Ideas For Improving MMOBugs - Customer Feedback

[Kodilynn]

No one said your opinion means nothing. Everyone's opinion means something, that's why Fry made this post.

Do not turn this into an argument or worse, we're just trying to improve things and the ears are wide open to all opinions and ideas.

 

[StaticX27]

No one said your opinion means nothing. Everyone's opinion means something, that's why Fry made this post.

Do not turn this into an argument or worse, we're just trying to improve things and the ears are wide open to all opinions and ideas.

Thus why I posted my opinion. I'm not trying to turn it into an argument, I just find it insulting to have my opinion invalidated because I've been a member for under a year. What's the point of giving my opinion at that point? I assumed you guys wanted honesty, since your bottom line depends on it, and I gave you just that.

I'm going to go out on a proverbial limb here and say that a large portion of your customer base does not actively post on the forums. They are people like me who simply find macs we want, and maybe post if they have a problem. I know the majority of my friends are that same way. Yes, I use MQ2 for active cheats, something to make the game that much more enjoyable for me. However, if all I'm doing is using macs that I have to modify, then what am I getting over just compiling my own MQ2?

I'm not a programmer, but your average user on the net is smart enough to go pirate a copy of visual studio and compile their own MQ2 version. Lets face it, if a person is smart enough to be able to modify their own code, they can probably manage to type in "visual studio 6.0 torrent" into google and clicking a few links til they find one.

My point is this. What is MMO offering that is worth $15 a month over me hassling myself for a day of figuring out how to compile MQ2 from the base website? Go even worse. What's to stop me from subbing for a 1 day or 1 week subscription, chain searching and downloading all the macs and such I wanted, then going to a free MQ2 compile?

Answer that question and you may find another way to attract or keep customers.

 

[StaticX27]

As another suggestion, maybe getting an add-on that helps the mac writing process? A fairly basic thing would be on par with magelo's software that copied your character's data and gave a basic GUI interface for managing holyshits, downshits and automatically wrote the ini file for each character.

Or as someone mentioned, a basic test server where you could record functions for macs and automatically spit out the mac code for you. I suspect that's one of the biggest pains in the neck for new users. I assume that the majority of your client base is from America, and by nature most Americans are lazy; too lazy to want to figure out how to tweak macros. That would be something worth $15 a month to me.

 

[Kodilynn]

I'll do the best I can to tackle this...

Thus why I posted my opinion. I'm not trying to turn it into an argument, I just find it insulting to have my opinion invalidated because I've been a member for under a year. What's the point of giving my opinion at that point? I assumed you guys wanted honesty, since your bottom line depends on it, and I gave you just that.

Good! The honest truth from people helps shape how businesses run.

I'm going to go out on a proverbial limb here and say that a large portion of your customer base does not actively post on the forums. They are people like me who simply find macs we want, and maybe post if they have a problem. I know the majority of my friends are that same way. Yes, I use MQ2 for active cheats, something to make the game that much more enjoyable for me. However, if all I'm doing is using macs that I have to modify, then what am I getting over just compiling my own MQ2?

You'd be correct, a large majority of users don't use the forums other than to update the compile or check on the status when it's down. Rarely do they post and that's perfectly okay. It doesn't make their voice any more or less valid than anyone else.

The second part of this is that the compile itself that we provide has custom codes in both the core of mq2 and the plugins themselves that the source isn't available on. If you were to compile your own MQ2, there's a large probability that none of your macs would work (unless they're incredibly basic).

I'm not a programmer, but your average user on the net is smart enough to go pirate a copy of visual studio and compile their own MQ2 version. Lets face it, if a person is smart enough to be able to modify their own code, they can probably manage to type in "visual studio 6.0 torrent" into google and clicking a few links til they find one.

That's just it, it's not that simple to modify the code, update the structs, opcodes, or anything else when it fails. This is not a point and click adventure with a straight line. A lot of hard work and time goes into making sure things work smoothly. 99% of people can't or don't want to take that route.

My point is this. What is MMO offering that is worth $15 a month over me hassling myself for a day of figuring out how to compile MQ2 from the base website? Go even worse. What's to stop me from subbing for a 1 day or 1 week subscription, chain searching and downloading all the macs and such I wanted, then going to a free MQ2 compile?

Access to the forums, a (safer) marketplace, a pre-compiled version of MQ2 with the largest library of plugins that are regularly updated and maintained, ease-of-use installation and execution, guides, help, you name it. While it may be hit or miss on the boards sometimes, the rest of that is a service and a good that we provide for a set fee. Nothing would stop you from getting the macs, but a free compile won't make them work.

