Not having a dig (ok I am but wth) but I'm currently also looking at an up coming game to play alongside L2.
The site is up and running.
One of the most impressive things is that the devs personally answer questions and queries on the site and numerous suggestions for improving the site by potential players have been implemented. I think it is very likely this trend will follow in the game itself.
If the game is still in its developmental stage, then I that is the primary reason for it. Hell, in Closed beta of L2, GM's were running around ingame and active on forums too. I wouldn't be surprised if the small comunity feel were to drop away after the number of customers grows large.
Then again, I dunno. Maybe a company can maintain constant report with its customers and build a good game at the same time.
I am working on developing an MMO myself, and I can tell you that the development stages are the ones in which the devs need to be the most interactive.
After it goes live, the community team and live team (which does often have at least one dev on it) takes over. The devs remain behind the scenes, taking the feedback from the live team and using it as they determine appropriate.
I think what is more the point I'm trying to make is the fact that notice is being taken, questions are answered and where feasible requests are implemented (obviously not silly things like, can I have a saber tooth tiger as I quite fancy one). I personally feel that one of the only people who ever really tried to listen to the forums (the game is another matter altogether) was Mistryl.
You would have to speak Korean because the L2 Dev team are all in Korea. There are no US-side developers.
Our ideas and suggestions are, supposedly, sent back to Korea and, ostensibly, translated... though I am led to understand that unless our ideas and the Korean playerbase coincide, we don't see anything implemented.
Are you suggesting they hire a translator for a dev or three just to sit here and post things to the forums?
On the other hand, SOE has a fairly large number of Devs posting on their official EQ forums, for both games, each in their specialty (Lore, Content, etc.)
wont happen once the game is live. do you think there will be enough dev's to talk to 3 million costomors that all want to change stuff in the game? no. thats not how the game works.
Now that kind of thing is good... even if it doesn't ultimately lead to changes within the game, it lets the players feel they're getting some attention.
I'm not saying it's unheard of, but it is certainly a new business model. Most MMOs I've played generally had a live team to report to the devs, then report back to the community.
I for one would like to see a greater dev presence here, even if it's just to be seen. Although with the degree of demands we see from the player base (that is "I want this now!" rather than "What are the dev's thoughts on 'x'?") might convince them to hide more than not.
There's a thread in the Player Questions forum titled "Antisocial Behavior" that I think applies not just in game but also here. We have a few people that make good suggestions, and a few people that do play nice with others (even if they debate points to no end), and then we have the rest of the board.
I'm not saying it's unheard of, but it is certainly a new business model. Most MMOs I've played generally had a live team to report to the devs, then report back to the community.
I for one would like to see a greater dev presence here, even if it's just to be seen. Although with the degree of demands we see from the player base (that is "I want this now!" rather than "What are the dev's thoughts on 'x'?") might convince them to hide more than not.
There's a thread in the Player Questions forum titled "Antisocial Behavior" that I think applies not just in game but also here. We have a few people that make good suggestions, and a few people that do play nice with others (even if they debate points to no end), and then we have the rest of the board.
Well, all I can really say is that it is very "refreshing" (for lack of a better word) to be in touch with the Dev's as well as the Community Relations Manager.
I really like the Dev forum (on the Lord of the Rings game) where the Dev's will post a question such as "what do you all think of X dungeon? Please be as specific as possible. We are also looking for opinions about "X" issue but any and all input is welcome".
To me that helps with the idea of the community being a complete community. Not just the players but "Everyone" (though, and this is horrible to say I'm sure, I've never seen a more whiny, childish and demanding/condescending community then what they have over there).
On this forum we might get one post every so often and then that's it.
Sure Rust gave us a little "state of the game" address (and I liked Rust so no real complaints there) but then "nothing" for so long.
And yes, we did have the Dev's field some questions but then "that was it". And some people felt that their answers were a bit "for the press" so to speak.
I'd assume the devs talk to the players in Korea, but... We're just a little branch thing that makes them some extra money with minimal effort on their part, if we stop being profitable they'll shut us down long before they start putting more effort into the quality of L2 NA stuff.
