How to walk a tightrope without falling off...

[Aamer Khan]

It would appear from all the threads we are seeing lately, that some think walking a tightrope is an easy thing to do.

Let me explain.

When you are a game company like AE, that is working with software you did not create, and attempting something NOBODY had done before, believe me, your walking on a very thin tightrope.

There is the necessary evil of having to make money to keep going. So, you also have to drag out the leveling process to keep players playing, to make the money it takes to provide the game in the first place...

There is the problem of having to test your product using beta testers who will feel that you owe them something beyond the normal customer... ( even though they are not "customers" because they have never paid a dime )

You will have investors that will rightly want a return on their investment.

You will have players ( the real, paying ones ) who will have issues that you need to address.

There will be bugs in any software, and in something this complex, it will take a long time to weed them out. And as you introduce new content, new bugs will be created along with content. This will increase the issues your having from the things mentioned in the previous paragraphs.

Ok, now picture it this way...

80 feet up, the spotlight shows one man walking the tightrope with a long pole in his hands. On his shoulders, is another man, with a woman on each arm, on top of them is three children. The one in the middle is juggling. The one on the bottom is talking th ethe crowd below and is informing them of their progress, and what it takes to walk tightropes. ( this is what AE is doing now )

They have made it 3/4 of the way accross.

All I can say is... MAN! those guys are amazing!

[;)] Keep it up! your almost there!!!

[gopher65]

[:D]That was an interesting mental image.I agree with you.

[Fhrain]

hehe...very nice indeed[:)]

[Shaw Moking]

hey! there are people in the crowd throwing stones at the tightrope walkers! some are leaving the circus before the trick is finished!
Where is the guy with the hotdogs?

[Aamer Khan]

Man! you always crack me up Shaw!

[Tigris]

*munching Cotton Candy, watching Tigers* Whaaaa? ;)

[Tryagain]

since the WA is not a reality and we aren't beating back Dynamically created invasions and Blight Incursions what exactly are they creating that no one has done before ?

The crafting ? heck yeah the plots ? sure. Dragons that can fly ? nice but not novel. Those are elements of the game and not hardly something fantastic either.

Your post has merit if it had been posted back in December and January. But we are now almost 12 months into the game. That tight rope is fraying and the audience is getting tired of watching the guy trying to cross. It isn't their fault but it is the tight rope walkers fault for not having practiced his act.

Other tight rope walkers have done it just fine. The precedent is there.

What is trying to be accomplished here is hardly beyond fantastic its just a concept that others believed wouldn't make money. That in the money the black ink is all that matters in this industry.

[Aamer Khan]

What a sour little man...

Tryagain, you get booted from the midgets union?

[Tryagain]

sour ? exactly how ?

You just basically said that anyone who has ever criticized AE was a moron. They couldn't possibly understand the concepts that AE was trying to create. As I said your post had merit had it been posted just after release. But we are now nearly 12 months into release and we have the same problems if not more. AE is running out of time and they need more help than you or I can possibly give. They know that too. If anything the folks at AE are not stupid.

If your post can't take an opposing view or the game a view that doesn't paint it with roses and candy than your ideals are not built on solid foundations. By all means lets not put AE down after all anyone can plainly see they are trying. But in this industry is it going to be enough ? Labeling anyone who disagree's with you as being sour and not understanding the amazing concept will get you no where.

I suggest Aemar that you temper your AE worship with a little bit of reality.

It will serve you well.

P.S I wasn't belittling AE I was bringing to light the cold hard facts of the situation. We have already seen what denial can do haven't we ?

[Serat]

I would be more impressed if they had the foresight to build a strong safety net upon which they could rely when they, rather inevitably, fall. In the MMORPG development context, that safety net would include a large resevoir of good will by the player base, built on trust and good communication. While there will always be carping about the impacts of various game systems on player's because personal perspectives of what is fun/interesting/appropriate are diverse, if the majority of the player base understands the broad goals of the developers and has a basis to believe that problems can be solved effectively when they arise, falling down off the tightropeonce in awhile won't carry with it as much risk.

