Here's a question to discuss. Unless the ONLY goal of you're game is to make money the odds are that you have you're game has a specific concept, feel, mechanism, etc that is the core of you're game. I see the following problem in MMO's mostly, but it can apply to any game you plan on keeping updated. The question is how far do you modify you're game from its core concept to make you're players happy? At what point have you changed you're game to the point that its no longer you're game, and is that a good idea? Players will constantly ask you to change you're game to what they want, but how far do you go?

It doesn't directly address your question, but I like Raph Koster's The Commandments of Online Worlds.

You're really asking "how do you make decisions?" If a group of players has a valid complaint, you probably want to fix it. If their suggestion would take your game in a direction you don't want to go...well, it's up to you. Personally, I'd go for the purist approach: your game, your vision. If you start tacking on ideas that don't fit with your design, and you're only doing it to appease the masses, odds are you're going to end up with an unbalanced, unfun game very quickly. It's all about finding the right audience that shares your idea of a fun game. If you play folk music and a punk crowd turns up at your shows and starts booing, the problem isn't your music. Likewise, there are many different kinds of gamers.

Not all the time drakostar.

I do agree your game your vision but its also the players world (in mmos at least).

I would rather listen to player in adding stuff and then make it into content. You add some polls and etc and you get the community involved and immersed into your game.

If you are into money then having a game where everyone loves to be (even if they arent playing it anymore) is excellent
If you are building the game for fun and your friends then they are being part of it and you lot can enjoy it more.

Of course if you are going to DnD and some guy wants a gumdam wing bot... well then I think docking the guy for some xp just for raw stupidity is fair game!

Yours Truly
K

Quote:

Original post by BloodWarrior I would rather listen to player in adding stuff and then make it into content. You add some polls and etc and you get the community involved and immersed into your game.

I don't think we disagree. Getting the players involved is great, and can be a source of some good ideas amidst the you-nerfed-my-class rubbish. The spirit of my post was "if their suggestion would take your game in a direction you don't want to go"...then don't do it. But certainly be open to the good suggestions.

I guess the better way to describe this is in the matter of nickel and dime changes.

Most of the players aren't going to suggest gundam bots in DnD, but if thier suggestion makes sense, but somehow doesn't reflect you're design, how far do you bend?

Take Dungeons and Dragons online.

Hypothetical
Core concept: Gain XP ONLY from exploring hand made dungeons.
Player suggestion: Outdoors random killing of monsters for XP
Result: Completely kills core concept, discard.

Player suggestion: Add in a highly effective random mission generator to expand limited content.
Result: Improves game, but takes a chink out of you're core concept. Now its Gain XP only from exploring well designed dungeons....do we include?

Player suggestion: Randomize the placement of certain traps and enemies inside dungeons to make them less repetetive.
Result: Slightly modifies (marginally) core concept. Probably include.

Player suggestion: Change the method of designing the dungeon...go from using layout a (tunnel,room,tunnel,room) to layout b (mapped out the dungeon looks like a blueprint for a building)
Result: does not change core concept...include

Of those its the second example, and more like it, that while it does not mesh with YOUR core concept adds great replayability, and might not change the entire feel of the game. However too many of those will slowly change the face of you're game.

Thats the problem...and its not as easily cut and dry.