ATTN: 13th General & Gmr Leon Q&A video clarifation request

Also, I don't understand this question from Danjal question: "Could the CMs be given more flexibility to gather answers without needing to pass someone else for permission?"

Please would you clarify what you mean by "gather answers"? The team don't approve each and every post I make on the forums in advance, just FYI.

[/i][/ul][/quote]The context in which this question was answered was because rather than doing an answering Q&A through text (which could've been done rather quickly), the decision was made to do video's instead.
Even though they were more time intensive, and had to be postponed several times due to time constraints.


With regards to that selfsame issue, you (aswell as Matthew) are constantly forced to delay and "ask permission" aswell as constantly needing to confirm.
Thats why I feel it is essential that you two have a less constrained access to information.
If your job is to manage information distribution towards the community to relieve Peter and Jack from having to spend their precious time on this.
Then its ridiculously counter-productive if you have to get their say-so on every single thing. It not only increases their workload, but it prevents you from doing your job.

Giving the CM's more freedom in this - allows you guys to better do your job and provide a more expedient distribution of information.
Which is entirely what Early Access and Kickstarter are build upon - 22cans isn't Microsoft and doesn't need to keep everything secret.
You don't need excessive marketing hype even if Peter is used to that kind of method.

It is entirely to everyones benefit if you are capable of portraying a clear line of information without constant deception and misdirection - and it seems that in your function of CM's you should be perfectly up to the task of differentiating between "work in progress" and "set in stone".
If Peter wants to do everything himself, he should not be hiring so many staff to do these things.

Any time information needs to be distributed that is of consequence - we get the message that you "need to go and ask for permission/confirmation whether this can be revealed".
And especially considering how often plans change in-office, making such information redundant. It seems beneficial if you were able to get a clear line of such changes IMMEDIATELY - as opposed to weeks or months after the fact.

No, they don't have to approve of every post you make - they just happen to need to give permission whenever it counts...
And that causes many delays in information distribution and communication.

If Peter is afraid that because he constantly changes the design of Godus, he can't say anything. Because then people expect him to stick to it.
Yet at the same time the players themselves are losing faith in Godus because the product is barely resembling that which they once chose to buy.
Its a pretty problematic situation if you know what I mean.

*edit* TL;DR - I'm worried that the constant and drastic changes made to the game resulting in information becoming redundant and you as CM's needing to get a new approval/confirmation to reveal the new changes is a large drain on resources that is detrimental to 22cans. Allowing you more freedom would subsequently allow 22cans to work without the delays. There is no need for all these artificial barricades, when there is honest and transparant communication to clear up all misunderstandings.
By removing that barricade between community and developers, I feel that the project could proceed much smoother - as proven by various other Early Access and 'in development' titles such as Stonehearth.



I would assume that vv's question is no longer relevant as the weekly blogs were implemented after the fact.

Blogs would have taken way longer to publish than videos, as what would have happened is I'd have had to record Peter & Jack's answers, then typed up a transcript and put it on the blog. Editing videos is actually quicker and less labour intensive than creating a transcript for a 30 minute chat. Nevertheless, I think I get the underlying point you're raising now.

13thGeneral, I'm rephrasing your question as follows: "Why do you feel doing videos (which is time consuming to produce and edit) is better, or even easier, than for the design team to come on to the forums to answer our questions directly?"

Danjal, I'm posing yo0ur question as follows: "Could the CMs be given more up-to-date information automatically rather than needing to receive confirmation about changes to published plans? For example, changes made to designs while in development often results in information being redundant at time of publication – providing info on any changes to designs made when they happen would give the CMs more freedom to respond with accurate communications, as well as fewer delays in providing the community with answers."

Thanks for your speedy feedback, much appreciated.

Tweaked for clarity to read as follows: "Changes made to designs while in development often results in information being redundant at time of publication – could the CMs be given more up-to-date information automatically rather than needing to receive confirmation about changes to published plans? This would give them more freedom to respond with accurate communications, as well as fewer delays in providing the community with answers."

Okay, these questions are going to be answered in three rather than two videos. We shot two today and we're going to shoot the third tomorrow - they;re each about 30 mins long.

None of Peter's responses were, IMHO, obfuscated or answered with anything less than total honesty. I have to say, hearing Peter's responses to your queries genuinely does fill me with enthusiasm for the project and supports my faith in our direction, so I'm looking forward to seeing your reactions when we put them online next week.

I'm confused. Didn't you guys just do 3 videos? So now there are going to be 3 more?

That's fine, I understand the need for clarification in the wording to better convey the thought behind it. Thanks for your efforts, and time, in doing that. And now that you've described why it's easier - do to the process involved to generate those answers in blog form - it makes more sense why that route is chosen.

Glad to see all this movement into a more positive flow of communication; whether we like the info and outcome or not. Though, preferably, the outcome is positive for all involved as well, as much as possible.

Gesundheit.

Now that was a great game - itunes.apple.com/app/gesundheit!-hd/id591703749?mt=8

*disclaimer: I was one of the devs for this
** additional: I don't get any profit from more sales