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August 2009 - The Monthly Demigod Community Question Thread

Cut off date 8/31/2009

By on August 21, 2009 6:05:31 PM from Demigod Forums Demigod Forums

pacov

Join Date 02/2008
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DG community,

I recently made a request  to have a publishers chat session (https://forums.demigodthegame.com/361991/#2345903).  It doesn't look like that will happen, but Frogboy suggested that we create a monthly question post and agreed to write a dev journal answering the questions as well as possible.  That said, here is our 1st monthly demigod question post.  I'll be sorting through the questions asked this time around and compiling the final list for Frogboy.  Another forum member(Impossible) suggested we use a cut off date of 8/31/2009 to wrap up questions.  Then, Frogboy could write his dev journal response when he has time.  Sounds like a plan to me.  Here are some basic guidelines for any questions you'd like to submit (also provided by Impossible):

1.  Please state your question in the form of a question.
2.  Only constructive questions will be considered.
3.  Do not ask questions previously answered.
4.  Detailed, specific questions will be considered over generic questions. ("Has there been any thought to buffing QoT's minions?" would be considered over "Why is QoT underpowered?")

As questions are added, I'll begin compiling a list.  Thanks everyone!

 

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August 21, 2009 6:33:44 PM from Demigod Forums Demigod Forums

Is the fact Fire-TB cannot autoattack and move at the same time intentional?

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August 21, 2009 6:38:41 PM from Demigod Forums Demigod Forums

My questions:

  1. Does Frogboy or any other Stardock employee still play Demigod, and if yes: What's your favourite DG?
  2. How does Stardock/GPG handle balancing? Do you watch for player suggestions (subjective but insightful) or do you watch the stats (objective but maybe misleading)?
  3. Are there already new maps in developement? Sorry if we sound like we can't get enough.
  4. What do you think of the idea of splitting custom games into two sections: random team and arranged team?
  5. Does a player get anything special for completing all achievements?
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August 21, 2009 6:47:10 PM from Demigod Forums Demigod Forums

1. When will pathing be fixed?

2. When will items be fixed and not just removed from game?

3. When will login issues be fixed?

4. When will demigods be fixed? (ie oak spins in circles, tb cant auto attack in fire mode)

5. When will you actually fix the game instead of putting out new content?

6. When will minion control interface be fixed? (ie better interface)

7. When will auto matching be fixed? ie pantheion, skrimish automatching?

8. When will game lobbys display proper pings? with a sim speed?

9. Whe will ranking system be fixed?

10. When will you actually do anything but add new content which adds more bugs?

END.

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August 21, 2009 7:31:57 PM from Demigod Forums Demigod Forums

1. When will pathing be fixed?

2. When will items be fixed and not just removed from game?

3. When will login issues be fixed?

4. When will demigods be fixed? (ie oak spins in circles, tb cant auto attack in fire mode)

5. When will you actually fix the game instead of putting out new content?

6. When will minion control interface be fixed? (ie better interface)

7. When will auto matching be fixed? ie pantheion, skrimish automatching?

8. When will game lobbys display proper pings? with a sim speed?

9. Whe will ranking system be fixed?

10. When will you actually do anything but add new content which adds more bugs?

END.

 

11. Why are so many Demigod players such dicks?

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August 21, 2009 7:42:49 PM from Demigod Forums Demigod Forums

Keep it classy, san diego!  I'll filter through inappropriate questions - just make with the questions.  Thanks! 

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August 21, 2009 8:07:40 PM from Demigod Forums Demigod Forums

Will we get any new favor items or favor item buffs for somee of the least used favor items?

 

Edit: also when we get modding tools will we be able to upload maps for other ppl to play online somehow (i.e. a competition in lobby downloads ect)

 

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August 21, 2009 8:30:26 PM from Demigod Forums Demigod Forums

Quoting Xan,

11. Why are so many Demigod players such dicks?

 

Really? was not trying to be a dick, I think those are good questions that need to be answered. And if they dont plan on fixing any of those soon then why continue to play. All of those items are way more important then "When will i get a new map?" or "When will i get new unbalanced dg's that cant path to play?"

 

those are actually bugs that really affect game time and game play and are the ones causeing players like myself to quit the game, just today i get invail username/password all day and cant log in. but i can log in and out of forums with my username / pass which is the same for in game. So im not typing it worng the game is just really messed up. Or the bug that does not allow players to host games or see any games that are hosted.

