Regarding the Dev Blog

[GeckoGoggals]

Our network has had a Dev Blog for almost 2 years at least now. And it has a total of 2 posts. Both were posted on back to back days: November 10 and 11 of 2013. That does not mean, however, that they have not updated us since then. In fact, its only been a few days since the last time they gave us some info.

However, the only times we've been told about the Devs' secret magic is during an update or a patch. We are always told that "They do so much for us" and we know that, but what they do is a mystery until an update, which can take several months. One website that utilizes their Dev Blog the best is Starbound. They rarely go more than 3 days without letting the community in on their future updates. I realize this game is in beta, but look at Minecraft as well. They try to have weekly snapshots leading up to an update that gives them feedback on several things. The idea of letting the community know what is next is key for the best feedback and a happier community.

Just because we don't use the Dev Blog does not mean we still get feedback. After all, that's what has given us Solo SG, the trash talk filter, and other things that make the network great. But since the Devs don't tell us that they know about the idea, or just say something like 'Its on the list' we still don't know when or if the idea will become a reality. We also will continue to suggest the idea because many of us will not see the single post by the Dev, and if they have seen it, we will bug them with suggestions that could have already been added to the project that we just don't know about yet. If we use the Dev Blog the way it is supposed to be, this would take a lot off of the Developers' backs and give the community something to look forward to.

Another thing this may do is give the forums the spark they need to become awesome again. As Giggity69Goo said in a post last week, the forums have died down a little and we need to bring them to their former glory. This may bring enough buzz to the forums to do just that.

In conclusion, I would like to say that unlike Starbound's blog, it does not need to be a daily thing. Even just once or twice a week would be a great step in the right direction. Right now we have nothing, which is bad. Leaving communication at a minimum, leading to lots of misunderstandings and wrongful accusations and assumptions.

[TL;DR] We need to use the Dev Blog because it would solve a lot of communication and other problems in our community today.

 

[smashmaster]

rip

 

[ArgaJones]

This is a great idea! +1

 

[Col_StaR]

Chad and I have actually talked with the Devs about getting them to communicate more. But each time, we keep coming back to the same conclusion: the Devs prefer to be working on their code instead of just talking about their code. That's why the Dev blog only got to two posts, and Dev communication didn't come back until the reintroduction of the vastly less verbose Patch Notes.

I think we'd all love to have a constant Dev blog, since we love our Devs and we'd love to know what they're thinking on things. But if they don't feel like talking about their work, we should respect that too. That's why the Administration is often the ones who has to share Dev-related information; we might not always have perfect information or immediate answers, but we're more than happy to share what we do know.

Ava DV_Raiton Rusty: you heard it from them yourselves, they want to hear y'all talk more.

 

[arsenal]

Chad and I have actually talked with the Devs about getting them to communicate more. But each time, we keep coming back to the same conclusion: the Devs prefer to be working on their code instead of just talking about their code. That's why the Dev blog only got to two posts, and Dev communication didn't come back until the reintroduction of the vastly less verbose Patch Notes.

I think we'd all love to have a constant Dev blog, since we love our Devs and we'd love to know what they're thinking on things. But if they don't feel like talking about their work, we should respect that too. That's why the Administration is often the ones who has to share Dev-related information; we might not always have perfect information or immediate answers, but we're more than happy to share what we do know.

Ava DV_Raiton Rusty: you heard it from them yourselves, they want to hear y'all talk more.

I can see why the devs don't like to talk. If they start talking about what they are working on, then the community gets excited and can't wait for it's arrival. This makes them impatient, and they become upset when it takes longer to finish than anticipated.

As a person who is very interested in the development of this network, I have squeezed quite a bit of information out of the devs over the years. And I have to say that quite a bit of what I was told never ended up happening. The development world is unpredictable and I know that projects can be completely scrapped or postponed at anytime. This makes setting the expectations of people by telling them what you are working on a dangerous thing.

That being said, I do feel that a lot of players including myself for sure would love to know more information. While the Patch Notes are probably my favorite thing to read on the forums, it specifically says in the Patch Notes that a lot of the background stuff isn't mentioned as it doesn't really effect us. However, while it may not effect us, i think that a lot of us would still find it interesting. Maybe adding some more details to the Patch Notes wouldn't hurt.

And yes, one of my biggest criticisms of MCGamer would have to be that the community does not get enough input in the future development of the network. I know there are a lot of networks out there that put out tons of Strawpolls to see what the community wants before starting to work on a new project. I am not saying the devs never ask for our opinion, they do, the leaderboard update is a clear example of that. But, I still would like them to try to do that more in the future.

All of that aside. For anyone looking for some clues, read the issues on Github. Look at what has been closed recently and read the devs replies to open and closed reports. You won't find a ton of info, but you'll get bits and pieces.

 

[Ceroria]

Chad and I have actually talked with the Devs about getting them to communicate more. But each time, we keep coming back to the same conclusion: the Devs prefer to be working on their code instead of just talking about their code. That's why the Dev blog only got to two posts, and Dev communication didn't come back until the reintroduction of the vastly less verbose Patch Notes.

The only problem with the developers working instead of talking is that all we are told is "soon" and this "soon" ends up being months upon months later (or not really soon). It would be beneficial if the development team could communicate more with the community, or even the rest of the staff team to give us a general idea of what is going on, what to expect, and what suggestions have gotten through.

There are a lot of community members here that I have seen who have little trust in our devs because there is simply no pre-update communication as it seems.

 

[Electrix]

One of MCGamer's biggest challenges is keeping people informed and containing false rumors. I even have friends that refuse to believe what I tell them about the staff, and this is creating a divide between staff and players.

When we aren't told what the devs are doing directly (e.g. having an announcement), people automatically assume they aren't doing anything. Sure, a mod will hint about something here and there, but it leaves an empty feeling for those who don't check the forums often anyway. So I support this.