Ask the Devs - constructive criticism

#1 - June 24, 2011, 5:33 p.m.

So blizzard went out on a limb and gave us a chance to converse directly with the devs of the game. ( Thanks !!! )

Dispite all the QQ that may or may not have gone on, Its important to note that this is a learning experience for them as mch as it is for us.

With season 1 comming to a close, perhaps now we can offer our insight on the pro's and con's and how to make the experiment more satisfying for everyone. Not just for us gamers as the recipients of information, but also for blizzard developers as the conveyors of information, so that they can walk away feeling satisfied that the audience appreciates their efforts.

for example, Perhaps blizzard could use more discresion when choosing answers. I think the DPS answers were one of the better Q&A's They answers were fairly detailed, and touched on some highly popular concerns. however Im sure a hunter may have felt left out. perhaps paraphrasing the shaman questions into one large answer would have given room for questions while also allowing other classes to be involved aswell.

On the other had, I think the tanking answers were one of the less attractive Q&A's. The questions adressed didnt hit home for much of the community and in some cases were not " dev worthy" * cough patch notes*. Perhaps if the session was structured such that each tanking spec got 1 or 2 answers specific to thier class, then the remaining questions were directed at the devs POV of tanking philosophy, I think that would have generated a more positive responce.

So what are your thoughts? What insight can we offer the devs that would help them help us ?

*Be thoughtfull in your posts.*

Zarhym

Community Manager

#12 - June 24, 2011, 6:01 p.m.

Thanks for starting a constructive thread about this, Trucqulent. We're certainly open to your feedback.

Just know we've been internally testing a new venue for taking and answering questions. We don't have an ETA on when we'll launch an updated Q&A format, but our goal is to ensure we can more regularly and readily get developer responses to common player questions. We also want to make sure we're taking as little of the developers' time as possible.

I know a common complaint with the current Q&A format is regarding the limited number of questions answered and the lack of follow-up on answers given. Even still, the current format requires a good amount of the class design team's time, where they have to set aside what they're working on -- which is a lot -- and knock out the answers.

We think we can make the process easier on them, yet better for the community too. :)

Zarhym

Community Manager

#34 - June 24, 2011, 6:52 p.m.

06/24/2011 11:35 AMPosted by Dreslav
Hire someone with a communications degree/background who is responsible for communicating with the player base. Embed them with the team, allow them to sit in on developer meetings and learn the development process, but give them no development responsibilities outside of communicating with players.

This is what the community team does. It's why we're working on better ways to get information out there, but we want you to hear straight from the developers as often as possible.

Zarhym

Community Manager

#54 - June 24, 2011, 8:37 p.m.

06/24/2011 12:25 PMPosted by Arnise
After reading the answers to the recent Ask the Devs - Damage Dealing and seeing how much of those were devoted to giving in-depth answers about enhancement shamans, I began to wonder: were there ever plans to do an Ask the Devs for each individual class? Perhaps the original plan was to answer questions by role and then by class?

We do have plans to request class-specific feedback from every class in the near future. This will be sort of a reverse Q&A format though. As we continue to map out the evolution of the game, we want to ask some general questions of the community about each class. Our response to this type of feedback likely won't be immediate, but it will help us greatly while making decisions on how to improve or enhance the gameplay of each class in future content updates. ;)