 

You think I am being a dick, then fine. At least I know where the prioritys should lie for their devs and not in trying to make mods/maps/dg's/new items etc etc etc before they fix the current bugs that ruin the game.

 

Also they better be careful because Heros of Newerth comes out soon and will dominate the playerbase that this games has.

http://heroesofnewerth.com/

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August 21, 2009 8:48:13 PM from Demigod Forums Demigod Forums

I wait with baited breath for HoN to syphon off players like you who inject the word "fix" or "bug" or "broken" into things that are subjective or thinly veiled feature requests (minion UI not being the way you want it is a bug? Really?).

 

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August 21, 2009 8:51:50 PM from Demigod Forums Demigod Forums

Shameus: You are unlikely to get any ETAs to things you consider "bugs".  Brad is unlikely to address any questions that have a hostile tone and knowing him would more than welcome hostile users to find different games to play.

 

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August 21, 2009 10:08:12 PM from Demigod Forums Demigod Forums

Quoting Istari,
Shameus: You are unlikely to get any ETAs to things you consider "bugs".  Brad is unlikely to address any questions that have a hostile tone and knowing him would more than welcome hostile users to find different games to play.

 

 

Agin not being hostile. I am not the only one that "thinks" those are bugs. If you look thought the forum almost every other post its about, dg pathing issues, login issues, item balance issues, control issues with genererals and theri minions (ie pathing agin) , Login issues, game host lobby issues.

 

I did not come up with that list on my own some of the stuff does not even bug me. And like i have said in my other post (which was locked for no real reason?) demigod is good it just lacks some support and attention on the real problems which are drivng players off, sure you can think I am the only one, but if you have been playing the game you would see that the number of games/hosts in the game lobby has gone down by at least 50% since last month or two.

 

And using the response. Good. Be gone with you. Shows just how good gpg/stardock is at taking their game and player base seriouris. Just because I point out things that you know are a problem.

 

Why not answer my question about the invaild username/password bug that is posted? why only go to the forums that point out obvious bugs and call for devs to fix them since these bugs have been with the game since launch then lock the forum posts? and then tell me and the players that posted agreed with my posts that "good". "we dont want you here. go somewhere else." seems kinda unprofessional. and just shows the community how commited you really are.

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August 21, 2009 10:15:47 PM from Demigod Forums Demigod Forums

It's not what you're saying, it's how your saying it. Your entire post consisted of questions presented and written with the arrogance of "FUCK YOU" stamped all over them. Be thankful I don't have the power of The BanHammer™ because you'd be out of action for a day after taking a thread designed to help the community and attempting to ruin it with the usual Doom and Gloom bullshit that comes from the less intelligent community members.

edit:
Here are reworded versions of your questions that would be considered acceptable.

1. Has any progress been made on improving Demigod and Minion Path Finding?

2. Are the items that were removed due to balance reasons going to return in their original, albeit tweaked, forms or are we going to see all new items in their stead?

3. A small problem with users being Timed Out still occurs. Can you please detail the issue, and advise of whether or not this can/will be corrected?

6. Are there any plans for improving the Minion User Interface based on feedback from the community?

9. Can you advise of the progress being made towards improving the online Ranking and Stat Tracking?

I took the liberty of removing the questions that were pointless or have already been addressed elsewhere because as Pacov stated in his original post, these will not be considred.
See? Not so hard to be a constructive member of the community, is it?

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August 21, 2009 11:15:24 PM from Demigod Forums Demigod Forums

Has there been any progress on the ping-spiking issue detailed here? A small portion of the player base (including myself) have put Demigod on hold, as we cannot play games with more than X (where x is a number between 4 and 8, with the median being 4) players in them, despite solid connections. Many of us have tested the game with worse connections in another area and the same ISP, and had no trouble running the game.

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August 21, 2009 11:38:38 PM from Demigod Forums Demigod Forums

QoT Questions (mainly coz i think shes is most underpowered)

- What are the thoughts on Bramble sheild so far? Will it be tweaked?
- Will the functionality of Uproot be changed? Ive seen many threads regarding Uproot being useless, so im just curious as to whether there has been any discussion on this.
- The same question applies for compost also.
- Her Stats r the weakest of all demis. Are they likely to be made a little stronger?

Skills

- Can you please make the descriptions more descriptive in what they do? (TB's Auras)
- Could you shed some light on whether there has been any thought in changing any of the demigods skills/stats? (Tribute? Violent Siege? Poisoned blood? Bestial Wrath? etc)

Items

- Instant cast items are an issue at the moment because they 'stop' your previous action. Is there going to be a fix for this?
- Redundent items. How long until they are going to be tweaked? (Theres a few threads on these but cant find them).

