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GM Luna 
New Poster
Community Manager
Joined: 22 Oct 2011
Location: Illyriad
Status: Offline
Points: 2042
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 Posted: 02 May 2013 at 14:37 |
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Updating petitions that are very old lets us know the issue is still relevant. Many old petitions that list as "open" are no longer relevant because the issue was fixed in a patch, or relates to a town that doesn't exist anymore. (Or any number of other reasons why the petition isn't still causing an issue for the player.) So communication about what issues are still ongoing is important.
Thanks.
Luna
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GM Luna | Illyriad Community Manager | community@illyriad.co.uk 
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Albatross
Postmaster General
Joined: 11 May 2011
Status: Offline
Points: 1118
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Posted: 02 May 2013 at 11:03 |
Couple of points: (1) There's a long-term gain in 'ignoring' bugs in code that is likely to be replaced soon. Polishing legacy stuff means that new stuff takes forever. (2) The vocal minority can skew the perception of the general state of all players. If a petition is placed, then it's a triage job, to understand the bug, then work with the team to prioritise it (by querying the data to see how many are affected and how badly). My point is that one petition does not reflect the needs of all players. Petitions are there to flag problems to the dev team, and *they* assess it for importance.
So this thread shouldn't be aimed at dev priorities, but perhaps communication. That too is fraught with intricate problems: There's a risk of upsetting players if the words "that's not important right now" are heard by an affected player. Further, if a sweeping change is promised, then that creates expectations, which can cause further problems.
The petition system already includes a feedback mechanism, so there's nothing actionable in the OP's proposal... but I can understand the frustration.
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Ossian
Forum Warrior
Joined: 12 Oct 2010
Status: Offline
Points: 456
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Posted: 02 May 2013 at 10:51 |
 Machete wrote:
I wonder how many people think that all Illyriad development should stop until the Support Petition system is improved? This implies that the Petitions are actually updated and resolved.
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Effectively you are asking for the game to be put on hold, because of outstanding petitions and the apparent practise of recording them as resolved when they have not actually been assigned. I see your point but I would say that failure to operate a proper complaints system is not , in itself, sufficient grounds for calling a halt to all development.
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Ossian
Forum Warrior
Joined: 12 Oct 2010
Status: Offline
Points: 456
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Posted: 02 May 2013 at 10:39 |
GM Stormcrow wrote:
A poll, I'm afraid to say, that falls into that most pernicious, siren-like of traps; one that, as a sometime player of many previous game titles, I have certainly been guilty of.... |
Yeeees. Steady on auld son. It's one thing to empathise, but this a trifle to far... if you'll forgive the pun. 
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Rill
Postmaster General
Player Council - Geographer
Joined: 17 Jun 2011
Location: California
Status: Offline
Points: 6903
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Posted: 02 May 2013 at 06:05 |
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While you may not see a status change when you update a petition, it changes something that makes it easier for the devs to find it. (In my imagination, updating causes the petition to float towards the top of the enormous pile of petitions on Stormcrow's desk.)
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Epidemic
Postmaster
Joined: 03 Nov 2012
Location: USA
Status: Offline
Points: 768
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Posted: 02 May 2013 at 05:44 |
I recently updated my 5 month old petition about the horrible lag i'm experiencing in game. I logged on to see the status has just been upgraded to 'Acknowledged, Under Investigation'.  I also realized I put it in the wrong category. I put it in Rules & Policies instead of Technical Support. Should I update my petition to state that or should I just expect the person(s) working on it realized my mistake and corrected it themselves?
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DeathDealer89
Postmaster
Joined: 04 Jan 2012
Status: Offline
Points: 944
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Posted: 02 May 2013 at 05:18 |
Update what? the petition? How does updating the petition affect whether or not it will be ignored for another month? I'm looking at one right now thats 9 months old. Status="New" And doesn't state anything about anybody having even looked at it. If we added a 'read' status then at least people would know if they need to update the petition with more info. Otherwise they all just look like unread mails.
And your response didn't address the problem at all. You stated this "We are very aware of outstanding petitions that need attention" Which maybe I misread but I read that as if your petition isn't being looked at its because it isn't important enough. And telling players that they are formally being ignored isn't a great response.
And the inability to receive volunteer work for petitions which was actually a great point, but no mention that there was even recognition of a problem let alone an eventual solution.
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GM Luna
New Poster
Community Manager
Joined: 22 Oct 2011
Location: Illyriad
Status: Offline
Points: 2042
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Posted: 02 May 2013 at 04:40 |
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I did respond to the concern a couple weeks ago.
http://forum.illyriad.co.uk/hire-a-petition-person_topic4859_post64431.html#64431
If you have an outstanding petition that is severely affecting your gameplay, please update it.
Luna
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GM Luna | Illyriad Community Manager | community@illyriad.co.uk
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Rill
Postmaster General
Player Council - Geographer
Joined: 17 Jun 2011
Location: California
Status: Offline
Points: 6903
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Posted: 02 May 2013 at 04:21 |
It seems to me that this is a rather silly question, since at least some development going on could address some issues raised by petitions.
On the other hand, it might be a useful strategy to have the developers post something that says "we know people are frustrated about the petition backlog. You can help us by doing the following things when posting petitions. We are taking the following steps to address this issue" (or "we think the entire issue is overblown and that the vast majority of Illy players are just fine with how the petition system works"). That would give us all something new to pick apart and complain about for a couple of weeks.
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abstractdream
Postmaster General
Joined: 02 Oct 2011
Location: Oarnamly
Status: Offline
Points: 1857
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Posted: 02 May 2013 at 04:20 |
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It could be better, faster. But halting all future development? Not a chance. I want pathfinding and improved mail/chat WAAAAAY more than I want the petition system improved.
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Bonfyr Verboo
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