Spoiler: Perceived Lack of Organization Perceived Lack of Organization:



I had to add “perceived” because I know personally how much hard work and planning really goes into this. The fact it doesn’t show is totally on us. We’re taking steps to improve this. For one, I think we need a stricter script/schedule, but to stay flexible to allow for fan interaction and random happenstance. We have a script already, but it’s too loose and allows for too much time-wasting that can lead to people thinking we weren’t properly prepared.



As far as dungeon preparation… oh man do I ever do this. LIKE CRAZY. Even for the Dungeons I go into “blindly,” I’ve taken sneak peeks at recommended teams -- even if I wasn’t able to practice run the dungeon beforehand. I’ve dedicated entire weekends to building up teams that weren’t ready to take on a dungeon in a stream (that crazy Archangel team I tried once -- for example).

Spoiler: Production Value Production Value:



I think to address this properly; I should first go into a little background. This might also address a lot of other feedback. You see, Michael and I were not hired to do Puzzle & Dragons livestreams on Twitch. We are actually community managers who decided to start streaming Puzzle & Dragons on Twitch for the fans. I know this sounds like a weird distinction to make, but it should clarify A LOT of things.



Back to the original comment on the scope of our streams! We were never intending to meet/match/replicate what Japan does with Max Murai. Twitch and NicoNico are very different things that can be used in very different ways. My initial thought was that we could have a more intimate, community-driven experience rather than putting on a huge, high-budget show. That said, we did inherit some concepts (like the no-continue challenge) from the Japanese streams -- this will be discussed later. We wanted to do something that brought us closer to fans and made us human beings as opposed to faceless admins on a community page. The idea is, “Hey these guys work for the game we love, and now they are here streaming and chatting with us.” Twitch can basically help create a “community hangout” zone.



That said, we really should be digging in to the chat more. It’s a fair comment to make that we don’t do it often enough. I think the initial reason was that my first couple of streams had overwhelming fan response that we “paid too much attention to the chat.” Somewhere along the lines we overcompensated, so I agree we need to get back to the right balance! However, some fault can be found on both ends. We opened up the communication channel rather than leaving it one-sided, but unfortunately a few of our Twitch fans chose to utilize it by hurling toxicity into the air rather than engaging in a respectful fashion. We definitely need to step up the moderation for the next stream while simultaneously making sure that our awesome fans wanting legitimate conversation understand they are being heard.



Even if we did have these massive-scale livestreams with guest performers, I’d like to think we’d still have our cute little community-oriented stream.

Spoiler: Lack of Skill/Player Rewards Lack of Skill/Player Rewards:



No question there, I’m not the best player in the game. As we’ve said many times, I’m just an average player trying my hand at some difficult new Dungeons, and every once in a while, Mr. S steps in to help show us some hardcore skill. I’m working on getting better, but I feel like I’ve hit a wall. I’ll be studying and hopefully I can reach that next tier, but I can’t make any promises.



We understand that player rewards being tied to my performance may create a bit of hate (and a lot of stress for me!), so we hope you’ve noticed the adjustments that we’ve been making over time. Things like the “Score Attack Pii Challenge” from PAX and the “viewership goals” (though they were ambitious) are a definite step in that direction. We’ll continue to evolve and explore new options as we move forward, so we hope you look forward to it.

Spoiler: Why not get someone better? Why not get someone better?:



As we mentioned before, the concept behind the GungHo America P&D stream was that it was the actual P&D community team working on it.



However, we really are interested in having guest streamers. It’s something we’ve been looking into, but as at least one fan has theorized, there is quite a bit of work to be done in terms of legality and logistics. Imagine, if you will, a guest streamer starts playing some System of a Down music in the background as they stream. It’s being broadcast on our OFFICIAL GungHo channel, so suddenly we’re being sued for using licensed music without permission. Sure that’s an exaggerated scenario, but it’s just one example of the types of things we have to consider as a multinational, publicly-traded company.



Japan really did strike gold with Max Murai. He’s a well-known celebrity in his own right, he’s in a position to be “official,” and he is FANTASTIC at P&D. That would be the equivalent of someone like Pew Die Pie or Felicia Day (with MILLIONS of fans/followers/likes/etc.) being a colossal Puzzle & Dragons fan here in the US and being on retainer for GungHo America. If someone like that pops up, we definitely won’t ignore them.



