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Author Topic:   What have you done for SMAC?

osric posted 12-11-98 01:28 AM ET
Based on the BR Speaks... thread, have we as a group helped or hurt Firaxis in their task?
I hope we've been a boon, but with the strain we put on their server we might not have helped our own cause.
Brother Greg posted 12-11-98 01:44 AM ET
Those uf on when Firaxis were involved in the Forums I would like to think helped quite a bit. After that. Hmmm. There have been some good ideas put forward, but we have no idea how much this has or hasn't influenced Firaxis, so it is hard to tell.
If they were paying little attention, we have probably done quite a bit of harm, though nothing drastic.
If they were paying attention to design ideas and the like, I would say a bit of both.
Old_Guy posted 12-11-98 02:20 AM ET
Well this has been the ONLY game I've followed where the fans are, for the most part, constructively self-critical. While I haven't followed this game as long as others have, it's hard for me to believe that we've seriously hindered the development of SMAC.
I think it was in February when Brian Reynolds made a public request for game ideas, etc. Naturally that would spark a ton of responses, on-topic disucssions, etc. Since then, things are more off-topic, and we did crash the forums . But us fans have learned a lot about each other and perhaps Firaxis underestimated the amount of fan support and learned a good lesson. After all, the forums are a kind of community in a way and I can't see why Firaxis would be against fan bonding.
BTW, I should note that I like the "Cool Stuff" section, but it wasn't updated very often. I know it takes time to update stuff like that, but if off-topicness is a concern, then more screenshots, etc. would give us more bones to chew on. I guess most game fans complain that the company doesn't give out enough info before release, but then praise the company as gods when the game comes out and does well. I'm sure this isn't any different.
Ogmios posted 12-11-98 10:57 AM ET
Well, I suppose technically I'm not entitled to speak since, I've been here since October and registered recently,but my thoughts are:
Though I don't believe that after starting designing a game it is extremely difficult for the designers to alter more than say 25%
of it,(because they already have the general aspects of the game "predesigned" in their heads)I believe that potential buyers thoughts are ALWAYS benneficial for a game even when submitted as late as, say now for SMAC. The reason is that even if the game simply is too far in production for designers to make major changes, there is always a possible sequel.
Ogmios posted 12-11-98 11:17 AM ET
Also
Old_Guy:
I think within 10 days there will be much to talk about.
DJ RRebel posted 12-11-98 11:28 AM ET
I personally think that making this forum diverse and friendly has helped SMAC !!!
There's a good mix of on-topic, interesting off-topic and funny off-topic threads to keep virtually any newcommer interested in the game !!!
As it was said by a FIRAXIS employee, they didn't even think of the forum being bad in terms of content in any way !!!
MikeH II posted 12-11-98 11:38 AM ET
We've done a lot.
Ask not what SMAC can do for you but what you can do for SMAC.
Never in the history of Computer Game development have so many done so much for so few.
osric posted 12-11-98 12:02 PM ET
Given the time it takes to turn these ideas into production code, manuals, artwork, advertising, etc., there must have been a time when what we say here was pointless for the current release.
After the release date bug identification, work-arounds, and enhancement requests could come from any source. Nothing special about these forums here. (although I hope that the old timers <not me> would be listened to a little more closely than others>.
CClark posted 12-11-98 12:16 PM ET
If nothing else, I'm sure we've provided the crew at Firaxis with some comic relief. If they ever got stressed out, all they'd have to do is come and lurk here for a while to realize that there are people even more cracked than they are!
Seriously, I would like to think that we helped some. Maybe not in the last month or so, but definitely before then. They asked what we thought of the story, we told them and the story got better. There was some good fiction being written on the pre-crash forums which hopefully showed Firaxis that we were willing to embrace their gameworld. Hopefully that provided them with a little pick-me-up if they needed it.
The only "harm" we may have done is to alienate Friaxis form this forum as a useful tool by being a little too silly sometimes and a little too off-topic. However, the off-topicness is a two-way street, IMHO. If Firaxis had given us a little more info (screenshots, tech descriptions, etc) then we would have had stuff to occupy our time and keep us on topic.
Octopus posted 12-11-98 12:23 PM ET
If it weren't for these forums I never would have even considered multi-player SMAC. As it stands now, I'm very tempted to try it out. If I start playing multi-player, that increases the multi-player user base, which makes it easier for other multi-players to get games together, which increases enjoyment all around.
These forums also got me really psyched up about the game, but I would have bought it anyway, so I guess that doesn't really matter. I think that looking at the forums as solely a way for Firaxis to get ideas is very short-sighted. It is also advertising and community building, both of which are useful to games.
The DirectorGeneral posted 12-11-98 01:05 PM ET
Speaking as one of the old crusty veterans (I started interacting with the old board on firaxis.com about a month and a half before this site went hot) I would have to say that we the forum posters had a fairly profound influence on certain aspects of SMAC in the earlier days. there was lots of interaction and lots of stuff from our fan fiction and such is apparently providing city and place names....
The DG.
Marian posted 12-11-98 05:30 PM ET
I think we gave a pretty good mixture of criticism and ideas ! I think we helped them.
And the nice web site out there also boosted the popularity. ( :
Ciao
Marian
Editor of the Alpha Centauri Zone
http://www.juhu.de/hartel/alppa
Gilgamesch posted 12-11-98 08:41 PM ET
He Marian schreib mal deine URL richtig!
So geht das doch nicht!
