@Robot : still there ?
As far as I can tell, there's a growing feeling in the community that you guys are done with the game, no further DLC, or even patch, coming our way.
And your utter lack of communication isn't helping there.
Last "news" were the late patch notes posted nearly two months ago. Even the end of the Weekly Challenges went without an accompanying announcement although it was planned some time in advance (as shown by the ninja unstickying of the thread requesting ideas), the only comment being a terse "Yep" in answer to Nananea's tweet.
Sure, there's been the holidays, the flu, the end of the world, yada yada.
How about you talk to us ?
Patch : worked on / planned / discussed / indefinitely postponed ?
DLC : worked on / planned / discussed / indefinitely postponed ?
Agreed, the complete lack of communication between the devs and the community is jarring, I'm not sure what being completely silent and irresponsive achieves, besides dwindling the already tiny community around the game.
They are talking on their twitter quite often so I wouldn't count them out. They did put OMD2 on sale for 75% during the steam winter sale. They are probably putting out another amazing game so they are focusing all of their work on that. I'm sure of it. What they are working on though is a mystery. Possibly a finale DLC for OMD2, meaning maps and endless modes having monsters from all DLC's. Something that would take time, but again this is just a guess.
-Or they are working on a new game. I wouldn't say OMD3 because of the above, but something else that is amazing. If all the dev team needs to focus on it and not work any more patches or DLC's for a bit then I would say new game because they have to make most of it from scratch. Just my guess anyway.
I'm in line for the "what's going on?" answer as well, but I think the main reason we're all stressing it is because SixOkay has always been very vocal and as forthright with us as he can be. They just got back from holiday recently so I'm hoping to hear some news in the next week or two.
They are talking on their twitter quite often so I wouldn't count them out. They did put OMD2 on sale for 75% during the steam winter sale. They are probably putting out another amazing game so they are focusing all of their work on that. I'm sure of it. What they are working on though is a mystery. Possibly a finale DLC for OMD2, meaning maps and endless modes having monsters from all DLC's. Something that would take time, but again this is just a guess.
-Or they are working on a new game. I wouldn't say OMD3 because of the above, but something else that is amazing. If all the dev team needs to focus on it and not work any more patches or DLC's for a bit then I would say new game because they have to make most of it from scratch. Just my guess anyway.
None of this shows any valid reasons to not talk to the community at all though;
Their twitter offer no more information than repeatedly saying "hello, *nod*, maybe, goodbye" to any questions asked, and no replies at all to any questions relevant to the game.
What does OMD2 going on a -75% sale during christmas has to do with them not communicating at all?
Being busy on another game is no reason to not talk to your community, in fact, hiding that you're dropping future content on your previous game is a pretty selfish move for anyone having expectations, not to mention we're talking about basic info.
(Besides, a Community Manager is not in charge of programming, so there are no "excuses" so to speak, to not have at least some relevant exchange with the community, and no, retweeting a couple of people's advertisement videos doesn't count as relevant to the community).
Yes, they *might* be working on a finale DLC, or they might not, that is the problem right here, we don't even get to know anything whatsoever.
Even if we suppose their entire team is working on a new game, again the community manager has no business doing any coding, so what does an indie developer (or any developers at all) gain from being mute about a project you're supposed to sell?
I'm not targeting said community manager as responsible for the lack of info, not entirely, as he would have to be allowed to divulge information, but rather pointing out how even focusing a new project would not fill in everyone's role yet.
Maybe the developers simply prefer a more "surprise!" kind of way of delivering, but it's quite clear the community would prefer a more direct way.
It shows they aren't completely ignoring their fanbase. They are probably on vacation or something, for the Holidays. They don't need to tell us what is going on at all times. It's their company anyway, they should be able to do what they want. Their last DLC was a big hug to us community from almost all angles. As much as it is awesome they did that people need to understand with companies and their games is that it's their game and their content and they can either make it a surprise, warn us ahead of time, or whatever.
Another thought, it could be possible that they aren't sure if they can make what they are making so they don't want to get peoples hopes up. Last thing you want to hear is, "OMD3, 4 player co-op, with crate your own maps feature, 6 new characters, 100 new traps, weapons, and trinkets" then later you find out not even half of those are in there. Just be patient. They will speak up sooner or later.
It shows they aren't completely ignoring their fanbase. They are probably on vacation or something, for the Holidays. They don't need to tell us what is going on at all times.
Yes it does? It means they are able to communicate, but they won't communicate anything relevant, so it does show a sense of ignoring; if they're on vacation, I don't see why we cannot get a word of what's coming up (or indeed not coming up).
There is a difference between not saying anything, being informative, and telling us what is going on all the time, here we have nothing beside pointless retweeting other people's random stuff.
