Greetings, glorious testers!
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Check out Alpha Two Announcements here to see the latest news on Alpha Two.
Check out general Announcements here to see the latest news on Ashes of Creation & Intrepid Studios.
To get the quickest updates regarding Alpha Two, connect your Discord and Intrepid accounts here.
An open letter to all of you who feel entitled to "fill in the blank"...
Galaturc
Member, Alpha Two
Dear Community,
If you answered "yes" to any of the above, you may be suffering from the "entitlement mentality" - a narcissistic sense that you deserve more from Intrepid, that they owe you when you are owed little or nothing.
I'm not sure how you became this person, surely, it wasn't because there were or are better examples out there... It's not like we have many self-funded, multi-10-million dollar MMORPGs in development with highly transparent, communicative development processes. Perhaps, it's impatience, greed, or concern that the game won't live up to your super-hyped expectations.
Whatever the reason is, it is time for all of us to take one step back and appreciate what we have in progress here.
I commend Intrepid for their compassion and patience with this entitled and vocal minority, and their continued treatment of everyone equally so this minority doesn't further feel inadequate or left out. As they should, I hope that Intrepid will be firm about declining unreasonable requests and maintaining appropriate boundaries, and their consistency as they receive unfair pressure as they did in the last few days.
A less vocal MAJORITY of this community supports you, acknowledges how groundbreaking this whole development process has been, and appreciates all you do even when we have constructive criticism.
- Do you feel the monthly developer updates are "too long"?
- Do you feel the game developers did not put enough time into preparing for a showcase?
- Do you hate the creative director's ability (or, inability) to play and genuinely enjoy as he demos the game he is building brick by brick with his own money?
- Are you sick of waiting for an Alpha 2, demanding that it be announced ASAP?
- Are you complaining about a game in the Alpha phase for not offering you every little feature you expect to see in a perfect MMORPG?
If you answered "yes" to any of the above, you may be suffering from the "entitlement mentality" - a narcissistic sense that you deserve more from Intrepid, that they owe you when you are owed little or nothing.
I'm not sure how you became this person, surely, it wasn't because there were or are better examples out there... It's not like we have many self-funded, multi-10-million dollar MMORPGs in development with highly transparent, communicative development processes. Perhaps, it's impatience, greed, or concern that the game won't live up to your super-hyped expectations.
Whatever the reason is, it is time for all of us to take one step back and appreciate what we have in progress here.
- Is the gameplay videos too long and cluttered with other detail you don't care about? Well, most of us enjoy longer videos... where a few players (developers or the creative director) genuinely enjoy a game that is still in development and share their experiences of this wonderful world they are building, getting distracted by loot, or the environment. This game plays that well and they are so proud! Do you want a shorter version with short clips, let your favorite content creator brief it for you the very next day.
- Neither game developers, nor other staff owes us a highly prepped showcase. If they are doing it, it's because they genuinely feel like sharing it. By all means, share your opinions as to how you'd like the format to be, but don't expect them to go over and beyond their means of planning, preparing for it, editing, or revising it on your demand. They are hired to build this game, not sell it.
- Do you feel the creative director should not showcase his own game? The sense of entitlement in that sentiment is beyond my understanding. The amount of bs Steven is receiving for his gaming skills is outrageous to me! If I will ever see a demo of this game being played, it'll be from the point of view of the one individual who spent the most resource developing this game, period! If you don't enjoy all the clutter, and distractions, skip through it. His skills are not to your expectations, don't watch it. It's not like any other game in development is offering you more... Eventually, your favorite streamer will play-test the game and review it for you.
- Intrepid Studios already have a higher priority... to build the game we all desire to test or play as soon as possible. One can't be both asking for better quality monthly updates and a sooner Alpha 2 announcement. What we are getting is a sweet spot Intrepid must feel most comfortable sharing. Quite honestly, it's already more than all of us deserve. None of us ever expected to receive so many good updates, one after another one, full of gameplay, Q&As, and studio updates in the past year, and we are all over-hyped because of it.
- Please don't let the same reason why we built all this hype also ruin it for us. A perfect MMORPG does not exist. There will be MANY disappointments down the road when Intrepid will not rise to the hype we built as a community, and that's OK. They welcome critique and they built extraordinary communication with their community like no other in the past. We've already witnessed much evidence of how we are heard. In almost every development update, we see these changes and additions based on our feedback. By all means, let us ask and suggest new features, or changes to the existing ones... But again, please shake that feeling of entitlement from "demanding" things! You are just an over-hyped amateur! Just because they are willing to hear your opinions does not mean you're special. Let's all be grateful for "being heard", and enjoy what we are being offered even if they don't fulfill all our requests. After all, they are the professionals, they are the ones who are putting all the time and effort into building this game for us, and I think they know a little better than even the most experienced game developers in our community.
I commend Intrepid for their compassion and patience with this entitled and vocal minority, and their continued treatment of everyone equally so this minority doesn't further feel inadequate or left out. As they should, I hope that Intrepid will be firm about declining unreasonable requests and maintaining appropriate boundaries, and their consistency as they receive unfair pressure as they did in the last few days.
A less vocal MAJORITY of this community supports you, acknowledges how groundbreaking this whole development process has been, and appreciates all you do even when we have constructive criticism.
13
Comments
The title clearly indicates that it was for the entitled minority in our community. I don't know why you felt it was "clickbaity".
