Future plans for retention?

[Chump Norris]

Did D3 kill the PS3 pop or I was just really unlucky getting in to populated shards tonight? I did 3 Arkfalls (way less than I normally get to do) all of these had less than 10 people....They took way to long to complete and I cant level with XP so its all about keys for me. I now have 15 keys and no desire to try for more...hell if I did go for more I would be rewarded with green weapons.

[Bonehead]

Never going to happen. It's a very light game with a "pick up n' play" mentality. Those of us who came in expecting considerable initial content and a steady flow of additional content beyond that basically jumped before we looked. Everything after this point will be more of the same. They don't have the staff, the resources or the ability to grant our very basic wishes.

I mean, movie games suck. Anyone who's been playing games for a while knows that.

But TV show games... c'mon. We all should have known better.

I never thought of it that way but I think you might be right. It might turn around in time but if it does it's not gonna be soon.
There just are not enough hands on deck anymore for any quick action.

[NoahsArkfall]

I can't help but to also place part of the blame for the steep drop in the player base on the TV show itself. By that I am specifically referring to the shows off seasons. I myself have felt less and less desire to log in since the season ended due to the fact that I don't have TV episodes hyping me up to get more of the Defiance world. I would get so pumped watching it that I would just have to log in and play. Without the shows "assistance" I've found myself revisiting older games in my collection and sampling new ones. Right now I'm checking out D3 (yeah...I know) on the PS3. Even if/when I do decide to jump back into the Defiance world I have firmly decided that I can no longer in good conscience purchase anything from the store. Too much has changed already and it simply isn't heading in the direction I thought it would. I think this will inevitably be the destiny of Defiance. It will become one of those games that players might want to revisit every now and then, but not one they are willing to spend money on. That's just my opinion.

[MagellanD]

Never going to happen. It's a very light game with a "pick up n' play" mentality. Those of us who came in expecting considerable initial content and a steady flow of additional content beyond that basically jumped before we looked. Everything after this point will be more of the same. They don't have the staff, the resources or the ability to grant our very basic wishes.

I mean, movie games suck. Anyone who's been playing games for a while knows that.

But TV show games... c'mon. We all should have known better.

I agree with you here 100% But the concept looked SO cool! MMO Type shooter, Mad Guns, The promise in video and interviews was borderlands to the infinite power...And I got sucked in.

Breakdown of the history of the game for me.
Wow this show looks awesome. It has Battlestar Galactica staff. Oh wait there's a game?
Watch hour long preview of defiance on IGN. WOW the game looks better than the show.
Pre order ultimate edition.

Beta: Meh it's a beta it's supposed to have problems and they address them at launch.
Launch: It's an MMO they'll get through it, they always do
First cross content. Lanterns and data recorder hunts
Early Patches: It's okay breath, they'll get it sorted out. Twitter says soooooon!
Rynn Cross Over: Look More Data recorder hunts and a forced single player mission.
Mid Patches: Please please trion get this one right....FAIL
Infected Volge: WIN! They're doing something right....oh wait where did they go...WTF...that was fun
Recruit a friend introduced: Uh oh the writings on the wall.
Later Patches:Upon announcement the fear of downtime and more bugs sets in. They haven't gotten one right yet...Why did I spend $150 on this again?
Price Change: WTF! Seriously..man what a waste of money!!!
DLC: What did I pay for? Loves me some new vehic....what is this shtako the quad is better than this...Look more Data recorders...is this what passes off as content?

Contemplate Simo Hayha's in game life and giving away orange shtako to random newbies but will give DLC 2 a chance first.

[MagellanD]

I'm sorry to hear that you allowed Defiance to damage your support for Rift. I think Rift is still a very good game, although the extra value received for being a subscriber (patron) isn't much.

Back on topic... IMO, Trion NEEDS to get an Executive Producer assigned to Defiance who will communicate with the player base. I would expect monthly 'Producer's Letters' which would. among other things talk about the state of the game and plans for player retention.

They haven't posted anything in the community blog since the 26th...:/
So much for his huge intro and further empty promises.

[MacDeath]

They haven't posted anything in the community blog since the 26th...:/
So much for his huge intro and further empty promises.

I don't care if the Producer uses the Blog or some other means but I do think it would be good if he/she communicated with players on a regular basis, such as monthly 'state of the game' letters.

[MagellanD]

I don't care if the Producer uses the Blog or some other means but I do think it would be good if he/she communicated with players on a regular basis, such as monthly 'state of the game' letters.

Yup!
I am basically agreeing with you.
Final Fantasy is a fiasco right now but the Producer is putting blame on himself and they're being very communicative on their actions and next steps.

[Indra Echo]

Good post. I suggested some time back that it was a mistake to merely test all things on the PC and not do live testing on consoles. I play mostly on xbox. The lag can be crippling at times. I've suggested ways to help minimize it that can make it better for some, but Trion seems hell bent on inserting new things without ever really assessing how they will add to already staggering lag.

I've done far too many Sieges and arkfalls where I'm doing really well and then everything turns to slow motion-it can take a full 20 minutes or more for a Siege at the 2 minute mark to finish for me. That's 20 minutes beyond when it actually finished.


This is now reaching critical mass. The introduction of the EGO boosts at DM arkfalls as well as the rest of the effects at them, began a truly downward spiral. There was exactly zero consideration given as to the effect this would have on players.

The reduced loot at Volge emergencies (lowering of loot tables for all Volge so sieges wouldn't have high lag due to drops) indicates they had some awareness. Or that someone did, because some of them think the loot tables weren't lowered and emergencies still get the loot they always did. I can appreciate that it truly was an attempt to mitigate lag, but it was not a fix.

And from all I've seen they aren't really considering it going forward. It will be lag that kills this game because they are not listening to us about it.

I've even asked that they at least consider an easier way for people that have been lagged out to get back to their lost phase or some other way they will get rewards for whatever event they were timed out of--a workaround at best. I doubt they understand not just of rage, but the frustration that exists when someone finishes 3 minor parts of a major arkfall and gets partway through the boss area only to be lagged out and get nothing for it. Or the frustration of getting past stage 10 at a Siege with a good score maybe even leading to first place and then being lagged out.

Games might make you rage-some excel at this, but the rage should not be from frustration over something that is being ignored by the devs.

And things that need to be fixed should be fixed-new things should be added when they are fixed. And console testing under real world conditions should be done before expecting people to pay for content on consoles, or before releasing it to them.

[Zugo]

Anything they tell us would be so wrapped in vague mystery that we would have a Retention-Gate start up.

[MagellanD]

Anything they tell us would be so wrapped in vague mystery that we would have a Retention-Gate start up.

Their Answer....Soon.