Discussion: Jeff "Arbiter Hawk" Hamilton Developer Diary at Massively

Massively scored exclusive insight from Jeff "Arbiter Hawk" Hamilton about the new Magisterium trial in Issue 23: Where Shadows Lie

http://massively.joystiq.com/2012/05...-from-the-mag/

Honestly this just feels like a rehash of previous articles. There's only so much that can be said about a trial and I think the Devs have said it to death, on massively and elsewhere.

Well I like Arbiter Hawk and the way he handles things professionally even when he does not agree and Hitstreak is new and has been cool so they both get a pass from me.

I appreciate the "pass" DK

We have to do articles from two perspectives. On one hand, we have to give insight into the process for the current users - which is why we do Ustream and Freedom Fridays on Facebook but we also want to do pieces like this where we're able to reach out to a much larger audience on sites like Massively, PC Gamer, MMORPG, OnRPG etc.

Sorry if this isn't "news" to you but hopefully it does its purpose of getting new people to join the game or getting someone who's played in the past stoked about the new content.

-HS

Hmmm.

Marketing did something to promote the game to non-subscribers and people complain that it's not new information.

Marketing didn't do what someone thought they should do (TV ads, product placement in TV shows, etc) to try to bring in more players and Marketing is a bunch of incompetent slobs.

Got it.

No putting words in my mouth, please.

It's not bad that it's not new, but Massively already had an article detailing the trial from back when it was -announced-. I just don't see a point to repeat the same information the same site has already had. Hawk isn't bringing any new perspective to the trial that wasn't already discussed -on the same site-. It's great that the company is working with gaming sites to get the word out. I just don't feel repeating the same thing on the same site is a worthwhile endeavor. Maybe it's some sort of warped shotgun logic that if you say the same thing over and over you'll hit new people.

Then again one has to question the logic of why anyone would think a single end game trial would be impetus for someone to join the game when it's a pretty long slog from 1 to 50 for a newbie, DFBabies an exception. It's more likely to pull in people that have played the game before as a new shiny. I mean I don't really think people join up with the 900 lbs gorilla int he room because they saw how OMG COOL YOU GET TO FIGHT WITH DOZENS OF OTHERS TO TAKE DOWN A DRAGON (if you manage to get through the other 6 bosses before it and the long dungeon crawl before them) Etc.

So yeah advertising is great. It doesn't have to be new stuff but maybe you could at least talk about the old stuff in new directions? I dunno cuz again, this article was just parroting what's been said before between the same site and other devs. Another perspective is cool when it's different, this isn't and I don't think anyone is fooled that this is some attempt to pull in new gamers.

No putting words in my mouth, please.

I said more players and non-subscribers. I didn't say new players.

As for what was said before on Massively about this very trial, when was the last article they had? I apparently missed seeing any articles that were more than just an announcement about the Magisterium Trial or Issue 23. The announcement didn't give the details that the Dev Diary entry did. They may have given more information on some other sites, but some people are picky about what sites they get their gaming information from.

Many people look specifically for the Dev Diary type posts on Massively and other sites because they like getting the viewpoint of the Developers rather than just some reviewers interpretation of something.

In the long run, I know I'm not the target audience for these articles.

well i understand wanting to give a background on the new trial. and that they have had a long haul withthe trial, but hate to say it "its a bit of a fail".

right now on lots of servers people are "farming " the trial. going in and doing the first set of mobs and then quitting and repeating about 6 times to unlock the slot.if it is such a great trial why all of the farming? and the slot power it unlocks ,is So-So, i have it in my tray but not sure how often I will use it.

it cant be all the players fault.

I have done 5 full trials succeeded once and failed 4 times,mostly due to PUG not listening.

just no EPIC/fun feel to the trial, felt grindy on the first run. to best succeed 6 of us were stationed to take out the "lights" when they spawned, others had the duties of the fight the last boss. good teamwork succeeds.

The PuG trials that have actually tried to complete the trial on Liberty that I have been on have - with the exception of the first one I tried - succeeded. I love this trial, and that says a LOT - I'm not a fan of large end-game trials at all (not that I don't do them, obviously).

Having said that, the key words in the first sentence are actually tried to complete the trial.

My experience: Got tired of failing the trials, once one was successfully completed, switched to farming the ixp. Unlocked hybrid on two chars, slotted one, ignored the other.

Haven't been back since.

On the other hand, other Trials seem to be going strong.

So, when is i24 coming out?