Roadbeer, on 13 April 2013 - 12:13 PM, said:

Ok, I see a lot of posts on a wide variety of topics. Many of which are either not thought out, rage filled, based off of assumptions, or just completely fallacious. This makes my job as a troll, very easy. So let me help you and inform you why the post your about to make is completely wrong-headed and about to be trolled. Allow me to state, that paying attention to anything I say in this thread only hurts me in the long run because not only will I not have the opportunity to troll you, but more than likely, your thread will not end up in K Town. We denizens of K Town need your bad threads to survive.



TL:DR: L2Topic.



1. Redundancy:

You have just made the 172 nd thread on the topic. By this point, no matter how well thought out your post is, you’re just making noise. When I see 5 threads on the first page about the same thing and yours’ is the most recent, you’re going to get “This thread is new and exciting”.

Why you’re probably wrong: You may have the best solution on the topic, which is so simple to implement a child could code it, and not only will revolutionize the topic, but make food taste better to boot. Creating your own thread on the topic just makes you a narcissist. When the devs are paying attention to the volume on the topic, they’re not counting threads, but posts. Your idea is just as valid as an OP as it is on page 22.



2. “Fix the damn bugs!”

You just made a one off thread listing a handful of bugs that are affecting you. Usually you’re going to add a lot of capital letters and exclamation points, ranting and raving about how it has become unplayable for you.

Why you’re probably wrong: Many times when I see one of these posts, I check the feedback and support forums for a corresponding thread from the OP. 90% of the time there isn't one. I’m also willing to bet cashy money that a support ticket hasn't been sent in. I realize that your issue is important to you, but it may not be affecting 80%+ of the other players in the game, so it’s something they have to investigate and work on. If it’s not something they can resolve with a hot-fix, and without the existence of a magic wand, it probably means that it’s given a level of priority in the bug-stomping queue. Just because it’s a huge issue to you, doesn't mean that it’s a huge issue to anyone else. These rants are going to get “YMMV (Your Mileage May Vary)”. Usually, these threads also fall under topic 1. Redundancy. The amusing thing about these threads is it usually involves suggesting…



3. Roll back the patch:

In your tirade about (insert bug(s) here) and how it’s completely ruined your game-play, you probably suggested rolling back the patch to make the game playable for you, because you were doing fine last week.

Why you’re probably wrong: A rollback is an absolute LAST RESORT for a developer. In my 20 years of beta testing, I can literally count on one hand the number of times I’ve seen a patch rolled back. Usually these involve a total show stopper where most, if not all, play has been effected and can’t be resolved with a hot-fix. Many patches involve several bug fixes, (Some companies are better at communicating this than others, PGI I give a 6 out of 10 when it comes to their patch notes) more than a few of those bugs may have been affecting other players the way the new bug is affecting you. So your suggestion is to roll back the patch and make a game unplayable for others so that it can be playable for you? Also, many times a rollback can cause more problems than it fixes as it usually requires rolling back the server as well as client versions.



3. Divert resources:

Your frustration about (insert gripe here) has just led you to write a lengthy thread on the topic about how the people doing (this) should be diverted into doing (that).

Why you’re probably wrong: Think of the world of computer programming as a microcosm of the rest of the working world. There are many different skill sets that do not cross over. Those people who model content have a widely different skill set from those who write/analyze code. In short, you’re asking a plumber to fix your light socket. Also, if that were possible, chances are, that a month down the road, you would be writing another post about how there isn't enough content.



4. Beta status:

You've just gone on about how this product IS or IS NOT Beta.

Why you’re probably wrong: Many people are using an outdated model of what qualifies as Beta status. Others believe in the concept that as soon as a product has been monetized that it is no longer Beta. Both of you are wrong.

Back in the day, if you wanted to Beta test a product, you would be charged for the disc, shipping and a nominal fee, this is usually around the same cost +/- of what the Elite Founders package was. Now we’re in a world where an entire game can be downloaded in the time it takes to eat lunch, at a relatively minimal cost to the developer compared to disc production. And without a major publisher pushing the title, these companies need to get funding from somewhere, ergo (Latin), you have Beta entry packages and micro transactions during the development to fund future development.

In short, until the entire industry redefines what the meaning of the word Beta now means, the game is Beta until the developer says it isn't.



