Thank you for City of Heroes, rednames!
By
Llydia,
Posted on: 2011-08-08 03:54 in CoH and CoV General Discussions
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Words have greater power than you might think, especially towards those inclined to listen. You're not going to chance an entrenched opinion, that much is a fact of life, but a strong argument has a deeper impact than it seems. Even if a person refuses it out of hand, a strong argument will stick with him. He'll think about it, try to justify his disagreement, it will come up in subsequent discussions and eventually, perhaps years after the fact, it will have an effect.|
Originally Posted by Yydr
After all, hadn't I started out the conversation the exact same way? Entrenched in my rightness I tried to change another with words alone so that person would with the same vision as I.
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This is doubly true for people on the development team who are genuinely open to suggestions. I'm speaking of people like David Nakayama and Tunnel Rat, people who come to the player base, essentially asking "See what we made? What do you think about it?" This is the fundamental truth of good game design - feedback. Knowing how players feel about what you're making and having more information going forward.
Words matters.
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| At first, every little effort is appreciated. After a while, repeated efforts are expected. Finally they are demanded, and kindness is lost. |
Obviously, players have no ground to demand changes as they have no power to make demands of any kind. At the same time, players are still justified in requesting what they feel the service would benefit from and what they - personally - want to have. Problems tend to arise when such requests are drowned out by dissenting customers, often for no real reason other than to be contrary.
Customers have the right to demand a satisfying, functioning service and the right to request said service to be expanded. The new Freedom model will, in fact, allow us to put our money where our mouths are and act on our own demands. Which, as far as I'm concerned, is the right way to go about it.
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Originally Posted by Arcanaville
Samuel_Tow is the only poster that makes me want to punch him in the head more often when I'm agreeing with him than when I'm disagreeing with him.
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One of the things I like about seeing your name, Samuel_Tow, is that I know your writing will be clear and thought-out.
And I agree about having a discussion between players and devs is what has made this game thrive in good ways. Indeed, I still hope that that player will come write on the forums so such a discussion can occur for their ideas.
My point in writing this was spurred by a different motive. Rather, I feel I do not thank all the rednames enough for the proportion of expectations I demand.
That point may have gotten lost in my desire to tell a backstory, which is why I am a veteran in sincerity yet a novice in writing technique.
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No, no, I agree with you completely. My apologies if that didn't come through in my post. I just find blanket agreement to be... Empty, put it like that. I could simply say "I agree." and leave it at that, but that seems unconstructive if I can't something else to comment or expand on. It's what makes threads interesting, I've found.|
Originally Posted by Yydr
My point in writing this was spurred by a different motive. Rather, I feel I do not thank all the rednames enough for the proportion of expectations I demand.
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As for thanking the developers, I agree with you in that regard. I, myself, have spoken against the game's direction quite severely over the past year, and while I'd like to take much of what I've said back, I'm holding my tongue until AFTER Freedom goes Live and I see it with my own eyes. What I'm hearing of the future and the benevolent response of the development team since Freedom was announced have been nothing short of admirable, but I'd like to see a final product first. Rest assured, though, everything good I can think of to say is going in my list of praises for AFTER Freedom
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Originally Posted by Arcanaville
Samuel_Tow is the only poster that makes me want to punch him in the head more often when I'm agreeing with him than when I'm disagreeing with him.
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I look forward to adding my lists to yours when FREEDOM is on live as intended. (aka After the major post-release bugs are cleaned out. 
)
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Eh, bugs I can deal with. With complaints, most likely, but that comes with the territory. So long as I feel the game is going in the right direction and the development team is focused on providing compelling content and amazing extras, as opposed to cutting corners and relying on Skinner Boxes, I'll be happy. And if I get a Titanic Weapon or two out of the deal, then that's all the better |
Originally Posted by Yydr
I look forward to adding my lists to yours when FREEDOM is on live as intended. (aka After the major post-release bugs are cleaned out.
) |
Seriously, though, if Freedom is as packed with content as I suspect it will be, that in itself will be praise-worthy. But it's not JUST that. I also feel that the content that's being advertised with it is also targeted to entertain and made to enthral, rather than just to serve as a time sink.
This, tangentially, is something I've noticed with so many MMOs going F2P - it's no longer as crucial to keep your players playing as long as possible by bogging them down in hideous time sinks. It's increasingly becoming important that you keep your players happy so that they're more likely to spend money on unimportant things. If I LOOOVE a game, I wouldn't think twice about plopping down $5 or $10 for a few costume items. If I'm already irritated with a game, I'm not going to do that, not a chance in hell.
The City of Heroes development team has a lot of very responsive, communicative people on it, and with the model moving forward thriving on a happy playerbase, I expect them to be given more leeway to respond to the playerbase than ever before. I every time I see David Nakayama or Tunnel Rat post, it makes my day a little happier, even if all they post is just "Googly googly googly!" (looking at you, David!
). It makes me feel that the developers care and what I say is being heard. What we ALL say, as a point of fact. Because, really, that's the way to give the players what they want - ask them The red names deserve their praise, I just want to accumulate a little more first.
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Originally Posted by Arcanaville
Samuel_Tow is the only poster that makes me want to punch him in the head more often when I'm agreeing with him than when I'm disagreeing with him.
