Do you think the change made to Polywater Yar was in response to comments posted in these forums?

Irial

Let me begin by asking players to please refrain from expressing in this thread their criticism/frustration/disappointment/annoyance/anger/etc. with the Ship Bonus Ability Changes that were made to Polywater Yar – if you wish to (further) express those type of sentiments in a written comment, then I respectfully ask you to please do so in one of the other threads that already exist centered around that theme. Thank you for your cooperation!

What I would like to ask players to please share their thoughts about here are their responses to 2 specific questions. The first question is the one contained in the Poll for this thread, and for the second question you are asked to please share your response in a comment.


Question # 1: Do you think the change made to Polywater Yar was in response to comments posted in these forums?

Prior to the Polywater Yar’s ship ability being changed, there had been comments made in the forums regarding her use in ship battles, and the influence this was having in the Arena. My perception is that DB read these comments and interpreted them as saying Polywater Yar was too strong/dominant and needed to be adjusted. I respect that others may disagree, and think that DB did not take what the community had written into any consideration whatsoever. Putting aside what you think of the change that was made (which I am providing you an opportunity to categorize with your choice to the Poll question), I ask you to please share in a comment how you view whether or not we influenced what happened (even if it may have been unintentionally).


Question # 2: If in the future a new character is introduced who provides a substantial advantage over all existing characters, do you think they should be left as is, or adjusted to be more in balance with other crew?

First let me say what I am asking about here is not the incremental power creep that has occurred and is likely to continue. What I would like you to consider is a potential new character who is so much better than everyone else that having them provides a player with a dominating/game changing superior advantage over other players who do not acquire the new character. Let me acknowledge there would be a difference of opinion regarding whether the original Polywater Yar qualified as such a character, and I ask you to please not debate that here – instead, imagine a new character that all/most players would easily view as being exceptionally dominant. I ask you to please share in a comment whether you would welcome the introduction of these types of dominant new characters into the game, or whether you would see this as being a mistake needing to be corrected.

[SSR] GTMET

Yes … and changing her was needed because of how dominant she was, but I think the change should have been different

I'll use the restaurant analogy, if a restaurant screws up the meal that they advertised, they will typically not only comp you the meal, but usually offer cocktails/deserts as an apology to compensate you for the bad experience. In this case, if you believed she needed to be nerfed, we should keep the yar (they will replace a bad meal) get a refund and get something as an apology. In this case, I think a Gold Citation would have been appropriate. A mistake this big, with this significant of a change and player impact deserves a significant response

The actual response of players having ALL items from purchased packs removed (hey you got lucky and got a begold, tough, if you want a refund we are taking that too) is terrible.

Wundigore

Still waiting for them to reverse my purchase. Seriously doubt they can at this point.

Peachtree Rex

No … I think DB made the change based solely on internal data, and the comments in the forums were not considered

I doubt DB puts much stock in the forums, as a whole, outside of the Engineering Room.

[10F] Belle'Anna

Yes … and changing her was needed because of how dominant she was, but I think the change should have been different

In regards to question 2, we have long had characters in the game that give a significant advantage to those who have them. Locutus, and now Guinan, can not be gained easily by new players or those who never got them in the Gauntlet.

There are many players who have got fully fused legendaries from day one that have a massive advantage against monthly card players who have maybe seen two mega events. The game is already massively unbalanced.

So, while I agree that DB can, maybe should? Maybe, nerfed Yar it was overkill and more than that it shouldn't have been done for 3 months.

Personally, I would prefer that they spent their energy buffing older cards rather than trashing new ones.

Hungry Dog DDM

No … I think DB made the change based solely on internal data, and the comments in the forums were not considered

If there's one thing I've learned, it's that DB rarely, if ever listens to what happens in the forums. This was just DB realizing they effed up, and then followed the 1st rule of acquisition.

Educated_Beast

No … I think the decision to change her was a random act, not based on any type of feedback or data

I voted random act but my option was not available in poll. I think it was intentional. Introduce an extremely OP ship ability prior to skirmish event, sell packs based on mis-interpretation, then change card. Classic bait and switch.

They offered to return all packs, but then I'd lose my purple card that has diplomat trait I need. Nothing offered to those who invested time to rank in event.

