Forum Dwindling?

[Tod1d]

To be fair, that topic had incomplete information, and I think a lot of confusion could have been avoided if the reason for the change (assuming you're talking about the fleeing AI) was included.
At the very least, it would have kept the conversation focused more on the issue at hand. I'm sure there still would have been opposing opinions.

Couldn't agree more and I apologized for that, it was something I learnt a lot from!

Not throwing stones... a lot of glass in my house too.

[L3M182]

I can ask for you all, but I am pretty sure I know what they will say!

I mean I put out ONE topic we were thinking about improving. Everyone saw where that went and how constructive it was. Can you imagine what would happen to a whole years worth of roadmap? Everyone would have their own wants and needs (and rightly so) and I do not think it would be a productive thread.

on the whole that thread had its moments. we discussed something relevant to the game and the community gave it its thoughts. those thoughts were just not the ones i think EW wanted to hear. doesn't make it a bad thread. doesn't have to be a whole year, couple of months would be fine. we shouldnt be in a position where devs dont want to tell becasue we might kick off. what kind of an outlook is that? id like to think the upcoming content is so good you cant wait for it to drop.

besides id rather find out if an idea was a flop a year in advance as opposed to on release day once the money and man hours are already spent

[gas56]

@Kiwi

In this forum one running post can start the whole herd stampeding without knowing where they're going until
everyone settles down without no more affliction to what got them going in the first place.
Just please don't get any ideas with the Texas longhorns,... maybe a different bovine though from a different continent.
the bottom picture below it is open for review though..............

[SoftShoe]

we shouldnt be in a position where devs dont want to tell becasue we might kick off. what kind of an outlook is that? id like to think the upcoming content is so good you cant wait for it to drop.

I gotta say I disagree. Reread the vehicle reveal thread, it speaks volumes. The community (at least the vocal ones on the forum) pretty well unanimously said they didnt want a vehicle once it was announced & yet its one of those items that gets asked for semi regularly by the non vocal majority that stop by this forum from time to time. I would wager that it will be EWs single best selling add on to date. If that bears out who should EW have listened to?

Listening to the community is great but it needs to be taken with a very large grain salt.

[JimboCrow]

we shouldnt be in a position where devs dont want to tell becasue we might kick off. what kind of an outlook is that? id like to think the upcoming content is so good you cant wait for it to drop.

I gotta say I disagree. Reread the vehicle reveal thread, it speaks volumes. The community (at least the vocal ones on the forum) pretty well unanimously said they didnt want a vehicle once it was announced & yet its one of those items that gets asked for semi regularly by the non vocal majority that stop by this forum from time to time. I would wager that it will be EWs single best selling add on to date. If that bears out who should EW have listened to?

Listening to the community is great but it needs to be taken with a very large grain salt.

FULL DISCLOSURE: By and large I have been very happy with how this game has progressed since I stumbled upon it. I like change, I welcome the add-ons and improvements, by and large. Reindeer, goats, trophy shots, lodges, extended render range; there have been some great additions.

But to your point Softshoe, an example where dropping a hint on something before putting in the man hours might have been the climbing ropes. I know it was just a lark, but I don't think the 'silent majority' would have come out in favor of that, and EW might have averted a lead balloon. And who would have voted for feral hogs on Piccabeen?

Another questionable decision without warning, and effectively much worse, was adding bobcats to WHI. Were four maps really necessary to deploy bobcats on, three wouldn't have been sufficient? How many players would actually have agreed to that? And what about the complete infestation of wolves and crows on TGT? I know, that's a different situation, but the results are not good. These are decisions that have adversely affected entire maps, specifically those that almost unanimously appear at the top of everyone's favourite reserves list. Many would add ptarmigans to this list as well.

EW doesn't need to poll the entire community all of the time, but would it hurt to talk to a small coterie of players before wasting valuable resources and/or blowing something up royally? When caledonianblues was still there, and then they added TK, everyone was super-optimistic about the prospects for the game. Now cb has left, Alena is gone, and our only remaining ally/advocate is TK. We can only hope they're still using him as a sounding board because personally, I don't want to see them to screw up RFF or Hirschfelden as well. I'm sure no one does, and of course that includes EW.

