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Better Event Communication

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Poppydette

Magician
Minecraft IGN: Poppydette
Honeybadger Dark Follower Phoenix
#1
I will start this off by saying the May the Fourth event is amazing. I really enjoy the quests and different games added in for it. The rewards are great as well. However, I was very frustrated on how it was released and the lack of communication that took place. The trailer was released the morning of the fourth and it said "Coming Soon". I know I am not the only one that expected it to be released that day. For one, it is implied that it will be released on the fourth. I had plans that day but was willing to put them on hold to experience this event with my friends. Every time someone asked in chat when the event would be released we were told "soon". I do not know what the staff team's definition of "soon" is but Merriam-Webster states
Definition of soon

1: without undue time lapse : BEFORE LONG /soon after sunrise
2: in a prompt manner : SPEEDILY /as soon as possible / the sooner the better / no sooner said than done
Synonyms:
There were 30+ players waiting in the great hall on that day and the days that followed. I could have been doing other things, which I now know I should have. I understand there are situations where the testing of the event hasn't been completed or that there are bugs that need to be fixed. I do not understand why no one could simply say "The event will not be released on this day" at some point throughout the day. If there are bugs that need to be fixed, there is a point where the people fixing them should know that it will not be ready "soon" and should tell the players that are just standing there and waiting. It would be great if there was an actual time set for release but I understand deadlines are hard to keep on this server due to bugs and unforeseen issues. All I am asking for is statements like "It will not be available today", "It will not be available for at least (insert amount of time)". Not doing this makes the staff look like they do not have any regard for our time and are taking advantage of our patience. While I know this is not the case the perception is still there.
 

MattyPoltergeist

Professor
Minecraft IGN: MattyPoltergeist
Serpent Werewolf
#3
Okay, first of all, I take trouble with your definition of soon, not only because it seems cherry-picked but also because it has no relevance or support for your point. The second definition you posted (just as valid as the first) says something soon occurs 'as soon as possible'. Now, I highly doubt that the staff team would have purposefully waited to release the event if they had it perfect and ready for distribution. We know, and have been told many times, that some issues arose prior to release that *needed* to be fixed and once they WERE, the event was released (as soon as possible / as soon as the issues were resolved). Most dictionaries, notably Oxford, Google and Cambridge, describe soon as simply 'in or after a short time', a much broader definition that expresses far better how the word is used in day-to-day life. It may seem like a nitpick but your exact, and frankly unorthodox, use of 'soon' is basically the whole point you are pushing.

Next, I think it to be incredibly naive and impulsive to immediately assume that the event was coming out ON May the 4th. No one officially promised that. The vast majorty of the time Potterworld content isnt't released on the day of its teaser. However, you certainly got one thing right while writing this suggestion and that is that you SHOULD have been doing something better with your time between the teaser and the event release: the event is out for a whole month and waiting around in the Great Hall for something that hasn't been ensured or promised is the worst thing to do (as it also puts pressure on the staff team that are clearly working as hard as they can). While the Star Wars event is branded as a 'May the Fourth event', it is still primarily the event of May as a whole, not May the 4th specifically: last year the event was ALSO not released on the fourth of May. I think if there is a problem to be raised here then it is the branding of the event, not the release.

On top of this, we have seen (in the past year) a great shift in behaviour approaching new content and events from the staff team that almost ensures that teasers will be promptly followed by said content (which in my belief this teaser was). To say that the staff team has no respect for its players time when they have actively improved their announcement system and clarity is just wrong. The staff have their own time frames and limits that they must deal with and a lot of the time it is only a handful of people who are taking the final step to make an event public. These people, obviously, need sleep and rest as well.


I do agree that there was a confusion with the release which could be cleared up for following May the 4th events, however I think said uncertainty was specific to the Star Wars event through the way it was branded and its teaser interpreted (by the players). Potterworld has never said 'soon' meant 'after sunrise' and never will and I don't think that should have needed any clarification.
Also sorry if this was a bit harsh but I'm delivering a message felt by a few other people so I wanted to make sure I expressed them all in full. In reality, we agree on the main points.
 

