New community manager in ubisoft forums

[elanaiba]

Originally Posted by Magnum

Simply because he is Dan Dimitrescu, lead designer of Silent Hunter 5.
I fail to understand why the heck they don't step up and get the hits instead of sending some clown who has no clue about SH anyway.

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?

[Dowly]

Originally Posted by elanaiba

What would make you more happy with the game?

It definitely needs more black, pearl and Keira.

[Arclight]

And perhaps a peg-leg and a parrot. We already have eye-patches and a ghost crew.

(I kid, no offense )

[Zedi]

Originally Posted by elanaiba

Well, I am here, and I seem to be taking lots of hits. Not enough hits for you?
...

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.
...

I know Dan, that's the reason why you don't get any punch here (at least not from me). We are here in "vacation" not on official business trip. That's why I would like that one high ranking dude from Ubi management put up the business suit and come over the official forum to answer the angry community. This Ubi company is such a weird company.. they are like the politicians, when the sh1t flows they take off.

Wish we could have here a Ghostcrawler type of dude, Blizzard's WoW lead designer, who constantly is in touch with the community and answer their question in every channel available. And thats a huge community. No wonder Blizzard is the leader on the market, they always put high priority on quality and communication with their customers. This is how a successful product and business is made.

LE &PS: btw.. I'm waiting for ur first mods :P

[janh]

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?

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.

[Nisgeis]

Originally Posted by janh

My impression of what needs to be done to turn SHV a pearl:

Did you post that on the Ubi Forum as well?

[longam]

It seems the ComDev got his reply from the source.

His Post.

Right now, Silent Hunter 5 does not have and cannot get a development team. The people that have worked on the game have been assigned to different other projects for the time being. This does not mean that SH5 has been abandoned and the situation might change in the following months. I have no time frame for a possible improvement nor can I estimate the chances of it happening.

So, for now, we must rely on the modders to improve the game. I'm asking for your help in putting together a basic list of must-have mods.

[janh]

Originally Posted by Nisgeis

Did you post that on the Ubi Forum as well?

Nope, but anyone is free to copy and paste the things I brought up. I guess most people think along the same lines anyway.

[Nisgeis]

Originally Posted by janh

Nope, but anyone is free to copy and paste the things I brought up. I guess most people think along the same lines anyway.

I think that's what Dan was asking for, as that guy isn't going to come here to read them.

[Iron Budokan]

Originally Posted by elanaiba

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?

LOL, you mean you don't know by now....?

Wow. Just, wow.

[Reece]

Originally Posted by elanaiba

My primary reason for being here is to help where I can.

Hi Dan, I don't have the game due to the fact that I live in the country Australia where basically a connection to the internet is via 56k modem so a permanent online connection is out of the question, but for those who have the game Privateer pointed out that there are some tools supplied with the game that could well help fix a lot of problems but the lack of documentation restricts the full potential of these tools, is there a chance of getting some better documentation?