Building Relationships

Very few companies adopt transparent policies and communicate them throughout the community.  Even fewer do it well.  In development, ArenaNet promised to create a MMO with a different set of principles than their competitors   By doing so they began to build a relationship with their players, more intimate than I have ever seen in the large-scale, corporate.

As the game launched, I felt a barrier seemingly appear between us and ArenaNet.  Sure, we were told what we would be getting/what would be changed, but we were almost never given decent reasons.  Player input ended when the third beta closed it's doors.  And the reactions to our inquiries were met with muddled responses that often sounded like "Because we say so."

And yet, suddenly, we are seeing this change reverse. ArenaNet has begun to care, or in perhaps more accurate words, are now caring and more importantly, showing that they care.  Actions speak louder than words, I think we can all agree on that.  But, many times words have to come first.  And that's exactly what's happening now in a blitzkrieg of events over the last two days.

Yesterday, many players were asked to complete a survey about the Lost Shores Patch and Weekend.  We completed answers on a variety of topics, everything from the new sPvP map to how we feel about one-time events and whether they should be looped multiple times throughout the day.  It's just a survey, but it was an instance where I felt my feedback mattered and will directly add to my experience in the game later down the road.  When a player feels like they matter, there is something indescribable that is passed between player and developer.

Today, we were featured with a red post on the official forums by Jonathan Sharp.  His reason for posting:  the widespread misinterpretation of a previous post by another developer.  He went out of his way to show players the intricate workings of ArenaNet and how they operate.  We learned how different teams create new features, how balancing changes are created and developed through the feedback of both specific people, data, and the community.  This post startled me, because of the transparency of it all.  It's something that I personally have been wanting to see in a MMO company for so long, that I almost forgot that it could be done post-launch.  

And furthermore the post by Chris Whiteside over at ArenaNet's official blog was even kinder.  The communities of games are rarely treated with the information we received today. In the article we received a small time line of upcoming events after the Thanksgiving break, and perhaps more importantly, a list of upcoming features. Every single feature on that list was something the community has been clamoring for, and I'm excited that ArenaNet isn't beating around the bush.  

With all of the drama over Ascended gear and the arguments over philosophies behind player progression and core features of MMO design, I questioned why I fell in love with ArenaNet in the first place.  

And today I was reminded of that answer.