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1  HP Info Terminal / News & Updates / Re: Guide update - Revelation Day on: September 01, 2008, 01:24:18 PM
I find it somewhat ironic that unless my old/inactive account gets hacked and everything deleted that my name will probably still make it into the HoF even though I haven't played in weeks. Nuke it all folks... nuke it all - unless of course the buyer actually wants it, but I haven't gotten that impression.
2  Feedback Terminal / Suggestions / Re: Revelation? on: September 01, 2008, 01:22:28 PM
Alright, call me crazy but I am siding with Sir Emi on this. Maybe we need one reset to kill the permanent high players and let everyone start over. I think bought HPD should be kept and gold status. But earned HPD should be reset. Go ahead with the insults but I am taking Sir Emi's side on this.
Do you think the next round would be different? Or the round after that? The fact is that high players are high because they play BETTER than those who aren't. Timing has an effect, as does luck... but it comes down to skill. Reset the game 100x and the same players will ALWAYS be on top. The only way other players would pass them is if they get pissed off enough to leave, like I did.
3  HP Info Terminal / News & Updates / Re: Guide update - Revelation Day on: August 27, 2008, 10:37:06 AM
Sir Emi, as someone who no longer has ANY selfish interest in this game, please listen to me. Since I no longer have an account or any way to profit/benefit from this game, believe me when I say that I'm posting on these forums for the benefit of HP, its players, and you. The only reason I'm still here is because I want this game to succeed!

The issue is here is not that people don't like your updates; it's not even that you're implementing rounds, even though you said you wouldn't - it's that no one here feels that you're actually listening to them. I'm sure you read our posts, but you never really respond to them... You only post more information about the updates you've already decided to do. It happened to me countless times while I was playing and I see it happening again to the people who are playing.

Rounds are a good thing... they're a very, very good thing because, as you said, it allows massive updates and puts everyone on equal footing again. But, have you considered that they players here may not WANT to be on equal footing? Even low players (the thoughtful ones, anyways) don't want rounds or updates that are to the disadvantage of the more powerful players. Why? Because they someday hope to BE those powerful players, and they know that the result of them attaining their goals and becoming more powerful is that someday your updates will hurt them, instead of those who used to be at the top.

Here's my unbiased suggestion, made because I want this game to succeed - take it or leave it: Keep the persistent world we have now. Eventually, it will become so unbalanced that players will either ask for rounds, or the playerbase will be big enough that you'll be able to add another world with rounds. I'm sure that if players FEEL they're being listened to (I emphasize feel because it's more important how people feel about a game than the reality of it. I do think you're listening now, players just don't feel that you are), then donations will increase and the game will grow even faster. I'd like to use myself as an example, if I may... In the first week of playing this game, I looked around the forum and it seemed that you were a developer that listened to the community. In that first week, I bought gold membership and told at least a dozen people about this game, several of them started playing. In the days/weeks that followed, I began to feel that you either didn't hear me, or didn't care about what I was saying. I didn't donate another penny and I haven't told another person about this game since. I'm sure I'm not the only one who is in this boat either.

I graduated with a Business major a few years ago. Please allow me to share one of the (few) things I learned  5 Your job in business is not to make the best or the most balanced game. Your job in business is to please your customers and keep them interested in your product. Most, if not all, of the changes you've made could still have been made if you listened to us... it just would have meant they were made a little later and the people here would have felt valued because they were heard. The AP system needed balancing (and still does, imo) after it was released and caused quite a stir here. Imagine how much better it would have been if we'd all had input... we'd probably still have an AP system, but it would be much more balanced and we'd actually WANT it because we were a part of making it.