DB cannot claim ignorance and stupidity every single time. Eventually we need to consider the possibility they are just evil.

Matt_Decker

Yes … and changing her was needed because of how dominant she was, but I think the change should have been different

Based on other actions, I think it's safe to say that DB is aware of what we say here in the forums and if they think the point made is correct and important for the game, they make adjustments. The current change to the ranked reward rare character (was going to be Klingon Dukat, now appears to be Gilora Rejal) is an example.

Ishmael Marx

Yes … however I am completely indifferent about whether or not she should have been changed, as well as how she was changed

#1. We know (or are reasonably sure) that Shan reads most (all?) posts in the forums, and that she communicates at least some subset of that information back to the rest of the team. The posters in the forum include some of the most engaged players in the game (which includes some combination of spending, strategizing, proof-reading, lord-protectors of franchise cannon/lore, inferential back-engineering of game formulas, etc.). So it would be quite reasonable to conclude that DB would take the feedback on these forums into account.

It is my opinion that they saw the commentary and used it as a basis to re-assess Yar's abilities. I am personally indifferent to the change, but I understand the issues that people have with it.

#2. OP'd cards (or ships) will occasionally be introduced and move the goal-posts. Kahless, Locutus, Caretaker, etc significantly changed the definition of "strong" in the gauntlet. To some extent, the gaps created by Kahless and Locutus have been filled. Mirror Phlox - used to be a wall but is now just one of many. Surak is still wall-like, and Caretaker still reigns supreme, but in time their advantage will be muted and overcome too. In arena, cloak+Kang and the Borg sphere are insufficiently balanced, but someday I expect (hope?) to see more of a mix at the top.

I guess all of that is to say... I'm fine with it, as long as it's part of a longer-term plan that gradually fills in any gaps that are created. Early adopters / whales get early advantages, and the rest of the player base spends a few months playing catch-up. Seems reasonable to me.

Fantastic

No … I think DB made the change based solely on internal data, and the comments in the forums were not considered

I fear most of our howling on the forums is wasted effort. As are most tickets reporting issues. I have had them respond to issues such as purchasing an event pack that didn’t materialize (although I was charged for it) several days after an event has ended before. Understaffed, outsourcing critical components (customer relations for one) to third parties who have little discretion about solving problems....

Do I really need to continue? My favorite is a fleetmate who had his Yar yanked and replaced with 650 dil. What are the odds you got a Legendary in one 10x? Nor did he approve the swap...

TheVerge04

No … I think DB made the change based solely on internal data, and the comments in the forums were not considered

If I were to make a guess (and this is only a guess), I would proffer that Quality Assurance (QA) had not been finished by the time Yar was supposed to be rolled out. During the event play timeframe, and supported by the then completed QA, the advantage was finally noticed. Yes, I know it's a stretch to blame this on the QA department, but, in my opinion, it falls in line with other instances of problems with QA (either scope or completeness).

[S14] Elynduil

Yes … and changing her was needed because of how dominant she was, but I think the change should have been different

I am unconvinced, at this point, that there is anyone there that has thorough experience playing their own game. It follows then, that they would not know of Yar 1.0's impact if the forum did not tell them.

For this issue, and any future issues, the answer certainly can't be to nerf a potentially OP crew member so hard that it becomes weaker than many other crew members doing the same thing. A sensitive mix of adjustments would be the best solution to any such issue.

(Using Yar 1.0 as an example: increase the initialisation to 4s, expand the rules for filling battle stations to block strategies that revolve around spamming multiples of the same/similiar crew, and, after a few months, release a 5-star ship with 3s shield initialisation. Result: Yar is still the best at what she does, but not game-breakingly so, unimaginative stacking strategies are eliminated, and after a grace period of minor OP-ness, a counter-strategy becomes available.)

muwoo

Matt_Decker wrote: »

Based on other actions, I think it's safe to say that DB is aware of what we say here in the forums and if they think the point made is correct and important for the game, they make adjustments. The current change to the ranked reward rare character (was going to be Klingon Dukat, now appears to be Gilora Rejal) is an example.

You sound dangerously rational to be posting here.