Weekly feature experiment recap vs. roadmap?

If they could pull this off well (requiring consistent internal communication aswell as the willingness to reveal what they've been working on even if its experimental and thus also requiring someone to go through this and gather/process that information) I'd say 22cans could benefit a LOT from this.

The question there would be if George for example would have the time to do this, alongside his existing tasks to perform (or perhaps as replacement for some of them).
Aswell as the strong emphasis that Peter would need to be more forthcoming on what they've been working on.


Nonetheless, I'd say the concept is definitely worth following up on. An active (or I guess, retroactive?) weekly update to keep the community up-to-date, rather than setting out another roadmap that likely will not be followed seems like a functional alternative.

I really like this idea and would love to see it happen, but if George was able to do this I expect he would do so already. 22Cans simply does not operate in a way that will allow this kind of transparency.

Even if George actually knew about everything that was being attempted at any time (which I don't think he does), and even if the development of that functionality was structured in such a way that developers could report properly on their progress (which I don't think it is), the Powers That Be probably wouldn't agree to this kind of disclosure. Hiring George to chat to us on the forums was 22Cans' only concession to transparency, and since they've found him a useful body on the helpdesk he doesn't even do much of that anymore.

It's a good idea but 22cans have gone into their bunker, they have done exactly what they promised not to do. The whole situation is completely ridiculous. I was prepared to give them a benefit of the doubt after the last update if they changed their style to make it collaborative. Not only did they not improve it, they've made it worse. This is especially stark given that they don't have an iOS release to hide behind.

22cans no longer have any idea what they are doing. They are just lurching from release to release vainly hoping that the next change will magically fix a game that is fundamentally flawed due to f2p mechanics.

One final thought, I am sick of 22cans selling GODUS for $4-$5 on sale. WTF 22cans if you keep selling the game cheap you undermine your future revenue. If you are going to do PC sprint which I very much doubt, you should wait until after the sprint to see what revenue you can get before you discount. Of course that is predicated on you actually doing a real PC sprint.

This game should be removed from the steam store.

This... 22cans seems to have purposefully removed their staff from the community forums - which can only mean one thing.
They are actively trying to keep the focus away from PC.

Now I don't know whether this is because of Aynen's supposed belief that Peter is convinced that "PC users are out to get him" (which frankly is the most ridiculous and irrational notion, given how he has treated the PC platform it is only logical that people are pissed and that they *DEMAND* a modicum of respect from the guy, this doesn't mean they want him to hang, it means they want him to start communicating and show some effin results...)

Frankly I believe that Aynen simply is being purposefully naive here. Another one in a long line of people that are "out of the loop", trying to placate the PC community.
Don't get me wrong, there are some pretty nasty people going around on the steam boards at times. And its not always the best place to be if you're a developer.
Yet its a situation of their own creation - and going and hiding in their Ivory Tower while claiming that hiding in the Ivory Tower isn't what they want to do is utterly moronic.


They *NEED* to initiate communication if they want to get somewhere. They insist that they don't want to drop the PC platform.
Yet at every turn their actions counteract their words. They ARE actively dropping the PC platform in all but the most technical of requirements.
Which likely is because they can't afford not to focus on the mobile platform.
What we need is to create a level of understanding between the two groups. 22cans / Peter Molyneux can't expect countless of people that *PAID* for his game simply to lay down and accept that he isn't actually working on the game they paid for.

All the excuses that they are still working on the PC release are complete BS, the PC release is a joke, its their fucking dev build for iOS.
A dev build which they are now going to give us some of the dev tools for in an attempt to placate us once more - because they can't afford to spend any actual resources on generating content for us.



Now what I'm trying to get to is, Peter Molyneux is making us out to be the bad guys. He has done so for a long time and he's doing so still.
Many of us have tried to reach out to him, only to be ignored - or sometimes even worse, to be insulted by him.
Apparently he fails to realize that his actions and his disrespect towards the community are ACTIVELY promoting the behaviour he's blaming on us.

And if either of us wants this to stop, we *NEED* to communicate. We need to get some of the more vocal and sensible members together in a conversation with some of the 22cans staff and create a level of understanding between the two groups.
22cans needs to understand that we're not out to get them - but that we just want them to RESPECT us, rather than placate and/or ignore us.
That as long as they keep putting us on the backburner while actively saying they are not, they are just pissing off more and more people.

And thats really what it comes down to. They are saying one thing, but doing another.
Which ultimately comes down to one simple thing. They can't afford to drop iOS, they *NEED* to generate content for retention.
But they can't afford to openly drop the PC platform, as this would result in Valve and/or other local governments stepping up and forcing them to refund... (Similar as to how Australia is going against Valve's refund policy)


Now I for one am sick of hearing them say one thing and do another. I'd LOVE to see some active communication between the community and the devs, but that has to go both ways.
This here is one of many attempts by us to initiate such communications - and if it just keeps being ignored they can't just blame US for not trying.
If Peter truely believes that the PC community and the steam boards are the root of all evil, he should be a man and come and say it. He shouldn't walk around the subject and simply state that he wants to drop the support to PC because it isn't an atmosphere that he's comfortable with.

Go read his latest posts. He doesn't really have anything of consequence to say, so he's resorted to throwing out praise and giving out high fives. 
This is just fine, but filler is filler. I agree with you, I'd trade in all the glad-handing for some real communication about the state of Godus right now.

Yeah, they aren't fooling anyone but themselves. They should be ashamed of themselves for pretending like they were the first ones to extend the olive branch.
Regardless, I think you fine fellows have made it quite clear that you are happy to talk on their terms.

Please don't misunderstand me, I hope these "peace talks" happen, but I find it completely absurd that we've reached this point.
This should have never occurred had the community been given reasonable expectations and had them fulfilled.

The mods can dry-hump their "facts" all day long, it does not change how poorly the community has been handled.
They literally have people (and themselves) running around in circles on the various forums regurgitating months-old ideas like they are some sort of epiphany.
I'm not attempting to negate what you, Gmr, Digital Jam, etc are trying to accomplish, just don't find me surprised.. at all.. when this leopard doesn't change its spots.

signing off now... yours truely... skeptically hopeful

I think is exactly what PM wants. Go out the door. leave me alone, I already got your money.

So this is positive. Albeit as I note in the thread, I'm confused as to how this request differs from my own.

Yeah...Frankly I don't get what the development process is supposed to be other than a mishmash of sprints, iteration, and the so-called suck it and see methods described. The last suggests they just try stuff (experimental, right? including features, right?), the second suggests they revise and build upon the old, while the first does nothing more than say they try to develop stuff quickly. But apparently they don't just try stuff and just try to develop and revise stuff quickly? I'm completely at a loss with how to understand their statements and descriptions.