Poppydette

Magician
Minecraft IGN: Poppydette
Honeybadger Dark Follower Phoenix
#4
Thank you for your response!
I used the dictionary that I normally use and did not do others for the word "soon". I see your point in that I should have looked at other dictionaries. I was not here for last years event so I would not know when it was released. While I am "naïve" to assume that an event called "May the Fourth" would be released on May the 4th, I can assure you that I was not the only one. I personally looked at it as an implication based on the name of the event. You may be correct on the branding of the event.
I did not say the staff team does not respect the players time. I said it could appear that way with how vague the responses were. I know they respect our time greatly. All I am asking for is when the staff sees many people waiting in the great hall for the event and also so many people asking in chat for "when" they don't say "soon" and give an actual time frame. For example "It will not be today, maybe tomorrow following a few bug fixes" or "We will let you know when it is getting close to release". I know they work hard on these events, I would never deny that and I would never suggest they do not get rest. I believe I may have came off wrong for you to get that impression and for that I apologize. Basically, as someone who was not present for the last event it was implied that it would be an event that took place on May the 4th.
 

MattyPoltergeist

Professor
Minecraft IGN: MattyPoltergeist
Serpent Werewolf
#5
Thank you for your response!
I used the dictionary that I normally use and did not do others for the word "soon". I see your point in that I should have looked at other dictionaries. I was not here for last years event so I would not know when it was released. While I am "naïve" to assume that an event called "May the Fourth" would be released on May the 4th, I can assure you that I was not the only one. I personally looked at it as an implication based on the name of the event. You may be correct on the branding of the event.
I did not say the staff team does not respect the players time. I said it could appear that way with how vague the responses were. I know they respect our time greatly. All I am asking for is when the staff sees many people waiting in the great hall for the event and also so many people asking in chat for "when" they don't say "soon" and give an actual time frame. For example "It will not be today, maybe tomorrow following a few bug fixes" or "We will let you know when it is getting close to release". I know they work hard on these events, I would never deny that and I would never suggest they do not get rest. I believe I may have came off wrong for you to get that impression and for that I apologize. Basically, as someone who was not present for the last event it was implied that it would be an event that took place on May the 4th.
Yeah, definitely good points and sorry for the some of the wording I framed you in.
However, I imagine sometimes that the event team themselves can't even begin to predict when an event is going to be released due to the amount of unpredictability bugs can often bring. Potterworld has had some pretty memorable moments with wrong ETAs in the past and I think it's slightly engrained in the staff team to avoid them at all costs lol. Also, I suppose it's hard to give messages sometimes when the playerbase is all spread across different timezones, "not released today" might mean two completely different things for two different people and also may insinuate that it could come out tomorrow, which it also may or may not.

I do think that some slight levels of clarity would be beneficiall, or at least making it clear that the players shouldn't expect any release on any certain day.
 

Ivan_

Professor
Minecraft IGN: _Navyy
Auralock Griffin Phoenix Vampire Werewolf
#6
Okay, first of all, I take trouble with your definition of soon, not only because it seems cherry-picked but also because it has no relevance or support for your point. The second definition you posted (just as valid as the first) says something soon occurs 'as soon as possible'. Now, I highly doubt that the staff team would have purposefully waited to release the event if they had it perfect and ready for distribution. We know, and have been told many times, that some issues arose prior to release that *needed* to be fixed and once they WERE, the event was released (as soon as possible / as soon as the issues were resolved). Most dictionaries, notably Oxford, Google and Cambridge, describe soon as simply 'in or after a short time', a much broader definition that expresses far better how the word is used in day-to-day life. It may seem like a nitpick but your exact, and frankly unorthodox, use of 'soon' is basically the whole point you are pushing.

