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| Author | could too much discontent endanger the servers future? |
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Do you remember the time when Arctic was not present here? the long months were nothing changed, no updates were comming and no events were held? The game was still good, but with the lack of development here (and the huge amount of it on the russian server ) people began to fear that admins had forgotten us – or simply didn’t care anymore.
I think those fears were justified and proved as true. No need to keep it secret or talk around it: The admins never cared about this server. It was Arctics idea to make an international one and it’s still HIS baby. And as far as I got him he still has to persuade the admins of every update or new element for .com. Admins presence here always was, is and probably will be ZERO.
When arctic came back to his server everything changed:
- We got a lot of updates at once - and now we are almost en par with .ru
- The great cleansing began, and cheaters are punished or have to hide in fear now
- We got tournaments and events
The three main problems of this server have been worked on at the same time – thanks to Arctic. The game developed again.
Now: especialy at the last tournament there was an incredible amount of frustration and discontent. And a matching amount of angry threads and reactions… no need to sum them up here. My concern is, that all this reactions might cause something none uf us wants: that arctic is getting frustrated with .com.
I fear that if he gets the feeling that nothing he does is apreciated, he might loos his interest in this server and leave – again.
I don’t ask of you to live in harmonie and swallow down all your wonderful anger – for this is still a wargame =). I just think we all should beware the impression we leave.
If he retreats again (and maybe forever!) this game is done! I hope you realise that none here has the power to change even a jota in the script! And the admins, I repeat myself, are concerned only with .ru! it’s not only, as often mentioned, a linguistik problem or the fact that .ru is bigger and older than .com. It’s simply not their projekt – it’s Arctics.
I would very much appreciate if Arctic himself comments on the situation and his impressions – and maybe even generaly on the servers future.
I seriously fear that he will be driven away with too much discontent. one must realise that if we loose arctic we loose the servers future. | Further, I am discontent about ONE major thing.
WE ONLY HAVE ARCTIC. This server has produced tens of thousands of euros by now...in the several years it has been up...and yet, all we have is Arctic?
One man to address the needs of thousands of players?
No wonder so many have quit, and why the game has NO SUSTAINABLE growth. No wonder why I haven't donated a cent after Janaury of this Year, and why I won't until I'm satisfied that I'm not throwing money away.
I know that I am not the only person on the server to donate 200+ euros. So where is our money going? The server fees aren't that high...and most of the work is tweeked and translated from .ru and applied to .com server...so the 'overhead' for this server is quite tiny.
When are we going to get MORE admins (or 'admin assistants') to help on THIS server? So people know when they play here, it isn't some short term investment, where they'll be quitting sooner than later because no one cares.
This game truely has the capacity of becoming a great one, and earn major bucks, but that will never happen with the current infrastructure. I can't even tell my friends about this game because it would make me look bad if they joined as things are today.
I'll recommend the game to my friends once it becomes a respectable one, and not some Russian Joke. | I think Arctic too clever to feel that criticism directed at him - especially in case of that tournament. It simply was a... how to put it friendly... not very optimal mode of competition that was simply taken over without change from the "admins".
I also want to point to the new MG quests which were genereally cheerfully accepted. (Yay!) A general human rule is: If all is fine, there will be silence - what shall we complain about? Noise is heard when and where things are not fine. Maybe that is my attitude only, but I think exactly that is incentive to look at the things and how to improve them so one has blessed silence again ;) I can see where critique hurts; I cannot see where critique might hurt when something is criticised that is just passed on like that tournament. Sounds not bad on paper - but practice shows... well, you know what it shows. | When are we going to get MORE admins (or 'admin assistants') to help on THIS server?
This kind of power might be too much for mere mortals(as one of the trusted moderators puts it). And I agree. We have been thinking about convincing Arctic to put some power in responsible hands, but we should agree that such power is not fit for us. I dont know anyone who would accept such responsibility. | When are we going to get MORE admins (or 'admin assistants') to help on THIS server?
I think the only reason why we don't get more admins is that:
The game developers don't want to give out the source code to anyone else. They can't trust in others, only in Arctic.
Why? Because they afraid of the 'stealing/game cloning'. | I must say that I was looking for a game like this for about three years after playing a lot of HOMM3. About two weeks ago, I found it and I must say that I am very pleased with it. No game ever kept me so interested.
I don't know who made it and when, but this game is great. The concept is great, the engine is great, everything is great. Great people with plenty of knowledge must have invested time and money in developing this game. And they did it well. They deserve every money that is donated. I wish I started playing ever since it appeared so that I could now enjoy it even more.
Well done, Arctic, and whoever keeps this game running and had the idea of making it english cause I wouldn't have played it if it was only russian and probably most of the non-russian guys around.
