dalewb
Hesitator
That pink unicorn hasta go!
Posts: 5 
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Post by dalewb on Feb 26, 2014 17:50:22 GMT
Folks, I don't know how much you know about what's going on behind the scenes, and I certainly don't know much, but let's just clear the air. We all had great expectations going into this kickstarter thing and we pledged in good faith some money to 22 Cans because, for most of us I believe, it was headed by Molyneux and we believed he could deliver on a new god game. Some of us may have had over-inflated expectations as well, so that doesn't help things either. 22Cans have worked their butts off to deliver and things didn't go according to plan. When the beta game was released they received a tidal wave of feedback and it soon became clear the game had issues. It wasn't long before they realized those issues were pretty serious. I don't know for sure, but I suspect they went into turtle mode - hunkering down and focusing on their work without bothering to pop their heads up to see what was going on around them. It's a natural thing to do when you're under a lot of pressure and have a ton of work to do. Thus, the lack of updates and no new game for quite some time. Let's not mention the re-engineering of the entire game - that takes a bit of time too. They've done a lot of work on the game since we last saw it udpated, and they even threw in the kitchen sink - seriously, when I hear all the things they've implemented, it's going to be a very different game next time we play it. Sounds like it's going to be a lot easier to play - not so much mouse clicking, no frustrating terrain adjustment tools, villagers actually act intelligently now and perform a million different animations as they go about their lives, etc. etc. So don't be frustrated, just get excited for what the game is going to be like and the fact you'll be able to experience it soon.  |
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Lord Ba'al
Supreme Deity
Posts: 6,260
Pledge level: Half a Partner
I like: Cats; single malt Scotch; Stargate; Amiga; fried potatoes; retro gaming; cheese; snickers; sticky tape.
I don't like: Dimples in the bottom of scotch bottles; Facebook games masquerading as godgames.
Steam: stonelesscutter
GOG: stonelesscutter
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Post by Lord Ba'al on Feb 26, 2014 18:05:04 GMT
Hey dalewb welcome to the board.
From what you say I almost get excited about Godus again. I am going to refrain from getting overly enthusiastic though. Because what you say sounds a lot like a Peter Molyneux speech. Not that I'm inferring you are Peter Molyneux off course. I do hope that everything you said will prove to be true. I'll just be cautious from now on about anything I hear from 22Cans.
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Post by Deth on Feb 26, 2014 18:08:56 GMT
Yes I will also hold my joy in check till I can play the new patch. I am just sad that us alpha players were dumped out of the mix and afraid that again they are building the game they want not what we want. But I will wait and see and hold on to some hope.
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dalewb
Hesitator
That pink unicorn hasta go!
Posts: 5
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Post by dalewb on Feb 26, 2014 19:13:51 GMT
Yes I will also hold my joy in check till I can play the new patch. I am just sad that us alpha players were dumped out of the mix and afraid that again they are building the game they want not what we want. But I will wait and see and hold on to some hope. Well, yes the studio listens first to Molyneux for sure. He is the lead game designer and visionary behind the entire thing. But from what I've heard and seen they have taken the input received very seriously and have retooled the game based on your feedback. I haven't played the game in months and look forward to seeing its new form - sounds like really soon to me. And no, I'm not Molyneux - Graystone just recruited me from the IDOL backers from the Godus forums today. |
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Post by amethyst on Feb 26, 2014 19:53:59 GMT
Hi All I'm another high level backer, recently recruited for Greystone's Army  I was in the meeting with Dale last night, and I can confirm what he says. I can also confirm that they aren't the same person unless of course I'm another of Peter's evil alter egos trying to throw you all off the scent mwha ha ha ha!!!1!Unfortunately its hard for me to say anything too specific because, like Umra'lite, I had to sign an NDA. I'll share whatever I can though, and I really do think that there is some good stuff coming in the immediate future |
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Lord Ba'al
Supreme Deity
Posts: 6,260
Pledge level: Half a Partner
I like: Cats; single malt Scotch; Stargate; Amiga; fried potatoes; retro gaming; cheese; snickers; sticky tape.
I don't like: Dimples in the bottom of scotch bottles; Facebook games masquerading as godgames.