I (always) have more I could say, but this post has grown quite long. Please consider my words Sir Emi, because I really do have your best interests in mind. Peace.
4  HP Info Terminal / News & Updates / Re: Guide update - Revelation Day on: August 26, 2008, 03:55:12 PM
Heh... You said bullet.
5  HP Info Terminal / News & Updates / Re: Guide update - Revelation Day on: August 26, 2008, 01:11:31 AM
I'm sorry, but if your solution to the stalemate that is the Hacker Project is a "super bypass" that ignores the actual defense, then you may want to seek professional help. A server is only as valuable as the processes and software running on it and if anyone, regardless of their power, can hack into you and kill your protects, disinfects, and all your research, then nothing in the game has any value at all. Now, back on topic.

Updates against the desire of the general community tend to be bad, but the game has already survived through a few of them. Eventually all us older players will be gone, and no one will know how it was before. Voila, no more whining.
6  Feedback Terminal / Suggestions / Re: Hardware Upgrade Page suggestions on: August 26, 2008, 01:07:43 AM
It works, believe me 1
7  HP Info Terminal / News & Updates / Re: Guide update - Revelation Day on: August 25, 2008, 09:15:02 AM
Nice post Magna Carta.

I just thought of something terribly unbalancing... Players are allowed to have multiple accounts, as long as they don't interact with other. Each new account has 3K AP. Each account can only install one Revelation virus. What's to stop a player who wants this to happen from making 100 accounts and having each one install the virus? Sure, it would be stopped at first, but since it costs AP to disinfect/stop, eventually players would actually be unable to do anything. Even though 99% of the players don't want a reset, in a way it's inevitable.
8  HP Info Terminal / News & Updates / Re: Guide update - Revelation Day on: August 24, 2008, 08:35:01 PM
A reset in player hands means it will inevitably happen... There are over 600 secret servers, and no one as enough AP to crack all of them; it does make it more balanced and give it better story reason though. It'll be fun for you guys to try and stop it though... We'll see what the new owner of my account decides to do - I'm sure they'll want to maintain status quo.
9  General Category / HP History / Re: Do you want the number one account in this game? on: August 24, 2008, 07:02:29 PM
Congrats!

It's a nice price. He can also message me if he wants a username change.

I'm working on the option where Golds can change username every 30 days.
Awesome, thank you siremi. I am no longer in control of the Crlaozwyn account. I've gotta say, it's been a fun ride... I'm also looking forward to seeing who the first Hall of Fame inductees are 1 Be fun to see some of my old running mates' names up there.

Account has been sold, thread locked.
10  General Category / HP History / Re: Do you want the number one account in this game? on: August 24, 2008, 06:43:52 PM
Bummer :p But the account has been sold for $38.00 and paid for. I'm waiting to hear back from the buyer with what they'd like the email/password set to, and then I'll all-but disappear. I may stay active on the forums for a little while to see how everything pans out, but no one likes an old veteran reminiscing about the "old days." I'll make an official "goodbye" post eventually, since it seems to be all the rage these days.
12
11  General Category / HP History / Re: Do you want the number one account in this game? on: August 24, 2008, 11:03:54 AM
Cool - that'll be a good incentive for whoever buys the account. TBH I'm so frustrated right now that I don't think I'd keep playing even if the round ended in 2 weeks. Whoever buys this account WILL be first place, because their score will be over 300.000.000 easily... and that's just with the research already running. If they actually take care of it, they should be above 500.000.000.

I'm not selling the account to make a few bucks... I'm a Realtor, and my next paycheck is going to be over $20,000. I'm selling the account so that whoever gets it WANTS it enough to pay for it. Auctioning it means that whoever wants it most, gets it. The fact that they'll more than make their money back is a nice perk. If they play according to the strategies I'll share, and improve on them, they should win every round after this one too. Thanks for showing enough of an interest to post in my thread though.
12  HP Info Terminal / News & Updates / Re: Guide update - Revelation Day on: August 24, 2008, 10:36:08 AM
Thank you for responding to the general question of this thread.

