Monthly Development Update - 2nd April 2014

[Notevenmad]

Did you copy/paste or rewrite the whole thing?

OMG Shalex are you following me?!?!?!

copy/paste bro. aint noone got time for rewrite

[Grandpa]

Is this a sign of the times that past loyal AO supporters are getting fed up?

Yes, that might be true. I know it is in my case.
But he is also correct about what he says here:

To make things even worse AO's economy is ruined thx to incompetence of FC that first of all over the years could not stop many exploits like credit generation, item duplication etc.
The funny thing is that FC refuse to admit that exploits even exist by deleting or locking any threads that have word "exploit" in topic. The only thing that is done every patch is to write the same sentence at the end of every patch note: "We fixed various bugs and exploits"

In my 2.5 years of absence, AO has suffered serious damage by half a dozen irregularities that I'm aware of.
Two of them were unprecedented in scope and gravity. Yet Funcom has done next to nothing to remedy the fallout.

Now they have the audacity to implement mandatory inspect, taking away a piece of privacy from rule-abiding players, so the paying customer can do Funcom's job and catch cheaters for them.

Monumental corporate failure!

I don't need to see another vague monthly update for the rest of the year, if Funcom would spend all their time correcting what went wrong in the last 2 years.

[jorricane]

copy/paste bro. aint noone got time for rewrite

The number of copy/pastes in AO has always been too damn high....

[jorricane]

Yes, that might be true. I know it is in my case.
But he is also correct about what he says here:



In my 2.5 years of absence, AO has suffered serious damage by half a dozen irregularities that I'm aware of.
Two of them were unprecedented in scope and gravity. Yet Funcom has done next to nothing to remedy the fallout.

Now Funcom has the audacity to implement mandatory inspect, taking away a piece of privacy from rule-abiding players, so the paying customer can do their job and catch cheaters for them.

Monumental corporate failure!

On a personal note, I intend to maintain my policy of asking before inspecting, whether someone inspects me first or not.

Sadly, I can't see many others sticking to this.

On that point, I agree completely.

[Spead]

For goodness sake. I had forgotten about that new inspect thing. Dear oh dear

[Beornin]

For goodness sake. I had forgotten about that new inspect thing. Dear oh dear

Oh noes! People will see my carb!

[Psikie]

In my 2.5 years of absence, AO has suffered serious damage by half a dozen irregularities that I'm aware of.
Two of them were unprecedented in scope and gravity. Yet Funcom has done next to nothing to remedy the fallout.

I am not discounting any of the posts you have made, because in a fair light they are true and make perfect sense. The difference being that after my 10+ years of AO i take it at face value of a momentary distraction or as a few hours of entertainment killing lvl 5 bio freaks and mutants with my 220's.

I don't take AO too seriously at this point and I see any change as not necessarily progress but as a new challenge to an old game. So bring on reflect, open inspect, and nano changes. It won't change how I play or who I play with honestly. I take it with a grain of salt. Serenity Prayer

[Grandpa]

I am not discounting any of the posts you have made, because in a fair light they are true and make perfect sense. The difference being that after my 10+ years of AO i take it at face value of a momentary distraction or as a few hours of entertainment killing lvl 5 bio freaks and mutants with my 220's.

I don't take AO too seriously at this point and I see any change as not necessarily progress but as a new challenge to an old game. So bring on reflect, open inspect, and nano changes. It won't change how I play or who I play with honestly. I take it with a grain of salt. Serenity Prayer

You have a very healthy approach!

I guess the state of the game just shocked me when I returned after my long break.
Even though I have kept quiet for the last decade or so, I felt it was my time to speak up.

Some like to suppress the truth, rather than talking about solutions, but this time I thought Funcom needed to hear it loud and clear.

But you are correct, it is just a game!
I enjoy the people I play with and, ultimately, that is all that matters.

[jorricane]

I am not discounting any of the posts you have made, because in a fair light they are true and make perfect sense. The difference being that after my 10+ years of AO i take it at face value of a momentary distraction or as a few hours of entertainment killing lvl 5 bio freaks and mutants with my 220's.

I don't take AO too seriously at this point and I see any change as not necessarily progress but as a new challenge to an old game. So bring on reflect, open inspect, and nano changes. It won't change how I play or who I play with honestly. I take it with a grain of salt. Serenity Prayer

Best post in any thread, by any person, in a long damn time. Thanks for reminding us what it's all about.