Steam: stonelesscutter
GOG: stonelesscutter
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Post by Lord Ba'al on Feb 26, 2014 20:00:41 GMT
Well, yes the studio listens first to Molyneux for sure. He is the lead game designer and visionary behind the entire thing. But from what I've heard and seen they have taken the input received very seriously and have retooled the game based on your feedback. I haven't played the game in months and look forward to seeing its new form - sounds like really soon to me. I hope they have indeed taken our input into account. We'll have to wait and see to find out about that. What I was originally surprised about is that they didn't seem to pay any attention to what people were saying on the forum to begin with. There were tons of great ideas being thrown around. No developers were responding to any of them. Then after a couple of months in silence they showed us a video of what the alpha was going to be like. That's when the forum erupted for the first time with negative backlash. (Remember that first video with the bubbles?) Then we played the alpha and gave our feedback. Then a couple of months later came beta. Nothing substantial had changed. Beta backers gave the same feedback the alpha backers did. Now half a year later we are here in communication silence. I'd like to believe that they have taken our feedback into account and have managed to make things better, but as I said I have to wait and see. And no, I'm not Molyneux - Graystone just recruited me from the IDOL backers from the Godus forums today. Yes. That was me. |
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Lord Ba'al
Supreme Deity
Posts: 6,260
Pledge level: Half a Partner
I like: Cats; single malt Scotch; Stargate; Amiga; fried potatoes; retro gaming; cheese; snickers; sticky tape.
I don't like: Dimples in the bottom of scotch bottles; Facebook games masquerading as godgames.
Steam: stonelesscutter
GOG: stonelesscutter
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Post by Lord Ba'al on Feb 26, 2014 20:02:49 GMT
Wow, now we have two people that were in a meeting telling us things are looking up. I am getting a positive vibe from this. And I say that without a sarcastic tone intended. |
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dalewb
Hesitator
That pink unicorn hasta go!
Posts: 5
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Post by dalewb on Feb 26, 2014 20:42:56 GMT
Hey, regarding the lack of communication from 22cans, and as a former game developer, I can tell you what definitely happened there. They released a game build and opened it up for feedback without having the staff necessary to handle the feedback or communicate adequately with the fan base. It takes a tremendous amount of time to do all that and companies that do it well typically have staff dedicated to just that. Everyone at 22cans is directly contributing to the game - they are all artists, programmers, designers, writers, etc. I doubt they have even one single person dedicated to community relations, though there do seem to be at least a couple people who are more on the administrative side of things that probably handle some of that - they organize the video feeds you see, communicate with the upper-level backers, organize meetings, and probably manage Peter's schedule, lol. He's one busy guy.
So there you have it. You're not dealing with Eidos or Ubisoft or even Lionhead - it's just 22cans and they have a rather small staff. Do you want fantastic communication or do you want them to get the game done? Because I doubt they can do both.
By the way, you did see their great "Wall o' Bugs" right? The one with the post-it notes everywhere? That was everyone's feedback and bug reports being attacked and checked off one at a time. Don't forget that visual - they heard us loud and clear, just didn't have the time to say they did, aside from the video updates where they talked about all that (we got your bug reports, here they are, blah blah)
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Post by Qetesh on Feb 26, 2014 20:47:38 GMT
I still would have liked more feedback. I think that it should not be that hard to make a weekly blog at the very least. It should take about 15 minutes a week to write and post.
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Post by Deth on Feb 26, 2014 20:59:39 GMT
Thanks for this little tidbit at least. Things like this on the main forums would have been great. I for one do not need a lot, I would like a lot but do understand. But something more then, "We have some great things planed for next update." do not cut it. I just hope they learn from this.
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Lord Ba'al
Supreme Deity
Posts: 6,260
Pledge level: Half a Partner
I like: Cats; single malt Scotch; Stargate; Amiga; fried potatoes; retro gaming; cheese; snickers; sticky tape.
I don't like: Dimples in the bottom of scotch bottles; Facebook games masquerading as godgames.
Steam: stonelesscutter
GOG: stonelesscutter
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Post by Lord Ba'al on Feb 26, 2014 21:02:27 GMT
Did they happen to tell you guys at the meeting if people would have to restart their islands from scratch again?
