How to NOT PR:

How many people participated in that "competition"?

I didn't because I just don't get excited by those types of "community involvement" efforts, especially when they're doing very little else to really engage the community in a positive way; like posting developmental information topics, or simple progress reports. I find it to be a convenient distraction from the real problems, and takes up too much attention from discussions that are awaiting feedback from the devs. Seriously, you have time to oversee and moderate at contest, but not write up a road map or Dev diary, or just answer some long lingering questions about the actual game/studio? Come on. Why should we be encouraged/bothered to load up the game to skulpt silly landscapes instead of actually PLAY TEST THE GAME? Put out something for us to test and break, and open discussion about that. Encourage us to play the game, not find arbitrary distraction disguised as community involvement. You can do better.

It's now been 21hrs since the last comment, in the most active thread on the main Steam discussion boards (they have way too many sub-forums). And it's not a positive topic at that, either. The second most active topic thread hasn't had a comment in two days. Yikes. And not much of it is positive, for reasons we all are very familiar with.
The next active section is, naturally, the support area - nothing wrong there, as it is an important area of focus - as recently commented as a couple hours ago. However, if most of your focus is spent in addressing technical support issues - and most of you customer feedback is reporting those issues - and not informing or engaging the community (despite having several community delegates) as a whole on the progress of the game, you might have a bigger issue than just bad PR. A seriously monumental issue.
What can you do to rectify this situation?
Honesty, transparency, and being forthright in providing tangible, quantified information about the status of Godus.

Search your feelings, you know it to be true.

Spiderweb and that's fine, if you enjoy it. And maybe if things were different (read: better) maybe I would too. However, as you discovered, there are lots of issues with the game even running properly, or at all. As broken as it is, most people couldn't participate if they wanted to. That's a huge problem. Having these contests at this stage is a distraction and (IMHO) largely a waste of time at this juncture. They need to focus on conveying information about the development - and not what they had for lunch.
And if they want to do contests, that's fine - I'm not discouraging that. What I am lamenting about is the method and means. A better contest would have be something that can involve the entire community, while potentially attracting new fans, and isn't exclusive. Maybe doing fan art contests, or maybe a cosmetic design suggestion contest; design a cosmetic item you'd love to see in game and the winner (voted by community poll) gets put in the game as a milestone reward.
See, not hard, and doesn't even require owning the game.

I must have missed that suggestions topic. I'll have a look. Thanks.

Honestly, I'd prefer to be positive too, they just make it so darned difficult. I'm tired of giving them slack, because it's like not punishing a kid for eating all the cookies; they just don't learn and keep pushing to see how much they can get away with, while playing innocent naivety. But the pouty puppy dog eyes routine isn't going to work anymore.

I remembered another point I was going to make about contests, which is; they still owe a lsrge number of rewards from the original Kickstarter - like individual Pets - and should focus in trying to fulfill those instead of spending time doling out prizes for random online contests. It just comes off as being a disingenuous distraction from their responsibilities to Backers.

You mean the community competition that was a bone thrown at 22cans and pounced upon like the first scrap of anything they've had to eat in a while, to which they turn the topic farming for ideas on the competition into a discussion about their moderation principles through Mr. *snip*?

steamcommunity.com/app/232810/discussions/0/620713633849352402/#c620713633865523252

According to the competition:

steamcommunity.com/app/232810/discussions/0/617336568072075690/



So far, none have been linked, probably because Spiderweb (the one who suggested the competition) had a corruption issue.
steamcommunity.com/app/232810/discussions/2/618463106373291490/

But what incentive is there for someone to participate in this? Some signed (possibly, claimed it will be) company swag. Posters and t-shirts.

I've got a metal crossing sign from Running With Scissors shot up by the team and Gary Coleman. I think 22cans can try a little bit harder than they have been.


Speaking of bad PR, those who followed Amy's Baking Company might remember these t-shirts:

"I survived Amy's Baking Company"
"I speak feline MEOW!"
"Here's your pizza, go f**k yourself!"

A similar suggestion has been offered to 22cans:



NOW 22cans might have some participation... *sigh* I hope the new PR fellow's more up to the task. I really do.

The biggest hurdle will be in convincing folks that they should edit the game to get by this load of idiotic mobile porting:



Fieldrunners 2, Plague, INC: Evolved and Creeper World 3...all originated as mobile or browser titles and evolved into offering far more in the PC version, or for about the same as they charged for upon mobile. There is no slight to be had as you know what you are getting. Godus has the problem where paying into the mobile version just makes the design suck less for a short amount of time, and then it goes right back into awful banality of a pay-to-wait timer screensaver.

The PC version is just...a lazily-designed porting where you pay a flat chunk and then fiddle with the game until it reaches bearable even for the reduced PC timers that are, as seen above, just bonkers.

THIS IS WHY THE PC GAME NEEDS A COMPLETE GODUSDAMNED REDESIGN.

This competition is like shitting on my doorstep and then telling me I'll get a prize if I take a selfie with it and post it online.

I was one of those who got the Purge simply because I regularly made the mistake of expressing an opinion the moderators and mrdrpink disagreed with.

Time to bring back up this thread again, and things were starting to go so well.

steamcommunity.com/app/232810/discussions/0/598198173696305903/

So why does 22cans favour "bantagonism" instead of giving customers a reason to drop their grievances with a game/developer with a refund policy instated on their own?

This route just makes it even more obvious when you're silencing folks...and kind of makes it a point that others feel should be archived to detail the routine abuses casually performed upon customers both current and prospective.

So what is the intended effect for this?  Continue to harass the customer airing their grievances until it is convenient to act virtual police upon them, able to cite a "long history" when those "infractions" have been clearly fabricated or were instigated by previous moderator abuse to then make the naughty fellow daring to not groupthink double-plus happy go away for good?

Are customers to feel as if they are entirely disposable by 22cans?

I deleted a post that was quite a bit vocal towards Aynen.

I've seen Paulusian's post (which has since been deleted from public view).

I imagine it's for these: "stop being a petty, sarcastic and snarky jerk" & "you're apparently too thick to read between the lines"

Not exactly the nicest language or tone.