Like probably 90% of the people that gave their feedback on the new “design”, I was also astounded by the level of incompetence that the team behind the latest patch displayed. In just two days there is a mile long thread with feedback about things that are screwed up by this patch. As far as I could see while reading it, there are not many things that people repeat in their posts.They just keep on bringing new bad stuff, from design to coding and usability. I have been playing games since days of Heretic and Quake, and in all that time I have never seen a patch that can compare to this one. And I don’t even exaggerate. Nothing in this patch is good or works as intended, so I am wondering what is the logic behind decisions that were made? Even more so, what is the logic behind defending the work that has been done? In all other companies, when significant part of the customers says something is not good, it is changed. Apparently, not in this company.
I don’t know why are developers refusing to even consider meeting some of the players’ requests, of which the option to revert to the old style is probably the most wanted. Maybe they have their orders from bosses, maybe they are just too proud to acknowledge they actually made the game worse, but in any case, it doesn’t matter. What matters is that they put their own ideas about the product above the ideas of the people that they make said product for. And that is never smart business move. But at this point, I am not really convinced that whoever makes decisions really thinks much about it.
Anyway, since this is a done deal, and we won’t be getting the old interface back, I would suggest that in the future you, developers, think more about player base and less about yourself. Learn the basics. Copy what successful companies do. Blizzard tests changes in major patches for at least a month with players and listens to the feedback. CD Projekt Red is famous for their cooperation with players and utilizing their feedback they ended up with a product widely regarded as a near perfect game (Witcher 3). Don’t think you’re the smartest people in the galaxy and that you know better than players because you’re not and you don’t.
If I am not mistaken, Sirrian said that the update has been tested with a large number of players. I am having difficulty believing that not one of that supposed large number of players pointed out at least some of the issues reported in the feedback thread. I mean, really?
Then there’s this hideous abomination you call “design”. I actually studied web design and with it design in general, and I will tell you this: any design freshman could tell you that what you’re doing is a no no. One of the most important things in good design is consistency. The old design had it, and current design is… anything but. Different styles, color schemes, different fonts, two completely presentations of the game setting. Changing screens leads you from one style to another… Who makes these decisions??? Where’s the logic behind mixing totally different styles?
Just when you look at the home screen, you have different styles and sizes and colors of icons. Some are colorful, some are black and white, some are cartoonish, some are minimalist, some are smaller, some are bigger, and icon for gold is quasi 3D and bigger than all the rest. Chat icon is in the upper middle screen where I can see all the notifications of people ascending their cards, which just annoys majority of players. And really, chat is so important it’s in the middle of the screen? I want to play a game., not reading some meaningless notifications. It’s either that or disconnect from chat, which I did. But what’s the purpose of chat if I have to keep it disconnected?
Cards are barely readable, color schemes are totally ridiculous. What is the logic behind all this? If you didn’t know, there is a theory of color combinations where you can see what color combinations are most visible. For example, most visible combination is black + yellow, then green + white and so on. It’s no coincidence that road signs have certain color combinations. You can’t put a thin light blue font on white background and expect visibility. Research things a bit before you inflict them on players. Google “design principles”, should be a good read.
Game breaking bugs, all kinds of errors (inconsistent souls?? ummm… what???), I won’t even go there. Absolutely no testing. Why not?
Before you start working on the next major patch like this one, you would do well to actually think what you want to achieve with it. I have a feeling that you rushed this “update” just because you wanted to show something new for 3 years of the game. No interaction with players whatsoever, just a decision to change things that didn’t need change and force things that almost nobody wants. Also, understanding the need for actually testing the changes affecting the gameplay will most likely lead to reduced panic programming to fix the things the patch broke along the way.
What’s the worst, your changes affect players ability to play the game. If it was just a few players reporting eye strain and inability to play for longer, I would understand you waving your hand at it, but it’s not only few. There’s been enough complaints for you to take it seriously. But… Oh well. I guess those will just have to find another game to play.
The list of the things that were done wrong with this update is too long to write about in detail. When I look at all of them, I stand in awe before the developers’ thought processes. Or should I say, lack of thereof. You really need to be exceptionally confident in your supreme knowledge and decision making and be astoundingly deluded to be able to look at this mess and say “Yep, we did amazing work and we’re defending it at all costs”.
