New community manager in ubisoft forums

[janh]

Originally Posted by aergistal

Ubisoft: We are building a consensus, please try again later.

Very cute, but head-on. Guess Dan & co should return here in 4 weeks to see what the result is. Or return when they finally can give some positive (or definite negative) news. Any news is better than to be left alone treading water -- or eat soup, for that matter.

I still find it weird that companies exert crowd control. Makes me think that believe we are a flock of animals that need close supervision rather than being considered with respect as loyal or potential customers. Quite disheartening what opinions Ubisoft must meanwhile have of its customers.

[aergistal]

In an ideal world, the community manager should represent the customer, like an advocate. His major role would be mediating between the community and the company.

If they put up the effort to hire someone maybe there's some hope they'll listen. Otherwise it would have been cheaper to just publish some announcement on their site.

Originally Posted by Navarre

The question must be what happened to the former Community-Developer "GKane"?

He went silence and left the community right after the release of SH5!

He played the RC and saw it coming

[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 )

[karamazovnew]

Originally Posted by Reece

You're kidding, I didn't know that one! So if I went to the Hydrophone station, like in SH3 there is no sound, I couldn't search for distant signals, hear pings detonations etc?

Come on... of course there is sound. But apart from just listening there's no tool to help you. What I meant by sound effects were simple sound tools that you can find in any free sound editor which we could then attach to different knobs and 3d dials

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".

Dan, first of all nice to see you here again. Really now, the current heavy bugs are well known. Since SH has reached the modding stage, why not try to milk anything that we can from a further patch? Plus, I'm just one guy, surely there'll be lots of important issues put on the table by other members. Although you've got to admit it: you wished you thought of the VU meter stuff

And I see no reason Silent Hunter shouldn't or couldn't be a hardcore sim to please any naval buff out there and even make them cringe at all the math details. You can make a game as hard and realistic as you want, if you provide enough tools for newbies. And unlike in hardcore flight sims, in any ship you have a professional crew. And what better help can you get than from your own crew? You can have automatic firing by simply asking the first officer to calculate everything, leave all navigation duties to the nav officer, never sit at the hydro or radar station and so on and so forth even while playing at 100% difficulty. The level of involvement would be dictated only by the interest and experience of the player, while difficulty levels would just be there to put more randomness into the equations to make your decisions and level of involvement matter more. First give us a magnetic compass affected by deviation and declination, give us wind and currents, give us ballast control and only then you could talk about "hardcore" players. As it stands now, SH5 doesn't even have a working stadimeter (without mods). So... yeah...

[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.

[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.

[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.

[Buddahaid]

Originally Posted by AVGWarhawk

I read through the thread over at UBI. I see smoke and mirrors....

I think he is the official face on the dartboard. And, I find it hard to believe the "list of game breakers" cannot get compiled from the months of postings here and at the Ubi forum. That would mean no one there has really paid any attention to the threads so far and made their own shopping list. They want us to filter it down to manageable size, box it, and put a bow on top. Better yet, do all the development as well and hand them patch 1.3 to claim credit for.

The series is all but buried. Only the zombies are left!

[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.

[AVGWarhawk]

Originally Posted by Buddahaid

I think he is the official face on the dartboard. And, I find it hard to believe the "list of game breakers" cannot get compiled from the months of postings here and at the Ubi forum. That would mean no one there has really paid any attention to the threads so far and made their own shopping list. They want us to filter it down to manageable size, box it, and put a bow on top. Better yet, do all the development as well and hand them patch 1.3 to claim credit for.

The series is all but buried. Only the zombies are left!

Personally I see creating yet another list of fixes and wants is useless. I see smoke and mirror in that thread. The only concrete information we received entail an exchange with Privateer. UBI has not made a decision on making a decision concerning a patch. So lets dissect this. No one in the UBI organization has decided if a boardroom meeting should be held concerning making a decision on creating another patch to repair the game. Welcome to double talk with added smoke and mirrors for effect. In short and as stated by the Community Manager, the parts of the development team that made up the whole are now assigned to some other project. I believe we have seen the end of the line for SH5 and anything concerning a patch.