How many will it take?

[Nightbird]

How many people leaving CL will it take before the GM's address the issue at hand?

[Hidden]

Abstain.



You didn't provide a response pointing out that your idea is a complete non-sequitor. The GMs will do very little in response to players leaving. It's not their job to retain players. It's their job to make a good game. Good games tend to attract and keep players, but threatening to quit is an asinine, childish, and utterly ineffective method of getting your way.

[Fundin]

I disagree, if like Sabbit you'd been waiting years for things *you* like to happen and they dont occour then leaving really is your only option, or hauling up in the Library to see if things go the way *you* want. Which is what a few exiles do, nothing wrong with that.



I think its sad Sabbit left in the way he did, but having spoken with him OOC it was series of events and stuff, IC & OOC that lead to him walking away. It wasnt the PM issue, people would do well to remember that.



The method of leaving could have been better, but the reasons i heard for it were faultless, for him and the way he felt.



I have to add i still enjoy playing CL, but theres other games out there which i cant play due to only having an old beige G3



I have to say i might not be clanning quite as much if i'd been able to try Shadowbane or Everquest. That said i doubt id have left either, i have some good friends in the game



IMO the way to keep players is to do things they want to do, not everything as that isnt feasible or the CL way. But if like 90% of clanners want a new KI or new healer test etc. then these are the things that should be being worked on.



I fully understand GM's have their own projects, things take a long time, and not everything we want is feasible, but we pay to play and its nice to see our ideas taken on board. Which i know alot of the time they are, bu the ones we want the most dont seem to happen. (new KI, test, more weapons etc.)



I do stand by my statement from ages ago that it would be nice to have an inkling whats happening behind the scenes. Not everything, but if you keep us involved then you might find exiles hanging in a bit longer knowing that there new tests, or new shields etc. coming *soon*. Rather than hanging up their boots and not renewing the account.



A list of projects being worked on would be great, but might well spoil the surpise when it comes. Then again whats these in surprise if there no-oone to see it.



Losing players is never good and im damn certain the GM's are doing all they can to improve the game, so this is just my opinion fwiw. I dont know half the fact i need to so its really speculation.



Hmm a bit of a rant that so feel free to ignore!

[Hidden]

A list of projects being worked on would be great,

A great way to get people to bitch incessantly about "WHY ISNT THAT DONE YET YUO LUS3RZZZZ???!!", at any rate.

[Nightbird]

And people leaving the game because they think NOTHING is happening is better, Hidden?

[Eldon]

Well...I'm not sure I want to post my whole list, but here are some of things I'm working on:



- Finish "my" new island. I say, "my", because I've several great helpers doing everything from areas to artwork. It's only "mine" because I'm project managing it. Only about 25% of the areas are ones that I actually did. Of course, it's ALL mine when it's lame or things don't work, so definitely blame me then.



- A new AI. Since I suck at coding AIs, this is kind of holding up the island.



- An important script for the island - mostly done but it needs tweaking and testing.



- Finish one more monster (with the AI mentioned above.) I've already added 24 creatures for the new island. (Dang! There are that many?!) [I just learned that a 26th is being added by another GM. Woo!]



- Ongoing: Pestering RangerGM for the subclass. I've been wanting it too!



- Future: do something with the blacksmith that is sure to peeve off most people, but it's been needed for a long time. I don't have details because I'm focusing on the island for now and will get to this later. But, I'm reading those threads with interest.



- Adding more RP stuff as I can. The Theatre area was easy, so I just did it. If it's used, I'll develop it more. If not, it's good as is. I'll review Squirrel's list of RP items soon and see what I can do. Note that RP items that don't require scripts can be added much faster if an artist donates artwork for it. [But, talk to AnnGM beforehand. There are certain requirements.]



Anyway, that's some of my list. It's shorter than what I've seen from some of the other GMs!



And, no, you may not priortize it for me. Thanks, though!

[Nightbird]

Thanks Eldon, just readin that stuff, wether it'll come soon, or "soon" or whatever, it's nice to know about.

