dat damage

[treintram]

aren't professional paid developers supposed to understand the game engine?

[BananaBandit]

There's lots of different levels of developers - some are coders, some are nothing more than people that configure. 90% of them are nothing more than configuration guys and they are about half the cost to keep on staff than expert coders. New maps, new drops, skill level changes, experience/drop/forge/refine rates are all things that can be done with configuration. You don't need c++ coders to do that - all they have to do is use specialized graphical tools to transcode the necessary numbers into the configuration files or draw up new textures and maps.

Changing game mechanics requires stronk c++ coders to modify the game server engine and those have been gone for a long time now. Don't you wonder why a top end boss like the Ruler looks an awlful lot like Florenze over near Akhma? -- add a little touch up to florenze's texture and *poof! a new boss! That doesn't take a coding master just a mid-level developer.

[OrdinoArcalis]

So basically they all have gone when shield strike and stuff like this got implemented. That's around one year ago rite?

[BananaBandit]

No - they started walking away when Epics were sold in the IM for ridiculous amounts of RPs (IIRC about $225 USD worth) and the didn't leave the sale up for more than a couple hours. The next bunch walked away when the started selling upgrade weapon parts for about $70-90 USD each one per week then stopped. Showed a lot of people exactly where YNK's priorities really were and they wanted nothing to do with it. The failures kept coming and people simply got fed up and left. That's ancient news. The update a year ago is just another nail in iRohan's coffin.

[ShadowAce]

The funny thing is with those epics and upgs pvp was really fun, no DN needed, no obli needed and almost all the classes were viable. You could just get up and go that was probably one of the best times in rohan tbh I was not a fan of the beta days when people hardly knew anything and the post beta where there was not nearly enough serious players/scenarios for people to really show their strategic edge. After the templar nerf when YNK basically said get fds/rulers/bez eyes or quit we saw a LOT of players step up to the plate and play seriously. Was the implementation of epics/upgs bad? yes unless you work in marketing (dat sense of urgency doe) but I think epics and upgs were one of the best things to happen to rohan now if only people could still get them...

[BananaBandit]

Epics and upgrades were only good for the game if you were one of the lucky ones to have had the money and/or time to catch the sales or have one given to you when someone left the game. If you weren't you were humped on a daily basis by those that got them. Do people like playing a game they have no hope of being a factor in? An awful lot of folks didn't think so and let YNK know it by ragequitting. The only people that actually enjoyed these were the ones that had them. If you were not, the game stopped being fun really fast.

I don't call that in any way, shape or form "one of the best things to happen to Rohan". I call that the first salvo in a long string of YNK's failures, each one accompanied by yet another group of long term players heading for the door. By the time YNK turned iRohan over to PWI it was too late and the damage done. I am not sure there is anything PWI can do to win those Rohan-loving players back. Isen is a good step in that direction, but as I have been hearing it is too little - too late.

[Gadwin83]

No - they started walking away when Epics were sold in the IM for ridiculous amounts of RPs (IIRC about $225 USD worth) and the didn't leave the sale up for more than a couple hours. The next bunch walked away when the started selling upgrade weapon parts for about $70-90 USD each one per week then stopped. Showed a lot of people exactly where YNK's priorities really were and they wanted nothing to do with it. The failures kept coming and people simply got fed up and left. That's ancient news. The update a year ago is just another nail in iRohan's coffin.

This is the most ridiculous theory I've ever heard. I really doubt they all walked away from a decent paying job because the hire ups implemented something they didn't personally agree with. And even if some of them did do what you describe...they would have just hired someone else to do the job...because during the era you are talking about the game was actually profitable and had a decent population.

[treintram]

Marketing wise the epics - upgrades was the dumbest move possible at the time.

it was way too soon, and in a strategic point of view a desperate move.

[ShadowAce]

lolno the sense of urgency is one of the best tools in a marketer's arsenal the clock is ticking and this leads to irrational decisions where people spend $230 on virtual items in ONE payment. Cant ask for anything better than that from the marketer's perspective who doesnt play the game or care about players.

[treintram]

lolno the sense of urgency is one of the best tools in a marketer's arsenal the clock is ticking and this leads to irrational decisions where people spend $230 on virtual items in ONE payment. Cant ask for anything better than that from the marketer's perspective who doesnt play the game or care about players.

God help the company that's going to be ran by you in the future.