Curiosity

- Are you able to provide your "to-do-list"? What jobs are you prioritising before others? Whats the thought process you go through?
- Are Demigod character ideas (in the ideas section of the forum) looked at for inspiration?
- Is it possible to update us more frequently between now and the next few upcoming patches?

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August 21, 2009 11:47:14 PM from Demigod Forums Demigod Forums

1.) Is it possible to create or connect to a game via the command line for Demigod (I.E demigod.exe -multiplayer -(login) -(password) (GameName))

2.) The Unclean Beast was modeled originially with a extremly long tongue. What was the design reason for changing the model. (The model is still present in the current release of demigod.) 

3.) What was your favorite ability that had to be removed for gameplay issues. 

4.) What ability surprised you during play testing in a good way. 

5.) What is the biggest surprise in player play styles (I.E. we never thought people would like Regulus that much.)

6.) Did you ever consider making multiple lobby for the game. Like Lobby's where stats aren't counted or lobbies for people with over a certain number of favor points or under a certain number of favor points.

7.) Will the SDK require Granny to create new models.

 

 

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August 21, 2009 11:51:20 PM from Demigod Forums Demigod Forums

I am blown away by the way that SD employees are treating the fan base for this game. Here is a perfect example of a guy pointing out an error with the site only to be brushed off and have his thread locked.

"I checked the site and I think the number of players is faked. 7000 players online, 30 current games and 7 open games. Thats impossbile."

Frogboy- "than dont use it."

WTF? He was pointing out a perceived error not looking for a GTFO response.

Also to the SD employee that says if we dont like the game than go play another. Seriously is that how you guys treat the fan base who actually purchased your game despite the numerous reports of broken design and lack of support? Well Go ahead and keep treating paying customers like mushrooms and see how long you can keep your heads above the water.

Also it is really easy to tell someone to go play another game after you have already received the 50$ for the game.

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August 22, 2009 12:01:11 AM from Demigod Forums Demigod Forums

*sigh*

The open games listing is correct - and the fact that there are always thousands of players online and yet so few games open has been brought up literally over a dozen times, with each and every thread claiming Stardock is 'cooking the books' as apart of a massive conspiracy against the player base. Frogboy made it quite clear that this type of behaviour wasn't welcome here.

As for telling their players to go play something else, what more do you want them to say - seriously? If you don't like the game, why play it? Why should they go out of their way to make sure someone who is both rude and annoying is having fun when there are nicer people already enjoying their product? If they don't like it, don't play it and play something that they do like. Makes perfect sense to me.

Quoting pseudomelon,
Has there been any progress on the ping-spiking issue detailed here? A small portion of the player base (including myself) have put Demigod on hold, as we cannot play games with more than X (where x is a number between 4 and 8, with the median being 4) players in them, despite solid connections. Many of us have tested the game with worse connections in another area and the same ISP, and had no trouble running the game.

I would also like this to be covered in the FAQ.

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August 22, 2009 1:24:49 AM from Demigod Forums Demigod Forums

"If you dont like it why play it" Because I dont enjoy flushing 50$ down the toilet.

"What do you want them to say?" How they plan on improving the game for players who purchased the game instead of working on a demo.

" Why should they go out of their way to make sure someone who is both rude and annoying is having fun?" Because if the only pick up the "nice" players who dont mind being fed crap they will have a much smaller fan base and fail to make any money in the future.

"both rude and annoying" I really dont understand how my OP was considered "rude" or "anoying". Anything you dont like must be considered to be so.

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August 22, 2009 1:38:37 AM from Demigod Forums Demigod Forums

 

 

What abilities should the FrogBoy Demigod have. 

Also when the Modeling team see model like this do they cry or are they impressed that the games engine handles Spore Creatures

 

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August 22, 2009 1:54:23 AM from Demigod Forums Demigod Forums

Quoting roofus,
"If you dont like it why play it" Because I dont enjoy flushing 50$ down the toilet.

Email [email protected] and get a refund. No one is forcing you to continue to play. And if you were unaware of their refund policy and deadlines, I can only summise you didn't investigate it because the game isn't so bad to warrant a refund, and thus your entire rant is moot.

Quoting roofus,
"What do you want them to say?" How they plan on improving the game for players who purchased the game instead of working on a demo.