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Post by Qetesh on Feb 26, 2014 21:02:59 GMT
Indeed, we all live and learn from experiences in life. I am hopeful once again for when the game comes out but until then I not throwing any parties.
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dalewb
Hesitator
That pink unicorn hasta go!
Posts: 5
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Post by dalewb on Feb 26, 2014 21:16:09 GMT
Did they happen to tell you guys at the meeting if people would have to restart their islands from scratch again? That was not discussed, no. But I would definitely assume you will need to restart from the beginning. It's not the same game. For all we know, the introductory area has been totally revamped and the world altered a lot. |
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Post by Qetesh on Feb 26, 2014 21:21:57 GMT
Did they happen to tell you guys at the meeting if people would have to restart their islands from scratch again? That was not discussed, no. But I would definitely assume you will need to restart from the beginning. It's not the same game. For all we know, the introductory area has been totally revamped and the world altered a lot. I am totally okay with this. I think it might be nice to start fresh and create my landscape in a whole new design next time. This time I just knocked down everything I could to make as many people in houses as I could. I am out of land now and still missing my farming card, so a whole new game from beginning sounds wonderful to me. |
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Lord Ba'al
Supreme Deity
Posts: 6,260
Pledge level: Half a Partner
I like: Cats; single malt Scotch; Stargate; Amiga; fried potatoes; retro gaming; cheese; snickers; sticky tape.
I don't like: Dimples in the bottom of scotch bottles; Facebook games masquerading as godgames.
Steam: stonelesscutter
GOG: stonelesscutter
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Post by Lord Ba'al on Feb 26, 2014 21:25:30 GMT
Yeah I just did all that a couple of weeks ago. It took a long time to get to where I was before. Actually I got a bit further, but still not into the bronze age. Anyway, I have no problem with starting over. I just hope it'll turn out to be worth it.
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chrism
Master
Posts: 113
Pledge level: El cheapo Believer
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Post by chrism on Feb 27, 2014 9:25:32 GMT
Did they happen to tell you guys at the meeting if people would have to restart their islands from scratch again? That was not discussed, no. But I would definitely assume you will need to restart from the beginning. It's not the same game. For all we know, the introductory area has been totally revamped and the world altered a lot. Doh! I now have 80,000,000 and loads of productive farms. Most of the land has been reclaimed and pretty flat just to get ahead of you slackers when the new version came out! actually in reality I'm sick of the current landscape and looking forward to the change. nice to have something positive to look forward to. |
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oog
Wannabe
Posts: 25
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Post by oog on Feb 28, 2014 0:01:19 GMT
Well that makes me cautiously positive too. Actually, the fact that they had a meeting with IDOL backers is the real good news, with what we've been through the assumption was that they weren't talking to anyone outside peter's head. Thanks Dale
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Deleted
Deleted Member
Posts: 0
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Post by Deleted on Feb 28, 2014 20:28:33 GMT
Hi dalewb,
what kind of meeting has it been? Have you been there? Have you seen anything? I want to belief in what you say and get back some faith ... buuuut ... I think we all have seen (and heard, and read) a lot 22cans and Peters promises in the past. And we all know that they most times differ from what we get.
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chrism
Master
Posts: 113
Pledge level: El cheapo Believer
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Post by chrism on Feb 28, 2014 20:37:50 GMT
"I refuse to prove that I exist," says God, "for proof denies faith, and without faith, I am nothing."
I think that we should remain positive. I was hoping that 'imminent' meant update Friday - that is today. Technically we have a few hours of Friday left.......
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Lord Ba'al
Supreme Deity
Posts: 6,260
Pledge level: Half a Partner
I like: Cats; single malt Scotch; Stargate; Amiga; fried potatoes; retro gaming; cheese; snickers; sticky tape.
I don't like: Dimples in the bottom of scotch bottles; Facebook games masquerading as godgames.
Steam: stonelesscutter
GOG: stonelesscutter
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Post by Lord Ba'al on Feb 28, 2014 22:09:44 GMT
I thought I saw someone post an article related to some kind of games developers conferences coming in March. That might be around the time that they're planning to release the next update. But off course that is pure speculation.
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