And this is essentially a plea, or message if you will, that the community is tired of the "surprise we weren't dead!" way.
Besides, I don't see what negative impact would keeping in touch with the playerbase that warranted those dlcs be, as opposed to nobody knowing anything and people leaving because the devs seemingly don't care?
(I don't see how the last DLC was a big hug to the community, it wasn't anything special compared to other DLCs, the pattern was exactly the same as the 2 previous ones, which is good mind you, but doesn't make it any more special, 3 maps, 2 endless, weapons/traps, skins, and enemies)
So instead they're killing any sense of hype to begin with and stay silent until release? I'm not a PR or anything, but I can't imagine what good you're providing by not letting the community have a grasp of what's coming, you're essentially killing word-to-mouth until it's released, which, inherently is the point of word to mouth, to lead up to a release where more people will expect the product.
It's just mind blowing how / why a dev (especially indie) would not want to keep in touch with its community, since you're essentially talking to a group of people who actually wants to give you their cash, if you throw a bone their way.
If you wave the bone around everyone's face you're going to attract more attention, if you suddenly yell "catch!" and throw it you won't get as many responses.
It's not mind-blowing at all, because the community here is actually very, very small. There are maybe 10 people who post here regularly, and a few drive-bys. From a purely pragmatic point of view, the cost-reward of keeping this board happy is terrible. And mark me, the time cost can be fairly high. If there were thousands or tens of thousands of active players here it might be different, but there aren't.
It's likely they have nothing to say at this time, either because 1) they're getting the next project rolling, and it's way to early to talk about it or 2) they're out of money and falling apart. Case (2) may sound paranoid, but small developers are always on the edge financially, and I've worked at a small game developer that pretty much followed that pattern - they stopped talking to the community because "we stopped paying salaries and sent everyone home until we can get an investor again" isn't something you share with your fan base.
Well one thing is for certain... If this thread turns into a ***, moan, and insult thread we certainly wont hear a response from Robot here. That statement is not directed at anyone. I am just asking that we try to keep this thread optimistic and positive in hopes that something is possibly in the works. If it isn't, well I guess we will have to wait for the next game that peaks our interest. I know I got my money's worth out of this one :)
I dont have any official intel but I dont believe they are "done" with OMD2. I know they are working on stuff, dont know what but they are busy bee's over there. I will talk with Sixokay and see if we can tie him down for a livestream this week and pick his brain... =p
-Fry
Starting a thread on a Saturday is probably a sure way to not get a prompt answer :)
That being said, I mostly agree with the lack of communication or teasers for new content, or information about the game's end-of-life (which is bound to happen eventually).
Thanks Fryedegg for poking SixOkay!
They just got back from holiday recently
I know, that's why I waited a whole week before posting. By Internet's standards, such a level of patience confines to the super-human. ;p
Well one thing is for certain... If this thread turns into a ***, moan, and insult thread
Yup, keep it civil guys.
Starting a thread on a Saturday is probably a sure way to not get a prompt answer :)
That was kinda the point : no answer expected before Monday at the earliest, giving them some time to think it over if needed (granted, provided they checked the forums).
I will talk with Sixokay and see if we can tie him down for a livestream this week and pick his brain...
That would be great. :)
It's not mind-blowing at all, because the community here is actually very, very small. There are maybe 10 people who post here regularly, and a few drive-bys. From a purely pragmatic point of view, the cost-reward of keeping this board happy is terrible. And mark me, the time cost can be fairly high. If there were thousands or tens of thousands of active players here it might be different, but there aren't.
I guess this is subjective for each, but wouldn't the reaction to be trying to help the community for your own game to grow? Or maybe I'm missing something entirely here..
It's likely they have nothing to say at this time, either because 1) they're getting the next project rolling, and it's way to early to talk about it or 2) they're out of money and falling apart. Case (2) may sound paranoid, but small developers are always on the edge financially, and I've worked at a small game developer that pretty much followed that pattern - they stopped talking to the community because "we stopped paying salaries and sent everyone home until we can get an investor again" isn't something you share with your fan base.
1) Doesn't mean they shouldn't communicate with its player base
2) Well, if you say so, I don't have experience experience as a developper, so maybe my view on it is flawed, as I'm comparing it to every other developer / community interaction I've been into.
I do have a bit of a problem seeing how not being paid *now* would prevent you from interaction before any of that, because they've never actually been in communication with the community, I think the most interaction we get would be when Fryedegg makes a stream alongside Nananea with SixOkay, even then, there's no real relevant questions asked.
