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Thread: Pulse of the Community

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  1. #1
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    Talking Pulse of the Community

    Sister Thread

    This thread is made and will be maintained by the players for the players and the Evony Team to try to offer our thoughts on matters, this includes the mods who are players. It is not meant to flame anyone, criticize anything, be spam, or be harmful in any way to the forums. Rather, it is for constructive thoughts to be expressed to the entire Evony community to try to bridge the gap between player and company. No spam will be allowed in this, only constructive thoughts will be allowed, and no insulting will ever be tolerated in this. The rules shall be obeyed here, and this thread is not intended to get any person an infraction.

    So I'll start with what my grasp of the communities' thoughts.

    Offical Updates
    I think alot of the community would like more offical updates as to the situation with the ads, game updates and more or less we would like to be in the loop as to the changes planned or the planning, that way we can offer our thoughts on the matter to try to make it go smoothly.

    Communication - I think all here in the Evony Community would enjoy having better communication. This ranges from just our questions being answered, to something as simple as a mod posting in a thread just to let us know our opinions have been viewed. We understand that you all are busy, we would just like to think that the customer is put first on these forums. We also realize that the Reps and mods have no effect on the in game issues, but we would like to be sure that our ideas have possibly been handed to the game developers for them to possibly improve it. This I think means that the mods should read ideas that have been posted, and perhaps suggest to the Reps the best ideas and the most recurring ones as well. Finally, as requested, add some transparency. Let us in on the plans and I'm sure we the players would be willing to help. So much is said by mods, that we players can't see that for all we know, the rules may be getting broken behind our backs. I know there is a moderator forum section here thanks to the fact that post numbers and viewable topics by a moderator don't match up, (can easily be seen on most of the new mods just click view post, and count then.) and since we the players don't know what is said there, We easily get up in arms when a member that was our friend was banned, and we have no clue why. ((although the last portion is still debated, It seems agreed that better communication is needed and some progress has been made))

    Mods, and the Team - Here, I would just like to say that the mods are players. Yes, they are in charge of keeping us the players in line, but their function is more to be Representatives of the players. Mods should almost be chosen from the community because they truely should work for the player, and communicate to the Reps for us. Moderator after all does mean that they should handle negociations, and although the rules should be enforced, good judgement on their part is needed about the best way to handle a player that breaks the rules. When something is reported, mods should be the first ones that respond to the issue, and it must be a mod that is familiar with the community. Yes, the hard-line moderators are required as well to ensure the community does not overstep its boundary, but thats why judgement is the most valuable resource of a mod, not their moderator control panels that seem to be running non-stop nowdays.
    Now, also constructive criticism should be allowed by the players on the entire mod team, as well as the Reps. I know that you recieve plenty of hate, but yet in order to improve customer service, staff must be criticized. After all, this game was made for the players, so lets stop removing them.

    Ads - I think the entire Evony Community would like to see them changed. We understand that they are an effective tool, but they do not work as truely intended. I for one would have never come in played Evony if I saw one of the ads originally. They draw in the wrong crowd, and they are misleading. We just ask that you look to change your advertising scheme. Has been adressed alot, but I will keep on here for now. Swansea promises change, plan on it being toned down 7/15/09 (date of promise made) http://bbs.evony.com/showthread.php?t=32035-Offical Response

    Medals
    Although the Reps have given a reason that the medal drop rate is so low on many of the servers, (to keep people from getting promotions real fast). Many players still feel it is too low. I will grant the Reps that it needs to be low, but a bit higher percentage is needed as well so that people can rank up in a reasonable amount of time. Raising the medal drop rate a little bit (not too much but enough to keep people interested). This option would also make alot of sense economically as well. With more people not becoming frustrated with the game and quiting, they will perhaps be willing to spend money later on as well. Also, the more cities a person has, the more cents they need in order to either upgrade them, or make them effective attack outpost. Either way, with a slightly higher medal drop rate, the community will be happy, and evony should obtain just as much money.

    Events - I think we would like to see more events occur, but yet the player should be taken out of the equation more. The Evony Queen contest completely seems to have completely broken down, so now none of the players know what exactly is going on with that. Perhaps a contest for the best idea could be made, and the Reps and mod team are the judges, just a thought.

    Forums in general - Finally, I would like to state that these forums are not only meant to inform the players, it was built for the players. This means that enjoyment should be had on them as long as it stays within reason. We shouldn't flame, insult, or affect another user's experience on these forums in any way, but I do encourage us to criticize one another. We also should get to have post about one player if we want, we just need to be sure to keep it in reason. Fun is what keeps forums alive, not rules.

