I don't know, I'd rather be kept in the dark, at least about some things (like the bards).

We have a lot of control and know a lot about what you work on already, and it's fine to hear about things like if you're working on changing a current skillset or something, but I like the fact that some things we just don't know about, and we can be surprised with.

I voted three, but I really meant somewhere in between 2 and 3. Hints are wonderful, but details are best left for us to find out on our own when it happens.

I love foreshadowing though

I voted for a few hints, but it really depends on the situation sometimes.

In some cases, where there are going to be significant additions and/or changes for a particular group, I think it'd be good for the players to know a bit about it to be able to prepare. In others, knowing too much about something that might happen could limit how people will have their characters respond in a bad way.

I voted for 2, but my choice really would have been somewhere between 2 and 3.

I'm fond of the third option. I'd hate to bring other realms into this, but Lusternia has been frequent enough with its development that you shouldn't need to appease players with teasers as they might. If anything, I'd say the monthly newsletter is enough and perhaps times like this when you want to get feedback on certain things.

Announcing things early and falling short on the deadline might hurt more than help, but these things depend more on the attitude of the playerbase more than anything.

Foreshadowing is good though!

Simplest answer is - don't give a deadline to us plebians (if you decide that way), just let them know roughly how far along something is if you need to. I mean just look at Zugg with CMud - he has a development blog that lets us know the kind of things he is working on and get feedback, but the deadline for cmud has had to be pushed back on a semi-regular basis due to something unexpected cropping up.

Who the heck is voting "should know all details"?

I think in some cases you should give us hints. The only downside to keeping things in the dark is sometimes the "jaded cynicism" can build up if people feel like nothing's being done. Some people like to know about things in advance--some of the excitement from Lusternia was based on all your world creation posts way back when it was still in development.


Also, the only other disadvantage keeping things hidden is that some things may work in practice but not work in reality. In this case, an idea that's good might suffer if something unwittingly becomes a grind, and it might be a good idea to get pre-existing feedback. The initial idea for conflict quests seemed wonderful but the eventual decision to move away from and disable most of them is likely a result of players becoming frustrated with those aspects or feeling they have to do this, and others doing it way too much than was ever envisioned. (This is why PK is always a bear to deal with in any MUD).

However, I like the sense of wonder true surprises have. There's nothing that beats the pure surprise of things like the Aetherships--remember that, it was a blast for everybody, mostly because it was something completely unexpected.

I guess it's a healthy balance. Things like libraries and nexus worlds are definately worthy of player feedback, especially if the players themselves came up with the idea! For game balance concerns, maybe if you allowed certain people to sample the new changes ahead of time, it might be helpful--although IMO they would have to swear to secrecy or be permashrubbed.

Just some food for thought...all things considered, I'd rather be in the dark or only get a few hints.

The other disadvantage is that people will act anticipating no major changes, and then be rather annoyed when unexpected changes go in.

Some warning is -definitely- a good idea.

Informing the players about the general direction you're taking might help the game balance as a whole. Like you say "I think we'll be stuffing a new commune and that's 4 of them in the next two months" players might be able to give feedback on how little playerbase you have to spread it thiner in another organization.

DISCLAIMER: I gave an easy example that has nothing to do with reality, if there's a new commune in the next two months I had no idea

I voted for keeping your plans in secret. I like suprises.

I voted #2, I think you should drop propaganda hints, like how that one time I think it was Lacostian was experimenting in the mountains near Gaudiguch, and there were flashes and stuff, and it got us all into an uproar!

FEEL US INFORMATION AND LET US MAKE IT OUT TO BE FALSE! mmm... Propaganda...

Yours,mimi

I prefer somewhere in between kept in the dark and knowing a few details. As in, I would be pretty happy if you guys are currently working on content upgrades, content additions, bug fixing, skill balance, etc. I prefer the outcome to be a surprise, but it's nice to know what category the next update will belong in.

As a follower of the golden mean, I was going to choose to know a few details.

