A Sea-change in HBS Customer Interaction...

[UncleGamer]

I would like to see a more public presence. Even a once every two weeks quick update would be a massive change from what most devs do and give us a lot more excitment about the product. For that matter I would like to see all Paradox games do this. Every two weeks put out a dev update on some of the stuff being worked on or even considered.

 

[Mechabattler]

They were doing that to hype their game. The game's been released and it sold well. Well enough that Paradox saw the value in acquiring a company able to turn out games like the Shadowrun series and Battletech on their own budget with Kickstarter funds. Now HBS doesn't have to worry about hype. Paradox will handle marketing and reach a much broader audience. HBS can focus on development. At best you'll see Paradox handling some of those things mentioned. But you won't get that personal feel that you did with Battletech. HBS is now subject to the way Paradox handles things like that now.

Honestly isn't this the way it usually is with most games? Fraid it's just a standard of the industry now.

 

[Jack Ryan]

They were doing that to hype their game. The game's been released and it sold well. Well enough that Paradox saw the value in acquiring a company able to turn out games like the Shadowrun series and Battletech on their own budget with Kickstarter funds. Now HBS doesn't have to worry about hype. Paradox will handle marketing and reach a much broader audience. HBS can focus on development. At best you'll see Paradox handling some of those things mentioned. But you won't get that personal feel that you did with Battletech. HBS is now subject to the way Paradox handles things like that now.

Honestly isn't this the way it usually is with most games? Fraid it's just a standard of the industry now.

Don't kid yourself, Paradox was in talks to buy HBS the moment they partnered with them. This was always going to be the outcome. It was pretty obvious from the get go.

 

[Pewpew!]

You know things are getting bad when Prussian starts looking for answers. And he does it WAY better than alot of us, me included.

 

[Mechabattler]

Don't kid yourself, Paradox was in talks to buy HBS the moment they partnered with them. This was always going to be the outcome. It was pretty obvious from the get go.

Either way you get my point.

 

[Rifter]

You know things are getting bad when Prussian starts looking for answers. And he does it WAY better than alot of us, me included.

I dont think its just him, like jack said above, where is the rest of game they promised us? its been three months and we dont even have promised content from kickstarter in the game yet that pre radio silence was said to be in 1-2 months post launch. There are lots of people looking for answers which is why the total radio silence is so concerning to me because i went though this already with MWO and community warefare......

 

[nainredwood]

You know things are getting bad when Prussian starts looking for answers. And he does it WAY better than alot of us, me included.

I agree with that. The aggressive and entitled attitude some posters have here is just plain silly not to mention unproductive. Prussian's style has a lot more impact.

 

[Jack Ryan]

Either way you get my point.

I understood what you were saying. Honestly, I eagerly await what Paradox will do with the game once they fully embrace it. At least they're active on their own games...

 

[Jack Ryan]

I dont think its just him, like jack said above, where is the rest of game they promised us? its been three months and we dont even have promised content from kickstarter in the game yet that pre radio silence was said to be in 1-2 months post launch. There are lots of people looking for answers which is why the total radio silence is so concerning to me because i went though this already with MWO and community warefare......

I bailed out of MWO because of how they handled community warfare...

 

[Rifter]

I bailed out of MWO because of how they handled community warfare...

Me too, i gave them till the 6 months after launch it will be in game [Mod edit: language] then dropped it like a hot potato. Team Deathmatch as only game mode gets old real fast.

 

[Jack Ryan]

Me too, i gave them till the 6 months after launch it will be in game BS then dropped it like a hot potato. Team Deathmatch as only game mode gets old real fast.

So too does the current skeletal remains of what MP should have been in this game...

 

[NickAragua]

Agreed with the OP for the most part.

One caveat: from what I understand, when a company gets acquired by another company, that results in a "regulatory review" period during which it is highly discouraged for either party to comment on the matter publicly. So, I wouldn't expect much commentary on this thread, or on any other issue, until that review period is over. And even then, I suspect there's going to be a social media commissar going through twitter posts and such.

Either that or the endless complaining finally got to the HBS folks.

It's a shame, though. I miss those regular status updates and Q&A sessions.

 

[scJazz]

At the risk of repeating myself...

Kickstarter Goals are not Promises. They are not even "sweet whispers in the night".

They are Goals and the Goal Posts will move.

Any whining or gripes or demands should refer to the above.

 

[Prussian Havoc]

Just my 2c (and it really is just 2c since I came to the party post launch):

The communication you guys have grown accustomed to was a requirement and necessity of running a successful kickstarter development campaign...