(No offense meant toward anybody of course, the streams times are a bit inconsistent at times, but they're solid and enjoyable to watch)
I do have a bit of a problem seeing how not being paid *now* would prevent you from interaction before any of that, because they've never actually been in communication with the community, I think the most interaction we get would be when Fryedegg makes a stream alongside Nananea with SixOkay, even then, there's no real relevant questions asked.
I had no intention of replying in this thread - but Bragrdas your vendetta is getting a little over the top now. We all know your opinion on the game being fixed; and we all know your opinion of Robot Entertainment. But it's becoming more and more obvious how little time you've spent int he robot entertainment community.
To say they do not interact or keep the community up to date is unfair to say the least. They have always had a strong community connection and it shows. The single most obvious instance is the Guardian Restore trinket. Possibly the most contested discussion on the Robot Entertainment forums since the game was released due to the inability to use Guardians in endless. And guess what? They implimented it.
The community asked for Nananea / Fryedegg skins. They implimented it.
Fryedegg requests interviews with Sixokay - he gets them.
I ask for technical verification for the information I am asking and guess what - they have never let me down. Not once. All the information you read that I post is done entirely by my own testing process but it is all done with help from Robot Entertainment. And I respect them for that. Perhaps you have not read the Combo Bible and you don't have to. But some of the variables int here would be nigh impossible to know without the help of Timotron.
Bowling into every thread and taking swipes at Robot Entertainment then claiming they don't talk to the community is a strange and pointless debackle that only you are undertaking.
Those of us who support Robot Entertainment get support from them in return. The likes of Nananea, Fryedegg, Radio Kenny, Myself. We've been here a very long time and I can not speak for the others but I for one will continue to support Robot Entertainment in their endevours because we were not forgotten and when we speak they listen.
Now you can have all the claims you want about how things should be done and how you don't like it. That's your opinion. But saying RE doesn't listen to it's community is wrong. Black and white; and in this case it isn't right.
I do have a bit of a problem seeing how not being paid *now* would prevent you from interaction before any of that, because they've never actually been in communication with the community, I think the most interaction we get would be when Fryedegg makes a stream alongside Nananea with SixOkay, even then, there's no real relevant questions asked.
I had no intention of replying in this thread - but Bragrdas your vendetta is getting a little over the top now. We all know your opinion on the game being fixed; and we all know your opinion of Robot Entertainment. But it's becoming more and more obvious how little time you've spent int he robot entertainment community.
To say they do not interact or keep the community up to date is unfair to say the least. They have always had a strong community connection and it shows. The single most obvious instance is the Guardian Restore trinket. Possibly the most contested discussion on the Robot Entertainment forums since the game was released due to the inability to use Guardians in endless. And guess what? They implimented it.
The community asked for Nananea / Fryedegg skins. They implimented it.
Fryedegg requests interviews with Sixokay - he gets them.
I ask for technical verification for the information I am asking and guess what - they have never let me down. Not once. All the information you read that I post is done entirely by my own testing process but it is all done with help from Robot Entertainment. And I respect them for that. Perhaps you have not read the Combo Bible and you don't have to. But some of the variables int here would be nigh impossible to know without the help of Timotron.
Bowling into every thread and taking swipes at Robot Entertainment then claiming they don't talk to the community is a strange and pointless debackle that only you are undertaking.
Those of us who support Robot Entertainment get support from them in return. The likes of Nananea, Fryedegg, Radio Kenny, Myself. We've been here a very long time and I can not speak for the others but I for one will continue to support Robot Entertainment in their endevours because we were not forgotten and when we speak they listen.
Now you can have all the claims you want about how things should be done and how you don't like it. That's your opinion. But saying RE doesn't listen to it's community is wrong. Black and white; and in this case it isn't right.
Great post. They are being a little bit quiet lately, and it does grate a little, but Robot have consistently been very good to this community, even though it's very small and from a financial standpoint is nearly definitely not worth the effort. I mean, who has ever heard of another gaming company creating specific skins for their most loyal fans just because they want to? Not as part of some competition, not as some publicity drive, just because they want to thank them. Sounds like an awesome company to me. If you're not satisfied with how Robot handles their community, you'll never be satisfied with how any company handles their community.
Needless.. I'm discussing with others about my opinion and I'm gathering theirs, I'm not being rude, derogatory or otherwise negative, I'm stating my opinion, stop reading my posts with a pissy tone, I'm not being pissy, I'm discussing with others and comparing their opinion to mine.
You have an example of someone being pointlessly rude there - http://www.robotentertainment.com/forum/topic/I-want-honest-answer-my-honest-question...
They don't interact with the community, the 3 people you've listed above (including yourself..) does not consist of the community as a whole.
