A Sea-change in HBS Customer Interaction...

[Pewpew!]

As much as I don't want to believe it, I think HBS is following the saying if you don't have anything good to say, then don't say anything at all.

 

[2fisted]

Some kind of hint of what lies ahead would be nice. At this time I just pop into the forums to see if there is any update news.

 

[Prussian Havoc]

Some kind of hint of what lies ahead would be nice. At this time I just pop into the forums to see if there is any update news.

Greetings Good Son of the Lyran Commonwealth! :bow:

Whatever the reason that brings you to the fair BATTLETECH forum, it is good to see you these days. :bow:

 

[Freeborn Dragoon]

https://twitter.com/i/web/status/1025098112660979712

they're having too much fun atm.

 

[Prussian Havoc]

https://twitter.com/i/web/status/1025098112660979712

they're having too much fun atm.

Seeing Team HBS shirts at GenCon always makes me happy. Even more so when Teams HBS and Zombie Orpheus are caught in the same photo! : )


(pic courtesy of last year's GenCon)

 

[i64man]

I was not a baker like some of you and I agree that the HBS team is enjoying the time off, recharging and getting ready for what is next ahead, but what does have surprised me is the lack of information, or say news or even online playing by Paradox.... in their other titles even when they are working you see them online and twitch tv or YouTube... for Battletech, nothing.

 

[nainredwood]

I was not a baker like some of you and I agree that the HBS team is enjoying the time off, recharging and getting ready for what is next ahead, but what does have surprised me is the lack of information, or say news or even online playing by Paradox.... in their other titles even when they are working you see them online and twitch tv or YouTube... for Battletech, nothing.

The Paradox guys playing BattleTech on twitch has been on vacation. I'm pretty certain they said they would be back August when I caught the end of their last BattleTech stream. So you can relax on that front.

Edit:
Btw they also teased about "some very cool upcoming BattleTech stuff" but wouldn't be more specific than that. Go check their VOD and watch the last half hour. I'm sure its still available.

 

[Captain Slide]

To Paraphrase (Darth Vader)...

"your lack of communication is disturbing"

 

[nainredwood]

For the lazy ppl, here you go - go to 55min timestamp:

https://www.twitch.tv/videos/277392556

Edit: And just found this from a link in that twitch chat that is a roughly 1 month old Paradox interview with HBS:

Sounds like they only started to relax around the release of 1.1.

Point is that maybe we are over reacting a little bit in our hunger for news?

 

[RyuKazuha]

I wouldn't be to concerned.

After being accquired by Pdx, some things will certainly change, but having been player of Pdx-Games for a long time, I feel confident in saying they know what they are doing when it comes to communication. At least biweekly DevDiaries and weekly streams are the norm for most Pdx-Titles.

However, a quite July is also quite normal for Pdx in general, being the month of their corporate holidays. We've seen the DDs come back this week as the teams return to the office and I guess (and hope) we'll be seeing something similar for BATTLETECH within the next few days.

In between post launch fatigue, the merger and Pdx corporate holidays, a few weeks of silence aren't ideal, but understandable.

 

[Phaelon]

A LOT of us are still here from the Kickstarter days, where communication was rampant.

Then we spent 2+ years on our own dedicated forum where we interacted on an hourly basis with HBS staff and managed not to kill or poison each other while we waited patiently for release.

Since that time, the following has transpired:

• HBS "partners" with Paradox and we are all moved over to a forum where our community is drowned in a sea of other games
• Kickstarter GOALS that were backed and paid for were removed or delayed for release
  
• Unseen lawsuits are settled, with HBS being allowed to release this game without the unseen, and PGI being allowed to release games with unseen
• Paradox buys HBS
  
• Over the next 3 months after release, all comms from HBS go dead

Essentially, this is what we're lamenting.

This was funded as an indie game, and many of us were looking forward to seeing a continued push of gaming development with the passion that drives small developers. Instead, we're feeling a bit disenfranchised by all this "success".

 

[pmaura]

A LOT of us are still here from the Kickstarter days, where communication was rampant.

Then we spent 2+ years on our own dedicated forum where we interacted on an hourly basis with HBS staff and managed not to kill or poison each other while we waited patiently for release.

Since that time, the following has transpired:

• HBS "partners" with Paradox and we are all moved over to a forum where our community is drowned in a sea of other games
• Kickstarter GOALS that were backed and paid for were removed or delayed for release
  
• Unseen lawsuits are settled, with HBS being allowed to release this game without the unseen, and PGI being allowed to release games with unseen
• Paradox buys HBS
  
• Over the next 3 months after release, all comms from HBS go dead

Essentially, this is what we're lamenting.

This was funded as an indie game, and many of us were looking forward to seeing a continued push of gaming development with the passion that drives small developers. Instead, we're feeling a bit disenfranchised by all this "success".

What is strange is that paradox and there other games are not dead from thendevlopers. Theres all types of info. Battletrch screams dlc which paradox loves. Its like the hg lawsuit had the provision never speak again. The one developer kiva who you could get info from has even shut down her twitter account. [Mod edit: Spaming demands for info]

 

[Leon12]

I find it particularly strange because the PDX in-house devs and other studios who publish through PDX (like the Cities: Skylines people) are all very, very chatty and community-active. The Stellaris Game Director is constantly posting on the forums, clarifying things, posting little updates and snippets and putting up teasers on twitter. All the PDX in-house games (CK2, EU4, HoI4, Stellaris) do weekly dev diaries and regular dev clashes with current in-development builds of their games on Twitter and YouTube. Many of their developers, programmers, and QA staff tweet quite freely about cool things that are in the dev builds or that they want to implement in the future.