I disagree. HBS through its history and especially with Shadowrun and BATTLETECH has embraced its fans and invested heavily in customer interaction. While Kickstarter was a central reason, it was not the sole reason. HBS set itself beyond the pack with its heavy investment in customer interaction. If that were to go away, it would be a significant loss to me.

 

[Pewpew!]

At the risk of repeating myself...

Kickstarter Goals are not Promises. They are not even "sweet whispers in the night".

They are Goals and the Goal Posts will move.

Any whining or gripes or demands should refer to the above.

Even if they werent promises wouldnt you be [Mod edit: Language] if they keep moving the goal posts? You have to realize that these goals were put forward to get money from people. Removing said goals will and are pissing people off. The silence just makes it even worse.

 

[nainredwood]

I disagree. HBS through its history and especially with Shadowrun and BATTLETECH has embraced its fans and invested heavily in customer interaction. While Kickstarter was a central reason, it was not the sole reason. HBS set itself beyond the pack with its heavy investment in customer interaction. If that were to go away, it would be a significant loss to me.

I hope you are right.

 

[Prussian Havoc]

Even if they werent promises wouldnt you be pissed if they keep moving the goal posts? You have to realize that these goals were put forward to get money from people. Removing said goals will and are pissing people off. The silence just makes it even worse.

I agree with you Good Sir. :bow:

HBS has OFTEN held itself to a higher standard. Just look at its development of Shadowrun. : )

And HBS has reaped the benefits of its originally great reputation with its customers... it was this reputation and HBS's continuously demonstrated dedication to interactions with its customers that motivated me to not only go back and buy the remaining two Shadowrun games, but Necropolis too!

I don't see HBS removing any further BATTLETECH Kickstarter goalposts. I believe we'll soon (in the Mitchonian sense of "soon") see Language Localizations and LINEX. To me it is just a matter of time.

But one item I am becoming increasingly interested in is whether or not we will see BATTLETECH Microtransactions. Looking through the Paradox Portfolio of games, microtransactions are not something Paradox has shied away from.

To be clear, HBS is definitively on record as saying there would be NO MICROTRANSACTIONS in BATTLETECH.

Now that Paradox has purchased HBS, will this remain true? I am curious.



So much of this will be set straight by Paradox/HBS in due time...

...but it is good, right and proper that Paradox and our own @emmasterakia know that there is an interest in such topics. Not that it will bring answers any sooner, but as a means for Paradox to guage interests and feelings among its BATTLETECH customers and our BATTLETECH Commuity. :bow:

 

[Prussian Havoc]

...Honestly isn't this the way it usually is with most games? Fraid it's just a standard of the industry now.

It is this way with most games.

It is a standard of the industry.

But HBS defined itself differently. Jordan, Mitch and all of Team HBS took pride in defining themselves differently. BATTLETECH was not to be "most games" and HBS was not to be an Industry Standard Studio.

But if that is indeed the customer interaction path we are now on...

 

[Prussian Havoc]

Sea-changes happen.

It's life.

It's also business.



If HBS has "taken a knee," but will soon resume old patterns of interaction... GREAT!

If HBS has turned a corner and will soon assume a customer interaction model more akin to other Paradox Development Teams... GREAT!


At some point the situation and related questions will be resolved for us.

And then I will either continue to embrace HBS for its distinctively unique model of Customer Interaction...

...or I will fondly remember a time that was, but is no more.


Paradox is a solid company that has a lot going for it. But if it wasn't for HBS, I'd not be active in Paradox' forum, nor would I own a Paradox game. So far, Paradox has gotten low marks from me in how it has managed the integration of HBS into its stable of game developers. Because as some have noted quite right and properly above, HBS is no longer the master of its own destiny. In many respects and as I see it, Paradox is responsible for the Sea-change in HBS' Customer Interaction of late. Or @emmasterakia, our BATTLETECH Community Manager, do I have this wrong?


Can Paradox turn this around?

Sure Paradox can.

I eagerly await to see what Paradox has planned next for HBS. And moving forward, to see how HBS will now be interacting with its customer base.

 

[Jack Ryan]

At the risk of repeating myself...

Kickstarter Goals are not Promises. They are not even "sweet whispers in the night".

They are Goals and the Goal Posts will move.

Any whining or gripes or demands should refer to the above.

For the record, I never said that the KS goals were promised. However, my original commentary on the subject is due to having seen many pivitol features a lot of us backed the game for initially, cut. Not delayed, totally removed from the game.

The launch features missing from the game are promised features that are currently missing. Those features were promised to be delivered in 1-2 months time. Then some other features later. The later features being the Raven mech and Electronic Warfare. The stuff that's supposed to be in the game now is a rather extensive list. Everything from huge character cameos, custom hero mechs, additional customization, localizations, etc.

Stuff not promised yet discussed were things like co-op.