said:

"Opposite"? what are you saying, that when people suggest something that needs to be fixed or changed the developers do the exact opposite of what they said out of spite or something?

Not at all. But you notice how you changed the tone just now?
My comment was about your support of "complaining", which you have switched to "suggest". Quite a difference and with quite different results as far as I can tell.

Other options would be explain, demonstrate, request, or "interest them in". All slightly different than "complain". There are many threads here already which explain why the usual customer logic does not tend to do well. Reading up on why Shrapnel is not one of "those" companies, and why Illwinter is not one of "those" game developers can help smooth the path. Everything has its pros and cons. I rather like things this way.