5 NERF:

You just had your head handed to you on a stick for the 10th time by something you perceive is an imbalance in the game, and you feel compelled to come to the forum and post your QQ rant on the topic.

Why you’re probably wrong: During the development process, things get tweaked and adjust the state of the meta. It’s not that one system is OP, it’s that its natural counter has changed or hasn’t been implemented yet. Most of the time, you are looking at the symptom and not the disease.

Let’s take ECM as an example. ECM is part of the Information Warfare pillar of the game. Without the rest of the IW being fleshed out, ECM is standing alone. Imagine how the game would look if just missiles were in it completely, and just small lasers and AC5 were the only other aspects of the combat pillar implemented at this time. You would be screaming about how LRMS are OP and stupid and needed to be removed because those mechs that can carry them are ruling the roost. You’d want all mechs to be able to carry LRMS and the mech that did it best would be OP as well.

Another recent example is the sniping meta. When you look at the weapon system as a whole, everything has its natural counter. LRMs were through the roof on damage and it was the niche player who was sniping, because they were good at it. As soon as LRMs were dialed back severely, sniping became the low risk/high reward meta. So, the market floods with them.

Before you begin your rant about how unbalanced an item is, look at everything that surrounds it, rather than just saying that an element needs to be nerfed. If you don’t, this leads to the Law of Unintended Consequences and a lesion in Cause/Effect. Sometimes I believe the Devs actually do take your hair-brained ideas and make a change just to show you how wrong you really were.



6. BUFF:

Why you’re probably wrong: (see 5. NERF ).



7. (Random game) does it like this:

You just spent your time making a thread about how (insert title) does it better and that the developer should follow their example.

Why you’re probably wrong: Nobody wants to be known as a (insert title) clone but with (insert difference). If the game was that great, you wouldn’t even be looking at this title and you would be investing every second of your life available to you over there. The game development community isn’t that spread out, everyone knows what the other is doing. If that system were the benchmark of how to do stuff, everyone would be doing it.



8. (Random Company) does it like this:

Many electrons have just died in your thread about how (Mega game developer) has it hands down over the way they do things differently / better than this one does.

Why you’re probably wrong: One word, resources. A lot of the time, I’ll see the poster use some title with a decade long history of generating money and its latest version has spent multiple years in development. You’re comparing apples to truck tires. These mega-titles have many of the best in the industry working for them, getting paid large salaries, and have entire teams devoted to each aspect of the game. You don’t have that here. Plus, you name any game developer in the last 50 years (Yes, I’m even talking about board games) and I can point to a handful of abysmal failures they’ve developed as well. Time will tell which side this title will fall into, but if you’re going to make the comparison, look to a title that has an equal amount of time and staff attributed to it. Otherwise you just sound ignorant.



9. Pay2Win:

The latest form of monetization implemented has you completely apoplectic about how your pocket is being raided to be competitive.

Why you’re probably wrong: Take the money factor out of it for a second. Is there any way that the system can’t be countered in anyway by normal time sink means? Is there a free equivalent of it in the game that is close but not 100% equal to it? If the answer is yes to either of those questions, then shut up, it’s not P2W. I’ve played P2W titles, where even if all the time sinks were removed, it would take close to a year to achieve the same power with what can be purchased with (insert X amount of ‘gold’ coins”). We’re not even close to that here.



10. Why I’m not playing/paying:

You just posted a lengthy thread about why you are no longer playing or paying for the game, you have a laundry list of complaints that continue to go unaddressed and you are fed up enough to post on it.

Why you’re probably wrong: You’re preaching to the choir. Those who agree with you are going to pile on, those who don’t are going to troll. You claim that you’re providing a service to the community and helping the company with your feedback. However, if you truly cared, you’d take your multi-faceted thread and compose it in an Email, CC it to everyone with a title in the company, and make your personal plea to those who are actually going to read it. In reality, you’re just complaining and fishing for rep on a forum.



In short (too late) if you don’t want to be trolled, moved to K Town or just plain locked, read the advice above and realize that you’re probably wrong and that your thread is just going to be bad. That’s ok, I’ll be visiting it soon, and I’ll probably get more rep for a snide remark than you’ll get for your entire long winded rant.



I think I just wrapped up 2000 words that are going to be moved to off topic or K Town… meh. The MODS are cruel and capricious.



Yes, I am acutely aware that I am violating the spirit of this thread by writing this thread.