Wish me well; I need a water supply

[QuO]

I understand that perhaps the devs did not realize how much trouble it would be to adjust plots and play with the landscape so I won't criticize that effort with hindsight. What I will criticize is a lack of consideration for the hard work and planning that we players have put into our guild communities.

The way in which wells and sand piles were deleted as if they were just landscape clutter was uncalled for and unnecessary, at least in Sem if not elsewhere.

We lost the sand pile in Sem because someone wanted to resize TWO plots rather than just combine the two into one larger plot. We lost the well in Sem because someone seemed certain that it was not needed and that there must be a line waiting to snatch up that particular plot when it was resized.

It seems as if someone had no consideration for the fact that we built certain expert and journeyman shops because of the nearby well and sandpile. Now those shops cannot be used as intended.

It is doubtful those new plots where our well and sand pile used to be will even be purchased. I understand that we will be able to petition to get the well and sand back... after certain other projects have been completed. How many months will that be I wonder.

I'm okay however, I can adjust my schedule and plans and hope that they don't delete the well near my next plot. Oh... heh, that is delayed also. *twists the knife* Yes I'm being mean and sarcastic, but I feel a whole lot better after venting some of that steam.

[LOVWYRM]

I understand your complain, QuO.
Especially after you all discussed that (and other) last night.
It made me sad to hear that that has happened.
The more I appreciate that you`ll not gonna leave our game,
(due to all the plot troubles that are goin on) like others did

[Knossos]

Well I don't know whether or not it is plot troubles in whole or in part but it is a certainty that visible population on Order Shard is diminishing of late.

Knossos

[Landowyn]

Answering Knossos...

I have stopped playing becuase I gave up my plot hoping to find a larger one many weeks ago. The long delay in starting auctions and the increased base prices of nearly every plot I was looking at has been discouraging, and with all my "worldly possessions" in the inventories and cargo disks of my main character and all my alts, I can't really do anything but log in and check to see if auctions have started. Maybe it's the same with others.

[Sigi]

Why not just ask for the placement of a well and a sand pile and do a mean and sarcastic blowing of steam in rants if your request was denied?

[Steele]

I have to agree with QuO on this... I don't care about sarcasm and cynicism; I'm a New Yorker to my core, which means sarcasm is my lifesblood and cynicism my birthright.

That said, this thread is a harbinger for those who care to notice, and it deserves serious replies. I've been a fan of Horizons/Istaria since its inception and through its various metamorphoses, and I've even been accused of being a fanboi of VI for my near-rabid fanatic support of their efforts... but that doesn't mean I can't disagree with their decision-making process.

To be quite frank, ripping out wells and sandpiles and not taking the time to replace them - especially in areas like Sem where there is CLEARLY a ton of free space right at the portal from where they were removed - to me, has the feel of a project that was done under the gun, in a rush under strict time deadlines, and with some corners cut in order to meet those deadlines. I'm disappointed, but not surprised: game development, afterall, is still a business.

Don't get me wrong... I'm VERY sympathetic. I know the devs (and Velea especially) have been overtaxed, no doubt pulling at least a few nearly-all-nighters in order to machete a path to the coming auctions, and have spent even more time smoothing out the bumps. I just wish they had more hands on deck (more interns perhaps) to help get the work done. I'm all for VI's stance of taking time to get it done right the first time - that's one of the reasons I respect VI so much and support them with my subscriptions - but their customer base has a point: from our perspective, the feel of this has gone from "wanting to get it right" to "this is dragging on too long", and folks are getting impatient. Then add in the frustration of having necessary elements like sandpiles and wells (!!) ripped out of established guild communities with a vague promise that maybe it'll be revisited later... and yeah, I can see why folks' agitation and frustration levels are increasing. For the most part, it's not out of lack of respect for the work being done, or for who is doing the work.

Maybe QuO and others (like me) should just follow the process, create a ticket, not vent their frustrations and go on their merry way so others who con't want to hear it can pretend everything is peachy-keen. My counterargument is this: if those players are silenced then the devs might not truly grasp the urgency of their elevated frustration levels, and those players (many of them old timers and loyalists with multiple subs per account) might very well go on their merry way. Istaria doesn't need that, especially now.

If re-adding a few wells and sandpiles back to where they were stripped out would help keep frustration levels in check, especially in higher-profile areas of crafting where many Expert shops are concentrated, wouldn't it be worth it? Isn't that something an intern could handle? Wouldn't it be worth it to train an intern on stuff like that, to take it off the plates of those who need to do the heavy lifting and literally have their plates constantly overflowing?

...well (no pun intended) yeah, I do kinda think so. And I'm sure there are more than a few out there who would do help to make things right for the Istarian customer base if empowered to do so. I know it's not that simple. I know there's NDAs and training and ramp-up and remote meetings/conference calls and emails and distractions and all kinds of stuff that goes on in a business. But as a business, I get the feeling that VI's customer base needs them, now more than ever, to step things up a little and do something that will remind them they're going to keep doing the right thing for them and the game.

[QuO]

Why not just ask for the placement of a well and a sand pile and do a mean and sarcastic blowing of steam in rants if your request was denied?

Our guild leader was told that we could put in a petition/request for a well and sand pile but they would not be able to get to it until after the Labyrinth was finished. At least that is my understanding of what our GL was told.

I don't know what the Labyrinth is all about but I am very glad to know they are working on something that sounds kinda big. Being that is does sound like a big project and add the auctions in the mix; I feel any response time to a petition will be severely delayed.

[Sigi]

Our guild leader was told that we could put in a petition/request for a well and sand pile but they would not be able to get to it until after the Labyrinth was finished. At least that is my understanding of what our GL was told.

I don't know what the Labyrinth is all about but I am very glad to know they are working on something that sounds kinda big. Being that is does sound like a big project and add the auctions in the mix; I feel any response time to a petition will be severely delayed.

Thank you for responding, I really genuinely wondered.
I hope you get your well back soon - crossing my fingers for that.