Now that bards have been released (surprise!), I'd like to ask how players feel about keeping our design development under wraps until we're ready for release and springing it as a surprise. I really enjoy weaving plots and events around releases, but I know some people are curious about what the future holds. The pros of secrecy are that we aren't under the gun by giving any deadlines (you know how awful I felt when aetherspace specializations had to be postponed past the time I had promised), that there's a lot of excitement during surprise releases, and there are no disappointments if we decide to shelve projects (which occasionally happens). The cons of secrecy are that players won't know what to expect in the future, that we might miss out on constructive input, and that we might be developing something that no one wants. Maybe there's a middle ground.

Let us know your thoughts!

Huh, first vote.

Well, having JUST finished this debate regarding new sets for MTG cards...there's something to be said for not giving everything away at once. However, the benefits of at least giving SOME details out beats the benefits of not doing so. More so here than in MTG 'cause of the constructive criticism aspect.

I voted for choice two, mostly because Id think it be neat to know there are things coming our way but enough secrecy to keep us in suspense. Or even misleading ones!

Oh actually, just to clarify this, is what you're doing with the bards here "Players knowing a few details"? You've actually given us something of a "prerelease".

No, I mean like design plans that won't actualize for 6 months to a year.

At this point, everyone knows what to expect with bards, but what if you had heard 6 months earlier that we were designing them?

Use hints to create wild rumours, some of which may be accurate! You can laugh your tookus off at the insane speculation and fan-boi frenzies, while mining useful information from tells and forum posts. Go for it!

A few EXTREMELY VAGUE details would be nice. Like, tell us you're working on a new archetype but not what it is. Or something vague about the features.

Oh...that's a bit different then, hmm. If it's a whole six months earlier it has a really different effect than from like ONE month earlier. And it's not too late in the design process to get constructive criticism rather than impatience and inaccurate speculation (which isn't really helpful to anyone) then, is it?

Well if you put it that way, I prefer to be left in the dark

But the surprise was very nice and almost totally unexpected. I think most of us thought you were going to release nexus worlds for sure. It's kind of put me in a bit of a bind/confusion though, maybe if I knew that there was going to be a guild in development then I'd have some preparation time to buffer the impact. *cough* That and another thing that happened that's totally not your fault.

Anyway, surprises are good, let's have more!

number two

Tell us that in X months you will give us something interesting(new archtype, new class, new skillset, new stuff)... but not exactly what.. or something along those lines... Tell us you are doing -Somthing- but not what you were doing. Like what you did with the announce of the second year aniversary you always had us guessing!

So, yay for sucking up my money

I also voted 2. I think having a vague updated list of future features will keep people satisfied. It will keep people knowing that there is always more for the future and will totally get rid of the thoughts some people have of stagnancy. Just don't list any release dates.

Im always a fan of in game 'hint dropping' so, voted for 2

Yeah, option two. Make it vague enough to encourage speculation, but direct enough so people don't whine about stagnation and being ignored.

Now that I think about it, haven't the Admin been telling us about aetherspace releases for a while though? And even in the meantime there's Nexus Worlds. I never hear about that anymore though, or did everyone just forget?

I trust the administration and trust that they'll work on things that will improve the game. I'd be happy with general ideas on future projects but I wouldn't want more than that.

I think six months is way too early. It allows excessive anticipation to build that very few implementations will live up to, and it is a 'hook' that I suspect would keep quite a few players from enjoying the current reality of the game (I can't spend those credits yet, the new archetype is going to be perfect for me!).

I voted for option two, but more in the sense that when you have nearly finished coded the first run-through, the players get some details about what to expect, and a chance to comment on what is planned. Then any changes and player-feedback can be applied in the tweaking stage, which I would hope would not be much more than a month before release.

Firm dates are obviously problematic, which is why only when you see the finished product nearly achieved should it be brought to the players' attention. However, I -love- when the admin get the players involved in constructing their experience, like the envoys and the design threads/wiki. If you can find a way to keep that up without overly taxing your team, it will be -awesome-.

As much as I hate speculation, I think "a few details" would be okay, something to let us know the wheels behind the secret curtain are turning.

I voted #2 as well. It's great to know that the admins are actually working on things, especially envoy reports and bug fixes. Big additions like bards, though, make for awesome surprises.

I would only want details insofar as the playerbase might have to make arrangements to accomodate the change. Honestly, we got lucky this time. If the winners didn't want to leave their guilds, then what? In general principle though, I like surprise.

Then they wouldn't have been able to write good poetry