Who is really optimistic about this game?

[Wolfie]

I'm optimistic but SE really need to learn how to keep the hype up for this game. When Yoshi-P first stepped in and took over the mood was great. Now it's like they are trying so hard to communicate on a busy schedule that they just throw some generic copy/paste answer in our direction(it's getting old now SE).

I think how Yoshi-P showed off AA was a good step since we know what it will look like, ideas on weapon delay, and even received a look at 2 WS new animations. It is still under development so we are able to at least give feed back on content that is...STILL UNDER DEVELOPMENT!

I would much rather see a 2-3 min video min video of what they are working on rather than some vague responses. That's just 1 of the non-important PC player thoughts however.

This would be a great start indeed. The first things Wada and Yoshida said with the team change is that they plan on regaining customer trust and communicating more. Posting the same old "we can't do X" or "we're looking into X" or "I will bring X to the devs" is a non-response. It's only one step above being completely quiet.

The letters from the producer were a great series, but they need to be way more detailed. We need status of what's holding up development so much, with a very detailed analysis (hint hint, tell us what this "core programming issue" is). We need to know what their exact thoughts are on fixing X or Y, even if the solutions are not correct or what we need (so that we may tell them otherwise). A big chunk of the player polls from the beginning of the year have seen no sort of follow-up.

[Belial]

This would be a great start indeed. The first things Wada and Yoshida said with the team change is that they plan on regaining customer trust and communicating more. Posting the same old "we can't do X" or "we're looking into X" or "I will bring X to the devs" is a non-response. It's only one step above being completely quiet.

The letters from the producer were a great series, but they need to be way more detailed. We need status of what's holding up development so much, with a very detailed analysis (hint hint, tell us what this "core programming issue" is). We need to know what their exact thoughts are on fixing X or Y, even if the solutions are not correct or what we need (so that we may tell them otherwise). A big chunk of the player polls from the beginning of the year have seen no sort of follow-up.

I personally see the Letters in a very ugly decline. The first few, coupled with player polls, etc. were pretty decent, and a bit informative. Since about the 6th, or 7th... they've just become PR gibberish and nothing of any real worth. At this point the only real information we're being provided apart from sporadic and usually unhelpful forum posts (sorry mods, nothing against you guys) are the patch notes.... which we don't get until the day of... which provides no benefit for a crippled game, nor an uneasy playerbase.

[Betelgeuzah]

This would be a great start indeed. The first things Wada and Yoshida said with the team change is that they plan on regaining customer trust and communicating more. Posting the same old "we can't do X" or "we're looking into X" or "I will bring X to the devs" is a non-response. It's only one step above being completely quiet.

And giving detailed responses is only one step below "lying". Half the people here have no clue as to what they mean by "assessing costs" and "algorithms". Going into programming specifics woukd be dumb. Either way, nobody is going to give a shit about their early communication if they fix the damn game. Your priorities are all kinds of fucked up if you think they "should" focus on letting us know every single concept, problems in implementation and testing as well as all the setbacks that make the feature less than intended.

"We can't do X" is not a non-response. You may not like it, but it answers your question very clearly. You don't like the answer? That doesn't make it a non-response I'm afraid.

The letters from the producer were a great series, but they need to be way more detailed. We need status of what's holding up development so much, with a very detailed analysis (hint hint, tell us what this "core programming issue" is). We need to know what their exact thoughts are on fixing X or Y, even if the solutions are not correct or what we need (so that we may tell them otherwise). A big chunk of the player polls from the beginning of the year have seen no sort of follow-up.

We don't "need" to know anything.

[Wolfie]

And giving detailed responses is only one step below "lying". Half the people here have no clue as to what they mean by "assessing costs" and "algorithms". Going into programming specifics woukd be dumb. Either way, nobody is going to give a shit about their early communication if they fix the damn game. Your priorities are all kinds of fucked up if you think they "should" focus on letting us know every single concept, problems in implementation and testing as well as all the setbacks that make the feature less than intended.

People damn right give a s*** about their early communication because the MMO market (and gaming market in genera) evolved to the point where developers need to be in constant communication with their fan base and customers. They don't have to give us technical details, but they SHOULD be giving us their thoughts on the overall design of things.

Here, I'll do some research for you and show you what good developer posts look like:

http://us.battle.net/wow/en/blog/1179708
http://us.battle.net/wow/en/blog/2956383

Notice how he's actually analyzing the design changes they're making, and ones that are frequently suggested, and what works and what doesn't. I have yet to see SE do anything close to that; instead, they throw out off the wall stupid design changes like kicking retainers out of MW based on a set of arbitrary rules.

And for the record, Blizzard HAS indeed come out and said that they can't do X, because it's a Y problem with the engine, and they're doing Z to address the engine change. SE has only given us their three-word buzz phrase of "Core Programming Issue" time and time again.

"We can't do X" is not a non-response. You may not like it, but it answers your question very clearly. You don't like the answer? That doesn't make it a non-response I'm afraid.

Yeah, you're right about that one. Still, the reason as to why they can't do X is important.

We don't "need" to know anything.

And it's this kind of attitude that turned FFXIV into the abortion that it is today.