Game HMD

[highseasmods]

Hey guys! It's time for our summer Game HMD! Now's your chance to tell us how we're doing -- where can we improve? What should there be more or less of? What do you love? Is there anything you hate?

All comments are welcome! It's all about you so don't be afraid to make your voice heard!

We also have the Suggestions page, or you can utilize the Mod Contact page if you'd prefer to leave a private response.

That's all from us! Hope you're having a great time at High Seas~! And here's to many more months to come!

Comments

[mcsock]

While I agree with most of what's been said, there is one thing I can think of that could use some improvement.

It concerns player run plots. It seems like that whenever someone asks the mods whether a plot is doable or asks their opinions on it nothing ever comes of it. The idea is either shut down immediately, or postponed until the mun it originated from gives up on it instead of receiving a straight yes or no. Not only that but rather than offering an opinion on how to improve it or make it work for the setting it's left entirely up to the mun to guess what the mods would prefer. If they don't guess the right combination it's over before it begins.

So I think it would be nice if the mods would be more willing to work with their player base on suggestions like this since we're all just here to have fun and be creative.

[highseasmods]

Considering that we actively encourage the player-base to create their own plots and adventures, we sincerely apologize if anything that you or anyone else has brought to us has been shot down. To be honest, we're a little confused because we can't think of many times this has happened. Perhaps you could clarify?

That being said, we know there have been a couple instances where we've had to put off something that's been suggested because of timing and/or larger in-game plots that were in the works, and it's entirely possible we ended up dropping the ball at some point, for which we're truly sorry. And we know we've had to turn down or find alternative ideas for requests that involve some of our NPCs, but that is almost always because we need them for future things.

If this is regarding anything on the Suggestions post itself, we can assure you that many of those ideas have entered our "mix", so to speak, of various curses and plots, and we do plan to hit them one by one eventually. But we try to spread events out to give the players plenty of time in between, sometimes up to an entire month, specifically for this reason -- to encourage them to be creative and have fun with their own plots.

We do our best to work with players who come to us, so again, we apologize if anything you tried to talk to us about slipped through the cracks. Please always feel free to talk to us and ask us if there's something you want to do! As it says on the How To page, we generally allow almost anything, just when it comes to certain NPCs and sometimes timing, we might have to find a workaround or ask you to delay, and in advance, we are sorry about that!

[mcsock]

I don't really feel like I should go into detail on the examples I've either witnessed or been told in confidence since it could out other people.

While I fully understand that sometimes a delay is necessary, asking people to wait for months is a bit excessive. It's hard to maintain interest in an idea for an extended duration. The excitement tends to fizzle or the circumstances change. Sometimes it only requires minimal involvement by an npc as well, and for other ideas it didn't require mod npc involvement at all. I know it's vague but it's just something I want you all to be aware of. This doesn't really have anything to do with the suggestions page, just questions that have been asked in private.

The only time I can really think of a character run plot that was able to effect the game on a larger scale, it was during the navy ball and the main ship involved had mod characters on it. It seems very difficult to have an impact on a game if you're just a regular player. Ship based plots are not difficult to launch but anything larger than that is and it would be nice to make new cr with other crews through events like this too.

Maybe keeping a list that only the mods can see as a reminder of what's been brought up or discussed in these private conversations might help in getting back to the people who originally suggested them? Some plots do need a little secrecy so they can be built up over time.

[highseasmods]

Alright, well thank you for bringing this to our attention. Unfortunately, it's difficult to address specific issues without knowing what they are. If you can encourage whoever mentioned their concerns to you to share them with us, in an email or a PM, we can sit down with them and address the situation and hopefully find a solution.

We would also like to point out that the player run plot you mentioned had little to do with any named Navy members. If a player wishes to make a plot such as the Navy Ball, fighting NPC pirates, or pretty much anything else, they are welcome to do so. The only line we draw with player plot autonomy is when it involves named NPCs (which must be discussed with a mod) or is a plot that will impact other players directly whether they wish it or not.

The latter plots mentioned are more complicated, especially fitting them into the structure of the overall plot we have for the game. We are not averse to them, but they do take some time to implement and unfortunately sometimes a month may pass before we are able to get started on it. This is largely because we plan out plots and events months in advance so that we always have an idea what's going to happen, and how to set up -- January and July, for example, are reserved for long-term mod run plots and events, and attempts to start a player run plot around those months will probably be delayed. Again, it is not that we are adverse, but given the structure of how the events of the game are set up, we have to ask players who really wish to do intensive plots that utilize the Navy higher-ups or other NPCs to please be patient and keep in contact with the mods.

Thanks again for your comment!