To the Community and the Developers

[OctavianAXFive]

To Both,

Take it one thing at a time.

To the Community,

I've decided that Planetside 2 is very much still a beta. It's like the Death Star in Episode VI. Sure it's operational, but obviously incomplete and vulnerable.

Think of some of the game’s problems like scaffolding. They are not a part of the structure itself, but rather hold it up while more fundamental changes are made. There's no point in fixing the scaffolding if it's temporary.

I like brainstorming just as much as the next guy. I have issues with the game that I have made clear before. But if we as a community keep shotgunning out a massive stream of posts about things we find wrong with the game, then the devs will have a hard time figuring out what is a priority to address.

This is exactly why they made the Roadmap. Sure it's not perfect and is only half the battle, but it helps give them a better idea of what we actually care about.

To the Developers,

I think it would be helpful if you don't play your cards quite as close to your chest as you do. You're great about previewing new things but as far as fixes and changes go, you aren't all that engaging. Even if you don't have anything to show, tell us about your ideas for a new feature as you go through the process of making it. Feedback on something you've almost completed is not as useful if you've almost finished it by the time we get a chance to see it.

It'd be nice to see a rep from SoE pop in on PSU more often and do a thread addressing some of the things we’ve been talking about around here. I’m sure you do read quite a bit of what we have to say. But we don't really see many responses. I know you're busy and I know at work you probably don't have time to respond and at home you probably want to take your mind off of your job. But if you could find some time to come around here more often and respond, it would be appreciated immensely.

A little bit more community interaction here would go a long way in helping us understand some of your design goals which would in turn allow us to provide more useful feedback. I don’t want to talk about adjusting the "scaffolding" if you have something entirely different in mind.

I do hope that metaphor makes sense.

-OctavianAX5

[Phantomdestiny]

i approve

[Mietz]

I've decided that Planetside 2 is very much still a beta. It's like the Death Star in Episode VI. Sure it's operational, but obviously incomplete and vulnerable.

Think of some of the game’s problems like scaffolding. They are not a part of the structure itself, but rather hold it up while more fundamental changes are made. There's no point in fixing the scaffolding if it's temporary.

Wait, so we are playing and some of us paying for a product that
a. isn't finished (incomplete)
b. has temporary rules (scaffolding)
c. that are subject to change (into structure)

Seems legit, lets continue to support SOE!

[Hamma]

I'd love to see more dev interaction here. In the end one thing we have to remember is when devs post often people take it as a promise even when it isn't. That's why they are careful about posting intricate future thoughts. They don't want posts saying OMG HIGBY PROMISED X AND NOW WE ARE GETTING Z

[Brusi]

So which one is the Emperor and which one is Darth Vadar?

[Micro]

Originally Posted by OctavianAXFive

I've decided that Planetside 2 is very much still a beta. It's like the Death Star in Episode VI. Sure it's operational, but obviously incomplete and vulnerable

That sums it up, perfectly!

And I approve your post, everyone should read this thread (and the devs should answer. ^_^)

[Falcon_br]

Yeah, it is operational, and we are having a lot of fun with it, despite all olds bugs and all newly introduced ones.
Metagame will arrive some day, and with the test server, we all hope that no new abominations patch will even arrive again and ruin a double xp event.

[Ghoest9]

Can we please stop using the "beta" word?

Yes the game is still in development - the devs have said as much.
No its not in "beta".
If you read Smeds long term hopes for the game its clear that it will only stop changing at the point that they give up on it.

Using that term pretty much just means you annoyed a devs before they one started reading(if they even bothered).

[CToxin]

Planetside 2 is an MMO as well as a FPS. It will stop being in development the day it dies. It will never be perfect and that is just fine. Yes, it would be nice if the devs were more open, but they are already more open than any other dev team I know of. They have a roadmap, a public test server so everyone can try out the things they are working on (ok, not all the things, ::sadface:, and they in some way communicate with the community every week (FNO, Command Center, etc). They are also fairly talkative on twitter.
I would, however, prefer if they posted on either the official forums or here more often, but as Hamma says, they don't want people going RAGEFACE WHY IS X NOT Y AND INSTEAD Z I QUIT anymore than they already do.

[fierce deity]

Originally Posted by OctavianAXFive

To Both,

Take it one thing at a time.

To the Community,

I've decided that Planetside 2 is very much still a beta. It's like the Death Star in Episode VI. Sure it's operational, but obviously incomplete and vulnerable.

Think of some of the game’s problems like scaffolding. They are not a part of the structure itself, but rather hold it up while more fundamental changes are made. There's no point in fixing the scaffolding if it's temporary.