Plus, tightropes are as muchabout creating the illusion of risk than actual risk. I've never bought into the idea that MMORPGs are so vastly complex that it is a minor miracle that they work at all. Fixing the Hubble telescope was a massively complex project, not just in scale (obviously there were more resources put towards that project)but in the concepts needed to solve the problems. There are many other projectswhich one could point to. The evidence is manifest that Horizons has not worked as well as other games have, which is thecorrect standard for evaluation. I too would cheerthe developers on towards theirgoals, as I share them and want them to succeed. But Iam not sure I'd be amazed that they've done what others also are doing quite regularly. I would be happy though, as I still enjoy the game and believe that its potential might eventually be realized.

[Robert Quicksilver]

I thought it was Tulga games now anyway that the offices have been relocated and all former employees of AE have had their identities changed. Are you saying the devs have run away to the circus now? I dont get it are you being ironic. :P

[AA0]

Tryagain, there is a difference between looking on the good positive side of things, and just focussing on the bad things like you are.

The first few months, I don't think anybody could figure out what the hell AE was doing. Lets take a look at the last 3 months and see what has happened to the game, the engine and such.
There is massive server improvement, much more stable and lag free now compared to before. The client fps are better and CTDs are generally less with the exception of a few specific issues. The game play is much more complete, you can not say that isn't a massive change.

AE might have screwed around the first 9 months, but in the last 3 there have been massive improvements coming out at an incredible rate for just a small team of devs.

[Aamer Khan]

hehe ...

Yep.

A couple of posts in this thread illustrate my point. The ones pointing out my failure to see clearly may, or may not be programmers. May or may not understand what is actually involved. They do like to define details, but rarely see the bigger picture. ( even though they think I can't see the whole picture ) And just because I choose NOT to comment on current game issues, somehow that means I have no understanding.

Such ones DO have their own opinions.

BUT, as usual they have missed to point in an effort to shake their fist at the heavens.

[Robert Quicksilver]

All I can say is this is YAPP.

Yet
Another
Patronising
Post

Oh no poor feeble-minded customer doesn't understand, has no sympathy or empathy that everyone behind the scenes is working their butt off. I thought that era had past, no more 100 hour weeks, back to normal schedule and hey weekends are free now. What the hell does it matter if someone is a programmer or not, hard work is hard work!

As a hard-working customer I'm pleased with the value Horizon's offer, all that extra content and its free!

[Tryagain]

focusing on the bad ? nope I am being very moderate here.

Do you think just because you say lay off AE they are trying that this makes them immune to the VERY harsh realities of the corporate competitive world ? You make them sound like they are Microsoft or some other big giant with no real competition. Well I can tell you this Horizons is a small fish in a pool of sharks here. If they do not evolve and adapt this fish gets eaten and swallowed by the sharks. That isn't focusing on the bad its focusing on cold hard reality. Something of which the AE worship crowd doesn't seem to be able to grasp.

What AE is creating here is just another MMO. What you do you must do well to survive. They aren't creating the 2nd coming of ************ of MMO's not even close.

Keep them in reality and MAYBE soon to be Tulga Games can carve out a niche they so desperately need to find.

Its not negative at all but a view that wants to see HZ here in 6 months. After all if everyone believed as you did this game wouldn't just barely be scraping by now would it ? Oh wait is that because they are all stupid and not enlightened ?

Interesting world we live in. Lets keep focused on the task ahead please.

[Vito]

Aamer you andI agree on a lot and further are in game friends. However, I just can't let this pass. We are at the 1 year threshold of this game and we have both been here through it all. It is pointless to get into what is good and/or bad about this game as there is both.

Facts:

1. Horizons is 1st and foremost a business solely dependant upon subscriptions for survival.
2. The player base is shrinking.
3. New players entering the game are few and far between.

I can speak of the player base as I am active in much more than just my guild; you know that. I can further speak of new players entering the game because as a full time silo builder(aren't all crafters now?), I spend a lot of time in the newb cities. Further, we both came to Chaos from Bounty and know those players well as it was a tight knit community overall. Their numbers are shrinking and that is a strong player base.

In summary, the bottom line will be addressed 1st and foremost regardless of the quality or potential of this game. Call my statesments speculation should you choose. However, time will tell and IMHO time is short.