Please do not even think of stopping this game by any means, there will always be people willing to play no matter how a tournament goes and what reactions it has as it is not your fault, but the community's. | | limustu, I think you take things too seriously.
all we have is Arctic?
yes, and he does a hell of a good job here. I wonder how can he even play LoWM as a regular player :)
When are we going to get MORE admins (or 'admin assistants') to help on THIS server?
I ask: what for? I think Arctic handles everything quite well. Yes, I agree, there was a "dark age" when he was gone for several months, but as long as he is here I do not see a reason why there should be more admins.
This game truely has the capacity of becoming a great one
This game already is a great one ;) You maybe just expect more than it gives right now. You still have an option to leave if you think it is not good enough.
And one more thing: You shoudln't expect miracles just because you "donated" 200+ Euros. You did not even donated them - you traded them for advantages in game (early upgrades, TGI, gold,... I don't care, but you surely didn't just give those money without earning a reward ;) )
so let me just sumarize it: Arctic does a good job and I praise him for that. I like this game as it is, even with rules/game mechanics changes that make it harder for me. I like LoWM as a whole package. | | I love the game. Not thrilled with the TGI changes but at least i got mine done before the change even if i won't get another invite at lvl 5. Overall though, I was a sucker for the HOMM games and i'm a sucker for LoWM. I plan on being here for a long time. | TGI change will ruin the game.
I think first you can play well and without TGI.
By level 10 it is really accumulate.
On this server there so many steep high-level characters, as in Russian:).
Especially fear. | overclocker...are you serious?
Arctic gets hit by a car (Hopefully not) on his way to work. Server is hurt again. Or, a more 'real' scenario, Arctic gets bored with this server (AGAIN) and leaves for many months. Server is crippled again.
No one enjoys playing with so many cheaters in the game. Take a look at the finance and others violations/reports thread. Still think Arctic is enough?
This is just ONE aspect of the game. Arctic needs more help. We need more Admins here. I can't believe I'd even read ONE post saying that we don't. Bottum line fact is simple: ban/fine the cheaters, do more events that cater to OUR community (yes, we are different than .ru) and give the players that are still here incentive to donate again.
As for getting "artificial" goods for my REAL money: it was a donation. Else we wouldn't have a "donate" link on this server...it would be called...I don't know, per your definition, "Give us your real money please so we spend it on something not related to this server." | I think Arctic handles everything quite well.
Arctic is a player also. And he is not Admin, he is Admin Assistant. I think all updates, changes, and server issues still need to go through Admin. So Arctic has all the work of Admin but not the freedom to do things without their approval. Maybe this is not completely true but I think it is close to true.
Arctic has WAY more work to do than anyone thinks. If you think the server is fine without him then think back to what has been called the Dark Age. This was much more than us getting zero updates. During this time Artifacts only available at the shop reached zero. Production facilities became stuck with not enough resources to allow anyone to enroll and not enough gold for anyone to sell the need resources there. And the of course the rampant cheaters/multis going unchecked or punished.
His return gave life, and hope back to this server, its the single reason we got the updates and changes. Even though not all of these changes were needed on .com, I have a feeling it was all or nothing coming from .ru. If Arctic takes another extended break, or it becomes more work than he wants and he decides to just play, on .ru, forget about the Dark Age, we will have an Ice Age.
This servers first and utmost priority should be to keep Arctic around. I think the best way to do this is to help him with all the work he has to do. Remember Arctic also plays this game, when it no longer is fun for him why would he stay. Whatever it takes to keep him here needs to be done. I think a modest distribution of some of his power/responsibilities would help him immensely. Finding the person that can do it appropriately and not abuse it is the hard part. If they cant then take the power away and reverse the mistakes they made.
Who knows, maybe Arctic is a glutten for punishment and he enjoys all the work and headaches. If so then we have nothing to worry about because he will stay forever. | Indeed, I agree with my clan mates who posted here. Many do not know the bad position we find ourselves in or don't want to see the truth. We are one illness,new wife, new job, bored person, disgusted or burnt out man away from desolation.
I also choose not to buy diamonds until we are sent more admin helpers in case Arctic leaves us. That's what the ru admins need to know. It is hurting their bottom line. We are not the only diamonds buyers who feel this way. What should be done is for as many diamonds buyers as we can gather to spam Empire daily and tell them we won't be donating until they send help. Please don't come here and tell us what can't be done. Who has tried? We have men in space for Pete's sake! Don't tell me we can't improve our position on an online game until we have tried.
We have worked on the jury and we know what a mountain of work there is. Arctic can't keep up and no one person could or should be left that responsibility. Yes we are helping him compile reports but the cheaters are growing faster than we can process them. We have enough jury members. We just don't have enough Arctics.
This tournament is a perfect example of what we are lacking here. After the tournament and before prizes are given out, the jury team should go over all gold winners to first see if they are legal players. They should be processed and those who are playing multiple characters and so on should be blocked and the prize money given to the rightful players under them. But now, prize money will be passed out and lost because I have personally encountered illegal multis that should be blocked, yet there is nobody to do the work. We should have an active group of members with the power to take care of just such a thing.
