Quote:
Originally Posted by Kuzative
Alright Zodiac has had people saying it was going to "die" for a few years now yet it peaks #1 on playercount every evening. Even though it probably won't reach 100+ players like it used to it's still pretty popular as far as Graal servers go. I'm not active enough to give a current opinion but whenever I'm on a different server I do press f8 and see Zodiac #1. Anyway on regards to staff... FP4, Raven613 and other staff do a lot of stuff behind the scenes but people are too ignorant to see. It's just ridiculous because people talk smack about them even though they do a lot of work for the server they just don't publically tell anyone what they've done.
However I would like to see Zodiac start publically hiring Developers because we are in a lack of them compared to other servers. I think this would help us improve the game and also having rules of the server enforced. I mean the stuff me and other people get away with saying is ridiculous and deterrents new players from playing due to all the toxicitiy and GPs not doing anything about it. I would also like to see more noobie quests for players to help them get a legit full idea of the server and where everything is. Maybe add a notebook to their inventory which has notes of basic information in case they forget e.g. which island is which, how to see what dungeon you should go to on what level (Open map+Hold D) etc.
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This. Now I'm not saying I'm a perfect person. I'm not , nor will I ever be. It's just human nature. If you get angry you're going to lash out. Regardless if it's online or offline. For people to sit here and say, "Don't take it seriously." Then don't make it a serious matter. People go overboard with their insults and make them "personal" i.e - Talking about someone's real life. That's a line you're not supposed to really cross.
As for the staff not keeping in contact with the players. They "should" keep in contact with us, but they're not obligated, I mean they're doing work for 0 pay and nobody wants to do that. But at the same time, if staff go "Oh hey, we just finished this. Here take a look." Then players would on the other hand go "Sweet! You guys made this! Keep us posted on what else you make!" It gives staff the proper recognition they deserve and it does feel nice when someone tells you you're doing a good job or yuou did something cool that the players appreciate. The community has lost that Dev to Player connection. So while were kept in the dark, sure staff are working. But we don't see that, then when a buff or nerf drops on us out of no where, are we supposed to really be happy about it? Since we had 0 input on the matter. Were the one's who end up having to play the game, the least staff could do is listen to our input and consider the options given.
Hell, let me give you a prime example. Now mind you these guys aren't games. But they started from the ground up and are now pretty damn famous over Youtube/Twitter and everything else. Epic Rap Battles. These guys did their first Rap Battle 2-3 years ago. John Lennon vs Bill O'Riley. It was their first shot at something they've probably never done before. Turns out it went over very damn well and you know what they tell you at the end? "Who won. Who's next. You decide." It's a developer to community connection they make. Which is why people support them and their ideals. Some people have even donated money to them for doing such a good job. Now I'm not saying we should just open up our wallets/purses and just shower Graal/Zodiac with money, no. But if staff do something positive and come open into the community and go "Hey! We put this together for you guys. Tell us how it is and we'll go from there." Then I think Zodiac would get a better overall health as a game/server and community.
Hell. Even Triple A MMO companies do that. Prime example, Final Fantasy XIV. Every month or so, we get "Letters from the Producer." Where Naoki Yoshida goes onto the Squareenix forums to answer player questions, give them feedback and show them what's coming up next, what changes are being made. What things are being put into the game. Without that bond from Dev to Player, the game wouldn't be where it is now. Go look at FFXIV 1.0 and that's a prime example of a developer not giving a ****, which is why the game almost bombed and hit rock bottom. Yoshi-P picked up the game, trusted his community with their feedback and it is now the most talked about or recommended MMO to date.
This is what Zodiac needs to start doing. Ketsomaru/Symmasolan/Raven613/Darkus. They all need to be more interactive with us players. I mean Ketsomaru talks time to time, which is a very good star. However Raven doesn't talk at all and I've never even seen Darkus talk unless he's trolling around with his shop. (Which is a Rickroll...) But overall, the only interactive staff I have legit seen has been Symmasolan and Natey. Mostly Natey since he is well liked, even though he does LAT work, he is liked all the same due to his funny nature and overall jolly good sense. If the other staff took up Natey's overall good nature, then trust and believe Zodiac would be in a better place than it is now.
Hell. Look at Indie games, these are small time developers who make their own games and ask for feedback from the community to make it better. A good player of these Indie games is Markiplier. He's a very good example, he tells Indie game developers to keep trying and work harder. Hell I think if we even tried hard enough we could push Graal itself into the Steam Market as a Free MMORPG. The Steam Community would eat it up. It's a Zelda-like classic MMO and the community would give ratings right off the bat. It's just these small things that can lead to much bigger things and give Graal itself more longevity. Indie developers usually are looking for work, I think it'd be a good idea to start finding Indie Game developers to come script or try to script for the Zodiac server. I have no problem going to forums and asking around for developers/scripters or whatever is needed. I love Zodiac itself, the game is fun. The cute pixels and the ability to make heads/bodies/weapons and upload them. That's freaking fantastic, I've never been in an MMO where we could do things like this. Which is why I usually keep coming back. It's one of a kind and Graal itself is a jewel in the rough.