But actually I'd rather be kept in the dark, with the exception that we're informed that something IS being done - we don't know what, not even a slightest detail, but we know something is. That way the players will be kept in impatient excitement all the time, like little kids who still believe in Santa and can't go to sleep, waiting to see what surprising and wonderful present they'll get for X-mas.

I agree with most people. Just PLEASE no little hints six-months in advance. A month is good enough, if even that.

I have seen on Achaea how everyone obsesses with Ships and when will they come out. I'd rather not have a long period from when we know something is coming and then it just gets pushed off. It's frustrating.

I'd say different approaches for different situations are back. If something is close to release, hide some hints in the game that can get slowly discovered (instead of some "coming soon" ooc message). If there are clear features you're thinking about in the future, make a list of it and publish it, the user input can be used. It's all about marketing techniques really. Taking another game as an example (you probably can guess it ) the patch notes always leak in advance. I'm quite sure this is done on purpose to see how the crowd reacts. It's all about what -you- want to make of -your- game in the end, and deciding how much you care for the people that play it and which role you want them to play in it. Also, it depends on the scale of the change. A major change, like a new archetype, is a different thing than just adding a couple new patterns after all. Major changes usually get taken in better if they are slowly revealed in advance which gives you time to edit still if needed and doesn't flood people with a ton of new info.

Option 2.

Having a few details of New X, New Y, and New Z are nice.

IE: Within X months we will be releasing a new type of Arena game!!!

At least we have a feel that something new is coming, and maybe as time wears on, release a little more specifics about it, then hit it when it's ready.

Knowing ALL the details is nice, but it'll make some people really annoying on places like the forums. For instance if you said that you're gonna be releasing Gaudiguch in the next few months, and you give all the specifics on the guilds, and skills etc., then you'll have people spamming the forums with "ESTARRAAA!!!!!! WHEN IZ IT GOING 2 B DONE?!?!??!?!?!?!?!??!??!?!?!!!eleven one?" and numerous amounts of ing as well. Plus, it ruins the suspense of what's gonna happen.

Not knowing anything can be kinda bad. At least knowing something lets us know that yes, you guys ARE indeed doing something.

There really should be a middle ground.

Surprises are great, but I see the total secrecy thing is a holdover from tabletop RPGs, when you had a handful of players and a single game master who could change plot directions on a dime. Many of the frustrations both players and admins feel on MUDs comes from people clinging to the illusion that MUDs can and should be like their more agile and initimate predecessors in every way possible.

I mean, just because a player can know exactly how many gorgogs live on Itecia, and the meximum number of hits it will take him to kill one, hasn't stopped players from swarming the place, looking to squeeze all the advantages they can out of it. So far more than being surprised by every plot twist, MUD players would probably get excited at the thought of helping to shape their world in a meaningful way.

So, yeah, I think it would be cool if you did things like pin topics in the "ideas" section of the forums that were under serious consideration for development, so players would have cue that this was something worth putting in their two cents about. Perhaps it would give the players more of a proprietary feeling of the game, encouraging them to stay.

What do you mean "we", kimosabe?

Any knowledge and control about most of the development ideas remains concentrated in an elite few players, and the control seems to be centered heavily around PvP combat balance.

While the summits that have been happening lately have shifted more control into the hands of the players, and I see them as a good development, so far they've been very specialized troubleshooting summits with no promise of becoming a regular institution.

Many players feel completely disenfranchised from even the in-game governments, to say nothing of the meta-game development.

They already let us know some things they work on. Obviously not everything, but for example, we knew about the aethercraft things coming, etc.

When I said that we have a lot of control, I really should have specified and said that compared to other games, we have a lot of control. Ultimately the admins make the final decisions based on what they feel is best, but they clearly pay attention to what the players say judging from past experiences. No, not everyone likes everything that happens, but that's something to be expected.

The problem that I see with this option is: What happens if there are bugs or something else comes up and they decide to put it off? A schedule is nice, but it still could take awhile to get done and it would be annoying if it was late.