Words
I understand what you mean, but at some point you either have to explain enough to us for us to understand the situation and form useful opinions and recommendations over it, or consider what you can tell us and then phrase your questions in such a way that you can get useful data out of the results.
Like, in the gods and biome infodumps, it seems like Cyster's gone back and explained some things she probably should have (and evidently could have) from the beginning. Some of this was easy to overlook- the number of blocks that will be affected by tinting is easy to assume one way or the other, for instance- but other times it seems like she either didn't bother to actually explain anything or only bothered to go back and explain things when it became clear that it was causing problems or not accomplishing the goal to not explain them.
I mean, if you feel what you've got now is better than the alternatives, then I guess there's nothing you can do, but I sometimes get the vibe that you haven't really made up your minds as to whether we're part of the development team or the survey group, and so are providing info and expecting answers that don't really line up.
Well, to address your second part, what's goin' on there is that digging that I mentioned. We say "Yay, we're going to have these gods!" and people start in on the rumor mill. Is Night evil? Is Day good? What about folks that don't want to follow gods? Are we making the gods? Are they predetermined? Will they talk to us? Will they throw parties in our townsquare every fortnight? The thing is, much of this hasn't been nailed down. Or, if it has, we're not at the point where we want to talk about it because it will only incite more questions that need answers we may not be able to give.
As one of the last players from Season 1, a player and admin from Season 2, and now an admin and developer on Season 3, I do think we're improving as a whole. I can look back at the things that worked and failed in Season 1 (The gods and their natural enmities were fantastic, as was the structure, but there were issues with reasons for people to fight and with protections), Season 2 (The ideas for the war plugins were great, as were events and the ability to found nations in sort of an open fashion, but war was useless and the map was quite honestly too huge), and wrangle those together into some amalgam that should work for Season 3.
You guys aren't part of the dev group. Which is why we don't tend to push you for answers, or do a whole lot more than ask your opinions. We -do- want to hear from you, though. Even if those ideas get shot down. Even if we don't use them. They fire our imaginations and get us moving on features that, hopefully, will align with your own thoughts on the game. I mean, really, ultimately, I'm just a player like you guys tryin' to make something cool. The only difference is that I get to DM every now and then :3
More words!
This is a good example of information that maybe should have been mentioned from the start. "We're going to stuff you in boxes, deal with it" and "We're going to feed you through a random sorter from where you can, through methods we haven't decided yet, crawl into a more favorable bin assuming there's space" are considerably different, but I hadn't previously noticed any information pointing to the second option until now.
I am familiar with the issues of population imbalance in a PVP context, but I'm also familiar with the issues of shoving people into distinct, theme-heavy factions they have no interest in and then telling them to go kill the team they actually want to be on in an RP context. I'm wary about blunt mechanics that potentially shaft players in order to achieve a desired effect, even if the effect itself is desirable.
Well, and the reason we've been tight-lipped about this is that we don't want to go into it too much because it's a sensitive area and we want to make sure we get it right. Obviously, open fluid movement isn't going to work between nations. So that's something we need to address (and are kinda on a good path towards, I think). The initial placement is going to be an issue as well. Do we ask people to group up and let them hash it out? Do we do a round robin like Season 1 for the start of the server (which, honestly, has a pretty good chance of getting you in with people you want)? How is that going to work?
Ultimately, we're not going to please everyone. I've accepted that. You might as well. There are so many expectations that people have of us, of the server, and of the community as a whole that I don't think we can appease everyone. We will work on making this the best place we can, though.
HAHAHA, EVEN MOAR WORDS!
Perhaps "building style" is too strong a phrase, but if I'm worshiping the Fire God, I can only build so many fountains and lush gardens surrounded by graceful, blue and green themed walls before it starts looking kind of strange. I may have also been thinking of building temple-cities or otherwise running with the god motif far more than is strictly necessary.
As for why I'd do something like that in the first place, presumably because I like fountains and gardens and cool colors but happened to end up worshiping and living in the lands of the God of Fire, as opposed to the God of Water or no one god exclusively.
Weeelll, that's why this biome contest is currently happening. Because looking at Fire and saying "IT'S ALL LAVA AND NETHERRACK" is boring as hell. I don't like it. Fire can encompass so many other things that we really ought to explore them. Fire can be more than a wasteland. It could be a dry savannah, it could be sulfurous hot springs, it could be an obsidian mountain range struck through with rivers of ash. There's no reason to limit your imagination, because we're not going to be. I want the landscape to be continuously varied and interesting, far more so than in Season 2 if you can believe that.
I'm..I'll be honest. I was hesitant to pop in here. I don't want you guys to feel like I'm trolling your space or anything. But these are concerns that I think are worth addressing, and ones that I can address. So I'm here, and this is what I got.
I consider it a compliment that you care enough to come over here to talk to us about it.
Happy to do so
Author
Topic: Minecraft: Nations at War ~~Applications now open~~ (Read 47904 times)