Open question to Muse RE: December/November patches

[dragonmere]

Many of the changes introduced in the last few months (ie: extreme close range combat nerfs, sniper mechanics buff, lobby overhaul, and especially MUSE's general stance on 'stacking') were geared explicitly to increase player retention.

Given that the decline of concurrent log-ins after the winter sale seems generally consistent with previous sales, coupled with the fact that you lost a small hand full of very devoted players (myself included):

Do you consider your November and December patches to be an overall success?

[DMaximus]

I'm not sure about Muse, but I've really enjoyed the last few patches. There's always work left to do, but the range stratification work really made the game more interesting and varied. Both brawling and sniping are at better places now than they've been for ages. Ship swap is a freakin godsend, though the algorithm for doing so could be better. I haven't really noticed any vets leaving, at least not any I care about. I recommend logging in and giving it another chance with a more open mindset.   

[Skrimskraw]

there are more people online playing during eu times than before.

close combat is still viable?

[Sammy B. T.]

Gat mortar is stronger than it ever was.

[Richard LeMoon]

The largest problem is still a steep learning curve, and general gameplay quirks, not any of the changes (most of which I like). Small irks are making new players quit, as well as not understanding from the very beginning that Guns is a VERY team and communication oriented game. We have all seen the "ready up!" guys that have everything wrong in their ships or loadouts who ragequit after getting stomped. One of my good friends (and a great coder) quit after only a few matches because he kept getting stuck on stairs and other geometry, which still irks me as well.

Player falloff seems slower, so I would say the patches were a success.

I personally like the changes, as I have seen a lot of various ships being used with a lot of new gun configurations.

[Omniraptor]

The largest problem is still a steep learning curve, and general gameplay quirks, not any of the changes (most of which I like). Small irks are making new players quit, as well as not understanding from the very beginning that Guns is a VERY team and communication oriented game. We have all seen the "ready up!" guys that have everything wrong in their ships or loadouts who ragequit after getting stomped. One of my good friends (and a great coder) quit after only a few matches because he kept getting stuck on stairs and other geometry, which still irks me as well.

Player falloff seems slower, so I would say the patches were a success.

I personally like the changes, as I have seen a lot of various ships being used with a lot of new gun configurations.

That's actually a very good point. Player movement still feels clunky. I've practiced with it a LOT, so I have little workarounds that don't always work. Notable culprits are the spire's central ladder (easy to get stuck when jumping down) and the mobula's stairs are too 'sticky'. Also, getting stuck on the goldfish's central drum is while trying to repair the hull is pretty common. It's probably a lot worse for people not used to it.

[Dresdom]

One of my good friends (and a great coder) quit after only a few matches because he kept getting stuck on stairs and other geometry, which still irks me as well.

That's actually a very good point. Player movement still feels clunky.

Yep. I agree. There are places where you always have to jump, like when getting upper deck in a junker. I don't know about coding, but is it possible to add some kind of automatic movement in such places? Things like climbing a common edge (junker) or a foolproof stairs animation. The game is not about parkour but teamwork and airship madness. If Muse can solve the first one new players could enjoy better the other two.

About the ready up guys and the lonewolves who don't get the teamwork bit, I'd make mandatory to play the tutorials before joining your first match so everyone have a basic understanding of all the mechanics. A lot of impatient players log in, click quick join before even knowing about tutorials, shout "Ready up fags" a couple of times, get stomped, shout a bit more swears to the other players (noobs, fags and idiot team are usual choices) who usually are other novices who get very discouraged to keep playing (In my first match I got so insulted for bouncing our ship from mountain to mountain that I just keep playing because I LOVE steampunk, but I didn't take the helm again in a long time) and ragequit playing in frustration.
 
I also think it is essential to have a fourth tutorial about Crewsmanship: Quick orders and commands (It was hard for me to figure out how to use V, appoint a target with B etc...), teamwork, class roles and the importance of stick to them (I've seen a lot of lv1 engineers empty clips and clips harmlessly into the clouds while everything is on fire and the gunner is frantically trying to repair stuff with his hammer).

