Quote:
Originally Posted by elanaiba
Well, I am here, and I seem to be taking lots of hits. Not enough hits for you?
I'm not trying to hide, but keep in mind that I'm (still) working in this company and I'm bound by my contract. In theory I'm not allowed to directly interact with the people, as there are people (PR, marketing, community managers) who are better trained to do this job - and who have more time for it. Division of responsibilities.
Again, theory...
My primary reason for being here is to help where I can. The 2nd, is ... I enjoy this community and have many friends.
Part of the help of course would be through direct communication on the future of the series, but that is expressly forbidden, and its easy to understand why if you think about it. Would I do it differently if I was my own master? Yes... I think so, but then I would have done many things about this game, differently.
Right now I'm helping another team finish a project, not related to Silent Hunter. Working full time on it, plus some extra time.
Will Silent Hunter have a future with Ubi? Its not up to me, really, but I can say that the ComDevs presence on the forums is genuine and on what he gathers depends much on the future of the series.
So I suggest you interact with him, give him your feedback. Of course I am here and I am not alone, but the more channels of communication send the information, the better. Plus, I am sometimes looked at as "the hardcore guy with the subsim tshirt" which puts a certain tone to my feedback.
However, what I suggest is, don't restrict your feedback to stuff like the detail functioning of the hydrophone or some very deep modding stuff. That is valuable, but we here the only ones that understand the importance of it. For the rest, it only rings like "damn hardcore guys they're never happy".
Focus on the big stuff, what do you think the problems are with SH5. What are game breaking bugs? What prevents it from being a good/acceptable/great/awesome/mediocre game, in your opinion. What do you think it needs? What would make you more happy with the game?
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I think this guy is the only person who can pull this cart out of the mud. He seems to have a dedication to SHV, which I cannot say from the big picture that Ubisoft as a company presents. I can only suggest that he could bring up the topic of "communication" in all seriousness with his superiors at Ubi, and ask them to change their "shut mouths" policy. I think at least "lead developers" or senior staff member ought to be capable and allowed to communicate with their fans and customers. Anything else seems to be entirely detrimental. To me it seems Ubisoft itself doesn't really care much about customers.
My impression of what needs to be done to turn SHV a pearl:
- tune campaign to more realistic goals, and reduce what is achievable in game by enhancing AI to be more competitive. If there are "mission" that require attack of naval ships, or specific tankers etc., then make the mission briefings more vague and the goals more dynamic (i.e. less number of warships destroyed to achieve "a mediocre/standard" victory). Say for example "perform patrol in grid.... Pay particular attention to enemy tankers that are known to use the route since..." Or "Your objective on the next patrol will be to disrupt british naval superiority in the med.. Focus your efforts on attacking any warships, particularly capital ships. ". Don't give numbers ("sink 3 BB, 3CV and 5CL").
- How about wolfpacks? AI? do they follow contact reports, gather in front of a convoy, take up pursuit? That would have been the one and only feature that I really was missing in SHIII.
- add 1943-1945 and at least the Type II and IX boats, or at least come up with a plan for an addon. Even a generic interior will do. It is just an entirely different experience and adds to the long-term playability if you have small goals such as to survive long enough for get promoted for a typed VII; or get a type IX before the US Eastcoast actions starts etc.