We are thankful for Arctic and all he has done. This thread isn't to complain about him in any way. These are just problems we face on this server and if we do not address them, we will all end up getting burned eventually. You can deny this or hide your head in the sand and refuse to see it but the problem is still here, hanging over the server. Zarebrant, Halvspak, DEATHisNEAR and I all know what we are talking about because we are working for Arctic. The dude is buried with work. No person can take what is on his back for long. Way too much stress and not enough fun for the guy. Some lady is going to take him away from us and I wouldn't blame him a bit for leaving this madness behind.(for a new kind of madness ;P) | | Nothing to worry. At the worst situation I will just force myself to learn some russian. | What I don't understand: The cloud of mystery above all.
If Arctic feels frustated or needs help, he can tell us. Period.
Yes, there was and is some discontent. Oh, how dramatic. This site, this game at least gets normal and it's still peacefull compared to many other places in the net. I think, the majority of players is quite chilled about this.
Time goes by and who really is angry about this tournament in a half year: Leave your computer be for a day or two, get some fresh air!
As far as I know, in the past there weren't keepers for violation in battles and tavern. Maybe admins just test out here, if they can trust people with the task to manage financial rule breaks as well.
This discussion is really hypothetical and has this "We-are-doomed"-element in it.
What if... Well, game stuck, game over, what else? There will be other games for people with too much time.
But if anyone wants to write a petition to russian admins, I would read it, critisize it in a friendly way, sign it. I doubt we have many other choices. | My message had to be rewritten because it didnt post first time, and I forgot to put this back in there.
Artifacts only available at the shop reached zero. Production facilities became stuck with not enough resources to allow anyone to enroll and not enough gold for anyone to sell the need resources there.
When Arctic was gone Admin did take care of these things, after some time. So they do stop by and take of things, but many days often go by before they do. And I have never seen any response to anyone on the forums, so communication is non-existent.
This is a very good game as it is. If nothing changes from this day on people will continue to play, but dont expect the numbers to grow. Eventually people get tired of doing the same thing, and they will move on, and others will join. But you cant increase the numbers if you cant keep the players you have. It is the Changes that keep players interested, special events, tournaments and other changes make things interesting. And after an event is over people are excited to get back to hunts and MQ again.
This discussion is really hypothetical and has this "We-are-doomed"-element in it.
No this is not "the end is coming, we are doomed", nothing to worry about if you are satisfied with what we have and want nothing more. Unless of course the Admins decide there is no future in this server and one day you try to log on and the site is no longer here. | Unless of course the Admins decide there is no future in this server and one day you try to log on and the site is no longer here.
I really appreciate updates and I hope I can enjoy this game in future. :)
But if so many things are wrong, why doesn't someone write a petition (preferable someone who knows russian)? | But if so many things are wrong
Nah... at the moment nothing is wrong! it's wonderful how the server develops now.
What i fear is that Arctic could get frustrated with all the discontent and just leave. and then the developement would completly stop - from one day to another. | Being another of Arctic's jury. I can also confirm and appreciate the amount of work Arctic has spent recently on the server.
He has done an exceptional job in a very short time and we can all see the differences and improvments to the server.
I dont know anyone who would accept such responsibility.
I for one would and I am sure that all the other "jury" members on Arctics team would accept this responsibilty. We have put hundreds of hours between us in identifying cheats and setting fair and appropriate punishments. We have done this with honour and integrity and have shown no favouritism for friends or revenge on enemies in doing this. Our actions speak better than any words I can write and every single honest player here has benefitted from this work.
I love my clan and am looking forward to clan wars/events/etc but would be willing to sacrifice this and become clanless to help sort our server out. The sheer volume of work required is too much for one Arctic to deal with.
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We could go a long way to make further improvements ourselves however. Every clan leader should take steps to remove ALL cheats from their clans. If they need help with this then they can contact any of the current Investigators listed in Modi's post above and we will do what we can to help.
Every clan member should look at their clans. If there are "dirty" players in it then tell your leader. If your leader will not change this (or is "dirty" himself) then leave that clan.
Give cheats such a hard time that they can not find refuge in a clan or enjoy the enchanting or repairing benefits which go with this and suddenly a lot of the appeal of cheating is gone.
If every player puts just a small amount of effort in WE the users can move mountains. You want this server to be great? You want this server to be clean? You want to able to fight with honour? You want to be equal and not face overpowered enemies funded by cheating? Then no one person can fix this for you! You must also ALL do play your part. | What i fear is that Arctic could get frustrated with all the discontent and just leave.
That's what I mean with "hypothetical".
My hypothetical answer: If he only half as smart as he appears, he probably won't care much about this little flame storm. |
This topic is long since last update and considered obsolete for further discussions.
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