Answer that question and you may find another way to attract or keep customers.

I'd like to build a stronger working relationship with the member base that we have while adding onto our existing ones, but our current members are whats important and that was the aim of this post. We're in hard times, the work is far from easy when it consumes a lot of htw's personal time away from his family not to mention the work he does at work to make sure everything is running smoothly. The rest of us just try to address anything else that may occur.

Bear in mind that we're volunteers and we're human. We're here to do what we can but we make mistakes as well. If an issue arises, we're more than willing to deal with it if need be.

Hope those answers help somewhat.

 

[Kodilynn]

As another suggestion, maybe getting an add-on that helps the mac writing process? A fairly basic thing would be on par with magelo's software that copied your character's data and gave a basic GUI interface for managing holyshits, downshits and automatically wrote the ini file for each character.

Or as someone mentioned, a basic test server where you could record functions for macs and automatically spit out the mac code for you. I suspect that's one of the biggest pains in the neck for new users. I assume that the majority of your client base is from America, and by nature most Americans are lazy; too lazy to want to figure out how to tweak macros. That would be something worth $15 a month to me.

Pete's bot macro does exactly this, I highly recommend it!

Pete's Bot Macro

As for the managing holyshits/downshits that'd be a neat idea. We tackled the idea of a class-based spreadsheet at one point. I might revisit this idea.

 

[jamie75]

just HTW's hard work keeping Melee and various other plugins updated is a HUGE value.....

 

[dewey2461]

I am a programmer for a living. I've written macros and plugins. I run MQ2's compile because I like having the source and when things don't work I like to be able to go in and see whats under the hood. I'm actually kind of afraid their version will disappear completely give the amount of traffic on their boards.

So don't over look the value of getting a precompiled and up to date 'tricked out' versions of the plugins. Most of the plugins here not available or are significantly different from those at MQ2 site.



As far as how to add to the Mmobugs I like the recruit a friend idea. Get a buddy to sign up via word of mouth and get a month or two free is not a bad way to go.


As far as plugins / macros I would suggest finding a safe replacement for /warp and /piggy. Nav is good but crashes so I don't use it. AdvPath is good but doesn't do zone to zone consistently.

 

[jamie75]

Assuming this sampling of opinions is overall accurate, all I can take away from it, is I would be better served investing my time elsewhere.

htw

no way this is a vaild sample HTW ! the fact that most people paying won't read this thread is a testiment to your hard work

 

[Kodilynn]

I'm going to reiterate this point for the purpose of this thread.

Don't get into harsh language or degradation of other members or their opinions. That is not what this thread is for and I won't allow it. If you have suggestions on how to improve things then fantastic. This isn't for what you don't want to see/hear, it's for what would make things better overall. There have been some very good suggestions out of this thread and I'd prefer to see that trend continue. We've been tossing around ideas already with information out of this thread to see what we can feasibly tackle to make it a better stronger community while keeping our current members and at the same time expanding our userbase.

I know we're rather liberal with language, but using verbiage or words that incite anger or hate (which they do, and it's what I won't tolerate in this set of posts only) isn't what we're after here. Making your requests or examples specific as possible and leave it at that.

 

[StaticX27]

I like pie!

 

[Kodilynn]

I like pie!

Cake is superior only due to frosting. When they figure out how to frost a pie, a hole will open in the universe and kill us all.

 

[Rasmussenn]

Assuming this sampling of opinions is overall accurate, all I can take away from it, is I would be better served investing my time elsewhere.

htw

Denied. Sorry, spending time elsewhere is NOT authorized.

 

[nookiecookie]

Not sure how many active Developers you have, but if you have enough, maybe set-up a formal pl service and guild where people pay to join and partake in raids.

 

[Copperhead]

To be honest, im holding out hope that warps and zones will one day be safe again due to SOE not tracking them or caring.

I guess we'll see how long this lull lasts.

 

[Dogstar]

I haven't been actively playing since December but I check in here everyday. The chance that I'll come back to active EQ play rests almost exclusively on the continued existence of this site. Either way, thank you devs for what you've done to date.

 

[Copperhead]

I haven't been actively playing since December but I check in here everyday. The chance that I'll come back to active EQ play rests almost exclusively on the continued existence of this site. Either way, thank you devs for what you've done to date.

Agreed. This website is why I still play EQ.

