Ever wonder what GOOD Public Relations for Civ3 SHOULD Look Like? ...

[yin26]

Europa Universalis 2 recently experienced some problems with its 1.02 patch. After a few mix ups, here was the official response. Now all you Firaxis fanboys out there: I dare you to argue even for a second that this response didn't help the company with its core fans. And I dare you to tell me that it took a long time to do or that Firaxis simply has nothing to gain from learning from this example.

That's right fanboys. A New Year's dare for ya.

Now it's important to note that they DID make mistakes. But what's important is how they recognized it, didn't shift blame, and all points apologized and reaffirmed their commitment to the game and the fans. In contrast, what does Firaxis do? I'll let you answer that in your own heads, but it's pretty clear. Even in the recent Christmas Chat, Jeff Morris -- Top QA guy, no less -- admits to the 'joys' of the ignore option and avoiding the 'zoo' of the General forum here. Brilliant.

Oh dear, oh dear...patch 1.02 revisited
Dear Community, Dear Mods, Dear Betazoidz!

Allow me to apologize for the absence of Paradox people on the boards lately and the lack of response to the patch 1.02 problem. It is a series of unfortunate events that caused this silence.

1) The staff of Paradox is quite small. About 4 or 5 people regularly post here and read these boards. Usually, on weekends etc as well as at work. Most developers do not run forums for their games, it is up to the publishers to do so. Everybody at Paradox has other jobs, this service is "on top of everything else", although - very important to us.

2) We submitted patch 1.02 to Strategy First on Friday, Dec 07. Johan ANdersson is the only person who can authorize such a file and he went on a w-e-l-l deserved four week vacation after that. He has worked on Eu1 and Eu2 and two projects in between for four years straight with almost no vacation. It was a company ORDER that he leave. I am not joking. We do not want him to burn out.

3) On Saturday morning Dec 8, the beta team reported a new bug appearing (the colonization bug) with the new patch. Johan broke his vacation for a few hours, and we submitted the new in time for Monday Dec 10 in North America.

4) Despite instructions, SFI released the wrong patch on Dec 20 after having added the copyprotection. We can not see that here since we have not yet received production copies of the US edition. As simple as that. We immediately informed Strategy First of this on Thursday, Dec 20 and were told it would be corrected and the right update would be on their new site. We still have no means to test it until we receive production copies.

5) On Friday, Dec 21, we closed the office for the holidays and everybody traveled far to their relatives and family to celebrate the holidays. Nobody is in the office this week, and the same is also true for Strategy First who is completely shut down.

I am sad to see the reaction on the forums that our players think we have run into hiding. It is only a fact of being away from computers, WANTING to be away from computers and spending a few "free days" after four solid years of EU almost every single day. I am sure I speak for the other Paradox staff usually on the boards as well.

You have my assurance as senior manager at Paradox we will get this whole mess sorted out right after the holidays when we can get hold of all the people needed. This is a result not of bad will but of the fact that we are a very small company with limited resources, and believe it or not but Strategy First is also a small publisher with limited resources. You may not see it from your end, but they are a devoted partner and very dedicated to strategy games, and we chose them over bigger publishers because of this devotion. This is not an excuse for our failure to solve this problem on time and quicker, but maybe it gives you an explanation. Let me repeat; We will fix the problem. Just give us a few more days.

Yours sincerely,

Fredrik Malmberg

[Dis]

I'm guessing that Firaxis doesn't have a PR department.

and we all know computer geeks lack the ability to communicate coherantly.

[notyoueither]

Hey Yin.

I dare you to argue even for a second that you have any good will towards Civ3.

I dare you to argue even for a second that your contributions here on these boards for the last few months have been in the least constructive.

I dare you to argue even for a second that you are anything but a malicious hack.

Naaaah, you couldn't argue any such things.

So, some other company has great excuses for how they f*cked up royally on a patch. So Firaxis follows different procedures as to comments to us great unwashed. So Firaxis didn't give you the job you thought you richly deserved and you're a bitter little man. So what.

Salve

[SixArmedMan]

Chances are, Yin has made more constructive contributions to Civ 3 than you ever will in a lifetime.

The honesty and frankness of Paradox is a trait Firaxis should imitate. Paradox does not treat their fans like idiots who need to be kept in the dark lest their expectations "get too high". They discuss game mechanics with the players, whether they're negative or positive. Maybe if Firaxis stopped avoiding these negative issues with Civ3 and started having meaningful discussions with their customers, they would see much of the goodwill that they used to have once so long ago.

[Libertarian]

It's a fascinating fact of human nature that when a man (or a company) is contrite and humble, there is a general tendency to forgive and edify; whereas when a man (or a company) is evasive and arrogant, there is a general tendency to chastize and put 'em in their place.

[Special_Olympic]

I will probably never buy another firaxis game. They've really been total jerks about this.

Even though they patched it, they ignored the really huge flaws that make the game almost unplayable.

[cavebear]

I've kind of given up playing Civ3, but I do drift in about once a week to see if there have been any improvements.

These are some interesting points about public relations, and I liked the Paradox response.

It seems to me that there should only be a few kinds of responses that a game design company can make in the face of widespread complaints about a game, especially when from a loyal base of fans of the previous version(s).

First, they can say that they intended things to work like that, and they do not intend to change it. Howls all around, but at least you know where they stand.

Second, they can say that they *will* change it, and explain how it will change. Not technically, but in game consequences..

Third, they can explain that they *can't* make the change, and why. Perhaps the change takes up too much game time, or memory, or something. Or. they don't know how (just can't be done with existing programming). Whatever.

Fourth, they can say the complaints aren't valid. Iif a game developer, knowing the intent of the elements of the game, the programming, and the assumptions of what the game was supposed to do, can't convince the players that the complaints are not valid, the the complaints *are* valid.

[Comrade Tribune]

Yin, I actually disagree with you on this.

Why? Because there is a golden rule that good marketing/advertising/PR makes a bad product founder even faster.

Now, with all the large and small things bad about it, CivIII IS a shoddy product, so they are, perhaps, well served with their PR as is.

[kimmygibler]

I've given up on the game at least a month ago. Since then I have started 2 threads wondering about the next patch. I wasn't asking for specifics, just a rough estimate of when I should start looking back on these boards. No response...

I'd like to see a list of games that have been ruined due to lack of support. I'll start the list with civ3. True, Firaxis is not talking, but I am starting to lose confidence that there will ever be a patch that adresses any of the key issues in the game. Many here will remember the disaster that was Ctp2. We can only hope that somehow the fans of the game can save it somewhat like what happened with ctp2. Unfortunately, Ctp2 had way more/better scripting and customization options.

[LoneWolf]

Another comical thread from this joker Yin. Unplayable? Shoddy? Puuulleeese! So Yin, you would be happy if Firaxis just said "Hey, we're on vacation!"

[ruebarb01]

The CEO of Taldren ate dirt after the patch wasn't released on the right date.

http://www.taldren.com/dirt01.html

I think the game is still a little buggy...but he did eat dirt.

[Comrade Tribune]

People, look at his link! The most funny thing I have seen in weeks!

Now, if Firaxians behaved like that , they would probably impress us more.