    Filter in game
    Unfortunately, it doesn't work as intended. First of all, the filtering of Evony and System has really angered the community since it restricts scouting reports to be shared. Next, many people manage to side-step it by adding a space, or some other trick. So the filter is actually counter productive to the game. Many in the community wish for this to be addressed.

    iEvony - Many people now feel this is spam anymore. People in an attempt to get more coins are spamming other websites. This makes many people know that a backlash against the Evony community is likely. We are also sick of all the iEvony post that are occuring on the forums here and wish to see this issue addressed.

    originally posted by lowkey, page 7
    New issue:

    I've noticed a lot of threads linking to outside sites that, quite honestly, have clearer, and more accurate information about the game, than the forums do, have 'mysteriously' disappeared.

    Again, I'd like to ask that if you do not want third party sites linked on your forums, at least provide us with some form of manual or legitimate FAQ. Most of us can figure out which buttons to press (i do stress "most"). Sometimes though even the people that have gone beyond "how many x to kill x" need to refresh our memory on some things a little more complex than how to abandon cities, and how large a swarm is.
    an underlying issue- Thats all we here in the forums want are our questions answered without having to worry about ban hammers all the time. Sure there is some information that can't be divulged to us, but I think if the Reps and mods trusted all of us more, you'd notice a much more unified community.

    Anyways, I'm just going to state this, the forums tend to moderate themselves. Thats if you give everyone 1 day to express their opinions here without retribution for the most part, I think everyone would calm down. Blegemeth (or however you spell his name) would eventually calm down and hopefully return to normal posting habits as long as his threads aren't continually closed. The community has regular members watching over it alot, and we try to keep things under control, we just don't want everyones enjoyment of the forums to be sapped out as well. Thats, there is alot of anger going around the forums, and closing threads and giving out infractions is making it worse. My policy has been, and always will be one that if a person makes an outrageous post making slanders about someone, you should ignore it pretty muchh. All they do by doing that is make themselves look like the (insert word or words your choice here), yet when they are silenced, it actually lends substance to their post, and has a negative effect on the community.

    So I ask you moderators and Reps, please give players on the forums time to work out the issues before you step in and silence them. We for the most part know how to deal with them ourselves even though we don't have any mod tools to work with. Yes its fine if you edit out names and language to a certain degree, but let us speak, and then silence shall win.


    Conclusion
    I hope this does not get deleted, or ever need to be locked. I also hope you realize that I don't mean to stir up any trouble, but the pulse of the community needs to be talked about out loud and not swept under a rug.
    Thankyou, ABakker
    Last edited by ABakker; 08-10-2009 at 12:33 AM.


    A man might not be able to move a mountain, yet he will accomplish nothing if he never tries.




    Well, I'm tired of these forums. Very little humor in them anymore. Adios all.

  2. #2

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    Communication - Why the heck do we have to pay to talk in-game? Come on. Could it get any worse?

    do u even lift 1v1 il rek u


  3. #3

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    Communication - I think all here in the Evony Community would enjoy having better communication. This ranges from just our questions being answered, to something as simple as a mod posting in a thread just to let us know our opinions have been viewed. We understand that you all are busy, we would just like to think that the customer is put first on these forums. We also realize that the Reps and mods have no effect on the in game issues, but we would like to be sure that our ideas have possibly been handed to the game developers for them to possibly improve it. This I think means that the mods should read ideas that have been posted, and perhaps suggest to the Reps the best ideas and the most recurring ones as well.
    Add to the Communication topic Transparency also.

    The staff tend to brush off anything not related to ievony (don't get me started) or microtransactions. Sure, we get lipservice on other stuff, but never much more than a "We're looking at it" or "Nope you're wrong"

    If you're looking at an issue, that's fine. Tell us when you have findings. If we are wrong, tell us why. Even something as simple as someone posting an exploit that is complete BS. Just say "We attempted to recreate this bug, and have discovered it is not possible to do with the methods described."

    Now, also constructive criticism should be allowed by the players on the entire mod team, as well as the Reps. I know that you recieve plenty of hate, but yet in order to improve customer service, staff must be criticized. After all, this game was made for the players, so lets stop removing them.
    Agreed 100% I haven't paid any cash for cents, and probably will never do so at this rate, although I have dropped a few bucks on other microtransaction games in the past. Why? Because in all those other games I didn't feel like a second class citizen for not putting money down to play. I could still compete with the people who spent 100s per month compared to my 5, and they had nothing I did not have, except perhaps things like building queues, and on nearly full servers, login priority (paying customers get to login even when the server is "full") or some minor cosmetic touches that made the game easier to manage.

    I feel like I might as well just build up about 15,000 towers, 2000 ballista and enough archers to make the arrow scene in 300 look weaksauce, and just log in long enough to buy some food and farm 4-5 lvl 5 npc towns to feed them. I'd rather be managing 5-6 cities, constantly shuffling troops to defend and attack, and scared to go to sleep because I could miss an important attack. Instead, I sit with 3 cities, farming level 10 valleys, lvl 5 npc towns, and whichever newbie town is on my rotation for the day. But All this could change if i just spent about 100 bucks to become a Baron.

