In light of the recent debacle with the eye types, it would be great if we had a beta player testing ground for those of us that wish to test out new features before they can be launched to prevent something like this from happening again, while also having a smaller group of people be able to work in a more controlled environment where they can test out certain upcoming features.
In doing so there would be a better pipeline between the user and the site admins if something were to go horribly wrong and would prevent stress-inducing events like this from happening again
It can be voluntary--maybe have them pay a fee of some sort, I'd go between 1500g-5500g
($15-$50 respectively) OR go through a strict vetting process for potential beta testers for free
Any and all new beta players would have to abide to never revealing new information on the things that they're testing without explicit permission from an admin, but the benefit would be being able to mess around with newer in-the-works features sooner and give pre-launch feedback on what could be worked on
In light of the recent debacle with the eye types, it would be great if we had a beta player testing ground for those of us that wish to test out new features before they can be launched to prevent something like this from happening again, while also having a smaller group of people be able to work in a more controlled environment where they can test out certain upcoming features.
In doing so there would be a better pipeline between the user and the site admins if something were to go horribly wrong and would prevent stress-inducing events like this from happening again
It can be voluntary--maybe have them pay a fee of some sort, I'd go between 1500g-5500g
($15-$50 respectively) OR go through a strict vetting process for potential beta testers for free
Any and all new beta players would have to abide to never revealing new information on the things that they're testing without explicit permission from an admin, but the benefit would be being able to mess around with newer in-the-works features sooner and give pre-launch feedback on what could be worked on
I think this suggestion has merit, but I'm not entirely sure if it's needed? Over the years, the players have seen many new features added to the site. I can't remember a time when any of them didn't work mostly as intended, and certainly none of them went horribly wrong. Not even this eye event can be described as horrible wrong in my opinion, even if there was a few hiccups.
This eye event was stressful for players, yes, but I think because of this the admins are taking steps to flesh out their ideas for new features so they work better in the future, as mentioned in their recent news post, in which they quote:
[quote name="Aequorin" date="2018-06-11 16:27:54" ]
We recognize that our intent was not laid out as explicitly as it could have been, and will do our best to be better about that going forward, especially when one feature modifies another.
[/quote]
To design and implentment a beta system to review feedback sounds like a lot of effort to create. You would have to create a mirror of the site (where new beta items and features exist) with seperate permissions for who can enter. I'm sure the admins already have a private part of the site where they test things to make sure no major bugs appear. This is something I feel the players do not need to see. Player feedback can also be accessed very easily on many of the forums too, so haveing a beta site for this reason is a bit pointless.
Also I think this would be too hard to monitor information concerning the new features. It can very easily be revealed and spoil a lot of new features for the players here, which I would personally feel unhappy about. You can't stop FR players from chatting off site. Anyone could blab about it.
I think this suggestion has merit, but I'm not entirely sure if it's needed? Over the years, the players have seen many new features added to the site. I can't remember a time when any of them didn't work mostly as intended, and certainly none of them went horribly wrong. Not even this eye event can be described as horrible wrong in my opinion, even if there was a few hiccups.
This eye event was stressful for players, yes, but I think because of this the admins are taking steps to flesh out their ideas for new features so they work better in the future, as mentioned in their recent news post, in which they quote:
Aequorin wrote on 2018-06-11 16:27:54:
We recognize that our intent was not laid out as explicitly as it could have been, and will do our best to be better about that going forward, especially when one feature modifies another.
To design and implentment a beta system to review feedback sounds like a lot of effort to create. You would have to create a mirror of the site (where new beta items and features exist) with seperate permissions for who can enter. I'm sure the admins already have a private part of the site where they test things to make sure no major bugs appear. This is something I feel the players do not need to see. Player feedback can also be accessed very easily on many of the forums too, so haveing a beta site for this reason is a bit pointless.
Also I think this would be too hard to monitor information concerning the new features. It can very easily be revealed and spoil a lot of new features for the players here, which I would personally feel unhappy about. You can't stop FR players from chatting off site. Anyone could blab about it.
[quote name="Sludgy" date="2018-06-11 22:34:04" ]You can't stop FR players from chatting off site. Anyone could blab about it.[/quote]
You can, however, make them sign an NDA so if it comes out that they blabbed about it, they're in legal trouble.
I was going to make a similar suggestion--FR should consider running some major changes past a user panel to get feedback before release, which would substantially smooth out the bumps in the release process. (Or, at the very least, tell them where the bumps are liable to be so they can anticipate these things.)
It'd also be nice to have some of the sharp-eyed users able to view things before they go live & point out problems with the art, like the pixelation around multi-eyes.
Sludgy wrote on 2018-06-11 22:34:04:
You can't stop FR players from chatting off site. Anyone could blab about it.
You can, however, make them sign an NDA so if it comes out that they blabbed about it, they're in legal trouble.
I was going to make a similar suggestion--FR should consider running some major changes past a user panel to get feedback before release, which would substantially smooth out the bumps in the release process. (Or, at the very least, tell them where the bumps are liable to be so they can anticipate these things.)