Next, I think it to be incredibly naive and impulsive to immediately assume that the event was coming out ON May the 4th. No one officially promised that. The vast majorty of the time Potterworld content isnt't released on the day of its teaser. However, you certainly got one thing right while writing this suggestion and that is that you SHOULD have been doing something better with your time between the teaser and the event release: the event is out for a whole month and waiting around in the Great Hall for something that hasn't been ensured or promised is the worst thing to do (as it also puts pressure on the staff team that are clearly working as hard as they can). While the Star Wars event is branded as a 'May the Fourth event', it is still primarily the event of May as a whole, not May the 4th specifically: last year the event was ALSO not released on the fourth of May. I think if there is a problem to be raised here then it is the branding of the event, not the release.

On top of this, we have seen (in the past year) a great shift in behaviour approaching new content and events from the staff team that almost ensures that teasers will be promptly followed by said content (which in my belief this teaser was). To say that the staff team has no respect for its players time when they have actively improved their announcement system and clarity is just wrong. The staff have their own time frames and limits that they must deal with and a lot of the time it is only a handful of people who are taking the final step to make an event public. These people, obviously, need sleep and rest as well.


I do agree that there was a confusion with the release which could be cleared up for following May the 4th events, however I think said uncertainty was specific to the Star Wars event through the way it was branded and its teaser interpreted (by the players). Potterworld has never said 'soon' meant 'after sunrise' and never will and I don't think that should have needed any clarification.
Also sorry if this was a bit harsh but I'm delivering a message felt by a few other people so I wanted to make sure I expressed them all in full. In reality, we agree on the main points.
I don't think it's naive to think that May the 4th event would come before may 4th lol. But that doesn't mean that players should sit in GH waiting for an event that had no official ETA.
 

Miss_Strudel

Animorphus
Staff
Minecraft IGN: Miss_Strudel
Honeybadger Auralock Dark Follower Staff Vampire Werewolf Lead Game Designer SPEW Lead
#7
Firstly, I am glad that you are enjoying the event and were so excited for the release. It’s perfectly reasonable to expect the May 4 Event teased to release on May 4. And the plan was to release it on May 4. However, it took more time to work through every single bug and release it.

In such cases, staff will respond that the event is planned to release “soon” for a handful of reasons.

1. The staff reading general chat in game or on discord are not the same staff that could most accurately give an ETA. The game design members and testers are all on backend often tabbed out focused on polishing the tech to release as soon as possible. The moderators answering these tickets just know that there are bugs being worked out and the event will release ASAP when they’re fixed, so they say that it will be “soon.”

2. ETA’s can be disappointing. If we give an exact date / time then miss that date / time, the frustration directed at us will largely increase. It’s better to wake up in the morning to the happy surprise that the event came out than stay up late waiting for a release ETA that was wrong. In the time between May 4 and the initial release, the team was working insanely hard and the pressure of frustration from players makes it more stressful and less motivating to do so. So we attempt to avoid any further disappointments.

3. We genuinely did not know when the event would release and were on a “release as soon as it’s finished” basis. For reference, the game design member in charge of releasing this event spent 60 hours online last week. This would be considered significantly overtime for an actual job and Potterworld staff is a fun hobby on Minecraft that they do on top of being a college student and having an irl job. Everyone worked hard to try to get it out on May 4 and thought it would release that day. But even if someone stays online for insane hours working on it, there’s a chance it’s still not enough. We can’t always say how much will or won’t be done by the time we have to get off and go to bed.

May 4 Event is the one event on our calendar with the actual date of release as public info (only because it’s in the event name itself) so this situation is unlikely to repeat itself soon. We never give dates for event releases for this exact reason. If something comes up irl for a team member and our internal release time is missed (as is what happened here with me needing to step aside for someone else to release it), then it causes so much discontent. And we understand why, players get excited and want to spend their free day playing the new content. We appreciate that support and ask you to also support the staff members working very hard to provide that content for you. We are currently working to increase our manpower in order to make releases earlier and I encourage anyone that’s reading this and passionate about game design to read through the position requirements to determine if you might be a good fit!

I will now be marking this as “Feedback” and keeping it in mind for future releases, though it is unlikely to come up again soon as May 4 is our only event with an announced release date.
 
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