So it strikes me as a little strange that HBS have been fairly quiet since release. Personally I think the most likely reason is a combination of acquisition-related restructuring and burnout from the final sprint to release. Still a bit weird though.

 

[Havamal]

Greetings Mechwarriors,

Please as always avoid demands at the Devs for unplanned information, and avoid spamming multiple posts of the same content or opinions whether in one thread or across several.
Such has always been inappropriate.

Thank you

 

[i64man]

@ UncleGamer, the concept of a company going on vacations at the same time is more common in Europe... I was station in Italy and during the month of August, you just didn't want to drive anywhere in the highway, the traffic jams were and still are epic... in Germany were I live, depending on the sector, some companies close for 2 weeks vacations... so it happens

 

[Havamal]

https://forum.paradoxplaza.com/foru...ech-update-1-1-release-notes-updated.1106661/

"The next items on our roadmap are Linux and localized versions of the game. We’re making good progress on Linux and hope to have more specifics to share soon. Unfortunately, we hit some unexpected setbacks on localization, and localized versions of the game (German, French, and Russian) will take longer than we previously thought. We're actively working through it and bringing more people onto the effort, as it’s a top priority for the studio. We’ll update you on Linux and localized version release dates as soon as we have them.

Thank you for your support and please enjoyBATTLETECH 1.1!

-- HBS"

That's where they are.

Thanks.

Edit: Screenshot

 

[Prussian Havoc]

...In between post launch fatigue, the merger and Pdx corporate holidays, a few weeks of silence aren't ideal, but understandable.

Yours is an excellent point, Good Sir. :bow:

But my Original Post above is not about HBS silence / post count on the forum.

I specifically do not list forum silence / post count among the past HBS Customer Interaction measures. I know HBS can and in due course will surge posts as one Paradox/HBS announcement or another comes to pass. But HBS has long, long been about more than the post count of its Devs. That is kind of the heart of my thread.

If there had been an ETA for a resumption of the HBS-run "Ask the Devs" forum, I would be fine.

If there had been an ETA for a resumption of the HBS-run "Monthly Dev Q&A," I would be fine.

If there had been an ETA for a resumption of HBS Dev BATTLETECH-related Twitter Accounts, I would be fine.

But that does not appear to be the path we are on.

And HBS post count / breaking-the-Silence alone will not resolve my concerns or my perception that a Sea-change in HBS Customer Interaction has indeed occured.

 

[gruese]

I'll say it: Honestly, I'm frustrated with what has transpired since the game's launch.

Others have talked about the lack of information as to what lies ahead. (I couldn't care less about language options, let's talk about actually expanding the gameplay.)

In addition to that, it turns out that Tyler Carpenter is accused of, and admits to, harassing multiple women at HBS and elsewhere, and is consequently let go / quits (see this Article on PCGamer and this Twitter conversation, among others). Pretty much everyone else goes incommunicado.

While I'd say that HBS as a whole is not to blame for the Tyler situation, I do wonder how something like this can happen, apparently pretty much in plain view, with everyone else remaining completely oblivious to it. This is especially puzzling since HBS seems to be a pretty tight knit group, and one that is particularly sensitive to topics like gender relations and harassment.

And whatever else Tyler may be, he was one of the important cogs in HBS's machine from a purely professional point of view. Someone who was very enthusiastic about the game and what it could become in the future. His departing might mean that some parts of the BT vision might never see the light of day, and that's just how it is.

It's probably unfair to a lot of good people, but the past few months have really bummed me out regarding HBS and BT.

Had to get that off my chest.

 

[Hellbishop]

Gone is the HBS “Ask the Devs” forum section.

Gone are the monthly HBS Dev Q&A’s.

Gone are the HBS Dev-Twitter-Accounts (Kiva’s as an example, though she still maintains her personal Twitter Account.)

Gone is the twice-a-week or weekly HBS-run Death-From-Above Twitch Program.

Gone is the HBS Forum.

Gone is HBS from this year’s GENCON.

I have come to VALUE HBS Customer Interaction. In support and with a like-intention I have joined with HBS and my fellow HBS Customers and contributed directly toward building an even healthier BATTLETECH game community. My posts in general, my forum efforts to greet & orient forum members new to our BATTLETECH community (currently reflected in the composition of my signature block) as well as my having run a couple GENCON 50 BATTLETECH Meet and Greets ~ were all sparked by HBS’s original policy and practice of investment in its Customer Interaction.


But now HBS appears to be on a different track. And to me, something that set HBS above its competition is in the process of fading away.


Do you agree?

Are there extenuating circumstances, beyond the acqusition by Paradox that should be considered?


If you have any comments, questions or critisms, please let me know. :bow:

As ever good luck and good BATTLETECH gaming! : )

NOOOO! This is MIND WRECKING! SANITY SHATTERING HORROR! Now all we have is their fabulous gaming work of excellence to enjoy that we all love called BATTLETECH!

Seriously though creating something as detailed and extensively creative as BATTLETECH takes a incredible amount of time and energy. It's amazing and nice that they have interacted so much with their community for so long which shows what a great company they are. Am pretty sure HBS is not disconnecting. They are just extremely busy and need that magic recharge period known as personal time.

I've hung out for years at another game forum where the Devs were just as great and got so involved with the community that they actually had to be told to stay away from the forums or cut their interactions down quite a bit because it was being a major distraction

 

[Havamal]

I'll say it: Honestly, I'm frustrated with what has transpired since the game's launch.

Others have talked about the lack of information as to what lies ahead. (I couldn't care less about language options, let's talk about actually expanding the gameplay.)

Interested or not, Linux and localisations are the current step of the roadmap and many others are interested in them. Some can't play the game without them.