It'd also be nice to have some of the sharp-eyed users able to view things before they go live & point out problems with the art, like the pixelation around multi-eyes.
everything happens so much
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I'M GONNA DRINK IT LIKE A PERSON
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After every single poll the staff makes, there's drama. Why should it be any different if we're talking about a handful of people versus the site as a whole? Also, I can 100% guarantee you, considering how toxic resourceful the fanbase is, they'd be able to find these board members. We'd get everything from off-site bribery to harassment to hacking.
(And somehow I'm not sure FR has the legal budget to actually enforce an NDA... Call me cynical.)
After every single poll the staff makes, there's drama. Why should it be any different if we're talking about a handful of people versus the site as a whole? Also, I can 100% guarantee you, considering how toxic resourceful the fanbase is, they'd be able to find these board members. We'd get everything from off-site bribery to harassment to hacking.
(And somehow I'm not sure FR has the legal budget to actually enforce an NDA... Call me cynical.)
It takes
Twelve Years for one Imperial pair to produce a Primal-eyed offspring of a specific sex. Goal-based breeding is dead.
Alternatively consider this - Pr-release announcements. Okay, it wouldn't have worked for things like the new eye update or coli beta, but could do wonders for things like new eyes, genes, and apparel. Announce the release in a week's time, and add the gene/eye/apparel to the scrying workshop/dressing room.
When something new comes out players immediately try to get it, be it a gene, apparel, or what have you. I know I immediately started brewing scatter-sights the moment I saw the announcement. However, when this is the case, it's hard to make changes after the fact. A lot of suggestions for things like
how the goop falls on shadow mirrors primal eyes or how
firefly would look so much better with contrast tweaked , or how certain a apparel sits on a dragon have one big problem - people who bought early because they liked it as it was, then had that thing unexpectedly change on them after a day or so.
I'm not suggesting staff do a poll for literally everything they release, that would be hectic and they'd need to do mockups and UGH THE DRAMA, but a pre-release notice for more mundane things gives players a chance to give their feedback and notice any obvious art errors before people have had a chance to actually buy the things and therefore their's fewer stakes if they do decide to tweak before release.
Alternatively consider this - Pr-release announcements. Okay, it wouldn't have worked for things like the new eye update or coli beta, but could do wonders for things like new eyes, genes, and apparel. Announce the release in a week's time, and add the gene/eye/apparel to the scrying workshop/dressing room.
When something new comes out players immediately try to get it, be it a gene, apparel, or what have you. I know I immediately started brewing scatter-sights the moment I saw the announcement. However, when this is the case, it's hard to make changes after the fact. A lot of suggestions for things like
how the goop falls on shadow mirrors primal eyes or how
firefly would look so much better with contrast tweaked , or how certain a apparel sits on a dragon have one big problem - people who bought early because they liked it as it was, then had that thing unexpectedly change on them after a day or so.
I'm not suggesting staff do a poll for literally everything they release, that would be hectic and they'd need to do mockups and UGH THE DRAMA, but a pre-release notice for more mundane things gives players a chance to give their feedback and notice any obvious art errors before people have had a chance to actually buy the things and therefore their's fewer stakes if they do decide to tweak before release.
Semi-support....
A few things about thins make me want to like it. The idea of avoiding things like this in the future is music to my ears.
As was said earlier, they probably have a mock site where they test things before they go live, and NDA's are a thing.
I would like to see, if they choose to do this, a "nomination" system of sorts, which has certain requirements....
- Only one beta tester per flight
- Must have been on the site for 3 years or longer
- Must be active in their flight community, weather thats games, dom, newletters, raffle organization, or otherwise
- Must have a Venerable or Ancient Lair, so as many dragons as possible can be tested with whatever the new thing is
- Must sign an NDA, and be willing to lose their account (or similar punishement) if confidential material is spread
Edit: I wouldn't want to be a beta tester, and I think that these could be achievable goals for most players
One nomination during the next NotN, and Beta testers get replaced if they can't, for some reason, be a tester anymore. I feel like something like that would have saved so much backlash and arguments, that it might be at least worth looking into.
Semi-support....
A few things about thins make me want to like it. The idea of avoiding things like this in the future is music to my ears.
As was said earlier, they probably have a mock site where they test things before they go live, and NDA's are a thing.
I would like to see, if they choose to do this, a "nomination" system of sorts, which has certain requirements....
- Only one beta tester per flight
- Must have been on the site for 3 years or longer
- Must be active in their flight community, weather thats games, dom, newletters, raffle organization, or otherwise
- Must have a Venerable or Ancient Lair, so as many dragons as possible can be tested with whatever the new thing is
- Must sign an NDA, and be willing to lose their account (or similar punishement) if confidential material is spread
Edit: I wouldn't want to be a beta tester, and I think that these could be achievable goals for most players
One nomination during the next NotN, and Beta testers get replaced if they can't, for some reason, be a tester anymore. I feel like something like that would have saved so much backlash and arguments, that it might be at least worth looking into.