[HooCairs]

I'd also like to see a little less hype & "teasing" on many of the new features. I think it's a bit too much. In fact, I'd love to see a few things released as complete surprises. I thought the cats would have been perfect for this kind of release. They could have made them as rare as the descriptions in the pre-release status reports suggested, and just added them to the reserves without any fanfare.
People would discover them pretty quickly, and the word would get out, and then no one would have time to wait & speculate & form those inflated expectations.
Of course, I'm not an expert, or even an amateur at marketing. Perhaps the 'hype' method is the best way to generate revenue from a new feature???

I really agree with all of this, without being a marketing expert myself. At least it would be worth once to try and release an animal without notice. I cannot imagine anyone being seriously disappointed about not having known, and most would see this as a positive surprise I would think.

[SoftShoe]

Jimbo

I cant say I entirely disagree with you but to be fair most of the problems (with the exception of the ptarmigans) were realized in hindsight.

I honestly dont think its a good idea to use the community et al as a sounding board. While they will get some good feedback there are way to many "sky is falling" types that will generate allot more commotion & fear than is warranted. I DO think EW would be well advised to assemble a cadre of players that have demonstrated a commitment to the game & are even tempered to use as a think tank of sorts.

[Djehmli]

For myself, it hasn't been rewarding for time spent. I can allocate a couple of hours during the work week, and had no trouble allocating more during the weekend.
I could log in, pick a reserve, maybe a couple of comps or finish a mission and feel satisfied. Now I spend searching for simple tracks. I know it has been refuted regarding spawn/track changes, but I have to really hunt for some tracks and high traffic areas I am lucky to see one or two critters wander through in a game hour versus a handful.

I keep spread sheets of ALL my kills, including location and in game time of kill. Just like I keep a journal in real life of my scouting during pre season. Some times I wonder if the COTW hunting pressure has been back ported to classic behind the scenes in the last six months.

I could just be running into bad spawn luck.

This years comps though, pretty much turned me off to any 'global' activity, even with the ranking.

I was also thrilled by the new hound introduction ( I mean look at my avatar, sheesh) until I realized the introduction didn't mean the dogs were also going to have a code looksee (scent hounds).
I mean, dev had to touch the base code for the introduction of new asset. While in there why not perform maintenance? (it's like changing the filters with out checking the belts and other fluid levels, sheesh)

So ya, I am a bit wishy washy at the moment.

[L3M182]

we shouldnt be in a position where devs dont want to tell becasue we might kick off. what kind of an outlook is that? id like to think the upcoming content is so good you cant wait for it to drop.

I gotta say I disagree. Reread the vehicle reveal thread, it speaks volumes. The community (at least the vocal ones on the forum) pretty well unanimously said they didnt want a vehicle once it was announced & yet its one of those items that gets asked for semi regularly by the non vocal majority that stop by this forum from time to time. I would wager that it will be EWs single best selling add on to date. If that bears out who should EW have listened to?

Listening to the community is great but it needs to be taken with a very large grain salt.

I get what youre saying mate but i think youve chosen a terrible example. Yes a vehicle has been asked for numerous occasions ive been involved in threads regarding the idea numerous times over the years and the replies by most have always been pretty much the same as the ones in the reveal thread. Never going to please everyone but its a game of majority's and the biggest concern in that thread was not if people want a vehicle it was what will a vehicle do to the balance and pace of the game and that has yet to be decided. might be the best think the game has ever seen, however the pessimism i have isnt what i want its one thats been shaped by the reality of pretty much every major release in my 7 or 8 years playing this game. im sure whatever it is it will sell im just worried about everything we already have that will be effected.

[Mountaineer]

I used to go after Roosevelt Elk if the tracks reading "450-500kg" or Moose tracks reading "580-620kg" because I knew it was going to be a large rack. Finding these were uncommon and exciting. Now, they aren't that special and I can get anything from small to large. Is this more realistic? Probably. Does it help players use their experience and skills built up over the years? No. Not if it was one way at first and then changed to another way. This constant turning screws here and there is what gets on my nerves at times when you know there are so many other things to spend the time on.

The weight being somewhat tied to score seems to have removed across the board. I just shot this blacktail deer buck:

Score: 194.173
Weight: 78.28 kg (172.58 lbs)

A buck weighing 78kg wouldn't have scored 194 before. So for everyone looking for a large score, you might want to not limit yourselves to only following heavy weights.

Anyone else seeing light weights scoring higher for other species?

Same on this one. A 195.8 74.kg Blacktail.

https://www.thehunter.com/#profile/moun ... /619924186