Address The Feedback Backlog

[PeachSoju]

Hello, in light of the recent announcement concerning feedback, I think it would be a really cool idea if the staff/dev team were able to host a Q&A in which players can learn some more about the plans for handling the long list of ideas/suggestions provided on the UserVoice. Many suggestions I noticed have the "planned" tag but it seems to end there without any updates on when, how, or what is happening with the idea. I personally would love to know more about the Dev team's stance on the long list of ideas, and particularly their priority in relation to gameplay updates. I think it would be interesting to discuss the ideas from the UserVoice that are planned/In Progress etc. This could also be an opportunity to explain some of the technicalities with implementing ideas and provide a guide to help players with submitting more realistic ideas in terms of the dev team's capabilities.

I think this would also help ease the switch back to the forums, as players will feel more informed about some of the processes which go on behind the scenes after an idea is picked up by the staff/dev team, and avoid some of the current concerns about ideas not being listened (which of course, they are, but this would I think just ease those concerns even further).

I hope what I wrote makes sense haha, please let me know what you think of my idea!

 

[Sunnya]

While I don't think a Q&A addressing this would be the best thing to do (since not all Head Staff & Devs are available at the same time smh timezones), perhaps a general video could be better! Going through every planned suggestion on Uservoice won't be practical, but the Devs could instead go through general things and give a response/explanation on some of those things.
If we decide to do a video like this, there wouldn't be an ETA on its release, but we can hope that it will be soon. There are currently other videos in the works, and the release of a video like this would make the most sense after the others come out.

Thank you for your suggestion!

 

[PeachSoju]

I definitely agree!! I think a video would be a more practical way to approach this kind of broad topic. (And true, smh timezones!). Thanks so much for your response Sunnya!

 

[MamaDuckie]

Hello and thank you for the suggestion! I'm going to bring this up with the Poltergeist team to see what they think and get back to you as soon as I can!

 

[Pankakes]

perhaps a general video could be better! Going through every planned suggestion on Uservoice won't be practical, but the Devs could instead go through general things and give a response/explanation on some of those things

I don't think a video is the best option to explain the development, because dev priorities change by day, sometimes by the hour. That means in order to stay relevant, a video would have to be made every week or so.

A roadmap / planner tool such as Trello would be much better since it'd be always updated and people would be able to see at what point in the development cycle each suggestion is (discussed, planned, work in progress, tested, released).

 

[Sunnya]

A roadmap / planner tool such as Trello would be much better since it'd be always updated and people would be able to see at what point in the development cycle each suggestion is (discussed, planned, work in progress, tested, released).

A way for us to be more transparent & communicative with the player base about future updates and plans is still something we're trying to figure out. There's no easy way to go about it and it's definitely a challenge haha! I'm slightly a bit biased because I always want the best for the YT channel, but I feel that videos bring about a more casual and discussion feel to them and allow us to be more flexible with what information we say (since as you said - Dev priorities are always changing). Videos definitely are not the best way about it though for the reasons you mentioned - plus they take time to create/plan.

Personally, I'm not really sure how a Trello would be the best way to go about this in a public way. We use Trello for pretty much all of our teams on the server, so knowing how to use it wouldn't be a problem. I personally fear that it'd require a lot of work that would yield us no benefit in the long run. We'd have to explain why things are taking longer than the players would expect and I'm sure many of them would be frustrated. A lot of things can be misunderstood or misconstrued as well. It also removes the element of surprise that we have for our releases as we may include multiple suggestions in one release. I think overall it could be a great idea, but it doesn't feel viable with the way Potterworld works.

 

[Nyn]

Polls help with getting community opinions and provides some transparency

And a live stream from each Head Staff member about their specific department would be better than one with them all together (and time zones)

 

[Joel Crestello]

-you cant delete messages apparently

 

[Pankakes]

We'd have to explain why things are taking longer than the players would expect and I'm sure many of them would be frustrated.

I believe in quite the opposite, players are more frustrated if they see a thread that's been under review for more than a year without even knowing if the suggestion was even discussed. Bringing transparency into the development happens all the time in games in a form of a roadmap (Rainbow 6, Star Citizen, Farming Sim...)

