Is it difficult for you guys at Innogames to keep in touch with player base?
[2/09/15 12:43:14] Michal Dyro: that’s a Yein… Ya & Nein
[2/09/15 12:43:38] Michal Dyro: there’s a handful of people that work on the project
[2/09/15 12:43:52] Michal Dyro: and there are hundreds of thousands players out there
[2/09/15 12:44:07] Michal Dyro: so obviously - we can’t keep an eye on everything ourself
[2/09/15 12:44:52] Michal Dyro: that’s why we have CoMas, coCoMas, supporters… that’s why we have forums, support systems, etc
[2/09/15 12:45:17] Michal Dyro: they’re the people that know you - players - the best and those are the first people to respond to your questions
[2/09/15 12:45:23] Michal Dyro: or requests
[2/09/15 12:47:52] Michal Dyro: they’re “us”, just - in millions, like the RedArmy in Pratchett’s Intersting Times
[2/09/15 12:48:51] Michal Dyro: so - we keep a certain track over what’s going on in the community, but if you ask me as a dev - it’s technically not doable to “master it all"
[2/09/15 12:49:57] Michal Dyro: we trust our co-comas, our comas, our in-house CoMa, who synthesise all the bits of information and then pas them to the team
[2/09/15 12:50:32] Michal Dyro: BUT… openly speaking - we do sometimes invest our private time to peak outside the office
[2/09/15 12:51:02] Michal Dyro: that’s why you can sometimes see some of the devs, or gamedevs, or sysops - joining in some conversations on chats or forums
[2/09/15 12:52:24] Michal Dyro: It’s not “our job”, we don’t do it “officially” (as in - we do not “represent a company’s perspective over matters or things”) but you know - we’re humans after all and we’re curious
[2/09/15 12:52:42] Michal Dyro: what you think, what you do, did you like our easter-eggs or not, etc…
[2/09/15 12:54:13] Michal Dyro: So - plea… if you see a dev involved in a discussion - try not to over-dominate her/him expecting “official answers”
[2/09/15 12:55:32] Michal Dyro: we’re there out of curiosity, for fun (and glory
) and in our after time…
[2/09/15 12:55:42] Michal Dyro: try to respect that
There was only a roadmap for the first quartal of 2015. What can players expect for the rest of the year?
[2/09/15 12:58:02] Michal Dyro: you would have to ask our CoMa
[2/09/15 12:58:13] Michal Dyro: I really don’t have an answer for you here.
[2/09/15 12:58:57] Michal Dyro: our internal roadmap is quite often way wider than what we announce to you, because a game is not only “the game"
[2/09/15 12:59:22] Michal Dyro: there are tons of connected services, tools, lots of cross-company solutions that we have to work on
[2/09/15 13:00:23] Michal Dyro: which are all crucial for the game (you would not like, for instance, to NOT be able to buy or use any premium in the game, right? ) but are not really a part of it…
[2/09/15 13:01:09] Michal Dyro: So - for community roadmap - please ask our CoMa, (s)he knows the best
What kind of play style would you favor for your own ingame character?
[2/09/15 13:01:31] Michal Dyro: I’m an adventurer
[2/09/15 13:01:57] Michal Dyro: I like to explore, gather stuff, sniff for extras, bonuses, easter eggs, see all possibilities the game gives me
[2/09/15 13:02:21] Michal Dyro: I duel if I really have to… I’m not a huge fan of guns
[2/09/15 13:03:01] Michal Dyro: neither in game, nor IRL
[2/09/15 13:03:03] Michal Dyro: (nor sports cars as a matter of facts… I drive round the city with a Smart xD)
[2/09/15 13:03:34] Michal Dyro: but I like logic and tactics, that’s why I also like to play adventures
[2/09/15 13:03:54] Michal Dyro: if you REALLY wanna be good with them - it’s not just “run and kill”
[2/09/15 13:04:43] Michal Dyro: but I’m also a casual player, so … not making THAT much of a progress…
How are new ideas for The West born?
[2/09/15 13:05:07] Michal Dyro: you’d be surprised, but in most cases - they come from you - from the players
[2/09/15 13:05:16] Michal Dyro: we gather wide… and I mean - WIDE feedback
[2/09/15 13:05:23] Michal Dyro: from all the markets
[2/09/15 13:06:05] Michal Dyro: we synthesise it, we analyse it, we pick the best ideas or biggest problems
[2/09/15 13:06:14] Michal Dyro: then we think on how we want to improve that
[2/09/15 13:06:20] Michal Dyro: with a whole team
[2/09/15 13:06:36] Michal Dyro: Sure - there is a lot of stuff that’s “thought of” purely by our GameDesigners
[2/09/15 13:06:44] Michal Dyro: but that’s their job
[2/09/15 13:07:05] Michal Dyro: we - as coders - spend days by producing tons of lines of code
[2/09/15 13:07:12] Michal Dyro: our game designers are like factories of ideas
[2/09/15 13:07:45] Michal Dyro: but then we mix it… GD ideas, Community ideas, our (whole team) ideas
[2/09/15 13:08:25] Michal Dyro: then we blend it, pour through a sieve of time, manpower and roadmap
[2/09/15 13:08:41] Michal Dyro: and pick the gold particles…
[2/09/15 13:09:03] Michal Dyro: or - (more) often - the huge rocks which we just have to crush, cos they annoy us
[2/09/15 13:09:33] Michal Dyro: - What would you advice players willing to help with The West?
