[Petition] Have Naoki Yoshida Play Healer and take off the DPS Gloves for a year.

[Elesh]

But if the head chef doesn't like a crucial ingredient and refuses to taste it despite putting it in his dishes, that's a problem, right?

Fortunately Yoshida isn't the head chef. He's the producer - which is closer to the owner or building manager than it is to the role of head chef. He's not a game designer. He's not a developer. He's not on the design team. He's a producer. Which is a very important role, buti t's a much broader role than a developer. His job is not the day to day game design.

[game_enjoyer]

Fortunately Yoshida isn't the head chef. He's the producer - which is closer to the owner than the head chef.

In most high end restaurants the head chef is also the owner, but this metaphor is starting to get away from the point. He's in charge of the game and has the most influence.

[Elesh]

In most high end restaurants the head chef is also the owner, but this metaphor is starting to get away from the point. He's in charge of the game and has the most influence.

Except... he doesn't. He is in charge of the game's high-end direction - things like 'what are we prioritizing engine work on?' or 'how many gameplay hours are we expecting x content to have?' or 'what order are we prioritizing these specific features in?'

He's not directly in charge of the day to day running. He's not as influential to the balance as you think, and the fact that you think he's heavily involved in the day to day balance decisions - beyond possibly a sign off on how many hours devs can spend on balance and maybe a part of in-house committee/focus group discussions on direction.... shows you know nothing about large-scale game design.

[game_enjoyer]

Except... he doesn't. He is in charge of the game's high-end direction - things like 'what are we prioritizing engine work on?' or 'how many gameplay hours are we expecting x content to have?' or 'what order are we prioritizing these specific features in?'

He's not directly in charge of the day to day running. He's not as influential to the balance as you think, and the fact that you think he's heavily involved in the day to day balance decisions - beyond possibly a sign off on how many hours devs can spend on balance and maybe a part of in-house committee/focus group discussions on direction.... shows you know nothing about large-scale game design.

I don't believe I ever said I think he's heavily involved in day-to-day balance decisions. You said that I said that, though. What I said was, and I'm paraphrasing here because I guess you didn't understand, "Someone as important to the direction of the game as Yoshida is should be aware of what he is green-lighting, and it appears he doesn't play healers, so he should play healers." And I don't even know to respond to the notion that the head producer, does not, in fact, have much influence on the direction of the game. And hey, the entire ethos of the design team, as stated by Yoshida on multiple occasions, is to ensure casual players can clear all content, which to me sounds like it extends into balancing issues, so yeah, he actually does have a bunch of influence on the balancing because he is the one who is pushing the design philosophy in one direction.

[Elesh]

I don't believe I ever said I think he's heavily involved in day-to-day balance decisions. You said that I said that, though. What I said was, and I'm paraphrasing here because I guess you didn't understand, "Someone as important to the direction of the game as Yoshida is should be aware of what he is green-lighting, and it appears he doesn't play healers, so he should play healers." And I don't even know to respond to the notion that the head producer, does not, in fact, have much influence on the direction of the game. And hey, the entire ethos of the design team, as stated by Yoshida on multiple occasions, is to ensure casual players can clear all content, which to me sounds like it extends into balancing issues, so yeah, he actually does have a bunch of influence on the balancing because he is the one who is pushing the design philosophy in one direction.

There's no legitimate reason for the game's producer to play every role. None. Zero. That's why teams exist. No one person can be everything, and no one person should be expected to be everything. Even the producer. Even the lead designer. No one. Again: that's why teams exist.

If someone wishes to create a new feedback thread along the lines of 'The development team needs more high-end healer representation'. Different point altogether and one that is probably viable. But that's not the premise of this thread. The premise of this thread is specifically wanting ONE SPECIFIC PERSON to play healers and it's nonsense. Utter nonsense.

[Deceptus]

There's no legitimate reason for the game's producer to play every role. None. Zero. That's why teams exist. No one person can be everything, and no one person should be expected to be everything. Even the producer. Even the lead designer. No one. Again: that's why teams exist.

We don't even have a dedicated battle designer for every role (Tank / Healer / DPS - Melee, ranged, ranged physical) and you're mentioning "teams"? We have a single, understaffed job design team.

[Elesh]

We don't even have a dedicated battle designer for every role (Tank / Healer / DPS - Melee, ranged, ranged physical) and you're mentioning "teams"? We have a single, understaffed job design team.

That's fair criticism. I would support a thread devoted to 'expanding the development team to incorporate a wider array of gameplay specialists'. Very valuable feedback that. That feedback doesn't counter the point of 'forcing Yoshida to play healers won't help anything' though.

[Liam_Harper]

There's no legitimate reason for the game's producer to play every role. None. Zero. That's why teams exist. No one person can be everything, and no one person should be expected to be everything. Even the producer. Even the lead designer. No one. Again: that's why teams exist.

Then why is there no dedicated healer designer? Someone on the "team" (tiny handful of staff) is trying to cover two roles and they expect them to do that. The dev team are basically doing what you're saying they shouldn't. Their team exists and doesn't even follow the reason a team should exist.

We don't really want Yoshida to go play healer, we just want him to realize a multi-billion-dollar company making one of the worlds most successful MMO's yet refusing to hire a single qualified staff member to cover one of their 3 combat roles ...is completely bonkers and significantly impacting the quality of the game in that area.