    Sorry, for 100 bucks I should be getting a lot more than one extra city.

    I'll have more soon enough.

  4. #4
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    Mods, and the Team - Here, I would just like to say that the mods are players. Yes, they are in charge of keeping us the players in line, but their function is more to be Representatives of the players. Mods should almost be chosen from the community because they truely should work for the player, and communicate to the Reps for us. Moderator after all does mean that they should handle negociations, and although the rules should be enforced, good judgement on their part is needed about the best way to handle a player that breaks the rules. When something is reported, mods should be the first ones that respond to the issue, and it must be a mod that is familiar with the community. Yes, the hard-line moderators are required as well to ensure the community does not overstep its boundary, but thats why judgement is the most valuable resource of a mod, not their moderator control panels that seem to be running non-stop nowdays.
    Now, also constructive criticism should be allowed by the players on the entire mod team, as well as the Reps. I know that you recieve plenty of hate, but yet in order to improve customer service, staff must be criticized. After all, this game was made for the players, so lets stop removing them.
    I understand your concerns, but we do review reports and if you have a report which you think isn't being realised you could send it to one of the Evony Representitives e-mails. Part of there jobs is to report bugs etc. to the DEVs and they do a excellent job of it . + Moderators do occasionally look at the Bug Reports forum.+ The Moderators of the Bug Reports forum shall always be helping you
    I have a new motto! It makes me Lulz!

    Ehem...!

    'You sir, FAIL'.
    Its been used a million times, but its mine nao!

  5. #5

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    The Moderators of the Bug Reports forum shall always be helping you
    now lets go back to this one

    http://bbs.evony.com/showpost.php?p=270564&postcount=52

    then later
    This is not a bug. Please do not start new threads on issues which have already been answered.
    Sorry, but the "issue" was not answered. We wanted confirmation that our percentages for drops over quite large sample sizes were accurate. We got a "shut up about it" and a closed thread. This is what I mean about Communication and Transparency.

    At least be up front about it. TELL US the drop rate. It's not game breaking to know. If the drop rate is 1.5% that's fine. We know, we can drop it, and chalk our efforts up to bad luck or an actual bug. If the drop rate is .5% that's fine too. At least then we can decide whether to buy the medals or find something else to do.

  6. #6
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    Quote Originally Posted by lowkey View Post
    now lets go back to this one

    http://bbs.evony.com/showpost.php?p=270564&postcount=52

    then later


    Sorry, but the "issue" was not answered. We wanted confirmation that our percentages for drops over quite large sample sizes were accurate. We got a "shut up about it" and a closed thread. This is what I mean about Communication and Transparency.

    At least be up front about it. TELL US the drop rate. It's not game breaking to know. If the drop rate is 1.5% that's fine. We know, we can drop it, and chalk our efforts up to bad luck or an actual bug. If the drop rate is .5% that's fine too. At least then we can decide whether to buy the medals or find something else to do.
    Ok. This is a issue I shall look into. I'll try and see if a Rep will make a Thread about it in the 'Game' section. As FoxyBunny said, your voice is heard and we shall try to forward every point to the Reps/Admins.

    I shall PM you with update about this issue when I inform the Reps and get a reply

    vBobLing
    I have a new motto! It makes me Lulz!

    Ehem...!

    'You sir, FAIL'.
    Its been used a million times, but its mine nao!

  7. #7

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    Quote Originally Posted by vBobLing View Post
    Ok. This is a issue I shall look into. I'll try and see if a Rep will make a Thread about it in the 'Game' section. As FoxyBunny said, your voice is heard and we shall try to forward every point to the Reps/Admins.

    I shall PM you with update about this issue when I inform the Reps and get a reply

    vBobLing
    Thank you.

  8. #8

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    Let me first start by saying, awesome thread.

    My main issue from my couple days of posting on here is that when people say something the moderator doesn't like (even though everything being said is within the rules), they just shut down the thread with a message like "thread closed." No further explanation as to why. Do I expect perfection out of a moderator? no, of course not. Do I expect them to listen to the community and post updates from time to time on major issues? Yes. Do said answers need to be anything other than, "We haven't forgotten about this, it is still being looked in to."? No.

    Now to my next issue...sorry a lil off topic, but was addressed in here by VBobLing...but the poor drop rate of medals...may I also be contacted please when you have heard anything?

    Quote Originally Posted by vBobLing View Post
    Ok. This is a issue I shall look into. I'll try and see if a Rep will make a Thread about it in the 'Game' section. As FoxyBunny said, your voice is heard and we shall try to forward every point to the Reps/Admins.

