An open letter to Squad

[Pedonymous]

Dude, this is forum issues not game Dev issues. Damien and his team are the ones working on the Community they are not Game Devs, the dev team work on the game and the community team work on the community.

Well then it all boils doen to a PR issue then yes? SQUAD has taken far too much control and is being too intrusive in the dev process. What has happened with the servers is both a huge rookie mistake (payment info cough cough) and to be perfectly honest from what i've seen the community managers aren't exactly the best there could be.

[macintux]

SQUAD has taken far too much control and is being too intrusive in the dev process. What has happened with the servers is both a huge rookie mistake (payment info cough cough) and to be perfectly honest from what i've seen the community managers aren't exactly the best there could be.

Do you have any evidence to back this up, or would you rather continue with baseless speculation?

Why don't you go start your own forum dedicated to KSP, and pay the hosting costs, and manage the website, and keep backups in case some one decides to DDOS the site.

[Pedonymous]

I would, but look what happened to kerbal.net.

Not to mention that the majority of the community is unsalvageable at this point anyways.

[grawl]

Pedonymous

Wow...just . . . wow... ...

You paid for the game as it is. Not for info about future updates

Anyway, so you imply that the influence Squad might be taking in the KSP dev process (what more normal, as KSP is very close to a "store shelves" release) is somewhat linked to the DoS attack that crushed the forum ? 8o

[Pedonymous]

Pedonymous

Wow...just . . . wow... ...

You paid for the game as it is. Not for info about future updates

Anyway, so you imply that the influence Squad might be taking in the KSP dev process (what more normal, as KSP is very close to a "store shelves" release) is somewhat linked to the DoS attack that crushed the forum ? 8o

Well it wouldn't be the first time a dev decided "screw it" once they got enough money. I am absolutely baffled about how passive so many people are about this, you're the consumer, you're the person who is keeping these people in business, you certainly have a say in what happens (if the business wants to keep their reputation and customers of course).

And no, the DDoS attack was not their fault, but the completely haphazard way they're dealing with it is very amateur. N3X15 has repeatedly said that the PR, community managers, and lawyers have prevented him from doing his job properly on multiple occasions. I know him from way back so I think I can trust him when he says "the way they're doing all this is retarded".

[macintux]

And no, the DDoS attack was not their fault, but the completely haphazard way they're dealing with it is very amateur. N3X15 has repeatedly said that the PR, community managers, and lawyers have prevented him from doing his job properly on multiple occasions. I know him from way back so I think I can trust him when he says "the way they're doing all this is retarded".

Again, do you have evidence to back up these claims, other than "This forum member told me XYZ". So far what you are saying can, and should be, taken with a grain of salt.

[Pedonymous]

Again, do you have evidence to back up these claims, other than "This forum member told me XYZ". So far what you are saying can, and should be, taken with a grain of salt.

N3X15 is the server dev, just FYI.

And of course what I'm saying should be but again, having seen this many times before i have every reason to be pretty paranoid about all this.

[tommygunyeah]

I have never really seen it before, plus there are no real signs of what you are speaking about. Why not sit back enjoy a nice drink and chill

[pinolallo]

Well it wouldn't be the first time a dev decided "screw it" once they got enough money. I am absolutely baffled about how passive so many people are about this, you're the consumer, you're the person who is keeping these people in business, you certainly have a say in what happens (if the business wants to keep their reputation and customers of course).

I agree.

Forum is an important part of the KSP mix.

[macintux]

And of course what I'm saying should be

Then STOP saying it, right now all you are doing is spreading FUD and making yourself look like an entitled brat.

[ROFLCopter64bit]

Derailing at 73%

Anyway, back on topic, the theory of the DDoS should be the theory of the GDDoS, as this could've been part of the global attack on thousands of websites.

[Pedonymous]

I have never really seen it before, plus there are no real signs of what you are speaking about. Why not sit back enjoy a nice drink and chill

Ignoring problems makes them worse.

I want this game to succeed, I want it to reach its full potential, but with the current attitude of SOON XD and MODS WILL DO IT it'll never meet its full potential, just like Minecraft.

Then STOP saying it, right now all you are doing is spreading FUD and making yourself look like an entitled brat.

Taking something with a grain of salt does not mean outright ignoring it.

And yes, I'm entitled to the quality of the purchase I've made. This is some EA level defense forcing going on here.

Edited April 20, 2013 by Pedonymous

[Pedonymous]

double reply

Edited April 20, 2013 by Pedonymous
double reply

[macintux]

Ignoring problems makes them worse.

I want this game to succeed, I want it to reach its full potential, but with the current attitude of SOON XD and MODS WILL DO IT it'll never meet its full potential, just like Minecraft.

Then why don't you take this up with the devs instead of spreading FUD here in the forums?

[macintux]

Taking something with a grain of salt does not mean outright ignoring it.

And yes, I'm entitled to the quality of the purchase I've made. This is some EA level defense forcing going on here.

Provide some evidence to back up your claims and I MIGHT consider being on your side here, claims require evidence.