Don't know why you're so much into stating out minorities, but the thread title is to describe to content of the thread "to all tank lovers" is not stating anything
I sure hope that the entitled people in our community are the "minority", otherwise, we are doomed.
The other things are alright examples of what not to complain about. But you're never going to reach those groups by calling them a loud entitled minority.
In the end, it's fine for the team to enjoy themselves, but they shouldn't let messing around effect their showcases presentation negatively.
To be clear, we do have an entitled loud minority. They feel entitled to all or some of the above on my list. They are louder than most of us with their "demands", almost by definition of "entitlement mentality". Most importantly, they are in the minority of this community, which, if not carefully assessed, may mislead the rest of the AoC community, turning these updates into a toxic cycle. I don't feel compelled to sweet-talk to a group of people that are involuntarily harming something I care about, it's not like I am offending them or making this personal.
It is about time we all take a step back as I am encouraging in my post. I feel there was no need for a re-record, it's purely a waste of time for the developers, but that's my opinion. The problem I see now is this minority will ask for a redo every time some feature or its presentation does not sit well with them.
If this post helps some of the members of this "entitled" minority to see things a little bit differently, and clear their blindspots, I achieved my goal.
When in-fact, that word of mouth and those showcases are the main way they advertise the game.
I loled at that title - "Gatekeeping of Opinions Department"
I am in no way entitled to your response of course, but you made an accusation. In my defense, when I accused part of a community of having an entitlement mentality, I listed why I think that way. Let's keep this discussion civil and offer courtesy by justifying our points rather than bland "angry" albeit hilarious responses.
Right on, justify your post by providing clear and concise data backing your claim of this "loud minority" you're referring to. This will require proof of the silent majority and their unanimous view as well.
Let's refer back to where I used "the less vocal majority":
"A less vocal MAJORITY of this community supports you, acknowledges how groundbreaking this whole development process has been, and appreciates all you do even when we have constructive criticism."
Do I really need a survey on that? Do you have any ounce of belief that the community that is supporting this game acknowledges its qualities and appreciates it with constructive criticisms is the MINORITY?
Let's indeed stick to voicing and discussing opinions rather than side-tracking to needlessly evaluate assumptions based on common sense.
I justified my opinions about how one may be suffering from the "entitlement mentality" in a few bullet points, You may have missed it if you haven't read the OP. If you disagree, I am sure you will make counterarguments against it, or you will take Jahlon's approach and respond with some "humor".
Are we really at this level of disagreement on how arguments, opinions, and claims are asserted in a public forum?
Agreed, I think the introduction of skills worked better in the next video. I think this is a learning process for them as they are navigating this novel way of showcasing the game. Constructive criticism works wonders!
Stating there is a "silent majority" isn't an opinion. If you're going to make that claim in an effort to discredit a vocal group, you need evidence for that claim. That is all. Otherwise, all you can say is the entire original post is your own opinion, and you hope there is a silent majority that shares your opinion.
For that, I'll refer to this.
I disagree, I really don't need a survey or evidence for common sense assumptions.
What would be your survey question? As a community member, do you support Intrepid? Do you feel this game development process has been groundbreaking? Do you appreciate our game development process even when you may have (constructive) criticism? I prefer to stick to the topic, this is an uninteresting side-track.
There is very little use in arguing with the extremely fallacious.
Complete agree. I appreciate your post because it saved me from having to spend an hour doing it myself. I find much of the feedback about how the updates are being presented to be pathetic and self-entitled.
Looking at you @Leviojima ffs
The January stream was good. The re-recorded gameplay was better. I feel grateful for Steven's relentless pursuit of Ashes, and think Steven and Margaret are both top notch.
My entire point is you are claiming to have an army of like minded individuals backing your opinion. And discrediting anyone who doesn't hold the same opinion as you as "entitled" is harmful to the community.
Making things up, even when trying to do what you think is right, helps nobody.
What is my take? My own take is that Intrepid should aim to have fun with their creation while developing it, but also prioritize delivering quality discussions and showcases as a professional company, representing the game efficiently and positively. And since they welcome ALL feedback, then all feedback both positive and negative should be taken into account. And if feedback says people want an improvement on presentation, then Intrepid should take it into consideration, and they did with the reshoot of the showcase.
Here's a survey for you to see if you're in the majority or not... The majority as in "MAJORITY of this community supports you, acknowledges how groundbreaking this whole development process has been, and appreciates all you do even when we have constructive criticism.":
- As a community member, do you support Intrepid?
- Do you feel this game development process has been groundbreaking?
- Do you appreciate our (communicative, transparent) game development process even when you may have (constructive) criticism?
Did you answer yes to all of the above? Do you really doubt the majority would say "yes" to these questions? Don't you think "the extremely fallacious" is a little "extreme"?When you make a statistical inference, you back it up with data. You don't use fallacious reasoning to further invalidate your own arguments.
Feedback can be both positive and negative, expecting professionalism is a part feedback. Going into an alpha 2 and still not having finalized combat and class design is also feedback, nothing the 6+ years of development time and not thinking its groundbreaking at all is feedback.
I guess you just do not understand data and decided to take some faux moral high ground.
I respect your opinion, thanks for sharing. My opinion is, the "feedback", albeit helpful and constructive in this case, should be assessed based on need, and not on a vocal minority's demand. I am concerned that we may see more of these little demands here and there, and it may set a negative precedence that turns into a toxic "progress update" cycle.
You can't call it a loud minority if you can't prove it is a loud minority. Again, you're discrediting your opposition without any data to say you are the majority.