    I shall PM you with update about this issue when I inform the Reps and get a reply

    vBobLing

  9. #9
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    ABakker, I think this thread is a good idea. I don't believe I will be sharing any secrets when I tell you that improving communication has been a serious topic of discussion among the staff and players lately. Moderator-to-moderator, moderator-to-liason, and staff-to-players all could stand some improvement. We are aware of this and we are working hard to address it. We value the feedback of the community in helping us to do this, so please do not think your voices aren't heard.

    With regards to trying to answer or address every thread/topic/problem, that was a problem simply due to understaffing and time constraints. As you can see by the recent addition of new Evony representatives and moderators, this is being handled already. We're doing our best to ensure we have all the staff required to keep up with the needs of the community.

    As for the ads, your voices HAVE been heard. I know it has been posted before elsewhere, but I'll repeat it here. Evony has decided to tone down the ads. Please remember that these ads cost money and are intended to draw in players...and they do work. Perhaps they got a bit carried away with the adult themes, and they've decided to ease up on that, but not everyone is always going to agree on what is appropriate. In the end, it is he who pays who gets to choose, and we all have to remember that.

    I would LOVE to see some ideas for events. If the players would like to discuss some possibilities, flesh them out and collect the best ones, I would be happy to PERSONALLY take these ideas to the administration and try to get one or more implemented. Please keep in mind that anything that would be labor or coding intensive for the devs is likely not going to happen anytime soon if at all, and fantastic rewards (10,000 Evony cents for each participant!!!) are not realistic.

    Finally, I want to say that I think the entire idea of communication and respect needs to go both ways. We absolutely want our players to know they are listened to and treated with courtesy at all times. We are trying to provide a great playing experience, and the forums are a part of that. In return, we need cooperation from all of you. Please help us by reporting problem posts, keeping your cool when disagreeing, being polite and respectful to everyone you encounter here, obeying the rules, and if you have to protest, it helps if you use the proper venue. For example, if you are upset about an issue, a massive protest with banners and shouts is not likely to do anything more than cause a ruckus and force us to shut down threads and issue infractions. If you send us PM's or emails explaining, with logic and thought, why you feel this should be reversed or changed, you are going to get a better response and have a much better chance of attaining your objectives.

  10. #10
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    Quote Originally Posted by FoxyBunny View Post
    ABakker, I think this thread is a good idea. I don't believe I will be sharing any secrets when I tell you that improving communication has been a serious topic of discussion among the staff and players lately. Moderator-to-moderator, moderator-to-liason, and staff-to-players all could stand some improvement. We are aware of this and we are working hard to address it. We value the feedback of the community in helping us to do this, so please do not think your voices aren't heard.

    With regards to trying to answer or address every thread/topic/problem, that was a problem simply due to understaffing and time constraints. As you can see by the recent addition of new Evony representatives and moderators, this is being handled already. We're doing our best to ensure we have all the staff required to keep up with the needs of the community.

    As for the ads, your voices HAVE been heard. I know it has been posted before elsewhere, but I'll repeat it here. Evony has decided to tone down the ads. Please remember that these ads cost money and are intended to draw in players...and they do work. Perhaps they got a bit carried away with the adult themes, and they've decided to ease up on that, but not everyone is always going to agree on what is appropriate. In the end, it is he who pays who gets to choose, and we all have to remember that.

    I would LOVE to see some ideas for events. If the players would like to discuss some possibilities, flesh them out and collect the best ones, I would be happy to PERSONALLY take these ideas to the administration and try to get one or more implemented. Please keep in mind that anything that would be labor or coding intensive for the devs is likely not going to happen anytime soon if at all, and fantastic rewards (10,000 Evony cents for each participant!!!) are not realistic.

    Finally, I want to say that I think the entire idea of communication and respect needs to go both ways. We absolutely want our players to know they are listened to and treated with courtesy at all times. We are trying to provide a great playing experience, and the forums are a part of that. In return, we need cooperation from all of you. Please help us by reporting problem posts, keeping your cool when disagreeing, being polite and respectful to everyone you encounter here, obeying the rules, and if you have to protest, it helps if you use the proper venue. For example, if you are upset about an issue, a massive protest with banners and shouts is not likely to do anything more than cause a ruckus and force us to shut down threads and issue infractions. If you send us PM's or emails explaining, with logic and thought, why you feel this should be reversed or changed, you are going to get a better response and have a much better chance of attaining your objectives.
    I'll agree with this. We need an IMPROVEMENT, but we do have communication, just not the communication we should have to have a good community.
    I have a new motto! It makes me Lulz!

    Ehem...!

    'You sir, FAIL'.
    Its been used a million times, but its mine nao!

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