NS2 feature prioritization via reinforced votes
Racer1
Join Date: 2002-11-22 Member: 9615Members
Join Date: 2002-11-22 Member: 9615Members
As long as UW is working on NS2, they will always be improving on performance and balance. Beyond this, however, there are many enhancements that are being made - Linux support, new maps, etc. are great examples. Even so, UW stamina only goes so far. Perhaps as another incentive to reinforced would be to allow those who purchase badges (at/above a certain level?) to vote for the features/bugs that they wish to be worked on for the next major release. (Maybe the supplemental Onos badge that is being discussed could do this, along with anyone that has an Onos badge).
Obviously, UW already uses input from the forms/playtesters, but this would be an additional way to help determine what gets priority. Think of it as more literally voting with your wallet. Of course, not everything that gets voted for would be (or even could be) fixed by the release date.
Obviously, UW already uses input from the forms/playtesters, but this would be an additional way to help determine what gets priority. Think of it as more literally voting with your wallet. Of course, not everything that gets voted for would be (or even could be) fixed by the release date.
Comments
bold statement
there's a difference between trying to accomplish something and actually getting it done
if we actually believed this, there would be almost no complaints about how development is handled
but the latest fiasco indicates that UWE priorites are elsewhere
I guess I just have less faith in humanity than you, but even if they were steadily improving the game in both performance and balance (which I think they have been doing mostly) that does not prevent people from complaining. I find if you give people a forum they will find something to complain about.
As a side note I think complaints about change is a testament to the emotional connection people have built to this great game. So complaining about the development process should be seen, at least on some levels, as a success. People care about your product enough that when it changes they get upset.
You seem to forget the primary idea behind the concept of Kickstarter-like crowd funding actions: it's a deliberate donation to show your support and good will for a product and the company making it. The goal is to get funding for a project without having any third party impair the vision of the developers.
The reward tiers are just a token gesture for the most part anyway, since the goods you get from them are not supposed to measure up to the amount of money you paid for them.
I can't stress the word "donation" enough. You are not buying shares in the company and don't have any say in what the company is doing except delivering the promised product, which isn't really the case in the Reinforced program anyway since the product is already released and this is more a post-funding. Because otherwise Kickstarters wouldn't be much different from developers being the dog of a publisher and executing the tasks given by their investors.
that doesn't mean the complaints aren't legitimate. if you don't give people a forum, it doesn't mean the complaints go away.
except that the investors are also your consumers. also, devs and donators are both guilty of treating kickstarter as an extremely premature preorder.
personally, I've kickstarted a few projects, but always with the understanding that I would either be getting a discount, or without my contribution the thing would not get off the ground. preorder, to find the development of the game I want to eventually buy... but they better have a concrete vision.
Everybody with an account can take part and place 6 votes/month on the things that should be prioritized. Pro users receive 9 votes.
I'd like to see the same voting mechanic for NS2, because Google Moderator was just too unwieldy... as far as I know there was no way to stop already finished wishes from clogging the view.
With every purchase/donation, the buyer is looking at what they get for their money -- be it "goodwill" or a new car. This is just how our brains are wired. While I agree that the stuff promised on such a fundraiser is never guaranteed, I think it definitely helps to encourage contributors to donate at higher levels than they would have otherwise.
I think it's pretty certain the top 3 would be performance, uneven games (difference in skill etc), and crybaby forum posters, but not necessarily in that order.