[PJ]

since the WA is not a reality and we aren't beating back Dynamically created invasions and Blight Incursions what exactly are they creating that no one has done before ?

Hmm when was the last time you played? Its funny I was beating back the WA dynamically yesterday. Another player and I smashed 3 blight anchors near the marble and yew fields. Watched the broken WA forces flee in terror and the blighted resource fields spawn clean nodes once the blighted nodes were mined away.

[AA0]

I do not worship AE, nor think they are all perfect. The first 9 months of this game was a disgrace, they made bad move after bad move, and only recently have started to improve in virtually everyway.

Every person has a game they like or don't like for certain reasons. I happen to love HZ for its mix and diversity in the game, craft, adventure, plots... right now its only missing quests, and is pretty much ideal for me.

As I've said, AE made bad choices before. If the game was released as it was now, it would have a much wider audience, and be able to keep them at a much better rate. Legal situations force AE to have a low customer count right now, they can't officially be bought by tulga, and they can't fund advertising for new customers. Personally, I ran across this game by accident, and decided to find a demo and d/l it, no advertising, and not a box on the shelf around here.
If AE can get funds to advertise again, get their anniversary package out, I have a feeling they will get a new surge of customers. The game is in pretty good shape.

Your post is completely negative, you focus only on whats wrong and nothing that is right or going well. You are a troll.

[Rainbow]

We have just finished the plot auctions on Unity and I had the auction channel going until almost the last plot was auctioned. Granted, I was not logged in for every plot auctioned, but I saw many, many plots being put up for sale due to no bids.

It actually became a little embarasing as plot after plot was put for sale whenI remembered the reassurance that we were giveninitially by Luca thatthe European servers did not need to be merged. Three servers into one and I would be surprised if at least 99% of us did not come out of the auction with a better plot than we had pre-merge.

That, in itself, paints an honest picture of the situation currently. The farewell posts add another dimension that speaks clearly of folks leaving.

The remaining staff team at AE may be busting a gut to turn this game around, but so they should be. It was not the player base that defaulted on their side of the deal. You paid your monthly fee the same as I did, and we both clicked the "I Agree" button before we logged in.

I seem to remember somebody being criticised for posting their concerns and dismay after the vaults were reduced in size again on the NA server. Along with the criticism went a chastisement that the person should have been basicly glad of the big bank gift that AE had given us for a while. ???? Ermmmm and how many players extra would have left had they not given us big banks to sweeten the bitter pill of server merging and all the hassle it brought? They did not do us a favour, theywent for damage limitationbecause they actually had little choice, or that is how it struck me at the time.

Please, do not misunderstand me as I sometimes dread that we may all go to log in one day only to find a little "sorry but...." message to greet us and the game closed forever. That would be a great shame and a great waste, not only because of the hard work that the staff team are currently having to do, but because of the remaining player base that still pay and support the game even with its fault. That sort of loyalty deserves a thank you every now and again.

Some of us support the game warts and all, and our thoughts are as valid as those of the players placing great emphasis on this recent surge of effort by the staff team to try and turn this game around. Some of us are not blinded by love for the game and will speak honestly about the broken bits, the missing bits, the lag, the lack of communication and all the other niggly glitches that affect us every now and then.

Let's hope that the hard work that the staff team needsto do now works. I am not going to feel sorry for them, nor will I ever believe that they do it as a special favour for me and other players. They do it because they have to; it's their livelihood at risk if it doesn't come off. The remaining player base deserve a thanks for maintaining such loyalty, so let the staff team keep hard at it to provide a quality game that we can enjoy.

In the meantime, I shall continue to appreciate the things that attract me to the game, including the many choices of race and class,the crafting system, the huge landmasses, the great effects when playing a mage, the wonderful music in NewKorelia and last, but not least, the great playerbase that I am able to play alongside of.

An honest and balanced picture is hardly deserving of a statement such as, "You are a troll". I actually couldn't work out how that was attacking the other person's post rather than the poster himself.


Rainbow

[Spellbound]

Very Nice post Rainbow, very well thought out and very true...