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Older players with large lairs who are active on the forums are going to throw their support behind policy changes that benefit older players with large lairs who are active on the forums. If such a thing were to ever occur, (and I still don't support it) it would need to be a truly random selection. Different age groups, (as long as they're legal adults) different account ages, different account net values (including dragons, valuable items etc not just G and T). Different time zones. Different genders if possible. There should be only two things that would disqualify a person. Being too young to sign an NDA, or people who have had disciplinary actions taken against their accounts.
And I'm not sure what precisely you meant by "nomination" but most certainly these people shouldn't be nominated by the community. It would turn into a popularity contest.
Just ran a quick google search about enforcing NDAs And... yeah, no, the costs in money and time aren't worth it for pixel dragons. Even large corporations have trouble finding leaks in the information era. We wouldn't stand a chance. It would be on the anon FR Blogs within an hour. It would be on that data-mining site within minutes. Because the sort of people DJ Feather described? The people who have been here for a long time and talk to other people who have been here for a long time? We know how to get around things. (Yeah BTW, if we had any sort of legal power, we would have used it on that data-mining site years ago.)
It's also true that FR could just shut down the account of anyone suspected of leaking info without an NDA, but if they did that, then who in their right minds would sign up to be a beta tester? You get heat from both the staff and the playerbase. The staff comes after you when one of your fellow beta-board members inevitably leaks, and the playerbase comes after you when they read the leak and automatically assume you can change this-that-that-and-that about the new feature.
And last but not least, when I buy gems, I want the money to go towards things that directly improve the site, not towards toothless legal fees.
... I didn't mean to write a text wall. Sorry guys.
Older players with large lairs who are active on the forums are going to throw their support behind policy changes that benefit older players with large lairs who are active on the forums. If such a thing were to ever occur, (and I still don't support it) it would need to be a truly random selection. Different age groups, (as long as they're legal adults) different account ages, different account net values (including dragons, valuable items etc not just G and T). Different time zones. Different genders if possible. There should be only two things that would disqualify a person. Being too young to sign an NDA, or people who have had disciplinary actions taken against their accounts.
And I'm not sure what precisely you meant by "nomination" but most certainly these people shouldn't be nominated by the community. It would turn into a popularity contest.
Just ran a quick google search about enforcing NDAs And... yeah, no, the costs in money and time aren't worth it for pixel dragons. Even large corporations have trouble finding leaks in the information era. We wouldn't stand a chance. It would be on the anon FR Blogs within an hour. It would be on that data-mining site within minutes. Because the sort of people DJ Feather described? The people who have been here for a long time and talk to other people who have been here for a long time? We know how to get around things. (Yeah BTW, if we had any sort of legal power, we would have used it on that data-mining site years ago.)
It's also true that FR could just shut down the account of anyone suspected of leaking info without an NDA, but if they did that, then who in their right minds would sign up to be a beta tester? You get heat from both the staff and the playerbase. The staff comes after you when one of your fellow beta-board members inevitably leaks, and the playerbase comes after you when they read the leak and automatically assume you can change this-that-that-and-that about the new feature.
And last but not least, when I buy gems, I want the money to go towards things that directly improve the site, not towards toothless legal fees.
... I didn't mean to write a text wall. Sorry guys.
It takes
Twelve Years for one Imperial pair to produce a Primal-eyed offspring of a specific sex. Goal-based breeding is dead.
To be honest, if the staff watched the forums, this could have been avoided. Every time random mutations popped up in the suggestion forum, they were shot down because people want to control their dragon breedings. Based on dragon share, nest renting, dragon sales, and everywhere else, it's clear people are very meticulous about their dragons--down to the very tiny pixel eyes. Knowing this, it should be obvious this update wouldn't be fully well received since it a) takes away player control in breeding and b) makes it extremely difficult to get the new eyes on existing dream dragons.
To be honest, if the staff watched the forums, this could have been avoided. Every time random mutations popped up in the suggestion forum, they were shot down because people want to control their dragon breedings. Based on dragon share, nest renting, dragon sales, and everywhere else, it's clear people are very meticulous about their dragons--down to the very tiny pixel eyes. Knowing this, it should be obvious this update wouldn't be fully well received since it a) takes away player control in breeding and b) makes it extremely difficult to get the new eyes on existing dream dragons.
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If writers are supposed to "show not tell," why are we called "storytellers" and not "storyshow-ers"?
I don't think it should be to rich users only to go and be beta testers.
I don't think it should be to rich users only to go and be beta testers.
Nah no support from me. This is just falling way too dangerously close into “premium membership” territory for me. I know this could prevent things like the sudden change to common eyes from happening but I just don’t like the idea of offering exclusive content to only users who pay for it.
Please don’t ping me. If you want to respond to my comment, quote it.
Nah no support from me. This is just falling way too dangerously close into “premium membership” territory for me. I know this could prevent things like the sudden change to common eyes from happening but I just don’t like the idea of offering exclusive content to only users who pay for it.
Please don’t ping me. If you want to respond to my comment, quote it.