[2/09/15 13:09:37] Michal Dyro: Talk with your CoMas
[2/09/15 13:09:42] Michal Dyro: talk, talk, talk
[2/09/15 13:09:46] Michal Dyro: ALWAYS…
[2/09/15 13:10:03] Michal Dyro: but please try to keep a proper perspective
[2/09/15 13:10:12] Michal Dyro: It’s AWESOME if you have a really brilliant idea
[2/09/15 13:10:46] Michal Dyro: but it’s not really awesome, if this idea benefits only you or 0.05% of all our players. who happen to have exactly the same kind of gameplay as you
[2/09/15 13:10:53] Michal Dyro: think of the “bigger picture"
[2/09/15 13:11:18] Michal Dyro: what will we all (as players) gain from it, how will it influence the game systems (the economy, the balancing)
[2/09/15 13:11:29] Michal Dyro: and will we actually use it…
[2/09/15 13:12:15] Michal Dyro: you know - time is money… we would love to implement all the features, but we have very limited resources (and by resources I mean people like me… who actually have to do the stuff)
[2/09/15 13:12:48] Michal Dyro: and we don’t really want to waste them on features for 0.05% of our society
[2/09/15 13:13:12] Michal Dyro: but non the less - talk… you have forums, you have cool ways to discuss the ideas with other players
[2/09/15 13:13:28] Michal Dyro: improve them and let comas push the ideas “higher”
[2/09/15 13:13:42] Michal Dyro: and u… important
[2/09/15 13:13:48] Michal Dyro: please DO talk about bugs
[2/09/15 13:14:17] Michal Dyro: you’d be really surprised how often do we get “accused” for not testing the game properly
[2/09/15 13:14:28] Michal Dyro: because there’s this bug that everybody knows about
[2/09/15 13:14:52] Michal Dyro: yet - for days, or sometimes weeks - no one even mentioned that to comas, or to our bug-tracking system
[2/09/15 13:15:07] Michal Dyro: as I’ve said - we are few, you are the minions
[2/09/15 13:15:43] Michal Dyro: you have to say stuff loudly, or we won’t notice
What makes a good dev? Or a good Community Manager?
[2/09/15 13:16:06] Michal Dyro: hmm…
[2/09/15 13:16:13] Michal Dyro: there’s no recipe for that…
[2/09/15 13:16:16] Michal Dyro: I’m affraid
[2/09/15 13:17:03] Michal Dyro: but if I were to choose a single feature, a single lineament - that’d be engagement
[2/09/15 13:17:17] Michal Dyro: you really have to believe in what you’re doing
[2/09/15 13:24:43] Michal Dyro: you see
[2/09/15 13:25:09] Michal Dyro: development. graphics, game design and similar - are a lot like craftsmanship
[2/09/15 13:25:45] Michal Dyro: you just have to learn a certain skill and then train it as long as you can… then a bit more, and then even more - until you master it
[2/09/15 13:26:32] Michal Dyro: a lot of our work is very, very repeatable… so you don’t really need some unique skills to master it…
[2/09/15 13:27:08] Michal Dyro: BUT if you add yourself to the equation… if you’re REALLY interested in what you do, you are passionate about it… you seek for better solutions
[2/09/15 13:27:33] Michal Dyro: shortly speaking - you are really and truly engaged in what you’re doing
[2/09/15 13:27:40] Michal Dyro: your results are gonna be extraordinary
[2/09/15 13:28:18] Michal Dyro: and - from my professional and personal experience - is what differs the greatest from the rest
Anything you’d like to add?
[2/09/15 13:30:57] Michal Dyro: not sure, to be honest
[2/09/15 13:31:24] Michal Dyro: I may say - I really like the community… at least on this small “Edge” I had the chance to experience it
[2/09/15 13:31:43] Michal Dyro: really cool people with really cool perspectives
[2/09/15 13:32:23] Michal Dyro: I’m just a little bit overwhelmed with some of the antagonists… some of the “fights” that happen for no particular reasons…
[2/09/15 13:32:57] Michal Dyro: interwebz is for the lulz, not for the fights
[2/09/15 13:33:01] Michal Dyro: remember about it
Great! Thank you! I do agree a lot with your last statement