I personally fear that it'd require a lot of work that would yield us no benefit in the long run.

But if you already use Trello for many things then making it public is just a few clicks away, I see it as finding reasons not to do it. Similar to how making a dedicated #meme channel on Discord is just a few clicks away yet it still has not been created.

I think the benefit is clear, more transparency and less frustration.

It also removes the element of surprise that we have for our releases as we may include multiple suggestions in one release.

This feel more like a downside. What is supposed to be a surprise is special events, not gameplay changing features.

If the development is transparent, many players can voice their opinion before a planned feature is completed rather than being forced to accept it just because a lot of time has been spent on it. It isn't uncommon that players are dissatisfied with some updates (revelius - gear, travel for example ) or feel like poltergeists aren't listening to the community at all.

 

[Joe_Magus]

A note on this - A lot of largely multiplayer games that are constantly making changes would produce a document or page on their website - A Roadmap - A page where targets for things being introduced are set so that the player base can see that production is intended and it's advertising for the changes and gives everyone stuff to look forward to. Of course the targets set on a Roadmap aren't always achieved - but its also a platform for you to inform the player base of delays. I don't actually think people mind waiting for things as long as the developers are open about what is coming, and idea of when ect.

For example there is no ETA on Dungeons - I know a lot of people would love to hear "Autumn 2021" - even though it's vague and still so long away. If it turned out Dungeons couldn't come till Winter 2021 - people wouldn't be annoyed as long as it was explained as to why. I feel that the lack of information and keeping the changes vague has a negative effect, whereas saying "This is what we have coming, this is what's planned, we plan for players to be able to do this and that." you spark interest into the upcoming content and changes. It also gives players a chance to give their opinion on suggested changes before they are made permanent.

Having just read through this thread Pankakes has it spot on -

I believe in quite the opposite, players are more frustrated if they see a thread that's been under review for more than a year without even knowing if the suggestion was even discussed. Bringing transparency into the development happens all the time in games in a form of a roadmap (Rainbow 6, Star Citizen, Farming Sim...)

I was considering linking some Roadmaps as examples but I didn't think you would want other games linked here - but I highly recommend the team take a look at the Roadmaps of the game suggestions Pankakes made.

As for the "element of surprise" I can say as a player, I do not want this. Not when it involves large gameplay changes.

 

[Pankakes]

Polls help with getting community opinions and provides some transparency

So, polls have been added and the first one is "We would like to hear what kind of minigames you would like for us to create"

I do not think this is the right way. I don't remember a thread here asking for more minigames, yet I remember many ideas being turned down because the staff is busy with more important stuff.

The current poll looks like if you came to a restaurant, ordered a soup from the menu, but later the waiter came to you and told you that you have to choose either an apple pie or a chocolate pie. So despite wanting soup, you have to order a dessert.
The chef and waiter are happy that you were able to choose a meal yet you know that you wanted soup, not a dessert.

 

[Joe_Magus]

I do not think this is the right way. I don't remember a thread here asking for more minigames, yet I remember many ideas being turned down because the staff is busy with more important stuff.

Again, I agree - Please read what is being requested in the thread since you spoke to the poltergeist team. We're looking for a Roadmap or some planned update information. Big changes, i.e Dungeons, Accepted Changes such as store items that are being planned, possible changes to the level cap or additional towns and areas. There must be a plan set out for your team on where you'd like to be and in how long - what people are currently working on and the progress they have made. That is what we want to see. It shouldn't really be a case of it would be long and arduous to do - but part of the job that the developers do already and we're just looking for insight. If this isn't already being done in the team, and I can't see why it wouldn't have been, then creating a roadmap between yourselves would create structure and probably get things developed faster in the long run.

Also its a really good point as to why would you waste time adding more minigames? The ones we have barely get played. Sticking to working on the fundementals of the game is surely more important? Things like the unbalanced XP that you get in Quests and AC considering its supposed to be a large chunk of your XP - Grinding mobs is more efficient - the lack of classes you currently have - considering there are far more students now and Oceania barely ever gets a class - you need to double your academics team. The obvious problem you have of this almost empty world and lack of content for grads. But obvs the players here want more minigames.