is the forum support good?

klausD · #1 May 31st, 2001, 01:05 AM

Thanks for your prompt answer.
But I think you misunderstood me a little bit. I dont have much questions about the game itsself.(I am playing the SE series since several years)
And I dont want MM to answer questions of newbies or solve rule problems if they appear in a forum thread. For this I think - the same as you think - the helpful veterans of the board should answer those installation, rule or bug questions.

But what I really miss is the dialogue MM should have with all you guys in THIS forum. MM should post sometimes a message in which it takes position to new ideas and suggestions of the members of the forum (wheter they are good or not) But Aaron does not. And thats why I think that MM support is not good in this forum.

I dont say that this forum is no good. I think its a very excellent forum. But that is only because the posters are so excellent. The quality has nothing to do with MM.

Ok, I can send Aaron an email with ideas and if I have luck (3 times out of 10) I get a short reply. This is ok and I am not complaining. But the sending email story was not the point of my critics.

The thread is called "is the forum support good?" And because MM seems to ignore the forum I have to say "no". (sorry SJ)

bye
Klaus

Matryx · #2 May 31st, 2001, 01:27 AM

Well actually I have to say "Yes" to your question.
The question you asked is "Is the forum support good?" and yes it is.
if a question is asked here it is quickly answered.
If there is a problem with the forums, it is remedied asap by Richard (or whoever)
And if a nasty situation develops, a remedy is found faster than I certainly could.

The forum support is excellent, however I think the question you meant to address is "Does MM take an active role in the forums?"
For this, the answer would be "No"
They may read the forums and take our ideas under consideration but they dont post (to my knowledge)

Just my view

Matryx

jimbob55 · #3 May 31st, 2001, 02:27 AM

1st off, how do you know Aaron doesn't post?

2nd, imagine the carnage if he did. The hundreds of people who would demand responses for their requests for info, rating ideas, blessing of children etc would crash the board server pretty quick.
Then when he doesn't address each and every little detail, people would become bitter and grumpy that they didn't get an answer.......
Bad Public Relations is probably the reason why we see no Posts by Aaron.

Also a desire to do something other than sit in front of a monitor all day may have something to do with it.

God Emperor · #4 May 31st, 2001, 02:31 AM

I've emailed suggestions to Aaron in the past and usually got a positive comment in return, but, I must admit, I'd be interested to occaisionally see MM's views on major changes proposed by people in the forum.
Regards,
GE

Marty Ward · #5 May 31st, 2001, 03:04 AM

I have seen many questions posed on this forum that only Aaron or someone else from MM could answer. It would be nice if these questions were answered. Most questions are answered quicky by forum members though so I agree forum support is good, just not from the designer.

Atrocities · #6 May 31st, 2001, 03:26 AM

Yes, it is the greatest. Best game support I have ever had. Everyone of my email has been responded too, and any issue of importance on this forum has recieved excellent attention. MM/Shrap are both small companies, but they are committed to seeing that the customers are treated right. Or at least that has been my experience.

[This message has been edited by Atrocities (edited 31 May 2001).]

Richard · #7 May 31st, 2001, 03:38 AM

To begin with Aaron is kindof a private guy so that has something to do with it. Second he is quite busy. You mention AOW (which is a GREAT game BTW) but they have a full time staff of folks who do this. Shrapnel has only one full time employee and so does Malfador. Everyone involved either works off of percentages or are volunteers. I know Aaron gets a ton of email from folks and works closely with his own beta testers and our testers as well as the numerous folks who email him privately.

Myself I can't post as often as I like because my daily routine consists of answering somewhere close to 100-200 emails, handling Shapnel business and helping our developers and testing, and then checking out the double digit forums and newsGroups I check every day. Many times I don't even get a chance to read every thread because of that.

But to answer your question I think it is pretty good (as far as support goes). I have been involved with the gaming industry in one way or the other for 5 or more years now and I have seen the great support guys like Tiller, Reynolds, Grigsby, Moylan, Koger and several other I am forgetting. When I recruit a developer I try to find someone who has that level of commitment to their customers and in almost every case that has been the case.

You may want a more personal response on the board bu take it from me in his own way of doing things Aaron is very responsive

.

------------------
Sarge is coming...

Richard Arnesen
Director of Covert Ops
Shrapnel Games
http://www.shrapnelgames.com