 

[Nightmare327]

You sort of lost me on the 'do it in house vs the public hosting' maybe it's cause I smoked alittle too much heh.. but if you could explain, pretty please, that'd be greatly appreciated. Thanks in advance

If we had a good way to keep the videos where it required an MMOBugs login to view them, it'd certainly be a neat option for members. Since it's public hosting, blip in this case, I don't have any control on who views it.

What about using Youtube, and flagging them as private, and only able to be viewed if you have a link? I am not sure of the exact setting, but there is a link-only way to share them, so they are not part of the searches.

 

[Scorn]

Don't post often, been here 2.5 years now, will be here until EQ servers are shut down. Loved the active hacks, but can live without them. What keeps me here is the fact that I don't have to compile a damn thing and have a wide variety of plugins available to me (including what I think is a much more robust version of MQ2Melee).

I voted no, but in hindsight, forums for individual classes could be a good thing to help segregate information into a more manageable form. I suck at writing my own holyshits/downshits but looking through pages and pages of posts on the holyshit/downshit thread is mindnumbing.

There has to be a huge knowledge base among the various members of MMOBugs, some that probably have never made a post. I'm a very basic user of MQ2. I use macs to run by toons and thats about it. I don't use things like HUDs because, frankly, I don't understand them. Maybe a contest for the best Idiots Guide to X.

When I joined, I used the raid discussion forum often to get information about events that my guild hadn't gotten to yet. Was some good information out there for the most part, including the odd snipit here and there of code people used for events. Lately, seems that not many want to discuss raid events. Perhaps create PHer posts for all of the VoA raid events to help get the discussion rollling. I know we have several active raiders here but very few are forthcoming with information. Yes, the info for events is available on eqraidwiki, but I like to hear from real people about their experiences with events that my guild hasn't gotten to yet.

My 2 cents.

 

[eqitchy]

Fry,
I think one thing was left out as a potential cause of sub loss - the economy. When I played live I boxed, to make boxing easier I found mq2 but did not want to compile so I ended up here. I have never used active hacks just passive and bot programs. I quit live because i wanted to solo box content which required 6 toons minimum, ended up being too expensive and time consuming. I think the year sub price of $60 is fair for what you offer and the level of service we get. Htw had always been very responsive.

One way to maybe increase subs is focus on the emu community. I play there and have been for over a year. Many servers allow limited mq2 so openly talking about mq2 is not taboo and getting people on board may be easier.

I think a reduced price for emu would potentially get more emu customers. Tier it to where they get limited plugins like map and moveutils (stick) then if they want more the can upgrade to the current structure. I suggest this because I think you can get mq2 basic for emu free from one of the sites anyways. Promote the great price, great service and support and they may come.

I also agree with the fact that we may have to adapt and support other games although I don't play any

In closing I think the people who are very vocal about a cost down option because of no safe active hacks are just upset in general and may not be pleased even if you served eq back up on a silver platter with fully leveled, aa'd and geared toons. This site offers great support, excellent community and a good product. Don't sell yourselves short.

 

[JimJohnson]

Fry,
I think one thing was left out as a potential cause of sub loss - the economy. When I played live I boxed, to make boxing easier I found mq2 but did not want to compile so I ended up here. I have never used active hacks just passive and bot programs. I quit live because i wanted to solo box content which required 6 toons minimum, ended up being too expensive and time consuming. I think the year sub price of $60 is fair for what you offer and the level of service we get. Htw had always been very responsive.

One way to maybe increase subs is focus on the emu community. I play there and have been for over a year. Many servers allow limited mq2 so openly talking about mq2 is not taboo and getting people on board may be easier.

I think a reduced price for emu would potentially get more emu customers. Tier it to where they get limited plugins like map and moveutils (stick) then if they want more the can upgrade to the current structure. I suggest this because I think you can get mq2 basic for emu free from one of the sites anyways. Promote the great price, great service and support and they may come.

I also agree with the fact that we may have to adapt and support other games although I don't play any

In closing I think the people who are very vocal about a cost down option because of no safe active hacks are just upset in general and may not be pleased even if you served eq back up on a silver platter with fully leveled, aa'd and geared toons. This site offers great support, excellent community and a good product. Don't sell yourselves short.

A step up from that you might go with a limited EMU compile for free. With just MQ2 STOCK plugins. Then if upgraded to a Member they would be upgraded sorta like member->Subscribed->lifetime.

Member get Emu compile free with like 10 plugins
Subscribers get Life compile + most everything
Lifetime gets everything