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It is nice to see someone not take the Devs for granted. If even for a little bit. |
Originally Posted by Yydr
So I decided to take my own advice, come to the forums, and step back to appreciate all the rednames for what they have created. And by extension thanks to all, rednames and players alike, who seek to uplift and build this great community. Being a part of City of Heroes has been one of the best experiences of my life. I commit to being more appreciative of the work and love that is done in its creation.
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I will admit, that I don't thank them as often as I should, but I do appreciate the hard work they put into this game. Even if I don't care for the part of the game that the hard went into.
I also realize that they don't have the same likes and dislikes that I have.
There I was between a rock and a hard place. Then I thought, "What am I doing on this side of the rock?"
Having taken several classes on content design, character modeling/rigging, quality assurance, sound design, the whole 9, I can safely say that I both respect the devs and am thankful I don't have their job.
I don't think I could go on these forums as a dev/redname with all the snark and self-entitlement without causing an HR issue.
My guides:Dark Melee/Dark Armor/Soul Mastery, Illusion Control/Kinetics/Primal Forces Mastery, Electric Armor
"Dark Armor is a complete waste as a tanking set."
My friends today we gather here
To give forth praise' resounding cheer
The recipients of our crescendo scream?
Our erstwhile red development team
To those who gave us brutes and tanks
We'd like to give our reverent thanks
For from your sweat soaked, fervent toil
Our heroes grew from fertile soil
You've enriched our lives, e'ery girl and lad
With avatars all spandex clad
Your gift to every gal and guy
A waking chance to finally fly
For each of you ARE Hero-One
For giving us such joy and fun
We gather here to ensure it's said
We love our hero team of red.
My mind wanders so often you've probably seen its picture on milk cartons. - Me... the first person version of the third person Steelclaw
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Bravo! Bravo! Encore! *standing ovation*|
Originally Posted by Steelclaw
My friends today we gather here
To give forth praise' resounding cheer The recipients of our crescendo scream? Our erstwhile red development team To those who gave us brutes and tanks We'd like to give our reverent thanks For from your sweat soaked, fervent toil Our heroes grew from fertile soil You've enriched our lives, e'ery girl and lad With avatars all spandex clad Your gift to every gal and guy A waking chance to finally fly For each of you ARE Hero-One For giving us such joy and fun We gather here to ensure it's said We love our hero team of red. |
When I saw your name, I thought, "Oh, we're going to get a preview of lists that will be made when City of Heroes: FREEDOM goes live." What a nice surprise to read this beautiful tribute.
Fantastically crafted, Steelclaw! Thank you very much for sharing!
Because I am long-winded I will start with the main point:
Thank you for City of Heroes, Devs, OCRs, Mods, rednames all!
The story, condensed from hours of back and forth:
Tonight in game chat a vocal player was adamant about their opinions on how the CoH game was fundamentally flawed, unbalanced, and unfair. They were met on all sides by people who disagreed in part or whole.
I also added my strong opinion, mixed with urges for them to take the discussion to these forums. Devs would never see their words in that game chat, but on the forum it could be given visibility and weighed, like the reaction to the new CoT designs, I argued.
It took a long while, but I finally realized meeting them head-on was getting nowhere. I began an new abstract approach, trying to figure out the drive behind the opinions. It took longer to convince them that my words were written with a smile and genuine interest, rather than sarcasm meant to be taken to an extreme, but once we both tried to be understanding things progressed. Slowly, but we did move forward in a discussion both involving CoH and non-game concepts.
Just before I had to call it a night, I tried once more to guide them to come to the forums. Alternately I encouraged them in create their own game with would be the utopia of MMOs and asked them to let me know when they had something better than City of Heroes for me to give 100% support.
They agreed that would be the challenge. But even just thinking of the ideas and maybe telling others who may or may not use them is sometimes enough.
Ah-ha! I finally understood something clearly about this person at a fundamental level. They are a thinker rather than a do-er.
Yet, I could not shake my head over the fact that the likelihood is they would forever be talking of their ideas rather then doing whatever was needed to see them created in their ideal.
After all, hadn't I started out the conversation the exact same way? Entrenched in my rightness I tried to change another with words alone so that person would have the same vision as I.
Much humbled at this realization, and being a woman who's always tying things in, I mused about the similarities to the stages of a relationship: Appreciate, Expect, Demand.
At first, every little effort is appreciated. After a while, repeated efforts are expected. Finally they are demanded, and kindness is lost.
I had started out demanding that that person see my viewpoint as right. It wasn't until I stepped back to appreciate who they were and where their views were coming from that they opened up enough to accept my views. Even though we basically agreed to disagree in the end, it was much more than would have ever happened had we continued circling head-on.
The next thought was about how often I've come to expect, even demand, City of Heroes be the game I envision. I was a little ashamed to realize that when I think and tell other about City of Heroes, it is only about those parts that are how I want it to be.
So I decided to take my own advice, come to the forums, and step back to appreciate all the rednames for what they have created. And by extension thanks to all, rednames and players alike, who seek to uplift and build this great community. Being a part of City of Heroes has been one of the best experiences of my life. I commit to being more appreciative of the work and love that is done in its creation.
May you be true to learning your ideal vision and have the courage to pursue it!