How about answering some specific questions, like these:
Are donations up or down since you implemented VB/AP?
How will you continue to run a game that produces no income?
How will you continue to run a game that has no player base?
What is the point of creating a message board if we have no actual input? Just make ingame announcements instead.
13  HP Info Terminal / News & Updates / Re: Guide update - Revelation Day on: August 24, 2008, 10:16:28 AM
There is only one product that combines the same combination of a social network, expansive gameplay, continual updates, etc - and that is WoW. There may be only one game CALLED "The Hacker Project," but many other games deliver the same kind of gameplay and competitive nature. I know, because I've played many of them. The mechanics are different, the idea is the same and it plays exactly the same. How do you think I made it to number one, past people who play more than I do and started first? Do you WANT this game to die? Out of all my comments and things I said, you decide to nitpick and bring out one somewhat irrelevant point with a flawed argument? Deal with the meat of the issue before picking at the garnish.
14  HP Info Terminal / News & Updates / Re: Guide update - Revelation Day on: August 24, 2008, 09:55:42 AM
If we are to have a persistent world it would require a larger player base to start off at the same time, or else the first people to play it and get ahead would not have any competition at all. A persistent world requires a high player base starting at the same time to become the elites and train the others that will follow.
Do you think that losing the majority of the current player base will bring the end result of a larger playerbase? The fact that the pbase on this game is smaller doesn't mean you should neglect us, ignore our suggestions, and lie to us. When Blizzard does something like that with WoW, people don't have other options... there's only one WoW. Do you really believe you have the only online PHP game? There are literally thousands of other options, and there are options where people will actually be heard.

The Hacker Project is just starting and you can consider it still under heavy development. I can assure you all updates / changes are for the long term good of the game.
I do/did consider it under development... that was one of the benefits of the game! I was under the  impression that the players would be able to help direct the future of the game through our suggestions and ideas (which you've now made abundantly clear is not the case).

Tell me Sir Emi, how are donations doing since all these changes you've forced on us against our will? Have they skyrocketed and helped the game to grow? Or, have we stopped telling our friends about this game because of the developer who we feel ignores and abuses us? You may think you're doing this for the good of the game, but the game is a commodity; it's a product. Ultimately it doesn't matter how good the manufacturer believes his product to be, or even really how good it is... The only thing that matters is whether people want it. Do people want this game more because of your changes, or less? People will continue to use a product even after it ceases to meet their expectations, but only for a while. I think your time is running out... Even if people do play, 30 seconds in these forums will stop them from becoming a gold member or donating because they can see that this game doesn't have much of a future as things currently are.

I'm not suggesting that you undo every decision you've ever made against our wishes... Leave in virus break, even though it's never used and the most hated application in the game. Leave in the AP system, even though it does little, if anything, to stop the strong players from getting stronger... But have a bit of common sense, LOOK THROUGH THIS THREAD and don't implement something that NO ONE IN THE GAME EXCEPT YOU WANTS. I don't care if you wait until after my auction ends. And yes, your announcement has basically killed it. Even though I won't be playing in a few hours, I'd still like to believe that the people who have played this game haven't wasted their time and money. No one wants to be told "screw off" by the developer of a game they like, and that's effectively what you're telling us. Give us a clear sign, Emi... If you want us to quit, just tell us "I want to make a game that (only) I enjoy, so d**n all the feedback I'm getting, I'm implementing this." If you want to keep your game running and, by extension, not waste the hundreds of hours of coding you've invested, then step up and admit this may be a good thing to implement someday, but that we aren't ready for it. All it takes is saying "Alright, I still want to implement this, but we're going to hold off until we have a playerbase that's actually ready."

/endrant

EDIT:
One more thing to add - don't just ignore this post... it would be smarter of you to delete it if you don't intend to respond. That would prove once and for all that you don't care about any of your players or their opinions. Please, PLEASE respond, even if all you say is "I'll think about it" or "I don't agree with anything you've said." We need feedback, we need to feel like we're being heard.
15  HP Info Terminal / News & Updates / Re: Guide update - Revelation Day on: August 24, 2008, 02:07:58 AM
One thing I like more than incentives are people who do what they say they will, and don't do what they say they won't. Oh well.
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