Defiance: Doing it right

Subject: Defiance: Doing it right Mon Apr 08, 2013 10:12 am

Don't let the title fool ya, the game isn't right yet. It has been plagued by server issues and connection issues from day 1 and it is getting better every day. What they ARE doing right is staying on top of their issues and communicating with their customers and the community as BlackDeath and Slam discussed on the podcast (shameless plug for BD http://over30clan.podomatic.com/ ).

This game is a huge undertaking and a big risk. Big world with hundreds and thousands of players interacting in the same world. I have seen 100+ in an Arkfall and I have played in a few 32v32 PvP Shadow War matches. Apparently, connection issues and gamebreaking glitches are pretty common in MMO launches on PC. On console ain't nobody got time fo dat! We want to buy our game, slide the disk in and get after it. Well, that isn't happening.....at least not the way we expect our games at launch.

This is where Trion Worlds gets it right. They could retreat to the back rooms of their office and hide while trying to fix their issues. Instead they are standing out front welcoming feedback and interacting with the community. They are constantly updating on twitter and even in the game chat letting us know that servers are coming down or telling us that the whole thing crashed. They are listening to people on their forums and owning their mistakes. That was enough to keep me somewhat calm while I couldn't get into the game. Then they went over the top with an end of day recap of what they are doing to fix the game.

DAY 2 IN THE LIFE OF DEFIANCE, LITTLE BIT OF HUMBLE, LITTLE BIT OF CAUTIOUS

THEME OF DAY 3, DON’T DO THE SAME THING OVER AND OVER AND EXPECT DIFFERENT RESULTS

DEAR DIARY, IT’S THE FOURTH DAY, IT’S BEEN AMAZING BUT WHY DO WE STILL HAVE LAG?

DAY 6, IMPROVEMENTS, IMPROVEMENTS, IMPROVEMENTS, NIIIICE! WTF?

Now, this communication did not fix the game and it light up crashed servers. But it did put me in their shoes and let me know they are on top of it. It has gotten better every day and I feel safe in assuming that it will keep getting better. If nothing else I know that they are all over it and they will keep everyone up to date on what is going on.

The moral of the story is this: Own your mistakes, communicate what you are doing to fix them and keep everyone informed.

I will post my thoughts on the gameplay a little later. For anyone who is thinking about buying this game I recommend you wait. If you read the Day 6 blog post, they will have some really big patches within the next week and on the 15th. If you wait until after that, then you will get to skip a lot of frustration and will get to play the game as it was intended.

Subject: Re: Defiance: Doing it right Mon Apr 08, 2013 10:19 am

Wait... what? I clicked on this for info about Destiny... not Defiance! hahaha Razz

Subject: Re: Defiance: Doing it right Mon Apr 08, 2013 10:20 am

oops...changed Smile

But at least I hooked you to open the thread.

Subject: Re: Defiance: Doing it right Mon Apr 08, 2013 11:39 am

Haha yeah boooo no Desitny! I want my clicks back haha

But really... i'm glad to hear they're addressing the issues! Good solid game and can only get better!

Guest

gun fer hire wrote:: Haha yeah boooo no Desitny! I want my clicks back haha

But really... i'm glad to hear they're addressing the issues! Good solid game and can only get better!

I'm really not at all interested in Destiny to be honest.

Love Halo and all but Destiny isn't really peaking an interest for me.

Subject: Re: Defiance: Doing it right Mon Apr 08, 2013 2:25 pm

I like veggies....just saying

Subject: Re: Defiance: Doing it right Mon Apr 08, 2013 2:33 pm

veggies are great if they are deep fried and covered in bacon & gravy

Subject: Re: Defiance: Doing it right Mon Apr 08, 2013 3:58 pm

This is nothing new in the world of MMOs. what will also happen is everyone will begin to hate everything about it, but play it anyway (COD much?) and then you will get the math geeks to min/max EVERYTHING and create cookie cutter classes, forcing the devs to change things around or have a stagnant boring game where everyone is the same thing over and over. I think i may pick this game up, but i am kind of on the fence about it. having the mmo feel again may make it too much of a chore to play it.

Subject: Re: Defiance: Doing it right Thu Apr 11, 2013 3:38 pm

Is Defiance cross console? Or is there a separate one for PS3, Xbox and PC?

Subject: Re: Defiance: Doing it right Thu Apr 11, 2013 4:00 pm

No they didnt do the cross platform on it.

Subject: Re: Defiance: Doing it right Thu Apr 11, 2013 4:16 pm

That stinks. You know why it's not cross console? Apparently, the xbox guys are scare of the PS3 guys. lol

Quote :: Trion Global Brand Director Alex Rodberg said that while this cross-platform mingling can be done, it's extremely unlikely that such a thing would ever reach live servers: "Microsoft won't let Sony players play against them."

http://massively.joystiq.com/2012/05/31/defiance-could-link-up-an-xbox-360-with-a-ps3-but-cant/