I also think a gunner should be able to take the guns from any other class as it happens with AIs, the pilot to take the helm, and the engineer hits should have preference over the other classes in cooldown terms ("please, stop hitting the hull with that pipe and go shooting stuff, I really need to repair it with the mallet and yout cooldown doesnt let me to do so... Does he even hear me?"). At least in novice matches.

[Skrimskraw]

Gat mortar is stronger than it ever was.

I agree the quickest kill in the game.

[dragonmere]

Glad people are enjoying the patches and have varied opinions on close range combat. But that's not the point here.

There was a good deal of general aversion to most aspects of the more recent the patches. I could pull up plenty of form posts if needed. Generally speaking, every time, Muse's rational behind the need for a combat rebalance, 'scramble' feature, spawn system, etc. was that it was absolutely needed to secure new players. We have these systems now, they've been in place, and there is essentially no change in new player adoption. And to pretend that noone left the game is downright silly. Every time there is a major patch, some veterans leave. This has always been the case with Muse's extreme 'rebalancing' tactics; some people aren't going to like it, enough so to leave.

So the question remains; as a developer, does Muse think their patches are successful? Did they hit their mark? Do they care that they put-off some of their more supportive customers? Is the community progressing in the way that they want? Is this the way they intend to do business, or did they make slight errors over the last few months?

Since this community is so awesome and the developers are so involved, I'm sure they should be able to actually directly answer this question.

[RearAdmiralZill]

Im also fairly certain they have an email for that. feedback@musegames.com

No offence, but they aren't going to answer every forum post. Every email is more realistic.

[Sammy B. T.]

Zill just because he is saying this is a question to Muse, doesn't mean Muse is the audience of this thread.

[RearAdmiralZill]

Zill just because he is saying this is a question to Muse, doesn't mean Muse is the audience of this thread.

Glad people are enjoying the patches and have varied opinions on close range combat. But that's not the point here.

Not sure how you read that line, but it reads to me that he want's a Muse response, not the community's. Emailing them would surely get him a response faster.

[Sammy B. T.]

He is a CA so clearly he knows to email Muse "questions" like this. Maybe my work as a campaign organizer has me jaded but this just seems like rabble rousing and not legitimate questioning.

[Imagine]

He is a CA so clearly he knows to email Muse "questions" like this. Maybe my work as a campaign organizer has me jaded but this just seems like rabble rousing and not legitimate questioning.

For once, we actually agree on something. Smells very much like a "Come out Muse and tell everyone how everything you've done has been terrible and wrong... oh what's that, the community has said that most of it has worked out? WELL YOU'RE NOT THE NOW DEVS ARE YOU?!"

We've seen people in the game come and go for various reasons. After every sale and major video you'll have people leave the game because that's what most gamers do, they'll play something for a while and then move onto the next shiny thing. We've had veterans leave for various reasons, be it a patch or personal stuff or just because they want to, and while I'm sure we wish it wasn't so, it's also not like Muse is going to reverse everything they've done because a few left the game for it.

[Dresdom]

And to pretend that noone left the game is downright silly. Every time there is a major patch, some veterans leave. This has always been the case with Muse's extreme 'rebalancing' tactics; some people aren't going to like it, enough so to leave.

...Exactly as happens in any other game. When any kind of change happens, some people doesn't like it and leave. This happens in GoI, in LoL, in WoW, in Minecraft and actually every game subject to patches.

I'm afraid GoI is a niche game. When you talk someone about Battlefield saying "You are a soldier and go around capturing points and killing people" it usually seduces the average gamer, as it's a kind of experience we are used to watch on TV, films and the media, and it soaks the youth imagination (the main public of videogames). When you talk about GoI to a friend saying "You are a crewsman on a postapocalyptic steampunk world, flying a kinda zeppelin airship and shooting other airships down" he'll probably ask you "What's a steam - punk?". Flying an airship is not an usual daydream nor a recess game. However there's been nearly two years and the game still has a solid base of loyal players which slowly increases and, given that Muse is still working on it and developing new resources and patches, producing enought income to keep the company afloat and pay the developer's salary.

So yes, the game has huge rises (sales) and drops (people leave to the next shiny thing, as Imagine said), but taking into account the limited target market it has, I think it is working pretty well.