They've already detailed the improvements that are being worked on in the Journal section of this forum, and they've already mentioned that there are features that they can't talk about yet in the works. There will be no massive, sweeping changes to the game that will drastically re-vamp the entire concept that Demigod is founded on and thus it won't become fun for people based on updates and patches if it isn't already fun. It's called 'niche gaming'. Now, this is all common knowledge, so why should they detail it again and again to people who are to lazy to click on links to read the information for themselves? If you don't find Demigod fun, they're not going to change the game to make it fun just for you based on your opinion being as there are far more people who have also paid for the game who enjoy it a whole lot just the way it is. Thus, we arrive at the only possible solution to the issue; stop playing it if you don't find it fun. Which is what they said, and why they said it, in the first place.

Quoting roofus,
" Why should they go out of their way to make sure someone who is both rude and annoying is having fun Why should they go out of their way to make sure someone who is both rude and annoying is having fun" Because if the only pick up the "nice" players they will have a much smaller fan base and fail to make any money in the future.

And the fans that they do have will buy their products and support them and they will continue to stay in business and make money. Just because you have money doesn't mean the boys and girls at Stardock are going to get down on their knees and beg you to stay. Benefits of being a privately owned company, as Frogboy put it. Why should assholes be sought after when, despite their money, they ruin the community and destroy the fun of the game for others? I applaud Stardock's stance on this point. If you think the motivation of a games company is soley to make money, I can only deduce that you in fact no nothing about how or why a business operates.

Quoting roofus,
"both rude and annoying" I really dont understand how my OP was considered "rude" or "anoying".

Allow me to break it down for you.

Quoting roofus,
I am blown away by the way that SD employees are treating the fan base for this game....

Yeah, I agree - working day and night on an issue, that wasn't their fault, to fix it so that you can play game is a horrible way to treat their customers! Working on additional content to a game that they didn't develop to keep the community happy? I mean, how dare they! The dirty bastards!


Quoting roofus,
WTF? He was pointing out a perceived error not looking for a GTFO response.

He was trolling with his crap about a systemic numbers issue which had been pointed out in at least 12 different threads depsite it being answered in the first one.

Quoting roofus,
... Seriously is that how you guys treat the fan base who actually purchased your game despite the numerous reports of broken design and lack of support? Well Go ahead and keep treating paying customers like mushrooms and see how long you can keep your heads above the water.

First of all, they're paying customers so I suspect they'll be keeping their heads above water for some time, even though they don't practice in the dishonest business behaviour you seem to think that they do. The game is four months old and has received a fair amount of updates and support post release from Stardock. The patches from Gas Powered Games have been slower, but additions and changes have been made and issues have been corrected. Some of the more annoying bugs are still present because they're, obviously, more difficult to solve than they appear and thus take longer to do. When the updates are released, only a small number of people post 'thank yous' before people like you begin with their posts about how bad the game is. So, even when they do release updates they get bashed around for it - there is clearly no incentive to release them any faster unless they enjoy the e-bashings they receive. Besides, pandering to assholes is Blizzard Entertainment's speciality, not Stardocks.

Quoting roofus,
Also it is really easy to tell someone to go play another game after you have already received the 50$ for the game.

No, it's easy to tell someone to go play another game when you have Stardock's refund policy and a zero tolerance for bullshit.

Quoting roofus,
Anything you dont like must be considered to be so.

Anything I consider to be rude or annoying is rude or annoying, that's why I consider it be so. Why else would I consider it to be rude or annoying if it in fact wasn't?

Let this be the end of this little rant and steer this thread back to the topic at hand. If you wish to continue this discussion, feel free to PM me. I know you won't, though, because in PM's there is no large audience to read your rants which is the entire reason you like to post them in the first place.

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August 22, 2009 2:15:42 AM from Demigod Forums Demigod Forums

Keep the questions coming... Thanks for the edited questions, ZehDon!

I do believe that something was up with opengames.asp site yesterday or the day before (the numbers were WAY UP when I checked (about double normal volume)), but people busting chops or just flaming without any logic ("is faked" for example) is inappropriate.  Brad, the guy who shut down that post and who also happens to be CEO of Stardock, is the same guy who's willing to take the time to respond to our questions.  So, try to recognize that it IS a privilege and we are fortunate to be able to have our questions answered. 

Roofus - if you have any questions that fall within the guidelines of the 1st post, I'd like to hear them.  Otherwise, this isn't the thread you need to be posting in.  Thanks!

Edit - I'll start compiling the list tomorrow. 