Cheers!

[Gunforhire]

I fail to understand how people can support the devs still. Instead of giving any kind of reply on important issues that can EASILY be addressed (once again, read: multiboxing) she choses to make "troll" threads after being called out on a shoddy update. Perhaps if you posted relevant information in your monthly updates instead of tales of your incompetency people would not feel the need to call you out.

Saying things like "we listen to you" and then showing the complete opposite in your actions is a big reason for people to be angry. The only people that support your thread are brainwashed basement dwelling neckbeard whiteknights and they are the minority. You're repeatedly pissing off a large majority of your playerbase and they will (and many already have) look to other horizons if you guys do not up your game soon.

I love AO and hate to see it die due to sheer incompetence.

Well I support the devs and I don't like being called names for no apparent reason. Sheesh.

[Neista]

The current state of AO reminds me of the game Theme Park, as i recall it was possible to open your park with no rides or stalls built and despite there being nothing to do there some people would still turn up and pay the entrance fee...

[chemitron]

FC is not forcing anybody to play their game. Stop complaining and move along people

[Beornin]

Pear and and swine bereft of me
Long and weary my road has been
I was lost in the cities, alone in the hills
No sorrow or pity for leaving, I feel, yeah

[Spead]

The current state of AO reminds me of the game Theme Park, as i recall it was possible to open your park with no rides or stalls built and despite there being nothing to do there some people would still turn up and pay the entrance fee...

That is brilliant ma'am

[DigitalBath]

I fail to understand how people can support the devs still. Instead of giving any kind of reply on important issues that can EASILY be addressed (once again, read: multiboxing) she choses to make "troll" threads after being called out on a shoddy update. Perhaps if you posted relevant information in your monthly updates instead of tales of your incompetency people would not feel the need to call you out.

Saying things like "we listen to you" and then showing the complete opposite in your actions is a big reason for people to be angry. The only people that support your thread are brainwashed basement dwelling neckbeard whiteknights and they are the minority. You're repeatedly pissing off a large majority of your playerbase and they will (and many already have) look to other horizons if you guys do not up your game soon.

I love AO and hate to see it die due to sheer incompetence.

A big part of the population considers multiboxing fun. A big part of the devs do too. It's not an universal "problem".
If it's permanently disabled it won't benefit AO. It will cancel subs and make AO worse.

That said, I rarely multibox and only have two paid accounts. I have seen people do up to 4 and I find it awesome.

Always remember: Multiboxing didn't make the population small. The small population made a greater need for multiboxing. It's not a perfect solution but it works.

[Notevenmad]

A big part of the population considers multiboxing fun. A big part of the devs do too. It's not an universal "problem".
If it's permanently disabled it won't benefit AO. It will cancel subs and make AO worse.

That said, I rarely multibox and only have two paid accounts. I have seen people do up to 4 and I find it awesome.

Always remember: Multiboxing didn't make the population small. The small population made a greater need for multiboxing. It's not a perfect solution but it works.

obviously referring to pvp multiboxing here noone cares about pvm, do you even play this game?

[DigitalBath]

obviously referring to pvp multiboxing here noone cares about pvm, do you even play this game?

No, obviously have never played it!

Also, pvp multiboxing is easily defeated by any group of minimally organized people. It's a non-issue if the underlying low population problem is solved.

[Traderjill]

A big part of the population considers multiboxing fun.

Are you sure about this? I mean I know a lot of people with 2-6 accounts but most of them do not multibox (use 3rd party software to control the other clients), they just multilog using alt+tab and control each client manually. I'm willing to bet that due to the wording of the EULA that most players thought it was against the game rules until that thread last year where Funcom said it was ok. So I doubt a big part of the population considers it fun because a big part of the population isn't even doing it.

[Gimpynoob]

Most people don't like to pay for several very expensive accounts to be able to spend a few hours playing online.

[Gimpynoob]

Most people who now play AO "like" to multilog because all those who didn't left.

In a few months most people playing AO will like to multibox for the same reason.

Soon AO will become a game playable only by those willing to pay exorbitant amounts of real money on a daily basis.

And since there is a sucker born every second, AO might well have a playerbase.