Print Page | Close Window

05NOV14 - Help us kill the petition queue!

Printed From: Illyriad
Category: News & Announcements
Forum Name: News & Announcements
Forum Description: Changes, patch release dates, server launch dates, downtime notifications etc.
URL: http://forum.illyriad.co.uk/forum_posts.asp?TID=5932
Printed Date: 17 Apr 2022 at 10:06
Software Version: Web Wiz Forums 12.03 - http://www.webwizforums.com


Topic: 05NOV14 - Help us kill the petition queue!
Posted By: GM Rikoo
Subject: 05NOV14 - Help us kill the petition queue!
Date Posted: 05 Nov 2014 at 15:01
Hello all, 

This post will be about 2 things:

1) How to fill out a petition.

and 

2) Helping us KILL THE PETITION QUEUE

OK, first priority. http://elgea.illyriad.co.uk/#/Player/Support" rel="nofollow - The petition queue is old, long and dusty. It's a wise old thing, but it's time for it to die. Sort of. The problem is that we are a tiny team and were a smaller team before. We came up with the petition system without guessing just how many would be filled early on, and how difficult it might be to keep up with it. Combine this with the fact that many players have now had their issues fixed with patches or updates with the normal stream of updates to both the game and to the player's own access (browser type, connection, etc) and you can see just how we have http://elgea.illyriad.co.uk/#/Player/Support" rel="nofollow - petitions in the queue that are years old. 

It's also possible that we actually solved many of these http://elgea.illyriad.co.uk/#/Player/Support" rel="nofollow - petitions and never closed them. Simple enough.

_______________________________________________________________

OK let's cover http://elgea.illyriad.co.uk/#/Player/Support" rel="nofollow - filling out a petition , in an attempt to clear up http://elgea.illyriad.co.uk/#/Player/Support" rel="nofollow - our petition queue and to help streamline the process. I also want to "train" players on how to fill one out simply because we get a lot of http://elgea.illyriad.co.uk/#/Player/Support" rel="nofollow - petitions that are complete non-issues (the player was reading something incorrectly, for example) but still take us loads of time to track/complete. There's nothing wrong with having a "user error" but we just want to make sure that BOTH of us are not making mistakes where possible. 

First, what is a petition? Basically, when you need help in the game because of a bug or display issue, you fill out a petition. You can also fill one out to report player issues like bullying in chat, etc. A petition is not for game suggestions. Suggestions or other discussions need to go http://forum.illyriad.co.uk/suggestions-game-enhancements_forum16.html" rel="nofollow - This happened about 5 hours ago.." or "It happened around 1400 server time..." Server time is great because it is the same for everyone, and we can track back because of the time you filed the petition. 

3) What you were trying to do when it happened, in as much detail as possible. This is the background circumstances surrounding your petition.

--- 3a) "I was attacking a bunch of NPCs" is *NOT* useful. However...

"I had sent an army called "Army One" from my Town "Townsville" B to map location -300|300 with orders to occupy the square for 6 hours, and there was a Legion of Wild Dogs on the square when I first dispatched the army, and they were also there when the army arrived at about 16:30 server time today" --- *IS* useful.

--- 3b) "I was going after some grapes" is *NOT* useful. However...

"I sent a group of 4 Herbalists from Town "Townsville" to map location -300|300 to harvest approximately 80 grapes that are located there on a patch that I harvest regularly and have claimed sovereignty over, and when they were dispatched about 4 hours ago there were no hostiles (NPC or player) occupying that square, but when they arrived about 20 minutes ago around about 16:30 server time there was a pack of Wild Dogs on the square who killed the Herbalists"  --- *IS* useful.

--- 3c) What you expected to happen but didn't; and any thoughts you might have about why it didn't happen as you expected.

This is essentially the reason why you're opening the petition, and you need to explain not only what you thought should have happened and what you believe happened instead, but also provide any thoughts you have on why it may not have happened as expected.  You might have been trying out a new tactic, for example.  Or perhaps the person you were attacking quit his alliance or abandoned his account during the attack.  There are things you may have noticed that will be extremely helpful for us in piecing together the sequence of events.

--- 3d) If you get an error message popup onscreen, we need to know precisely what it says.   http://forum.illyriad.co.uk/profiles-screenshots-and-other-helpful-tips_topic5880.html" rel="nofollow - Screenshots are the best way of sharing this .

4) The browser you were in: If it was Chrome, tell us. If it was FF, tell us! If you can, tell us the version or if it was tablet, phone, etc.

5) Your connection speed: This doesn't usually matter, but it can be helpful to know. Let us know if your connection dropped, for example.

6) The name of the army involved: if you sent an army somewhere, send us the info about the army. The name, the commander, anything. We can see movements and other things but those army details are very, very important.

7) A screenshot: (as noted above) http://forum.illyriad.co.uk/profiles-screenshots-and-other-helpful-tips_topic5880.html" rel="nofollow - screenshot everything when you come across a bug . What good does it do? Well, in one single screenshot we might be able to get more information than a player might remember to provide. Think about it: a screen cap has map location, army information, browser, all that good stuff. Wanna know how to take and share a screencap? http://forum.illyriad.co.uk/profiles-screenshots-and-other-helpful-tips_topic5880.html" rel="nofollow - Go to this thread .

Remember,  http://elgea.illyriad.co.uk/#/Player/Support" rel="nofollow -  with insufficient information in them will be closed with the words "Insufficient Information".

_____________________________________________________________________

OK, so that we discussed how to fill out a petition PROPERLY, (and thank you for that!) let's talk more about how you can help us DESTROY THE QUEUE. No queue means no game issues! (Well, reported ones at least.) 