Which brings up the next bit of feedback I see a lot of…

Spoiler: Why no “cute girls?!” Why no “cute girls?!”:



Going back to what I said earlier, our original idea was to get the community team to put on a livestream. We are totally in favor of having a female streamer; it’s not as if Michael and I were chosen because we were men (or because of my long hair), but we have to do it right. It’s not quite our style to hire a random “booth babe” to pretend to like Puzzle & Dragons when there are so many legitimate, talented female players out there.



If we can get an employee or fan guest streamer (once the logistics are worked out), and they happen to be female, that would be AWESOME! I’m all for making this happen.

Spoiler: Announcements Announcements:



This is something I really want to do as well. We’ve sort of done this in the past, but unfortunately the timing doesn’t always work out. Sometimes we could tease something just before an update, but recently update timing has not permitted this, and we’ve ended up reviewing “recent updates” with our fans. A lot of our hardcore veterans who follow the Japanese version and frequent PDX hate this, but please keep in mind, not all of our fans on Twitch are as well informed. Some find those segments very helpful, but we totally understand the demand for real news that appeals to vets and noobs alike.



We’re considering options, and hope to deliver more in the future. That said, since the game does originate in Japan and all really new content will be announced by them first, our options are understandably limited by this.

Spoiler: Personality Personality:



OK, this one is a little hard not to take personally: “I don’t like the stream because of your personality.”



Welp… ya can’t win everyone over can you?



In all fairness, Michael really does need to speak up doesn’t he? I’m tempted to get clip-on mics to pick up everyone’s voices better. Let’s see how this pans out in the future.



Now the idea that I lack passion, quirkiness, or dedication to the game.... I wouldn’t have put 930+ days into the game if I didn’t care! But seriously, by nature I think I’m sort of a laid-back “nice guy” archetype. Don’t ever mistake good sportsmanship for apathy



My honest apologies if I seem defensive. You’ve seen me as a part of this community since day 0, so hopefully you know I’m pretty thick-skinned and easy-going



Ya know, in a weird way, I think I might actually act “more normal” in the streams than I am in everyday life. Maybe I should avoid that ;-) OK, this one is a little hard not to take personally: “I don’t like the stream because of your personality.”Welp… ya can’t win everyone over can you?In all fairness, Michael really does need to speak up doesn’t he? I’m tempted to get clip-on mics to pick up everyone’s voices better. Let’s see how this pans out in the future.Now the idea that I lack passion, quirkiness, or dedication to the game.... I wouldn’t have put 930+ days into the game if I didn’t care! But seriously, by nature I think I’m sort of a laid-back “nice guy” archetype. Don’t ever mistake good sportsmanship for apathyMy honest apologies if I seem defensive. You’ve seen me as a part of this community since day 0, so hopefully you know I’m pretty thick-skinned and easy-goingYa know, in a weird way, I think I might actually act “more normal” in the streams than I am in everyday life. Maybe I should avoid that ;-)

Spoiler: Other Thoughts Other Thoughts:



Since the beginning, I’ve practically bathed in the salt that comes from these streams, but during PAX, something pretty awesome happened.



A ton of people came up to me and wanted to shake my hand and thank me for streaming. A guy named “Harry Potter” (I kid you not) literally asked for Michael’s autograph. Hell, I was even noticed at my local ramen restaurant as “that guy who does those livestreams I love!”



Some fans are really digging what we do, but that doesn’t invalidate the complaints of those who don’t like it. We can’t please everyone -- this is fact. Even in this thread, I’ve read dissenting opinions.



So I have to ask, if our streams can’t be absolutely perfect and awesome… if I can’t average 8 combos… if we can’t throw a huge budget at it… would you really want us to stop?



I’ve always been of the opinion that the worst thing you can do for a community is nothing.(**braces for impact knowing how trolls might react to that statement ^_^**)

Hey everyone, sorry for the delayed reply. It’s been a crazy busy couple of weeks for me, but I wanted to make sure you all knew I had seen this thread.First off, thanks so much for all the constructive feedback -- even more for organizing it here! As a community manager, sometimes salt and static can make looking for legitimate feedback like looking for a needle in a haystack. It’s nice to just have… a needle stack, even if it can hurt to jump right in ;-)Anyway, a lot of the things you guys want are the same things we want. For various reasons, many of which I can’t go into, it’s not always possible. With that in mind, I wanted to hit up some of the more common complaints/concerns/opinions I see regarding our streams.**added spoiler tags to prevent this from being ENOURMOUS**I really do appreciate all of the feedback you have gathered here for us. This kind of honest feedback is invaluable in shaping our future plans and developing the community to its fullest potential.See you next stream.