The addition of the skins and the guardian trinket, while nice, is irrelevant here, it doesn't fall in the "communicating with the community", they might be listening, but there isn't much actual communication from them, to us. (As a side note, I think we'd all prefer to have them listen about fixing bugs rather than making skins, crossbow hitreg comes to mind, camera offset more importantly, and autofire, to an extent.. technically not a bug, just an odd mechanic).
Your "combo bible", while nice and handy, shows there is a problem in the game explaining its mechanic if you had to have a developer's aid to figure one of the base mechanic for the game, but that's a different topic.
Saying they listen, while true to some point (again, I think we all agree we'd prefer to have bugfixes rather than skins), they still don't actually talk to the community as a whole, again, the community doesn't consist of a handful of players, as enjoyable as those persons are.
No need to rant further, yeah? If you can't see that I'm not being derogatory just because we share different opinion then it's your problem, not mine, again, try reading my posts a second time without assuming I'm being pissy - as I'm not. just send a PM instead next time, yeah?
I'm not dissing or claiming they are a bad company, don't take me wrong, but there are other indies which are much closer to their community as a whole, not just to listen, but to interact.
(If naming other companies isn't appreciated,someone send me a message and I'll edit it out, but Unknown World Entertainment and Hi-Rez Studios are 2 perfect example of developers who are actively listening and responding to their community at all times.
You must not be aware of their twitter feed - where they answer questions from the community on a regular basis.
You must not be aware of their twitter feed - where they answer questions from the community on a regular basis.
Ya they usually do a pretty awesome job responding via twitter. I get fast responses and even peiodic retweets pretty often there.
Any news is good news?
Nice timing by the way :)
Tentative Livestream planned for 10pm EST Thursday 1/17/13 night. Nananea, Sixokay and myself should all be there. We cannot stop any of you from picking his brain in the chat if thats what you so desire. We will make an actual post once we know its happening for sure. And it will be on my Twitch.
my twitch
xoxoxo
Fry
Awesome Fryedegg! Thank you.
Cool. :)
Unfortunately, I most likely won't be able to attend, since that'll be 4am for me, and I'm kinda expected to show at work on the morrow. So I'll leave the brain picking to you guys.
Cool. :)
Unfortunately, I most likely won't be able to attend, since that'll be 4am for me, and I'm kinda expected to show at work on the morrow. So I'll leave the brain picking to you guys.
I'm in UK so not sure what time it will be for me, but will try and watch it - Wyatan-are there any questions in particular you would like viewers to ask Sixokay, seeing as you can't watch yourself?
The silence was totally my fault, and I apologize for it. I have slower times where I can really get in here and reply to everything I see, then I have busier times where I just can't get in here when I'd like to. And then there are times when I just dont' have anything new to say. In those times, I definitely would always prefer to be able to at least SAY that, but I don't always get the chance to. Add the weird holiday schedule into all of that, and, well, things got quieter than I'd like.
I'll try to be around more in the coming months. We've got some exciting new things coming up on several fronts this year, so stay tuned, and if you don't hear from me soon enough, always feel free to sic Nananea and FryedEgg on me to get my attention ;)
The silence was totally my fault, and I apologize for it. I have slower times where I can really get in here and reply to everything I see, then I have busier times where I just can't get in here when I'd like to. And then there are times when I just dont' have anything new to say. In those times, I definitely would always prefer to be able to at least SAY that, but I don't always get the chance to. Add the weird holiday schedule into all of that, and, well, things got quieter than I'd like.
I'll try to be around more in the coming months. We've got some exciting new things coming up on several fronts this year, so stay tuned, and if you don't hear from me soon enough, always feel free to sic Nananea and FryedEgg on me to get my attention ;)
Does it involve green creatures ? ^^
Does it involve green creatures ? ^^
Yup : Martians Must Cry.
Sponsored by The Onion.
I was hoping for Pigs Must Fly. They could be green pigs: the ones from which Dr Seuss's ham is cut.
I was hoping for Pigs Must Fly. They could be green pigs: the ones from which Dr Seuss's ham is cut.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YsCpDaSooWA
:P
Heh . . . shows how much attention I pay to mobile games.
I keep coming to these boards hoping to see that there's new content on the way, and I keep being sad that I'm not seeing it.
The way I'm approaching it: I've gotten what I paid for and more from Orcs Must Die 2. It's one of my top five games of 2012. Robot Entertainment doesn't owe me anything. Having said that, I want to give Robot Entertainment more money. So, I keep hoping for more DLC for OMD2. So, I'm not angry at all about the lack of new DLC, just disapointed.
Bump
Strider051:
I'd like to see a Rogotin skin for the warmage and sorc. I envision it as kobold runner with a nifty hat riding your shoulders as he lobs grenades at your barricades whilst smacking you in the back of the head.