I like brainstorming just as much as the next guy. I have issues with the game that I have made clear before. But if we as a community keep shotgunning out a massive stream of posts about things we find wrong with the game, then the devs will have a hard time figuring out what is a priority to address.

This is exactly why they made the Roadmap. Sure it's not perfect and is only half the battle, but it helps give them a better idea of what we actually care about.

To the Developers,

I think it would be helpful if you don't play your cards quite as close to your chest as you do. You're great about previewing new things but as far as fixes and changes go, you aren't all that engaging. Even if you don't have anything to show, tell us about your ideas for a new feature as you go through the process of making it. Feedback on something you've almost completed is not as useful if you've almost finished it by the time we get a chance to see it.

It'd be nice to see a rep from SoE pop in on PSU more often and do a thread addressing some of the things we’ve been talking about around here. I’m sure you do read quite a bit of what we have to say. But we don't really see many responses. I know you're busy and I know at work you probably don't have time to respond and at home you probably want to take your mind off of your job. But if you could find some time to come around here more often and respond, it would be appreciated immensely.

A little bit more community interaction here would go a long way in helping us understand some of your design goals which would in turn allow us to provide more useful feedback. I don’t want to talk about adjusting the "scaffolding" if you have something entirely different in mind.

I do hope that metaphor makes sense.

-OctavianAX5

Agreed. Clearly laying out their short, medium, and long term objectives for this game, and releasing highly detailed patch notes a few days before each game update would definitely improve community relations. It would be nice if the devs replied to more posts here, on the main forums, and reddit, even if they just said "acknowledged". That way we will at least know they have seen our ideas.

Originally Posted by Brusi

So which one is the Emperor and which one is Darth Vadar?

Smedley is the emperor of course. Wisenhunt being TR is Vader. Luperza is Leia by default. Higby being NC is luke. Clegg also being NC is Han Solo. That leaves T-Ray as Lando Calrissian.

[OctavianAXFive]

Ghoest, I did read what Smedley had to say. Please, don't take me for a fool. Your condescending tone is unwelcome and not constructive.

I used the word beta very specifically because it gets across the point that I believe that the game is, in a very fundamental way, unfinished.

"Beta" gets used a lot because it speaks to the experience players have with the game. "It feels like a beta" translates simply to "it feels unfinished." As consumers of video games we expect certain benchmarks be met before we are satisfied with a product. By labeling Planetside 2 as being in a "beta state" we get across the point that we are not satisfied with the fundamentals of the game. The challenge the developers then have is "what are those fundamentals that feel unfinished?" I believe they know in their heart of hearts what those things are.

I know what it's like to have a manuscript "written" but not "finished." Until you get the manuscript to where you want it, it drives you crazy and if people read it before it's done, you get this itch because you know it can and will be better. The creative leaders on the development team have to feel that itch right now.

But in this digital age and in this medium in particular, the creative minds behind the game are not its only curators. We, the players, are the curators too.

We are hijacking the meaning of the word "beta" beyond its usual use for product development. We (and particularly I) am using it as a rhetorical tool meant to illustrate a feeling of "incompleteness" experienced while playing the game.

What a lot of you are objecting to can be summed up as follows:

Art is never finished, only abandoned.

I don't think that's always true, but in this case I think it's apt.

We are given many tools with which to stand up and say something to the developers when we are not satisfied. Do not be passive and simply say "they'll figure it out, it's fine." They have gone out of their way to give you a voice in the development process. All I'm asking is that they have more of a dialogue with us so we might make better use of that voice.

[Canaris]

Originally Posted by Hamma

I'd love to see more dev interaction here. In the end one thing we have to remember is when devs post often people take it as a promise even when it isn't. That's why they are careful about posting intricate future thoughts. They don't want posts saying OMG HIGBY PROMISED X AND NOW WE ARE GETTING Z

he just needs to be more careful how he presents things is all, not our fault we twist his words with such ease

[Varsam]

Originally Posted by Mietz

Wait, so we are playing and some of us paying for a product that
a. isn't finished (incomplete)
b. has temporary rules (scaffolding)
c. that are subject to change (into structure)

Seems legit, lets continue to support SOE!

I don't see how that's fundamentally different from any other MP game ever.

[Ohaunlaim]

Devs should just come and tell us the directions they decided NOT to go with their updates/changes. Keeps us guessing, still provides information to throw curves into the discussion, and prevents people from getting butthurt by assuming that promises were made.

[Mietz]

Originally Posted by Varsam

I don't see how that's fundamentally different from any other MP game ever.

You inability to spot the difference is not relevant.