Dev Q & A (28th of April) 7 PM PDT

[Live]

Thanks for the summary @Lyrian and thanks for the stream at all.
But two points:

@Lyrian

Issue is caused when two players complete a match at the same time and is an unresolvable flaw with Mongo.

After working with different (and real big) databases since years, i have to say this cant be a real technology issue of Mongo. This is just implementation of the code before, a bad created db architecture or a wrong handling of mongos lock technologies.

@Lyrian

Don’t you guys ever run out of ideas for troops?

• Nope. Not even after 1000+ troops.

Quantity <> Quality

@Lyrian

Next Dev Q&A planned before 5.6 launches.
Next Salty Stream announced to double up as 5.5 preview stream.

Thank you - good move, those streams are a win-win!

[Jonathan]

@awryan

plans to make Lycanthropy work like all other transforms

@Snooj

Lycanthropy

• No plan on changing the effected troop’s health like with transform.

@Magnusimus

So then how is this a debuff, exactly?

Did the devs seem at all willing to acknowledge how many players don’t consider lycanthropy to be a good game mechanic as-is irrespective of the fact it is currently buggy?

Or is the “bullet point takeaway” just

• Players don’t like lycanthropy because it is crashing the game

Because that…is not the sum total of even the constructive feedback.

¯_(ツ)_/¯

[NerdieBirdie]

I asked this directly and they said they don’t plan on doing that - “it’s the nature of the beast.” However, they said they will keep an eye on it and consider change if need be in the future.

[rbchaffe]

@NerdieBirdie

Perhaps the most important thing to note for forum users is that we need to work on consolidating and simplifying suggestions. An example would be a single thread for all text inconsistencies. These, especially when done with bullet points and not a massive wall of text, seem to be what the devs can most easily obtain valuable feedback from.

Perhaps the forum administrator could create a “pinned” topic for this purpose?

[NerdieBirdie]

@rbchaffe

@NerdieBirdie

Perhaps the most important thing to note for forum users is that we need to work on consolidating and simplifying suggestions. An example would be a single thread for all text inconsistencies. These, especially when done with bullet points and not a massive wall of text, seem to be what the devs can most easily obtain valuable feedback from.

Perhaps the forum administrator could create a “pinned” topic for this purpose?

@Saltypatra Would something like this be possible?

[awryan]

So what I’m reading is the change to Transform was just a way to nerf Dragon’s Eye from making Faction Assaults more easy. And Lycanthropy exists to nerf Essence of Evil due to it making Faction Assaults more easy.

At the same time I’m reading bull shit on how cultivating feedback will lead to more helpful improvements despite the resounding feedback for years…Delves take too much time… And are too difficult for the general population.
For you badasses who think they are too easy. Perhaps you can try other more difficult video games to scratch that itch.

Yet time after time. Huge changes are made to the game that make Delves more difficult. ← You may listen to our feedback. But you clearly don’t care.

Are any of these changes going to bring players back to the game or encourage new players to start the game?

Here’s a way to do it. Make the game less difficult and more fun.

[blindnighto]

@Live

After working with different (and real big) databases since years, i have to say this cant be a real technology issue of Mongo. This is just implementation of the code before, a bad created db architecture or a wrong handling of mongos lock technologies.

What makes this all the more confusing is: How is it that the scores are correct in one place (aka the schedule page for each guild), but incorrect on the bracket? If this was a database issue, both scores would be the same since they have the same data to work with. But the fact that they show different scores means that they are looking at different things.

[Fourdottwoone]

@blindnighto

What makes this all the more confusing is: How is it that the scores are correct in one place (aka the schedule page for each guild), but incorrect on the bracket? If this was a database issue, both scores would be the same since they have the same data to work with. But the fact that they show different scores means that they are looking at different things.

<Crystal Ball Mode>
It’s a concurrency issue. The place working correctly stores the scores individually and sums them up as part of the web service request output. The place working incorrectly directly aggregates the scores, messing up the total whenever two players finish fights reasonably close together.
<\Crystal Ball Mode>

[Eika]

A good stream!

[Arelana]

@NerdieBirdie

Feedback was readily listened to, recorded, and complimented.

This is because it costs nothing to do so and presents a very positive, welcoming public face for the company.

It doesn’t mean anything will be done, and the track record confirms that.

I’d love to see a major patch filled with 100% player-friendly changes/bug fixes/QOL and 0% monetization. That might win some good will. I’m sure the cash has been pouring in from the campaign pa$$es…let’s see a bit of return on it, perhaps?

Talk is cheap. I prefer results.

I know Salty & co. are passionate about the game. It’s encouraging to see. I’m not saying they should turn into stern, un-fun knobs. I’m just burning out on enthused words and nothing to back them up. Enthused words don’t make Arena suck less, don’t fix broken Skip buttons on the campaign screen, and don’t get rid of that godawful persistent “!” on the Shrine button. If feedback mattered, these things wouldn’t still exist.

A plea to those who can actually affect change. Make the game player-friendly again. Put out a bugfix/QOL patch for no other reason than as a massive show of goodwill to your customers. Show us we matter with actions and not just enthused words.

[NerdieBirdie]

I definitely agree that nice-sounding words alone won’t fix the issues with this game. It was nice to see the enthusiasm and passion, though, because I personally haven’t seen that expressed from company representatives for a long while. I feel like it’s been a long time since we’ve heard these kind of well-meaning, intentional words, let alone actually had lovely fixes and patches like this implemented.

You’re right; what we heard is not a solution. But it’s a start - a glimmer of hope, if you will, and one that has been lacking for a good while.

[Denthegod]

I personally agree in that they probably won’t do anything. They haven’t done anything in the past couple of years and you guys are still here complaining about the same things. If you guys haven’t left after all that time I don’t see why they would be motivated or have any incentive to make those changes at all.

[igniteice]

Perhaps there is another secret forum where a vast swath of other players are commenting, and that’s where the devs are getting all their horrible decisions and feedback from, because they certainly don’t listen to any players from this forum.

[Denthegod]

I think that is beyond best case scenario. I actually think it’s a lot simpler to that. You guys have been complaining for so long that it’s a running joke to them. They wanna see how long they can get away with not doing anything before you guys actually leave.

[Maisie]

Boy, the positivity generated by the Q&A – which was great by the way! – sure didn’t last long, did it?

[rojo]

Lots of folks have left. Even top guilds are having trouble keeping folks and or recruiting.

[terberos]

Where can I find this stream?

[sls]