Gilgamesch
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Author	Topic: What have you done for SMAC?
osric	posted 12-11-98 01:28 AM ET Based on the BR Speaks... thread, have we as a group helped or hurt Firaxis in their task? I hope we've been a boon, but with the strain we put on their server we might not have helped our own cause.
Brother Greg	posted 12-11-98 01:44 AM ET Those uf on when Firaxis were involved in the Forums I would like to think helped quite a bit. After that. Hmmm. There have been some good ideas put forward, but we have no idea how much this has or hasn't influenced Firaxis, so it is hard to tell. If they were paying little attention, we have probably done quite a bit of harm, though nothing drastic. If they were paying attention to design ideas and the like, I would say a bit of both.
Old_Guy	posted 12-11-98 02:20 AM ET Well this has been the ONLY game I've followed where the fans are, for the most part, constructively self-critical. While I haven't followed this game as long as others have, it's hard for me to believe that we've seriously hindered the development of SMAC. I think it was in February when Brian Reynolds made a public request for game ideas, etc. Naturally that would spark a ton of responses, on-topic disucssions, etc. Since then, things are more off-topic, and we did crash the forums . But us fans have learned a lot about each other and perhaps Firaxis underestimated the amount of fan support and learned a good lesson. After all, the forums are a kind of community in a way and I can't see why Firaxis would be against fan bonding. BTW, I should note that I like the "Cool Stuff" section, but it wasn't updated very often. I know it takes time to update stuff like that, but if off-topicness is a concern, then more screenshots, etc. would give us more bones to chew on. I guess most game fans complain that the company doesn't give out enough info before release, but then praise the company as gods when the game comes out and does well. I'm sure this isn't any different.
Ogmios	posted 12-11-98 10:57 AM ET Well, I suppose technically I'm not entitled to speak since, I've been here since October and registered recently,but my thoughts are: Though I don't believe that after starting designing a game it is extremely difficult for the designers to alter more than say 25% of it,(because they already have the general aspects of the game "predesigned" in their heads)I believe that potential buyers thoughts are ALWAYS benneficial for a game even when submitted as late as, say now for SMAC. The reason is that even if the game simply is too far in production for designers to make major changes, there is always a possible sequel.
Ogmios	posted 12-11-98 11:17 AM ET Also Old_Guy: I think within 10 days there will be much to talk about.
DJ RRebel	posted 12-11-98 11:28 AM ET I personally think that making this forum diverse and friendly has helped SMAC !!! There's a good mix of on-topic, interesting off-topic and funny off-topic threads to keep virtually any newcommer interested in the game !!! As it was said by a FIRAXIS employee, they didn't even think of the forum being bad in terms of content in any way !!!
MikeH II	posted 12-11-98 11:38 AM ET We've done a lot. Ask not what SMAC can do for you but what you can do for SMAC. Never in the history of Computer Game development have so many done so much for so few.
osric	posted 12-11-98 12:02 PM ET Given the time it takes to turn these ideas into production code, manuals, artwork, advertising, etc., there must have been a time when what we say here was pointless for the current release. After the release date bug identification, work-arounds, and enhancement requests could come from any source. Nothing special about these forums here. (although I hope that the old timers <not me> would be listened to a little more closely than others>.
CClark	posted 12-11-98 12:16 PM ET If nothing else, I'm sure we've provided the crew at Firaxis with some comic relief. If they ever got stressed out, all they'd have to do is come and lurk here for a while to realize that there are people even more cracked than they are! Seriously, I would like to think that we helped some. Maybe not in the last month or so, but definitely before then. They asked what we thought of the story, we told them and the story got better. There was some good fiction being written on the pre-crash forums which hopefully showed Firaxis that we were willing to embrace their gameworld. Hopefully that provided them with a little pick-me-up if they needed it. The only "harm" we may have done is to alienate Friaxis form this forum as a useful tool by being a little too silly sometimes and a little too off-topic. However, the off-topicness is a two-way street, IMHO. If Firaxis had given us a little more info (screenshots, tech descriptions, etc) then we would have had stuff to occupy our time and keep us on topic.
Octopus	posted 12-11-98 12:23 PM ET If it weren't for these forums I never would have even considered multi-player SMAC. As it stands now, I'm very tempted to try it out. If I start playing multi-player, that increases the multi-player user base, which makes it easier for other multi-players to get games together, which increases enjoyment all around. These forums also got me really psyched up about the game, but I would have bought it anyway, so I guess that doesn't really matter. I think that looking at the forums as solely a way for Firaxis to get ideas is very short-sighted. It is also advertising and community building, both of which are useful to games.
The DirectorGeneral	posted 12-11-98 01:05 PM ET Speaking as one of the old crusty veterans (I started interacting with the old board on firaxis.com about a month and a half before this site went hot) I would have to say that we the forum posters had a fairly profound influence on certain aspects of SMAC in the earlier days. there was lots of interaction and lots of stuff from our fan fiction and such is apparently providing city and place names.... The DG.
Marian	posted 12-11-98 05:30 PM ET I think we gave a pretty good mixture of criticism and ideas ! I think we helped them. And the nice web site out there also boosted the popularity. ( : Ciao Marian Editor of the Alpha Centauri Zone http://www.juhu.de/hartel/alppa
Gilgamesch	posted 12-11-98 08:41 PM ET He Marian schreib mal deine URL richtig! So geht das doch nicht! Gilgamesch