If you want the dev team to be more responsive, then how about we up the monthly rates to pay for the added service. If you want to see GM's running around ingame and getting personally attached to players or clans, that's fine. Just be ready for people to start whining about corrupt GM's influencing gameplay.
To be honest, I am content with the level of customer service we recieve. I am not one to "settle" for what we have, I mean it would be nice if somebody would accept accountability for fixing the current incompatabilities L2 has with certain hardware (Regardless of engine or gameguard problems). But other then that, things move along fine the way they are.
I think most of you feel the need to vent about a "lack" of customer service becuase you don't have another easy plausible issue to contend with on here. Always has to be something...
If you want the dev team to be more responsive, then how about we up the monthly rates to pay for the added service.
Sounds good to me. I'll always pay more for good service. Though to be honest I have no issues with the customer service that I've received in this game.
If you want to see GM's running around ingame and getting personally attached to players or clans, that's fine. Just be ready for people to start whining about corrupt GM's influencing gameplay.
Nah, that wouldn't be good at all and that's a good point to bring up. There is a difference between developer presence on the forum and "Joe the developer" who can do you a "little favor" (such as EVE).
All I can say is that from what I've seen, developer presence on the forums seems to help solidify the community.
Anything more (like developers lounging in game or even player "helpers" would only end in tears.
I don't get the money argument that's going around the boards. I mean don't we pay a large enough monthly sum already that it should cover NA staff? I even bet that money is actually going for improvements to Korean staffs, not ours. So I don't see how increased fees will do anything at all. They're still going to ignore us and help them in Korea. In fact, I'm starting to see this as no different from colonial mercantilist systems -- the branched departments as supplement profit for the main branch. I have no idea if that's true, but I'm getting the impression.
Hmm, wasnt it something like 1/3 of revenue generated by L2 comes from NA. Someone was posting the link and figures around here in response for all the "we dont profit them enough" comments.
The actual numbers are here (http://www.ncsoft.com/eng/nccompany/ir_data_report04.asp) if anyone cares. I'm honestly a little confused about the difference betwee monthly access and personal account, but if monthly access means the accounts that logged in that month, it breaks down to Korea being roughly half, and each individual external service being ~10%, US/EU being currently (March '07) the lowest except Thailand, which trails behind with 3%.
Japan seems to be enjoying the same richness of events as L2KR, along with some unique items - same as Taiwan (wreath of flowers anyone?). However, the fact that royalties are listed for Taiwan, China and Thailand makes me think that at least the unique items in Taiwan have nothing to do with NCSoft.
We are not smaller by a margin that would explain what is happening just as a matter of "they don't matter," especially if you look at the other non-Korean L2s.
If the game is still in its developmental stage, then I that is the primary reason for it. Hell, in Closed beta of L2, GM's were running around ingame and active on forums too. I wouldn't be surprised if the small comunity feel were to drop away after the number of customers grows large.
Then again, I dunno. Maybe a company can maintain constant report with its customers and build a good game at the same time.
It depends on the quality of the company that markets the game, and how much they actually care about their user base. Before the release of WoW/EQ2 the EQ servers were booming and there were GMs everywhere. Even after multiple server merges and a decline in server populations, GMs are still online and acitive. They also have "Guides" (volunteers) that run around and do fun things with players.
Can anyone who plays on a Korean server say if there are active GMs on those servers?
I notice someone noticed the Dev forums at SOE. Yes, the Devs are always in the mix of every debate. All this bullcrap that goes here with rumors and misunderstandings about certain things (like the recent "Fix Necro Summons" thread) would have been set straight by a dev at most 48 hours after the start of it (and not just closed for no reason).
Lineage 2 is a community driven game. They expect your and your friends to be you and your friends' customer service. The only time they step in is when it is something that can be detrimental to them (chargeback, advertising adena selling sites in game, private servers). The designers had very nice forsight when they designed this game. It basically removes most reasons to whine that exist in other games (Someone trained me, someone KSd me, bots infesting my area, etc.).
It's a shame that Lineage2.com is a worse website about Lineage 2 than Statics - and has more inaccurate info than the average joe's Lineage2 Geocities website.