Hi Muf-Muf,Mykan,
I am really very new to the game, and i believe you when you say you are sorry to see people leave, but forgive me for saying but it seems that the assumptions made by the "powers that be" are to blame. The good news is that means you can fix it too.
I have made a few suggestions myself but More than that i come into forum and read what players have to say as i am already struggling with the decision to stay or leave and here is why. From what i see and read here it seems that moderators/devs already have decided where the game is going in its development regardless of what players are asking or complaining about.
The reason i come to this conclusion is consistently i see suggestions or complaint discussions simply being closed without much more of a reason than simply it isnt going to happen, or another one that keeps popping up is if something suggested gets done then somehow it is concluded that the game will get boring and people will leave (that one really explains where things are going wrong...at least to me it does).
I am sure you are all making decisions with the Best of intentions and i dont believe for a second that this is intentional as you are volunteering your time to "help" the game, so it isnt your intentions i am referring to that needs to change but the approach to suggestions and complaints. What i mean is instead of thinking changes asked for or complaints addressed will make the game boring and people will leave, approach what players are saying with the thought that Frustrations will make people leave (and DO as mentioned in this thread and by the huge turnover in players early in the game).
People are taking their time to offer information about what is making the game a BAD experience for them, and there are one heck of a lot of these bad experiences in forum right? That cant be good for the game can it? Yet overwhelmingly it seems that these conversations fall on deaf ears, more trying to pacify the player than to work out a solution to a problem, often going back to the reasoning that if the game gets to many of these suggested changes then it will get boring and players will leave, even when sometimes that reason just doesnt seem to make sense as the impact on the game almost seems insignificant.
Let me say at this time i REALLY like the potential this game has to be great and i am NOT bashing you guys/girls, just trying to give food for thought ok? There is a saying about if you keep doing the same thing then dont expect different results... the results are people are leaving the game for ONE reason, they are frustrated about one or more things that just wont get addressed. I am not saying take every suggestion of course but there are a LOT of good suggestions made and even more REAL frustrations being brought up (like here). You have the power to address these suggestions and complaints to find a solution, so approach the discussion (as a common group goal) with the train of thought that this person has a complaint and i AM going to help find a solution to it, i am NOT going to try and get out of this discussion without making any changes because change MUST be NEEDED if something is causing players to leave so this IS important to SOLVE! Not yelling just accentuating key words.
Maybe secretly you are all being told how to react to suggestions and complaints in which case THAT is the problem but in any case the end result is players complaints have to be address not pacified (or in event of simply closing a discussion, closed and ignored). I dont relish the position you moderators are in, always dealing with complaint after complaint and i tip my hat to you for trying to make a difference for the better so please take my comments as intended, food for thought, as i am also hoping to make a difference and would love to continue playing the game and even dropping some coin into it for the odd perk but still waiting to see if the game can get better than it is right now.
Thank you and Have a good day buddy,
Moderator Edit: broken into paragraphs at a forum user's request