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August 22, 2009 2:57:43 AM from Stardock Forums Stardock Forums

What people fail to realize is the whiners on this forum only comprise maybe 5% (probably lower) of the people who purchased the game. Why should GPG/Stardock even deal with such a vitriol minority?

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August 22, 2009 3:19:19 AM from Demigod Forums Demigod Forums

Lets stop the flaming and continue with the actual purpose of this thread!

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August 22, 2009 3:46:04 AM from Demigod Forums Demigod Forums

For Stardock:

  • What is the best and most useful way to make constructive suggestions to the developers about features and balance?
  • How can the community help Stardock and Gas Powered Games to make Demigods better?
  • Why is it that Gas Powered Games has become a seemingly invisible partner in Demigods development? (I'm guessing that is probably due to Supreme Commander 2)
  • Is there anyway we can clean up the forums or at least isolate the useful information? It seems that 75% of the posts are joke posts, complaint posts, imbalance posts, etc...
  • (Some somewhat related questions) What is the hot fix and patch development like at Stardock? How much control do each GPG and Stardock exert over the development and patches to demigods? It seemed that Stardock was aware of the Sedna + biship healing percentage typo for quite some time, but it took a while for the patch to come out?
  • How was the gold and experience for reinforcement waves (archers, minotaurs, priests, etc) balanced? When it was adjusted in the last patches, what methodology was used to balance it?
  • The original demigods are a bit grim, any plans for more light hearted demigods?
  • The game types are typical FPS types (kills, flag control, base destruction), any plans for other types of game types?
  • How much does Stardock make off a retail purchase using Impulse versus how much you get from a local store purchase.
  • I know that when I code things I leave vestiges of former code behind when I finish, regardless of my attempts to purge it all. Seeing and reading about the leftovers others have found in the Demigod code, it seems I'm not the only one. What's the Stardock method on trying to keep these sorts of things to a minimum?
  • Thank you for contributions for getting us Demigods, do you prefer chocolates or flowers?

To forum dwellers:

I have to admit I'm curious, how does the system come up with the number of player's present. I've looked but can't find a useful thread in the tons of trash that fills the forum.

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August 22, 2009 5:13:44 AM from Demigod Forums Demigod Forums

Quoting Cowbuttzex,
Lets stop the flaming and continue with the actual purpose of this thread!

Well said.

I posted some questions in Pacov's previous thread, this is merely them copied over:

1. Was there a long term feature implementation plan put in place before Demigod shipped (replays, team features, etc.) or was it created based on the input from the community?

3. Apart from the features that have already been confirmed to be 'on their way' are there any additional features that can be confirmed as in the works, or at the very least being talked about? Hints threw clever word use is an acceptable answer.

3. Are Gas Powered Games happy with the direction Demigod is headed?

4. With the Team Features on the horizon, are there any plans at either GPG or SD to push the advertising or promotion of Demigod further?

5. Seeing how Supreme Commander received an expansion pack, of sorts, will we realistically see an expansion pack to Demigod? Any thoughts on whether it will it be a retail release or downloadable content?

6. With the addition of two new Demigods, we see the end of the promised roster additions. Will we see additional Paid Content that were hinted at in some of the posts made by Brad Wardell?

7. Brad Wardell's forum name is Frogboy, does Chris Taylor have one and can you tell us what it is?

8. Despite some mediocre reviews received at release, due in no small part to the connectivity issues, do you believe that Demigod will eventually receive the sequel treatment?

9. What have you learnt as both a Publisher and a Development company from Demigod, both in terms of it's release and the community that is growing around it?

10. Coke or Pepsi?

11. Frogboy has a new Avatar, was was the thinking behind the change? Can we expect constant Avatar updates?

Quoting Ptarth,
I have to admit I'm curious, how does the system come up with the number of player's present. I've looked but can't find a useful thread in the tons of trash that fills the forum.
I believe the 'issue' is the players online is actually made up of any user with Impulse open and logged in with Demigod attached to their account. This gives the illusion of 7,000 players sitting, doing nothing, when in actual fact it's merely saying 7,000 people who purchased Demigod have Impulse open.
I could be wrong, I'm not going to dig through the trash to find the original thread it featured in, however I faily sure that's how it works.

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August 22, 2009 5:50:56 AM from Demigod Forums Demigod Forums

Will demigod remain slow and strategical or will it become more like dota?

Dota is in my opinion more action, faster pace, less strategy. I am hoping that demigod continue on the same concept as they have so far and the new demigod makes me nervous.

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