[tommygunyeah]

Derailing at 73%

Anyway, back on topic, the theory of the DDoS should be the theory of the GDDoS, as this could've been part of the global attack on thousands of websites.

How many websites had it currently effected?

[Pedonymous]

Then why don't you take this up with the devs instead of spreading FUD here in the forums?

I would but the devs have gone full hermit-mode, and out only potential method of communication with them right now is the community managers, and I know I certainly can't rely on them.

Provide some evidence to back up your claims and I MIGHT consider being on your side here, claims require evidence.

The best evidence I can offer is talking to N3X15 about it, on our community he's been our inside source to all the bull that's been going on but even he's being bullied by the higherups.

Why is everyone so afraid to be skeptical? Why does it always have to be this blind optimism and "SQUAD can do no wrong"?

[macintux]

Why is everyone so afraid to be skeptical?

I'm not afraid to be skeptical, I, however, am skeptical of YOU. YOU have come into this thread claiming there is something malicious going on, YOU have claimed to have an inside line into whatever events are going on with the servers or game development, YOU need to put up, or shut up.

[Pedonymous]

I'm not afraid to be skeptical, I, however, am skeptical of YOU. YOU have come into this thread claiming there is something malicious going on, YOU have claimed to have an inside line into whatever events are going on with the servers or game development, YOU need to put up, or shut up.

Again, take it up with N3X15. For all I know maybe he's fibbing. But everything else I've seen myself, especially the way that the staff behaves, has the game on a Hoffman maneuver for disaster.

[Mode7]

Yes but in this situation what practicality is there to it? Like you said they're a small company, their game has zero competition, what is there that warrants this?

The only reason I can think of is that they're doing something behind our backs or cutting planned features.

There is one huge, important reason for a development NDA. When you are developing software you will always have ideas that just don't make the final product. They may not be technically possible, they may damage the overall gameplay, or they may simply be outside of the budget and resources of the team.

When you are still in development you keep anything you are not 100% about close to your chest. I would say that this is the PRIMARY reason for not letting fans in on your development process. You don't want people to see the idea that looks great on paper but just can't be implemented without killing the project.

Saying that they only reason is that they are cutting planned features is silly. It is more than silly, it is childish. Do you think that Squad are a bunch of villains twisting their mustaches in a dark corner trying to find a way to hurt you? They don't want to do poorly. They do not want to put out a bad product. They likely have a real passion for what they are doing and more importantly they want to turn a profit on this game and future projects. If they poison the well now by screwing us all over they won't really have much of a future as a developer.

Every thing in the planned features list might not make it to the full game. Thats why they are called 'planned' features. Ever made any plans? Did those work out exactly the way you wanted them to? If something doesn't make the final product you can bet that they put in an effort and tried to make it work. Sometimes people dream bigger than what they can achieve. Sometimes reality steps in and shuts you down.

I cannot think of a single motivator that would make them want to pull features out of the game just to try and hurt your feelings.

[ROFLCopter64bit]

How many websites had it currently effected?

It actually affected whole web-hosting services.

[macintux]

But everything else I've seen myself, especially the way that the staff behaves.

Care to provide examples?

[pinolallo]

I believe that the main reason for April forum fail is Steam. After the KSP Steam launch the trafic of the forum just exploded and that caused the overload in a very similar way of a DDoS.

[Pedonymous]

There is one huge, important reason for a development NDA. When you are developing software you will always have ideas that just don't make the final product. They may not be technically possible, they may damage the overall gameplay, or they may simply be outside of the budget and resources of the team.

When you are still in development you keep anything you are not 100% about close to your chest. I would say that this is the PRIMARY reason for not letting fans in on your development process. You don't want people to see the idea that looks great on paper but just can't be implemented without killing the project.

Saying that they only reason is that they are cutting planned features is silly. It is more than silly, it is childish. Do you think that Squad are a bunch of villains twisting their mustaches in a dark corner trying to find a way to hurt you? They don't want to do poorly. They do not want to put out a bad product. They likely have a real passion for what they are doing and more importantly they want to turn a profit on this game and future projects. If they poison the well now by screwing us all over they won't really have much of a future as a developer.

Every thing in the planned features list might not make it to the full game. Thats why they are called 'planned' features. Ever made any plans? Did those work out exactly the way you wanted them to? If something doesn't make the final product you can bet that they put in an effort and tried to make it work. Sometimes people dream bigger than what they can achieve. Sometimes reality steps in and shuts you down.

I cannot think of a single motivator that would make them want to pull features out of the game just to try and hurt your feelings.

You just said "they aren't cutting features, they're secretive because they don't want us to see them cutting planned features."

I'm sorry but that's completely bonkers. If they were open, honest, and apologetic after saying "here's what we want to do, but we can't because reasons", there'd be no reason for suspicion nor would people be in uproar about the feature being cut.

[Pedonymous]

Care to provide examples?

I would point out very immediate examples with some of the mods and community managers, but I don't want to set off any itchy ban triggers this place is known for.