When you’re running an MMORPG, it’s VERY IMPORTANT for the publishers to get player feedback. Whenever, we get feedback we make sure that the developers know about this ASAP.

This is so we can flag serious issues, bugs or errors in the game. In games with item malls or are free-to-play, the most critical aspect of this would be pricing. Pricing of the items, especially those that are consumables and are often bought is crucial to the prolonged satisfaction of the customer.

Few players know this, but as publishers, we CANNOT do anything to the game. The developers, the ones who design the game, have the right and the power to do this. We defer to their wisdom when it comes to game balance and game integrity issues, but we also maintain a close relationship to remind that WE know pinoy gaming preferences and spending habits better.

Some developers see this and act accordingly, while some take their sweet time to do this. Hence the delays.

It’s bad when we ANNOUNCE something and fail to keep our promises because some developers will change their minds at the last minute. This happened, for example, with the customized items we were supposed to give the RPC 2006 winners.

But I am digressing from the subject, let’s go back to player feedback.

We get player feedback from several methods and avenues:

• The boards or forums
• Customer Care tickets
• EBs and Community Assemblies
• Focus Group Discussions
• Online and offline surveys
• And comments from blogs (such as mine)

I always ask the Community Manager and the Brand Manager to keep careful track of the feedback and identify critical issues that we either need to address or send to the developers ASAP. It’s good that some players have direct line to my YM or cellphone too coz they often report a critical bug, dupe or exploit in real time. I remember this one incident in Ragnarok where users can have a no-fail updgrade in Alberta. Do you remember that?

At any rate, here are the reasons why feedback is important:

1. Critical Issues – you find out about dupes, exploits or bugs right away. Even though we have GMs and playtesters who test the game even before we release it to the commercial worlds, we can’t patrol every nook and cranny. Sometimes, the best line of defense would be the players themselves.
2. Pricing – Players, especially the leaders, have passion and dedication for the game and they want improvements for the better.
3. Cheats – it is often the kind souls (players too) who report these cheats and abuses. I found out about a LOT of cheats in online games this way. And thanks to the players who alerted me, we were able to fix them.
4. Policies and Rules – When we write the rules, often, people will find a way to make it better. GMs are only humans, of course, and we welcome anything to make the rules and policies better.
5. Lag and disconnections – if it were not for our feedback mechanisms, we wouldn’t be able to address server capacity and connectivity issues. Sometimes external factors such as major telcos (or even natural calamaties) are to blame.
6. Card availability and CDs – I recently wrote about possible solutions to CD distribution. This came as a result of good player feedback. And additional feedback from that article meant that work is now ongoing for this.

So there you have it, how we get and use gamer feedback to improve our games and our service(s).

Remember, there is no such thing as a dumb comment!

Keep those comments and feedback comin’

Start with the one below!

In the meantime, can I request to look at my Group Writing Project and join to get a chance to win a 1GB USB flash drive? Thanks.

‘Nite,

GM T