Why don't the Devs speak with us anymore?

[Ice_Storm]

Originally Posted by Dark_Pixie

When the game first came out, the developers were desperate to please their small amount of players. Players leaving in the early stages of the game could have been fatal to the game they were trying to develop. When Pixie Hollow was in beta, the same thing happened. Many polls to do with the game, asking what the players would like added.

Now that the community is bigger, we don't get asked that many questions anymore. Why? Because the developers have grown more confident with the game, and they have realised that they were really onto something. They do send Game Masters into the game to provide feedback - I remember earlier this year, a Game Master ran right across Abassa Tortuga (I was there looking for a ship), and nearly everyone followed them, right into Misty Mire. They asked subtle questions about what the players liked about the game, and anything that needed changing. They got all the feedback they needed, then left.

With the huge community that we have now, it's harder for the developers to make something that all the players want. Thousands of players want the Kraken, and thousands think it's a waste of time. Thousands of players want trading, thousands think it's going to all end in scamming. The developers are giving us ship customization now, and they've hit the nail on the head with this one, because I haven't really heard of any players saying that they would hate it if ship customization came out.

Disney is a worldwide company, and its main focus isn't online gaming. POTCO is extremely unlikely to become one of the most popular and advanced online games, up there with WoW. Considering all Disney has to handle, including four other online games, I think they're doing a pretty good job with POTCO - regular updates that we may not have asked for, but they're still popular, and bring more players to the game. That is what the developers are aiming for.

1) There's a department for each online game they run. POTCO team has nothing to do with the other games. So that can't be an excuse.

2) I'm sorry, but, did you say regular updates?? I never seen a company that is well known as a whole - not a department - that takes more than two months to get any kind of patch, even small bug fixes, into their online game. How do you call that regular? Considering it's Disney? They have tons of money as a whole company.

I don't understand why players keep their expectations soooo low for Pirates Online or any of their Disney Online Media Group games. That is probably why nothing fantastic will ever be getting done because you guys aren't demanding something worth-while.

Tell them that they don't meet your expectations. Don't keep them low all the time.

[Kat Five Knives]

The title of the thread, "Why don't Devs speak to us anymore?" is what caught my attention. 5 players or 5 million players should not matter. I've always wondered what the answer to this question is. As a player of other MMO's, and the mother of kids who play as well, this is the only game I know of ( aka Disney games) where there seems to be this impenetrable wall between the developers and the players. Yes they come into the game and role play with us occasionally - which is awesome fun. And yes they do occasionally give us some hints of things to come. Other than this role playing, there is no interaction of which I am aware. The grog blog and the Pirates Online Channel on Youtube are the only other places I know of where they occasionally directly answer questions from players, and again, it's in this role playing persona.

It would be nice if they had a presence on the forums here ( and other forums ) to directly and plainly answer some of the questions we are asking or to be frank with us about issues they are having difficulty solving. I think it would create a less stressful environment for all of us to have a few things explained from those who know it best.. the programmers.

[Ice_Storm]

Originally Posted by Kat Five Knives

The title of the thread, "Why don't Devs speak to us anymore?" is what caught my attention. 5 players or 5 million players should not matter. I've always wondered what the answer to this question is. As a player of other MMO's, and the mother of kids who play as well, this is the only game I know of ( aka Disney games) where there seems to be this impenetrable wall between the developers and the players. Yes they come into the game and role play with us occasionally - which is awesome fun. And yes they do occasionally give us some hints of things to come. Other than this role playing, there is no interaction of which I am aware. The grog blog and the Pirates Online Channel on Youtube are the only other places I know of where they occasionally directly answer questions from players, and again, it's in this role playing persona.

It would be nice if they had a presence on the forums here ( and other forums ) to directly and plainly answer some of the questions we are asking or to be frank with us about issues they are having difficulty solving. I think it would create a less stressful environment for all of us to have a few things explained from those who know it best.. the programmers.

I will re-quote a phrase below this text only for Kat's reply because I believe so too.

Originally Posted by Mia Lighting

Well said...

Mia, this phrase makes more sense agreeing with Kat's reply.

@Kat - Of course, I'd like to see them post on here as well and explain what they are fixing or what's priority, etc.

I would ask them immediately:

Why isn't fast switch abuse fixed yet?

[Catherine Ironcutter]

Originally Posted by Ice_Storm

Considering it's Disney? They have tons of money as a whole company.

Disney is actually split into several different branches. Disney Parks, Disney Movies, Disney Games, and a couple more.

This question was addressed by the Toontown Devs. Disney makes several movies, and most get millions in revenues. Where does that money go? Right back into making more movies.

Disney ONLY uses revenues from a specific branch for that branch. The only money the Pirates team has to work with is the money that's made from memberships and donations. So think about that - the game branch doesn't get money from the rest of the company. It makes it's own money, and whatever they make, they use for the games.