- Future: do something with the blacksmith that is sure to peeve off most people, but it's been needed for a long time. I don't have details because I'm focusing on the island for now and will get to this later. But, I'm reading those threads with interest.

Note: things that piss alot of people off are usually not a good thing to add to the game.



just my $0.02

[Hidden]

And people leaving the game because they think NOTHING is happening is better, Hidden?

If "nothing" is happening, there are no expectations. If something is happening, it will always happen later than anyone estimates, and if no estimate is given, people will whine about how long it's taking. No-win scenario.



I guarantee you in a couple months one of those things Eldon is working on won't be done, and somebody will gripe about it. Now imagine if LOTS of things were announced ahead of time. Major pain in the ass.

[Fundin]

I guarantee you in a couple months one of those things Eldon is working on won't be done, and somebody will gripe about it. Now imagine if LOTS of things were announced ahead of time. Major pain in the ass.

You cant please em all. I think it was great of Eldon to tell us that stuff, imo at least we know *stuff* is being done, and thats great. It might not be to everyones tastes and might not all get done, but so what, we know that some thing are being done, like a new island. I doubt with the amount of work thats gone into that it will be dumped

[Ann]

Okay, here's what I've been working on recently.



- Improving the demo by opening the whole world up to demo characters, with all the safeguards that will need. There's more than you might think.



- Halloween frivolity. Then Thanksgiving frivolity, if I have time, closely followed by Winter Holiday of Your Choice frivolity. Then it'll be about time to start thinking about April Fool's again.



- Fixing bugs. Everything from the bug that left people in penguin suits to places where you can't walk somewhere that looks like you should be able to.



- Adding screenshots to the CL web site, in preparation for the huge influx of new players who will come to take advantage of the improved demo. (Please don't disillusion me. I need my dreams. )



- Introducing two new people to the wonder that is Clan Lord SOCKS scripting, helping a couple of other scripting helpers choose and implement new projects, and helpng Eldon write his AI.



- Integrating, testing, and distributing all the internal updates that go together to make your biweekly download-o'-joy. This takes a surprising amount of time, alas.



- At least one big project I don't care to describe any further...



Ann

[Nightbird]

thanks Ann!

[HWC Sareth]

Let me just take the moment to thank the GMs for the work they continue to do on the game. Sure, sometimes it seems like development is slow, but let's all recall these folk are volunteers with lives that they have to take time out from in order to do this.



/hugs!



(well, maybe just a handshake for Chum.)

[Aeris]

Much apologies to the GMs for being asked [forced?] into revealing their intimate plans for the game (or some of them, at least).



I swear, if people are going to threaten to leave because A feature or whatnot isn't implemented yet, then they should just leave. It saves them a whole lot of heartache and saves the GMs from hearing a lot of hot air.



The GMs are the people that have taken the game this far, they deserve a hell of a lot of credit. Folks that just ask for more from them or are ungrateful for all that they've done so far are either oblivious to how how much work it takes to enhance CL, or are just ungrateful in general.

[Fundin]

Aeris, i doubt anyone could force the GM's to tell us what they were doing (cept maybe their gods )



A bit of tantilising info like Ann and Eldon gave i think is really cool. Its doesnt give to much away but keeps us all thinking ooh new island or xmas fun that will be good, i think ill renew my account now



Keeping a flow of info is good for the game imo and i for one am very very grateful to both Ann and Eldon for telling us this. I think its a bit like Joe when he did his enewsletter for a short time, that was cool too and i think loads subscribed to it back then (was a good thing)



Id hate to think they'd been bullied into revealing stuff because of these few comments. I think and tell me if im wrong Eldon/Ann that they quite liked the idea of a little leakage of info to allow it to filter through the game

[Aeris]

That's true, Fundin, perhaps I was being a little too serious



You bring up a good point though, Joe was supposed to be providing the tantalizing hints for us with his newsletter which crashed horribly weeks after it was launched. I supposed if he had kept doing it then it would have taken less pressure off the GMs to let us know what's going on.