Posted 11 September 2014 - 12:34 PM

customer

There's a community of paying players waiting to return to this game.

you don't have to contact me

This is an open letter to Russ Bullock and PGI.I am a founder, a Phoenix buyer, and random MC purchaser. I have not bought the Clan packs, or clan mechs for c-bills or MC because I'm a stone-cold IS player.In a word, I am aI am also a 30 year Battletech veteran. I got into the game when I was living in the Chicago suburbs in the 1980s, I knew low level FASA employees and FASA was just a few miles away from me. I'm a huge BT fan and I'm not even the biggest fan I know. I have a good friend who's deeper into BT than I'll ever be.Take a look at this thread: " Regarding Reddit " All 62 pages of it. I read through about half of it, I'm also in it quite a bit at the end. Its a lot to slog through I'll admit, and you need fireproof pants to check it out, but its worth that you read through it Russ. Don't question the motivations of the posters, don't even try to understand all of the various points, that's not the point, and its Niko's job to parse the details for you, but do look.I did, and I had one big take away, which I am going to lay out to you nice and easy.The passion and the demand has not left this game. Your business motivations for making it remain as solid today as they did when you pitched Microsoft for the IP lease. But there's a fleet of customers withholding purchases just waiting to return.They want to return, but they are put off by communication breakdowns. It might be confusing to you, but the players feel there's a communication problem. In these situations, perception is reality. Clearly many many many customers perceive a communications issue. Clearing that up will heal many wounds.Another takeaway I have is nobody is going to forget the past and few will forgive it, but many players, many founders, have signaled in that thread, a willingness to return to the game, and yes, to pay for the game, if communication is improved.What do I mean by communication?1) Giving us status updates on the game state and development state.2) Asking us for feature requests and give us a way to vote those requests up or down for further development attention.3) Asking us for feedback on the game and features and responding to that feedback.Its not about 3PV, ECM, 10v12 or Ghost Heat. Its about our relationship -- PGI and the player base. That relationship, and I'm sure you know this already, is the most important thing for us and you're business.I am not here to beat you up. I am here to give you constructive feed back. You have your reasons for past decisions, what has happened has happened, we can't change the past. You said as much in the Town Hall and I recognized that sentiment many times in the Reddit thread.You are making changes, I recognize that. And the changes are positive. You said there's more work to do and I believe you are sincere. I'm not going to get into specifics about gameplay and my opinions, but I believe the place that needs the most attention is communication with the player base.Like it or not, there is an expectation in this community of giving feed back and expecting it to be heard, acknowledged and acted upon. That's the kind of player this game has attracted. This is your customer base.You mentioned several times in the Town Hall that you wished you could ask players for clarification on what we mean. I'm right here willing to answer any questions you have Russ. PM me, or have one of your staff PM me, and I'll gladly give you my cell number and talk to you any time when I'm not at work. Or to save on a phone bill, we can Skype or Facetime or whatever works best.Also,. I do not expect you will. I'm only making myself available to you, should you want it because I believe in the potential of this game that much. But I am asking you to read through 62 pages of that Reddit thread and recognize the passion for this game is still very strong and start thinking of ways to move that passion to a positive place.