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Newsletter
I've been avoiding the forum for a while (and have been busy more generally), so I apologise if this has already been discussed to death, but I think the recent IRE newsletter is pretty indicative of the oft-described feeling of stagnation in the game and I thought it might perhaps bear discussion.
Here it is for those who don't receive it:
http://www.ironrealms.com/newsletter/fifteen-years-of-iron-realms
Compare the entry for Achaea to the entries for the other games. And this isn't really a new trend in the newsletters - just, I think, a particularly good example of that trend continuing.
Here it is for those who don't receive it:
http://www.ironrealms.com/newsletter/fifteen-years-of-iron-realms
Compare the entry for Achaea to the entries for the other games. And this isn't really a new trend in the newsletters - just, I think, a particularly good example of that trend continuing.
0
Comments
I doubt the changes are over, there's most likely plenty of good stuff still coming.
But I think there's definitely a point to be made regarding the lack of big things happening in the actual world. My hope (as elaborated in a novella of a post back when Matt made that thread just before things started getting busy and I stopped visiting the fora), is that we can start to lose that conservatism that's dominated the game for a while now and prevented us from seeing the sort of big changes and events that would make the newsletter a bit more uniformly exciting.
Also, what Cooper said.
The only stuff you've seen so far that I'm leading/led are HTML5 client improvements and the work on the forum move and forum atmosphere in general. There are also other things I'm pushing in the background, but some of it is tracking and metrics work that will hopefully allow us to refine our advertising so that it is once again profitable for us to run ads.
There's stuff I'm working on from the ground-up, but you haven't seen it yet. It took me quite awhile to just get my feet under me again and start to re-understand the dynamics of what's going on in-game with the various factions, catch up on some of the history I've missed, and, to be honest, just re-learn all the god commands.
Oh, and I played some chess. Poorly.
If I let -you- beat -me- at chess will you implement it?
The soul of Ashmond says, "Always with the sniping."
(Clan): Ictinus says, "Stop it Jiraishin, you're making me like you."
I'm begging you.
The soul of Ashmond says, "Always with the sniping."
(Clan): Ictinus says, "Stop it Jiraishin, you're making me like you."
On topic, usually I find the newsletters boring no matter -what- is happening. The little article links with headings like 'Murder in Ashtan' that appear on the right side of my screen when I view the Bardics give at least a somewhat better look.
Whatever one thinks of the changes (I've done enough crying on the rant thread), the game is far from static. Every time someone comes back from dormancy I have what amounts to an ever-growing checklist of changes that they absolutely must know about. Occasionally I am tempted to change the House announce to include something like this:
Naga returning from dormancy, please read HELP THEFT and accept my condolences for your loss.
Edit: wth is with these emoticons.
The soul of Ashmond says, "Always with the sniping."
(Clan): Ictinus says, "Stop it Jiraishin, you're making me like you."
Sorry, I just can't wrap my head around something so completely false.
Unless something huge has changed in literally the last week and a half, there has not been any of the sort of more daring largescale stuff being tried.
I'm not really sure what to make of the awkward relationship metaphor (complete with condescending "bro"). The relationship never really staled - I still enjoy the game on a regular basis, I just miss the sense of adventure and the willingness to try big shifts, the ability to enact which was always my favourite part of playing a MUD as opposed to other kinds of games. I'm not suggesting that things aren't happening, merely that things remain far more conservative than they were in the past and the newsletter is indicative of that. She may be wearing a nice dress, but I'd rather we went with something more dramatic even if it risked ending up a bit tasteless.
Again, this isn't to say that things can't change or that there hasn't been any positive change.
On an unrelated note, in my completely sleep-deprived state two days ago, I'm pretty sure I remember seeing Matt in a bar in some dream I was having. Which is odd because this was before I had seen the newsletter or really thought about his return to the game much at all (too busy to think about much of anything right now). Perhaps this was some sort of omen?
The soul of Ashmond says, "Always with the sniping."
(Clan): Ictinus says, "Stop it Jiraishin, you're making me like you."
But I'll go back to being busy and avoiding the forums now. I was hoping for discussion beyond "stop being so jaded, everything is great" and I think perhaps that hope was a bit idealistic.
Hopefully Matt can actually help inject some of the stuff I'm hoping for back into the game once he's more settled in. My (fairly uninformed) impression was always that he was a bit less risk-averse than others when he was running things before, so I'll continue waiting eagerly to see what happens.
Edit: Before I go, the new forums seem to be working really nicely.
The soul of Ashmond says, "Always with the sniping."
(Clan): Ictinus says, "Stop it Jiraishin, you're making me like you."
That said, you've got a lot of hopeful, puppy-dog eyes staring in your direction right now. No pressure or anything. :P
"Gilgamesh, where are you hurrying to? You will never find that [everlasting] life for which you are looking. When the gods created man they allotted to him death, but life they retained in their own keeping. As for you, Gilgamesh, fill your belly with good things; day and night, night and day, dance and be merry, feast and rejoice. Let your clothes be fresh, bathe yourself in water, cherish the little child that holds your hand, and make your wife happy in your embrace; for this too is the lot of man."
----
All reality shudders as the voice of Sarapis, the Logos thunders across the
land, "What. The. F***."
----
I still hold by my dead puppy comment, however.
Also I can't figure out quoting on here.
The soul of Ashmond says, "Always with the sniping."
(Clan): Ictinus says, "Stop it Jiraishin, you're making me like you."