If you have filed a petition within the last 4,000 years, go here and check on its status: http://elgea.illyriad.co.uk/#/Player/Support" rel="nofollow - http://elgea.illyriad.co.uk/#/Player/Support

If it's been a long time since it was updated, or if it says "unassigned" we need you to see if the issue is still an issue. Even if you filed the petition a month ago, see if you still have the issue (my army is still missing!) or if the issue is still... visible. Once you do this, we want you to try a couple things.

a) Try a different browser. Sign in and out and try to see if the problem is still there. I just solved 3 petitions in a week that were not game errors, but issues with a player's particular browser. 

b) Try it on a different device or PC, if possible and safe. We're trying to see if the issue stems from a particular OS or your firewall or something else. Speaking of that...

c) Check to see if you have virus protection or a firewall going. We're not asking you to disable it... but make sure we're aware.

Once you make sure your issue is still an issue (many have been solved through standard game updates) then http://elgea.illyriad.co.uk/#/Player/Support" rel="nofollow - update your petition with any new details. The more details the better. If you verify that your issue was either fixed or updated out of the game -- basically it is no longer an issue -- then http://elgea.illyriad.co.uk/#/Player/Support" rel="nofollow - update your petition with "This is fixed/no longer an issue PLEASE CLOSE."

Here's the deal: many of those petitions in the queue are no longer an issue. For whatever reason (probably due to the fact that we are not the size of Blizzard) many of them were never closed or updated. That's our fault, but we cannot fix it all without your help. If you can help us by updating the issue or making sure it is even still an issue, then awesome.

I am the community manager, but I can also solve some petitions. For example, I open the list and can scan for issues that might be something I can take care of (missing passwords, player issues, etc) and then I go through and see if there are any that might be recurring. I bring some petitions to the attention of the devs (game-breakers, etc) and some I leave there for them to discover. They go through the queue as well and solve as they can. We all do this every day.

If there is a petition that is of a certain age, it's very likely that the issue is long gone thanks to standard patches or tweaks along the way. It is our fault that we did not stay on top of the petitions and close all of them as they were fixed or tweaked, but we are a tiny team and we created a petition system that you will rarely find in other games with a staff this size. It grew faster than we though it could, thanks in large part to the fact that players could report any little thing, including (to a large degree) issues with other players or issues that were user-error. 

So, check your petition. http://elgea.illyriad.co.uk/#/Player/Support" rel="nofollow - Go here and see if there is a petition up top. See if you can recreate the bug (if possible) or check to see if the issue is even still an issue. If you couldn't see your caravans before, can you now? Or it's possible that those missing NPCs have long ago marched of or died at the hands of another. Either way, let's say your issue is not an issue anymore.

Then open it back up and put NO LONGER AN ISSUE, PLEASE CLOSE in the comment. You can go into details if you want, or you can just put the CLOSE THIS DEVS, FIXED and call it a day.

If everyone can do this, great. If many of you can do this, great. We will press this topic and issue for while before we do any sort of old petition wipe because we want to give everyone a chance to update theirs. 

Feel free to ask questions or suggest items in this thread!

Remember, we are planning on wiping the petition queue at some point, to get rid of issues that are above a certain age. 

GM Rikoo

EDIT: This post will likely be updated/tweaked as we go on. 





-------------
Illyriad Community Manager / Public Relations / community@illyriad.co.uk



Replies:
Posted By: Rill
Date Posted: 06 Nov 2014 at 02:27
Will you notify us before you wipe out the petition queue?  I personally wish you wouldn't do it, since closed petitions provide historical reference that I find interesting.  Maybe you could just close all petitions over a certain age rather than wiping them out?

Oh, and cotters harvest grapes, not Herbalists.  So even if your herbalists hadn't gotten wiped out by the wild dogs, they would not have come back with any grapes.  Next time, ask in global chat.  Wink


Posted By: Hora
Date Posted: 07 Nov 2014 at 07:56
Great idea, finally we can kill it Clap

Just now I realize we have a 1 min cooldown on Petitions Tongue

Oh, and +1 Rill


Posted By: GM Rikoo
Date Posted: 07 Nov 2014 at 13:20
Originally posted by Rill Rill wrote:

Will you notify us before you wipe out the petition queue?  I personally wish you wouldn't do it, since closed petitions provide historical reference that I find interesting.  Maybe you could just close all petitions over a certain age rather than wiping them out?

Oh, and cotters harvest grapes, not Herbalists.  So even if your herbalists hadn't gotten wiped out by the wild dogs, they would not have come back with any grapes.  Next time, ask in global chat.  Wink

Yes, we will give advanced warning before deletion, but of course this announcement and project is sort of that advanced warning. We've already knocked out quite a few! 

GM Rikoo


-------------
Illyriad Community Manager / Public Relations / community@illyriad.co.uk


Posted By: GM Rikoo
Date Posted: 09 Dec 2014 at 18:23
Please continue to help us kill the queue!

GM Rikoo




-------------
Illyriad Community Manager / Public Relations / community@illyriad.co.uk


Posted By: Corwin
Date Posted: 07 Jan 2015 at 16:41
I asked several petitions to be closed when I created a new one last night. for some reason the reply I got was: "we will look into it." 
Please look into my new petition, not the ones I asked you to close. The new one is still "new" and "unassigned". 



Print Page | Close Window

Forum Software by Web Wiz Forums® version 12.03 - http://www.webwizforums.com
Copyright ©2001-2019 Web Wiz Ltd. - https://www.webwiz.net