Something that is an absolute necessity in today's online world is an application that informs players about updates, fixes, issues, events and even things like server downtime. Game developers shouldn't make the assumption that all of the people that play their game have their web app, read message boards or follow them on Twitter. As such, they must make communication with their player base more user-friendly.
We're reminded of the ongoing PS3 issues with voice-chat and input lag on BF3 when we think about the benefits of an Information Portal. Many players have become frustrated by these issues but they're also perplexed by the lack of information regarding a resolution. Here's the thing: DICE has commented several time about the fix being "ongoing" but hasn't accounted for the player who only logs in online to play their game. Again, not everyone is connected through social media or Battlelog--as a matter of fact we'd assume that a large portion of players are NOT. We're suggesting a setup where the portal launches as soon as the player logs in and updates relevant info. We're used to seeing updates regarding server maintenance, patches and even advertisements this way so why not current updates?
We've seen similar portals on touting "recent news" for various games but they were largely ignored and rarely ever updated. Ignoring what could be one of the most user-friendly features in gaming is not a good thing. A true information portal could address player frustration, and provide a platform where developers can communicate updates, fixes and events directly to their player base. We sincerely hope CCP finds the resources to implement an Information Portal or something similar.
some good points, i hope they do one of these.
ReplyDeletegame updates would be a really good idea.
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